1. Updates to Rules 5.7, 5.8 -
We have made changes to the "four hour rule", which in effect will be the "two hour rule" from here forward, if things work out. Cut to the chase, here's the old and new rules side-by-side.
Original Wrote:5.7 A player who was killed in a PvP fight must not enter the system where the fight took place with any of the characters on his/her account(s) until four hours have passed from the time of his/her destruction.
If the player respawns in the same system, he/she must leave the system within 10 minutes of his destruction without attacking anyone, except in self-defense. Other players are not allowed to attack one who is leaving.
5.8 A player who was killed in a PvP fight must not attack the enemy (player or players involved in the death) with any of the characters on his/her account(s) for 4 hours. Self-killing during a PvP fight is counted as a normal PvP death.
Revised Wrote:5.7 A player who was killed in a PvP fight must not enter the system where the fight took place with any of the characters on his/her account(s) until 2 hours has passed from the time of his/her destruction.
If the player respawns in the same system, he/she must leave the system within 10 minutes of his destruction without attacking anyone, except in self-defense. Other players are not allowed to attack one who is leaving.
If the enemy (character or characters) leave the game before two hours have passed, the player may return to the system. If the enemy then returns to the game they may request the player leave the system again until two hours have passed since the original time of death.
5.8 A player who was killed in a PvP fight must not attack the enemy (character or characters involved in the death) with any of the characters on his/her account(s) for 2 hours. Self-killing, friendly fire kills or death to NPCs during a PvP fight are counted as normal PvP deaths.
The intent of the new rules are to shorten the down-time keeping a player away from a a system following death. Also, re-engaging is now redefined as being engaging the same characters within two hours of death, not the same players. If you change to a different character, you can be shot at again by the player you killed within those two hours.
Clarification:
Scenario 1: I, LHI|Gheis.Mace, kill XA|Duct.Tape in Colorado. I then log into another of my ships, Gheis.Mace. Because my names are visibly similar and easily identifiable as so, XA|Duct.Tape may not re-engage me, and may not re-enter Colorado without my permission.
Scenario 2: I, LHI|Gheis.Mace, kill LR-Contrived.Name in California. I then, before the two hours are up, switch to OSI-Resolute captained InRP by Gheis Mace, and am engaged by LR-Contrived.Name in a separate interaction. Because the ship names are not notably similar (LHI|Gheis.Mace v OSI-Resolute), I cannot expect LR-Contrived.Name to have known I was the same person - or even the same character - and so no violation of reengagement has occurred. Because I'm notably different as well, LR-Contrived.Name can assume I've logged off and return to California if he so wishes.
So far as asking and allowing returning to system, this simply puts into the rules the gentlemen's agreements that were in place already. If none of the combatants involved in your death are online, you may return to the system you died in. If they return on the same characters, then you must leave if they ask you to.
Abuse of this ability will be severely punished. If you are reporting someone in violation of this, we suggest screening the time-stamped death message, the time-stamped request to leave, any conversation following (or enough to show a lack thereof), and a screen showing the killed player still in system. Players who do not leave in the 10 minutes after the initial death will be handled as normal. (And by that I mean "with a spear")
Players who have killed may also choose to waive the two-hour rule and permit their target to return to the system. This has always been the case, but remember, if you waive it and allow the character you killed to come back, you cannot then, without a second death, request that player leave. We have access to server logs.
