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There are two ways to spot these dangers: | There are two ways to spot these dangers: | ||
#Set your local system Chat window large enough to let you see everyone in it. You do not care about the text of the messages, you only need to see the names of the people. War Targets will be tagged with a blinking red icon, and Criminals with yellow icons. | #Set your local system Chat window large enough to let you see everyone in it. You do not care about the text of the messages, you only need to see the names of the people. War Targets will be tagged with a blinking red icon, and Criminals with yellow icons. | ||
#Keep your [[Directional_Scanner_Guide|Directional Scanner]] window open and hit the Scan button once every few minutes. [[File:QSG_DScan.png|center|400px|alt=Directional Scanner set to Mining preset]]You are especially looking for "Combat Probe", but groups of light ships fitted out for combat ... frigates and cruisers ... may be a gang of people forming up to attack miners and haulers in the system. Combat Probes can locate your ship exactly, so if you see them, pull up stakes immediately and dock. | #Keep your [[Directional_Scanner_Guide|Directional Scanner]] window open and hit the Scan button once every few minutes. Open the Directional Scanner by clicking on the "Scanners" tab of your Main Console and selecting the option to the right. When the window opens, check the "Use Overview Preset" box and select your "mining" preset tab from the pull down menu. [[File:QSG_DScan.png|center|400px|alt=Directional Scanner set to Mining preset]]You are especially looking for "Combat Probe", but groups of light ships fitted out for combat ... frigates and cruisers ... may be a gang of people forming up to attack miners and haulers in the system. Combat Probes can locate your ship exactly, so if you see them, pull up stakes immediately and dock. | ||
War Targets are especially dangerous, because, if you can see them, then they can see you, and they will probably be motivated to come look for you. If you see a War Target, you probably should call in your drones, stop your lasers and dock at a nearby station. This is inconvenient, but a Venture will not hold up against a serious combat ship. | War Targets are especially dangerous, because, if you can see them, then they can see you, and they will probably be motivated to come look for you. If you see a War Target, you probably should call in your drones, stop your lasers and dock at a nearby station. This is inconvenient, but a Venture will not hold up against a serious combat ship. | ||
Single Professional Criminals make a living from the loot they collect by killing ships. Since you have a small mining frigate, your loot is probably not worth the effort. Amateur Criminals, on the other hand, are looking to practice their skills, and these may attack you. Idiot Criminals are players in powerful ships who are either too angry or too stupid to realize that attacking small ships in secure systems is a losing proposition ... they are infrequent, but there's no way to predict them. | Single Professional Criminals make a living from the loot they collect by killing ships. Since you have a small mining frigate, your loot is probably not worth the effort. Amateur Criminals, on the other hand, are looking to practice their skills, and these may attack you. They will have smaller ships, though, and you may be able to escape. Idiot Criminals are players in powerful ships who are either too angry or too stupid to realize that attacking small ships in secure systems is a losing proposition ... they are infrequent, but there's no way to predict them. | ||
If you see a single Criminal in the Chat list, you can probably just keep mining while increasing your use of the Directional Scanner. As long as you don't see Combat Probes or groups of ships nearby, you are likely to be safe. | If you see a single Criminal in the Chat list, you can probably just keep mining while increasing your use of the Directional Scanner. As long as you don't see Combat Probes or groups of ships nearby, you are likely to be safe. | ||
The exception to this happens when you mine in a system with only a few Asteroid Belts. Since the belts are always in the same locations, a Criminal does not need to scan to find victims. He or she can just warp to each belt in turn and look around. This why you should start out mining in systems with lots of Asteroid Belts. | The exception to this happens when you mine in a system with only a few Asteroid Belts. Since the belts are always in the same locations, a Criminal does not need to scan to find victims. He or she can just warp to each belt in turn and look around. This why you should start out by mining in systems with lots of Asteroid Belts. | ||
====NPC Pirates and Others==== | ====NPC Pirates and Others==== | ||