X3:R - Questions about Pirate Missions and Pirate Bases turning hostile

[DrSuperEvil]

Missions for pirate still spawn if you have police licences and spawn even at -5 race rank (on stations of friendly races within 2 jumps of pirate sectors) but the rep rewards for the mission will not apply until >-4.

I usually build an illegals complex in Hatikvah's Faith 40km above a gate and let pirates buy space fuel and weed just below average price. It is surprisingly effective at cranking out rep even from the lowest of race ranks for Pirates, Argon, Paranid, Split and even Boron occasionally.

OOS ships are not scanned for illegals and IS it is very rare for police to scan a ship other than the player ship so it is quite safe to transport them as long as it is not on the player ship.

[Timsup2nothin]

OOS ships are not scanned for illegals and IS it is very rare for police to scan a ship other than the player ship so it is quite safe to transport them as long as it is not on the player ship.

I have anecdotal evidence that seems to contradict this.

I did a Humble Merchant start. I did just enough rumrunning to get the freighter set up as a CLS buying cheap at the distilleries and selling at the trading station, then set off looking for missiles to salvage.

My guy was spending my entire account on a handful of product, selling it, buying a slightly larger handful of product, selling it, etc. So I could watch my account bounce from near zero to a number, near zero to a higher number, near zero to an even higher number...then all of a sudden it stopped. On near zero.

I had been expecting this, figuring that the trading station would fill up and he'd be stuck with a load of fuel, but he didn't have any fuel and the trading station wasn't full. He had spent all my credits on fuel, and that fuel had never made it to the trading station.

The only explanation I could come up with was that he had been challenged and had ejected the contraband.

[SirNukes]

OOS ships are not scanned for illegals and IS it is very rare for police to scan a ship other than the player ship so it is quite safe to transport them as long as it is not on the player ship.

Maybe it was changed since Reunion, but in TC and AP (both use the same script) there is no difference IS vs OOS. The police randomly pick scan targets, and are actually biased against scanning the player's ship in two ways: they won't scan the player more than every 10 minutes, and they will stop chasing the player if the player moves more than 30 km away from the sector center.

[DrSuperEvil]

Pirates preferentially target player ships carrying illegals (relative to the teladi list).

[Mazryonh]

Does paying the protection racket fee at Pirate Stations increase your standing with the Pirate faction like donating to the other factions via BBS message does?

Also, I haven't found any Pirate-specific missions in a long while. I don't know if that means they'll no longer spawn.

[DrSuperEvil]

The protection racket if not payed adds an item to your freight which is a bomb. Unless you eject it fast it will cause major damage to your ship.

[Mazryonh]

The protection racket if not payed adds an item to your freight which is a bomb. Unless you eject it fast it will cause major damage to your ship.

Can the bomb actually be removed before it blows up? I tried looking in my ship's freight when I got the "Anomalous Cargo Detected" warning and couldn't find the bomb.

Anyway, a little bit of playtime later, and I found out you can actually get Pirate missions even if you have any police licenses. Guess that theory was a bust. However, I still can't take on the specific Pirate mission with the yellow font highlights in the BBS message. All it says is that my character "smells like an informant" no matter what I do. What exactly are the requirements that one needs to get accepted for that specific pirate mission?

[DrSuperEvil]

The bomb is disguised a another ware in your freight. If you keep a tidy freight you can spot the ware with an extra unit or a new sort of ware and eject it.


Maybe those missions require a higher race rank to be able to be accepted?

[Mazryonh]

I'll have to see if I can spot the disguised bomb in the future then.

It doesn't help that X3:R doesn't show your reputation with the Pirates or Yaki without cheats or mods. I guess I'll just have to keep selling them merchandise and searching for Pirate quests to get the one I haven't been able to undertake.

[DrSuperEvil]

The bomb is a random event even if you are friends with them.

[Mazryonh]

The bomb is a random event even if you are friends with them.

"No honour among thieves," or pirates either? That's not fun. Guess I have no choice right now but to build my reputation with them by selling them factory-produced wares they want (SQUASH mines, Sunrise Flowers, Space Weed, etc.).

[DrSuperEvil]

That or cap ships belonging to the major races in their sectors.