Question 1: Based on your opinion is kill stealing against the rules? And therefore a bannable offence.
Interesting question because the rules seem quite vague
Question 2: Should it be or should it not be legalised?
My personal opinion:
1: Bannable? No. Against the EULA? Yes, it can be, depends on the circumstances.
2: My vote is that it shouldn't be legalized. However, done inside PVP or out in space I can see an argument to be made. Would I participate in it? Very likely "no" on that.
I still think intentional kill stealing, especially outside of pvp, is rude and in poor taste. If someone accidentally shoots a mob, that's one thing. If a hunter dies and their mob is at risk of killing someone else unless they fight back that's also a different circumstance. When I "tab hunt" I sometimes damage someone else's mob without knowing until it's too late. Anytime this has occurred I have quickly PM'd the hunter to offer PEDs for their ammo spent (if I end up with the loot). This typically happens only during big events like Mayhem or Migration.
I can remember back in 2013 or so, when I was much newer to the game, perhaps around level 35~ or so, I set out to hunt Mulmun by hiring a healer. I was obviously way underleveled to be hunting them and I would die often. I made sure to find a spot where I wasn't at risk of aggroing them to someone else upon my death. I was able to kill the mulmun at a cost of approximately 60 PED per mob, and I had killed more than 50 without major problems, before I was KS'ed by someone in game.
I had done about 40% of the damage to a mob before I died. This probably amounted to a 25 PED cost, rather small in the grand scheme of things. Anyways, while I was at the revive terminal I began receiving PM's from my healer. He said right as I died that someone had come out to the same area and began instantly shooting my damaged mob. My healer told me that he was yelling in chat pleading with the other person to stop shooting, explaining that the mob belonged to me. My healer was ignored.
I TP'd out to the spot and found this person finishing up the mob I had worked on. I also began trying to communicate with them in chat but was ignored as well. At the time, I thought it might be possible that this person accidentally killed my mob by using auto-tool and AFK'ing, So I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Anyone who knows me, knows I am pretty level headed, so I PM'ed them directly to find out from them whether or not they were aware that I was working on killing that mob before they took it from me. When they finally replied, they didn't offer an apology, what they said was basically 'shit happens' and that I should get a bigger gun if I didn't want my mobs getting taken. Well, that didn't sit well with me.
When I pressed them on whether or not they saw my healers message, it was apparent that they indeed had, and that they had just decided to disregard it and to take the already 40% damaged mob before I returned.
This was classless. What followed was worse.
After finding out that they had indeed killed the mob fully aware it was someone else's I demanded they compensate me my 25 PED. Did I need the 25 PED? No. But I felt strongly that it was the right thing to do. I was hunting during a Mulmun event MA had created in Non-PVP, away from others. My mob wasn't bothering him, my death didn't negatively impact him, he simply swooped in and saw an already damaged mob that he was aware was someone elses and decided to take it; And even did so at the behest of my healer to stop.
My frustration wasn't with losing the 25 PED, it was about the principle and manner of how the events unfolded. What frustrated me most was the way this person just spoke down to me. A cold and callous disregard to people he viewed as "under" him. We went back and forth for a few minutes, I quickly realized this was getting me nowhere so I went back to hunting. I wish I would have moved spots... Hindsight is 20/20.
After I began shooting a new mob guess what? This avatar came after my new mobs. Taking those as well. He continued to PM and harass me, calling me a noob, and essentially saying he could just take whatever he wanted because his weapon had so much higher DPS than mine, and that I was left helpless to do nothing about it. He was right at the time. There's no denying that. I was a "noob" compared to him, and I had inferior gear with low DPS.
I was helpless to defend myself in a DPS war. I felt bullied. Ultimately I left the area and added this person to my ignore list. I've added 2 people to my ignore list in 9 years in EU.
The guy is a jerk, plain and simple. His true colors shined brightly that day, and I realized at his core he is a bad person. He wasn't someone I ever wanted to be friends with in game, or have any future interactions with. He lacked integrity, and he lacked empathy. He was driven by greed. In a position of power over me, he abused it, and then he had the audacity to rub it in my face about how much of a low level noob I was and how incapable of defending myself I was. He was right, I couldn't defend myself at the time. But that's not how you should treat people, and it's something I will never forget.
Whether or not he's the same person today, I likely won't find out. This person may not even remember this, but I do. So to me there's a lesson to be learned here. This is minor adversity in game compared to other's experiences I'm sure. I know there's been people who have been scammed for thousands of PED -- I only lost 25? Again, it wasn't about the money to me.
So what do I take from all this? Well, I've consciously tried to be proactive about compensating anyone I ever accidentally KS'ed. I have never KS'ed anyone intentionally. I never try and make others feel inferior for the amount of skill they have or the gear they possess. Everyone has to play this game at their own level and with what they're comfortable with. There's no right or wrong way to EU, just enjoy it. We all have to start somewhere.
This person is currently active on PCF and he's still very much active in game. He even streams his mining runs from time to time. As much as I love supporting anyone that streams EU on Twitch, I cannot support this person. I admit, I'm not perfect, and after all these years I still continue to hold a grudge against them. It is what it is. I don't lose any sleep over it, and I don't dwell on it. The only time I am reminded about it is when I see them in game and they try trolling me, or a thread like this pops up. To this day this avatar will try and troll me in game with avatar emotes and what not, knowing full well he is ignored and has been for years. Hopefully this person is at much more peace in their life today.
Do I want this person banned? No. I don't. He's part of EU, he's part of my experience in EU. And although we don't ever have to be friends in game, we're both passionate about it. Both of us still play after all these years, so we share that common ground -- and I think he wants to see EU succeed as much as I do.
I want to see the EU community grow. We really have something special here. This imperfect game, and imperfect community is what we have. I love it. I love EU. With all its flaws and imperfections. I still continue to play, and I still continue to truly enjoy myself in here. I don't hate PK'ers, I don't hate Pirates, I don't hate anyone really. The only thing I hate is drama. The only people I dislike are those that are unkind or dishonest to others.
Sorry for that long winded trip down memory lane!
This thread just seemed to really remind me of that experience and I got to typing!
-Pudding