"Killing people with a reason, even a weak one, is not griefing." +1

There are some players who will come to your aid if someone is doing this. Try asking for help on chnanel 11 or 4357. Channel 11 is nation-chat and can only be seen by members of the same nation as you. A few nationalist guilds monitor this channel. Channel 4357 is VPR's pirate reporting channel, since it's public though, most pirates also monitor this one.

Yes, by all means broadcast your position for all to see.

Just killing someone and leaving is not griefing, nor is it pirating. It is being a dick, under most circumstances.

Guilds help protect newbies, you may want to join one. There's a list http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/guildinfo <-here.

Killing someone once IS griefing if the target has no hope of defending himself against the attacker. Ganking = griefing. "Popping newbs" is griefing. Pirates monitor 4357 too, and I've never seen Viper actually do anything except announce that they are "on patrol", or question whether a known pirate is "actually" pirating or not when you announce one. The fact that most of the respondents in this thread will use flimsy excuses to rationalize their unjustifiable actions, and the vehemence with which posterior orifices like Lecter will mindlessly heap abuse on someone who is expressing a legitimate concern, just prove how low this game has sunk. It's nothing but an environment that encourages bullying. Because there appears to be no upper limit to licenses, you CAN'T "just level up" and "get them back", because the aggressors continue to level up as well. Guilds can't protect you if they aren't there, and players offering help to get you through dangerous areas are just as likely to be pirates waiting for you to lower your guard. I was ganked the other night by two members of Coalition of Itan, and I'm Itani. They hailed me, PMed me, and while I was typing a response, attacked my unarmed mining ship without warning or provocation. It's not that NOWHERE is safe, it's that NO ONE is safe. It's an environment of extreme distrust, and you expect new players to just "get over it" or "learn to embrace it"? You're full of fecal material. Sorry, HiltonHouse, my advice is follow me to the exit. I'm done with this garbage and the human garbage playing it.

Levels mean nothing to combat skill, you nitwit. After level 7 or 8, you have access to everything in the game. What more do you need? What you're actually complaining about is that you lack the twitch skill necessary to protect yourself as welll as the willingness to play the game by paying to live when presented with a pirate's demand. The same idiots whining about griefing are also the ones who consistently spout this "NEVER PAY A PIRATE!" stuff. If people don't want to play the game, we may as well just blow them away and carry on. By not paying, you're stating you don't think death matters - so why are you crying about griefing?

Hell, if you stay in your own nation space, you're pretty much safe. What you're crying about is the dangerous parts of space being dangerous. OMG!! FOR REALZ!!!!????! NO WAI!!!111

The real problem is that you seem to think that "aggression" is inappropriate. This is an open-ended combat game by design, where people are supposed to be able to do whatever they can with limited consequences (cf. IRL, where there's rule of law) and if you don't like that, you really don't belong here.

Try Hello Kitty Island Adventure.

P.S. I was ganked the other night by two members of Coalition of Itan, and I'm Itani. This made my day. LeberMac, I hope you see it.

Lecter beat me to it as i was writing essentially the same thing. License levels have little to nothing to do with combat performance after your first week in VO. If someone is griefing and killing you immediately outside the station, either they dont have standing to worry about, or you dont have the standing to impose a faction it. Either way, as mentioned previously, in the NFZ, the guy firing on you has to then immediately leave the sector. I personally try not to slaughter new players unless they do something stupid like randomly open fire (which plenty of you do, then claim i griefed you after). Being killed in nation space is relatively uncommon, so youre not likely to face this issue every time you log on (in fact, most new players never have to deal with it). Like every PvP centered game (counterstrike on up) when you first start playing you are not going to be as good as the other guy, eventually you'll learn effective combat strategies, most people will be more then happy to help teach you. Just giving up and leaving means that VO is not for you, you should find a game where PvP is optional and heavily monitored like WOW or large portions of EVE. Otherwise, be prepared to face people tougher then you, you'll learn what guilds or people are "safe" and who isnt. Worst case scenario, guy wont leave the station... go have a smoke... watch some TV... do something else for 10 minutes and 9/10 he'll get bored and leave.

EDIT: If you were actually ganked by ITAN members with no provokation (ie no shit talking, no firing at them cause you got scared, and your not a member of an enemy guild) then report them to their commander via their website or even here, by name. You'll probably get compensated and apologized to. If on of my guys kills you (speaking as commander of ONE, the serco nationalist guild) its because youre a damn dirty smurf.

Aye, you oughtta to let one o' their heigher-ups know. [ITAN] isn't supposed to be attacking other Itanis unless they're pirates or such.

As for levels, bullcrap. I have played alts that were level 3-5 and kicked the butts of people at level 10. I have also flown the best ships in the game and been beaten by people who were flying stuff available at level 3.

Also, your definition of griefing is incorrect. An unfair fight is not griefing, just an unfair fight. Griefing is gameplay intended solely for the purpose of causing people grief. I can't speak for others, but when I invade nation space I typically do it for the purpose of pirating newbies. I hail them asking for a reasonable fee (100 credits to 1000 credits depending on my mood and their level). If they don't pay I kill them. Pretty simple, and nobody has to die.

Is that mean? Sure. Would you rather they had a computer driven ship do it instead of me? Because that's what would happen if the player pirates and such stopped. This is a game that is supposed to be dangerous.

I'd rather play a game where the enemies were played by "fellow" players rather than some cold heartless AI. When you finally defeat a computer enemy, all you did was beat an AI. Big deal. Empty. When you finally defeat a human enemy, you defeated somebody who is capable of remembering the fact, who can feel the sting of loss. You have engaged somebody who has done you wrong and returned the favor. That victory is much more meaningful.

Thanagard,
If you were attacked unprovoked by members of [Itan] and are not a member of any enemy guilds, you should definitely let a councilmember know about it. Guild rosters can be found here: http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/guildinfo/

Hopefully, this will be addressed as the faction redux rolls out . Killing new folk should have a higher penalty than killing POS vets that ought to be able to look after themselves. Really, I hope all this gets sorted soon ( tm ) .........

Hiltonhouse, -1 and stop whining.

In general, VO is game with almost unlim PvP (except capitol systems), so... ;)