That kind of a scummy tactic, yes. Want to know what really ticks me off? When they shoot their -own- NPCs to do it because there arn't any hostile ones around. For example, lets say someone's off fighting in Liberty. A Navy tagged and ID'ed ship shows up, and engages. They fight, pirate/terrorist is winning, and the Navy bloke pops one of the Patriots zipping around everywhere.
That's not just annoying, that's freaking out of RP!
This is the real true story of rock and roll; it was not about anything more then, how to live your life, as a gangster, in sartorial splendor, and turning the world into a place where normality would never return again...- Malcolm McLaren