A simple question that can have a complicated answer regarding it.
How do you feel about ganckers? Are they people just playing the game? Are they bullies? Should there be a punishment for gancking? If so, what should it be? Are you a gancker yourself? If so, why? Does anyone have any stories to share regarding ganckers?
I'm a newer player. For me, gancker is defined as someone who kills other players for no reason or just for the kill. This is different then pirates who just want the cargo
Example of gancking that seems common, sitting outside starting systems and killing new players. They don't have anything, can't defend themselves
Ah, gankers. Love them or hate them, there seems to be no in between. I'll try for a balanced opinion anyway. Sorry in advance, probably a longish post.
My general position: I don't like ganking. I find it a waste of everyone's time, and it's a dumb way to spend your play time. I don't do it, and I don't like it. And I've met a few gankers I
really disliked for one reason or another. But at the very basic level yes, they are just people playing the game and "blazing their trail" as any other player too. Shooting another player is within the rules, and nowhere does it say a player needs a reason beyond "because they can". Does that make a ganker a "bully" (or worse)? That depends on a lot of factors. But probably not. You might think the person behind the CMDR might be a bully or worse, but it's dangerous armchair psychology to automatically make the connection ganker-bully or worse - they have been called sociopaths and other stuff. The worst gankers are probably just bored jaded gamers who like to blow up pixels no matter what. I might not want to be friends with them or suspect a lack of empathy... but they don't break any rules unless they really bully you - follow you around for no reason, chain interdict you relentlessly, or show
real toxic behavior.
There are a few different types of "gankers" I have encountered in game and outside of it, and maybe a few in-between ones. There's those who just shoot everything that moves no matter what, because they can, pixels go boom and all that. They don't shy away from a fight, might even fight amongst themselves, aren't afraid to catch a bloody nose, and are usually civil, decent persons to talk to.
Then you have your typical seal clubber who goes to known newbie spots and waits for unsuspecting prey. They usually run away at any kind of
real opposition and are only out for the weakest ones who cannot defend themselves. Those are the ones I would question their motives the most, because that's just weak sauce.
There's the type of ganker that takes nothing seriously, memes everything, constantly talks trash in system chat or is very condescending and tries to "teach a lesson" for whatever reason they make up for (flying with a docking computer is one such nonsense rule), and spews "git gud" nonsense all over the game. Those I find the most annoying, and are the ones I wouldn't really want to talk to even if I could.
Then you have your role or power players who enact their fantasy of "owning a system" or "running a blockade", defending "the honor of their princess" or something. They often get thrown in with the "gankers", but I wouldn't do that, especially not when power play is involved. You have to live with the fact that you might get shot at by enemies if you pledge. There are arguments made that some abuse power play for ganking... but the moment you pledge to a power, you paint a target on your back. PvP bounty hunters probably belong in that group too. If you have a bounty and I collect it, it's not ganking, I
might make a judgement call, but if I want to collect a 1000 Cr bounty from a harmless CMDR, they are fair game.
Apart from those types I've met there are probably a few more idiot outliers out there. All of them act within the rules of the game - because there is no rule who you can attack and who you cannot. It is part of the game, and as everywhere in life, you have to deal with the presence of people you might not want to have to share your space with.
There's a few things you can do. The first is of course choosing the right mode for you. If you're not willing, or not able (yet) to deal with the danger of gankers, you can play in solo or PG. This might suck, because running into randos you might want to play with is part of the attraction of an online game. My personal experience is that it's overrated. For one, open is very empty anyway because space is big. You won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-boggingly big it is. The exception are hotspots - the area near the starter system (for Odyssey that's HIP 97950, I don't know where Horizons players start currently - the starter zone is dead in Live, as far as I am aware), the first engineer systems (usually Deciat), Sol, Shinrarta Dezhra, and usually the systems and areas CGs are taking place in.
The other reason why it's overrated is because that rando you might meet is a fantasy. The most I've gotten out of a random encounter outside of CGs is a simple "o7" at best, if the other player acknowledges you at all (I am guilty of this as well - often I only notice I met someone in a system much later when I've already moved on). If you don't arrange something, you're not going to play randomly with other players.
Other things you can do: You can of course block the gankers. This means either knowing their names somehow, or having encountered them at least once. Don't let anyone tell you you can't block people because you mess up instancing, blah blah. It's any players right to block someone for any or no reason as it's any player's right to shoot at you for no reason. Personally, my block list is empty, because I can deal with gankers.
If you don't want to block or switch modes, the only other thing you can do is be prepared. Meaning: First of all learn how to build a good ship. Never, ever ever fly a paper plane in open, much less in the hotspots. If you cannot afford to lose cargo or fail a mission, gaining 2, 4, 8 tons of cargo space by foregoing protection isn't worth it. Even an unengineered ship should be able to build up enough passive defences to withstand a ganker attack. Bring enough shields, and don't skip hull day. There will be special cases where you're just toast, especially unengineered, but those cases are probably out of your influence anyway.
And then learn how to evade a gank. In short terms:
- be prepared to select a jump system in the nav panel - this means always have "systems" visible
- four pips to systems - this boosts your shields to 2.5x the base strength
- submit to the interdiction - this shortens the cooldown timer substantially
- turn around and boost past your attacker - don't straight line unless you're really fast - we're talking speed iCourier or Viper fast here
- select your escape system
- wait for the cooldown, fly evasive, jump away
- optional: After the jump, do an emergency drop - disable your thrusters in the right hand panel, you will drop to normal space and not leave a wake.
Then you have a choice - go back and try again (or repeat), block the perp, or change mode. The ganker in question is still annoying, and you might dislike that very much, but there is nothing you can do. It would be nice if system security would actually mean something, but let's face it - there are gankers out there that aren't even bothered when ATR show up, so...
TL;DR: Yes, they are just people playing the game. No, you don't have to like it, or like them, that's not required by the rules. The only thing you can do is
not cry about them on the forums or reddit (they love that), choose the right mode for what you have planned and / or come well prepared.
same grinding, but seen from different angle.
