RE: The sanction of the Hess/Bret Combined Forces BattleGroup

[Zukeenee]

Oh boy. Time for opinions on things that don't concern me. Everybody's doing it! I wanna be a cool guy, too.

Nevermind the ooRPness of Hessians knowing what was happening and where; that kind of out-of-character information gets spread around privately all the time. It's not something that can really be regulated.

Hessians allying with a lawful group is clearly outlawed by their ID. Regardless of what anyone says here or what anyone desires for the way these things are handled, ID > Everything else. This has always been the case. ID rules override all else, regardless of stated server rules, restrictions, and even RP. I'm okay with this.

The problem is with the group. In-game groups are just tools used for communication (and formations, but that's not relevant here). That communication in pink text could have just as easily been taking place in a Skype call or on Teamspeak. In a smaller event, it could have even been happening in green text. Same results, but no obvious identifying factor of "They're clearly working together". I understand that while it was probably easiest for the Admins to find the offenders by looking at the groups, the sanction should not be based on that alone.

The deciding factor in the sanction should have been what came after the base was destroyed. Two groups teaming up to shoot a common enemy is a thing that happens all the time, and with good reason. But once the three-way turns into an engagement with just two opposing factions, something similar to what Bindo said should probably happen:

they probably all would have been fine if after that last Corsair popped, there was an awkward moment where everybody went "Ummmm, thanks? I guess" and then that one guy went "KRIEG FUR DAS VATERLAND!" and shoot all the Baffies and then baffies shoot back

And actually, the aftermath of the whole event has hardly been brought up here at all. What did happen after the base was destroyed? Did the Hessians hang around? Did the Bretonians say "Thanks, now leave"? Did anyone say anything at all about this alliance? Did anyone open fire? Because as I said, I believe this sanction should have been decided on how the Bretonians and the Hessians treated each other after the base went boom. Pointing at the group and saying "That's an alliance" seems to me like a lazy alternative to a proper investigation.



As for the actual "punishment"...

My assumption is that they were being clever--"drop them in nommie land muahaha, that will be punishment enough"--without considering that some of the corsair players would turn it into a grief buffet.

Yeah, this whole thing just strikes me as an Admin's personal joke taken to a higher level with the sheer number of players involved. I'm not getting the impression that an abundance of thought was put into the decision to beam everyone. But it doesn't much matter, anyway.

It wasn't like most other punishments, and it may not have been terribly "professional", but I don't think it's as big a deal as people are making it out to be. You can get out of Omicron Lost in one piece if you're careful, and know when to log in. You haven't lost anything, you're only at risk of losing something, depending on how crafty you can be in your escape. And even if you do lose something, all it comes down to is credits. And credits can be earned again.

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