Zbop
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Posted - 2006.03.13 09:24:00 -
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Edited by: Zbop on 13/03/2006 09:27:23
About the question of what happens when you loot from some one else's can. You are flagged, the owner of the can and his gang can fire on you without sec loss, but they canÆt pod you cause Concord will then intercede. Honestly I have no problem with ore thieves as long as they are willing to have a civil conversation. I'm a casual miner, as I only mine when I only have an hour or so of time, so it's quick cash when I donÆt have time for serious game play.
However recently I've heard of Marco ore thieves, at first I thought this was just a rumor until it happened to me today. We saw this hauler kicking around I did my typical conv to haulers that warp to belts we are mining to say hi. The conv is accepted and I do my usual 'good morningÆ and no answer. I'm like wtf, it's the first time I've been ignored in a conv. So I try again, and keep talking then move on to smack talk just to see if I can get some response. Nothing. Then the hauler, after moving to each of the secure cans in the system, starts heading to our can. Well at the 15 km, mark we give our standard 'please go away' warning and at 10 launch our 20+ combat drones while our guard moves into kill position. At this point we're all thinking either this guys just foolish or it's some type of PVP trap.
Then some mentions it could be a Macro ore thief. Now how macro ore theft works is a macro'ed hauler comes up to the can and sets it self up for a warp to a station, or jump gate, when it finally lines up it punches it's drives and just before it hits the invincibility point of the warping process, snags as much ore as possible and zoom! No chance to scramble or jam. Our escort kept bumping him to try and keep him from warping but it still got away. So I'm angry, not because we were robbed but because we didn't even get a fight or a conversation out of it. So I warp after him since he just took off with about an hours worth of mining and there he is, heading to the gate with a shield booster running. Now I'm really mad. My scythe doesn't have enough firepower to punch through the shields, our 'guard' is too far away, because of a war all my combat ships are in a station 6 jumps away and were in 0.5 space to boot. I'm really mad since what little playing time I had was lost so I say **** it and go get my Rupture.
So I'm coming back with my Rupture and there is the ore thief cruising in his itty mark v. And heading back to the gate leading to the mining op. I'm like wtf. So I follow after him. Well one of our guys was hauling remain expensive stuff when this hauler warps back to our belt and starts doing it's rounds. So we all get set up, when the hauler gets to our nearly empty mining can, I throw down a second can right in its way and we wait. About five minutes later it gets flagged tries to warp bounces of my 'barrier' can and we open up. We now all feel really good and had fun with this little escapade. So the little pod go on its way and every one is happy. So I jump heading to dock, and what do I see but little macro miner undocking with another ship, and it's still flagged. So I open up blow up the second ship and laugh as the pod warps off to the jump gate to do its rounds.
Sorry for the long story but I thought it was funny and want to share. In the end with the flagging ore thieves when they loot cans, miners have the option to protect the can if you want to fight. As I only 'moonlight' as a miner I'm always up for a fight, even if it means that it might be a PVP trap. If it is even better, then I can gain combat experience. In the end if an ore thief is polite and is willing to have a pleasant conversation, I don't mind it so much. I view it as a good way to get to know people.
By the way, how do Professional Ore Thieves feel about macro ore thieves?
P.S. Thank you for the information guide. It is very informative for Thief and Miner alike.
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