I think a merger of those two points goes best. I talked to Damon yesterday and he (finally) remembered bringing up the Time Bomb idea, and also a game mode called Tag, where players basically play tag with their AG ships using weapons and rams. All in all, I think if we have one or both of these modes and no eliminator, I think it still fits the "not-all-out-death" motto but still allows us to have fun in aggression-filled races. I also think that Time Bomb and Tag fit the feeling of the game, because overall, SSGX is a very technical game, and requires tactics and intelligence to succeed at. These two modes take the aggression from eliminator mode, but add a tactical twist, something the brute-force raw eliminator didn't really have save for shielding tactics. It just feels like a more intelligent way to play to me, and that goes with the game, so I think we can stick to the less-violent ideals of the ARC-150 and still include these modes.
Sorry about the Velocity thread, I just decided to form it because I knew I was going to go very much into detail and thought people may be deterred from this thread by the massive wall of text that met their eyes upon viewing it. :P You can merge it if you want, it's not critical to be kept separate.
P.S. Kai if you like scary indie-horror games, you should definitely get Outlast: http://www.ign.com/games/outlast/pc-145344 http://store.steampowered.com/app/238320/ It has a great story throughout the campaign, and at some points, if you play alone and in a dark room, can be downright terrifying. :D I played through the whole thing in one long night and have no regrets. :)