I'm not usually the dood who posts threads(because I'm lame and can't think of original content), but I decided ey, why not give a dumb idea a try? This problem has managed to calm down over the years, which is awesome, but it hasn't gone away as much as I'd prefer, so I'm getting antsy. EDIT: TLDR - this is just an apparently poorly written point. All I am trying to say in this post is to not harass IRL people. Hate the shit out of pirates, that's fine, but don't hate the shit out of the person behind the screen If a game mechanic is supported, there's NO reason why people should get mad at other players for wanting to play it. Being a Pirate is supported. Being a Marauder is supported. Being a thief, scoundrel, hoodlum, vagrant, info runner, hacker(?), it's INTENDED to be in the game, so any player who wants to pursue said career is absolutely welcome to play those roles! You're allowed to be a Blue-Blooded UEE supportin' gun totin' Bounty Hunter, right? You'd probably be upset if other members of RSI started getting mad and demanding your mechanics be cut/reduced, or lump you in with trolls n such, right? So why all the hate? I think the most obvious thing is the fact that the game's just not far enough along to provide the right type of gameplay mechanics for piracy, so players need to resort to destroying ships to accomplish anything. That, in turn, leads to players crying out in anger, calling pirates "griefers/trolls", and demanding extra punitive measures for criminal gameplay, or outright removing piracy as a mechanic. Another thing that has constantly confused me is the players who both 'hate pirate players,' but at the same time, want to 'kill every pirate on sight.' How does that possibly make you any different than the types of playstyle you are mad about? You are still KOSing, and possibly even harassing players for their choice, but you use the excuse of it being 'lawful' to okay it? That's not good enough, you have the same abilities and choices as them, so anything you do, you can't hate them for doing. The big thing for me is this is a legitimate option within the game. You can't be mad at someone for wanting to play the game in a way that's actively supported by the game itself. I'm not saying you can't go killing pirates, or complain about losing a ship, I'm saying you shouldn't be dumping on players who want to do such roles. In fact, you should be SUPPORTING them! Come on, we all know PVP>PVE, so if you bully out everyone who wants to be a criminal, who the hell do you hunt? Easy NPCs? booooooooo I kind of lost my steam halfway, and also didn't want to turn it into a TL:DR post, so I'll kinda awkwardly fizzle out at this point. I'm totally down to have rational discussion in the comments, and I'll try to address everyone who posts, so long as it's constructive and not just an attempt to incite flame wars lol Love 'yall, let everyone play how they want dammit! Edit: A couple of clarification points for commenter's knowledge -I am NOT a pirate. In fact, I plan on playing a neutral doctor for my first character. Yes, that means i both might make friends with pirates, or be raided by them for medical supplies. I'm super psyched for both happening, becaues whispers it's a part of the game! -That being said, i MIGHT play a pirate later though. I have a hat full of random career and character ideas(RP boi), and if I become a pirate, I don't want to jump in and find out all the mechanics were cut because people were salty, and suddenly @JTF-Dylan_Garrett starts hunting me down over and over again because he hates pirates(jk i love ya dylan!) -I personally believe that no matter what, PVE eventually becomes boring, especially for RP or combat-oriented players. If we ruin criminal classes, and get stuck with a game that's all Good Dogs, then a lot of people are going to get bored, unless the AI gets their difficulty constantly ramped to match real player skill, and even then there's gonna be complaints -Yes, I'm that guy that keeps leaving potatoes everywhere. No, i'm not gonna stop :stuck_out_tongue: EDIT NUMBER THE SECOND: WOAH! This thread is hella popular atm lol. I'm sorry if I'm not responding fast enough for anyone, i'm losing track of conversations in here, and can't be at the computer all day. I do want to say I really appreciate those that came with opposing views that are willing to stay around and have a 'low simmer' debate. I'm all for slapping on the keyboard slightly frustrated trying to see eye-to-eye! We might not agree in the end, but a healthy argument is always good for understanding imo. I'm not a fan of the pettier(that a word?) posts where one side straight up refuses to even listen to the other conversation, or just wants to drop insults. C'mon, we're better than that! Or we're not, idk who you all are XD