Where have all the pirates gone?

[Peterward]

I've bought a Python (I still have the commander with the Cobra to return to) to see how I got with a decent sized cargo hold. I tend to do a little bit of everything, mining a few asteroids when they appear, bounty hunting, trading, whatever opportunity presents itself.

Since buying the Python I've had very few opportunities for bounty hunting. I've just visited an anarchy, and took out two pirate ships on the way in to the orbital station, because that's all I found. There was loads of action going on elsewhere, I could see ships blowing up all over the place, but all I found was a few cargo pods and those two opportunities for glory. The last Feudal economy I visited I met no one at all, and no sign of activity elsewhere. The welcome mat tells me "Beware" due to high pirate activity a lot of the time (I've taken to visiting supposedly dangerous systems at the moment, looking for action), but I'm seeing none of it.

Is there any particular reason why I'm not meeting many pirates now I've got the Python? I might have to return to my old commander and continue with the Cobra, just to keep things interesting.

[Master Bates]

Probably just random chance - the pirates aren't in your general area at the same time you are, basically. Bear in mind you aren't the only civilian trader plying the spacelanes, so they could just be out hunting other folks.

[CptnEcho]

What ship you fly doesn't affect the amount of pirates generated when a star system is populated with ships to encounter.

Keep playing and you'll encounter large quantities, medium quantities and small quantities of pirates, traders and police ships according to parameters set according to the type of system government and other factors fed into the random number generators.

[Chrisfs]

I flew into a confed system that right at the witchpoint had one pirate and EIGHT vipers, the pirate locks on to me , of course ?? because I am the biggest threat there??

He was gone real quick and that was the best guarded witchpoint this side of Reidquat

[Commander McLane]

I flew into a confed system that right at the witchpoint had one pirate and EIGHT vipers, the pirate locks on to me , of course ?? because I am the biggest threat there??

No, because he isn't interested in police ships (no cargo!), but only in traders. And among the traders he will always prefer the player.

It is a bit silly of him to attack you while eight vipers are watching, but Oolite's pirate AI doesn't check for police ships, so the pirate will attack anyway. This is somehow balanced by the fact that the police doesn't react to attacks on the player, like it would react to attacks on NPCs. They will only find him because of his bounty, not because what he is doing to you.

[Peterward]

Probably just random chance

I didn't think it should make any difference. It just seemed a strange that as soon as I got the Python, the number of pirates seemed to plummet. I think it's time for some deep space pirates.

Thanks for the replies.

[drew]

This is somehow balanced by the fact that the police doesn't react to attacks on the player, like it would react to attacks on NPCs. They will only find him because of his bounty, not because what he is doing to you.

Is there a reason for this? Should all things be equal for player/NPC when it comes to the police?

Cheers,

Drew.

[Commander McLane]

This is somehow balanced by the fact that the police doesn't react to attacks on the player, like it would react to attacks on NPCs. They will only find him because of his bounty, not because what he is doing to you.

Is there a reason for this? Should all things be equal for player/NPC when it comes to the police?

Cheers,

Drew.

I don't know. But see here.

[Wiggy]

It might be nice if the cops did come to your rescue. I've been surrounded by a big gang of pirates, all taking chunks out of me, and a convey of cops zooms by without getting involved.
This, after a "$planet police thank you for your assistance".

If the player is Clean, they should join in on your side. If not, then your problems might just have doubled!

[Peterward]

They're back. Twice in quick succession after I posted the above, I got bushwacked by a gaggle of pirates at witchpoints. From which I learnt some stuff:

Don't bother trying to run away in a Python, even with injectors ablaze it's too slow.

If you use your energy bomb, don't forget to buy another one.