Privateer and the economics of piracy

Edfilho said:
I wonder if space fighters and laser cannons are the reason why the retros are a splinter :)
Hey, what else is there in this guide, is it official?
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The Privateer Playtesters' Guide by Origin was indeed official - published by Origin, written by Beth Loubet, Anthony Nichols, and Kirsten Vaughan. I remember picking up the Book of Ultima somewhere... also an Origin publication, IIRC.

And the key words in the Retro description are "minimal technology" - they're not anti-technology, so much as being more focused towards a simple agrarian existence with minimal reliance on high technology (aka: the source of all evil).
 
In addition to summaries of the character types, the Guide contains a chart showing the range of possible prices for all goods for all base types, a mission tree and related summaries for the main plot, playing tips from the “playtesters”, engine/shield/gun/missile charts, and most interesting of all, a map of each system that lists for each nav point the standard, possible encounters (when you are not flying a particular mission that directly involves that Nav point), the percentage chance for each encounter, the number of ships in each case, and the morale/experience of the pilots. For example, for Nav 8 in Troy, there’s a 60% chance you’ll encounter 2 Militia Talons (confident novices).
 
An essential addition to any privateers collection...the guide for Priv2 was great...the commodities chart is one of the greatest things in trying to get rich...and quick...-
 
By the by, do we know what that “lengthy” ship on the front cover (near the center) of the Playtesters’ Guide is?
 
I want that guide now, but I cant find it on ebay. anyone wanna sell their copy (if you happen to have an extra one of course)?
 
Eh, of all the official Wing Commander guides it's probably the one that adds the least to the 'Wing Commander universe' - side from a few snippets, the entire thing is written from a "you're playing a video game, here's what happens" perspective.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
Eh, of all the official Wing Commander guides it's probably the one that adds the least to the 'Wing Commander universe' - side from a few snippets, the entire thing is written from a "you're playing a video game, here's what happens" perspective.
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It's probably the smallest WC guide ever, as well - at least as far as being a full guide to the game. Even with that, it's more like a reference as far as how the game mechanics work, rather than anything that adds any story or flavor-text. Heck, I'd call it more of a cheat book, rather than a game guide.
 
It's exactly the same size as the Armada Guide (or any of the other Playtesters' Guides from other series - I have the Pacific Strike and Strike Commander ones at home.).

Copies show up every once in a while - Privateer didn't sell amazingly well, though, so it stands to reason that there aren't that many Playtesters Guides out there.
 
It's like a manual for the movie. It applies to the universe at large in the same manner that Claw Marks is more than just a guide to WC1.
 
I have WCP official guide and I'm about to order the Official WC 1&2 guide... what other guides are interesting?
 
I would divide the official guides into levels:

Must have: Wing Commander 1/2 Ultimate Guide, Wing Commander Prophecy Official Guide, Confed Handbook

Should have: Privateer 2 Official Guide, Wing Commander 3 Official Guide, Wing Commander 3 Authorized Guide, WC4 Official Guide

Can have: Armada Playtesters Guide, Privateer Playtesters Guide, Official Movie Magazine, WC3 PSX Guide (Japanese)

I'd also reccomend Mark Minasi's unofficial Secrets of the Wing Commander Universe book - it's well written and gives you a good idea of WC fan culture from before FMV took over.

If you haven't seen them, I have guides to the English, German and Japanese books online

https://www.wcnews.com/articles/books-e.shtml
https://www.wcnews.com/articles/books-g.shtml
https://www.wcnews.com/articles/books-j.shtml

And last but not least, if anyone is a Wings of Glory fan, I heartily reccomend Origin's WoG Guide - it tells you what happened to all the characters after the war.
 
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Phy said:
there was that one time I took a bunch of scout missions in an early-game Tarsus, and it was just too much for me to fight everyone, so I ended up dragging a motley crew of pirates, retros, and I think a Dralthi behind me on a grand tour of the Troy system...
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lol, I find myself in that situation many times when starting a new game. Ahh good times good times.

The very first time I played the game, I was just trying it out before my family and I were going out to dinner and my parents were getting ready. I somehow got the Confed pissed at me (In about a minute if I remember correctly...Gotta be a record there :) ) I was hurrying towards a jump point while they were tearing me apart and I made the jump. But the strange thing was it jumped with me sense it was in the bubble. I could never get it to do it again even when I tried on purpose. Must have been a one time bug that I ran into.

Ripper said:
What about the heat he's packin' when he isn't flying?
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Self Defense? :)
 
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