First off, there is a big difference between killing new players in EVE Online and griefing. Griefing has only one purpose (frustration), and I am not playing EVE to humiliate others repeatedly. Shooting new players is not a real challenge either, but it can serve another purpose: teaching them a lesson. I actually did kill a newbie for that purpose not long ago.
Real life kept me busy lately, so I was only logging on breifly to change skills, chat with friends and start industry jobs. Last thursday I had a longer timeslot available, so I have decided to have a look at nearby systems. I’ve planned to fly solo, so I’ve chosen HAM fitted Rook (430 DPS with Rage missiles). My usual hanging place had several neutrals from the same alliance, so my chances at catching one of them were rather slim (compared to them catching me), but I’ve scanned the system anyway. Finding no suitable targets, I went through Orvolle to check Oulley and Aubenalle, but haven’t found any lone pilots either. PVP didn’t work well, so I came back to Orvolle and scanned for anoms to pass the time. I was almost done with a Serpentis Hideout, when a Caracal warped in. He immediately started shooting the NPCs and I wouldn’t mind it (I quickly checked him and his corp, also made sure there is no one from their corp in the system). Out of a sudden he’d become blinky red, and my wreck near his boat shown empty. “This is a tarp!” I thought immediately. But it would take anyone more time to arrive at the scene, than for me to kill him, so I have immediately scrammed, ECMed and rained missiles all over his boat (not even bothering to change ammo from Inferno missiles which I have used against the NPC Serpentis). 20 seconds later his Caracal was no more, and his pod on the way to the nearest station.
Most of you know why I killed that noob, but in case you are new player yourself, here is a list of what this guy did wrong:
- He warped to my anom and decided to give it a go even though I was almost finished with it,
- He stole from my wreck, thus become agressed towards me,
- His fitting was a complete lol with mixed t1 weapons and a mixed tank,
- He didn’t run after stealing from my wreck.
If he warped away after finding an occupied anomaly, his Caracal would be unsctached. If he killed the remaining rats, I wouldn’t bother attacking him. But he put himself in the position where the only immediate reaction was to pull the trigger.