Posted by Graatch/Trell on February 16, 2000 at 09:08:43:
In Reply to: Mass Killing posted by Laedikei on February 15, 2000 at 12:55:19:
Here's my take on repeated killing. Like most things, it is a balancing test. On the one side there is the ooc/ic blending of issues here, meaning that it is just no fun if you keep dying and you aren't allowed time to recouperate, reclothe and basically get back in the thick of things. So killing someone more than just once or twice begins to impinge on their ooc ability to enjoy the game, and that is a problem. On the other hand, if you are the mortal enemy of this person, it seems unreasonable to think they wont take every opportunity they can to destroy you. This *is* a game where death isn't really death until you've died many, many times. Frankly, I think it would be *bad* roleplaying for a rager to not attack an unrepentant mage. For example, I always tried to talk to the person after they died. I did this to see if they would "shun magic", etc. If they didn't -- and they never did of course -- then I knew they were going to continue using magic, and thus continue to be my enemy. If I saw them again, it was the role of the battlerager to kill them. However, this does not mean that I, or anyone, should target that person specifically. No, that would fall onto the first issue, the ooc/ic blend that I discussed. Instead it means something else, which I address next. One part of the problem that I have not seen addressed is location. If we accept that those that are enemies will attack you when they can, then it follows that if you do not want to be attacked, you should stay out of their line of sight. Having killed someone once or twice, you should not actively go hunt them. But if that person decides to stick around the obvious and common places -- like galadon, new thalos, the eastern road -- then they are, in a sense, asking for it. Once you have died and are in need of regathering yourself, *don't* hang around galadon, or wherever it was that the person killed you. If you do, and that person sees you and attacks, then a good chunk of the blame rests on your own shoulders. So, bottom line. Killing someone needs a reason. That reasons should be an rp one. Repeated killing of the same person requires a particularly sound roleplay reason. Once you've killed your enemy once or twice in a short period of time, you should not actively hunt them down. But if you by chance come across them, and your rp makes you both enemies, it is not wrong to attack again. Part of the responsibility is on the victim, to stay out of the way of the person who is obviously his enemy and obviously able to slay them virtually at will. My thoughts.
It behooves your enemy to attack you, if you are just standing around in plain sight, in the open, in a common area. If a battlerager *didnt* attack a mage just standing there, or in the same area, wouldn't that be *poor* roleplaying? Assuming the battlerager had already spoken to you at some point and determined you were not going to give up magic?