Pirates seem flawed - makes the game not fun

[fistfullobeer]

Why is it when I select FEW and DISTANT pirates, they still appear in my home system? First off, Pirates should not be able to take over planets! Pirates should raid commerce lines and hijack ships, not land on home planets and take it over. Imagine if Jack Sparrow and his crew invaded England. Pirates should be something that develops in time, maybe tied to corruption and grow as the empire grows. Not suddenly appear in a system as if they were there all along. What, the capitol planet doesn't have radio and visual telescopes? Pirates should be the off-shoot of an empire growing and becoming more difficult to control and they should appear in the fringes of the empire first! I had one game with normal pirates and FIVE separate pirate bands suddenly popped up. And you can't remove them in the game editor, so I start a new game with fewer pirates. Maybe next time I'll just turn them off. Too bad, pirates could be fun to play against, could reduce the snowball effect, but their appearance so early just sucks the enjoyment out of the game.

[OrnluWolfjarl]

Don't disagree with you (pirates are bland and boring), but consider:

1. The pirates you are seeing might be part of your faction's storyline. Pirates don't normally take over planets. If you have storylines enabled, they will always spawn somewhere near you.

2. Pirates start with Hyperdrive technology, so they will eventually make their way to you, regardless of distance. Distant means you don't have to worry about dealing with their base early on, and reduces contact with their ships during early colonization. Pirates will still go around VISITING (not exploring) systems to find all the civilizations as early as possible, and interesting locations so they can start making money.

3. Few pirates again just affects the ratio between pirate factions and other major factions. Pirates tend to spread out in the galaxy, so whatever you do, you will very likely have at least 1 pirate faction in your general area of space.

4. Paying off the pirates is a perfectly valid strategy until you can deal with them. The protection racket is not particularly expensive early game. You can even game it because their asking fee depends on your income at the moment of the message to deal. If you drop your taxes completely for a moment, then you can agree to pay them crumbs. Paying off pirates, then giving them a few gifts can lead to better agreements. If you upgrade from protection agreement, you automatically stop paying them and their ships stop bothering you. Eventually they might ask to join your empire (which will give you a few high tech ships early to mid game).

5. You might be confusing "taking over planets" with raids? Pirates can attempt to raid your planets and stations for resources (if you aren't paying protection). But they don't really have troops to conquer planets.

6. The next DLC as I understand will be about pirates. So hopefully they'll stop being dull by then.

[fistfullobeer]

Don't disagree with you (pirates are bland and boring), but consider:

1. The pirates you are seeing might be part of your faction's storyline. Pirates don't normally take over planets. If you have storylines enabled, they will always spawn somewhere near you.

2. Pirates start with Hyperdrive technology, so they will eventually make their way to you, regardless of distance. Distant means you don't have to worry about dealing with their base early on, and reduces contact with their ships during early colonization. Pirates will still go around VISITING (not exploring) systems to find all the civilizations as early as possible, and interesting locations so they can start making money.

3. Few pirates again just affects the ratio between pirate factions and other major factions. Pirates tend to spread out in the galaxy, so whatever you do, you will very likely have at least 1 pirate faction in your general area of space.

4. Paying off the pirates is a perfectly valid strategy until you can deal with them. The protection racket is not particularly expensive early game. You can even game it because their asking fee depends on your income at the moment of the message to deal. If you drop your taxes completely for a moment, then you can agree to pay them crumbs. Paying off pirates, then giving them a few gifts can lead to better agreements. If you upgrade from protection agreement, you automatically stop paying them and their ships stop bothering you. Eventually they might ask to join your empire (which will give you a few high tech ships early to mid game).

5. You might be confusing "taking over planets" with raids? Pirates can attempt to raid your planets and stations for resources (if you aren't paying protection). But they don't really have troops to conquer planets.

6. The next DLC as I understand will be about pirates. So hopefully they'll stop being dull by then.

I was playing Human, not sure if the pirates are part of a faction story line, these pirates had nothing to do with the Ghost Fleet. That spawned in a different system.

I know how to pay off pirates, early game my tax rate is always 0 and the $125 extortion is fine from one faction, but 5 breaks the bank.

And sure, the message I received said I was being 'raided,' but the pirates wiped out my planet, they took it from me, they landed, there was ground combat, and my capitol disappeared. I had no other planets, game over. That was the game where 5 pirates factions spawned in my solar system. And EVERY game has a pirate spawning in my system, no matter what I set the pirate amount to (I have not tried NONE).

These things that happened are not 'boring' they are extremely frustrating and kill all fun in playing the game. But I'll await the next DLC and see what happens.

Thanks for reading my rant!

[OrnluWolfjarl]

Taking over your planet seems like a bug.

Do you mean 5 pirate bases spawned in your system? If so, that's definitely a bug.

[Jorgen_CAB]

It is random, so if you are unlucky you will get like five pirates in short order and tank your economy. That is part of playing an intentional imbalanced game that does not hold your hand...

However there are ways to deal with them. Unless they show up in you home system you should not really accept paying them off in the early game. Instead build a fleet of escorts and guard places they like to show up. Capture their ships and retire them for tech and resources.

In general I try to pay off the first two to three factions at best and only if they found my home planet. Once I have a mix of level 1 and 2 weapons and defense tech you are better fighting the pirates and capture their ships or simply find their bases and destroy them.

I also rarely now make any non aggression pacts anymore as that can hamper your efforts to incorporate independents. But it is good to have good relations with some pirates as they sometimes sell you vital information about independents so you can settle them as early as possible.

You have to understand that pirates can be an asset if used properly even now... I guess after the next expansion pirates and independents will become way more interesting than currently. At least that is my hope. In any way, pirates are not as dull as you say they are if you actually choose to interact with them rather than just see them as an obstacle that drain resources.

[fistfullobeer]

Taking over your planet seems like a bug.

Do you mean 5 pirate bases spawned in your system? If so, that's definitely a bug.

Yes, 5 separate pirate factions in my home system.

It is random, so if you are unlucky you will get like five pirates in short order and tank your economy. That is part of playing an intentional imbalanced game that does not hold your hand...

However there are ways to deal with them. Unless they show up in you home system you should not really accept paying them off in the early game. Instead build a fleet of escorts and guard places they like to show up. Capture their ships and retire them for tech and resources.

In general I try to pay off the first two to three factions at best and only if they found my home planet. Once I have a mix of level 1 and 2 weapons and defense tech you are better fighting the pirates and capture their ships or simply find their bases and destroy them.

I also rarely now make any non aggression pacts anymore as that can hamper your efforts to incorporate independents. But it is good to have good relations with some pirates as they sometimes sell you vital information about independents so you can settle them as early as possible.

You have to understand that pirates can be an asset if used properly even now... I guess after the next expansion pirates and independents will become way more interesting than currently. At least that is my hope. In any way, pirates are not as dull as you say they are if you actually choose to interact with them rather than just see them as an obstacle that drain resources.

I knew I would get the obligatory "you just don't know how to play the game" comment

[btd64]

Can you post a picture of your pirate settings?....GP

[Jorgen_CAB]

Taking over your planet seems like a bug.

Do you mean 5 pirate bases spawned in your system? If so, that's definitely a bug.

Yes, 5 separate pirate factions in my home system.

It is random, so if you are unlucky you will get like five pirates in short order and tank your economy. That is part of playing an intentional imbalanced game that does not hold your hand...

However there are ways to deal with them. Unless they show up in you home system you should not really accept paying them off in the early game. Instead build a fleet of escorts and guard places they like to show up. Capture their ships and retire them for tech and resources.

In general I try to pay off the first two to three factions at best and only if they found my home planet. Once I have a mix of level 1 and 2 weapons and defense tech you are better fighting the pirates and capture their ships or simply find their bases and destroy them.

I also rarely now make any non aggression pacts anymore as that can hamper your efforts to incorporate independents. But it is good to have good relations with some pirates as they sometimes sell you vital information about independents so you can settle them as early as possible.

You have to understand that pirates can be an asset if used properly even now... I guess after the next expansion pirates and independents will become way more interesting than currently. At least that is my hope. In any way, pirates are not as dull as you say they are if you actually choose to interact with them rather than just see them as an obstacle that drain resources.

I knew I would get the obligatory "you just don't know how to play the game" comment

If you only want people to scratch your back and agree with you, you should not write in a forum like this.

You obviously don't even want constructive criticism to your rants.

No one disagree that Pirates are a bit barebones right now... but you still can interact with them and they still do what they are suppose to do and you can gain benefit from them if you use them.

It also is fine if you don't like the mechanic, but that does not mean you can't interact with them and have some benefit from this mechanic in the game.

At least you are factually wrong they have no purpose and can't be somewhat interesting if you make the effort to interact with them.

What you like or don't like is free but it does not alter facts.