Hello Commanders!
In response to combat logging versus "griefing" (which I will define here as killing a much weaker vessel with potentially a lower combat rated pilot): both are considered "undesirable" behaviour. I'm not saying that they would have to get exactly the same bad karma, just that repeatedly doing either act would see a Commander slide down the karma slope. I'm not sure that this can really be argued against, unless you are bringing a strong bias to the discussion table.
In Open, you can run into other Commanders that want to destroy your ship. We are saying that if they repeatedly pick unfair fights, we will take action against them. Why would we not take action against someone who consistently logs to avoid legitimate destruction? And I'm sure that we could envisage a system that reduced karma loss for combat logging when aggressors are also low karma Commanders, so it feels reasonable to me?
Hell Commander besieger!
As we're speaking hypothetically here, we would want to avoid shadow banning where possible. As an example, for a Commander that repeatedly killed clean ships that were significantly weaker than them, I'd rather see a removal of insurance cover (so when a ship is destroyed it's gone, or you have to pay the full price to get it back), docking privileges rescinded at all starports and outposts except those in anarchy jurisdictions and game applied Pilot Federation bounties rather than a shadow ban.
Of course, we'd always reserve the right to apply out of game measures if we felt they were justified.
It can of course be argued against, but not without biases — which cannot be removed from any discussion. I like the core idea of increasing the penalty for crime, but I think it would be good to have clarity when discussion what the impact of bad karma might be. You mentioned the PF withdrawing support. What exactly does this mean? You mentioned "the right to apply out of game measures." In what case? Would these measures be justified based on a pilot's accumulated bad karma, or would they be applied holistically?
More specifically: could a CMDR like besieger potentially face out of game measures for attacking pilots without reason or warning? If he were attacking a specific pilot repeatedly, would that trigger these measures? What if he were combat logging repeatedly? How would the reaction vary?
I believe, and I assume you do, too, that the game should appropriately penalize crime and should be adjusted in a way that defines crime in a logical way. I disagree that combat logging should be considered a crime, though. I believe that combat logging should, in most circumstances, be considered a subversion of game mechanics, and that we
should be looking at significant penalties for it that match currently stated penalties (shadowbans).
Why would we not take action against someone who consistently logs to avoid legitimate destruction?
You absolutely should, and I do not think anyone is saying otherwise.
And I'm sure that we could envisage a system that reduced karma loss for combat logging when aggressors are also low karma Commanders, so it feels reasonable to me?
I hope you do not do this. What you are suggesting is that combat logging should be situationally permissible if a CMDR is attacked by a CMDR with a history of assault.