Roleplaying Dangerous Situations

[Ganja]

I know this subject has been brought up before and I never bothered to search for the most recent discussion on it so I'm bringing it up again. Hopefully some of this information will benefit novices and veterans of Arm alike.

Simply put, if you're playing a character that has put himself in a potentially dangerous situation/position/area, it's considered really bad form to just type 'flee self' and run off without so much as a word or emote when another character has the drop on you through the use of emotes and coded skill.

Over the last 5 years or so that I've played arm I like to think that I've built a reputation as the kind of player that doesn't get off on PK'ing, object hording, or skill twinking. I know that it's impossible for anyone to know this ic'ly but it's just to help illustrate my disappointment when the above situation happens.

I played a character a couple of years ago that was with a group foraging deep in the grey forest. While on the way out, we encountered a certain staff member animated halfling warrior blocking our path. The point of this interaction was to help exemplify the dangers associated with being in the grey forest.  After a rather hasty departure from the scene I received a rather brief, but to the point mudmail from said staff member expressing their disappointment with our action and lack of RP. It was also stated that although the potential for death existed, it wasn't really likely. This concise piece of criticism completely changed how I RP through these situations, no matter which side I'm on.

On the other side of the coin, about 3 years ago I played a rather high ranking Allanaki soldier (by far my favorite char btw) that took part in several interrogations, beatings, fights, etc. 99.9% of the time he had the upper hand. The one time someone got the drop on him, he met his demise. The loss of my beloved character wasn't anywhere near as disappointing as the thorough lack of RP associated with it. Thinking back on it, I can just picture how the murderer went about it:

shout blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda
e
dismount
subdue man
kill man

It was total crap and I hated to see it happen in such an unceremonious way.

The point: Please, do all parties involved a favor and  RP the scenario through the use of words, EMOTES, and all the useful tools coded into the game to make the experience more exciting, colorful, animated, and dramatic.

[jhunter]

I understand completely. Although "emote does not=rp" it is nice. I've been on both ends of the situation. Both, as the aggressor emoting out a scenario only to have the potential victim just "mount, e,e,e,e,e,e" and as the victim sitting around doing my thing only to have: The non-descript man has arrived from the west. The non-descript man slashes you on your head doing frightening damage!

I've also been the victim and played along with an emoted scene, doing what the aggressor has told me to do just to have them attack me and try to pk me anyway.

It sucks, I know. I just mark those pcs for future reference and refuse to give them a chance. If they want to drop to duking it out with code only...that's fine, they blew their chance with me and I will make sure they die if it's IC for my pc to do so.

[Salt Merchant]

If they want to drop to duking it out with code only...that's fine, they blew their chance with me and I will make sure they die if it's IC for my pc to do so.

In other words, you'll carry a grudge OOCly between characters. Sounds worse than what you're accusing other people of here.

I don't think novellas should be required before each player death. Death arrives swiftly and by surprise, even in the real world. One minute some girl is driving a car home, the next she and her passenger have been creamed by a truck out of its lane. One minute an inner city youth is walking down the street, then next he's on the pavement with two bullets in his head.

I can understand players being upset over what feels like a meaningless, insignificant death without closure. But most death probably is more or less that way. It's one of the reasons that my primary research interest in the lab is aging.

[jhunter]

If they want to drop to duking it out with code only...that's fine, they blew their chance with me and I will make sure they die if it's IC for my pc to do so.

In other words, you'll carry a grudge OOCly between characters. Sounds worse than what you're accusing other people of here.

I don't think novellas should be required before each player death. Death arrives swiftly and by surprise, even in the real world. One minute some girl is driving a car home, the next she and her passenger have been creamed by a truck out of its lane. One minute an inner city youth is walking down the street, then next he's on the pavement with two bullets in his head.

I can understand players being upset over what feels like a meaningless, insignificant death without closure. But most death probably is more or less that way. It's one of the reasons that my primary research interest in the lab is aging.

No, that's not what I'm saying. I meant with the same character. I did not say with each and every character. Noone is asking for novellas, just a bit of "painting the picture" before resorting to the code. The ones that suck are where folks completely give you nothing but the coded actions IMO, in an effort to "win".

[Kalden]

Simply put, if you're playing a character that has put himself in a potentially dangerous situation/position/area, it's considered really bad form to just type 'flee self' and run off without so much as a word or emote when another character has the drop on you through the use of emotes and coded skill.

It's bad form, but it's not necessarily twinkery. Which is why I won't necessarily throw out an emote or two before attacking an unsuspecting target - I can't take the risk that they'll draw both weapons and flee in that split-second.

The emotes are nice, but they don't make a real big difference. It's the events leading up to the death that provide the real RP, and the events that happen after your death.

[amoeba]

The emotes are nice, but they don't make a real big difference. It's the events leading up to the death that provide the real RP, and the events that happen after your death.

My least satisfying death to date had nothing to do with the level of emoting involved.  In fact with this death the level of emoting was the highest ever before the mantis head.  I am still trying to understand why that death bothered me so much, but I will say this, a lot of fancy emoting about the mechanics of the killing did little to eliviate it.  I do however appreciate the person making the effort.  But yes, a meaningless death is a meaningless death, regardless.

[Agent_137]

If some particular player behind the sdesc proves to play by the code and ignore emotes, I will play by the code in all future meetings with them, regardless of my character.

It's important in ALL games and sports that everyone plays by the same rules.

This is because it's upsetting and unenjoyable when two parties are playing by different rules, but are still playing with each other.

And unfortunately, there ARE two sets of rules here on armageddon.

Those that play only by the code, and those that are willing to slow down and play by emotes, using the code as a tool to settle skill based questions.


A lot of us call that first group "twinks." Others justify that group's actions with "rp != emote." But I think most of them just play their game and never see these boards. They aren't breaking rules, just playing by a different set. I hope they come to play my game, but I know there will always be at least a few who don't.

So play on.

[Xygax]

It's a dangerous rhetorical accident/technique to conclude that because you consider something to be really bad form, that "it's considered really bad form" in a general sense.  If you feel someone has abused the code and used "flee" to escape a situation in which they were overwhelmingly outmatched, you should e-mail the MUD.  It's considered really bad form to post about IC events here (and, in this case, I'm not using a rhetorical technique, but stating staff policy).

You won't arrive at any satisfactory conclusion by debating the event here as you'll be forced either to reveal MORE IC information to dicuss it completely, or you'll wind up hashing out an incomplete argument about an incomplete point of contention.

The cry of "bad form", though, somehow never sits well with me.

-- X

[RunningMountain]

My least satisfying death to date had nothing to do with the level of emoting involved.  In fact with this death the level of emoting was the highest ever before the mantis head.  I am still trying to understand why that death bothered me so much, but I will say this, a lot of fancy emoting about the mechanics of the killing did little to eliviate it.  I do however appreciate the person making the effort.  But yes, a meaningless death is a meaningless death, regardless.

[jcarter]

PK is a tricky thing, especially with the fight code here. I don't think it's necessarily bad form to play by the code when it comes to situations like that. It sounds harsh, but there's really no time. Consider this: do you want to take the time to emote drawing out your swords as three rounds of combat go by in which you're being slaughtered? Characters mean a lot to us. A twenty-day old character is twenty days of your life put into something. I'm not going to hold a grudge against someone who is focused on keeping their character alive in an adrenaline-pumping situation and forgets to emote.

The only meaningless deaths are when you act out of character and do something stupid, like take your Tor Scorpion captain of the guard and wander into the Rinth because there's no one to spar with. Just because someone didn't emote before you died shouldn't leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.

[Pantoufle]

I played a character a couple of years ago that was with a group foraging deep in the grey forest. While on the way out, we encountered a certain staff member animated halfling warrior blocking our path. The point of this interaction was to help exemplify the dangers associated with being in the grey forest. After a rather hasty departure from the scene I received a rather brief, but to the point mudmail from said staff member expressing their disappointment with our action and lack of RP. It was also stated that although the potential for death existed, it wasn't really likely. This concise piece of criticism completely changed how I RP through these situations, no matter which side I'm on.

I was one of the characters present in the scene you describe.  When receiving a similar "mudmail" I retorted back with my own opinion.  This is one of ArmageddonMUD's grey areas which has no "right" answer.  Running from  emoting NPCs (whether animated or otherwise), without emoting yourself does not make one a "twink", nor is it necessary to emote every time someone else does.

As stated in numerous posts emoting does not equate roleplay, nor is it necessary to play out a well realised character concept (it only enhances it).  Just because someone tosses out a few emotes at me doesn't make me feel any more obliged to return the favor.  If my character percieves a situation as dangerous, such as a halfling attack, I'm going to high-tail out of there as fast as I can because that's the realistic thing to do.  I don't think emotes can demonstrate speed and haste any more successfully than "the dusty rebel runs to the west".  

I don't emote every time my character sits down because the code already says that I'm sitting down.  I don't emote every time my character takes a bit of food because the code already says that I'm taking a bite of food.  I emote when I feel like it and when I feel it enhances the atmosphere for myself or other players.  If a pack of savage halflings came at me again, I might toss out a quick emote and run, or I might not, it just depends on how I feel at that moment.  Thankfully, if I don't, it's not a big deal because the code already has indicated what I'm doing: RUNNING.

[Ganja]

I think the point of this post was somewhat thrown off in how I went about describing it. Sorry.

First off, I don't consider myself an expert RP'er (mediocre at best). I don't have the most colorful style of play and it's a learning experience everytime I log on. The last thing I want to do is criticize anyone else and I apologize if my post came off that way.

I should have stated at the beginning that it's strictly opinion and it's not a rant or 'cry', I wasn't accusing anyone of twinkery, and I wasn't trying to say that emoting = RP. Also, I wasn't specifically talking about PK'ing.

Furthermore, there's no reason for me to mail the account about someone abusing code because this isn't about any specific IC event. So there's no incident to debate over and no reason to throw the policy at me. Unless the vague reference to IC events from 3-4 years past is a problem (in which case I stand corrected). The reason I did mention those two events is because in one instance I learned that the situation provided a good opportunity for a memorable RP experience but because of the way I went about it, it didn't (obviously not everyone agrees with that but these types of interactions, situations and experiences are some of the reasons I've come to enjoy playing Arm so much). In the other event I decided that since I didn't like how the other player went about RP'ing the situation, I wasn't going to do the same to others. I'd prefer to make it more in depth and enhanced and would like to convince others to do the same.

...those that are willing to slow down and play by emotes, using the code as a tool to settle skill based questions.

I think this is well said and illustrates my point better than I could have done. I would like to convince others to play this way and improve on it myself. If you don't agree with me, that's fine and I value your opinion and reasoning.

Thanks

[Salt Merchant]

I think the point of this post was somewhat thrown off in how I went about describing it. Sorry.

I hate these kinds of posts, because now everyone who sees:

>
The pissed off templar arrives from the west.
The rabid soldier arrives from the west.
The rabid soldier arrives from the west.
The rabid soldier arrives from the west.
> run
> north

or similar is now going to be labeled a 'poor RPer', or at least wonder if they are.

Taking even a second to emote the exact volume of crap that fills your shorts leads to:

>
The templar points at you.
You are now a criminal!
Rabid-soldier #1 attempts to subdue you, but you wrestle away.
Rabid-soldier #2 hits you on your head for frightening damage.
Rabid-soldier #3 hits you on your head for game-ending damage.

*beep*

Probably you didn't even get to inform the templar of the extra weight in your trousers, and even if you did, he most likely got nothing out of it (at least I hope he didn't).

I don't expect the templar to sit there, going:

>
The pissed off templar surveys the crowd.
>
The pissed off templar locks his eyes on you!
>
The pissed off templar approaches you dramatically.
>
ooc Um... can I run now? Or will you email the account?

Too MUSH-like.

[LoD]

Taking even a second to emote the exact volume of crap that fills your shorts leads to:

>
The templar points at you.
You are now a criminal!
Rabid-soldier #1 attempts to subdue you, but you wrestle away.
Rabid-soldier #2 hits you on your head for frightening damage.
Rabid-soldier #3 hits you on your head for game-ending damage.

*beep*

I would actually say the people who >run;north when they see this are directly responsible for this set of behavior.  There is a relationship between the assailant and the victim, and it can alter the RP of each person directly.

Let me give you another environment and examples of how it gets to this point.  Based off several months of playing in the Blackmoon Raiders, I was privy to many would-be raids.  Like any set of good players, we weren't there to kill people, we wanted to add an element of danger and sought to take what we wanted from people and let them be on their way.  And usually it went something like this.

REGULAR DAY

North Road [NEW]

The sharp eyed, quick typing man has arrived from the east.

>shout SUBMIT TO BLACKMOON OR DIE!

You shout, in sirihish
   "SUBMIT TO BLACKMOON OR DIE!"

The sharp eyed, quick typing man runs east.

>look east

[Very far]
The sharp eyed, quick typing man stands here.

Guess what happened the next day?  New face, same thing.  Guess what probably happened 7 out of 10 times when trying to interact with someone where they didn't have the upper hand?  They'd leave the room as fast as possible to avoid any possible dangerous situation for their character.

So what happened?  We started insta-subduing people that came into the room with little to no warning because we wanted to RP.  What happened 7 out of 10 times then?  They would spam the "flee" command without any RP until they broke free and then see the above example.

So what happened?  We started warning them that we would kill them if they "struggled to break free" more than twice.  All we wanted was for them to drop their pack and cloak.  What happened 5 out of 10 times then?  They'd struggle anyways and our muls/HG's would kill them.

So what happened?  Then people started talking about how the raiders were killing everyone and some were complaining OOC on the forums.  None of that would have been necessary if a handful of people had just stuck around for 5 minutes to RP a dangerous situation and lose a few belongings.  We weren't there with the intention of killing people, but their actions forced our hand because otherwise we had no scene to play.

You might say, "What do you expect!?  If I walked into a room full of 5 masked men, I'd run too without asking questions."

Alright.  During this same period, I decided to do solo mini-raids just to create a sense of danger in those travelling around the desert.  I'd ride up to them, strike up a conversation and then basically tell them they needed to pay me a "protection fee" of 50 'sid.  What happened 7 out of 10 times?  The second they knew I was a "raider" they would just flee.

So what happened?  I made up some rules for myself based on how many times the same character fled from me in the desert.  The first time I shoot them with an arrow as a warning.  The second time I attack them hand to hand, but if they fled, I wouldn't give chase.  The third time I'd do everything in my power to kill them.

That character killed more people than all of my other character's combined since I've played Armageddon.

This issue is not as black and white as you would like it to be, Salt Merchant.  The problem is that the bad apples make it hard for the rest of the people who "would" RP out the scene.  The few players that would stick around and RP out the moment pay the price of the twinks that avoid dangerous situations in any way, shape or form.

And while I agree not everyone would "stick around" or "emote a storm" when the templar walked into the room, it would be smart to at least emote your actions when the templar interacts with you.  People in positions of IC authority, especially in the city-states, have to answer to the powers that be (Immortals) for their actions.  There are consequences if they kill indescriminately and so most of them will probably try to create an interesting, yet dangerous, scene for your character if you let them.

This has become a long post, surprise surprise, but I wanted to throw out some more information on what I perceive are the OP's frustrations as well as some practical examples from the game on how your actions have a direct impact on other's choice of RP.

-LoD

[Cale_Knight]

What I really got out of your post, LoD, is that you decided on your own personal set of RP conditions that justified RPless pkill.

Is it justified to say "Ok, if they're not going to RP with me, I'm not going to RP with them!"?

I'm also mildly shocked by the idea that you guys had to kill these folks because otherwise you "had no scene to play."

[marko]

What I really got out of your post, LoD, is that you decided on your own personal set of RP conditions that justified RPless pkill.

Is it justified to say "Ok, if they're not going to RP with me, I'm not going to RP with them!"?

I'm also mildly shocked by the idea that you guys had to kill these folks because otherwise you "had no scene to play."

What shocks me about your post is that you contradict yourself in back to back sentences.  In the first one you talk about the RP conditions and then in the second one you talk about no RP whatsoever.

Once again, emoting does not mean roleplaying.  In the raider situation every PC was given _chances_ to react in a meaningful manner other than trying to run.  If you are warned not to run and you try and run expect to be taken down.  That is perfectly fine roleplaying and makes sense to do ICly.  

This, of course, leads on to my own experiences with this behavior.  This type of thing happens all the time - I've played templars that when my character made an entrance to a location with a known criminal said criminal would stand up, move one room over, and quit.  The number of times this happened was amusingly huge - therefore, one reacts to it by walking in and insta-grabbing the mark and then interacting with them.

Cause and effect.

Just a quick note to everyone reading this - I had a character who was in a scene that was definitely going to lead to his death and I played it out.  This was years ago and just after karma went in.  Well, because I played out the scene, I got my very first karma point.  The reason I bring this up is because a lot of players play for karma.  So hopefully someone who may have insta-fled before will now stick around in the hopes of getting a little bit of karma out of situation.

When it comes down to it - the insta-flee thing just deprives a situation of interaction but it isn't necessarily bad form.  Conversely, the insta-grab or insta-attack deprives a situation of interaction (although usually there's still some time after the attack or grab) but again, it isn't necessarily bad form.

[Khorm]

Is it justified to say "Ok, if they're not going to RP with me, I'm not going to RP with them!"?

Yes, it is.

If I'm going to go out of my way to provide an interesting scene before jacking someone up (whether that involves robbing/knocking out/killing) and they're going to go out of their way to run without even attempting to get involved, then yes.. the next time I come across them I'm not going to give them the opportunity to be a jackoff.

What's the problem there? Obviously, emoting out some sort of scene before doing "bad things" to someone isn't required, and is instead something nice to do to enhance to overall feel of the experience. If another player can't bring themselves to extend that courtesy to me, then it would seem that they don't give a shit about receiving the same.

[Agent_137]

Is it justified to say "Ok, if they're not going to RP with me, I'm not going to RP with them!"?

Yes, it is. Read my justification a page back based on the idea that it's important for people to play by the same rules otherwise the game starts to really suck.


I want to respond to this:

I even once said, OOC: if you promise not to run away, I will RP out your PC's death instead of killing you instantly.

of course the person at that moment types, "flee self" I could have instead just typed:
guard west; kill newb.

If they did THAT, it would surely indicate twinkdom and be reportable to the MUD account. Of course, using OOC for that purpose is itself questionable, though I think it might be legitimate, to get everyone on the same page in the rule book.

[LoD]

What I really got out of your post, LoD, is that you decided on your own personal set of RP conditions that justified RPless pkill.

Is it justified to say "Ok, if they're not going to RP with me, I'm not going to RP with them!"?

I'm also mildly shocked by the idea that you guys had to kill these folks because otherwise you "had no scene to play."

Well, I'm sorry that's the message you saw in my words.

The only lack of RP in any of the PK's was as a result of the victim.  And we were never looking for justification for killing, CK.  We could have easily killed anyone we came across, but that wasn't why we were there.  Killing players wasn't our mission objective, it was the consequence of non-compliance.  What reason would someone have to comply with your demands if the alternative isn't worse than the demand?

Perhaps you've heard the cliche term, "Your money or your life."

The idea behind that phrase is that your money is replaceable, but your life is not.  And if you don't follow up on your threats, then there wouldn't be any reason for them to do as they are told, now would there?

I also never said we "had to kill these folks because otherwise we had no scene to play".  My words were, "We weren't there with the intention of killing people, but their actions forced our hand because otherwise we had no scene to play."  What I meant by having "no scene to play" is that the victims weren't supplying any RP.  They were spamming a command to flee without giving thought to the situation.

People could RP and try to escape, and that's fine.  It happened.  But they weren't RPing and trying to escape, the were doing this:

The burly mul subdues the black haired man.

The burly mul says, in sirihish:
   "Drop your pack, now!"

The black haired man struggles in vain against the burly mul.

The human raider says, in sirihish:
   "Stop struggling or we're gonna let you have it!  Now drop it!"

The black haired man struggles in vain against the burly mul.

The burly mul says, in sirihish:
   "Yer surrounded, ya fekker, drop da fekkin' pack!"

The black haired man struggles in vain against the burly mul.

The black haired man struggles in vain against the burly mul.

The half giant raider says, in sirihish:
   "Uhm....hit him now?"

The human raider says, in sirihish:
   "Not if this fekker wises up and drops his pack.  Dat's all we need."

The black hiared man struggles in vain against the burly mul.

The black haired man struggles and breaks free.

The black haired man runs east.

------------

That was a typical scene when confronting people on the road.  The victim would refuse to RP with us in this dangerous situation.  Sometimes they would break free and escape along the road, other times we would follow through with the "threat" we made to kill them because they gave us no other choice.  Their INCREDIBLE RP was flee;flee;flee;flee;flee;flee;flee.  They didn't talk to us.  They didn't emote or try to interact.  They didn't do a single thing except spam the flee command.  That isn't RP, no matter who you are or what situation you're in, period.

And that is what I'm talking about when I say "no scene to play".  They weren't responding to the situation.  All they were concerned with was getting out of the situation without losing a single thing.  They didn't view it as the CHARACTER would view it - having 5 thugs standing around them with weapons to his throat telling him not to run.

We never looked to justify any player killing.  The bulk of the killing done by our hands was a direct result of the victim's actions.  They had full control over whether they lived or died, and THEY chose death.

-LoD

[Cenghiz]

Once I had a magicker of element X.. In time, I decided to use my abilities for raiding. My character had magickal, unbelieveable speed and a way to immobilize victims without a fear of killing them. He had a reason -not money, he wanted a special squad that tried to hunt him in past out again so he would make fun of them.
In my first attempt, I walked down to a room, emoted out showing that I was a magicker. Target typed 'mount;w;w;w;w" or something like that. I ran after him and raided. I resisted to urge to kill him.
In my second attempt, the victim was a gemmer. My character knew about the gems, so before speaking, he simply typed out the emote, then cast. Wow! The victim reacted realistically! Thank you for your faith in RP, vivaduan woman!
The third one tried to use a zigzagged route to keep away from my char. Of course, I raided him too..
But after the fifth or so attempt, I gave up.. That squad was not patrolling in spite of my hopes, it was boring and I didn't know what to do with all those coins I earned.. So I simply gambled with most. Raiding NPCs was even more attractive, in the least you can solo-RP the scene with NPCs.
...
The point of the story; if you're into creating harmful plots with PCs, you can as well wait for twinkish acts all the time. But do not lose your faith in RP. RP, then let them escape. It's their loss. Still you can always meet a vivaduan woman and have fun.

[Anonymous]

Look, what is a PC supposed to do, just freeze in place because someone's magnificient presence had entered the room and MAY have had a chance to kill him? Always ask permission before leaving? Ridiculous.

Calling people jackoffs when the code allows them to escape is just arrogance. If you want to RP a death out, then arrange to trap the character. When they have nowhere to run, then you'll find you get a lot of RP.

Trap them in a room. Subdue them and haul them into a constricted space with someone guarding the exit. Set up a blockade on a street with soldiers then chase the victim toward it. It's not impossible.

Admittedly for raiders, it's generally kill or lose the victim. I think the best approach to solving this is to ask for tools to help, such as hidden barracades that could be rolled out when someone is moving along the road. Not to demand that they simply freeze in place and offer their neck because you want to emote a few times before ending them.

[Agent_137]

kank, see, that's what I was talking about.

You're playing a different game than I am. I don't view "pausing for a scene" as Ridiculous.

You rely on code first, and emotes are just fleshing things out sometimes.

I rely on emotes first, and code is just fleshing out the questions of skill.

I prefer the scene, the idea in my head. I'm not playing to win. I'm playing to see a story told.


We play two different games.


And I can't figure out how to help us play the same game.

[Seeker]

... I trust no one to RP out a PCs death and I will most of the time instantly kill and -then- RP out the scene.

...I won't necessarily throw out an emote or two before attacking an unsuspecting target - I can't take the risk that they'll draw both weapons and flee in that split-second.

I call bullshit on this.  Shame on you.

It is EXTREMELY rare that any PC's death in -any- situation is soooo important that either of these attitudes should be the core, guiding principles to your play.  If a particular PK is so important, try planning and arranging it instead.  

I know that these quotes are plucked out of context, but I will heartlessly use them for demonstration purposes, regardless.

Yes, death can come suddenly from the shadows.  Yes, the element of surprise -is- often fatal, but just because one character has his heart set on slaughter does not mean he is entitled to get it.  

There are too many variables to live by such blanket statements, and too many creative ways to get your murderous desires satisified without playing weepy-face about other characters deciding that they want to try to live.  

Play the scene, realistically keep in mind the environment, and let the IMMs deal with the rest.

Seeker

[Cale_Knight]

What shocks me about your post is that you contradict yourself in back to back sentences.  In the first one you talk about the RP conditions and then in the second one you talk about no RP whatsoever.

I don't think I contradicted myself at all. Maybe you're not reading it the way I intended it to be read.

It might have been clearer if I'd said "... is that you decided that once your personal and arbitrary critera had been fulfilled, RPless PK was justified."

This was obviously a long time ago, and certainly before I started playing this game. I'm not personally offended by what happened years ago, but I'm not seeing how a lot of what's being stated in this thread falls in line with what I understand Arm to be about.

It seems to me that everyone is saying "we all have to fall in line and RP with each other all the time regardless of the situation."

That's great.

But you're also saying, "And if you're not going to RP, then screw you buddy, you're gortok kibble."

How do two wrongs here make a right, especially in an RPI MUD?

[Intrepid]

Maybe it's foolish of me, but I'm not going to stop emoting a dangerous
situation just because my victim/opponent/assailant might be too reliant
on the code.  I have a certain amount of trust invested in me by the imms,
none of which has to do with someone else's ability to player--or lack
thereof--realistically.  I usually just email the imms a description of what
took place, what the character looked like and when this happened.  I can
usually guess that these individuals aren't trusted much by the staff to
roleplay their characters.

It's all about setting a better example.