Advice on shootouts - When to shoot first?

[Hayden Harrington]

Afternoon!

Wanted to get a little bit of clarification on some stuff. Me and my small group of merry men have been dying a lot recently, this is due to not knowing when to shot and the worry of shooting first and getting reported, or worse, banned.

The most recent incident:

On the way to process drugs, saw an obvious trap where one guy was baiting out people to then get swamped. We decided to just send two people to him to lure the others out and see what would happen, we took the bait.

Got out the car, told the guy to put his hands up, which he did. Instantly see the other armed guys come out, tell them to put there hands up a few times BANG! Without a word our guy was dead. Our other one was unarmed and lives.

Should our guy just shoot the dude he sees creeping up on the side without saying anything, or should we be saying something before? RP wise, we knew what they were up too, but still not clear on the rules of engagement.

Basically, are we waiting too long and giving too many chances? We try not to shoot first as we hope for maybe a RP scenario to come out of it. We understand veteran players know the rules better and when to shoot first, which gives them a slight advantage.

 

[Reverend]

Actually the way you tell it, the other guys are at fault. Shooting MUST accompany RP - It may be the case that RP was a little earlier etc but you cannot just shoot to kill without first issuing a warning. It's good that you have been cautious and you'll be around forever if you respect the rules but don't be afraid to report players who are breaking the rules and you may be able to claim compensation if that is the case... It sounds like RDM to me if the other party has said nothing before shooting. 

Of course, all situations are different and there are two sides but you need to call before shooting... And not just "5 seconds to drop everything!" as this is poor - Make it clear you and your guys are armed and assume tactical positions so you cannot all be taken out. 

You'll win some and lose some but you won't be banned. 

 

[Davros]

Basically, are we waiting too long and giving too many chances?

No, you're doing the right thing. In that particular situation, where you're baiting an obvious ambush, you were within rights to shoot the moment they revealed. For them, combat RP was initiated the moment your men threatened their "bait". They knew that, it's a boringly banal tactic here, as the baiting group gets a weak RP reason to kill all of you before you get one on them. If you must take them on- have marksmen at a distance trained on their ambushers, then send one unarmed negotiator to their "bait" in an empty tempest. They'll do one of two things- 1) Move to ambush, you can kill the lot of them. 2) Threaten the negotiator, upon which you can counter that threat with yours.

Either way, you still get the drop and they initiate hostilities first. 

Personally, the better option would have been to ignore them entirely, because "the bait car ambush" is such a dull and overused tactic.

 

[Davros]

"5 seconds to drop everything!" 

Informally known as "the Dante maneuver". 

 

[Hayden Harrington]

Thanks for the replies, its nice to know that we are playing correctly and doing things the right way.

Problem with the above situation was that I had a ton of heroin to process. We are starting to take note of names and gangs which don't RP to well. I wont say of the gang in question due to no proof though.

We are really hoping for a grand RP situation with the police of other gang at some point. But yeah, nice to know you agree with our actions and also nice to see your opinions on their gameplay.