“Mild PTSD. Determination of completing the delivery. Fear of death. Fear of authority vessels(even while not doing illegit missions). And repeat pirate interdictions….”
And I have them all, especially mild PTSD. See…I finally…FINALLY have my ASP Explorer! 😀 But wow, did it come with a price. A price that I’m still paying. A fear of getting in the game and going anywhere, thinking there’s going to be a pirate with a fucking railgun to one-hit WRECK me….
Robigo..I can’t fucking DO it anymore!! Every time it gets worse and worse to the point the challenge is just too much for me!
Allow me to explain…
See, I did 5 missions to come up with the money to afford the ASP and use it for Robigo instead of the Cobra. I completed every single one without being scanned; not even close to it. But boy, was I a tense wreck of shot nerves.
The first four missions were the typical “outrun the guy trying to kill/scan me” thing. The last one, heading to the station, a random pirate wouldn’t fuck off. It went like this;
Pirate: Oooh.. let’s see what you got.
*interdict*
Me: Stay calm. stay calm…
*submits to the interdiction. Does exactly what I was told and gets away*
Me: Fuck you, pal!! *sets course back to the station*
–3 seconds later–
Same Pirate as before: Oooh.. let’s see what you got.
And it kept happening for 3 times. Thankfully I finally got to the station before it became a 4th. And the rest of the delivery went OK. Total amount was about… 8-9 million for 5 missions. Not bad at all. I had 4 million when I started, and wound up with nearly 13 million.
Went to the Lembava system (to get the 15% off price for all modules). I was told to ditch the fuel scoop and go with some fuel tanks instead. And after much debate, I went with it (promised that one of them would personally come to my rescue if I ran out of fuel).
With that, my new ASP Explorer was ready for Robigo. She purrs like a..lawnmower. But the canopy. So much visibility! PERFECT for planet landings!
I then debated if I should just say “fuck Robigo, let’s EXPLORE!! 😀 “, or try to get ‘Petty Officer’ rank with the Federation to get the Sol system permit (and wave hi to our planet, Earth).
Seeing how it was late, and I really wanted to get some more money to afford potential upgrades for actual exploration (and combat), I went back to Robigo…I would later regret that decision.
Made it back. Grabbed three missions worth about 5 million in total. It went OK for about.. 10 or so jumps. Had a cop AND a pirate trying to interdict me. I tried to submit…yet I couldn’t, and my FSD failed and was forced to wait 40 seconds.
I’m thinking “SHIT!! Ok.. stay calm and boost! Just get away!!” And as I was boosting, I heard something that sounded like a railgun. My shields went down in an instant, and was down to 52% hull. OHH FUCK was I panicking!!!
I kept trying to dodge the fucker..hearing that railgun sound and knowing one more hit and I’d be fucked. Finally my FSD completes its cooldown and I get the FUCK out of there. Even as I type this, I feel like I just saw my life flash before my visual eyes.
I. fucking. REFUSE TO BE PART OF THAT AGAIN!!!!!!! Fuck Robigo! NO MORE!! That was when the line was crossed! Seriously, FUCK that shit!! TOO fucking close.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, twice I had a ‘every 3 second’ pirate interdiction happen to me while trying to head to the station. And on top of that, when I get to the station, the pirate spawns right in fucking front of me, forcing me to go full speed to the station, in hopes the no fire guns take the asshole out. Thankfully, both attempts of that were at an Outpost (that has very limited security).
I managed to get 12 million. Just enough to switch out of Robigo for combat/exploration. Left me with 5 million left, with the rebuy cost about 7-800k. I cry inside, feeling Robigo is my only real hope to have enough to afford rebuys.
There’s also bounty hunting to slowly get money (legit), but I doubt this ship can handle combat well. Its maneuverability is quite low (6/10).
But..I dunno. After what happened to me back then, I don’t know if I even want to play again. I don’t want that shit to ever happen to me. Ever. That scared the shit out of me. Too close. Too. fucking. close. I don’t think I’ve ever been physically traumatized by a game mechanic in my life. First it was interdictions. Now…now it’s this. My worst fucking fear in this game: the fear of being out-gunned by an enemy ship (and no one’s there to help me).
I’ve been given advice to still face the Escape Vector when being Interdicted, when submitting. But I feel even if I did that and avoided the 40 second FSD CD, the guy behind me would had still gotten a well-placed shot on me.
Though I think the only way I’m going to break my fear, is to go back to Bounty Hunting. I can make a million an hour, legit (at least, I could in my Adder. Dunno about this). From my findings, if I use the K-Warrant Scanner and then tag the ship (and then fly away from it while the other NPCs attempt to engage), I’ll still get the payout. But I believe I have to be close enough (but not close enough for the enemy to attack me) to get it.
I just have to find a system with a High RES site (and a close station for repairs/bounty turn-ins/respawning).
There’s also Mining that I could get back into. I could go back to my friend’s home system and use my ASP as a mining ship. With the extra cargo space (compared to my Cobra), I would have more room for limpets and the three P’s, and make even more money. Legit money.
Another thing I can do, is simply explore. I got the top of the line discovery scanner now, that reveals every planet in that system. Then just fly to those planets and scan them for profit.
I can finally set course for the California Nebula with a ship that can handle it. Or go to the Bubble. Or even go to the Crab Nebula that’s far..far out to the outer disk of the Milky Way.
Whatever I do, I’m done with Robigo. Too risky, and it only gets worse. It’s turning me into a nervous wreck. That’s never healthy. I have to stop doing it. But in 2.1, if they actually fix the same pirate constantly interdicting you, I might reconsider. But that’s a big ‘if’.
Yet I know it won’t just end there and I’ll never will have to worry about money ever again. Die enough times, and I’ll be forced back into the stock Sidewinder. The rebuy cost isn’t what I’m used to. It isn’t something I can just do a few missions (or a few bounties) and make sure I have enough to cover it every time.
Hell, I don’t even know if I’m still paying off that 500,000 CR loan that I took out.
There’s no guarantees I’ll never die, even from exploring. There’s always going to be bastard AI pilots that don’t even bother seeing if I have cargo or not. Even in the Maia system, I got interdicted by an AI wanting my non-existent cargo. It’s like they get pissed off that I even exist. SICK of that shit!