Help >> Frequently asked questions

I have an entry under Notices saying I saw a crime, should I report it?

There is no firm and "correct" answer here.

As a suggested course of action, run away very fast, and locate the nearest silica processing facility and cover your head, ears, and eyes in a shallow manner. One may learn quite a great deal and some rather disturbing habits in emulation of the Terran Ostrich.

Secondly, note the names of the shooter and the victim and check your ship scanner list under the 'Details' screen. You should be able to click the number at 'There are [X] ships within scanning range' link and see whom is shooting and being shot at.

A player may be bounty hunting a 'Most Wanted' listee, shooting at NPCs (Non-Player Characters) or just trying to see what happens when they click the the 'Attack' button. You may feel an obligation to report any infractions of the Weapons Safety course or the Space Pilot Operational Guidelines manual.

However, the SPOG policies are not "Rules", but "Guidelines". If the shooting victim is a NPC the perpetrator may already see the consequences, as other NPCs will at random decide for themselves whether or not to report the incident. If you decide to report a shooting, the instigator will certainly receive an "upgrade" to their legal status.

NPCs are robotic remote controlled craft for mining, couriers, or possibly AoA assassination mission-generated entities, and when destroyed, there is no harm nor loss to any kind of sentient life form.

Reporting these infractions is optional, hence the 'Notices' report survey. Depending on personal opinion, the circumstances, and the "rules violator", you may or may not feel the need to report the incidents. Its a judgment call.

The status or points change may raise a player's standings enough to be placed on the 'Most Wanted' list, increase the value of their bounty (and the interest of bounty hunters accordingly) if they are already "Wanted", and further delay a return to "Clean" legal status if they are simply trying to remain "on the Q.T." or "on the lamb".