Where does VIG get their Ravens?

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Impending Doom
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Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by Impending Doom » Sat, 25. Jun 22, 01:35

After completing the Empyrean Curs questline, I've started seeing the occasional VIG Delivery Ship Raven flying around the Windfall-Eighteen Billion-Grand Exchange area. According to the Encyclopedia, the Ministry of Finance is the only faction that builds the Raven, but they are A: enemies with the Syndicate, and B: don't even offer the Raven for sale at their wharf. So where did they come from?

jlehtone
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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by jlehtone » Sat, 25. Jun 22, 08:55

First, "Delivery Ship" is a name that occurred way before ToA. They seem to disguise their faction and smuggle contraband. Did you scan those Ravens to verify the details that scanner can get out of them?

You might have seen the Galnet News items about pirate attempt to steal (ship/prisoner) from Ministry. If small Pirate group can do it, then surely more organized crime lords have no trouble in bribing and infiltrating the enemy offices?
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Impending Doom
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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by Impending Doom » Thu, 30. Jun 22, 03:55

I followed a few of these Ravens around, and discovered a few things:
  • When scanned, these ships reveal themselves as belonging to the Ministry of Finance. They are even painted in Ministry green camo just like the one you steal at the end of the Curs plot.
  • Despite my best efforts, I have never found a single Raven disguised as any other faction besides Vigor Syndicate.
  • All the ones I've found have been hauling innocuous goods like food and medical supplies. I even shot them down to see what they dropped to make sure it wasn't just the cargo concealment mod messing with my sensors.
So I guess my next question is: why is the Ministry using their state-of-the-art high-security transport to haul burgers and band-aids?

Raptor34
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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by Raptor34 » Thu, 30. Jun 22, 06:57

To break VIG's monopoly on food and meds.

Nanook
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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by Nanook » Sat, 2. Jul 22, 01:35

Just to be nitpicky :P it's food rations, water and ice. Medical supplies aren't illegal.
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Raptor34
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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by Raptor34 » Sat, 2. Jul 22, 07:11

Right. I'm too used to lumping them all together that I forgot.

LameFox
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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by LameFox » Sat, 2. Jul 22, 09:46

The camo system used by NPCs seems somewhat adaptive. e.g. SCA don't turn it on in unclaimed sectors, and I think they choose a faction that is neutral or allied with the sector owner. My guess here is that MIN doesn't transport traditionally illegal wares, so the only time they need to camouflage is vs VIG, and the only faction that VIG will allow to transport its illegal wares is also VIG, so that's what they camo as.
***modified***

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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by j.harshaw » Thu, 21. Jul 22, 23:51

LameFox wrote:
Sat, 2. Jul 22, 09:46
The camo system used by NPCs seems somewhat adaptive. e.g. SCA don't turn it on in unclaimed sectors, and I think they choose a faction that is neutral or allied with the sector owner. My guess here is that MIN doesn't transport traditionally illegal wares, so the only time they need to camouflage is vs VIG, and the only faction that VIG will allow to transport its illegal wares is also VIG, so that's what they camo as.
Can confirm.

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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by Nanook » Sat, 23. Jul 22, 01:11

So, after completing the VIG plot a while ago and parking the Raven for later, this thread inspired me to use it to run food to RIP. Unfortunately, for some reason, it can't buy food rations, or even any other type of ware. I tried it with both an NPC pilot and personally, and I consistently get 'trade failed'. Anyone else see this? The ship is unchanged except for a new paintjob.
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Caedes91
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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by Caedes91 » Sat, 23. Jul 22, 04:58

Nanook wrote:
Sat, 23. Jul 22, 01:11
So, after completing the VIG plot a while ago and parking the Raven for later, this thread inspired me to use it to run food to RIP. Unfortunately, for some reason, it can't buy food rations, or even any other type of ware. I tried it with both an NPC pilot and personally, and I consistently get 'trade failed'. Anyone else see this? The ship is unchanged except for a new paintjob.
It seems, that you can only ship the food when your trader has the mirage mod. And then only to your own stations in VIG and RIP territory. Trying to manually sell food rations to the AI stations there will trigger a rep loss, regardless of the cargo concealment mod or not. Sadly this wasn't explained anywhere.
Only found out, after farming the exeptional nanoweaves for installing mirage mod just to witness my traders chilling around with "no trade in allowed sectors found". They only worked, after I farmed VIG rep all the way to +20. At this point these scum "graciously give you the right" to sell basic needs wares there. Like how Russia is now blocking and plundering Ukrainian wheat to use hunger as a weapon and forcing pathetic countries to do their bidding.

Was so angry, that I reloaded a prior save during the assault on their leader, just to completely wipe them out this time at that opportunity. Killed absolute every ship of them, all fighters, all miners and all traders. With every one of their ships dead, their wharfs blocked, so no new traders to transport the food get built, the majority of them also starved to death. It was satisfying to give them a taste of their own medicine.

But even with all that, my traders still refused to sell food in avarice to RIP, despite not any VIG ships being there to harrass them. Even miners still just randomly drop ice, if they don't have the mirage mod. Was searching online for a while, until I stumbled on a reddit post, saying that you need to be at +20 rep to trade illegal goods. If not for having read all the replies thoroughly, I would have missed that too.

dtpsprt
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Re: Where does VIG get their Ravens?

Post by dtpsprt » Mon, 25. Jul 22, 07:32

Caedes91 wrote:
Sat, 23. Jul 22, 04:58
Nanook wrote:
Sat, 23. Jul 22, 01:11
So, after completing the VIG plot a while ago and parking the Raven for later, this thread inspired me to use it to run food to RIP. Unfortunately, for some reason, it can't buy food rations, or even any other type of ware. I tried it with both an NPC pilot and personally, and I consistently get 'trade failed'. Anyone else see this? The ship is unchanged except for a new paintjob.
...........................

Was so angry, that I reloaded a prior save during the assault on their leader, just to completely wipe them out this time at that opportunity. Killed absolute every ship of them, all fighters, all miners and all traders. With every one of their ships dead, their wharfs blocked, so no new traders to transport the food get built, the majority of them also starved to death. It was satisfying to give them a taste of their own medicine.

But even with all that, my traders still refused to sell food in avarice to RIP, despite not any VIG ships being there to harrass them. Even miners still just randomly drop ice, if they don't have the mirage mod. Was searching online for a while, until I stumbled on a reddit post, saying that you need to be at +20 rep to trade illegal goods. If not for having read all the replies thoroughly, I would have missed that too.
You have to take ownership of the sectors yourself since no other faction will... The abscense of ships means very little (they just not shoot at you) when the ownership is what dictates the rules of trade...

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