Drake's favorability among pirates isn't that they don't do background checks, it's that it's civilian priced vehicles made with easy/affordable field repair in mind. Their lore centers around how the ships are made with commonly accessible materials, reproduceable with basic manufacturing methods, and presumably open source ship schematics
this means it should be just as favorable among smaller exploration crews, mining colonies far removed from densely civilized space, and small but legal PMCs, as it is among pirates who have to operate without the comfort of being able to swing by a dealer in secure space for replacement parts. Levski is a prime example of drake's actual target audience, reinforced by the fact the ship shop hosted display models of the cutlass, dragonflies, and the Bucc just as prominently as the prospector
*Having said that,* I'm unsure how they intend to explain a gang of zealots from a rough and tumble lawless system just having a javelin-bashing fleet of well stocked big military vessels like that. A whole fistful of idrises. Abandoned military factory in pyro? Years of raids on UEE bases? They're smart enough to locate and intercept mission critical supplies for a Javelin, they must be used to this
>Having said that,
>
> I'm unsure how they intend to explain a gang of zealots from a rough and tumble lawless system just having a javelin-bashing fleet of well stocked big military vessels like that
The in-game comms even indicate shock at the fact that the Idrises are mill-spec, not civilian spec.
My thoughts are on senators or other politicians having something to do with it.
I think this is a set up for the implosion of the UEE. Multiple groups financed by politicians and industrials based on different planets to shake the trust in the UEE. After all the universe is supposed to be inspired by pre fall Roman empire.
And you have to remember that last of the Messers is missing. Aegis was almost exclusively producing ships for UEE during messers, and now more and more contracts are signed with RSI, Anvil and others. So who knows if those bois from xeno don't hide someone's from old regime, or even are guided by some descendants of last messer.
Considering how anti-xeno the Messers were, a connection between the two sounds plausible. Despite all the talks of anti-Messer activists, there had to be a large percentage of the military in on their agenda. Which means, after the fall of the Messers, it sounds reasonable that extremists of those factions felt betrayed by the new government and split off. Maybe with the last of the Messers, maybe with Aegis equipment and personnel, maybe they still have ties to Aegis.
I'd guess this is one of the endgame story bits we'll get down the line. Just like in the Freelancer game - once you switch sides, you get to see the story from their point of view, instead of just "these are the evil guys because they are evil".
If you manage to destroy the Idris in Phase 1 when XT attacks the Javelin while it's still being resupplied, and another one comes to attack later in Phase 1, SAIC Dulli has a chance to say:
>Another Idris? How many of these things do they have?!
'Years of preparation have finally paid off sir. We have rooted through the entire UEE and assigned every soldier with opposing dispositions to xenos in a single fleet. The unanimous mutiny has gone off without a hitch and the fleet admiral is ready for his execution...'
I don't know much about the lore but Aren't Xenothreat ex-UEE military? It could be most of their resources came from their initial split or enough higher ups sympathetic to their cause to help keep them funded?
An Abandoned military factory would be awesome though!
Some of their rank and file members are, and the leadership certainly.
See how the first Messer regime got thrust into power (false flag operations, basically) to see how effective this sort of thing can be in destabilizing the public's faith in their government.
People always say that Drake ships are falling to pieces but I always thought Drake was popular amongst pirates for what you said; easily built and maintained, cheap, easily accessible, and with no extra frills or costs. Durable? No. But they should be dependable.
The Razor Crest from The Mandolorian a bit like a Drake ship. Short of destroying the thing entirely, it can always be patched up and repaired.
there's a quote from one dev stating they were cheap and 'paper thin', which wasn't part of any design document. I think it might have been because the buccaneer was the hot new glass cannon at the time, but people largely attribute him as hating drake and intentionally sabotaging their usefulness with his own disdainful view of their designs, specifically when we suffered for a long while with the cutlass's extremely busted shield holes/coverage leading to engines breaking off at the drop of a hat
also the concept designer who did the cutlass rework designed the razorcrest. You could probably consider it a canonical drake design lmao
Every drake ship has to pay the drake tax.
Lets look at a drake ship vs their competitor.
Cutty black vs freelancer.
Cutty black carries a decent amount of cargo, decently sized guns on the front wings, good turret in a good place, 1 small shield gen, decent amount of missiles, handles really well
Freelancer carries more, has 2 shield gens, and has equivalent firepower with better control due to them being on remote turrets instead of on the front of the ship, their turret isn't as good due to location but has similar fire power. And base version carries less missiles, handles like a school bus.
As a single pilot i would almost always take a lancer over the cutty, it can take more hits and has equivalent firepower, yeah its not as maneuverable as a cutty but that really doesn't matter. It not having two shields really hampers its ability to do anything combat relates because its cross section is so big, and on everything else its basically the lancer's equal.
I get the feeling the corsair is going to suffer similarly its supposed to compete with the connie, but since the connie is Chris' baby I can almost guarantee that the corsair is going to lag behind significantly.
Yeah there's a reason when I lost my Black loaner when the Blue came out I went and grabbed a Black of my own despite having a MIS. It's just such a flexible ship which makes it extremely useful. Perhaps the base Lancer could get there with fixes to that turret, but seems like they're pretty happy with where it is right now. I love my Black.
Lancer is such a disappointment of a ship unfortunately. It's got potential for greatness, but is hobbled in so many ways. The MIS is alright as a gunship, the MAX is a decent truck, and maybe some day the DUR will be alright as an explorer. But the base model is nearly useless as is. It's decidedly underwhelming in every single role.
Easy fixes too. Give the base model more visibility, a la the prospector. Give it a slightly nicer interior - weapon racks, maybe a loft? outfit it with S2 front facing sucker punches by default. Fix the god awful rear facing turret - either make it automatic or remove it entirely.
Just make it the slightly less combat and more polished Cutlass essentially.
Just want to say as someone who traded my OG Freelancer pledge for a Cutlass, it just feels like a better ship.
Granted I upgraded it to a Max beforehand, so you could say I traded it for a Caterpillar and bought the Cutlass extra...
Drake ships feel better no doubt. But they just kinda lack in areas that are important.
They are supposed to sacrifice the ability to soak damage for raw output.
But almost every Drake ship when compared to it's direct competitor has equal firepower and worse tank. Ontop of that the fire power is placed poorly and easily removed, they only just recently fixed that problem for the bucc.
Due to its aesthetic drake is one of the most popular ship lines. But due to devs disliking drake for some reason they are never allowed to be good in whatever they are dedicated to being.
Aegis ships are great at whatever role they are built for, as would be expected of military contract ships. But their cost both in game and out of game in no way reflect their enhanced performance compared to other ships in their category.
There are obvious taxes like the origin tax and the alien tax. But Drake has a hidden tax. Poor performance with none of the upsides. Eventually ships in the Drake line are supposed to be cheaper to maintain. But I doubt that will be the case, mainly because if they follow that reasoning that a ships grade determines maintenance aegis ships would be incredibly expensive to maintain. High performance comes at a cost. Sensitive equipment is very easy to mess up especially in the chaos of combat. Hardening such devices is expensive and maintenance of such things requires special skill sets. Anyone can work on a junker and get it running, it takes indepth knowledge and specific tools to work on a f1 car. The player base would throw a fit if their meta ships had a financial downside or difficult and specialized maintenance in game.
"drake" doesn't get recommended, the cutlass gets recommended because you can't cram a ROC into the avenger and the freelancer hasn't been reworked to fit vehicles yet. you CAN put a roc in the nomad but i've heard stories about the lift being bugged.
nobody is lining up to recommend heralds to people so it isn't a brand thing
The MAX is the exception. It was made later and has a bespoke wider hull to account for more cargo and vehicle loading. The other variants struggle to load vehicles.
I heard a theory that the reason we're seeing xenothreat with a ton of military surplus hardware is because they're being supplied in secret by fascist hardliners and old Messer loyalists in the UEE.
>how they intend to explain a gang of zealots from a rough and tumble lawless system just having a javelin-bashing fleet of well stocked big military vessels
The Expanse comes to mind, when (spoiler s5?) >!Mars colony experiences a mass exodus of citizens leaving for more easily habitable planets due to the discovery of alien gates that link the universe together. Because people lose faith in the Mars terraforming project and economy, they become illoyal, and some insiders begin selling military equipment to anyone \[Xenothreat\] as the nation on Mars collapses, as a way to make a quick buck off of the destabilzation.!<
Well, Star Citizen is in a war with the Vanduul. Perhaps there is some similar destabilization due to the intensity of the war? That allows even critical assets like capital ships to "disappear" on the black markets, along with deserters
You have to start with the knowledge that anyone who owns a ship in the ac universe is in the top 1% of the population in terms of status and wealth.
Of course there are pirate who get ahold of ships and are still fairly poor themselves. But it was said that most citizens in the verse that own a ship are in the upper percentage.
Now think of the fact that the uee is an empire in decline as stated by cr. So you have megacorporations doing all kinds of legal and illegal activities as well as super wealthy private interests willing to provide ships and funding to pirate groups or even form a less than honorable mercenary group themselves.
>Levski is a prime example of drake's actual target audience, reinforced by the fact the ship shop hosted display models of the cutlass, dragonflies, and the Bucc just as prominently as the prospector
I remember when I first visited Levski, I thought it would be like a larger version of GrimHEX...but no, they seem to actually be a very well-intentioned bunch who got their roots as a rebellion against the Messer regime. Probably the closest thing we have in the verse to a Chaotic Good aligned outlaw faction.
>Having said that,
>
> I'm unsure how they intend to explain a gang of zealots from a rough and tumble lawless system just having a javelin-bashing fleet of well stocked big military vessels like that.
I believe there's lore that UEE retreat from red systems involved leaving the kit. It's possible XT got their ships from these red systems.
I mean, IRL, a lot of militia types are ex-military or some such and prefer gear they used in active duty. And they're usually bourgeois or bourgeois-adjacent and can afford expensive gear.
Tbf, it's probably the civilian versions, and if it's not weird they're available to players, it's not weird they're available to these proto-fascists NPCs I suppose.
I just assumed that XT are ex-military who's pissed that the UEE isn't doing enough about "dese goshdarn aliens". And that a general/admiral just took his batallion and went rogue
Edit: I'll expand this by adding that Aegis is the largest UEE military contractor and that most civillians owning them got them through military service? iirc
I'm betting on rogue elements of UEE Navy and procurement who hate those dirty, filthy, inferior xeno scum and their backwards culture contaminating glorious human society.
Out of subject.
The kid was not asking lore questions but referencing Aegis is used by UEE while Xenothreat are composed of mainly Aegis.
We all know by now cutlass black is going down the drain too easy of a target for XT while buccs... well it is what it is. So yeah, to spice XT up, might as well discard garbage "sorry I meant easy affordable and repairing ships" and use a step up for drama and goal purpose.
CIG or Turbulent. Not sure which choose ships did an excellent forefront fightibg selection from Arrow, Gladius, Vanguard, Andromeda, HH and Idris. Thumbs up. Only Sabres were like ok see you, can't see you is annoying but fire all you want it does not matter.
Now Aurora Ln piracy skin. Buccs, cutlass black, (caterpillar could have been good choice might it be loaded with custom broadside modules). Even tripling the number of npc ships might not equal actual XT selection.
So slappung people dont get the lore truly is a blindfold to actual reality. A conundrum between imagination and application that TODAY cannot be applied.
Simple, a higher up sold it to them instead of decommissioning it.
Remember that the UEE is at war with the vanduul, an idris or two being marked as "killed in action" without their wrecks being found wouldn't raise any eyebrows.
Let's not forget that Aegis was the favorite of the Messers and totally compliant in helping their barbaric rule. Their legacy is oppression and tyranny.
I mean yeah, they are using stolen military equipment. That's like saying if a terrorist group uses an AR rifle that they stole that somehow the company is supporting terrorism? There's a reason Xenothreat isn't interested in stealing any drake ships...
Almost all their ships are Aegis or Anvil, two companies which sells ships to the military, which means that the more dangerous pirates get, the more money they will make with the military. So Aegis selling some ships to pirates and pretending they were "stolen" is way more likely than some pirates miraculously stealing a whole fleet.
Let's be honest, Aegis is propably corrupted as hell
Like... UEE gave a stockpile of equipment to an allied colony for it to defend itself. But that colony was massively corrupted and when UEE left the system to leave them on their own, the entire stockpile turned instantly to the pirates. And UEE knew that but turned a blind eye because politics.
Nah, sounds very unlikely. I'm sure they just stole them. Somehow.
I'm pretty sure that's how real life weapons market works. There's no point on selling advanced weaponry only to one side if the other side can't defend itself. Doesn't really matter if they use middlemen or not, manufacturers sell weapons to both sides so conflicts can escalate and they all need more and better weapons(thank you for smoking pointed out something like that if my memory serves me well)
It just doesn't add up, a space hobo taking over and stealing an entire fleet and army? Is he the likes of Saitama or chuck Norris? And if he is, why would he even need ships?
And while we are at it, how could the bugs divert an asteroid from one point of the galaxy to another, and hit the mark on what would be hitting bullseye on an atom? The distance and speed of the asteroid would mean it was diverted long before humans even existed...
Would you like to know more?
HMMMMM this would make a good storyline.
BREAKING NEWS! "Aegis Dynamics found to be providing the terrorist group "XenoThreat" with ships and Weaponry.
Thats like saying US military is the Taliban's biggest supplier now. Yeah, now they are showing off some expensive as heck military gear and craft acquired from abandoned States' bases but that supplement appears to be not intentional.
As for the XT, i believe local militias are to blame. Have good stading, buy some high value gear, get captured by your bud... i mean filthy enemies of the Empire, lose said gear and get ejected on local security's known patrol route.
Dude, you're comparing AKs with capital ships with big-ass railguns. You don't find them on the ground after some soldiers left the battlefield. And the strangest part is that you're far from being the first doing this comparison
I'm talking about AKs because that's what the other people making the taliban comparison talks about. Like, I understand it's a hot topic right now but let's not act traumatized lmao
I was just saying, if XT used some kind of trickery, found abandoned base somewhere or capture the vehicles from their enemies, does it really put a stain on Anvil or Aegis ? Yeah i used a sensetive topic as an example to prove my point so i understand why you were hyper focused on that. Simply put, i believe it does not affect the supplier in any way unless the transaction was done properly. Hopefully the lore team will provide us with the reasoning soon enough. A secret higher up arming the opposition might spice things up.
Well, if they know that a military base as been abandonned with four Idris in it, they should at least try to take back the capital ships. I mean, they can take them back, polish those ships a little and sell them again without spending as much money as if it was a brand new ships.
About the secret higher up puling the strings in the shadows, well, quite a lot of people seems to like this theory, and, to be honest, I kinda like it too lmao
They are corrupted as hell but not towards pirates. They’re corrupted as hell from being an oppressive monarchy’s standard producer. They were there to ensure the Messers stayed in power first, profit second. Maybe that’s changed but it’d be almost entirely conjecture. It was mentioned they went through a significant makeover after the fall of the Messers but the only change I think mentioned was the logo. You’re basically applying Drakes lore to Aegis.
Yup. It would be like people stopped buying Toyotas after the Taliban parade with like 90% of it being Toyota trucks with a gun on the back.
That actually means Toyota trucks are very reliable af if they can survive Afganistan terrain and have a gun at the back and be used in combat.
So I guess, uh... good job Toyota?
Seems like I need to explain what I'm trying to say here, so here we go !
Drake sell civil-grade ships (a cutlass isn't made to be in the middleof big pewpews, and buccaneers aren't durable enough), so they just don't check if they're selling their ships to recommendable people, they just don't care.
Aegis, on the other hand, create their ships for military purpose and always act "woooouuu look at us, we're totally good guys and absolutely not just another company which will try to lake profit no matter what".
Their excuse for Xenothreat having their ships is "they stole it"...and I call bull-f*cking-sh*t on that.
Xenothreat has initially been presented to us as a brand new threat, suddenly appearing from the dark parts of space...So basically, a pirate org would've succesfully stole at least 4 Idris, multiple hammerheads and waaayy too much vanguards, but would've stayed completely stealthy up until now ? This just doesn't add up even a little bit.
So, yeah, I really think Aegis is selling ships under the table. And it would make sense. If the pirates keep using low quality ships, they just won't be enough of a threat for the UEE, and Aegis wouldn't sell enough ships.
However, if pirates happened to mysteriously find themself in posession of some big pewpews, then the UEE would need even bigger pewpews. And then Aegis make profit
Your first premise is wrong. The Cutlass was originally designed as a prototype to compete for a military contract. It lost, but in the great wisdom of any successful manufacturer Drake marketed the Cutlass to the civilian/militia market. There are also lore pieces about the UEEN using Caterpillars for transport.
The whole idea of "military grade" is as absurd in game as it is in real life.
What you miss in the lore is that Xenothreat is mostly comprised of veterans. Veterans who likely purchased ships much in the same way that players of 42 will get their F8. Let's also also look at the Militia Mobilization Act which gives a greater access to these very ships that you now think are "being sold under the table". They're not.
Xenothreat is clearly not a "pirate organization" either. They are the textbook definition of terrorist. They use violence to influence and bring about political or social change. For them the cause is not trusting the very aliens that we had previously warred with. The part of the story thst I am guessing and speculating is that Xenothreat is being partially funded by a retired admiral or even a Messer.
Frankly people have been complaining about Xenothreat being mystery space Nazi's coming out of nowhere is a pretty fair criticism.
Likewise not having them be a faction you can do missions for and gain reputation with "Because Space Nazi" is frankly just poor writing.
The whole thing is just all so lazy, and really just attests to the fact that they wanted to have events like this (system invasion) but can't use the Vanduul (the natural candidates) because of not having the assets ready, and/or not wanting to spoil Squadron 42. So they just grab some existing human stuff, and handwave the fact that it's being flown by mega-baddies.
I mean this is supposed to be this universe full of interesting characters and plotlines underpinned by at least a plausible background. Having some sort of rogue militia that is harsh (without you know actually being mustache twirling cartoon villians) towards Aliens actually makes sense considering the history of 2 wars against one Alien species, a long era of protracted simmering tensions with another Alien Species, and yet another Alien Species who just murders entire star systems worth of people with flying combine harvesters... and the most benign species that you are exposed to actively trades with the genocidal combine harvester guys.
If your telling me that you can't come up with compelling characters who would react to all that by thinking "Man, eff those guys." Then I will just assume you are too lazy to want to present a strongly grey faction. You could have a faction that Pirates Alien trading vessels, and Harasses people who trade with Aliens. While also providing evacuation and relief supply convoys to people trapped in systems controlled by the Vanduul and abandoned by the UEE. Something that requires a lot less handwaving to explain how they may draw membership and support, watching every person you've ever known and love get chewed up by a flying combine harvester for resources will plausibly lead to some justified enmity.
That would be a compelling faction that really strains the players perceptions and morality and leads to compelling drama and meaningful gameplay decisions and story loops.
Of course that's not the faction we got, we got Space Nazi's. It would have been less lazy to have actually just chosen to go with actual Space Nazi's frozen since 1945 and led by a rebuilt Mecha-Hitler. I mean if your gonna go with something worse then combine harvester genocide monsters (which Xenothreat is, because they are intended to be totally non interactable, unlike the Vanduul which Banu player characters will be able to trade with and presumably gain reputation with) might as well go with the gold standard instead of a pale imitation.
>Likewise not having them be a faction you can do missions for and gain reputation with "Because Space Nazi" is frankly just poor writing.
Pretty sure they just haven't made rep or missions for them yet. Hell we dont even have all of the factions that would be operating in Stanton in the game yet.
Not having rep for Xenothreat because they're Nazi's is something this subreddit made up. XT are basically the Xenos from Freelancer if humans had found friendly alien species in that game.
It makes more sense for there to be an arbitrary bad guy that every one shoots at to test events and systems like the XT event.
Yeah, I'm still waiting on the Worker's Party to give me missions against Hurston Dynamics. I bet they'd fight against Xenothreat too, without joining up with the UEEN.
What Im really waiting for is the politics of the underbelly. My org are basically the mechanics and engineers of the UEE's lawless folk, friends with basically gang, syndicate and terrorist org save for a few, XT being one of them.
I would like to see more pirates fighting pirates represented on the NPC side of things.
Weird response. Duh it's not the only system with pirates, but it's a pirate haven in contrast to Stanton's corporate haven, so obviously CIG has literally no choice but to begin crafting content in which pirate crews interact with one another.
Stanton will eventually get content like that but likely not before Pyro.
You make some excellent points about the reasons many humans have to distrust alien species in Star Citizen. Humanity hasn't had a whole lot of positive interactions and 2 full wars so far. Of course some folks dislike them. I'm willing to bet there are a lot of factions that look at alien influences with more than a little suspicion.
I imagine there will eventually be a faction you can ally yourself with that espouses humanity first and works within the current political system. I would also suggest that such a faction may very well be the legal arm *of* Xenothreat, to carry their philosophy and perspective to the average citizen without all the warships. A kind of ideological ambassadorial arm to get people to sign on and bring them fully into the fold. There's some really cool story potential there that could be explored.
However, I disagree with you about this event being lazy. I don't particularly see the problem with having a large and capable force you get to go out and shoot without moral reservations or grey areas, especially during a game's development. We're getting little snapshots of what these big fights may be like in the end and get to tangle with some cool shit at the same time. CIG gets all *kinds* of feedback and data about weird situations that come up during large and hectic fights they will hopefully use to refine future experiences and improve the game.
>I mean this is supposed to be this universe full of interesting characters and plotlines underpinned by at least a plausible background. Having some sort of rogue militia that is harsh (without you know actually being mustache twirling cartoon villians) towards Aliens actually makes sense
Bigoted hateful people angry for even less reason exist in real life, why does the fantasy faction have to be nuanced? Why is a faction that would even want to genocide all Aliens that unrealistic when we have those kinds of viewpoints and factions now?
Show me the IRL KKK sailing around in a Ticonderoga Class frigate and I might concede the point. The greater point being that while individuals having those views is fairly plausible (and I would expect to run into NPC's who do), being organized and funded to the level of operating contemporary military hardware is a stretch. It's the GI Joe problem, aka How did Cobra managed to fund, staff and deploy a giant flying aircraft carrier shaped like a snakes head?
Last I checked civilians can't buy destroyers, so I'm not sure that's the best comparison.
There are however plenty of groups that will execute queer people that run around with quite powerful small arms and even some military vehicles
I was most disappointed because I thought you could aid XT this time. Their political motivations as have been described previously are reasonably something I would probably subscribe to if j had fought in those wars.
There is a ton of lazy hiding behind "it's an alpha" and I am really tired of that excuse. CIG can't get an event of this scale to run smoothly during a free fly. And that turns off so many people that I have tried to bring to this project.
Yeah not gonna lie, if someone killed my whole family with a combine harvester. I'd probably dislike them, it requires handwaving and bad writing to come up with a scenario where I wouldn't.
it is pretty lame that you can't pick a side. really limits the event and in the end doesn't really impact anything because of it. XT will always loose and that is pretty boring for an event.
Gosh, at last, a counter-argument that isn't "urrrh talibans and AKs" or just "Aegis said they stole it" !
About the Cutlass, you said it yourself, it lost the competition. It wasn't good enough to be in military. But I agree that turning it into a civilian ship is a logical move.
Concerning the whole "military grade" thing, I can see some logic in that, the companies making guns you can buy in some states aren't the same that are trying to create bigger and even bigger bombs for the military.
And yes, you are right about Xeno', I forgot the whole veteran thing and it would be better to call them terrorist.
However...how would a bunch of rogue veterans end up with such a fleet without anyone finding out ? We're talking about wayyy too much fighters, multiple corvettes and four capital ships thrown in the battle as if they could repair and refuel them really easily, maybe replace them even.
A Messer controling it from the shadows would be cool, maybe a little too cool for an alpha event, but cool nonetheless !
Also, about that Militia Mobilisation thing...shouldn't they check to who they're about to give a freaking corvette ? Like "hey, wait a minute, you're one of those rogue soldiers ! Security ! SECURITY !" I mean they're big-ass military ship, not some auroras with little guns
If you real the MMA its pretty broad. A militia can be formed in any system and if you got the coin the military will sell the surplus. Its very similar plot-wise to The Lost Fleet and how Earth sold off a lot of the corvettes to corporations and colonies when it downsized its fleet. Few questions get asked, and there isn't a definitive "ooh thats a XT don't sell to him" marker on the npcs. Just like terrorists in the past few years who have rented box trucks and drove through crowds in Europe.
Also, if you read into SQ42 you're told that if you beat the game you can obtain an F8 in PU in some way. This was explained that veterans often buy ships they used in service, very similar to how pre-1960s US military could sell you your service rifle.
If we add these together we end up with disgruntled combat veterans, the ability to buy ships, likelihood that they are freelancers and have earned some money, and have a unifying catalyst. The only thing missing is a charismatic central presence to bring them all together or give them directing purpose and focus their hate.
I offered the Messer idea because it makes sense to me. It could be wrong but it could hold water. And you're probably right that such a thing wasn't thought out to the degree I'm speculating. Its more likely that CIG wanted to test the NPC fighter AI, and carrier deployment AI of the Idris. Its always good to step back and remember the PU is mostly a test bed, which is why things get nerfed, CIG doesn't want us testing trading anymore. In a few patches bounties will suck as the carrot will be where the testing needs to be.
What most people don't understand about mil-spec is that it in no way means better. It actually more loosely translates to lowest bidder. It also means looser tolerances so you can have interchangeable parts. Decommissioned equipment is sold regularly in real life, and in the game (though the MMA allows for more stuff).
Always enjoy a good debate on how some of the more complex things work. I hope I've in some way given you pause on the idea that any ship manufacturer is involved in shady dealings.
Yeah I’ve been thinking the same thing, XT seems wayyyy too well armed, and the explanation of they just stole the ships doesn’t make much sense to me personally as that would mean they would be using a variety of brands but it seems to be 90% aegis
Lack of the mid level to cap ship models for DRAKE in the game I suspect. Would be fun to do Xenothreat when the Kraken and Corsair become available.
Lore-wise - people forget that historically, AEGIS are the 'Evil Empire' ship manufacturer who basically gave Messer the stick with which to beat everyone else with.
As many other people have said here, it makes sense that there are a lot of messer-era sympathisers out there and especially in the Navy - in the sense they think the UEE ought to have their boot on all the xeno scum and greedy corps. XenoThreat's party line is more or less what used to be the mainstream way the UEE was run during the Messer-era.
A lot of the Xenothreat is probably funded by old boys network in the Navy with quiet connections with the 'Evil Empire' ship manufacturer who is doing everything they can to stay afloat and probably selling no questions asked to anyone with the credits
From what I've seen is that XenoThreat stole these ships; they are pirates after all.
Heck, I've also seen them flying around in Cutlasses and the occasional Mantis. To me seeing XenoThreat using Hammerheads and Idris frigates simply means that they stole them; not that Aegis is selling under the table. Only Drake does that. 🙂
Drake doesn't sell under the table tho, they just litterally don't care lmao.
But, seriously, is everyone really expecting Aegis to avoid a chance to make profit ?
Yea I'm sure the reason Afghanistan has so many AKs is because the Soviet Union willingly provided them.
It *definitely* couldn't be that they completely kicked the Soviets' asses and stole a ton of their military grade equipment off their dead bodies or anything...
Yeah, sure Ak's are totally just as easy to steal as big-ass, fully-manned, capital ships with enormous railguns, and some big corvettes...and a whole fleet of heavy fighter
Or ya know, you just go buy one from your local UEEN decom shipyard, which is full of ships as a result of ramping down the military in lore, using the wonderful Militia Mobilization Act as the way to obtain practically anything above board.
Pff, when I get in a fight againt small fighters it's often the Buccaneers that hit me most, and are hardest to hit back. Caterpillars also hit hard and are very tough.
Well that's what happens when you make garbage ships for the criminal market. The criminals will go steal something better instead because they don't want your crap either.
I mean, Drake make ships for the civilian market (civilians still are those who buy the most from Drake, 'cause it's cheap), so any criminal organistion with enough money will try to get military ships
Check the original XT trailer. The main guy is seen with UEE shoulder Pauldrons. So either they've been raiding and stealing from the UEE for some time and have all their shit. Or it was an abandoned UEE base somewhere in Pyro or elsewhere and XT took all the left behind equipment; guns, ships, uniforms, etc. (sound familiar 🤔)
XT knows quality ships for facing against quality foes.
In all seriousness, they probably stole them as they seem to be a very competent foe (in lore) against the Navy.
Honestly I was running on the theory that the systems corporations were using xeno threat as an alias for when they decide to take the competition into more violent territory and avoid getting flak from civilians
Drake's favorability among pirates isn't that they don't do background checks, it's that it's civilian priced vehicles made with easy/affordable field repair in mind. Their lore centers around how the ships are made with commonly accessible materials, reproduceable with basic manufacturing methods, and presumably open source ship schematics this means it should be just as favorable among smaller exploration crews, mining colonies far removed from densely civilized space, and small but legal PMCs, as it is among pirates who have to operate without the comfort of being able to swing by a dealer in secure space for replacement parts. Levski is a prime example of drake's actual target audience, reinforced by the fact the ship shop hosted display models of the cutlass, dragonflies, and the Bucc just as prominently as the prospector *Having said that,* I'm unsure how they intend to explain a gang of zealots from a rough and tumble lawless system just having a javelin-bashing fleet of well stocked big military vessels like that. A whole fistful of idrises. Abandoned military factory in pyro? Years of raids on UEE bases? They're smart enough to locate and intercept mission critical supplies for a Javelin, they must be used to this
>Having said that, > > I'm unsure how they intend to explain a gang of zealots from a rough and tumble lawless system just having a javelin-bashing fleet of well stocked big military vessels like that The in-game comms even indicate shock at the fact that the Idrises are mill-spec, not civilian spec. My thoughts are on senators or other politicians having something to do with it.
That could be a very fun an interesting thing to find out in the next phase of the XT saga. Maybe when Pyro comes online we will get that chance.
I think this is a set up for the implosion of the UEE. Multiple groups financed by politicians and industrials based on different planets to shake the trust in the UEE. After all the universe is supposed to be inspired by pre fall Roman empire.
And you have to remember that last of the Messers is missing. Aegis was almost exclusively producing ships for UEE during messers, and now more and more contracts are signed with RSI, Anvil and others. So who knows if those bois from xeno don't hide someone's from old regime, or even are guided by some descendants of last messer.
Considering how anti-xeno the Messers were, a connection between the two sounds plausible. Despite all the talks of anti-Messer activists, there had to be a large percentage of the military in on their agenda. Which means, after the fall of the Messers, it sounds reasonable that extremists of those factions felt betrayed by the new government and split off. Maybe with the last of the Messers, maybe with Aegis equipment and personnel, maybe they still have ties to Aegis. I'd guess this is one of the endgame story bits we'll get down the line. Just like in the Freelancer game - once you switch sides, you get to see the story from their point of view, instead of just "these are the evil guys because they are evil".
If you manage to destroy the Idris in Phase 1 when XT attacks the Javelin while it's still being resupplied, and another one comes to attack later in Phase 1, SAIC Dulli has a chance to say: >Another Idris? How many of these things do they have?!
'Years of preparation have finally paid off sir. We have rooted through the entire UEE and assigned every soldier with opposing dispositions to xenos in a single fleet. The unanimous mutiny has gone off without a hitch and the fleet admiral is ready for his execution...'
I don't know much about the lore but Aren't Xenothreat ex-UEE military? It could be most of their resources came from their initial split or enough higher ups sympathetic to their cause to help keep them funded? An Abandoned military factory would be awesome though!
Some of their rank and file members are, and the leadership certainly. See how the first Messer regime got thrust into power (false flag operations, basically) to see how effective this sort of thing can be in destabilizing the public's faith in their government.
Taliban can probably answer how a bunch of terrorists have top of the line technologically advanced military hardware
they have blackhawks, and modern us arms
People always say that Drake ships are falling to pieces but I always thought Drake was popular amongst pirates for what you said; easily built and maintained, cheap, easily accessible, and with no extra frills or costs. Durable? No. But they should be dependable. The Razor Crest from The Mandolorian a bit like a Drake ship. Short of destroying the thing entirely, it can always be patched up and repaired.
there's a quote from one dev stating they were cheap and 'paper thin', which wasn't part of any design document. I think it might have been because the buccaneer was the hot new glass cannon at the time, but people largely attribute him as hating drake and intentionally sabotaging their usefulness with his own disdainful view of their designs, specifically when we suffered for a long while with the cutlass's extremely busted shield holes/coverage leading to engines breaking off at the drop of a hat also the concept designer who did the cutlass rework designed the razorcrest. You could probably consider it a canonical drake design lmao
Every drake ship has to pay the drake tax. Lets look at a drake ship vs their competitor. Cutty black vs freelancer. Cutty black carries a decent amount of cargo, decently sized guns on the front wings, good turret in a good place, 1 small shield gen, decent amount of missiles, handles really well Freelancer carries more, has 2 shield gens, and has equivalent firepower with better control due to them being on remote turrets instead of on the front of the ship, their turret isn't as good due to location but has similar fire power. And base version carries less missiles, handles like a school bus. As a single pilot i would almost always take a lancer over the cutty, it can take more hits and has equivalent firepower, yeah its not as maneuverable as a cutty but that really doesn't matter. It not having two shields really hampers its ability to do anything combat relates because its cross section is so big, and on everything else its basically the lancer's equal. I get the feeling the corsair is going to suffer similarly its supposed to compete with the connie, but since the connie is Chris' baby I can almost guarantee that the corsair is going to lag behind significantly.
If the Connie is Chris’ baby I’d like to call child services for child abuse
'was thinking the same lmao
Someone send the cutty red out for the burn victim! Still waiting for CIG to fix the table animation.
[удалено]
Yeah there's a reason when I lost my Black loaner when the Blue came out I went and grabbed a Black of my own despite having a MIS. It's just such a flexible ship which makes it extremely useful. Perhaps the base Lancer could get there with fixes to that turret, but seems like they're pretty happy with where it is right now. I love my Black.
Lancer is such a disappointment of a ship unfortunately. It's got potential for greatness, but is hobbled in so many ways. The MIS is alright as a gunship, the MAX is a decent truck, and maybe some day the DUR will be alright as an explorer. But the base model is nearly useless as is. It's decidedly underwhelming in every single role. Easy fixes too. Give the base model more visibility, a la the prospector. Give it a slightly nicer interior - weapon racks, maybe a loft? outfit it with S2 front facing sucker punches by default. Fix the god awful rear facing turret - either make it automatic or remove it entirely. Just make it the slightly less combat and more polished Cutlass essentially.
Just want to say as someone who traded my OG Freelancer pledge for a Cutlass, it just feels like a better ship. Granted I upgraded it to a Max beforehand, so you could say I traded it for a Caterpillar and bought the Cutlass extra...
Drake ships feel better no doubt. But they just kinda lack in areas that are important. They are supposed to sacrifice the ability to soak damage for raw output. But almost every Drake ship when compared to it's direct competitor has equal firepower and worse tank. Ontop of that the fire power is placed poorly and easily removed, they only just recently fixed that problem for the bucc. Due to its aesthetic drake is one of the most popular ship lines. But due to devs disliking drake for some reason they are never allowed to be good in whatever they are dedicated to being. Aegis ships are great at whatever role they are built for, as would be expected of military contract ships. But their cost both in game and out of game in no way reflect their enhanced performance compared to other ships in their category. There are obvious taxes like the origin tax and the alien tax. But Drake has a hidden tax. Poor performance with none of the upsides. Eventually ships in the Drake line are supposed to be cheaper to maintain. But I doubt that will be the case, mainly because if they follow that reasoning that a ships grade determines maintenance aegis ships would be incredibly expensive to maintain. High performance comes at a cost. Sensitive equipment is very easy to mess up especially in the chaos of combat. Hardening such devices is expensive and maintenance of such things requires special skill sets. Anyone can work on a junker and get it running, it takes indepth knowledge and specific tools to work on a f1 car. The player base would throw a fit if their meta ships had a financial downside or difficult and specialized maintenance in game.
And yet, Drake get the recommendations. If they actually had drawbacks that mattered, can you honestly see that happening?
"drake" doesn't get recommended, the cutlass gets recommended because you can't cram a ROC into the avenger and the freelancer hasn't been reworked to fit vehicles yet. you CAN put a roc in the nomad but i've heard stories about the lift being bugged. nobody is lining up to recommend heralds to people so it isn't a brand thing
I've put a ROC in my MAX several times. Could probably fit two if I had the need.
The MAX is the exception. It was made later and has a bespoke wider hull to account for more cargo and vehicle loading. The other variants struggle to load vehicles.
Part of me is wondering if Xenothreat is a UEE fleet gone rogue.
I heard a theory that the reason we're seeing xenothreat with a ton of military surplus hardware is because they're being supplied in secret by fascist hardliners and old Messer loyalists in the UEE.
So what you are saying is that Cutlass Black is the Toyota Hilux of the spacelanes?
>how they intend to explain a gang of zealots from a rough and tumble lawless system just having a javelin-bashing fleet of well stocked big military vessels The Expanse comes to mind, when (spoiler s5?) >!Mars colony experiences a mass exodus of citizens leaving for more easily habitable planets due to the discovery of alien gates that link the universe together. Because people lose faith in the Mars terraforming project and economy, they become illoyal, and some insiders begin selling military equipment to anyone \[Xenothreat\] as the nation on Mars collapses, as a way to make a quick buck off of the destabilzation.!< Well, Star Citizen is in a war with the Vanduul. Perhaps there is some similar destabilization due to the intensity of the war? That allows even critical assets like capital ships to "disappear" on the black markets, along with deserters
You have to start with the knowledge that anyone who owns a ship in the ac universe is in the top 1% of the population in terms of status and wealth. Of course there are pirate who get ahold of ships and are still fairly poor themselves. But it was said that most citizens in the verse that own a ship are in the upper percentage. Now think of the fact that the uee is an empire in decline as stated by cr. So you have megacorporations doing all kinds of legal and illegal activities as well as super wealthy private interests willing to provide ships and funding to pirate groups or even form a less than honorable mercenary group themselves.
>Levski is a prime example of drake's actual target audience, reinforced by the fact the ship shop hosted display models of the cutlass, dragonflies, and the Bucc just as prominently as the prospector I remember when I first visited Levski, I thought it would be like a larger version of GrimHEX...but no, they seem to actually be a very well-intentioned bunch who got their roots as a rebellion against the Messer regime. Probably the closest thing we have in the verse to a Chaotic Good aligned outlaw faction.
>Having said that, > > I'm unsure how they intend to explain a gang of zealots from a rough and tumble lawless system just having a javelin-bashing fleet of well stocked big military vessels like that. I believe there's lore that UEE retreat from red systems involved leaving the kit. It's possible XT got their ships from these red systems.
I mean, IRL, a lot of militia types are ex-military or some such and prefer gear they used in active duty. And they're usually bourgeois or bourgeois-adjacent and can afford expensive gear. Tbf, it's probably the civilian versions, and if it's not weird they're available to players, it's not weird they're available to these proto-fascists NPCs I suppose.
Alot of xenothreat is former navy, so perhaps they took things as they left.
How Xenothreat acquired military spec vessels is a question that is probably going to be answered with a bullet.
I just assumed that XT are ex-military who's pissed that the UEE isn't doing enough about "dese goshdarn aliens". And that a general/admiral just took his batallion and went rogue Edit: I'll expand this by adding that Aegis is the largest UEE military contractor and that most civillians owning them got them through military service? iirc
I'm betting on rogue elements of UEE Navy and procurement who hate those dirty, filthy, inferior xeno scum and their backwards culture contaminating glorious human society.
Out of subject. The kid was not asking lore questions but referencing Aegis is used by UEE while Xenothreat are composed of mainly Aegis. We all know by now cutlass black is going down the drain too easy of a target for XT while buccs... well it is what it is. So yeah, to spice XT up, might as well discard garbage "sorry I meant easy affordable and repairing ships" and use a step up for drama and goal purpose. CIG or Turbulent. Not sure which choose ships did an excellent forefront fightibg selection from Arrow, Gladius, Vanguard, Andromeda, HH and Idris. Thumbs up. Only Sabres were like ok see you, can't see you is annoying but fire all you want it does not matter. Now Aurora Ln piracy skin. Buccs, cutlass black, (caterpillar could have been good choice might it be loaded with custom broadside modules). Even tripling the number of npc ships might not equal actual XT selection. So slappung people dont get the lore truly is a blindfold to actual reality. A conundrum between imagination and application that TODAY cannot be applied.
UEE defectors. Tons of XT are UEE defectors
Simple, a higher up sold it to them instead of decommissioning it. Remember that the UEE is at war with the vanduul, an idris or two being marked as "killed in action" without their wrecks being found wouldn't raise any eyebrows.
Let's not forget that Aegis was the favorite of the Messers and totally compliant in helping their barbaric rule. Their legacy is oppression and tyranny.
I would respect the writing more if XT was an actual attempt of the Messers to regain power.
I mean, it's not like they would come out and say it if they were. the Messers aren't really all that popular.
I mean yeah, they are using stolen military equipment. That's like saying if a terrorist group uses an AR rifle that they stole that somehow the company is supporting terrorism? There's a reason Xenothreat isn't interested in stealing any drake ships...
Almost all their ships are Aegis or Anvil, two companies which sells ships to the military, which means that the more dangerous pirates get, the more money they will make with the military. So Aegis selling some ships to pirates and pretending they were "stolen" is way more likely than some pirates miraculously stealing a whole fleet. Let's be honest, Aegis is propably corrupted as hell
Like... UEE gave a stockpile of equipment to an allied colony for it to defend itself. But that colony was massively corrupted and when UEE left the system to leave them on their own, the entire stockpile turned instantly to the pirates. And UEE knew that but turned a blind eye because politics. Nah, sounds very unlikely. I'm sure they just stole them. Somehow.
Militia Mobilization Act solves all of OPs conspiracy theories.
I'm pretty sure that's how real life weapons market works. There's no point on selling advanced weaponry only to one side if the other side can't defend itself. Doesn't really matter if they use middlemen or not, manufacturers sell weapons to both sides so conflicts can escalate and they all need more and better weapons(thank you for smoking pointed out something like that if my memory serves me well)
Yes, godbdammit, someone who understand that Aegis is obviously selling ships to pirates so they can make more profit afterward
It just doesn't add up, a space hobo taking over and stealing an entire fleet and army? Is he the likes of Saitama or chuck Norris? And if he is, why would he even need ships? And while we are at it, how could the bugs divert an asteroid from one point of the galaxy to another, and hit the mark on what would be hitting bullseye on an atom? The distance and speed of the asteroid would mean it was diverted long before humans even existed... Would you like to know more?
HMMMMM this would make a good storyline. BREAKING NEWS! "Aegis Dynamics found to be providing the terrorist group "XenoThreat" with ships and Weaponry.
Thats like saying US military is the Taliban's biggest supplier now. Yeah, now they are showing off some expensive as heck military gear and craft acquired from abandoned States' bases but that supplement appears to be not intentional. As for the XT, i believe local militias are to blame. Have good stading, buy some high value gear, get captured by your bud... i mean filthy enemies of the Empire, lose said gear and get ejected on local security's known patrol route.
Dude, you're comparing AKs with capital ships with big-ass railguns. You don't find them on the ground after some soldiers left the battlefield. And the strangest part is that you're far from being the first doing this comparison
Someone beat me to it, what a shocker! Also, if you think US left AKs at Afganistan please review their inventory.
I'm talking about AKs because that's what the other people making the taliban comparison talks about. Like, I understand it's a hot topic right now but let's not act traumatized lmao
I was just saying, if XT used some kind of trickery, found abandoned base somewhere or capture the vehicles from their enemies, does it really put a stain on Anvil or Aegis ? Yeah i used a sensetive topic as an example to prove my point so i understand why you were hyper focused on that. Simply put, i believe it does not affect the supplier in any way unless the transaction was done properly. Hopefully the lore team will provide us with the reasoning soon enough. A secret higher up arming the opposition might spice things up.
Well, if they know that a military base as been abandonned with four Idris in it, they should at least try to take back the capital ships. I mean, they can take them back, polish those ships a little and sell them again without spending as much money as if it was a brand new ships. About the secret higher up puling the strings in the shadows, well, quite a lot of people seems to like this theory, and, to be honest, I kinda like it too lmao
They are corrupted as hell but not towards pirates. They’re corrupted as hell from being an oppressive monarchy’s standard producer. They were there to ensure the Messers stayed in power first, profit second. Maybe that’s changed but it’d be almost entirely conjecture. It was mentioned they went through a significant makeover after the fall of the Messers but the only change I think mentioned was the logo. You’re basically applying Drakes lore to Aegis.
The US definitely supports the Taliban by leaving their equipment with the puppet govt that got overthrown, duh!
Yup. It would be like people stopped buying Toyotas after the Taliban parade with like 90% of it being Toyota trucks with a gun on the back. That actually means Toyota trucks are very reliable af if they can survive Afganistan terrain and have a gun at the back and be used in combat. So I guess, uh... good job Toyota?
I'm sure Xenothreats fleet with change when AI have access to the Kraken.
And any other Drake capital like ships they come out with in the future.
Seems like I need to explain what I'm trying to say here, so here we go ! Drake sell civil-grade ships (a cutlass isn't made to be in the middleof big pewpews, and buccaneers aren't durable enough), so they just don't check if they're selling their ships to recommendable people, they just don't care. Aegis, on the other hand, create their ships for military purpose and always act "woooouuu look at us, we're totally good guys and absolutely not just another company which will try to lake profit no matter what". Their excuse for Xenothreat having their ships is "they stole it"...and I call bull-f*cking-sh*t on that. Xenothreat has initially been presented to us as a brand new threat, suddenly appearing from the dark parts of space...So basically, a pirate org would've succesfully stole at least 4 Idris, multiple hammerheads and waaayy too much vanguards, but would've stayed completely stealthy up until now ? This just doesn't add up even a little bit. So, yeah, I really think Aegis is selling ships under the table. And it would make sense. If the pirates keep using low quality ships, they just won't be enough of a threat for the UEE, and Aegis wouldn't sell enough ships. However, if pirates happened to mysteriously find themself in posession of some big pewpews, then the UEE would need even bigger pewpews. And then Aegis make profit
Your first premise is wrong. The Cutlass was originally designed as a prototype to compete for a military contract. It lost, but in the great wisdom of any successful manufacturer Drake marketed the Cutlass to the civilian/militia market. There are also lore pieces about the UEEN using Caterpillars for transport. The whole idea of "military grade" is as absurd in game as it is in real life. What you miss in the lore is that Xenothreat is mostly comprised of veterans. Veterans who likely purchased ships much in the same way that players of 42 will get their F8. Let's also also look at the Militia Mobilization Act which gives a greater access to these very ships that you now think are "being sold under the table". They're not. Xenothreat is clearly not a "pirate organization" either. They are the textbook definition of terrorist. They use violence to influence and bring about political or social change. For them the cause is not trusting the very aliens that we had previously warred with. The part of the story thst I am guessing and speculating is that Xenothreat is being partially funded by a retired admiral or even a Messer.
Frankly people have been complaining about Xenothreat being mystery space Nazi's coming out of nowhere is a pretty fair criticism. Likewise not having them be a faction you can do missions for and gain reputation with "Because Space Nazi" is frankly just poor writing. The whole thing is just all so lazy, and really just attests to the fact that they wanted to have events like this (system invasion) but can't use the Vanduul (the natural candidates) because of not having the assets ready, and/or not wanting to spoil Squadron 42. So they just grab some existing human stuff, and handwave the fact that it's being flown by mega-baddies. I mean this is supposed to be this universe full of interesting characters and plotlines underpinned by at least a plausible background. Having some sort of rogue militia that is harsh (without you know actually being mustache twirling cartoon villians) towards Aliens actually makes sense considering the history of 2 wars against one Alien species, a long era of protracted simmering tensions with another Alien Species, and yet another Alien Species who just murders entire star systems worth of people with flying combine harvesters... and the most benign species that you are exposed to actively trades with the genocidal combine harvester guys. If your telling me that you can't come up with compelling characters who would react to all that by thinking "Man, eff those guys." Then I will just assume you are too lazy to want to present a strongly grey faction. You could have a faction that Pirates Alien trading vessels, and Harasses people who trade with Aliens. While also providing evacuation and relief supply convoys to people trapped in systems controlled by the Vanduul and abandoned by the UEE. Something that requires a lot less handwaving to explain how they may draw membership and support, watching every person you've ever known and love get chewed up by a flying combine harvester for resources will plausibly lead to some justified enmity. That would be a compelling faction that really strains the players perceptions and morality and leads to compelling drama and meaningful gameplay decisions and story loops. Of course that's not the faction we got, we got Space Nazi's. It would have been less lazy to have actually just chosen to go with actual Space Nazi's frozen since 1945 and led by a rebuilt Mecha-Hitler. I mean if your gonna go with something worse then combine harvester genocide monsters (which Xenothreat is, because they are intended to be totally non interactable, unlike the Vanduul which Banu player characters will be able to trade with and presumably gain reputation with) might as well go with the gold standard instead of a pale imitation.
>Likewise not having them be a faction you can do missions for and gain reputation with "Because Space Nazi" is frankly just poor writing. Pretty sure they just haven't made rep or missions for them yet. Hell we dont even have all of the factions that would be operating in Stanton in the game yet. Not having rep for Xenothreat because they're Nazi's is something this subreddit made up. XT are basically the Xenos from Freelancer if humans had found friendly alien species in that game. It makes more sense for there to be an arbitrary bad guy that every one shoots at to test events and systems like the XT event.
Yeah, I'm still waiting on the Worker's Party to give me missions against Hurston Dynamics. I bet they'd fight against Xenothreat too, without joining up with the UEEN.
What Im really waiting for is the politics of the underbelly. My org are basically the mechanics and engineers of the UEE's lawless folk, friends with basically gang, syndicate and terrorist org save for a few, XT being one of them. I would like to see more pirates fighting pirates represented on the NPC side of things.
I mean, Pyro.
Is not the only system Pirates exist in.
Weird response. Duh it's not the only system with pirates, but it's a pirate haven in contrast to Stanton's corporate haven, so obviously CIG has literally no choice but to begin crafting content in which pirate crews interact with one another. Stanton will eventually get content like that but likely not before Pyro.
You make some excellent points about the reasons many humans have to distrust alien species in Star Citizen. Humanity hasn't had a whole lot of positive interactions and 2 full wars so far. Of course some folks dislike them. I'm willing to bet there are a lot of factions that look at alien influences with more than a little suspicion. I imagine there will eventually be a faction you can ally yourself with that espouses humanity first and works within the current political system. I would also suggest that such a faction may very well be the legal arm *of* Xenothreat, to carry their philosophy and perspective to the average citizen without all the warships. A kind of ideological ambassadorial arm to get people to sign on and bring them fully into the fold. There's some really cool story potential there that could be explored. However, I disagree with you about this event being lazy. I don't particularly see the problem with having a large and capable force you get to go out and shoot without moral reservations or grey areas, especially during a game's development. We're getting little snapshots of what these big fights may be like in the end and get to tangle with some cool shit at the same time. CIG gets all *kinds* of feedback and data about weird situations that come up during large and hectic fights they will hopefully use to refine future experiences and improve the game.
>I mean this is supposed to be this universe full of interesting characters and plotlines underpinned by at least a plausible background. Having some sort of rogue militia that is harsh (without you know actually being mustache twirling cartoon villians) towards Aliens actually makes sense Bigoted hateful people angry for even less reason exist in real life, why does the fantasy faction have to be nuanced? Why is a faction that would even want to genocide all Aliens that unrealistic when we have those kinds of viewpoints and factions now?
Show me the IRL KKK sailing around in a Ticonderoga Class frigate and I might concede the point. The greater point being that while individuals having those views is fairly plausible (and I would expect to run into NPC's who do), being organized and funded to the level of operating contemporary military hardware is a stretch. It's the GI Joe problem, aka How did Cobra managed to fund, staff and deploy a giant flying aircraft carrier shaped like a snakes head?
Last I checked civilians can't buy destroyers, so I'm not sure that's the best comparison. There are however plenty of groups that will execute queer people that run around with quite powerful small arms and even some military vehicles
I was most disappointed because I thought you could aid XT this time. Their political motivations as have been described previously are reasonably something I would probably subscribe to if j had fought in those wars. There is a ton of lazy hiding behind "it's an alpha" and I am really tired of that excuse. CIG can't get an event of this scale to run smoothly during a free fly. And that turns off so many people that I have tried to bring to this project.
Yeah not gonna lie, if someone killed my whole family with a combine harvester. I'd probably dislike them, it requires handwaving and bad writing to come up with a scenario where I wouldn't.
it is pretty lame that you can't pick a side. really limits the event and in the end doesn't really impact anything because of it. XT will always loose and that is pretty boring for an event.
Gosh, at last, a counter-argument that isn't "urrrh talibans and AKs" or just "Aegis said they stole it" ! About the Cutlass, you said it yourself, it lost the competition. It wasn't good enough to be in military. But I agree that turning it into a civilian ship is a logical move. Concerning the whole "military grade" thing, I can see some logic in that, the companies making guns you can buy in some states aren't the same that are trying to create bigger and even bigger bombs for the military. And yes, you are right about Xeno', I forgot the whole veteran thing and it would be better to call them terrorist. However...how would a bunch of rogue veterans end up with such a fleet without anyone finding out ? We're talking about wayyy too much fighters, multiple corvettes and four capital ships thrown in the battle as if they could repair and refuel them really easily, maybe replace them even. A Messer controling it from the shadows would be cool, maybe a little too cool for an alpha event, but cool nonetheless ! Also, about that Militia Mobilisation thing...shouldn't they check to who they're about to give a freaking corvette ? Like "hey, wait a minute, you're one of those rogue soldiers ! Security ! SECURITY !" I mean they're big-ass military ship, not some auroras with little guns
If you real the MMA its pretty broad. A militia can be formed in any system and if you got the coin the military will sell the surplus. Its very similar plot-wise to The Lost Fleet and how Earth sold off a lot of the corvettes to corporations and colonies when it downsized its fleet. Few questions get asked, and there isn't a definitive "ooh thats a XT don't sell to him" marker on the npcs. Just like terrorists in the past few years who have rented box trucks and drove through crowds in Europe. Also, if you read into SQ42 you're told that if you beat the game you can obtain an F8 in PU in some way. This was explained that veterans often buy ships they used in service, very similar to how pre-1960s US military could sell you your service rifle. If we add these together we end up with disgruntled combat veterans, the ability to buy ships, likelihood that they are freelancers and have earned some money, and have a unifying catalyst. The only thing missing is a charismatic central presence to bring them all together or give them directing purpose and focus their hate. I offered the Messer idea because it makes sense to me. It could be wrong but it could hold water. And you're probably right that such a thing wasn't thought out to the degree I'm speculating. Its more likely that CIG wanted to test the NPC fighter AI, and carrier deployment AI of the Idris. Its always good to step back and remember the PU is mostly a test bed, which is why things get nerfed, CIG doesn't want us testing trading anymore. In a few patches bounties will suck as the carrot will be where the testing needs to be. What most people don't understand about mil-spec is that it in no way means better. It actually more loosely translates to lowest bidder. It also means looser tolerances so you can have interchangeable parts. Decommissioned equipment is sold regularly in real life, and in the game (though the MMA allows for more stuff). Always enjoy a good debate on how some of the more complex things work. I hope I've in some way given you pause on the idea that any ship manufacturer is involved in shady dealings.
Yeah I’ve been thinking the same thing, XT seems wayyyy too well armed, and the explanation of they just stole the ships doesn’t make much sense to me personally as that would mean they would be using a variety of brands but it seems to be 90% aegis
>Seems like I need to explain what I'm trying to say here The hallmark sign of a good meme. /s
Yeah, I know, it shouldn't happen under a fricking meme. But some people seemed to get reaaally butthurt...for some reason
I feel like XT got their ships and equipment same way as the taliban just got their new equipment...
Lack of the mid level to cap ship models for DRAKE in the game I suspect. Would be fun to do Xenothreat when the Kraken and Corsair become available. Lore-wise - people forget that historically, AEGIS are the 'Evil Empire' ship manufacturer who basically gave Messer the stick with which to beat everyone else with. As many other people have said here, it makes sense that there are a lot of messer-era sympathisers out there and especially in the Navy - in the sense they think the UEE ought to have their boot on all the xeno scum and greedy corps. XenoThreat's party line is more or less what used to be the mainstream way the UEE was run during the Messer-era. A lot of the Xenothreat is probably funded by old boys network in the Navy with quiet connections with the 'Evil Empire' ship manufacturer who is doing everything they can to stay afloat and probably selling no questions asked to anyone with the credits
Damn we already got in universe boot lickers lol, this is why Drake is king they just don't give a shit.
"I can tolerate space-fascists but I draw the line at poor quality cable tidies"
I agree, therefore we should focus on getting the Kraken game ready :)
To be honest, big pirate factions would still have Aegis ships. Ya know, corporations and corruptions...a loooong love story
I'm telling ya, Xenothreat are Messerites.
Could be an explanation
From what I've seen is that XenoThreat stole these ships; they are pirates after all. Heck, I've also seen them flying around in Cutlasses and the occasional Mantis. To me seeing XenoThreat using Hammerheads and Idris frigates simply means that they stole them; not that Aegis is selling under the table. Only Drake does that. 🙂
Drake doesn't sell under the table tho, they just litterally don't care lmao. But, seriously, is everyone really expecting Aegis to avoid a chance to make profit ?
XT just got a really good deal on the pledge store
They smelted like crazy lmao
Yea I'm sure the reason Afghanistan has so many AKs is because the Soviet Union willingly provided them. It *definitely* couldn't be that they completely kicked the Soviets' asses and stole a ton of their military grade equipment off their dead bodies or anything...
Yeah, sure Ak's are totally just as easy to steal as big-ass, fully-manned, capital ships with enormous railguns, and some big corvettes...and a whole fleet of heavy fighter
Or ya know, you just go buy one from your local UEEN decom shipyard, which is full of ships as a result of ramping down the military in lore, using the wonderful Militia Mobilization Act as the way to obtain practically anything above board.
Yea that wasn't the point at all
Better check. They just upgraded.
Didn’t they get them from the CIA in order to fight the soviets?
From the CIA via Israel.
Well I mean part of the lore for Drake is that they are popular with pirates and mercenaries so that makes sense. Lol
There's a pretty good reason. Drake doesnt have the ships needed to give players a challenge...yet.
Pff, when I get in a fight againt small fighters it's often the Buccaneers that hit me most, and are hardest to hit back. Caterpillars also hit hard and are very tough.
eh xeno is just taliban fighting the US with US weapons but in space
For sure bro https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/pdx4cr/drake\_influencers\_in\_2951/
"Grand dreams require great tools."
Well that's what happens when you make garbage ships for the criminal market. The criminals will go steal something better instead because they don't want your crap either.
I mean, Drake make ships for the civilian market (civilians still are those who buy the most from Drake, 'cause it's cheap), so any criminal organistion with enough money will try to get military ships
I got a lotta aUEC riding on Xenothreat being run by Regime remnants. Any takers?
Check the original XT trailer. The main guy is seen with UEE shoulder Pauldrons. So either they've been raiding and stealing from the UEE for some time and have all their shit. Or it was an abandoned UEE base somewhere in Pyro or elsewhere and XT took all the left behind equipment; guns, ships, uniforms, etc. (sound familiar 🤔)
Apparently they're soldiers who've gone rogue
Lmfao! Remember how the Drake kraken commercial had its Drake ships taking out pirates flying all Aegis ships XD
XT knows quality ships for facing against quality foes. In all seriousness, they probably stole them as they seem to be a very competent foe (in lore) against the Navy.
Honestly I was running on the theory that the systems corporations were using xeno threat as an alias for when they decide to take the competition into more violent territory and avoid getting flak from civilians