I noticed in the 4.2.1 patch notes that CIG has added a change to station defense: “To prevent uninvited players getting aboard docked ships (technically any ship near enough a station) we now teleport trespassing players out of ships they don't own (unless in party with owner) when within 5km of an ATC with teleport points.” https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/190048/thread/star-citizen-alpha-4-2-1-ptu-patch-notes-5 I understand the intent here, to protect players from stowaways for the upcoming Resource Gathering event, but I think this approach is a step in the wrong direction. Why this is a concern Star Citizen is supposed to be a sandbox Teleporting players out of ships removes risk, tension, and emergent gameplay from what should be a shared, dangerous universe. It replaces player agency with “developer magic,” solving a problem players should handle themselves. Instead of giving us tools to defend our ships or remove stowaways, it simply erases the problem — and with it, the chance for meaningful interaction. It sets a precedent for solving gameplay challenges by making them disappear If we start fixing gameplay issues this way, where does it stop? Today it’s stowaways. Tomorrow it could be pirates, or boarders, or anyone else engaging in emergent play. These shortcuts chip away at what makes the ‘Verse feel alive, unpredictable, and worth exploring. The risk is part of the reward — don’t hollow it out. It turns a player-reported bug into a permanent barrier to emergent gameplay What was once reported as a bug, https://issue-council.robertsspaceindustries.com/projects/STAR-CITIZEN/issues/STARC-159331 PTU 4.0.2 - Ship Trespassing in Armistice Teleportation, is now being codified as a feature. Instead of developing systems to let ship owners respond to stowaways, this change removes the need to engage at all. A bug fix would have been a tool for players. Instead, we get an artificial safeguard that undermines the sandbox. It risks making the game feel staged, not lived-in Every time we remove risk through developer intervention, we move closer to a scripted theme park experience. Star Citizen is at its best when players are trusted to shape the story, for good or ill, through their own choices, not canned outcomes. There’s a better solution — empower players CIG had already discussed a system that would let us draw weapons and defend our ships, even inside Armistice Zones but only aboard our ships. That’s the right direction. Let players manage stowaways. Let ship owners defend themselves with force. Let security contracts, ship defenses and player vigilance matter. Let’s protect the sandbox, not bubble-wrap it! Stowaways are a player-driven problem that deserves a player-empowered solution. We don’t need teleport fixes, we need systems that give players the tools to manage risk and defend their ships. Feature development should focus on empowering players to solve challenges through gameplay, not developer intervention. CIG had already started down the right path with the system that would allow ship owners to draw weapons aboard their ships, even inside Armistice Zones. But development on that seems to have stalled, presumably for higher-priority work. Now, because that focus shifted, we’re left with a ham-fisted solution: developer magic that teleports stowaways away, removing risk and opportunity rather than letting players engage with it. Instead of emergent, player-driven experiences, we’re getting canned, predictable outcomes. And frankly, that’s extremely disappointing to see.