Explain this Rep Loss (and fix it finally please)

[oddible]

I'm in Grand Exchange. I've been capturing VIG ships continuously in Grand Exchange. Every time they drop a laser tower I kill it. I hear the vocal flavor come on of them calling for a "criminal attack against this facility" then I hear the MIN rep say "Negative" and I don't suffer any loss. The VIG are in fact enemies with the MIN.

Then I notice a VIG laser tower just sitting in space near one of the gates - I think this is going to be a problem for my miners. So I go kill it. I get the same warning but this time it gives me Reputation Lost. VIG laser tower, fired at me first, hit me first. Rep lost. This crap is one of the most infuriating things about this game - the rep loss from random laser towers is severely dumb.

[Admiral Sausage]

There are MIN ships disguised as VIG ships. If they drop laser towers and you destroy them, you lose rep with MIN, because it was really their property that you destroyed. Presumably scanning the laser towers will remove their disguise, though I have never actually tried.

However, you might want to check the loadout of one of those pretending-to-be-VIG ships if you can spot and capture one, and you might decide that it's worth the rep-loss.

[Raptor34]

Speaking of which, I think I noticed BUC(?) ships maintaining their cover as TEL while hitting some PAR ships around their trading dock. Might have been a mistake though.

[Mercestes]

There are MIN ships disguised as VIG ships. If they drop laser towers and you destroy them, you lose rep with MIN, because it was really their property that you destroyed. Presumably scanning the laser towers will remove their disguise, though I have never actually tried.

However, you might want to check the loadout of one of those pretending-to-be-VIG ships if you can spot and capture one, and you might decide that it's worth the rep-loss.

The whole faction swapping thing was ok for the Yaki but it's just cludgy and buggy with everything else. If I physically see a pirate that just tried to rob my ship faction switch back to Argon to "hide" I shouldn't lose Argon rep for murdering the pirate.

Why can't the player do it? Why can't I just "be Xenon" whenever I chose?

[Loltak]

For now I've not suffered too much losses of rep or ships form the disguise gameplay but the last time I feel it was not fair and logical IHMO.

I had a miner which travelled in a sector and a VIG attacked it. At the same time the sector patrol seems to go to help my asset..
But by the time they got here my miner was destroyed, the VIG disguises again and flight away, the patrol simply abandons the pursuit even if they were close to the VIG ship.
I'm pretty sure that this VIG vessel attacked several ships in the sector in total impunity.

With my little experience, for me it seems too easy for the pirate to act like that.

[Manawydn]

There are MIN ships disguised as VIG ships. If they drop laser towers and you destroy them, you lose rep with MIN, because it was really their property that you destroyed. Presumably scanning the laser towers will remove their disguise, though I have never actually tried.

However, you might want to check the loadout of one of those pretending-to-be-VIG ships if you can spot and capture one, and you might decide that it's worth the rep-loss.

I have never seen the Ministry of Finance spoof ships. I have seen Scaleplate do it though.

[Admiral Sausage]

I have never seen the Ministry of Finance spoof ships. I have seen Scaleplate do it though.

It's a side-effect of a particular plot. They won't do it until that's been completed.

[oddible]

OK so my rep has been steadily declining with the MIN. What I suspect is happening is that I'm capturing VIG Barbarossas in Eighteen Billion. I don't get the rep loss for that but I DO get rep loss every time I kill one of the Laser Towers or Defense Drones that the VIG ship releases. I'm not sure if these are spoofing TEL or ARG after they've been literally directly released from a VIG scanned ship - which would be silly. I'm going to look closer next time.

[Alan Phipps]

If VIG are neutral or better standing with MIN then the LTs/drones don't need to be masked. MIN will penalise you for attacking what they consider a lawfully visiting ship.

[Nanook]

It's not MIN, it's Teladi that VIG are neutral to (MIN and VIG are actually enemies). However, MIN are the police force for the Teladi, so if you attack a friend or neutral of the Teladi, then MIN will respond and you'll lose rep with them (and possibly with the Teladi, as well).

[oddible]

If VIG are neutral or better standing with MIN then the LTs/drones don't need to be masked. MIN will penalise you for attacking what they consider a lawfully visiting ship.

VIG are listed as enemies of MIN in the encyclopedia. I can destroy VIG ships just fine with no rep loss (for instance when I disable a VIG Barbarossa with 126 Veteran marines onboard I delete that sucker - no need to put my marines in harm's way). The problem, as it seems is always with rep in this game, is deployables.

[oddible]

Ya know what would help SIGNIFICANTLY?

In the Log message include:
1) The sector where it happened
2) The ship that fired the kill shot
3) The target item that was killed