There should be a ransom system... like the opposite of a Limited Engagement Timer. "So and so has offered a ceasfire for xxxxx time for xxxx isk." and then you can't fire :)

I'd bring my friends and exploit the hell out of that.

If he pays once, he just might pay the other 6 times, too.

if you mean pirates who kill for isk then they operate in 0.5-0.6 bottlenecks between trade-hubs (Niarja, Uedama etc..)

if you mean pirates who honor ransoms...., well they don't exist anymore.

They are still out there.

Last ransom I ever did....
.... and eventually he got interested in pirating.

CODE are not pirates. Call them terrorists if you will, but not pirates.

I will invade your lowsec mission, I will ransom your pod instead of destroying your implants. I fly pre-heated multi-scram fits to grab stabbed PI Industrials off rival POCO's. I bribe CONCORD for security status. No ratter is safe from me and my friends.

That's what pirates do in my book, not this CODE hisec RP ganker nonsense. Please don't compare our noble profession with the bads hisec regurgitates out of boredom!

They are still out there.

Last ransom I ever did was last year in a backend system. Newish player mining in a venture. Think I just popped him the first time. Some words were exchanged and he left the system (Didnt know what a venture was yet). Week later he is back...

Tackled again and gotem into structure opened a convo and pulled his sheet and figured a million isk would suffice. He argued a little and eventually paid.

So i left him alone for another plan. He agreed to be my bait and I wont shoot him. Sure enough a lot of other "pirates" showed up to pop him and because they truly sucked at pvp I increased my kb stuff.

I gave him a cut of what was looted and it was a very interesting time. He also didnt afk mine which is one thing I despise and eventually he got interested in pirating.

1 mil is 200% value for a Venture lol. Should've just activated self-destruct.

To me the greatest motivation to ransom is player agency in applying a principle, and recieving not only ISK but also recognition. Seafaring pirates of the past used to have reputations that precede them. Regardless, it is a mere bonus on top of being able to apply authentic piratical principles.

What caused this archetype to be replaced by unprofessional scum? I'd say the problem lies with killboards, and their tendency to glorify minimal, unimpressive action. The problem lies in people wanting to point out that specific metric publicly, so they can gloat over their own implied statistics.

Those that go for ransoms care very little for their KB efficiency. They tend to promote extreme situational awareness and full control over your singular ship at all times, and enjoy taking down ships bigger then them through fitting choices and staying one step ahead. A killboard efficiency of 99% is effectively something to scoff at, that's not a score suitable for a pilot that is constantly honing his PVP prowess.

From my experience in null/lowsec, it seems to me that the only way to survive is to come out guns blazing in a battleship. The issue with this is that there's really no economic opportunity's for anyone who's flying a non-PVP ship (miner, hauler, etc.). There's just too much ganking/gate camping, and why is that? There's more money in classic pirate ransom than blowing up anything that flies in space

I'd take ISK over ship explosions and killboard numbers any day. With the "if it moves, it's dead" tactics.

I've offered ransoms with the intention of honoring them. Never had a taker.

Most people do not believe that you will honor it.

Ransoming needs some mechanic. Think about it.

Those that go for ransoms care very little for their KB efficiency. They tend to promote extreme situational awareness and full control over your singular ship at all times, and enjoy taking down ships bigger then them through fitting choices and staying one step ahead. A killboard efficiency of 99% is effectively something to scoff at, that's not a score suitable for a pilot that is constantly honing his PVP prowess.

Agreed the KB efficiency stat is a bad thing.

It's not a useful metric of anything other than your usual fleet size, but it is posted as the most visible metric on killboards.

I have a lot more respect for someone with 83% efficiency that mostly flies solo than I do for someone with 99% efficiency that flies in large fleets.

In lowsec that's the best way to get yourself hotdropped.

From my experience in null/lowsec, it seems to me that the only way to survive is to come out guns blazing in a battleship. The issue with this is that there's really no economic opportunity's for anyone who's flying a non-PVP ship (miner, hauler, etc.). There's just too much ganking/gate camping, and why is that? There's more money in classic pirate ransom than blowing up anything that flies in space, and I'd take ISK over ship explosions and killboard numbers any day. With the "if it moves, it's dead" tactics it limits the growth of that area. It makes it too dangerous for anyone without a PVP fit. At least if I pay 50% of my ship value to a pirate, I get to keep my non-pvp ship and not recieve money from my horrible "platinum" policy which actually covers 1% of my ship value. That brings me into another matter. Insurance is broken. CCP's "anti-fraud" insurance backfired. Why does my super-durable procurer have a "100%" value of 2 million ISK, but my frigate insurance worth the real 100%? I think when CCP designed nullsec/lowsec, they didn't expect that ganking would become so popular, and insurance needs a big overhaul. Once nullsec/lowsec becomes more ISK centered and insurance becomes useful, people will begin going there more often.

Do you guys even have permits? I'm having a hard time understanding the logic of your statements without permits.

And here comes some ganker who does not even live in low sec.