Is Killing Justified in Star Citizen?

Is Killing in SC Justified?

  • Sure

    Votes: 16 22.9%
  • Nah

    Votes: 3 4.3%
  • Sometimes

    Votes: 35 50.0%
  • Space Kitty's!

    Votes: 16 22.9%

  • Total voters
    70

marcsand2

Space Marshal
Staff member
Officer
Donor
Mar 15, 2016
7,007
22,018
3,025
RSI Handle
marcsand2
do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
i also like to live by another rule, an eye for an eye
That sums it up pretty accurate. Besides that, if somebody decides to sneak on my ship and shoot me in the pilot seat, I will hunt him down and blow him out of the sky, with or without cargo.
 

Talonsbane

Space Marshal
Donor
Jul 29, 2017
5,925
20,325
3,025
RSI Handle
Talonsbane
When I'm out doing my thing on my own & taking care of business, I'm perfectly fine with abiding by the rule of thumb "Live & let live." However, if while I'm abiding in that manner & somebody wants to attack me, then as far as I'm concerned, they better not expect any sympathy. As Major Payne would say, "You want sympathy, look in the dictionary between shit and syphilis!"


As for running around with my fellow TESTies, should we be attacked, then it will seriously suck to be them.
 

maynard

Space Marshal
May 20, 2014
5,148
20,429
2,995
RSI Handle
mgk
what I dig sbout virtuslity is the opportunity to do shit I wouldn't dream of doing IRL, and still go to sleep with a clear conscience

as a noob in Eve Online I made my first big spacebux hauling freighterloads of slaves from one system to another

I signed up for SC to dogfight in spaace - I played Wing Commander on my firdt PC back in '93

blowing people internet space pixels up didn't bother me then and I look forward to doing it some more when I pull the trigger on my new gaming system
 

Lorddarthvik

Space Marshal
Donor
Feb 22, 2016
2,868
9,966
2,860
RSI Handle
Lorddarthvik
what I dig sbout virtuslity is the opportunity to do shit I wouldn't dream of doing IRL, and still go to sleep with a clear conscience

as a noob in Eve Online I made my first big spacebux hauling freighterloads of slaves from one system to another

I signed up for SC to dogfight in spaace - I played Wing Commander on my firdt PC back in '93

blowing people internet space pixels up didn't bother me then and I look forward to doing it some more when I pull the trigger on my new gaming system
This pretty much describes my thinking as well.

That said, I won't go out of my way to shoot someone up, cos it probably won't be worth my time. Even if they cut me off at a CryAstro parking... Or mabye I will! Damned pretentious 600i drivers, always acting so important, aargh.

Is it justified?
It's a video Game, it doesn't need justification. Do what ever the game allows you to do, that's what it's made for. Leave the "moral dilemma" for real life stuff and indie darlings.
Just know that what comes around, goes around. And might blow you to pieces in revenge, but if you enjoy that, then go for it.
 

SullyQuindarius

Admiral
Dec 24, 2017
951
3,625
700
RSI Handle
SullyQuindarius
I don't intend to do much combat. Most of my ships are non-combat profession ships. If I do combat it'll be with fellow TESTies since I suck at space pewpews. Someone can jump in the back of my Hurricane, and then it's up to them to do all the pewpews.
 

Richard Bong

Space Marshal
Jul 29, 2017
2,357
6,590
2,850
RSI Handle
McHale
Last edited:

Shadow Reaper

Space Marshal
Jun 3, 2016
5,448
15,107
2,975
RSI Handle
Shadow Reaper
I think the ethics behind this is hopelessly complex and far too much to have a cogent discussion about. I'm actually trained in philosophy, and I can tell you ethics is notoriously complex. As soon as you start to ask questions the whole field grows into an enormous quandary of new questions.

For instance, how does any given player, presuming he wants to act "good" or "honorable" or "ethical" etc., draw meaningful distinctions between how they respond to PCs as opposed to NPC's, and should they?

Its a game. Don't grief, but kill things and take their treasure. 'nuff said.
 

Wolfy

Space Kitty
Donor
Apr 27, 2017
2,190
8,602
2,860
RSI Handle
Wolfy_Alexstrasza
I think the ethics behind this is hopelessly complex and far too much to have a cogent discussion about. I'm actually trained in philosophy, and I can tell you ethics is notoriously complex. As soon as you start to ask questions the whole field grows into an enormous quandary of new questions.

For instance, how does any given player, presuming he wants to act "good" or "honorable" or "ethical" etc., draw meaningful distinctions between how they respond to PCs as opposed to NPC's, and should they?

Its a game. Don't grief, but kill things and take their treasure. 'nuff said.
"Hopelessly complex" Then we break it down. It's how you get to things in ethics. Hell, that was the entirety of my college education in ethics. You have to start somewhere.
 

Shadow Reaper

Space Marshal
Jun 3, 2016
5,448
15,107
2,975
RSI Handle
Shadow Reaper
Yes well, suppose we were to do any analysis correctly and decided in advance upon some ethical theory or another we could agree on, perhaps like graded absolutism (very popular since it is very strong.) So when values come in conflict, the moral thing is to support the "greater" value.

So we start with the notion that in general killing is wrong, and note the exceptions come when there are reasons to kill, and try to identify when those reasons support a greater value than the general one and these reasons support genuine exceptions.

So a madman with a bloody axe runs into the room and asks "where is your sister?!" So you tell him, "she's down at the police station. Why don't you go find her?"

We laugh at this because of course we identify a value to protect the innocent, or to protect someone we are close to, forms an exception or qualification to the general rule. Graded absolutism is a form of "qualified absolutism". Now how does this relate to video games?

The consequences of killing in a game are very different than in real life, so the ability to find a qualification of exception to the general rule against killing is far easier. So if we push that issue "what forms an exception" to the limit, can we say "having fun is enough reason to form an exception"? Probably not. We know instinctively that "having fun" is too broad a value and would lead to characteristic cases of griefing that would bust the rule we'd made.

So now you start to see how freaking complicated it gets as soon as you permit an exception to the general case. What does and does not form an exception or qualification to the general rule, and what sorts of test cases could you supply to illustrate the rule you'd propose?

You're in a bar in SC in character, and members of another player organization have entered and are boisterous. They're passing off-hand comments about what a slouch that Montoya guy is and you put up with it. It's an armistice zone. But then they insult the Enterprise, and the Scotty in you takes umbrage, so you bash one of them over the head with a bottle of Romulan ale and a fist fight ensues.

How much can you afford to lose in the fist fight until you pull a weapon? After all, it's just a game, right? It's one thing to insult Montoya, but calling the Enterprise a "garbage scow"?! There's just so much you can push us!
 

Wolfy

Space Kitty
Donor
Apr 27, 2017
2,190
8,602
2,860
RSI Handle
Wolfy_Alexstrasza
Yes well, suppose we were to do any analysis correctly and decided in advance upon some ethical theory or another we could agree on, perhaps like graded absolutism (very popular since it is very strong.) So when values come in conflict, the moral thing is to support the "greater" value.

So we start with the notion that in general killing is wrong, and note the exceptions come when there are reasons to kill, and try to identify when those reasons support a greater value than the general one and these reasons support genuine exceptions.

So a madman with a bloody axe runs into the room and asks "where is your sister?!" So you tell him, "she's down at the police station. Why don't you go find her?"

We laugh at this because of course we identify a value to protect the innocent, or to protect someone we are close to, forms an exception or qualification to the general rule. Graded absolutism is a form of "qualified absolutism". Now how does this relate to video games?

The consequences of killing in a game are very different than in real life, so the ability to find a qualification of exception to the general rule against killing is far easier. So if we push that issue "what forms an exception" to the limit, can we say "having fun is enough reason to form an exception"? Probably not. We know instinctively that "having fun" is too broad a value and would lead to characteristic cases of griefing that would bust the rule we'd made.

So now you start to see how freaking complicated it gets as soon as you permit an exception to the general case. What does and does not form an exception or qualification to the general rule, and what sorts of test cases could you supply to illustrate the rule you'd propose?

You're in a bar in SC in character, and members of another player organization have entered and are boisterous. They're passing off-hand comments about what a slouch that Montoya guy is and you put up with it. It's an armistice zone. But then they insult the Enterprise, and the Scotty in you takes umbrage, so you bash one of them over the head with a bottle of Romulan ale and a fist fight ensues.

How much can you afford to lose in the fist fight until you pull a weapon? After all, it's just a game, right? It's one thing to insult Montoya, but calling the Enterprise a "garbage scow"?! There's just so much you can push us!
I start with the assumption that killing is not wrong. The implication of him asking me that is that I don't have a sister so it wont matter to me. Sending him to the police station is a good thing to do, most likely they will deal with him. I think having fun is a perfectly valid excuse to kill in a game. I generally don't grief but that's because it's annoying to build up the base of enemies it brings and it tends to lessen oneself in others eyes which leads to undesirable outcomes. Insults are generally not something I fight over, they are just words. I would start a fight to defend my or the orgs "honor" so that we maintain our social standing and I would generally just go with rapid and overwhelming force. Risks are not worth the trouble relative to ending a life.
 

marcsand2

Space Marshal
Staff member
Officer
Donor
Mar 15, 2016
7,007
22,018
3,025
RSI Handle
marcsand2
So if a player steals your ship, and the only way you can see to get it back is to kill him, you can't get your ship back?

Or you're being boarded. You have no melee weapons that disarm or disable, but you have a gun that will kill. You can't shoot back if they're human?
You just blow up your ship, it is yours so you can do with it what you like. If somebody has the death wish to be in your ship while you blow it up, well, his problem.
 

GrammarGestapo

Pro Chat Necromancer
Jun 8, 2014
814
761
2,370
RSI Handle
TheGrammarpolice
It's a game about space violence. Shooting people is how you have fun. I have no doubt the PVE will be mind numbing, repetitive, and generally terrible.
 

Talonsbane

Space Marshal
Donor
Jul 29, 2017
5,925
20,325
3,025
RSI Handle
Talonsbane
I don't intend to do much combat. Most of my ships are non-combat profession ships. If I do combat it'll be with fellow TESTies since I suck at space pewpews. Someone can jump in the back of my Hurricane, and then it's up to them to do all the pewpews.
In your case my friend, I'd suggest upgrading to the Retaliator Base with the cargo module when it finally comes out. That way you can have fun hauling materials in your ship with multiple wonderful TESTies lighting up the skies in their turrets towards anybody that would be a potential threat to your profit margins. Just know that at the end of each long run, whenever you get to a port with a space bar, you'll be buying the 1st round with your massive profits. Cheers! :beers:

You just blow up your ship, it is yours so you can do with it what you like. If somebody has the death wish to be in your ship while you blow it up, well, his problem.
That's how I feel exactly. Get a really large ship so that more of them have to board it to operate it effectively & all of your crew eject to safety as your ship with the invaders go boom. Then call in a space uber or a couple buddies with some cargo room in 1 ship & another with a reclaimer to help clean up the mess. No reason everybody decent can't profit off the demise of invaders.
 
Forgot your password?