I didn't even know we had mines set up, but I didn't hear it go off in any case. Tinbe did the thing (that is, killing a soldier in the middle of an engagement from the backline) but I know his character (that is,
him, not 'Ropot') well enough to know that he isn't a kill-hungry, malicious go-getter who wants to shoot people in the ass to get an upper hand. Tinbe is not an S2Ker. Were I in the same position, I'd likely have done something similar albeit with worse aim, and with the rattling of gunfire in the area, I can't possibly imagine anyone besides a "haha gotcha i would"-type pretender to keep a level-enough head to just walk away. You can't expect this from people, no matter their current character,
especially when it happened in some capacity before (
@STUCK IN A CAKE getting lost in the tunnels and shooting a guy instinctively because he
thought he had a gun).
It's not like I have any say in this besides being there when someone got shot in the back by a vortbeam, but I can't in any capacity think of any punishment that wouldn't seem unfair in this situation. Who on earth would stop and check if the people with enough weapons and ammo to kill a Vortigaunt in some three seconds flat have, in fact, noticed them? By doing that alone, you're just increasing your risk of getting killed again.
In my opinion, there wouldn't be any fairness or sportsmanship in allowing a NLR just to put 'Ropot' on a couple-day timer before he gets PKed again, or having him get drilled in the head. There wouldn't be any message made besides "if you mess up and cross Da Combine, you'll get burned, bitch". What's worse is how some people just go with the assumption that this was an intentional play. People make mistakes and get caught in the heat of the moment. This happens. You shouldn't compromise someone's RP experience from it when they've not been acting in any suspicious manner like this before (to my knowledge), and you don't have any hard evidence to the contrary.
e:
I'm not sure how much of this is "relevant information" so I won't try to drag this out into a tangent by replying to people. This is a PK appeal, after all, and while I think a judgement of Tinbe's character is necessary, I'm quite sure the appeal managers don't want to see a full discussion spurring from this.
No, I get all of this, and it's something I keep in the back of my head because I am aware he's not some hungry guy. But there's still the thing that he was alone and approached danger, and shot, instead of bolting out. I'd probably not even worry if they noticed me or not, just run for it as I don't want to bring them my way.
The point here is this sets a precedent for anyone to say "I just misclicked/panicked" or any of the sorts and get away from it after going lone wolf, getting their shot down range and bolting. By the rules and based on the situation the PK is completely and absolutely valid as no rules were broken to my knowledge and everything is by-the-book a reason for said PK to stick.
What you present here is what currently grinds my gears; on one hand, you'd think it'd be fair to not PK him because it's not done with any ill intentions and it kind of was a quick decision (though I am partly convinced there, since there were signs of danger all over which he should've taken), but on the other I could be considered biased or pressed by people for just giving an unPK, make some feel I unPKed Tinbe's char because rebel players knew and liked the character and the player, as opposed to others who may have ended up PKed in the same situation but did not get this treatment.
I continue to consider and think about this as from one side I may receive backlash for denying the appeal outright without considering the individual circumstances (which trust me I have not, I just don't think they hold much weight as they stand), and from the other I may be questioned on my acceptance of a PK that was, by all means and purposes, valid by the book and on the field, blurring the line further and thus allowing for more loopholers to take advantage of it while at the same time making it less fair for others who may have been PKed in this situation.
"This will most likely not be the case". But it is- Oswald's unPK already carried some weight onto this and other situations, generated rumours and produced some blurring. These comments of "if you're alone but attacking the ones that attack the rebels it's okay and defensive" (among others) are
not official by any means but have
managed to spread and drive the judgement of
@Tinbe here, when that comment holds no weight or proper specification. Yeah, if you're sniping you'll be further from the frontline - Further
back, or at least, if you're flanking, you will
not be alone, but never flank alone as that's reckless and will fall under lone wolfing rules (which if you think about it makes sense, as you have no backup or anyone supporting you, really).
All of this (plus the fact I like to make sure if a PK sticks is for a good reason so I take my time thinking hard about the situation), is the reason why I said I'm thinking about it and looking at it from as many POVs as possible. I don't want to leave any stone left unturned if the PK is to stick.