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.