That's your prerogative, but I honestly find it difficult to relate; feeling joy over losing millions in wares, mostly without even being aware of it, just cutting into profits and messing up supply chains, seems... idiosyncratic to me. But you do you!Midnitewolf wrote: ↑Mon, 19. Apr 21, 23:11Well as to it being a fun mechanic, I sure as hell enjoy the it. I mean they are pirates and do what pirates do, steal stuff. What else would you expect them to do?
I'd like more info on this 'disguise failing'. When I was playing last, before I threw in the towel, the pillagers I noticed never failed to complete their hacks. The fact that you found several dead SCA ships in proximity to your station could just be the result of what I usually observed: after succeeding at the hack, the pillagers would drop their false flag and would then come under fire from static or mobile station defenses. This was, of course, always too late to prevent the damage though: the wares released from storage would still largely be lost to to the cookie monster a.k.a. despawn. And shortly thereafter, the next pillager would spawn and do the same thing again.I have seen them be unsuccessful as well and killed by my Station Defenses so it isn't a 100% chance they succeed. [...] if their disguise fails, which it does all the time, your stations will kill the pilot [...]
Is there a faction 'SCA disguised as another faction'? Because if not, this won't help with false-flagged pirates. I need to ask because it's been a little while since I played X4 last.[...] if you go global orders, you will see that you a section labeled, "Fire Authorisation Overrides" You can go there and create a list of how you want to handle all the factions in the game.
We've had this argument before, and I think I already answered 'what more' I want. I want a challenge, not a tax. Xenons, Khaak or other factions I may have pissed off are a challenge. I can counter that challenge by starving their economies, by deploying defenses, etc., and if they wipe out my assets, it's because I, personally, am to blame for bad tactics and a lack of preparation. I can handle that. Pirates, however, profit from temporary invincibility that allows them to do serious damage without me being able to do anything to stop them. That is ridiculous.What would be the point of having Pirates in the game if you could counter all their activity with a single button [...] what more do you want [...]
Are you saying police sector patrols are a reliable way to counter piracy, like aformentioned economy starvation or military presence would counter main faction fleets? If so, can you send me some of your cops? Because mine are largely content going on scenic flights around the sector while munching donuts. It would help greatly if I could attach a police patrol directly to a station; but this is just one of the numerous suggestions that I, and others, have previously submitted to address the pirates-hack-stations-with-impunity-issue.You can set up a police patrol and sometimes they will catch them other times not.
That's brilliant. I hadn't seen that mod. Greatly appreciate the tip.Download and install the Mod Sector Patrols by Assailer.
Don't even need mods for that; a quick savegame edit allows you to unlock the rep, or to set it to clearer values (-1/+1 = eternal enemies/friends), which apparently eliminates the false-flag-issue.Oh yeah, I almost forgot, there are mods that allow you to unlock SCA faction if you want to give up the easy peasy destroyer captures that is.
I'm sorry if I'm coming across as invested into this issue or as argumentative. It wasn't a lie or hyperbole when I wrote that this issue killed my last game and that I quit X4 due to this. I find it hard to cope with uncontrollable/chaotic elements at times, and this mechanic, at least in its state somewhat pre-4.0, made me watch helplessly as pirates ravaged my stations and messed up my finely-tuned supply chains, even though I had done everything the game allowed me to do. In X3 I could create huge supply chains that would run like well-oiled machines -- I would occasionally sit back and just enjoy watching countless ships ferrying goods to and fro while keeping inventory levels low and profits high. It was beautiful. Pirate hacking in X4 ruined that and made me feel helpless. I hate feeling helpless.