Can we PLEASE have a way to stop BUC destroy satellites?

[MKL81]

With new BETA I gave it a go and decided for unmodded run, just to realize how I dislike certain mechanics. The tedious leveling of pilots aside (level up him for at least 40h to get those 3 stars only to lose him in some completely idiotic incident to a Pillager is infuriating), I just so very dislike this mechanics, that is only there to irritate the player, especially if you run extensive trading and mining operations in Paranid sectors to help them with economy. I don't mind that happening in unclaimed sectors, that are home to pirate activity like Moo-Kyes, but I will never understand why this mechanism was introduced in the first place. I know Egosoft will most probably never change that anyway, but just had to write it to find to vent my frustration, that's it. Thank you for reading

[Falcrack]

Do what I did. In those sectors where BUC is destroying satellites, purchase a 1x1x1 plot in the center, and build a sensor array. They won't touch that.

[Raptor34]

Frankly I'm more surprised that people just ignore satellites.
Like apparently the Xenon are literally animals who just ignores all the cameras I put up in their preserve.

[chew-ie]

BUC can go home - if they hit my radar stations they can kiss their faction good bye.

[MKL81]

Do what I did. In those sectors where BUC is destroying satellites, purchase a 1x1x1 plot in the center, and build a sensor array. They won't touch that.

Well, I guess then it is time to do it maybe, I always wonder if sensor array modules impact performance or not, prefered not to build them if not really wanted to. Anyone noticed impact of many sensor array stations on performance in-game?

Frankly I'm more surprised that people just ignore satellites.
Like apparently the Xenon are literally animals who just ignores all the cameras I put up in their preserve.

What would be the point of deploying them in the first place if everyone would be bothered by it? I get that due to role-play reasons we might need to maybe befriend a faction first to get some sort of yet another license to deploy them (Egosoft please do not take this idea ) but honestly I'm much more surprised that in XXX century we still need to uncover stations manually, like everything should be connected digitally by now

[Raptor34]

Do what I did. In those sectors where BUC is destroying satellites, purchase a 1x1x1 plot in the center, and build a sensor array. They won't touch that.

Well, I guess then it is time to do it maybe, I always wonder if sensor array modules impact performance or not, prefered not to build them if not really wanted to. Anyone noticed impact of many sensor array stations on performance in-game?

Frankly I'm more surprised that people just ignore satellites.
Like apparently the Xenon are literally animals who just ignores all the cameras I put up in their preserve.

What would be the point of deploying them in the first place if everyone would be bothered by it? I get that due to role-play reasons we might need to maybe befriend a faction first to get some sort of yet another license to deploy them (Egosoft please do not take this idea ) but honestly I'm much more surprised that in XXX century we still need to uncover stations manually, like everything should be connected digitally by now

Enemies ignore them. Like I said, you can literally blanket Xenon space with it and they just ignore it. BUC is the only faction that actually acts realistically. Well, semi I guess since they aren't technically enemies.
I agree though that needing to go uncover everything manually is kinda dumb. Like do they not want customers or something? That and needing to keep a sat around to keep prices updated until you get the trade sub.

[flywlyx]

What would be the point of deploying them in the first place if everyone would be bothered by it? I get that due to role-play reasons we might need to maybe befriend a faction first to get some sort of yet another license to deploy them (Egosoft please do not take this idea ) but honestly I'm much more surprised that in XXX century we still need to uncover stations manually, like everything should be connected digitally by now

You might think Uncover works like Google Street View — even though Google has already done all the work, they won’t share the complete data package with you since you're a competitor. So, you still have to manually collect that data yourself.

What I don’t understand is the mission system. Manually collecting those missions just doesn’t make sense.

[Raptor34]

What would be the point of deploying them in the first place if everyone would be bothered by it? I get that due to role-play reasons we might need to maybe befriend a faction first to get some sort of yet another license to deploy them (Egosoft please do not take this idea ) but honestly I'm much more surprised that in XXX century we still need to uncover stations manually, like everything should be connected digitally by now

You might think Uncover works like Google Street View — even though Google has already done all the work, they won’t share the complete data package with you since you're a competitor. So, you still have to manually collect that data yourself.

What I don’t understand is the mission system. Manually collecting those missions just doesn’t make sense.

You can literally say the same about the mission system what you said about map data.
Also it's more like a supermarket, but no, I won't tell you where we are and I won't tell you what my prices are. In reality they should either not be trading with you in the first place, or blasting their trade offers and locations out for everyone to hear.

[TheDeliveryMan]

That and needing to keep a sat around to keep prices updated until you get the trade sub.

No need for sats. Everytime one of your ships visits, or passes by, a station you will get up-to-date trade info of that station for the next five hours. A busy trade network keeps everything up-to-date all by itself. Just some remote will expire if they haven't been visited for five hours. Think of it as stations sending offers and price tables to good, frequent customers.

[Raptor34]

That and needing to keep a sat around to keep prices updated until you get the trade sub.

No need for sats. Everytime one of your ships visits, or passes by, a station you will get up-to-date trade info of that station for the next five hours. A busy trade network keeps everything up-to-date all by itself. Just some remote will expire if they haven't been visited for five hours. Think of it as stations sending offers and price tables to good, frequent customers.

Fair. But I'll prefer if they have a universal trading board where people can see where the best prices are. Like the old best buy best sell modules.
Like I'm fairly certain NPCs do not need to jump through as many hoops as the player to get up to date prices. Because clearly the player is the only good businessman in the whole X universe who knows the arcane art of advertisement.

[LameFox]

I've almost stopped using satellites at this point. The mechanics of placing them is shallow and tedious, I'm not going to deal with replacing them too. Especially when they're just not really necessary anymore.

For traders I set up some repeat orders scout ships until I can get trade subscriptions. For watching an area (e.g. to farm BUC Promethei) I use a station and WSA. And for most of the map I just don't bother to keep it constantly updated at all.

[Raptor34]

And for most of the map I just don't bother to keep it constantly updated at all.

Because frankly for most of the map there is no need to actually keep it updated. Once you have a trade network going, things just work. Eventually.
Or to put it another way. If I'm not checking that section of the map every half hour. It doesn't need monitoring.
Well, I guess pirates would need a wide surveillance network to find prey. Which incidentally makes it even weirder that that very surveillance network is tolerated.

Hmmm... Maybe now that we got diplomacy with agents, we should get some espionage style thing where we can steal trade schedules. Like since trade is currently done on the trade reservation system, and since it has a timer however inaccurate it is. Like what if we can get that in an easily parsed form? And since NPCs for the most part don't seem to use blacklists, we can then actually track where they are ourselves instead of just plastering satellites everywhere and have GOD cast invisibility on them. Invisibility to all but BUC.

[adeine]

Doing the plot line and making TEM is a way to stop it from happening.

[MKL81]

You might think Uncover works like Google Street View — even though Google has already done all the work, they won’t share the complete data package with you since you're a competitor. So, you still have to manually collect that data yourself.

Not sure if this is right comparison. I'm not a competitor, I am and end user and their maps are a service and a grand B2B/B2C platform. They exchange the data with almost everyone interested. It's not like I need to have someone visited the Grand Canyon for me personally to map this place, that was already visited by millions, just to be able to see the map if it and plan my tour.

No need for sats. Everytime one of your ships visits, or passes by, a station you will get up-to-date trade info of that station for the next five hours. A busy trade network keeps everything up-to-date all by itself. Just some remote will expire if they haven't been visited for five hours. Think of it as stations sending offers and price tables to good, frequent customers.

Call me crazy but I just don't like this approach to have a ship just to know the prices of goods. It's like back to old times where you had to send a horse messenger to some person of interest in another town. That feels totally inadequate and off when being able to traverse vast distances between planets in a spaceship, that travels through portals in space. A wird mix of low and high-tech.

[jlehtone]

Frankly I'm more surprised that people just ignore satellites.
Like apparently the Xenon are literally animals who just ignores all the cameras I put up in their preserve.

What would be the point of deploying them in the first place if everyone would be bothered by it? I get that due to role-play reasons we might need to maybe befriend a faction first to get some sort of yet another license to deploy them (Egosoft please do not take this idea ) but honestly I'm much more surprised that in XXX century we still need to uncover stations manually, like everything should be connected digitally by now

Enemies ignore them. Like I said, you can literally blanket Xenon space with it and they just ignore it. BUC is the only faction that actually acts realistically. Well, semi I guess since they aren't technically enemies.

Wiping out enemy satellites from your space occasionally would make sense. Now we can see what happens in enemy sectors after one round of satellite placement.


By the time I did trade I did already have trade subscriptions; never needed satellites for market data. It is the knowledge about fleet movements that gives an advantage.


Besides, (Guild) missions tend to target same spot with "Deploy Satellites" missions. One more to where a dozen ZYA sats already watch ARG traffic seems redundant. I would not mind it ARG would make more space for them.

[Raptor34]

What would be the point of deploying them in the first place if everyone would be bothered by it? I get that due to role-play reasons we might need to maybe befriend a faction first to get some sort of yet another license to deploy them (Egosoft please do not take this idea ) but honestly I'm much more surprised that in XXX century we still need to uncover stations manually, like everything should be connected digitally by now

Enemies ignore them. Like I said, you can literally blanket Xenon space with it and they just ignore it. BUC is the only faction that actually acts realistically. Well, semi I guess since they aren't technically enemies.

Wiping out enemy satellites from your space occasionally would make sense. Now we can see what happens in enemy sectors after one round of satellite placement.


By the time I did trade I did already have trade subscriptions; never needed satellites for market data. It is the knowledge about fleet movements that gives an advantage.


Besides, (Guild) missions tend to target same spot with "Deploy Satellites" missions. One more to where a dozen ZYA sats already watch ARG traffic seems redundant. I would not mind it ARG would make more space for them.

Intel is important. Or more like should be important. But factions are impotent about denying them, except BUC because they have the magic ability of dispel invisibility so they can see your satellites.
Then again thinking back to some of the fics of the old X-games, or it might have been lore from the games themselves, satellites aren't just observation posts, they also do comms too.
Otherwise I was thinking they should really have factions hunt down hostile or potential hostile satellites the way they do military assets. Because essentially they are.

Otherwise ideally they should have like camo satellites you need to research and produce yourself, these would work the way they do now with an invisibility field. Then the sats you buy by the boatload and spam would be visible and treated as legit targets. For the most part nothing would change, but you no longer get free intel on hostiles, while neutrals and friendlies would just continue ignoring them. Khaak... Should ignore them too. Unless you want to be really nasty and make camo sats require nividium, then those draw Khaak, or more like Khaak can see through the camo, so if someone drags Khaak within range they can detect it.

[jlehtone]

Stealth tech. The NPC factions, if they do use (the intel from) satellites, should deploy some stealth sats too.

[flywlyx]

Not sure if this is right comparison. I'm not a competitor, I am and end user and their maps are a service and a grand B2B/B2C platform. They exchange the data with almost everyone interested. It's not like I need to have someone visited the Grand Canyon for me personally to map this place, that was already visited by millions, just to be able to see the map if it and plan my tour.

The maps are available for purchase. You can buy the digital version, which includes real-time updates, for 10M, or access the free camera view by reaching 27 reputation.

Otherwise ideally they should have like camo satellites you need to research and produce yourself, these would work the way they do now with an invisibility field. Then the sats you buy by the boatload and spam would be visible and treated as legit targets. For the most part nothing would change, but you no longer get free intel on hostiles, while neutrals and friendlies would just continue ignoring them. Khaak... Should ignore them too. Unless you want to be really nasty and make camo sats require nividium, then those draw Khaak, or more like Khaak can see through the camo, so if someone drags Khaak within range they can detect it.

The Nividium satellite makes sense—an all-powerful god-like view should come at a high price.

[Raptor34]

Otherwise ideally they should have like camo satellites you need to research and produce yourself, these would work the way they do now with an invisibility field. Then the sats you buy by the boatload and spam would be visible and treated as legit targets. For the most part nothing would change, but you no longer get free intel on hostiles, while neutrals and friendlies would just continue ignoring them. Khaak... Should ignore them too. Unless you want to be really nasty and make camo sats require nividium, then those draw Khaak, or more like Khaak can see through the camo, so if someone drags Khaak within range they can detect it.

The Nividium satellite makes sense—an all-powerful god-like view should come at a high price.

Nividium having more uses is nice. Also nice if we can use it to direct Khaak attacks. Like it'll be easier for me to deal with Khaak if they say focused on my nividium miners instead of hitting all my miners, even if the attack force was larger than the rest combined.
Think I've once suggested some use for some reason, but the other part was stockpiling nividium above a certain level triggers Ravager attacks. Which could be useful if this reduces other attacks because it's easier to fortify a station rather than dozens of mining spots.

[vvvvvvvv]

With new BETA I gave it a go and decided for unmodded run, just to realize how I dislike certain mechanics. The tedious leveling of pilots aside (level up him for at least 40h to get those 3 stars only to lose him in some completely idiotic incident to a Pillager is infuriating), I just so very dislike this mechanics, that is only there to irritate the player, especially if you run extensive trading and mining operations in Paranid sectors to help them with economy. I don't mind that happening in unclaimed sectors, that are home to pirate activity like Moo-Kyes, but I will never understand why this mechanism was introduced in the first place. I know Egosoft will most probably never change that anyway, but just had to write it to find to vent my frustration, that's it. Thank you for reading

You can proceed with Paranid plotline, one of the options will transform BUC, unlocking their rep.

A more practical solution is to use listening post - with wide range sensor. Bug nukes satellites in very small number of sectors.

The other faction that destroys satellites is SCA. In Moo-kyo/etc sectors.