Oolite Bulletins

El Viejo wrote:

Contrabandista’s rule #2… ‘If the scanner trace is red… it’s dead!’

That was my attitude for a while in Communist systems. If there weren't any galcop vipers and I was mass-locked by a workers commuter. I would blow it away, and rescue the poor workers using cargo pods as makeshift escape pods. If I saw a communist commissar limo, I would cloak and do the same thing. I then stopped my rampage after a brief while and never continued.

Commander Wilmot wrote:

El Viejo wrote:

Contrabandista’s rule #2… ‘If the scanner trace is red… it’s dead!’

That was my attitude for a while in Communist systems. If there weren't any galcop vipers and I was mass-locked by a workers commuter. I would blow it away, and rescue the poor workers using cargo pods as makeshift escape pods. If I saw a communist commissar limo, I would cloak and do the same thing. I then stopped my rampage after a brief while and never continued.

The Vetiticean People's Party has a file on you, Commander Wilmot.

Commander Wilmot wrote:

El Viejo wrote:

Contrabandista’s rule #2… ‘If the scanner trace is red… it’s dead!’

I then stopped my rampage after a brief while and never continued.

I should point out that I have never gone on a rampage.

Alex wrote:

CaptSolo wrote:

El Viejo wrote:

Contrabandista’s rule #2… ‘If the scanner trace is red… it’s dead!’

Curiosity has gotten the best of me. I'd like to know what Contrabandista rule #1 is?

That is easy;

Rule 1. Don't get cought!

I just needed that. A good laugh doesn't only make the mouth greater. It makes life much greater.
Very good comment.

Dragonfire wrote:

As everyone knows, I strive to keep a clean record. If I get any marks on the record, I quit and start back at the last planet.

You are missing out on quite a bit of fun by doing that, as a quick read of Yah-Ta-Hey's post below yours may persuade you. But hey, it's your Ooniverse.
Caduceus's are particularly good for generating those unexpected extra-legal moments, as the spare shots from their broadsides have to end up somewhere. There's nothing like the sight of a Navy battle group suddenly turning red all around you as the last Thargoid is popped . Managed to avoid killing a single copper in my current guise though.

I always thought Contrabandista's rule #1 was: If caught, swallow the merchandise (tricky for trumble smugglers though)

I voted same as the majority here. Once I was offender when I left Coreolis without unloading scooped slaves first. I loaded save and sold the slaves. I think that is my worst offense in Oolite ever.

Makara wrote:

Dragonfire wrote:

As everyone knows, I strive to keep a clean record. If I get any marks on the record, I quit and start back at the last planet.

You are missing out on quite a bit of fun by doing that, as a quick read of Yah-Ta-Hey's post below yours may persuade you. But hey, it's your Ooniverse.
Caduceus's are particularly good for generating those unexpected extra-legal moments, as the spare shots from their broadsides have to end up somewhere. There's nothing like the sight of a Navy battle group suddenly turning red all around you as the last Thargoid is popped . Managed to avoid killing a single copper in my current guise though.

Not wrong there!!

Wildeblood wrote:

Commander Wilmot wrote:

El Viejo wrote:

Contrabandista’s rule #2… ‘If the scanner trace is red… it’s dead!’

That was my attitude for a while in Communist systems. If there weren't any galcop vipers and I was mass-locked by a workers commuter. I would blow it away, and rescue the poor workers using cargo pods as makeshift escape pods. If I saw a communist commissar limo, I would cloak and do the same thing. I then stopped my rampage after a brief while and never continued.

The Vetiticean People's Party has a file on you, Commander Wilmot.

How big is it?

My life is a rampage. I destroy worker commuters for fun, then energy bomb the cargo.

Alex wrote:

Makara wrote:

Dragonfire wrote:

As everyone knows, I strive to keep a clean record. If I get any marks on the record, I quit and start back at the last planet.

You are missing out on quite a bit of fun by doing that, as a quick read of Yah-Ta-Hey's post below yours may persuade you. But hey, it's your Ooniverse.
Caduceus's are particularly good for generating those unexpected extra-legal moments, as the spare shots from their broadsides have to end up somewhere. There's nothing like the sight of a Navy battle group suddenly turning red all around you as the last Thargoid is popped . Managed to avoid killing a single copper in my current guise though.

Not wrong there!!

Well, learning about all that relieves me quite a bit.

I usually try to do as Dragonfire does (very rare 'Fugitive' moments)... up to this day.

I fly a Dark Rainbow, which for those who don't know is a Caduceus with 2 more turrets (pointing front and aft), a large cargo hold and a good number of pylons to play with neat stuff.

So I was a couple of days ago arriving at Laatre in G2, piggybacking a trader escort with a Navy Reserves Thargoid hunt. When arriving I found 4 or 5 Cobbys and Asps already engaging a ridiculous number of green dots.

I started by ignoring Trader Whatever's "Follow me to main station" call , and asking myself, "Where the hell do I start ?".

Well, I started by releasing my precious Captured Thargons, than started jumping around for the Big Greens and ignoring the thargons.

After what seemed a neverending pursuit I (think that) I had bagged 1 Cruiser, 3 Invaders, 1 Battleship and probably another one which I don't remember. All of them had released their thargon stuff (almost 30 I guess), and by then the poor trader I was pretending to escort had turned into a huge pile of pods.

So I thought, "now comes the tedious part"... scooping the trader's cargo, all of those inert thargons, my OWN 5 thargons, and shooting off the dead thargons which wouldn't fit the hold.

I had barely started scooping, when one of the 2 remaining reserve ships started firing on me (just after thanking me for all my help...). I said NOT REALLY, I won't let these stupid fellows ruin my day. So I dispatched both and spent almost half an hour scooping stuff. Had to blow up a dozen thargons after the hold filled up though.

I was lucky that a single jump after that turned me from a Fugitive into an Offender... but since that I've done 3 or 4 more jumps and can't seem to shake the Offender status.

[As a side note, the comments above by Makara and Alex sort of explain WHY I was being shot up by the Navy guys... indeed, my 10 turrets spray a LOT of fire in ALL directions, at twice the rate of the standard Caduceus ones].

I have no consciential objections to play as a Fugitive for a while, only a practical issue... it becomes a bit harder (and longer) to be able to save the game.

Would the fellow commanders out there care to share a few tips for easing the game-saving chores when you're a Fugitive ?

Thx and cheers

Your legal status is set by your Bounty - Bounty > 50 = Fugitive, between 1 and 49 = Offender.

Unless you've got Anarchies installed (which slows the rate of bounty reduction), your bounty is halved each time to jump between systems. So if you are a Fugitive with a say a bounty of 60 credits on your head you'll need 7 jumps to clear your name (bounty goes from 60 to 30, then 15,8,4,2,1,0). Jumping between a couple of systems very close together can help, or if you've got YAH or Fuel Stations installed a couple of systems close to each other that regularly spawn the appropriate refueling point near the witch space beacon.

Many thx Capt. Murphy !

I was generally aware of the gradual status cleanup, but up to this moment I hadn't figured out that legal status was tied to the bounty value... and had also no idea of the algorithm involved.

Your explanation just shed a lot of light on my game play !

As a matter of fact, it seems (at least that's what my experience has been this week) that an Offender can dock at Stations in Anarchies and Feudals without even getting noticed at all, which eases the game saving issue a LOT.

OTOH it also seems to me, by the algorithm you've detailed, that a player who has JUST became Fugitive will be 'downgraded' to Offender after one jump, or at most two. Which would generally mean, depending on equipment and fuel available (as well as a bit of good luck of course ), that a good game save would be no more than 10 minutes away.

Thx and cheers

Be good.

If you can't be good, be careful.

If you can't be careful, don't get caught.

Cheers,

Drew.

ps. Actually advice my Dad gave me when off to university!

drew wrote:

Be good.

If you can't be good, be careful.

If you can't be careful, don't get caught.

Cheers,

Drew.

ps. Actually advice my Dad gave me when off to university!

Same here!

When actually playing, I try to keep clean; generally only fight when attacked or when I come across a poor trader who can't handle its own, or, or course, when I'm running a mission. Although I have even been known to let off a mark who has pleaded for life, depending on the crime they were accused of, of course.

I have no qualms in a bit of smuggling though..