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Author Topic: so how does security actually work?  (Read 2141 times)

Warlord-616x

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so how does security actually work?
« on: October 23, 2020, 06:45:08 PM »

hey guys so just got done being trolled by the ds server and sure they got a good laugh on me.

they told me that if i ran dark and avoided the patrol i could get past him.  well stupid me speeds a half hour trying every combination of thus and no matter what he makes a b line straight at me. 

but then in frustration i finally not only just run straight at the station but the patrol turns away from me and breaks his normal patrol pattern to do so.  is my transponder on? guess what? its still very much off.  i couldnt help but laugh and reloaded it and guess what? he does the exact same thing.

to which the response was: git good.  haha real funny right?

Im not laughing.
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Alex

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Re: so how does security actually work?
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2020, 07:41:24 PM »

Just a real quick note: if the patrol sees you when you have your transponder on, and you turn it off, they will head to your last known location and look for you there. To avoid this you need to go dark before you're seen. Sitting still in a ring system or an asteroid field, or just being really far away can get the job done. You can also draw the patrol off by firing off a sensor burst and then go around it as it heads for you. Basically, there are ways to manage this.

Don't know what happened when it decided to avoid you; maybe it went after something else? Can't say for sure without seeing what was going on. (... actually, it's possible that it was trying to intercept you and was projecting a course beyond its own current location, making it go away from you. That's a glitch that's fixed for the next release.)
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Morrokain

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Re: so how does security actually work?
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2020, 07:44:51 PM »

Sorry you are feeling frustrated! (FWIW, it took me a bit to figure the stealth mechanics out too.)

This might help: Make sure you aren't using overly large or easily "spot-able" ships when you are trying to sneak. This is determined by your sensor profile - which notably increases with hull size and if the ship is considered civilian. Iirc, only the top 5? ships in the fleet with the highest number contributes to your profile, so the addition of even a single ship of a large hull size will make a huge impact.

There are some hullmods (insulated engines and militarized subsystems I think) that reduce this number for a given ship and can even negate the effect of the civilian ship's profile increase, and phase ships also have lower sensor profiles than other ships.

Once your profile is low enough, you should be able to see visible rings representing the distance where a patrol can actually see your fleet and from there it is just a matter of avoiding the rings until you can dock at the market.
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Warlord-616x

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Re: so how does security actually work?
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2020, 12:40:24 PM »

ya i guess i just dont understand this game when you buy things like lobsters and then undock and the security immediately veers straight at you and dings you for it the second you undock.  its not even illegal here, but ya he threw a fit, and second how did he know i had it on me when i had just bought it? he burned at me the second i undocked tho.

i mean cmon....
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SafariJohn

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Re: so how does security actually work?
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2020, 01:39:20 PM »

You bought off the black market. The more you buy, the more likely a patrol will try to scan you.
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Morrokain

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Re: so how does security actually work?
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2020, 02:08:34 PM »

You bought off the black market. The more you buy, the more likely a patrol will try to scan you.

There is also a way to look at how suspicious your overall transactions are and how likely a patrol will pursue you. If you hover your mouse over the black market icon, at the bottom of the tooltip it was say "suspicion level: none" at first but as you buy or sell off the black market it will change to "suspicion level: low" - "suspicion level: medium" - "suspicion level: high" etc.

The patrol chasing you is RNG, but this rating affects how likely or unlikely it will happen. Reputation is also a large factor here. So if you are friendly with a faction, even a "suspicion level: high" transaction is far less likely to provoke a patrol into pursuing and scanning you.

Also keep in mind that even if they scan you there is a chance that the patrol won't find your contraband and you won't lose any rep. If they do find it and the fleet is weaker than yours, I think you can simply refuse to hand it over for a rep loss - or just refuse the scan in the first place.

*EDIT*
Also, during the transaction as your suspicion raises you can somewhat lower it back down again by also making transactions on the regular market to "cover" your black market dealings with legitimate business. It takes a disproportionate amount of legitimate trade to do this. One thing I like to do is purchase black market goods after a salvage run because I typically have a large quantity of metals to cover the black market transaction by selling the metals on the normal market.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2020, 02:11:53 PM by Morrokain »
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basileus

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Re: so how does security actually work?
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2020, 07:16:19 AM »

Certain ships have shielded cargo bays, which make it less likely that patrols will find contraband, and transverse jump is your friend.
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Wyvern

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Re: so how does security actually work?
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2020, 02:18:00 PM »

It still bothers me how blatantly player-only the transponder mechanics are. Why do the patrols never go after those transponder-off independent smuggler fleets?
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Wyvern is 100% correct about the math.

Scorpixel

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Re: so how does security actually work?
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2020, 04:12:19 PM »

It still bothers me how blatantly player-only the transponder mechanics are. Why do the patrols never go after those transponder-off independent smuggler fleets?
Two options:

-They're contracted "smugglers" in order to provide what the rulers see as necessary for an optimal economy, and officiers from origin/target markets are specifically asked not to interfere with them.

-They don't because smuggler AI would get caught 24/7 and create shortages everywhere on top of weakening the already miserable core defences.
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