Good vs. Evil... the eternal question

staticlike

Well, i for one have found many advantages and disadvantages to being both evil and good. this topic to discuss those advantages and disadvantages.

Being Good

the advantages of being good are clear and simple. you can build many colonies and gather lots of colonists in a short while, making it possible to gather a lot of exp during the middle of the game. you can also log out at starports, an cost effective alternative to logging out in tax-paying U.N. space (very expensive if you have a lot of exp).

However, it comes with some disadvantages, i find that it is more difficult to gain rep than to lose it. taxis give 10 rep, founding a colony gives you 25 (at a cost of 40k). there aren't many other ways to gain a lot of rep in a short time, while losing rep is easy, jettison a bunch of colonists and you lose 500 rep, woop dee doo, wasn't that fun?

Being Evil

being evil is what people who like to kill others becomes. getting negative rep lets you into the pirate starbase, and to buy a fantastic ship for killing others (i hate EMP ). its easy to lose your rep in a short amount of time, in case you just don't like the life of being a goody-two-shoes. you can also steal stuff from starports, which can prove profitable if you have a lot of exp.

in my experience, people who are evil don't usually win. mostly because they spend too much of their fuel either trying to find someone high in the rankings to kill, or they get caught too much stealing from starports. the worst part about being evil, is that you cannot log out at starports. that means that you have to stay in the expensive U.N. protected areas. i don't like being evil, some people do for some reason.

In conclusion, i think that being good is better than being bad. why? cause i'm a good kind of person. another reason is because i cannot think of any good strategies for winning while being evil. if you are evil, you can't pick up colonists, which means you miss out on exp generated by planets (which is a lot if you have enough planets)

please, post your comments on what i've said, and prove me wrong that being bad is good

if you have read all of this message, good for you!

If pro- is the opposite of con-, then what is the opposite of progress?

halkey

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Originally posted by staticlike

Well, i for one have found many advantages and disadvantages to being both evil and good. this topic to discuss those advantages and disadvantages.
Being Good
the advantages of being good are clear and simple. you can build many colonies and gather lots of colonists in a short while, making it possible to gather a lot of exp during the middle of the game. you can also log out at starports, an cost effective alternative to logging out in tax-paying U.N. space (very expensive if you have a lot of exp).
You can be super evil fiend baby killer and still get a full load of colonists from earth every time.
However, it comes with some disadvantages, i find that it is more difficult to gain rep than to lose it. taxis give 10 rep, founding a colony gives you 25 (at a cost of 40k). there aren't many other ways to gain a lot of rep in a short time, while losing rep is easy, jettison a bunch of colonists and you lose 500 rep, woop dee doo, wasn't that fun?
Donate money to a bounty.  i think 2 million gets you 5000 rep....and I can make 2 million on 1 well planned taxi trip using a black hole.
Being Evil
being evil is what people who like to kill others becomes. getting negative rep lets you into the pirate starbase, and to buy a fantastic ship for killing others (i hate EMP ). its easy to lose your rep in a short amount of time, in case you just don't like the life of being a goody-two-shoes. you can also steal stuff from starports, which can prove profitable if you have a lot of exp.
Getting into the pirate starbase also lets you buy nukes....very handy.
in my experience, people who are evil don't usually win. mostly because they spend too much of their fuel either trying to find someone high in the rankings to kill, or they get caught too much stealing from starports. the worst part about being evil, is that you cannot log out at starports. that means that you have to stay in the expensive U.N. protected areas. i don't like being evil, some people do for some reason.
I would agree 2 major disadvantages to being evil are not logging out in starports, and getting caught stealing.  25% exp loss ouch...but if you watch the people that play evil all the time they never get stupid and never get caught.
In conclusion, i think that being good is better than being bad. why? cause i'm a good kind of person. another reason is because i cannot think of any good strategies for winning while being evil. if you are evil, you can't pick up colonists, which means you miss out on exp generated by planets (which is a lot if you have enough planets)
I am usually good, but I kill all NPC's that I see, good or bad.  So sometimes I get a streak of good NPC's and end up with negative rep.  All that changes is the color of my dot.  It never really effects how I play, I still colonize like a mad man because I always try to have my main colonies very near sol for the endless supply of colonists.
please, post your comments on what i've said, and prove me wrong that being bad is good
if you have read all of this message, good for you!

If pro- is the opposite of con-, then what is the opposite of progress?
Congress? No no...CONservative (as in republican).

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Halkey - AKA Scarface

Xira

You are overlooking some important factors here.

Being evils nets you more money than being good for less warp fuel cost. It's cheaper to steal from a starport for 40k when you have 80k exp and never get caught for 1 warp fuel than it is to trade for that amount for 5 warp fuel.

You can 'abuse' the bounty system to gain massive amount of good reputation. Fly around with a neutrino until you find an evil player who's logged out, plase a 2-4 million bounty on his head, gain 5000-10000 reputation, kill him, then collect the bounty. If you have the cash to spend, posting a bounty on any ole evil works well too.

Tempunaut

Err.. hello? If you go and whack 4 million on a bounty and get 10000 rep, then you won't be able to rob starports anymore.. Plus, if you keep stealing from the same port then you will eventually get caught. So you have to go find new ports so your 1 warp fuel for 40k doesn't really add up.

Why do you call it abusing the bounty system??? It can be used for penance can't it? Plus if someone wants to spend whatever amount of warp fuel to get to a starbase and go back to where the sleeping evil player just to increase rep then so be it?! I can think of many more fuel efficient (and exp gaining) ways to increase rep. In current milky way, my rep is about 10000, and I haven't donated one cent to any bounty.

I would say that being an evil player, or atleast doing evil things in the game, is easier on the wallet and you generally get alot of exp for stuff too in the short run, but the risks involved when you log out are alot higher than playing a good char. The game is alot more balanced for good and evil players than it used to be, I can tell you that!!

screwballl

ok i had 5K xp stealing $2000 at a time, multiple times from same port for $40K, for 1 warps fuel, go 1-2 hops for the same amount... after about 8 hours playing times (2 days) i had over 10K xp and stolen around $2Mil and used less than 100 warp fuel... plus the new sethdar and killing all npcs i could find helped some too

Stump

Ol' Stump'll chime in with his two cents on t'subject,

Reputation be an important consideration in t'game. Firstly, ol' Stump'll give ye his three golden rules that'll more oft'n than not assure ye a top ten finish.

1. Don't get blowed up

2. Don't be stealin'

3. Don't be runnin' outta fuel

Now, t'examine the impact o' reputation on these rules. Fer not gettin' blown up, a reputation of -999 and up be t'most desirable, fer the simple reason that ye can sleep in Inns. Inns be the safest and cheapest place fer sleepin'. Iff'n ye sleep at an Inn, ye can rest assured that ye won't be blowed up when ye come back. Now iff'n yer reputation be -1000 and below, that changes things to either risky or expensive. Loggin' off in UN space t'aint a practical thing, 'cept maybe early on in t'game. Anywhere beyond 100k XP and the price tag fer safety is usually beyond ones sustainable means. So, that leaves ye with the option of sleepin' in one of yer colonies. Well, ol' Stump knows a thing or two about invadin' and bein' invaded, and even tho the Devs have been makin' great strides in balance issues of planetary defense... the fact remains that NO PLANET IS 100% SAFE. T'you younger pups out there, that may strike ye as odd, but with a little knowhow, time and supplies the heaviest planets can fall. ANd iff'n it falls while ye be sleepin' on it, well then ye can kiss yer arse g'bye. So, all that bein' considered, ol' Stump does what he can to ensure he can sleep at Inns.

Alot o' people t'would likely disagree with ol' Stump on t'next point. Ol' Stump don't figure that stealin' be a wise venture. But 25% XP drop be plenty of reason fer ol' Stump. Granted, iff'n ye be stealin' reasonable amounts, the risk be very low... but never the less, there still be a risk. Ol' Stump still favors tradin' fer early on in t'game makin' money. It be safe and steady, and ye gain XP as opposed t'potentially lose'n it. And later in a round when ye have a goodly 'mount o' XP, is gambline one quarter of that hard work for a piddly $50000 worth it? Ol' Stump thinks not.

Reputation don't play a large role in yer fuel useage, in ol' Stump's opinion. Iff'n ye be below -1000 reputation, ye might burn up a bunch'a fuel returnin' to yer sleepin' planet, or UN territory when conductin' business elsewhere. Other than that, yer fuel usabe be fer the most part a playin' style thing.. and ol' Stump'll speak at more length on that subject some other time.

Additional considerations be as follows;

The UN Flagship be the best planet buster ye can buy. Some may debate that, but ol' Stump'll not be swayed. The IG ship would be second choice. The reason the UN wins out be fer it's special weapon, the Photon Torpedo. This be an excellent Flak Cannon killer in most situations, and because Photon be very long range, it frees ye up t'carry a Gravitron as yer Primary. Conversely, iff'n ye be drivin' an IG, I would generally have t'run Fusion Blast as my primary... which is deathly slow compared to Photons, but has the advantage of being able to be bounced off o' walls. The IG special be superior fer planets which have a heavily guarded door. Anyway, fer the purposes of attain' a UN ship, tis quite wise not t'be going too far down in the reputaion department early in t'game, as ye need 5000 rep t'be able t'buy the UN. This be a large reason t'stay on t'side o' good, 'least til ye get yer UN.

On t'flip side, havin' less than -1000 reputation is nice when it comes t'bein' able t'buy Nukes from the Pirate base. But, unless ye be conductin' most o'yer business near the Pirate base, then ye'll still want a Weapons Factory someplace fer storin' the nukes on, as ol' Stump don't find it practical t'run 'round with all his slots filled with Missiles. So, that at least partially negates the usefulness of bein' able t'buy them in the first place.

 

All in all, 'tis ol' Stumps opinion that maintainin' a reputation of -999 and up be t'best choice. This can sometimes be a challenge when ye start takin' out 5k population planets in Unity though. She be all about balance, pups... it be up t'ye t'find the right one fer yer style o' play. Ol' Stump hopes that t'was of some help.