Oolite Bulletins

Alex wrote:

Are there particular contracts I should look for?

As regards parcels, these types attract a fair bit of attention - but who knows what is really in those videos of mud tennis?

Thanks Cody,
Sensitive documents then. Pretty good pay too.
Wondering, does the Body moving business go the same way as you move up the rep ranks?
Would imagine kidn.. Transporting someone like the head honcho of the Black Monks somewhere in secret may pay a bitty.

Though the pay is just a score card to me now.

Cody wrote:

but who knows what is really in those videos of mud tennis?

pray, don't mention... *grins* I stick to tax returns for now...

Diplomatic cases are the real earners, but usually come with a LOT of enemy ships.

Installed the Reputation Display oxz. Nice feature. I seem to be the best cargo contractor of the galaxy, they trust me to deliver tons of Platinum across the chart. But the parcel business is still reluctant. I was starting to make a name in the parcel business, a few deliveries later, I'm... what was the phrase - "medium trustworthy thing in the parcel contract thing" or so. The reputation comes really really slow compared to the cargo business. So far no assasines waiting for me anywhere expect the occasional family of a terminated random hits victim.

ffutures wrote:

Diplomatic cases are the real earners, but usually come with a LOT of enemy ships.

Hmm... mineral surveys are pretty good earners too, and they also attract plenty of attention.
Then again, the same could be said about prototype technology and weapons designs. <grins>

I installed 2 passenger Habs to use while doing parcels.
First cross chart run was good.
Short haul passangers seemed to just fall into place on the trip. Pass Habs were never empty.
Made more from them than the two parcels I took on. Both diplomatics.

Really nice change of game from Random Hits and Opportune Pirate.

Cody wrote:

ffutures wrote:

Diplomatic cases are the real earners, but usually come with a LOT of enemy ships.

Hmm... mineral surveys are pretty good earners too, and they also attract plenty of attention.
Then again, the same could be said about prototype technology and weapons designs. <grins>

I carry all those mentioned, despite I'm still only "medium trustworthy". So... Does it get worse? Are there different Levels of diplomatic / prototype docs? I do encounter all sort of enemies at the witchpoint beacon, yet they seem not to be there for me, so it's just coincidence? 3 pirate groups of 7 each in a TL3 Feudal System, did not cause any pain, they where quite peacefull - until I hit them first. A shame, I could not find that 25kg gemstone container again in the debris field, which I spotted earlier in the fight.

Really nice change of game from Random Hits and Opportune Pirate.

I managed to put a RH mission in the long chain of contracts. It just fitted in

ralph_hh wrote:

I carry all those mentioned, despite I'm still only "medium trustworthy". So... Does it get worse? Are there different Levels of diplomatic / prototype docs? I do encounter all sort of enemies at the witchpoint beacon, yet they seem not to be there for me, so it's just coincidence? 3 pirate groups of 7 each in a TL3 Feudal System, did not cause any pain, they where quite peacefull - until I hit them first. A shame, I could not find that 25kg gemstone container again in the debris field, which I spotted earlier in the fight.

My understanding (from answers cim has given from time to time) is that every contract has a risk, be it low, medium or high, that is used to generate the chance of an assassin group intercepting you as you enter a system. I understand that the government type and number of connections also affect this, so anarchic pinch systems are the worst. The important point to note is that each contract is independent, so the more parcels you have the greater the risk. I suspect but don't know that higher worth contracts also increase the risk. So as your reputation increases you get offered more contracts that you can take, so you have more parcels, so there's a greater chance of meeting assassins and there being more of them. So it does get worse, but it is in your control as to how many parcels you carry at any one time.
As for pirates, if they recognise you as a courier, then they are not interested in you. The more you run as a courier the lower the chance of being attacked by a pirate. The type and level of ship you have can also affect there attitude. Note pirates=/=assassins.

As for pirates, if they recognise you as a courier, then they are not interested in you. The more you run as a courier the lower the chance of being attacked by a pirate. The type and level of ship you have can also affect there attitude. Note pirates=/=assassins.

Now. that's some News!!
What's the reason behind this? Do pirates assume that a courier does not carry any cargo? Well, beside the 8 parcels I carry in the Moment, there are some 1-2000kg of Platinum in my ships belly. Or do the pirates assume that you are more dangerous once you are a well known parcel contractor? How are the pirates supposed to know what I am?

And... How do I see if I have a pirate or an assassin in front of me?

hmmh, correct me if I'm wrong, assassin == clean, pirates == offenders/fugitives

ralph_hh wrote:

Now. that's some News!!
What's the reason behind this? Do pirates assume that a courier does not carry any cargo? Well, beside the 8 parcels I carry in the Moment, there are some 1-2000kg of Platinum in my ships belly. Or do the pirates assume that you are more dangerous once you are a well known parcel contractor? How are the pirates supposed to know what I am?

There is a reputation mechanism in the game. The mechanism is that you are assigned a list of roles, all set to unknown at the beginning. Depending upon your play style, a role can be changed to trader, hunter, courier, etc, which one in the list that's replaced is random, and as you progress the number in the list increases. When you encounter another ship it will randomly pick one role from the list, replicating whether you are 'know by reputation' in the system. So in the beginning you are seen as unknown, as you run courier missions, the chance to be seen as a courier increases. As you also attack pirates, there is a chance that you are seen as a hunter. Of course as if you also trade then you will have a chance to be seen as one. So if the pirates recognise you by reputation as a courier, they will see no reason to attack you, however if they think you are a trader then they almost certainly will.

ralph_hh wrote:

And... How do I see if I have a pirate or an assassin in front of me?

A pirate will have a criminal status, others such as smugglers can also have this, but an assassin will be clean. So if you are clean and are attacked by a clean ship it will be an assassin (other OXPs excluded). They also fly certain types of ships, you get to know which.

And they talk with each other in a specific way (if you have Comms Pack A installed).

Got my first wave of assassins yesterday. Questionable behavior from my side... I turned into them, picked the first ship to eliminate with my laser and noticed, the ships are firing at me much faster and more precise than the usual bunch of pirates. Turned round and saved my life by burning a lot of injector fuel. I'll have to be more careful I guess.

The interesting thing to note: The group did not follow me. Might have been 10 or so ships, I did not have the time to check if they had clean or offender status. An impressively big frigate involved, Galactic Navy type. Two ASP followed my on injector and it took some time to kill them. Thereafter the rest was out of scanner range. They were gone. For some reason, I could not find them again. The cloud of debris from that ASPs was in all directions. So I assumed the group to wait for me somewhere - never happened. I did not meet anyone again at any hyperspace exit. Which is quite nice, because...

The thing is... The hostile fire damaged my military shields and my multi target computer. A fight has become much more interesting suddenly. Nice change for a while. There is no high tech level planet anywhere nearby, I'm on a tight schedule and TL10 does not help obviously.

ralph_hh wrote:

An impressively big frigate involved, Galactic Navy type.

They don't sound like assassins - more like heavy pirates! Either way, big trouble!