Hello Forum!

[TamaHawk]

o7 Wanted to introduce myself and ask a few questions that I've encountered since I started playing.

1. Are normal stations destroyable by the playerby means of ship fire?

2. I havent tried multiplayer out yet but I was wondering if there are any known issues with the steam bought version in terms of connecting and finding servers to play on. I know some games have steam client side issues with communicating to game servers. I'm trying to get some of my firends into the idea of buying this game so we can play online but I dont want to recomend the steam version ( which I have ) if it is known to be buggy.

3 . In terms of pirating ( blowing up random ships and taking there stuff ) what are the deep space repercusions, in other words if I kill a navy ship out in deep space in a quadrent dose the entire quadrent know this happened or would I not take a standing hit for it bing unknown?

4. On that same note as well how do you build standing with factions and is there an inter war raging between certain faction in the game?

Thanks all!

[Busch]

Hello TamaHawk! Welcome! I'll try to answer your questions:

1. "Normal", game/server hard-wired stations will re-spawn should you destroy them. Player-built stations do/should not. Stations are destroyed thru the timely application of a station destructor. Even a fulcrum torpedo has no effect.

2. Whether you bought from Steam, or elsewhere, you should be able to log on to any of the available game/server platforms without issue.

3. Your global reputation is the sum of the system reputations you've built, wherever you've been in the Evoverse. The "Law-&-Order" factions (Energy/Miners/Navy), as well as the other side of the street (Guild & Rebels), all have contracts/missions that you may perform/complete for each. In conflict/war zones, should you destroy a Navy ship (of any "size" and for whatever reason), they will hunt you. At that point, it's best to depart the A.O. with alacrity, 'til cooler heads intervene. Outside of the conflict/war zones - yer on yer own. ALL activities are monitored and recorded.

4. One builds "standing" with the factions by successfully completing contracts/missions for a given faction. In conflict/war zones, ALL missions successfully completed add to your military rank. ALL contracts/missions successfully completed, wherever accomplished, add to your civ status/experience points. Clan control of a given system may be the sole modifying factor for your build consideration. Some clans and indies engage in war for territory/trade control. It just depends on the server platform and the clan(s)/indies that are involved.

Hope this helps some.

[Edited on 6-6-2013 by Busch]

[Edited on 6-6-2013 by Busch]

[Marvin]

Concerning Factions, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Evoverse puts it this way.

Factions

As the old saying goes: There are two sides to every story. And the Evoverse is no exception. Its two sides are: (1) the Federation and (2) the Alliance. Without going into great detail (or any detail at all), suffice to say that these two sides have somehow managed to maintain an uneasy detente (see entry on the cease fire agreement), despite numerous provocations.

All the gated star systems (and most of the ungated ones) are governed by one side or the other. Every pilot, military or civilian, is to some degree associated with one of these sides. Like it or not, somewhere in the tangled network of computer data exists a record informing local authorities where each pilot stands. Ergo, pilots are rated* according to their reputation: good, fair, moderate or hostile. Alliance pilots fair badly in Federation-held star systems and Federation pilots fair no better in Alliance space.


[align=center]
Map of the gated systems and their predisposition to Alliance mercenaries[/align]

Admittedly, there is crossover (it's part of the cease fire agreement). Ergo, you will often find Alliance ships (including really big Navy cruisers) transiting Federation space and Federation ships loitering, unmolested, within Alliance space.

Nonetheless, the worse a lone pilot's standing is with local authorities, the greater the likelihood he will be harassed by factions. Navy capital ships can be downright belligerent, attacking without provocation or warning. As can Navy fighters. And, if the Navy is against you, expect other factions to follow suit. Even law-abiding pilots working for Energy or the Miners are likely to take pot-shots at an unsuspecting mercenary. And don't be thinking that lawless factions like Rebels or any of the Guilds will treat a wayward pilot any better. On the contrary. Guilds are nothing more than mobsters, often flying in packs, preying on independent pilots who will never receive (nor should they expect) protection.

While it's nearly impossible for a mercenary to convince the local administration of one's good intentions, it is possible to improve one's reputation among some of the factions. Even the indigenous Navy, supposedly operating under direction of the authorities, will begrudgingly "go easy" on pilots who sign up to assist in defending the star system from marauders, interlopers, carpetbaggers and invaders. Admittedly, the Navy and other lawful factions will still stand aside while a lone mercenary is under attack. But at least they aren't as likely to join in on the side of the attacker(s).


[align=center]
News Console readout displaying faction reputation in one particular star system[/align]

Of course, it's possible for a mercenary to choose the road not normally taken: completing contracts for rogue Guilds or Rebels. Should that be the case, the mercenary will then almost certainly be branded as a bandit and hunted by agents of the current administration. He will find no solace or refuge within the associated star system. Nor will his actions curry favor from the opposing side, be it Federation or Alliance. Because an untrustworthy mercenary can be trusted by no one.


* I bet you thought it was the other way round. (Confusion can be blamed on local authorities, all of whom are hidden behind city walls and trade station energy fields. You hear them. You sometimes read their messages. But they never fly. They hardly ever even take a taxi. They are the Federation. Or the Alliance. And they can make life very, very difficult for anyone born and raised in a foreign star system, be it a system which is far, far away or even one right next door.)

[DaveK]

1. "Normal", game/server hard-wired stations will re-spawn should you destroy them. Player-built stations do/should not. Stations are destroyed thru the timely application of a station destructor. Even a fulcrum torpedo has no effect.

I didn't think that game/server stations could be destroyed by anything - is this an addition to the expansion?

[Marvin]

It's probably just wishful thinking.

[Busch]

Okay, update to original post:

1. In the latest release build, station detonators DO NOT WORK on game hard-wired stations. I've found this to be true in SP and MP-LAN space. Should one attempt the operation, the statement "NO STATION WITHIN RANGE OF DETONATOR" will appear in the chat screen.

[@Marv, Dave, and the community: sorry for the inconvenience - old school/old tech aka: Mercs I. Accidently blew up a hard-wired game station in the last clan war I was involved with. That one did re-spawn then. Should have expected/anticipated a "global correction" in the intervening builds/years. Until recently, never had a reason to verify. My bad. My profuse apologies.]

[Marvin]

No problem. Had it been possible to destroy a hard-coded station, think of the difficulty it would've caused when trying to recover stuff in storage.

[ELiTe]

Maybe it's time for a "newbie-input" again

"Building standing" with the faction you want does not seem to work with contracts that does not "kill" anybody. Delivery, cleaning, mining etc contracts do not appear to move the % in any way at all.

Also, some contracts confuse me at first until I kinda figured it out. For example, I get a contract from "Miners" faction, to patrol and kill hostiles. After coming back, instead of the Miners' % going up, the Navy and/or the Energy one does. Eventually I made the connection that if I read the News page properly it might give you clues who is fighting who. Eg if Miners are fighting Rebels and that contract tells you to patrol the area and kill ships, but the ships are from Guild, then the Navy/Energy % is altered, not the Miners'.

Similarly, you do not need a contract to build standing with factions at all. Simply killing a ship of the "opposing faction" to the one you wish to build standing with will result in % adjustments. Hence you can go around killing "Rebel" ships of any color (green, yellow, red), the Navy % will go up (assuming Navy is fighthing Rebels in the system), with or without a contract.

Thus it appears to me thus far, that only "killing" an opposing ship of the faction you wish to build standing with, will result in a % adjustment. I have not observed any % increase/decrease at all even if I run countless contracts of "deliver this to a waiting ship" or "Solar array needs cleaning" contracts.

EDIT - FYI, this is with v2.488+, and if you ask me for SPECIFIC sectors, it's Thuban, Pearl, Fauston, Aquila, Deneb, Orion, Siruis, Rigel, Cygnus, uncharted sectors NE of Cerulean WZ, uncharted sectors SW, W and NW of Emerald of up to SX -4500. To me, practically anywhere.

As a new guy, I have always thought this was "working as intended". If it isn't, then consider this a bug report

EDIT 2: - I even have a video of this "problem" (if it's a bug/problem) here at:

http://youtu.be/sjPEQinEvYM



[Edited on 25-6-2013 by ELiTe]

[Marvin]

Unlike with territorial percentages, it often takes more than one contract to increase your reputation with factions a full percentage point. And, should you then move on to a different star system before increasing your overall reputation, your reputation with factions in the first star system will usually drop back down. The reasons for this are numerous and well documented. Even the H2GE covers this topic.

[Marvin]

Here is a list of all the possible contracts, who sponsors them, and what the sponsor requires:


<pre>TRADE STATIONS and CONSTRUCTOR STATIONS

Contract No. Contractor Type of Contract

1 Rebels Spy on escorted capital ship
2 Rebels Destroy capital ship and escort
3 Navy Multi-waypoint patrol of shipping lanes
4 Guild Deliver goods to a capital ship under fire
5 Navy Single waypoint patrol
6 Navy Eliminate a smuggler
7 Guild Destroy capital ship and escort
8 Navy Escort a capital ship
9 Guild Deliver goods to a capital ship under fire
10 Miners Eliminate ships attacking transports
11 Rebels Destroy a disabled capital ship and escort
12 Guild Destroy an escorted capital ship
13 Energy Clean a solar array
14 Navy Recover and return a cargo pod
15 Energy Deliver goods to a capital ship
16 Navy Locate a lost cargo pod
17 Miners Clear away 20 asteroids
18 Locals Race against time
19 Locals Race against an AI pilot
20 Energy Mine 25 units and deliver**
21 Energy Survey land for development via terrain walker*
22 Energy Survey land for mining via terrain walker*
23 Energy Recover biologicals via terrain walker*
24 Energy Recover and return lost item via terrain walker*


CITIES

Contract No. Contractor Type of Contract

1 Guild Spy on escorted capital ship
2 Rebels Destroy capital ship and escort
3 Navy Multi-waypoint patrol of shipping lanes
4 Rebels Deliver goods to a capital ship under fire
5 Navy Single waypoint patrol
6 Navy Eliminate enemy ace and squadron
7 Guild Destroy capital ship and escort
8 Navy Escort a capital ship
9 Guild Deliver goods to a capital ship under fire
10 Miners Eliminate ships attacking transports
11 Rebels Destroy a disabled capital ship and escort
12 Guild Destroy an escorted capital ship
13 Energy Clean a solar array
14 Navy Recover and return a satellite
15 Navy Deliver a satellite to a capital ship
16 Navy Locate a lost cargo pod
17 Miners Clear away 20 asteroids
18 Locals Race against time
19 Locals Race against an AI pilot
20 Energy Mine 25 units and deliver**
21 Energy Survey land for development via terrain walker*
22 Energy Survey land for mining via terrain walker*
23 Energy Recover biologicals via terrain walker*
24 Energy Recover and return lost item via terrain walker*


WAR ZONE TRADE STATIONS and CONSTRUCTOR STATIONS

Contract No. Contractor Type of Contract

1 Navy Spy on escorted capital ship
2 Rebels Destroy capital ship and escort
3 Navy Multi-waypoint patrol of enemy shipping lanes
4 Guild Deliver goods to a capital ship under fire
5 Navy Destroy capital ship and escort
6 Navy Single waypoint combat support
7 Guild Destroy capital ship and escort
8 Navy Escort a capital ship
9 Guild Deliver goods to a capital ship under fire
10 Miners Eliminate ships attacking transports
11 Rebels Destroy a disabled capital ship and escort
12 Guild Destroy an escorted capital ship
13 Energy Clean a solar array
14 Navy Recover and return an escape pod
15 Energy Deliver goods to a capital ship
16 Navy Locate a lost cargo pod
17 Miners Clear away 20 asteroids
18 Locals Race against time
19 Locals Race against an AI pilot
20 Energy Mine 25 units and deliver**
21 Energy Survey land for development via terrain walker*
22 Energy Survey land for mining via terrain walker*
23 Energy Recover biologicals via terrain walker*
24 Energy Recover and return lost item via terrain walker*


* These contracts can only be accomplished planetside.</pre>

[Edited on 6-25-2013 by Marvin]

[Busch]

In support of Marv: some of the 'documentation', aside from the H2GE, may be found within the 'old' Evochron Legends Strategy Guide, pages 20 and 21, paragraph entitled 'Reputations'. Discussion thereof, a flow chart, and a detailed listing/description of how each type of contract (and ship kills) benefit whom (Energy/Guild/Miners/Navy/Rebels). Would presume that if there's sufficient need, that Vice may be encouraged to re-post this info within the Universe info portion of the Mercs web-site, as it's still very much germane to Mercs II. I'll have to re-check, but DaveK may very well have included this info in the HnTG as well.

*EDIT - Yep, Dave did include the Legends Strategy Guide info, as well as quite a discussion on the topic. It all starts on page 197 of the HnTG.

[Edited on 6-25-2013 by Busch]