The Interdictor

[Thurgret]

Well, I decided to do something different from what I usually do. I made a new character, got him Navy repped nice and quick, stuck him in a Liberty gunboat.

As the name 'Interdictor' might suggest, I made it with an eye to bringing a bit more RP to the Texas system and making the embargo-runners and smugglers become a little more creative. The ship spends most of its time sitting in front of Houston. I've wandered around New York a bit (almost always with escorts) and even made a brief excursion into California. But Texas is still the main place. Thing is, I'm starting to despair of the system a little bit.

While there, my usual greeting to any ships coming out of the lanes is 'Cut your engines. You will submit to a cargo scan.' Sometimes just 'Cut your engines.' if they've already started cruising to the other lane. Most people don't. Kudos to those who do. The smuggler with the load of blood diamonds was particularly amusing (no, I didn't try to fine him, I know they're legal in Liberty). If they don't, I turn and pursue them, but by the time I've given them their warning and whatnot, they're long gone. Some won't even say a word, and will scurry on out of the system. I've found it goes a lot more smoothly when there are others with me, since one person can cut lanes, another can shoot a CD and another can talk, or however it might go.

But with a few exceptions, I get the impression that people just don't like this. One ship which we (a group of us) held up was hauling engine components into Liberty (which is banned if they're from Rheinland). I just gave up on it because it seemed that he - the player, not the character, who was furious - was getting frustrated. Others just seem confused about what all is happening, and the question 'are you pirates?' has even been asked when we cut the lane from Houston to Bering to stop someone.

Before anyone says I'm just flying a lolboat to get some PvP: I -could- just get a Tridente, sit 15k up a lane from where the Interdictor usually is, and pirate people, and be guaranteed PvP. (not that there's anything wrong with Tridentes or reasonable piracy - just saying)

General comments are also welcome. One Cartel guy did say he was being ganked when the Interdictor showed up, but I'm not sure if he'd noticed that I was doing no more than sitting stationary 2k away from the dogfight and shooting occasional missiles - how I treat all fighters, actually. Did that to a Hacker for a few minutes, couldn't figure what he was trying to achieve by taking occasional potshots at a gunboat from a fighter, then a bunch of HF people showed up. Heh. I have to say I'd not expected that at all =P. Sorry for landing, fellas, but being locked out of NY for 4 hours is a pain for Liberty-based characters.

Any thoughts on what could be done to stop folks (myself included) from getting annoyed by it all? Clearly having wingmen is a help.