You might be onto something here.
I also remember when Code were pirating and it was good piracy. Yeah, there were rumours and fearmongering, but few complaints about CLing, and some good piracy experiences.
Then SDC came along, and with their activities, the fear factor went up. The more "events" they did, the more the fear grew, and with Code being less active, or perhaps just being overshadowed, people stopped assuming that an interdiction was a piracy and instead started assuming an interdiction was going to be a gank.
It would be highly ironic in the main reason so many people combat log these days is because of SDC's actions and reputation gained over the last year.
I'm sure some might point out there was combat logging before SDC were around, i'm sure there was. But the whole hysteria about combat logging only seemed to really take off after SDC's formation.
I think that we would all agree that combat logging is not a intended game mechanic, by deliberate design or in the spirit of the game, therefore it is a problem. Combat logging therefore falls into two broad categories regarding those who play in open and those who play in solo.
Solo:
Those who choose to combat log against AI with the considered purpose of stopping combat,
to avoid the risk of loss are still, be it only themselves cheating, Like it or not this is a simple fact. I would also state that a deliberate design choice was made by the design team, too balance the AI thus there is no deliberate "seal clubbing style Ganking" by NPC's, in fact it is very much the opposite. That said discussion about AI balance issues is a fair subject for debate and in reality it will always be under review.
Open:
Those who choose to combat log against other players with the considered purpose of stopping combat,
to avoid the risk of loss are cheating, again like it or not this is a simple fact. Here lies the problem, while I personally despise "seal clubbing" and those who see it as "fun" and by extension the Forum Meta Game, that then also tends too be followed by those who have such play style, is irrelevant. Deliberate combat logging is cheating.
if you choose to play in open the possibility of being "Ganked" is always going to be a possible consequence. As you rightly say the "Code" seemed to not have deliberately embrace "seal clubbing as part of there chosen "pirate" game style choice, unlike the "SDC". Again my personal view of that play style is irrelevant as is disliking the ethos of the "SDC" both in Game and here on the forums.
Playing in open then is to acknowledge that there may be a chance of being "Ganked" like it or not. There is no point complaining then, when there are available and alternate choices be it "group" or "solo". By the same token if open then becomes a less inhabited by players, those who choose to "Gank" cannot then complain that the game is unfair too them. Regardless of what choice player make in selecting a mode the BGS continues to be the core of the mechanics of the game, which runs regardless of if it was only 2 players in open and 1,000, in either solo of groups.
While there is a relevant discussion on the ineffectiveness then of trying to effect blockades against some CG, and how that may then effect some aspect of BGS, again is a legitimate subject for debate, my personal thoughts are any such issues would have a short effect but in the larger and longer term, I would safely say that it make no significant difference. Thus perhaps when comparisons are then made to EVE, it is too compare apples with oranges, and that design team continues to avoid and reject incorporating such mechanic's so as too allow Elite Dangerous to be completely different from EVE.
Personally I think much more is being made about this subject, as with some other recent differing "issues" as part of the "Forum Meta Games" being run by some, for a variety of reasons, some good, some bad. While the wider player base just get on and play and enjoy the game as it is designed and operates mechanically and under the rule set, the design team have decided on.
TL;DR Combat logging is cheating
like it or not and "Ganking"
like it or not is an allowed game mechanic in open.
edited for spelling and grammar
