Ok, that is a very good idea but...

What when you got three low levels shooting at you... You lose the points for not willing them to be able to kill you ?????

Something is not working there... I lost points today because did return fire on a ship that was attacking me...

I did stop to return fire before he exploded, but the guy just kept firing at me, meaning he can destroy me if I just don't evade the area, which is not my intention... So it's me or him...

Why then, should I lose points, when I am not really responsible for his death (Attacking a higher level player in this case was a Suicide for him, but he role played!)

Thing is => The points should be removed only if you are attacking, you should not lose points if you are only "returning fire"

That's my point... even if the point loss isn't big, it is not implemented the right way... Because it can then make people attack higher levels just to make them lose points (annoying...)

this is a long term difficulty.

The problem comes in how the server determines intent, both for XP loss and Faction standing loss.

If you make the determining factor who hits first, then;
What happens say, if a player shoots to intentionally MISS a target. That target then, thinking he is under attack, turns and shoots the player. Since in the eyes of the server the target hit first, the player can blow the target up with no penalty. By the same token you could turbo in front of someone who is botting and take damage, then turn around and blow up that person even tho they didnt do anything to attack you.

If the determining factor is weapons firing, then anyone in a botting sector is fair game, because they are almost constantly shooting.

it is a problem, but the solution is far from simple.

first we need sighly indicator of targets level to avoid shooter lower lvl by mistake.

"What happens say, if a player shoots to intentionally MISS a target. That target then, thinking he is under attack, turns and shoots the player. Since in the eyes of the server the target hit first, the player can blow the target up with no penalty. By the same token you could turbo in front of someone who is botting and take damage, then turn around and blow up that person even tho they didnt do anything to attack you."

It's true that's a potential exploit, either jumping into someone's fire or tricking someone into shooting you, but either of those are mistakes you really can only make once or twice.

I figured out what [syn]n00b was up to the first time he started shooting right next to my ship, and even a relatively dim candle can work out that he can ignore the shooting and just carry on about his business. Shooting someone by mistake out in botting areas shouldn't be a problem anyway; that's not generally monitored space, I thought.

Either way, there's a lot more potential continuous abuse possible by people who deliberately remain low level than there is by people of higher levels.

So, now I'm an exploiter because I can't stand botting and trading?
Great news.

Edit: Bad mood brought on by silly things. Pay it no mind.
If you feel like it, of course... Always do only that wich you want to do. It's good for your digestion.

No, you're an exploiter if you use game mechanics to give yourself an unfair advantage. For example, if you shoot at someone (but miss) to provoke an attack near a base and let the task force kill the player, you're an exploiter.

There's plenty to do if you can't stand botting and trading. Exploiting is really something people do when they lack the skill to engage in real combat. There are plenty of players willing to fight you out in neutral space. Just try to attack an Itani or Serco that's defending his nation's cargo convoy.

Exploiters can cut it in real combat. If they could, they'd be hitting the nearest nation cargo run.

Ah, but I bet the three people who fell for that trick will never make that mistake again, eh?

Well... Maybe they thought I was an easy pray... But as I am not bad at space combat (played X-Wing vs Tie-Fighter and Jumpgate for ages, and still playing even) they went back home with nothing else than their eyes to cry...

But... if they did that on purpose to make me lose the points, they were right then...

Imagine if I was just 500xp more than the level... I would have lost one level just because they attacked me and I defended my-self...

Sounds a bit stupid to me... losing xp and levels when someone is trying to kill you seems overrated!!! :-P