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[Morwen Lagann]

To clarify in case it wasn't clear in the OP: I'm not complaining about the large number of people who do this - I just find it an odd behavior given what has been established in the PF about the security of stations, and am wondering what the rationales and reasons are behind characters doing it - is it just a symbolic gesture or force of habit? Or are some characters that genuinely concerned that they'll carry it even if it's going to be more or less unusable while they're out and about?

In any case, it's a plenty big universe. While I imagine it's difficult to wander around the CAS station in Cistuvaert while openly carrying, not every station would be this strictly controlled.

This is certainly true, but I'd expect that the vast majority of highsec stations, as well as a fair portion of lowsec stations (particularly ones owned by military and R&D corporations) would be on the stricter end of the spectrum, while stations belonging to "outlaw factions" (or "alternative Empires" as Inara loves to call them) in NPC nullsec would be on the more lax end. Stations owned by player entities I'd expect to fall anywhere in between, and would change depending on who was in charge at any given moment.

In Morwen-c's particular case, she's had both formal training with both firearms and knives in the Navy Academy after she joined, and she had informal training on the use of firearms with her father (who serves/served in the Navy) while growing up. Daddy didn't want to have to get the shotgun off the mantle when the boys came knocking, he wanted his little girl to be able to handle the job herself. Well, okay, I'm kidding on that last part, of course, but you get the idea.

So, she knows how to use either of them, but she generally doesn't carry. Why? Because she sees it as superfluous and a waste of time and effort for the majority of places she visits. The stationside bars and other establishments she frequents are reasonably well secured, and with the exception of the Last Gate, would confiscate whatever she was carrying anyway. (Veto employees are allowed to carry corporate-issued firearms in the Gate; these models are keyed specifically to one user and will not fire in the hands of anyone but their owner.)

As for planetside venues like the Basilica or Mercy's Keep, it's a similar issue: they're either well-secured and/or whatever she had on her would be confiscated on entry, with the additional caveat that as they are planetside, she's already at higher risk for an "accident" than she would be on a station, so the idea is to draw less attention to herself and not give anyone an excuse to give her a second glance.

That's not to say that there are zero situations where she would ever walk around armed, though. She'd never step off of one of her ships and out of her hangar in Curse unarmed, for example. I could maybe see her carrying a knife around for decorative purposes as well, but it's not something that'd be particularly common or frequent.

Realistically, there's no foolproof security system. It's simply not possible to enforce. "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." is a great way of explaining it. There's always someone that's one step ahead of the game; modern example is ceramic weaponry that's difficult to detect.

Agreed, but in a universe where the cops have magical voodoo that prevents you from using a wormhole, anything can happen. >.>

... infamous knife-shoe boot?!

... Klebb? Someone likes their Bond movies.

[lallara zhuul]

People carry guns because they are afraid.

Simple as that.

Someone who has Faith, needs no guns.

Someone carrying a two-handed bludgeoning weapon with spikes for religious reasons, needs no guns either.

That's why Freedom Fighters and Slavers do not usually share space

[Graelyn]

Knives fit under robe sleeves much better.

[Matariki Rain]

Morwen, a couple of thoughts on this, typed annoyingly on my phone and therefore underdeveloped.

It's hard to determine a rational response to risk without information about the nature and likelihood of the risk. I have assumed -- for a number of reasons including the lack of reports of ordinary station murders in the news and a dev comment about it not being on to assassinate some important capsuleer with a spoon -- that the default level of risk on a station is remarkably low.

That said, Mata tends to holoproject to places that might be risky, and she's more careful of her data security than her physical security, at least when she's wearing a clone. There are levels of trust.

I'm not really a fan of the idea of combat in stations, but if that's the way things go it'll at least give some objective feedback about the level of risk involved.

[Isobel Mitar]

See, I think of our characters less like the perimeter sentries (or the thugs walking around my meatspace neighborhood) and more like Erik Prince or Warren Buffet. Sure, they might be carrying, but if they do, it's more out of affectation than actual use.

This is approximately how I think of the issue too.

[Stitcher]

Verin's whole approach is that you're much more dangerous if nobody knows you're dangerous.

So, he doesn't carry guns. Not that he can't use them, and well, but first and foremost he's a trained killer with his own body, and not even the best security systems in the world can detect that. Why draw attention to yourself with a sidearm or implanted cybernetic or nanite weaponry? or even with augmented muscles or cybernetic limbs?

He'll carry a sidearm only in situations where NOT carrying one would draw more attention. Otherwise, he's unarmed and dangerous.

Of course, it helps that he's unlikely ever to need to use his skills. But if somebody ever walked into the room and aimed a gun at him, he'd still stand a chance.

[Silas Vitalia]

People can of course play it any way they like, but I find it highly unlikely that capsuleers in charge of thousands of people and massive tools of war, with assets more than 99.9% of the galaxy can obtain would have to resort to personal armaments for protection.   

It might make for less-exciting RP, but I don't imagine most capsuleers coming anywhere near any physical violence.  It might be more exciting to 'lead from the front' in some cases, but I imagine if I were immortal whenever in my pod, I'd be that much extra careful the one time I was vulnerable to actual death, outside of the pod.  IE my personal space would be a fort-knox of bodyguards, security details, and buffers between me and anyone else.

Capsuleer-only areas on stations might lend some interesting assassination opportunities, but I have to feel like those boundaries would often be respected. Once capsuleers start offing each other's clones for permanent death, all the gloves would come off.

[Inara Subaka]

Agreed, but in a universe where the cops have magical voodoo that prevents you from using a wormhole, anything can happen. >.>

The same universe that has NPC capsuleers raiding hisec and hacking the magical voodoo police control systems over capsuleers.

As you said, anything can happen as tech on both sides of the fence are being improved.

[Natalcya Katla]

None of my characters carry personal weapons.

Katla does have artificial muscle grafts, but that's to prevent muscle atrophy in low-gravity environments.

[Senn Typhos]

My reasoning is thus:

1). Hisec and lowsec stati don't just extend to space. It also described and denotes the environment of the planetary colonies, station environments, likelihood of crimes to be committed, lack of police support, activity of local militias, etc. All these things could add up to stations or colonies without as strong of security protocols, or more lenience in terms of weapons being carried by visitors and locals.

2). While high-tech small arms exist and can be "turned off" by security in stations, this gives a unique advantage to projectile small arms. Senn carries a cheap, rugged, effective projectile pistol. Nowhere near as streamlined and technologically advanced as a laser pistol, coilgun, or what have you, but it gets the job done in the aforementioned lowsec environs.

3). He is by title a security officer, and unofficially considers it part of his duties to guard the senior staff of his corporation while abroad. While I could just insist that Senn can have a squad of PMCs with him at all times, its bulky, its irritating for RP, and it implies he's megarich. Which he ain't.

4). When you're part of the criminal element, you make a lot of enemies, and you walk through a lot of bad neighborhoods in stations. You can't just stay in your pod forever, eventually you have to be present in a meeting or some such. To be honest, I can't think why anyone in a similar situation would step onto the dock without some kind of sidearm.

[Orthic]

4). When you're part of the criminal element, you make a lot of enemies, and you walk through a lot of bad neighborhoods in stations. You can't just stay in your pod forever, eventually you have to be present in a meeting or some such. To be honest, I can't think why anyone in a similar situation would step onto the dock without some kind of sidearm.

I could see a sufficiently paranoid podder refusing to leave his capsule of immortality, instead sending some sort of emmisary to meetings, perhaps some guy in formal robes carrying a holoprojector through which the capsuleer could be present and speak. Depending on your views regarding the permanence of death outside the pod, it simply seems like a risk not worth taking.

[Saede Riordan]

4). When you're part of the criminal element, you make a lot of enemies, and you walk through a lot of bad neighborhoods in stations. You can't just stay in your pod forever, eventually you have to be present in a meeting or some such. To be honest, I can't think why anyone in a similar situation would step onto the dock without some kind of sidearm.

I could see a sufficiently paranoid podder refusing to leave his capsule of immortality, instead sending some sort of emmisary to meetings, perhaps some guy in formal robes carrying a holoprojector through which the capsuleer could be present and speak. Depending on your views regarding the permanence of death outside the pod, it simply seems like a risk not worth taking.

That would make for an interesting RP character if nothing else

[Kazzzi]

What else are you gonna execute prisoners with? Guess you could use a big pointy stick or a Barry Manilow album.

Even the absurdly rich are vulnerable if they choose to hang out in seedy dives.

[Kaito Haakkainen]

Take a look at the legality lists and what is missing from the Gallente Federation one. I'm sure that there will be all sorts of reasoning behind having people disarmed, the least of which is the non-combat nature of Incarna. But I expect at least a degree of "when you pry it from my cold dead hands" from at least a small section of a community typically permitted to wield weapons of mass destruction without a whimper of discontent from the authorities (and that's not even getting up to the doomsday device scale).

[EDIT: Internets killed my picture]

[Casiella]

So here's a question: if Incarna implements some sort of restriction on weaponry / combat, will people try to RP past it?