Good day to you all,

I recently concluded an investigation into the capture of Erik Rebulas, and made the decision to reverse it. This was because of the longstanding rule we have had in place regarding PvP zones and capture, where we don't allow it. The idea behind this rule is that Combat as a whole is considered to be in its beta phase of testing right now in limited areas(and to that degree, you could consider Showdowns an Alpha version to some degree). We want to encourage maximum participation (or rather, to discourage minimal participation) in combat features, as we take the feedback gained from newly released features in combat zones and apply them to the final product that will eventually be released. When you enter a PvP zone, we do not want you to have any fear of being captured, and as such have determined that it is not allowed.

Now, I had someone reach out to me about a week and a half ago asking whether only the physical PvP Zone is off limits for capture or if it was more inclusive. The physical locations where PvP takes place have always been off limits up to this point, but I also made the clarification that the spirit of the PvP zone is also off limits. What does this mean, though? If you are planning an operation with someone, and you encourage them (anywhere in the galaxy) to use your personal ships, only to then capture the member, this is a violation of the PvP rules because the member in question believed they were boarding someone else's ships in order to participate in a PvP operation. 

This is what happened in the case of Erik Rebulas. He was captured under the pretense that he would be participating in a PvP operation, only to be captured. While Erik did drop, and we offered to revive his character, he had unfortunately already made a new handle, and so we were unable to revive Erik himself. However, Erik now exists under the handle Asep Shadowscale (he allowed me to include his new handle in this post) and any business dealings you had with Erik, you may continue to have with Asep. We consider them to be the same character at this time, albeit with a new name and authorize him to act under a continuation of his former character. We have also returned Erik to a ship of his choice, reversed any assets he lost (to the market as well as any automatically sent upon his death), reset his level and previous skills. 

In addition, I am giving Alorxlan Palabar a Strike 0 for illegally capturing Erik. I reduced this from what would originally be a Strike 1, due to his willingness to cooperate with the investigation, his understanding of the events, as well as the initial communication I had with the parties involved which I believe played a part in miscommunication leading to the events that transpired. As a reminder a Strike 0 is only considered to be an official warning, and comes with no ban. 

Finally, expect the Spying and Sabotage rules page to be updated shortly to include a bit about PvP zones. Thank you all for your time, and as always if you have any questions/concerns, you can reach out to an Asim/Admin or by submitting a Support Ticket.