Goner start & killing pirates to proceed; is there no other way?

[Orrion]

The only reason anyone would pick the Goner start is because they like being a pacifist and therefore assume that because it's a starting option it must be a viable way to play, and lore-wise the Goner can only act in self-defense. If they act outside of self-defense, then they lose their status as Goner. Whether or not it's intentional the Goner start is a trap in that you may as well have used another start if you're willing to kill the pirates to progress, while if you're not you're trapped forever in a tiny universe because NPCs murdering pirates doesn't count.

It's a minor change, sure, but in 1.2's patch would you be willing to make NPC kills count towards story quest progression if you're in the same zone as they land the kill? It could be justified in several hundred ways and it'd only be another viable way to play the game.

[Deianeira]

And here I thought they more than tripled the max speed of the Goner Ranger to make ramming those pirate M5s possible

[Ezendeir]

The only reason anyone would pick the Goner start is because they like the idea of being a pacifist and therefore assume that because it's a starting option it must be a viable way to play, and lore-wise the Goner can't ever actively attack anyone and so if they do so they immediately lose their status as Goner. Whether or not it's intentional the Goner start is a bit of a trap in that you may as well have used another start if you're willing to kill the pirates to progress, while if you're not (because you like being a pacifist, say) you're trapped forever in a tiny universe because NPCs murdering pirates doesn't count towards story quest progression.

It's a minor change, sure, but in 1.2's patch would you be willing to make NPC kills count towards story quest progression if you're in the same zone as they land the kill? It could be justified in several hundred ways (maybe the Split you spoke to would be willing to 'remedy' the situation? This also leaves the people who love pirate-killing the ability to kill pirates) and it'd be such an awesome QoL feature that doesn't make pacifistic players feel slightly alienated by the game's main questline.

I don't think this will happen.

The Farnham's Legacy starts are slightly different based on the starting ship and the player's race, thus determining the initial ranks with the various races. Choosing the Goner Start would get you a Ranger and a better rank with the Goners, but the game can never possibly stop you from being a warmonger. The choice of being a pacifist or a killer depends solely on the player. In fact, I'd say that even in the Goner Start you have it easy since you can build a Scorpion to deal with the first pirates (To equip the Scorpion you could use the Boron Research Station), and then use the Nemesis for the final battle.

After the plot, the possibilities are endless. If you want a challenge you can try a pacifist playthrough (Take it as a way to "atone" for the sins of killing the Pirates ), but it's all on you. The game doesn't force you to be a pacifist, even when the lore suggests otherwise. And also...

Spoiler

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Goner Customs patrol the Elysium of Light and Harmony of Perpetuity sectors. Even with Truelight Seekers which can be armed with almost all lasers in the universe. Not too pacifist there

[Ezendeir]

And here I thought they more than tripled the max speed of the Goner Ranger to make ramming those pirate M5s possible

Ah yes, the famous Ranger Torpedo. Not to be confused with the Firestorm Torpedo

[Orrion]

I don't think this will happen.

The Farnham's Legacy starts are slightly different based on the starting ship and the player's race, thus determining the initial ranks with the various races. Choosing the Goner Start would get you a Ranger and a better rank with the Goners, but the game can never possibly stop you from being a warmonger. The choice of being a pacifist or a killer depends solely on the player. In fact, I'd say that even in the Goner Start you have it easy since you can build a Scorpion to deal with the first pirates (To equip the Scorpion you could use the Boron Research Station), and then use the Nemesis for the final battle.

After the plot, the possibilities are endless. If you want a challenge you can try a pacifist playthrough (Take it as a way to "atone" for the sins of killing the Pirates ), but it's all on you. The game doesn't force you to be a pacifist, even when the lore suggests otherwise. And also...

Spoiler

Show

Goner Customs patrol the Elysium of Light and Harmony of Perpetuity sectors. Even with Truelight Seekers which can be armed with almost all lasers in the universe. Not too pacifist there

It's easily possible to kill the pirates and has nothing to do with the fact that the only reason anyone would pick that start is that they like being a pacifist and the game presents them with that option. If it's not a valid way to play through the story quests, then it shouldn't be a start offered as an option for those story quests.

[X2-Illuminatus]

Besides the start conditions not saying anything about being a pacifist or about what you can or cannot do in a gamestart, one integral part of being stranded somewhere is having to do things you may not want or did not expect to do.

Also to quote the Goner themselves:
"Although we are committed to peace, these pirates stand against everything we believe. We need the pirate threat to be ended before they cause further loss of life to our faithful believers."

- That's from the Goner Plot in X3TC, when the Goner send you to destroy a Pirate base.

[Orrion]

Besides the start conditions not saying anything about being a pacifist or about what you can or cannot do in a gamestart, one integral part of being stranded somewhere is having to do things you may not want or did not expect to do.

Also to quote the Goner themselves:
"Although we are committed to peace, these pirates stand against everything we believe. We need the pirate threat to be ended before they cause further loss of life to our faithful believers."

- That's from the Goner Plot in X3TC, when the Goner send you to destroy a Pirate base.

Then why offer the start as an option at all? It's "well, here's a pacifist start... SYKE." Having you start in a Gonor Truelight Seeker with a slightly different start description would be just as likely and it wouldn't result in the dissonance that being given an explicitly pacifist start and then being told to kill things entails.

[Deianeira]

The game centers around "Trade, Fight, Build and THINK". Why not play another game, if you want to adhere to only half those principles?

[Orrion]

The game centers around "Trade, Fight, Build and THINK". Why not play another game, if you want to adhere to only half those principles?

Why indeed? You're building things only maybe 25% of the time you spend playing. You're only fighting at most 25% of the time you spend playing. This is all, of course, assuming that you're not using scripts to give yourself resources. The rest of the time spent playing is spent acquiring the materials to do whatever you want, how quaint. Fallacies don't make for good arguments.

[Deianeira]

Okay, here's a hint: if an enemy surrenders, it counts as a kill. No actual killing necessary. Good luck making those pirates bail though with your unarmed ship and low combat rank

Oh by the way,

Spoiler

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the further steps of the plots require even more violence

[Fulgrymm]

All I can say is, if you really want a space game with no fighting, maybe give No Man's Sky a shot. Fight is literally one quarter of the tagline, so if you're gonna ignore it, expect to have difficulties.

[atroces]

The Goners are not pacifists. They can and will fight. They aren't warlords by any means, but they can, and do use weapons to blow up ships. Not sure where you got the idea that they are mountaintop monks...

[Hwitvlf]

I remember a similar thread about Albion Prelude, where someone wanted to keep their combat rank at minimum and asking if there was a way to progress the plot without destroying ships in the War Sectors. It seems perfectly reasonable to me if you want to role-play a pacifist, and it would be neat if there was more variety in the starting plots - pacifist loopholes for Goners, harder combat for Yaki etc.

Like Fulgrymm says, trying to bail ships would get the job done the hard way, but pacifism is never easy, right? Keep in mind that you can com ships and request they surrender. If you find Pirate ships being attacked by someone else, they may be more likely to surrender. I read somewhere that picking up bailed pilots and delivering them to their destination raises the chance of future bails.

[atroces]

It kind of seems like a skit at this point.

A man walks into Taco Bell and says "I want a pizza."
The employee says "we don't make pizza..."
Then a customer suggests "Well, a quesadilla is kind of like a pizza, and if you put.. I dunno, hot sauce on it, then its like 75% a pizza."

No one suggests to the clueless guy that he is in the wrong restaurant.