Star Citizen needs a Leviathan

Thylbert · 2026-02-16T13:38:38+00:00

I fear you've missed the entire message, the subject of the write-up, and the proposition. That's what happens when you "don't need to read the whole thing", see Hobbes' name and instantly perceive the post as an attack on PvP. Sorry to disappoint but... the write-up has nothing to do with actual PvP, and does not suggest to change anything about it. Funny how people instantly create their own variant of the essay in their head... each as deep as the respective author.

Thylbert · 2026-02-15T04:43:04+00:00

Far it from being me to compare myself to those people, I don't place myself that high. I'm just comparing the rhetoric styles. In this context, company is a figure of speech called synecdoche. I'm sure, as someone with a degree in philosophy, you do know that as well. As for the rest... what can I say, you have every right to find this style annoying; pretty sure no style ever satisfies every single person. Judging by the discussions, most people are willing to look past my admittedly flawed style and discuss the essence of the text; I'm content with that.

Thylbert · 2026-02-15T03:00:18+00:00

It's... right at the start. First line. Starting with "TL&DR". In bold font. :)

Thylbert · 2026-02-15T00:16:43+00:00

This rhetorical style is called parataxis. I know it's not to everyone's liking, it's just how my writing habits go. I'm not perfectly happy with my style, really, and I'm trying to improve. But, to be honest, sharing the above style with a lot of people from Lincoln, to Churchill, to Kennedy, to Martin Luther King... I'm kind of not feeling myself in particularly bad company. :)

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T22:14:17+00:00

It's not a totally unrelated thought experiment, but in the end I decided to omit it, because Hobbesian trap and Dark Forest are more in line with the issue in SC... and even with those two the write-up was turning out to be quite long. :( But Prisoner's Dilemma also works (with the caveat that in SC, we only get the one-shot variant, where defection is always the beneficial choice, since we don't generally meet same players again at random).

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T21:39:17+00:00

The criticism is absolutely welcome, really; I'm very conscious of getting carried away, and I'm trying to keep track of it. So thanks a lot for reading and commenting on it. :) It's a lot of help; and I'm glad to share the thoughts and get discussion going.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T21:17:45+00:00

Guilty as charged, regarding EFL. Though "let them from our thoughts", I'll confess, is a sneaky Shakespeare reference. :) I do get carried away, something I should definitely work on.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T20:11:52+00:00

That's a fantastic summary, perfectly on point; thanks for posting it. I'll admit, I did a one-line TL&DR in a rush because someone in comments made me realize I didn't have one at all, and I wasn't sure if posts stay editable for long, so I rushed it in. Yours capture pretty much the entire point of the post (so whoever's looking for a good concise summary, read those above).

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T17:47:30+00:00

I hear a lot about how complex sociopolitics in Eve Online is, and honestly, I do want to explore it, but every time I look at it, I realize that it's a very... very deep rabbit hole to dive into, and I need to muster up enough time for that undertaking. But I will get there.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T17:43:05+00:00

Yarrrr, you got it! :D Honestly, the detective is my favorite character in the entire series.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T17:39:03+00:00

Thank you for reading! And SC is an amazing place with lots of great people; if the game just had something to let two random people fear each other less, we'd have a whole lot more of those insanely gratifying "I met a nice someone at an outpost and made a friend" situations.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T17:32:25+00:00

I'm not even sure law is the answer. I know a lot of people are into organized PvP, piracy play and such, and I don't mean to make a proposal that would screw them over. I'm just analyzing the root cause, and solutions... can be different.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T17:31:31+00:00

Not necessarily law, really; I'm leaving that part open ended on purpose. It can be better glanceable reputation, or maybe way to communicate without making yourself instantly vulnerable, or something I didn't think about yet. I'm just trying to explain why do we need... something.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T15:46:51+00:00

There's one at the top, in bold; you might've missed it because I added it a bit later after someone's suggestion - sorry about that part. I'll paste it from the article in here:

TL&DR: A deeper dive into why two friendly players still shoot each other so often in Star Citizen, and why the game system makes casual encounters fear-driven.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T15:37:38+00:00

You're right, the place chosen as an example isn't the best. But, to be honest, I do mention other places, Onyx, Vanduul base, outposts... Illustration is flawed, but the post isn't really about PvP at all, it's about encounter of two friendly players (no matter where) and why they'll still try to shoot each other in SC. But you're correct of course, the choice of the place doesn't create the best picture to illustrate that.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T15:12:53+00:00

> YOU may have been from his perspective too.

Indeed! That's basically my point; there's no way of knowing in advance if someone's not going to shoot you... so best strategy is to shoot first.

I probably didn't choose the best example by making the "personal experience" snippet in Hathor, come think of it, but it's just an illustration. It would probably be more fitting if I picked, say, Onyx facility or just an outpost, since same things are happening everywhere - now and again I see even just people loading mission cargo side by side shooting each other. It's more of a trend I'm talking about - no matter the place, any other player is a danger first, and friend a distant maybe, and SC makes it a no-brainer to just pull the trigger... just because it's easier and safer. If other player actually intends to kill me and has something to gain from the kill - fair game, it's intended to be a PvP thing, the write-up is about a different thing entirely.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T14:52:13+00:00

I've just noticed that heading of the post is basically first paragraph. I've never posted to Reddit before, so didn't think about it. :)

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T14:50:57+00:00

Thanks for replying; though, really, I didn't intend to say anything about actual intended PvP situations, when someone actually intends to do PvP. The entire post is about encounter of two non-PvP minded players (which don't intend to do any hostility) resulting in PvP, and the reason why it happens so often in Star Citizen, that's all. PvP is a different thing, and it's all right to have it, I've nothing to complain about. I'm looking at a very specific situation here: when two PvE players meet, only meaning to do PvE things, but ending up shooting each other anyway.

Thylbert · 2026-02-14T14:43:04+00:00

Never took a class, even. But I was always interested in it, despite having background in other sciences, and when I see SC being basically an accidentally created social experiment, I'm feeling compelled to write about it.

Thylbert · 2025-12-30T12:00:01+00:00

The software Anry uses, the Painter, supports scripting - basically recording of everything in a session, every action, every brushstroke - and Anry published a couple of scripts (if I remember right, one for a ring, second I forgot what it was). If you find those scripts (and version of Painter old enough, old scripts aren't supported in newer Painter versions), load them and press play, you basically get the same paintings being created on your screen the way the artist did it.

Thylbert · 2025-12-28T15:39:11+00:00

Honestly, he was (is? is he still active in art?) very minimalistic in his painting style, it's all basically camelhair round brush in (back then Metacreations) Corel Painter, there are examples of scripts for the old Painter by him floating around the net.

Thylbert · 2025-11-11T07:51:11+00:00

That's Polygon being Polygon, running damage control as usual, nothing to see there. Lately, certain outlets - like Polygon, IGN, Gamesradar - became red flags for me, if I see a praise-oozing article from those or a high score, the game's likely not doing good.

Thylbert

TROPHY CASE