Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

General discussions about the games by Egosoft including X-BTF, XT, X², X³: Reunion, X³: Terran Conflict and X³: Albion Prelude.

Moderator: Moderators for English X Forum

Post Reply
Lotharian
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat, 23. Mar 19, 17:35

Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

Post by Lotharian » Thu, 27. Aug 20, 03:36

When I first start out in the game in my little Discoverer, I usually trade in energy cells, often in Power Circle - it gives a little profit, but I mostly do it for the reputation increase. I'm able to get higher in Argon rank, and then seem to get more missions offered.

Right now I have max rep with the 5 major races, my trade rank is Master Industrialist, and now I've been working on raising Terran rank. I was surprised I had access in the Aldrin area, so I've been trading there and doing whatever missions I could manage, going from my starting -1 to +3 so far. However, this seems to have just been from missions. I have been watching, but haven't noticed my Terran rank going up from trading. Did I just never notice it, or does that not happen for Terran / does it not happen for Terran in the area I'm trading in / some other reason such as my higher trade rank? Anyone know?

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by jlehtone » Thu, 27. Aug 20, 15:02

Should happen with Terrans just like the others. I can't recall contrary claims.
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

Alan Phipps
Moderator (English)
Moderator (English)
Posts: 30368
Joined: Fri, 16. Apr 04, 19:21
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by Alan Phipps » Thu, 27. Aug 20, 15:16

I suspect that due to a general lack of jumpgates and the larger sectors with fewer and more distant stations in Terran/Aldrin space, any trading there is at a much slower pace due to extended journey time. The best way to raise rep by trading involves lots of even quite small but fast trades made at different stations (e-cell deliveries even by small fighters are quite useful in that respect). Terran/Aldrin space does not generally lend itself to that approach.

Aldrin sector is also made worse in this respect if the player drops by IS with the big rock as that increases tradeship journey times and makes AI docking a tortuous and lengthy process.
A dog has a master; a cat has domestic staff.

Honved
Posts: 1252
Joined: Sun, 20. Jun 10, 14:53
x3tc

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by Honved » Thu, 27. Aug 20, 17:02

Lotharian wrote:
Thu, 27. Aug 20, 03:36
When I first start out in the game in my little Discoverer, I usually trade in energy cells, often in Power Circle - it gives a little profit, but I mostly do it for the reputation increase. I'm able to get higher in Argon rank, and then seem to get more missions offered.
What start is it with only a Disco? The Humble Trader start gives you a Disco and a Transport, and ferrying a TS-load of Ore in the first few minutes before the NPC traders take most of the better deals will pay a lot more than a dozen E-cell runs in the Disco. AFTER that trade run, you can sell the TS if you wish, but I generally pick up Trade Extension software ASAP and send the TS on trade runs while I explore in the Disco. Putting the Mercury into one of your corner camera views will allow for much easier access.

As pointed out, the Terran stations are so widely scattered that it takes a long time to build Reputation, and their limited array of intermediate goods factories (relying on supply depots instead, which magically conjure up resources) don't provide as many opportunities in the first place. Normally, the missions provide far more of a boost to Reputation, making the boosts from Trade relatively insignificant unless you build a serious trade fleet in Terran space. Killing a few pirates in Heretic's End will also give you a boost in Reputation, but most of the stations are Argon-owned, so doing station missions generally won't help, unless it's to ferry a Terran passenger or something like that. Since it takes a lot more increases for each level up the scale, once you're at a moderate rank, it takes quite a bit of effort to boost it further. One or two ships trading in Terran space will take a LOOOONG time to increase it.

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by jlehtone » Thu, 27. Aug 20, 17:34

Honved wrote:
Thu, 27. Aug 20, 17:02
What start is it with only a Disco?
Anonymous Argon? X3 wiki
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

Lotharian
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat, 23. Mar 19, 17:35

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by Lotharian » Fri, 28. Aug 20, 04:03

I like Anonymous Argon start since you don't have much, just the Disco. I start by going to the equipment dock, selling my shield, buying a duplex scanner, as much speed as I can and a little cargo. A pittance of credits left for E-cell trading. Raise the Argon rank and hope for a good ship retrieval mission. Yeah I know I could retrieve one of the known empty ships for a jumpstart but it makes it too easy.

For Terrans I was running E-cells in Aldrin 2, in-system, in a Kestrel. It was fast enough. It was really not about profit but just trying to make a lot of trades. I wonder, if it's just # of trades, if you bought like 10 Kestrels to do that and ran them OOS for collision safety, if you could get decent rank that way LOL.

I have another Terran question, not really related. I know you get in trouble for traveling beyond your ATF access. I've gotten up to Earth Access and have been deploying satellites in some Terran sectors. Whenever I do the war arc, when I lose rep and lose some access -- will satellites in these systems trigger the ATF, get blown up and count me as violating my access level? I read if you even violate your access once, you might not be able to fix it?

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by jlehtone » Fri, 28. Aug 20, 09:15

In my X3AP game I did shoot Terrans/ATF a bit (to rank -5, Terran Enemy of Sol & ATF Nemesis; -1'000'000 reputation points, the absolute bottom).
Then I did let them love me: current rank 10 (Hero of Sol / Command Access). The Terran and ATF seem to have linked reputation; always identical.

I do not recall access control from X3AP; X3TC clearly had it as part of a plot. In X3AP I was kill-on-sight either everywhere, or just in core sectors, depending on reputation. I rarely visit Earth; I jump and there are no Gates near the inner planets.
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

Lotharian
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat, 23. Mar 19, 17:35

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by Lotharian » Fri, 28. Aug 20, 22:37

Well, I've found at least 4 jump beacons in Terran space, so jumping is still possible to those, as well as to the actual gates in the southern region. Anyone know if these jump beacons are always in the same sectors, and which sectors? I wondered if I missed any.

AleksMain
Posts: 907
Joined: Thu, 21. Sep 06, 11:05
x3tc

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by AleksMain » Sat, 29. Aug 20, 11:17

Lotharian wrote:
Fri, 28. Aug 20, 22:37
Well, I've found at least 4 jump beacons in Terran space, so jumping is still possible to those, as well as to the actual gates in the southern region. Anyone know if these jump beacons are always in the same sectors, and which sectors? I wondered if I missed any.
They are randomly placed:
Where are they found?
Jump Beacons are randomly placed during each new game, so there is no way to list their location. You basically need to find them yourself, as they can appear in any sector, at any location.

What happens if the beacon gets destroyed?
It will respawn after a set amount of time.

Can I buy a Jump Beacon?
No, however there is a way to own them. Rapid Response craft do sometimes carry 1, so if you destroy it (or board it) then you might find one dropping - although the odds are very low. Please note that Rapid Response craft can jump away when their shields are low.

If I do get one, will it work?
Yes, just deploy it and you can use it like any other jump beacon.

Can I sell one, if I find one?
Not directly, but you could place on a ship and get half its value when you sell the ship with it.

Lotharian
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat, 23. Mar 19, 17:35

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by Lotharian » Sat, 29. Aug 20, 19:45

AleksMain wrote:
Sat, 29. Aug 20, 11:17
They are randomly placed:
WOW, that is RIDICULOUS. I can't believe they'd make it random, since without them the Terran sectors are so painful to move around. I also saw that they cost almost 300M each?

So then I'm not spoiling anything by saying I was given jump beacons in Oort Cloud, Pluto, Neptune (right by the Uranus accelerator), Mars and The Moon. Those are the ones that I found, at least. I really depended on those to help run Terran missions, especially using the Neptune one. It sucked not having one closer to Saturn but I thought it was just how they had planned things, thematically. Guess not!

So I don't want to flood with a bunch of threads but I had another unrelated question. Is there any rhyme or reason to where pirates will go out of their way to attack your satellites?? In a couple sectors (not pirate sectors! And I think without pirate bases?) they killed my satellites I put at 50-60km on the y-axis. Then when I went back, I saw their group up there waiting for me?? And when I fled and put the satellite instead all the way down on negative 60km on the y axis, they eventually killed that one too! This happened in Home of Opportunity and also Spires of Elusion.

https://i.imgur.com/leGEqtx.jpg

AleksMain
Posts: 907
Joined: Thu, 21. Sep 06, 11:05
x3tc

Re: Raise reputation through trading?

Post by AleksMain » Sat, 29. Aug 20, 20:18

Lotharian wrote:
Sat, 29. Aug 20, 19:45
...
So I don't want to flood with a bunch of threads but I had another unrelated question. Is there any rhyme or reason to where pirates will go out of their way to attack your satellites?? In a couple sectors (not pirate sectors! And I think without pirate bases?) they killed my satellites I put at 50-60km on the y-axis. Then when I went back, I saw their group up there waiting for me?? And when I fled and put the satellite instead all the way down on negative 60km on the y axis, they eventually killed that one too! This happened in Home of Opportunity and also Spires of Elusion.

https://i.imgur.com/leGEqtx.jpg
Maybe someone will reply about satellites. I don't use them.

In my games Pirates are not threat for my ships. They are training dummies.

Here is information about Pirate ships:
Serial Kicked wrote:
Tue, 18. Jul 06, 15:15
...
In fact, in X3, only some pirate ships will spawn in pirate bases. Most of them don't and are usually generated around gates or in OOS pirate sectors.

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

Post by jlehtone » Sun, 30. Aug 20, 20:44

My satellites are hardly ever harassed by anything and they are only about 25 km from the eplictic. (I like to see what happens at the gates.)
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

Alan Phipps
Moderator (English)
Moderator (English)
Posts: 30368
Joined: Fri, 16. Apr 04, 19:21
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

Post by Alan Phipps » Sun, 30. Aug 20, 21:26

Since a group of pirates killed your satellite far off the ecliptic and then 'waited for you', I suspect that what happened was that they followed some wandering NPC ship such as an explorer/surveyor/miner that they intended to harrass, incidentally finding your satellite in the process, and then were so far away from other targets that there was nothing to attract them away afterwards.

It was probably just bad lack that an NPC ship led them into scanner range of your asset. Maybe consider what NPC traffic may be moving further afield in a sector and why before placing satellites. Just a thought anyway.
A dog has a master; a cat has domestic staff.

Lotharian
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat, 23. Mar 19, 17:35

Re: Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

Post by Lotharian » Mon, 31. Aug 20, 02:49

This doesn't seem like what happened? Remember they killed two satellites in the same system. One I placed 50km+ above in y, then saw the group shown in the picture at that location, which kept approaching my remote piloted exploration ship. I had it place the other satellite beyond 60km on the opposite side, in negative y. That satellite was also killed. Seems very unlikely to be by accident both times in the same system.

I haven't killed anything in this playthrough thus far. ONCE early on I shot a little at 1 pirate which was already under attack by Argon forces. 4 days later into the gametime I had another pirate group dogging me in a fairly populous system. I tried to make them wreck into an asteroid but unfortunately it didn't work, lol. Anyway, some of them definitely seem to have it in for me.

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

Post by jlehtone » Mon, 31. Aug 20, 12:03

Alan Phipps wrote:
Sun, 30. Aug 20, 21:26
... some wandering NPC ship such as an explorer/surveyor/miner ...
X3 does not have those. X4 does. X3 does have border control / police, but they do not wander far off.
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

Alan Phipps
Moderator (English)
Moderator (English)
Posts: 30368
Joined: Fri, 16. Apr 04, 19:21
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

Post by Alan Phipps » Mon, 31. Aug 20, 14:44

It certainly has AI miners and rock collectors that wander about the sector searching for where resources might be found and they can travel quite a ways in all dimensions.

The player has AI scouts/explorers that can autoexplore in patterns as ordered and the pirates can follow them even if without catching them.

Then there are the Goners 'spreading the word' in the most unlikely of places. I won't mention UFOs ... :D
A dog has a master; a cat has domestic staff.

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

Post by jlehtone » Mon, 31. Aug 20, 17:00

NPC miners? Wow. No recollection. Thought that NPC is happy with its Mines and 'Roids & Rocks is just for the player. :oops:
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

Alan Phipps
Moderator (English)
Moderator (English)
Posts: 30368
Joined: Fri, 16. Apr 04, 19:21
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

Post by Alan Phipps » Mon, 31. Aug 20, 19:26

You are correct; I was using the term AI this time whereas I perhaps incorrectly used NPC as being a ship not directly flown by the player in my first post. (I have obviously spent too long in XR/X4 since my busy X3 days.)
A dog has a master; a cat has domestic staff.

Cycrow
Moderator (Script&Mod)
Moderator (Script&Mod)
Posts: 22201
Joined: Sun, 14. Nov 04, 23:26
x4

Re: Raise reputation through trading & Pirate spawning and intentions?

Post by Cycrow » Sun, 6. Sep 20, 20:20

There are NPC miners, but they are mostly in Terran Space, as they are Ice Miners

Post Reply

Return to “X Trilogy Universe”