PKILL - the dilemma!

Posted by Fairfax on 01/14

This is a summary of views on pkok gathered during a chat session between the MUD community, including several immortals, on the problems facing pkillers on the MUD since pkok. It is hoped that anyone with anything constructive to add could post their opinions to this .. er.. post in order to forward a non-provocative evaluation of pkok after these few months it's been in. We sincerely hope that these problems may be addressed, or at least discussed seriously, as both sides of this coin merit serious consideration in terms of balance, enjoyment and in general, the desirability and realism of pkill.

Firstly, we have the old style pkill, in which anyone who 'clanned' was given the ability to pkill other similarly clanned people within a certain level with no regard for whether the other person wanted to play or not at that moment. Only one category of pkiller existed, and it was up to your own ability or that of your friends (and their numbers) to ensure you had a good and enjoyable experience (not to mention the consideration of other people who had the ability to attack you). Now, we have PKOK, where you can choose your opponents and with mutual acceptance, you may fight. In order to enjoy the ability to pkill with impunity, you need to be accept all. The argument put forth by the PKOK community is that the ACCEPT ALL community of people will now form the new equivalent of the old pkill community, while those on the selective-pkill status may enjoy pkill however often (or seldom) they may choose to. They may use pkill to add realism to feuds, arguments, disputes, vengeance and other RP (or RL) situations in which the ability to throttle somebody would be immensely desirable to make the story real. Under the old rule, these half-pkillers would have been subjected to random jumps by people whose only motivation for killing them was that they were clanned and available. Under pkok, they have their own niche of pkill which they can enjoy, and it also makes the pkill learning curve more gradual, in that you could start off pkilling privately, then graduate into accept all when you became really buff and confident. Where does this leave the hardcore pkillers who enjoyed the thrill of killing (and risk of being killed) with impunity? They have their own accept all circle, in which they can go about doing whatever they wanted to each other. However, this circle of pkillers have raised problems associated with pkok in their circle. When they go Accept All, they do so in good faith, allowing themselves to kill anyone who is AA, at the same time allowing themselves to be killed by anyone AA.

It also, however, allows them to kill anyone accepting them alone (which doesn't really pose many problems) or being killed by people who have accepted them alone (which may present a problem). The problem arises when an AA pkiller is killed unfairly, multied, harassed by a half-pkiller that half-pkiller has no fear of retribution from others later. It may be argued that this is a risk taken when you go AA similar to the risk you take when you clanned under the old regime, but there is a slight twist.

Under the old regime, for someone to be able to harrass you in this manner he himself had to place himself at risk from the entire pkill community.

A half-pkiller abusing the pkok feature in this example has no such risk, and the AA pkiller who went AA in good faith finds himself attacked by someone who he can't retaliate, especially since the killer may opt to reject him later by the time he has healed. This reduces the desirability of AA and would account for the number of AA people not being reflective of the old pkill-enjoying community.

I may have gotten the complete wrong end of the stick, having NEVER pkiller before, but I just felt that today's discussion was done in a gentlemanly manner enough to merit it being minuted. A few solutions were proposed, and I'll leave it to the appenders to make their comments on the solution.

1. Restore the old pkill

We got a no way from the immortals on this one, because it will not solve the original problem of some people genuinely wanting specific pkill options, and will destroy the current circle of half-pkillers who enjoy (NOT abuse) the system. This is a substantial playerbase, and if I ever go pkill (unlikely), I'd have to say it will only be under a pkok environment. The principle of pkok is good, it's the people who have found ways to abuse it who are the problem.

2. Make anyone who joins a clan be automatically AA to all other clans.

I can't comment much on this, save that it doesn't really help the AA person if he's being harassed by a non-clanned half-pkiller. It would make you seriously consider the risks before joining a pk clan. RPers who wish to enjoy their old selective pkill could always use RP clans for their purposes, I guess.

3. Make it so that if you attack a clanned person, you automatically accept his whole clan.

My own uninformed proposal. In this case, there would be a genuine reason to join a clan for its protection rather than run about as an unprotected rogue. This doesn't stop half-pkill abusers from harassing unclanned AAs, but at least the unclanned AA has something to turn to.

4. Make it so that when you accept someone, you cannot ever reject them again.

Imagine whapping and bullying a little pkiller and coming back weeks later to find they have become bigger than you with a grudge! This option is particularly appealing (and deadly) if done in conjunction with proposal 3 above! It would make you seriously consider the risks before you go and attack someone without reason, just because they are AA.

5. Allies list.

An allies list was proposed, so that you couldn't filter out attacks from someone who might assist your opponent. If you accept Tom, you'd have to accept Dick and Harry, even if they aren't from the same clan or even clanned. Another option for the rogue AA, and would make friendship with the TOUGH pkillers something to be sought. Just like real life! =)

To be fair, before you accept someone you will get a list of his allies so you can decide to abort then in case you see someone fearsome there.

In summary, the two sides of the coin have their points, and if I have misinterpreted anything with my inexperience in the area of pkill, I sincerely apologise. This problem is very real, though, and will not go away by itself (at least not without resentment) and hopefully this can be addressed cordially on this board by both parties. Feel free to append in a nice friendly constructive manner, and remember respect for the other side's view (this goes for all parties involved). If you're not in a good mood, or drunk, or just depressed, please don't append.

Fire away!

Fairfax
M.B.B.S. (Madras)