Yeah!! The Aliens are fiendish evil doers that eat peoples brains, Cmon its got to be them!



Actually, I just made that up. But the they're the only ones that would likely do it, No?

Every vote counts!

I liked what Slowhands said about pirates being Ubiquitous. I tend to agree piracy always rages on the fringes of civilization.



what I don't agree with the more I think about it is a common 'backstory' for pirates.



the reason the reavers worked so well for me in Firefly was the very mystery of where they came from. In Firefly there was one cataclysmic event which created the reaver 'race'. In the universe as a whole wouldn't there be a number of things that drive a group to piracy?



why they can't they be a sprinkling of all three vote selections? then the third one would work as well.



I guess I like some mystery out there which I can't quite define.

I liked what Slowhands said about pirates being Ubiquitous. I tend to agree piracy always rages on the fringes of civilization.



what I don't agree with the more I think about it is a common 'backstory' for pirates.



the reason the reavers worked so well for me in Firefly was the very mystery of where they came from. In Firefly there was one cataclysmic event which created the reaver 'race'. In the universe as a whole wouldn't there be a number of things that drive a group to piracy?

Yes I agree.

why they can't they be a sprinkling of all three vote selections? then the third one would work as well.

I think the aliens would just enslave all the other races pirates though.

I guess I like some mystery out there which I can't quite define.

Me too.

maceman wrote:
Pirates could simply be anyone that picked up an old Endless wrech and figured out how to make it run... fit on a couple torp tubes or some pop pop rail guns and voila!



pull over or we'll pull your cargo from the wreckage.



any time there is a precursor race with random bits left around it is easy to conceive of someone finding said tech and deciding to reap personal gains rather than the good of their race.



I don't see why this is soo far-fetched and hard for people to believe. I mean is Somalia a high tech haven?

Bad example. Somalia is a different kettle of fish.

First, the pirates there go around in old fishing boats, they capture ships and ransom them back. Note that the ransoms in question are small.

Secondly, it's Somalia so no big powers give a damn, and the pirates can hide easily.



Neither of those are true in space. Where are pirates supposed to hide? On a planet? No way. Their ship(s) would be too easily identified and tracked.

on some remote asteroid? Can work, but that's not exactly a friendly enviroment. Food, oxygen - you need all those things. And you need a proper base set up. For spaceships, repair facilities. Spaceships are NOT cars that any shlock can easily repair with bolt-on-parts.

Given that there is no stealth in space, hiding you base is gonan be tricky at best. Especially with ships coming and going.



A entire race gone amok makes more sense than pirates.

TrashMan wrote:
Bad example. Somalia is a different kettle of fish.

First, the pirates there go around in old fishing boats[...]

I can only second that. We're just talking about the inconsistency in the early game when every ship technology is essentially new, shiny and kept top secret.

There are no old fishing spaceships in that phase.

True, but at some point, spaceships become more common, the stellar equivalent of a modern day trampfreighter for example. And small colonies would be natural preys for such pirates as a navy is usually limited in its number of hulls.

Also, same pirates could also raid commerce and disturb supply lines.

Keep in mind that there is a tilting point where it is more economical to let the pirates operate. Once they do too much damage, then it makes more sense to shut them down. Speaking strictly from an economical, not a moral point of view.

Also a strong central gouvernment would actually have a vested interest in pirates as it would provide him with the perfect cover to ensure that his army/navy have bases all over known space, which would then also reduce the chances of uprisings in the colonies or a declaration of independance or whatever.

True, but as far as I can tell the contra piracy-background voters are only concerned about the inconsistency of early game criminal pirates.



For the rest: Don't forget the good old letters of marque which governments issued to fund piracy that ailed other nations. It was almost a race about who'd fund the most effective pirates to "legally" harm other nations' traderoutes without declaring war, outright.



But that would happen midgame, if ever.

The Alien Option - or first choice in Games2gether - ought to get the most votes. For 2 main reasons:

[LIST=1]

The Aliens look way cooler. Soft-handed whip crackers make for an interesting blend.

Their background story is much more poetic.

[/LIST]

Cmon, guys! Vote before it's too late.

However at the end of the day, having several Pirate types would be very enriching.

I just found this site and read through them all and I had the same reflection as the OP. The third option just seemed awkward to me... I voted for the first option, the Aliens, who sounded more genuine and real to me. But then, I'm new and my vote don't count for much...

Wouldn't take a bet on that one Saba...



Alas, some people are inherently evil enough that you don't need aliens...



As for the brain-eating thingie... well I am sure that it happened in our history already.

One basic assumption that you can make about the universe of Endless Space is that it is NOT empty. It is full of stars which are full of planets, and the planets are full of civilizations -- starting, thriving, rising, fading, long-dead, or any mix of those. We think players should view the stars as a source of endless riches and adventure, not as an empty void with occasional, tiny sparks of life.



When we think of the Endless Space galaxies, we think of NASA images like this:







We don't want players to view the galaxy as a cold, sterile, empty place; it is full of life and resources and danger and hope and terror and everything else...



...like pirates...

The pretzel brain too!!

And ninja-robot-pirate-monkeys... dont ever forget those.

Long live our mighty alien Pirate lords!







Is this the effect of this thread, or the invisible hand (Soviet-style) of Space-Storm?



Anyway, Wasn't the poll supposed to end yesterday night?



@Slowhands: thx for your depiction of a crowded Endless Space. Much cheerfuller as an Endless & Empty Space. Too bad I cannot see your picture.

Ogrette wrote:
Anyway, Wasn't the poll supposed to end yesterday night?

I feel a movement in the Force...

Here are the winners of the G2G votes concerning the UE Small Alternate Ship and the Pirates' background story.



For the small UE spaceship, the winner is version B



Concerning the Pirate Background, choice C (Criminals) is victorious, we will start working on the concepts very soon.

Indeed the vote ended officially yesterday as SpaceTroll mentioned.



New G2G votes are now available:



- You'll be able to choose the Cravers and the United Empire Spaceship names, the vote proposes different lexicons for each faction that will be our inspiration for the spaceship names.

If you guys have any additional ideas that could be included within those lexicons/themes, don't hesitate to shoot!



- We made a quick VIP-only contest and they have been creating a lot of biographies for the United Empire and Cravers' Heroes. It will be up to you to choose the winner for each faction!



It's now your turn to create your Hero bios for the Cravers and the United Empire, the best bios will be included in-game. Just head to Slowhands thread on the forums, to check out the rules!



I will not be present next week on the forums (I need to make a quick space trip to an Endless temple, as our Dust resources are getting low here at Amplitude) so the next G2G vote will go on for around ten days.

Ogrette wrote:
I feel a movement in the Force...

I am the force!!!

TrashMan wrote:
Bad example. Somalia is a different kettle of fish.

First, the pirates there go around in old fishing boats, they capture ships and ransom them back. Note that the ransoms in question are small.

Secondly, it's Somalia so no big powers give a damn, and the pirates can hide easily.



Neither of those are true in space. Where are pirates supposed to hide? On a planet? No way. Their ship(s) would be too easily identified and tracked.

on some remote asteroid? Can work, but that's not exactly a friendly enviroment. Food, oxygen - you need all those things. And you need a proper base set up. For spaceships, repair facilities. Spaceships are NOT cars that any shlock can easily repair with bolt-on-parts.

Given that there is no stealth in space, hiding you base is gonan be tricky at best. Especially with ships coming and going.



A entire race gone amok makes more sense than pirates.

Part of the reason Combined Task Force 150 was set up was for piracy so big powers kinda care a bit.Saying no stealth in space is also your opinion and it tends be included in all space 4x games beause it is fun and a game.



Some people seem to think thinking it so makes it so.

that's why I would not have chosen the third option



so guys you have until Wednesday night to CHANGE YOUR MIND!!!



(I am not sure what the rules are... can I take sides?)

well perhaps they are outcasts from multiple civs rather than just from your race? then they could be using a sprinkling of tech from all over the Galaxies and have their own network and hierarchy which could predate your civ's development.

Aliens are cooler, that is all.

The thing if they are outcastst they dont have the resources to leave the planet!

yeh aliens better lol

znork wrote:
The thing if they are outcastst they dont have the resources to leave the planet!

Well, organised crime makes a few hundred billion euros per year on earth right now. I agree that they'd probably not be the first people to go into space, nor the second. They'd probably become a problem once spacecraft are available for business people, not before.



Then you'll just have to make the criminals other race's criminals, offsprings etc. The only logical problem is, that beside the endless there are hardly any factions (that I've read of, so far, at least...) that could produce such criminal outcasts and spread them over the whole galaxy.



By the way, I voted for the aliens, too. An easier explanation for everything, that way.

Pirates are ubiquitous. Pirates have existed in every era and come from every country; from the Greek and Roman eras through the Vikings and the era of colonialization up through Somalia today. Pirates have been Chinese, British, Malay, French, Philippine, American, Dutch, Ottoman, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese... There have been coastal empires whose governments encouraged piracy (or privateers, a question of point of view) as part of their military strategy like Maratha in India or the Barbary corsairs, not to mention the European governments who used privateers as an extension of their colonial policies. In short, as long as there have been means of transport and things of value there has been piracy. Probably the only country in history that hasn't had pirates is Switzerland, and maybe the Vatican City. But I digress.



To be precise, piracy only exists under a very particular set of conditions:

• Sufficient skilled seamen (or in this case, technicians) to run a fairly complex ship, and who are desperate or greedy enough to choose this line of work,
• Enough trade or settlements that there are worthwhile prizes to take or colonies to plunder,
• Friendly or neutral ports where they can repair and purchase supples, and
• Scarce enough law enforcement that the risk is worth the reward.
  
  

The universe of Endless Space, as we see it, fulfills all four of these requirements -- at least early in the game. There will be eight factions in the game, but they are not the only peoples out there in space. Pirates could easily come from an undiscovered faction, a minor planet, a bunch of renegades living in an old hulk of an Endless ship, etc. And as long as the empires in the game are growing, and there are solar systems that are not under the influence of a faction, pirates could certainly use those systems as safe havens.



There are also occasions, admittedly rare, when pirates banded together for joint operations, such as the "Brethren of the Coast" and Drake's ragtag army when he raided Panama. There even more examples of criminal cartels where enemies pull together to promote their common goals, from South American drug lords to the mafia to Eastern European syndicates.



But if you guys don't like criminal pirates, don't vote for them, and you'll never hear from them again

From where i see it slowhands is that the it would be more like cristopher columbus beeing radided by capitain black bill on his way to americas. There has to be som civilaztion first before the pirates can apeare. so they have to come later in the game.

Id have to concur with znork. Its illogical to have those kind of ppl out there.... especially if there are not enough shipsizes researched etc...



"Oh I just saw a massive pirateship while all I have is a small ship... and we are the same species... ZOMG!!!" - that makes less sense.

Having all three types during different stages of the game could be a better way to look at it and also dependent on the state of the galaxy. A ancient galaxy with a well developed empire to start with might have pirates that are brigands... while a new galaxy with non-developed empires that just realised there are stars to travel among would favor the aliens.



So why not just use all three depending on the type of game???! Is it really that hard to have three different bios to load or are there ship-designs specifically thought out for these? If some are pieced together then it might not do something if they are just built together from different parts of the 3D-models of the other ships (scavenging type)

So for thosse of you that have been fowlowing the votes the devs have now asked us to vote for som ship design and the pirate bio.



there are 3 difrant cenarios beeing layed out for pirates alianse, fantics and criminals. Ill asume you have read them on the web page.



My point is that the 3.rd option the criminals the one most of you like cant posably work. If we asume you are new spices in this world and we are now about the explorer the galaxy how can the pirates be criminals? This are bascly warlords they are talking about in the descrption.



So my argument would be that if they are criminals they have to come late game. after you civ has become bigger.

znork wrote:
From where i see it slowhands is that the it would be more like cristopher columbus beeing radided by capitain black bill on his way to americas. There has to be som civilaztion first before the pirates can apeare. so they have to come later in the game.

The pirates are not just from your race.He just stated that.

There will be eight factions in the game, but they are not the only peoples out there in space. Pirates could easily come from an undiscovered faction, a minor planet, a bunch of renegades living in an old hulk of an Endless ship, etc.

still dosent make senses dose it?

I voted for the aliens.

why not have the "pirates" like the reapers from Firefly/Serenity? mad, blood thrusty, crazy pirates who just want to cause havok and death? ok again may not work until abit later in the game but that would be cool to have barrage after barrage of ships coming at you, kinda a "Gears Horde Mode" in space!

Pirates could simply be anyone that picked up an old Endless wrech and figured out how to make it run... fit on a couple torp tubes or some pop pop rail guns and voila!



pull over or we'll pull your cargo from the wreckage.



any time there is a precursor race with random bits left around it is easy to conceive of someone finding said tech and deciding to reap personal gains rather than the good of their race.



I don't see why this is soo far-fetched and hard for people to believe. I mean is Somalia a high tech haven?

Alderbranch wrote:
Id have to concur with znork. Its illogical to have those kind of ppl out there.... especially if there are not enough shipsizes researched etc...



"Oh I just saw a massive pirateship while all I have is a small ship... and we are the same species... ZOMG!!!" - that makes less sense.

Having all three types during different stages of the game could be a better way to look at it and also dependent on the state of the galaxy. A ancient galaxy with a well developed empire to start with might have pirates that are brigands... while a new galaxy with non-developed empires that just realised there are stars to travel among would favor the aliens.



So why not just use all three depending on the type of game???! Is it really that hard to have three different bios to load or are there ship-designs specifically thought out for these? If some are pieced together then it might not do something if they are just built together from different parts of the 3D-models of the other ships (scavenging type)

SpaceTroll wrote:
that's why I would not have chosen the third option



so guys you have until Wednesday night to CHANGE YOUR MIND!!!



(I am not sure what the rules are... can I take sides?)

Ofcourse you can take sides. It just means the devs are involved in the community and thus the effect you are after. If this is to be G2G then you should have your opinion right here and right now. Get up on the palisades and roar like the rest of the nutters in here. ^^

Ashbery76 wrote:
The pirates are not just from your race.He just stated that.

Yeah he did state that but he did not take into account interracial problems with fighting amongst themselves etc. Try get the factions to get along that normally fight in the game under the same roof. And if there are undiscovered races then thats aliens no?

Having all three loading dependent on the game type is still the best.

Maulka wrote:
why not have the "pirates" like the reapers from Firefly/Serenity? mad, blood thrusty, crazy pirates who just want to cause havok and death? ok again may not work until abit later in the game but that would be cool to have barrage after barrage of ships coming at you, kinda a "Gears Horde Mode" in space!

Exactly my thoughts. Though i based my examples in other forum on Zuuls and raiders from Homeworld.



I want to see a nomadic raiders that are present everywhere in the galaxy (one base of operation that spawns fleets that raid local stars) rather than criminals or fanatics. Those can launch slaver raids, capture lone ships, raid colonies and outposts etc.



The whole criminal world that each race may have as well as fanatics, 'green peace' like organisations etc. could be represented by random events (with options or not) based on a system`s security level, approval or even current research. Some examples: pirates raiding a non-protected system with developing colonies (blocking any income from it until you send a fleet there), fanatics protesting against exploration of the temple threatening you with terror attacks, pro-purity organisation protesting against a specific bio/cyber/other tech, a gang that harasses the local population (can be bribed or eradicated).