Are RP and PvP mutually exclusive?

[Papa Oomaumau]

Other.

I mean, for PvP to "truly" be RP, the outcome would have to depend on the pilots' inRP traits and skills. This is obviously not the case. A good PvPer who joins a new faction and is thus effectively a "fresh recruit" is likely not going to deliberately lose fights.

But in a way, it's still roleplay. Freelancer's universe is one full of conflict. In-game combat is a logical result of that.

^that^

But I will say, aside from a few examples (I'm not gonna inflate or deflate any egos) the personality types that favor one over the other tend to do so in very nearly exclusive ways.
Meaning that one is used as an on-ramp to the other more than for its sake alone.

As constructions - no - one is not mutually exclusive of the other.
In practice, they can and do tend to be - in many (leaning towards most) cases,

But this is the nature of people - not the game

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