Support Pirates - Waste of money?

[Doctor Proteus]

While I have not been playing the new content for long, i am getting this feeling that the "Support" aspect of pirates, at least early game, is just a great big waste of money. The price keeps going up, and their relationship with me keeps going back down to Poor. So what's the point? It seems unsustainable, at least early game. I am just throwing money at the Pirates and getting nothing back except stronger neusances.

Does anyone who has played for longer with the new Pirates system have anything to add?

[Satoru]

I've not generally tried to get their support. Early game I tend buy them off sinc the AI seems to love bribing them to kill me. So I have to bribe them back to stay off my back.

[Doctor Proteus]

Originally posted by Satoru:

I've not generally tried to get their support. Early game I tend buy them off sinc the AI seems to love bribing them to kill me. So I have to bribe them back to stay off my back.

By buy them off do you mean the "Support" action? Because that's what I've been doing and it seems like a waste of money. or do you mean the "Buy Mark" action? What I want is for them to just leave me alone, even if it costs me most of my money, but like I said, it appears to just be a waste when I could be hiring powerful mercenary ships instead.

[Sloan]

"carrot and stick"
pirates receive a lot of money? Better war?

[Doctor Proteus]

Originally posted by frazy76:

"carrot and stick"
pirates receive a lot of money? Better war?

What?

[Astasia]

I don't see the point of that option. You would need a pretty ridiculous economy to afford to keep their support, especially with how quickly the cost sky rockets. If you have that kind of dust you've already won the game and some crappy pirates are of no concern to you. Doesn't seem like this was something that was play tested.

[Doctor Proteus]

Originally posted by Astasia:

I don't see the point of that option. You would need a pretty ridiculous economy to afford to keep their support, especially with how quickly the cost sky rockets. If you have that kind of dust you've already won the game and some crappy pirates are of no concern to you. Doesn't seem like this was something that was play tested.

I agree. I just ended up going back to my old anti-pirate tactic of buying very powerful mercs and using them to blockade chokepoints into my territory while I research and then build stronger ships, and if I didn't waste several thousand dust by throwing it at some impartial pirates I'd have a few more Station mercs on my side. I have begun sabotaging them though with Influence.

There should have been more options available for interacting with the Pirates. For example, a toggle on their Diplomacy screen to freeze relations with them at the cost of a hit to your Influence, Dust and Science production, representing you sending some representatives over to negotiate with them and to perhaps impress them with free maintenence on their habitation. I don't think they'd turn down experts helping to improve their living conditions.

[queenelise9830]

Pirate diplomacy has another perk besides letting you maintain peace with them and send them at enemies who they hate: If you have the Metafolding affinity, you can use Pirate systems as portals if you have Peace with them. Plus, the Vaulters get to "force peace" on the Pirates for a limited number of turns using Influence. (Not sure which of their traits gives that ability.)

However, I think that if you're spending that much Dust to give them a better fleet, it should at least get more buffs than it does. I could easily have used that Dust to buy out fleets of my own that outclass the Pirate fleets in every way. If the buffs on the Pirate fleets from supporting them were bigger, and the relations didn't drop quite so fast, I'd call that good enough.

[Sloan]

Originally posted by Evil_Lord_Proteus:

Originally posted by frazy76:

"carrot and stick"
pirates receive a lot of money? Better war?

What?

Do not constantly give them money, and sometimes fight with them

[Satoru]

Originally posted by Evil_Lord_Proteus:

Originally posted by Satoru:

I've not generally tried to get their support. Early game I tend buy them off sinc the AI seems to love bribing them to kill me. So I have to bribe them back to stay off my back.

By buy them off do you mean the "Support" action? Because that's what I've been doing and it seems like a waste of money. or do you mean the "Buy Mark" action? What I want is for them to just leave me alone, even if it costs me most of my money, but like I said, it appears to just be a waste when I could be hiring powerful mercenary ships instead.

Its more when the AI player 'marks' one of your worlds for attack. You click the marker over that system and it gives you an option to pay off the pirates to not attack

[Doctor Proteus]

Originally posted by frazy76:

Originally posted by Evil_Lord_Proteus:

What?

Do not constantly give them money, and sometimes fight with them

I see.

Originally posted by Satoru:

Originally posted by Evil_Lord_Proteus:

By buy them off do you mean the "Support" action? Because that's what I've been doing and it seems like a waste of money. or do you mean the "Buy Mark" action? What I want is for them to just leave me alone, even if it costs me most of my money, but like I said, it appears to just be a waste when I could be hiring powerful mercenary ships instead.

Its more when the AI player 'marks' one of your worlds for attack. You click the marker over that system and it gives you an option to pay off the pirates to not attack

Also I see.