This was a game provided mission killing AI, no different than destroying aliens in Space Invaders or robots in Berserk. I did what the game asked me to do, within the framework of the game design, and I was punished harshly with real world consequences--24 hours of downtime, or spend my afternoon mining rocks.

That's not reasonable? Nobody can convince me otherwise. There's no way to rationalize penalizing a player for playing the way the game asks you to. This is insane, retarded, and will ultimately be Star Citizen's downfall if idiotic mechanics and decisions like this are implemented in the game.

Frankly, it doesn't get stupider than this.

Make a game -> punish players for playing your game -> ????

Moronic.


p.s. (not directed at anyone in particular)

Killing AI is not griefing. Killing AI doesn't affect other players. I wasn't pad ramming. I wasn't murderboating random players. I was playing the game within the scope of what it asked me to do.

Pad ramming is griefing. I'm fine with consequences for that.

Piracy is NOT griefing. If you're too greedy to hire other human players to protect your expensive cargo run, you deserve to be robbed and lose your cargo. One can't have infinite profit potential without risks. You don't get to trade for free. The natural penalty for piracy players is their significantly reduced level of income. Throwing them in prison for adding intrigue and excitement to a game is not good gameplay--it only hardens the criminals and makes them nastier and more vengeful. If the stakes are raised to the point folks are banned from the game for playing it in a way developers originally advertised as acceptable ways to play, then those who wish to pirate will do their damnedest to achieve their goals at whatever costs are levied on the innocent traders or miners or explorers or whoever, rather than nice, courteous piracy that could be. The stakes are simply too high.

So those who smugly smile at these implementations, be wary of the consequences, as one bounty hunter learned a night ago.

I was at Kareah removing my crimestat with a cryptokey--because I shot an AI, and just as I finished and my crimestat went away, a bounty hunter barreled into the room, weapon drawn, ready to sink his teeth into his prize. I stood there and waved, and he gunned me down. Soon after he was hauled off to prison to break rocks. I didn't intend for this to happen, but there are others who will, and are already devising ways to send innocents to jail.


Mechanics that punish players for playing a game within the scope of a game with real world consequences are awful design and can only hurt a game's player population.

p.p.s.

Some pirates might be the nicest, kindest and caring folks you may ever meet in real life, but once in a game... the gloves come off.