Pirate Stations Everywhere! (AKA Steep learning curve)

[Mr.Steam]

So I started a brand new single player server today to see what new STEAM players would find and I ran into a couple problems/concerns.

1) I explored 10 different stations near spawn looking for a place to put a faction module and out of the 10 stations 8 were Pirate (Prate) Stations. That seems a bit harsh for new players.

2) I could have gone to a planet but many are really laggy for me and far away.

3) I didn't have a place for a faction module so mining was really slow.

4) A new station was still a million credits so no way to start a factory or place faction there without lots of mining first.

As an experienced player these are not really problems, but for someone totally new to the game this seems like a rather steep learning curve. I would hate to have players give up before giving it a chance.

Do you think it is too hard for new players?

 

[Winterhome]

I haven't seen pirate stations in spawn systems before.

 

[Mr.Steam]

Yeah, usually pirate stations were fairly rare, but on my latest server 80% of the stations are pirates. I don't know if this is intentional or a bug.

 

[jayman38]

This might suggest that the game should start up with a list of tutorials, so new players can jump right in to start understanding the game.

 

[Tomino_sama]

Yeah, usually pirate stations were fairly rare, but on my latest server 80% of the stations are pirates. I don't know if this is intentional or a bug.

i want your seeed
(for universe generation

 

[Andir]

I once had a wormhole in the spawn sector... that makes things fun.

 

[Mortiferum]

Pirates are in Void sectors mainly

 

[Sha3es]

Come to think of it, I did have a few universes I have recently generated that have had at least 5 pirate stations in the spawn system... could this be just a coincidence ?

 

[Pyre]

Yeah there are several close to my spawn, just started playing yesterday.

 

[Comr4de]

To be fair, if you tried to set up on a neut station you'd still have to drop dosh on making it "not-abandoned" which is still pretty expensive. I found that it was easier to bite the bullet and turn down my draw distance and set up on a planet.

 

[Mr.Steam]

To be fair, if you tried to set up on a neut station you'd still have to drop dosh on making it "not-abandoned" which is still pretty expensive.

I was able to set a faction module on a Station, which is critical for claiming the sector for the mining bonus, but I didn't try building a factory on the station.

I found that it was easier to bite the bullet and turn down my draw distance and set up on a planet.

I agree a planet is the best idea for getting established, however how many new players will think to travel 30-40KM away from spawn to get established on a planet, plus I worry about them getting near a large planet and tanking their FPS.

 

[Jananton]

I was able to set a faction module on a Station, which is critical for claiming the sector for the mining bonus, but I didn't try building a factory on the station.

Hmm, did something change in that department? The last time I tried that, placing any block on a derelict station, some versions ago, I got a red server message that I couldn't place blocks there.
Maybe a faction block is an exception these days, that's one I didn't try, I tried a factory block for obvious reasons.

Greets,

Jan

 

[Megacrafter127]

Hmm, did something change in that department? The last time I tried that, placing any block on a derelict station, some versions ago, I got a red server message that I couldn't place blocks there.
Maybe a faction block is an exception these days, that's one I didn't try, I tried a factory block for obvious reasons.

Greets,

Jan

You could always place blocks on derelict stations, they'd just be turned to scrap once you remove them.

 

[Jananton]

Really, I must have remembered that wrong then. LOL

Wait a minute, ah yes, that red warning popped up when I tried placing a factory on an asteroid, yes, that must have been it, sorry for the confusion.

Greets,

Jan

 

[aceface]

i personally think the new tutorial can get players right into such a position.

 

[Crimson-Artist]

from what I've seen it doesn't help that pirate stations have the same icon on the map as abandoned stations

 

[aceface]

from what I've seen it doesn't help that pirate stations have the same icon on the map as abandoned stations

i think that's the point, I mean stations are stations, right?

 

[Crimson-Artist]

i think that's the point, I mean stations are stations, right?

yes, but could they at least change the icon to something else when you "Discover" a pirate Station?

or my idea, your map is blank by default and you need to use the Scanner to light up your map with points of interest. and pirate stations don't show up normally. they instead show up within a large sphere encompassing several sectors on your map marked with a "?". the idea is that pirates don't want to be found, forcing you to go investigate.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Pirate stations EVERYWHERE! I downloaded the demo steam version just because I can't activate the full version yet and there isn't actually a difference yet.

The Steam version is going to be my separate, actually play the game and play legit as my normal universe usually has dev builds.

At spawn I could see a pirate station directly above me. I set up on the nearest planet and begin mining and building a salvager. Got myself a faction module fairly quickly and made the planet my home and claimed the sector. The pirates apparently didn't like this and attacked while I was on the can waiting for my factories to pump out what I need. I was still alive so when I got back I quickly dug a cave and hid. I managed to sneak up to my factories and made a medical supply and retreated to my cave to recover and think of a strategy. Until the pirates shot strait through the planet and killed me. /Despawn_all MOB_ unused true (well so much for playing legit)

Next up i went out searching for rare asteroids so I could make bobby AI and shields. The ONE blue asteroid I found was 100 meters away from yet another pirate station. I set course for the inner asteroid belt in my system and while avoiding one pirate station trying to stay 2000 meters away I ran right into another one. That's right two pirate stations right next to each other. I managed to dodge fire long enough to get away and found some of the black asteroids to mine. BOOM I died from an Isanth Type Zero Mb. No more ship, no credits, no way back to my planet. Game over.

While I don't have much experience playing legit with crafting in these recent updates I am in no way a novice to Starmade, I feel bad for anybody who has to deal with these current conditions.

Pirate bases really need to be less frequent in system 0 0 0, Isanth Type Zero Mb probably should be removed as sneaky missiles to a new player isn't really fun. Missiles don't even render when fired from a different sector and there is no way to know you've been targeted.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

That's just the nature of the procedural generation beast. I started a new universe as I had already cheated quite a bit in my "legit" play-through. In this new universe I have only seen two pirate stations so far and no raiding parties. The only problem I have now is blue asteroids are so rare and the one I've seen so far won't regenerate.