The Best Kind Of Piracy ...

[alex_greene]

The best kind of piracy, IMO, is not the sort where you have the ship bearing down on the merchantman, guns all blazing pew pew pew. That's a moment of terrifying excitement around the table, but hardly efficient.

Efficient piracy is the kind that has a crewperson board the target vessel dressed in a maintenance uniform, then go into the cargo manifest and swap out the targeted freight container (she will know the index number) for another freight container waiting somewhere in the port. It'd look like the freight got gazumped by a priority consignment. If the ringer carried a little bonus to the ship's Master for quick delivery, so much the better - and the targeted cargo container would be rerouted by a colleague in port control to another ship, just a few berths down the lane.

A little Electronics (Computers), a lot of Admin, and nobody would be any the wiser.

Who knew that Admin would be a better asset than Gunner?

 

[AndrewW]

Passenger on board slips into the cargo hold, swaps the labeling, those high tech parts you picked up for speculation are now that empty container (you didn't know it was empty at the time) that gets picked up right after the ship lands.

 

[alex_greene]

Passenger on board slips into the cargo hold, swaps the labeling, those high tech parts you picked up for speculation are now that empty container (you didn't know it was empty at the time) that gets picked up right after the ship lands.

See? A little Admin, and a lot of perseverance, makes all the difference.

 

[Condottiere]

That's organized crime.

 

[-Daniel-]

That's organized crime.

And piracy can't be one of the things Organized Crime has a hand in? :wink:

I have always liked the idea of space pirates but in truth, most of the pirates I have had show up in my game are either an arm of a criminal syndicate or some sort of privateer. It just makes more sense to me. But like I said, I love the image of a space pirate. :mrgreen:

 

[phavoc]

That's organized crime.

And piracy can't be one of the things Organized Crime has a hand in? :wink:

I have always liked the idea of space pirates but in truth, most of the pirates I have had show up in my game are either an arm of a criminal syndicate or some sort of privateer. It just makes more sense to me. But like I said, I love the image of a space pirate. :mrgreen:

It can, but then they aren't really pirates. Pirates are cruminals, and criminals can be pirates, but piracy, by definition, defines what a pirate is and what action s it takes to be a pirate.

So stealing the container through switching out records is a criminal act, but it isn't an act of piracy. Just like stealing the access codes to steal data isn't piracy. Bit stealing access codes to steal a ship would be more akin to piracy (though it's really more grand theft spacecraft).

 

[-Daniel-]

It can, but then they aren't really pirates. Pirates are cruminals, and criminals can be pirates, but piracy, by definition, defines what a pirate is and what action s it takes to be a pirate.

So stealing the container through switching out records is a criminal act, but it isn't an act of piracy. Just like stealing the access codes to steal data isn't piracy. Bit stealing access codes to steal a ship would be more akin to piracy (though it's really more grand theft spacecraft).

So you are only a pirate when you attack another ship on the "high seas"? So when a pirate ship raided a coastal town they were not pirates? Isn't piracy by definition the steeling of cargo from other ships?

To be honest, I really do not care either way what we call the thieves who steel cargo in space, when the crew of a ship kills you for taking cargo that cost them tons of cash, I do not think they will stop to debate the correct title to apply to what you are other than "thief". :lol:

 

[Condottiere]

They're criminal acts, and the results may be the same, but methodology differs.

 

[alex_greene]

It's not considered cheating if you do it quietly, without the bells and whistles. Just don't get greedy and dumb and start pointing laser turrets at hospital ships, and you could go piratin' for years and never draw a glance from the Navy.

 

[Condottiere]

 

[hivemindx]

Bit stealing access codes to steal a ship would be more akin to piracy (though it's really more grand theft spacecraft).

In an upcoming game I plan to have a ship loaned out to the players. At this point I intend to tell them that "of course you would never simply try to abscond with this ship, after all you know that there is no such thing as 'grand theft spacecraft'. All activity of that sort, no matter how you go about it, it technically defined as piracy and of course the standard penalty for piracy is death."

 

[phavoc]

So, by definition, piracy is when you are on a ship and you attack another ship at sea, or you attack a land target from the sea. If your primary goal is robbery, you are a pirate.
If your primary goal is tied to a political issue (war, destabilization, industrial sabotage, etc), you aren't a pirate per se. If you are part of a military its not piracy, it's war, declared or not.

So yeah, there are levels definitions that must be met in order to be a pirate. If you are driving around in a jeep with a 75mm recoilless rifle attached, no matter how much you want to BE a tanker, you aren't. And when you toss a grenade at somebody else you aren't an artilleryman. Just like if you are in a hovercraft and you are technically flying above the ground, you aren't a fighter pilot.

So Guido and Alessandra who are part of the Marches mob family, working a scam to steal cargo at the Regina space terminal AREN'T pirates. They are in the space mob, they are thieves, they could be murderers, too. But they aren't committing piracy.

Now, if Guido and Alessandra are onboard a tramp freighter in orbit and override the alarms on the cargo bay and make off with a container full of loot, that's along the lines of being a pirate. Since it's robbery in space, from a ship, it's closer to the definition of what a pirate is.

Now, if Guido and Alessandra were copying and selling T'challi Sings the Blues data chips without giving the proper compensation to T'challi or whomever holds the rights to the published music, THEN they would be pirates.

 

[Condottiere]

Definition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XawvsLJp-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhPFBQ0n9D0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhPFBQ0n9D0

 

[-Daniel-]

Definition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XawvsLJp-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhPFBQ0n9D0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhPFBQ0n9D0

Did you mean to do the same one twice? :|

Otherwise, twas funny they were. :mrgreen:

 

[Reynard]

Pirate: Someone who attacks and steals from a ship at sea.

Space is a really, really big sea.

Privateer: An armed private ship licensed to attack enemy shipping

The two types tend to blend depending which side you're on.

 

[-Daniel-]

The two types tend to blend depending which side you're on.

Isn't that true for many things. Your perspective makes all the difference in how you discuss things.

 

[phavoc]

Pirate: Someone who attacks and steals from a ship at sea.

Space is a really, really big sea.

Privateer: An armed private ship licensed to attack enemy shipping

The two types tend to blend depending which side you're on.

"Officer, Officer! I'm not a pirate! See, I have this letter (points to letter of marque) that says I'm not!"

 

[Condottiere]

Well, there's the second season introduction recap song for Gallivant, with the Pirates doing a chorus line.

 

[-Daniel-]

Pirate: Someone who attacks and steals from a ship at sea.

Space is a really, really big sea.

Privateer: An armed private ship licensed to attack enemy shipping

The two types tend to blend depending which side you're on.

"Officer, Officer! I'm not a pirate! See, I have this letter (points to letter of marque) that says I'm not!"

More than one Privateer was hanged for piracy. Getting caught was never a good thing for your neck. :mrgreen:

 

[Condottiere]

Tends to be politics and diplomacy; James the First never understood much about maritime policy, and to appease the Spanish, sacrificed Raleigh.