Crime & Punishment

So I read the forums quite a bit and am always amused by c&p. And i notice some like to warn others of some guy(s) that have wronged them in some way; a scam, corp theft ,whatever. I always wondered why post that someone has ripped me off because really who's gonna read it? Odds are the thief doesn't read the forum and no one here will ever see him in game. Most of the time you get flamed anyway.

I am not a fan of this kind of conduct. However I enjoy reading of a grand heist. But the more substantial ones like in the billions or more, not the couple hundred million or so. Because if it ever happened to me surely I wouldn't post it here.

But I am here and I'll tell you why: I got robbed. And although at first I was pissed off (who wouldn't be a bit) I know he didn't get away with much. He cost me more time than isk really. To summarize he joined my small wh corp recently and asked to setup a lab to research a bpo. Warnings bells went off because i didn't want to let him anchor/unanchor stuff in our pos. But I Let him any ways because what's the worst that could happen, right? So rational caution gives way to desperate trust- mistake.

Well it did and I've already moved on but what I don't understand is why he did it. Our pos is (or was rather) a large tower with some guns/ewar/etc, a hanger and a ship array. Total value of ships and stuff might be 200 mil. So why take it when you could easily make that in our wh doin sites for a few hours because it obviously took him a long time to unanchor everything and remove it (20 pos mods or so). Well he didn't take the tower and a few guns but the rest is gone. It would have been a few trips at least. I guess i just don't get small time crooks...

But somehow I feel better about posting it.

Of course for fun. I need to have more fun.

I guess that's why i can't shake this butthurt feeling.

When in doubt the answer is for the lulz....

I understand that the c&p crowd thrive on stories of woe, but why post here if you know the reaction you're going to get? To warn others... meh. Proof or GTFO. I would be embarrassed (I still am a bit) that I got duped by someone and posting here seems to just inform others who to point and laugh at. Just feeding the beast I guess.

But I also enjoy the stories as well so what does that say? Looks like I am a bit of a hypocrite.

We Goons search this forum for people who are telling false stories about us so that we can correct them and attempt to save our fine and honorable name. After all, there are a lot of griefers in space who are only interested in making other people look bad and that is simply not fair.

@ Barakkus...

I see what you did there...

I've... been posting in this forum since it existed. I have witnessed changes and evolutions in what is considered to be "funny." I have seen grand crime stories, I have seen stupid idiots humiliate themselves with poorly assembled posts, I have seen memes go from "fresh and new" to "is this 2008 again?" I have seen all these things, and I have seen a constant thread among them.

You post here to partake in the Grief. The Grief is an all-permeating source of energy, joy and fulfillment to those who know how to tap it. The Grief is the fountain of life. It is the aqua vitae. If your post is good, you contribute to the Grief by rubbing its victims' faces in it. If your post is stupid and dumb, the Grief draws succour from your own stupidity, sending better-able warriors to call you names and blow you up. This is why you post here.

It is why we all post here.

Because marthastewart.com doesn't have a forum section?

Basically you post in here, thinking it's going to go your way... you'll win friends and influence people. At the end of the thread you're leaving ass hurt and unable to make eye contact with your peers. Why anyone would subject themselves to this I have no idea but it's mainly the reason I've lurked in here for years without actually starting a thread.

Posts about Corp theft/ganking and the like can actually be helpful because a quick google search on an applicant's name will often turn them up. It's a nice way of filtering out players if you're into random recruiting because you can just discard any applicant with a thread made about them out of hand (who needs proof with the amount of random players willing to join corps in EVE) and move on to the next applicant without doing a more thorough investigation.

I guess the repetitive C&P trolling is kind of entertaining too, so really the way to do it is just put the information out there 'to whom it may concern' and don't bother with any justification. If you're worried about your e-space-reputation you should obviously alt-post, but that goes without saying.