Zoners, we need to have a little chat

[Tenacity]

It appears several of our zoner "friends" out there are a little lacking on knowledge when it comes to political relations with the xenos.

See, three of us (myself in an arrow, and two other xenos in a hawk and eagle respectively) were hangin out at pittsburgh, killin npcs, hiding out from the navy we had encountered previously. We come upon wetworks (kindred), a zoner in a viper fighter - no problems there, he hung out while we blasted npcs, there was no hostility present so long as he didnt rat us out in system chat.

After a good while, a transport appears at pittsburgh. Looks like a good target for us, but upon approach we notice it has a zoner ID equipped... no biggie, we'll just ask for a 'donation' - after all, according to RP between the factions, zoners support xenos in liberty monetarily, as they're one of the richest factions in sirius and they think we've got a good cause to fight for, what with 'the man' putting us down all the time.

The zoner transport had some weird name, I didnt get a screenshot - was code ordnance something or other.

So I approach the transport, and say something along the lines of "ordnance, mind donating a few credits to the xeno cause?"

Immediately he re-docks with the planet and orders the fighter to open fire on us... that's where things start pissing me off.

See, it's well known that zoners support xenos, so why the bloody hell did you open fire on us without a word of RP? We're, more or less, beneficial allies... Just because we ask you for a 'donation' doesnt mean we're going to shoot you - if you HADNT been a zoner, we'd have probably opened fire without asking a word.

So instead of go along with things, and solve the issue through RP, you docked immediately with a planet - OORP behavior - and you ordered an allied ship to open fire on us - OORP behavior again.

So please, if you're going to roll with any faction, know the GD political connections it works with.

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[Horon]

While there were parts of that, that were rather OoRP, There is nothing OoRP about having a Zoner fighter, attack Xeno's that attempted to tax a different Zoner. Ordering an attack is a little OOC, but attacking, isnt. Hope there weren't too many commas there.

---

While being quite funny, your sig was the biggest one i've ever seen so far. No more than 700x250 please. ~utrack
http://pastebin.com/SYQXBufs

[Zapp]

That wasn't a tax, I don't think. Asking for donations is usually considered a tax, and that's probably why he told the Viper to attack, but this time it wasn't. Odd. Semantics bite you in the rear, Tenacity.

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[Tenacity]

It wouldnt have been a problem if the guy had RP'd and -talked- with us rather than docking on the planet. Seriously, we had two light fighters and one VHF, he was right next to the mooring fixture, if we had opened fire he would have had plenty of time to dock - not that we would have.

All he had to do is say something like "sorry, I'm runnin a bit low on cash right now" and it wouldnt have been an issue - he's an ally, we cant attack him to begin with. Asking for a donation is not piracy, and we certainly werent asking in a pirate-like or demanding tone.

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[MB52]

So I'm curious, why 3 xenos were "hanging out" in front of a lawful base. Is that in itself not a little OORP?

As for the incident itself, I think it was just a mis-understanding, most traders have a reflex to dock right away when a pirate shows up and demands something, nothing wrong there. Perhaps next time, start up with explaining how you dont mean any harm because you are allies, etc, then once he relaxes you can go on and ask for a donation.


BTW- just want to mention that I love the Xenos RP, almost every Xenos I see has had excellent RP and are a pleasure to interact with.

---

I’ll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it’s flag that I love
And a flag that I trust

[Tenacity]

I wouldnt exactly call pittsburgh an OORP place for pirates to be. It's never patrolled - not even by lawful npc's. The only npc's there are bounty hunters, not too much to worry about.

We were there because we had just retreated into the pittsburgh debris field from the capwhorage of liberty.

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[MB52]

Fair enough. Though that may have been part of the reason for him auto-docking. To see a bunch of pirates as you undock can be un-nerving.

Of course, it could also just be someone who is new to playing a zoner and isn't too sure of all the important stuff.


BTW- I hope the comment about being by pits burg didn't come off sounding like a flame, re-reading my post, it seems a bit er.. harsh.

---

I’ll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it’s flag that I love
And a flag that I trust

[Fyre]

I'll have to agree here. I'd chalk this one up to a misunderstanding, and perhaps a bit of fear mixed in. Too bad you couldn't get a name so we could educate the person. At least see if we can located them in the registry, right? Of course, I've been asked for donations in the past and have had no troubles lending a helping hand. I can, however, see how someone might mistake that for something else and react accordingly. Thanks, T. for sharing it with us so we can all have a better in game experience.

[Tenacity]

last part of the name was _Ordnance, and it had [Code] At the front, not sure what was in the middle. My memory sucks when it comes to names that have a bunch of symbols and crap in them.

I need to change my screenshot key to the space bar or something.

---

[Dusty Lens]

Just to throw my own two cents in here, while it does often sadden me somewhat when we suffer occasional attacks at the hands of the Zoners (almost invariably at the hands of folk who don't know any better and assume that Xenos, as we're hated nearly by all, must be open game for them as well.) It wasn't 100% out of line for things to go down as they did.

The Zoners aren't in a position of 'giving aid' to the Xenos beyond the means by which they give aid to anyone, by maintaining freeports (as I understand it.). The fellows on Ames would gladly suck the Xeno movement dry by selling them pharms until every last man woman and child on Nome was long dead of radiation poisoning. They'll sell us what we need, but they're not giving us more than landing rights and market access.

So, in more than a way requesting an extra bucks from a passing Zoner was really stepping a bit beyond the relationship shared by our two organizations. The gesture was misunderstood, apparently and taken as a hostile act which then led to the bit hemming and hawing what with the shooters and all.

I've found the best way to interact with zoners is to not, 'less the bugger's carrying Xeno pilots and needs to be reminded who's back porch they on. We need 'em but we hate 'em and that's basically what it boils down to.

/rambling.