Pirates bug

[VanashePanda]

I've noticed a massive problem with pirates since the 1.6 patch. (Not saying it wasn't a problem pre-1.6, just that this is when I started noticing it.) So, the problem is that pirates will attack you or your ships and then suddenly cry foul and claim that YOU are the one attacking THEM. Often times, this occurs literally a split second before they die. The really messed up thing is that they somehow report you to sector security AFTER their death, and you lose reputation for committing a criminal act. Let me repeat that: you get in trouble with the cops for DEFENDING yourself from PIRATES. So not only do the cops not lift a finger to help you when the pirates attack you, they will actually come after you for just simply trying to defend yourself.

Case in point: I had a problem in the Grand Exchange III system where I kept being attacked by pirates over and over and over (because they're very common there, apparently), and even though literally all I did was defended myself from vessels that were attacking me, I kept rapidly losing faction with the Ministry of Finance, until I hit -10. I eventually had to go sit outside an MoF shipyard and wait for criminals to spawn so I could kill them and get my reputation back to neutral.

Case in point, part deux: I had a pirate behemoth attack a large freighter of mine in Antigone space. I raced to their aid, but was several systems away and couldn't get there in time. I entered the system literally right as they blew up my freighter. I engaged the behemoth, disabled all of their guns and systems, and prepared to send boarders. I figured that if I couldn't save my poor freighter, at least I could have the behemoth as a consolation prize. Except that in doing so, the cops got pissed and a local Antigone station suddenly went red and started attacking a destroyer of mine that was there. In the end, I captured the behemoth, but lost not only my large freighter, but my large destroyer as well. The cops literally didn't give a single ounce of shit about the pirates attacking ME and didn't lift a FINGER to help my poor freighter, but decided that me retaliating against the pirates wasn't cool and blew up one of my capital ships that literally wasn't even remotely involved in the conflict.

If anyone else has seen this bug, please comment about it below, and maybe we'll bump this thread enough that egosoft will notice and do something about it.

If anyone else has seen a fix or a workaround for this problem, please let me know, because this bull is frustrating as hell.

[caltrop]

Pirates are generally disguised as another faction by in X4 so when capturing one of their behemoths you need to *scan* them first so their true faction is revealed

You may then have the opposite problem of local law enforcement attacking the ship you are trying to capture ...

The disguise makes it tough for your traders to try and defend themselves so it’s best you set their default orders for them to flee pirate attacks, not fight (or just drop their cargo)

[darrund]

As already said,since the pirates use false credentials to mask themselves you need to scan them. Easy to distinguish because they will show up as -5 to you even when they are blue meaning not active at the time.They also use ships not really belonging to the faction they pretend to be and names like "marauder" ," plunderer" etc.Get close match speed and scan them you can also pause to do it easier.
After that you will have no issue killing/boarding them or whatever.Have your ships set to comply for droping stuff if intercepted and also flee not fight.I board every SCA destroyer immediately when I see them respawning just as precaution.
I already have 7-8 of them or something.

[shealladh]

The trick is to spot the "Pirate" associated names on the ship. ie. Scavenger etc.

[VanashePanda]

Thanks for the tips! I will def have to try this. I'm getting so sick and tired of getting attacked by the cops just for defending myself from pirates.

[Louiscortez]

I got exactly the same issue in the same system as VanashePanda. The Pirates ask me to drop my cargo, turn red and even when I wait for them to shoot first I get -1 with MIN... I doubt that that is how it is supposed to work.