Imagine a bowling alley where there is a significant group of regular bowlers who are always present, and who come over to the scoring desk of anyone who can't beat them up, and crumple up their scorecards and throw them on the floor, and sometimes break nerds' glasses, and sometimes spit in peoples' drinks, etc. It's all fun! That's bowling, to them, and it's just a game, etc.
And if English isn't your second language, or you're not so smart-styled, let me explain that "significant" doesn't mean overpowering, or the majority, or the defining factor-- it just means that in the context, the amount is enough to be notable.
So open players say, come bowl with us!! It's not that bad!!
Many people say, hehe, no thanks.
The irony is, thousands of those "carebears" would be pirates-- and sometimes quite bloodthirsty pirates-- (talk about role-play...) if there were ANY repercussions to that behavior AT ALL. If that playstyle was in ANY WAY challenging. But it's not. It's so lowest common denominator. It is non-gameplay. It's literally and retarding, from the perspective of a rules-based gaming system. It's like hanging with slightly learning-disabled frat jocks, who stand at the door of a party, and who spill people's drinks and laugh dumbly at their own jokes. It has nothing to do with caring or sharing or kindness or glowing rainbow light. It has to do with abject, absolute, unending lack of any sign of intelligence in the behavior. duh, hur-dur, hur-dur, duh.
If this game were to make it hard for the violently inclined to land, to use public vendors, to trade openly-- except at criminal systems-- and sometimes even hard to do those things at criminal systems-- lots of geeks and nerds would be bloodied ganking pirates. Lots of geeks and nerds would have extra accounts, just to be bloodied ganking pirates.
But no. It's a severely form of gameplay currently. It has nothing to do with "oh, you spilled my beer." For god's sake, there's a keg in the next room. It's not the spilled beer. (The ship loss, the game-time loss, if you're not too quick on metaphors.) It has to do with being nauseated by having to interact with bottom-of-the-barrel human behavior. I say nerds and geeks, not because they have glasses and get beat up easily-- but because their intelligence attracted them to this game, in the same way that high intelligence attracted people to the original elite.
Such a pity. I suspect that few gankers will understand this. I guess one enjoys having explained to them that they are significantly and retarding, particularly if they enjoy aggression and maintain an view of themselves which the rest of the world doesn't share. I don't mean in a "learning disability" sense, I mean in a sense of suppressing and limiting processes in themselves and in others. in a technical sense.
I guess I need representative challenge in any griefing. Otherwise it's just swimming in the kiddie pool. Oh, I splashed you! What fun! Oh yeah?? Slaah splash. What fun!! I think I'll go spit water in that guy's drink or give him a wedgie!! I'm really leading the good life now!! Splash! Splash! Yeah, the best of human minds, wow. Splash! Splash! Oh I splashed you! I could do this all day! Splash! HA HA! I splashed you!! HA HA! I'm A GLORIOUS GOD!!!! Splash! I SPLASHED YOU!!! EVERYONE, I SPLASHED HIM!! TEABAG!! TEABAG!! Wow. What a.... "game"...?
I want a galaxy sim that doesn't so strongly cater to imbecile play. I do not expect this to be understood by gankers and griefers, who just keep flattering themselves that they are pursuing some great grief-creation, when really they are just soiling their pants and leaving poop at the edge of the pool.
Clarification-- This is my favorite game. If there were repercussions to evil action, I'd have at least one alt account, and be in open all the time. My wife and I were gonna be pirates, but then.... nah-- there isn't any counterculture unless you are into drooling on yourself in public and smelling like poop. But otherwise, I love the time I put into the game and the skills I'm developing, and I treasure my ships, and I think the milky way is pretty excellent programming.
