New Use for Covert: Investigate Broker Logs

[Alabrax]

What if you could use covert to run investigate missions so that you could see other peoples Broker logs. This would allow players to police trade embargos and look in to where sneak attacks are being funded from.

This would add yet another level to covert. One that is both useful and likely to be something warring parties would do to each other. It also promotes the “Economic War” side of things. This should however not be with out limits.

-The ability to see others trade logs would only extend back 5 days.

-Defense Action Score would add to the covert level of the defending player. (The thought here is that troops stationed at home would be on the look out for infiltrators snooping through the systems on the home world. Also this gives some parity to the Strike Actions use in killing spys.)

- Succeed or fail the defender is alerted to the covert action.

- It should use a large number of Cover turns. So that one person could not investigate a whole alliance at a time.

- It would be a special covert action and not part of a normal spy run.

..........................

Bring on the flames!!!!

EDITED: I double posted in that first version of this post...

[biuk]

Hmm that is an interesting Idea and one that could be very useful during war time. If the logs were listed like an officers logs are, not showing the exact details/quantity of the trade, maybe just the trader and items traded. That way the warring factions would be able to keep the trade route to each faction watched...

[Wolf359]

I've suggested thing like this in the past (as have others) - i.e. spying on atatck/intel logs etc - although good ideas, nothing ever came of them.

I'd like the GameAdmins to take a look at Alabrax's idea, along with the older ones.

[CrimsonFrost]

I think it would be a fantastic idea as well, but should probably suck up a considerable amount of covert turns as well in my opinion. (After all, it would take some of the intrigue out of the game if you could so easily root out spies/suppliers, etc.)

Not only that, but its not like a quick search mission but would take a considerable amount of time to infilitrate, learn the network of where the money is going, etc.

Perhaps you have to send your agents out on an "away" mission, like losing whatever covert agents you send for a set amount of time while they spy?

[Wolf359]

I think it would be a fantastic idea as well, but should probably suck up a considerable amount of covert turns as well in my opinion. (After all, it would take some of the intrigue out of the game if you could so easily root out spies/suppliers, etc.)

Not only that, but its not like a quick search mission but would take a considerable amount of time to infilitrate, learn the network of where the money is going, etc.

Perhaps you have to send your agents out on an "away" mission, like losing whatever covert agents you send for a set amount of time while they spy?

may uck up covert turns - bud - but would make people think about what is more imprtant to them - make it more strategic - like the 'away mission' idea to.

[Alabrax]

I think it would be a fantastic idea as well, but should probably suck up a considerable amount of covert turns as well in my opinion. (After all, it would take some of the intrigue out of the game if you could so easily root out spies/suppliers, etc.)

Not only that, but its not like a quick search mission but would take a considerable amount of time to infilitrate, learn the network of where the money is going, etc.

Perhaps you have to send your agents out on an "away" mission, like losing whatever covert agents you send for a set amount of time while they spy?

Maybe it would act like a fleet searching for a planet, where it takes 24 hours. Maybe while its out your covert drops by half or so... which makes you easier to sab and more exposed. On top of that it should take like 30 (or maybe all) of your covert action turns.

[Elder God Mulletman]

that would be interseting...

[Saber]

I think all that this would do is make people in war times to not use the broker and risk their resources to a scammer using the old way.

[[SGC_ReplicÅtors]]

I've suggested thing like this in the past (as have others) - i.e. spying on atatck/intel logs etc - although good ideas, nothing ever came of them.

I'd like the GameAdmins to take a look at Alabrax's idea, along with the older ones.

and also helps find cheaters too

[CrimsonFrost]

I've suggested thing like this in the past (as have others) - i.e. spying on atatck/intel logs etc - although good ideas, nothing ever came of them.

I'd like the GameAdmins to take a look at Alabrax's idea, along with the older ones.

and also helps find cheaters too

Excellent point!

The players would be able to police each other, if you have 5 sets of covert logs where all the multies sending their naq to the same player, that could make Game Mods life 20 times easier. (Just ask him to look at your covert logs.)

With that said, I think this would be a particularly good idea to implement. (It would cheating much easier to find and detect since the players can help.)

[MackTheKnife]

If someone is cheating, then gamemod is supposed to deal.

I do not like this idea one bit, the whole point of the broker was to help prevent scammers.

This is a step too far for covert reports.

Also, big suprise omega\ga guys want this introduced.

[CrimsonFrost]

If someone is cheating, then gamemod is supposed to deal.

I do not like this idea one bit, the whole point of the broker was to help prevent scammers.

This is a step too far for covert reports.

Also, big suprise omega\ga guys want this introduced.

Why is it that everyone that disagrees with an idea usually seems to because of the sole reason it supposedly "helps out" the GA. Comon.

Game Mod will deal with cheats of course, but when you are having to sort through more then 10,000 players it becomes a bit of a task.

Players that spot multies can point out their covert logs to Game Mod making his job much easier. (Players still have no authority to ban or do anything else to anyone.)

Id like to point out that people apart of the GA dont necessarily propose or agree with ideas that benefeit us. See my suggestion thread which would actually not quite be in Omegas favor, but interesting nonetheless.

[ManiacMan]

Well - the truth is that there are auto-scrubbers which detect curious behaviour and alert Gamemod already. I don't think he/she needs players to be searching out multies.

In addition, the reason why they say that it only helps the GA is this:

If you think about it, it rly only helps those who eant to police traders, and make sure they don't trade wtih an enemy. So far, the major, and loudest ppl enforcing trade embargoes during war are the GA.

so...it's not the whole server hating on you guys...it's the fact that you're the only ones thus far who have tried to police trades. Stop being so paranoid and let down that "everyone hates us" PR bs for a while. That is all.

[Alabrax]

Well - the truth is that there are auto-scrubbers which detect curious behaviour and alert Gamemod already. I don't think he/she needs players to be searching out multies.

In addition, the reason why they say that it only helps the GA is this:

If you think about it, it rly only helps those who eant to police traders, and make sure they don't trade wtih an enemy. So far, the major, and loudest ppl enforcing trade embargoes during war are the GA.

so...it's not the whole server hating on you guys...it's the fact that you're the only ones thus far who have tried to police trades. Stop being so paranoid and let down that "everyone hates us" PR bs for a while. That is all.

Good point.

That is not however why I suggested it... but I figured someone would point this out at some point.

I feel that one of the areas of war that many people and alliances seem to miss out on is the economic aspects of a conflict. Starving out your opponent has been used in the real world for thousands of years, its just another form of siege. In days past we restricted the food going in to a city, in this game it is naq and UU. This is part of a level of the game that you could call "Economic Warfare".

Parts of the GA get this concept, and try to use it. I believe it is an effective tool in war for anyone willing to use it. However I do not believe this will help the GA as much as some folks might believe. If anything it would help non-GA folks even the playing field in economic warfare with the GA.

How so? Because the GA already looks for this sort of thing, but instead of a game tool that everyone has readily available to them, GA uses spies and informants, something that not everyone has available to them at the drop of a hat. I have always said that the GA's greatest power is their information network, not its armies.

This is a realistic use of spies, this is thematic for the genre, and I think it would be really cool. Although I don't think its something I would use a lot. Probably only if I or my officers were getting hit by someone that doesn't look like they should be able to hit us or recovers faster then his account would show he should be able to. If that happens then I will want to know who is funding this joker, so I can bring the war to them also.

EDITED FOR CLARITY

[CrimsonFrost]

Well - the truth is that there are auto-scrubbers which detect curious behaviour and alert Gamemod already. I don't think he/she needs players to be searching out multies.

In addition, the reason why they say that it only helps the GA is this:

If you think about it, it rly only helps those who eant to police traders, and make sure they don't trade wtih an enemy. So far, the major, and loudest ppl enforcing trade embargoes during war are the GA.

so...it's not the whole server hating on you guys...it's the fact that you're the only ones thus far who have tried to police trades. Stop being so paranoid and let down that "everyone hates us" PR bs for a while. That is all.

Edit: What Alabrax said. Try looking past your paranoid prejudice for a change and see a good idea for what it is instead of the usual fear-mongering "OH NO THIS MAY HELP THE GA TOO, BIG SURPRISE."

If you did, you would see this actually HELPS non-GA players. How often do you hear of spies in Omega? Well, now you have a chance to spy on OUR suppliers and are complaining about that possibility.

Step back a minute from your hate GA parade and look at the larger picture.