Rule Discussion: Smugglers and Lawful interaction, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4,

[GrnRaptor]

Smuggling, as it is now, is too centered on avoiding interaction. Which makes sense when you see exactly how lawful players act. Note: all of the below was done by HCs of Official Factions.

When @Praxor23 took up "show-off smuggling", people like @GrnRaptor actually started to hate him for bothering to RP and has informed me, in Shoutbox, no less, that he will lean towards simply shooting him when he sees the guy. Dude really dislikes people who "bloviate".

Smuggling has always been about avoiding interaction. Or at least, not getting caught. Unfortunately most people tend to see this as a way to earn credits above what lawful trading can provide while wanting to take none of the risks that would usually be involved. That's why most "smuggling" takes place in one of two ways.

1. Making the long haul late at night when the server population is basically dead and there are no lawfuls around anyway.
   
2. Jump trading (often late at night) to avoid running into anyone period. I've noted that this method is a personal favorite of the Junker's Congress and The Hyperspace People.
   

It's simply unlawful power trading. You wanna see how much I know about these silent power traders and their RP aspirations? Go look up posts by me in the Communications Channel that have a thread subject that starts with "ATTN". You'll find a few dozen. You'll see how much RP they offer there.

On the other hand I have done smuggling during the daytime when the server population and limit was quite a bit higher. Several times in a large group such as with the Lane Hackers back in the days of the Contari Lance. I wish I could find the relevant post, but it was quite the event, and there was plenty of internal and external RP involved. I'll update this post with a link if I do find it. Easily one of the best unlawful related sessions I've had on this server, though.

As for @Praxor23, he just wants to bury you under bloviation that's entirely one sided. Not interested in the patently absurd notion that he'll buy the government a battlecruiser if you look the other way, then he'll just flee to a Rogue base. Documented here. Caught by four lawfuls and ordered to pay a fine and dump the cargo? Sure, pay the fine and then waltz off stage left ala Snagglepuss while still holding the contraband. Documented here (with updated images soon, I hope). That's not roleplay, that's being obnoxious to the other player(s). You/he gets away with it because enforcing consequence is a PITA in this game. None of the lawful players enjoyed any of it, though. If that's what qualifies as "ar-pee" then you can keep it.

In summary, RP is fine, and should be relevant to the situation. Going off on a tangent about your family for 30 minutes is not smuggling RP. Silently thrusting away is not RP. Declaring compliance or a wish to flee is what one would expect in the situation, and what I would consider appropriate.

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