I think there is opportunity to improve the game mechanics and make pirates more relevant by flagging loot stolen in high and low sec by pirates as blacklisted or contraband.
Just like in real life, stolen goods can either be purchased at reduced rates or can be laundered and re integrated with the bigger economy. This is becuase stolen goods cannot be easily integrated into the economy without being washed in some way beacuse they are blacklisted. This either makes them cheaper or it makes them harder to re-integrate.
I think this will give pirates a better economic edge and relevance, apart from just being baddies who bring PvP into high and null sec. Pirates can genuinely now steal loot and undercut the markey by selling items on the cheap or alternatively find ways to wash the loot and move it back into markets legitimately. All of this would create more realistic and co-operative pirate networks with a focus on smulggling stolen goods, laundering stolen goods and undercutting legit markets with black market items.
Further more, it would open up opportunity to combat pirate mechandisers who try to undercut legitimate markets with stolen goods and may eve lead to some kind of gameplay where stolen loot shops can be raided and the stolen goods recovered. Which would lead to more gameplay where pirates would need to proxy and move distribution to not get caught or minimize losses.
Ultimately this all comes as a fix to drugs being legalized. I think we need an illegal market for the criminals to really thrive and stolen loot seems like the perfect low hanging fruit to create another illicit goods market. In every criminal system it’s the black market which enables criminals and pirates to work the dark arts of sollicitation or even exploitation in it’s various ways and means and forms. By creating a criminal market network, criminals would have greater means to both support and promote criminal activity, as well as identify victims and exploit them through the trappings of a black market.
Please think about this and let me know if you guys this it would improve the Eve Online pirate experience in a better way.
Am I a pirate if I undercut the market by 10% with my legally gained/produced goods? All loot already gets laundered into legality by appearing on the market. Why would you add extra steps in the shape of a market where no one buys anything because no one is active on it in comparison to the “legal” market?
Do you not think distinguishing between stolen and non stolen loot would be a better thing for all?
Pirates have to work harder because they are dealing with illegal items.
Producers/haulers get better protected as markets are filled with legitimate items.
Samll Millitias can leverage black markets to gain access to cheap munitions which could enable them to compete agaginst larger enemies.
Seems like a good extension to the game mechanics.
You can already do that by putting your loot on the market for ridiculously low prices or sell them to buddies via contracts. Case in point for one of the combat boosters:
Yeah - but unfortunately with all the convenience you guys have lost out on a thriving black market of contraband goods. Don’t you think the game needs contraband again?
You transported contraband on a char with 0 ISK and just let your wallet drop into the negatives (you cannot avoid Customs NPC scans). Eventually, you’d just biomass the char and repeat the process on a new char.
Sounds like the cargo never was seized, and fines were just paid. Would have been a more complicated issue if the drugs were seized? Were the drugs not seized?
Which is a bull**** mechanic. Customs NPCs can even scan the cargo holds of un-scannable ships, like blockade runners or the new angel pirate ships. What use is it having a blockade runner if you can’t, oh I don’t know, run blockades with it…
Capsuleers are basically the gods of EVE. They have a lot of power over electronic systems, and the ability to bribe many people into doing whatever they want. Making products seem legitimate is easy for them to do.
The game just streamlines those systems, because it’s a game.
