Short Lifespan

[Majikal]

I've never been PK'ed.

You fail.

[SMuz]

I've never been PK'ed either. Hell, it's always their NPC companions that end up killing me. Only one so far KO'ed, but it robbed me completely and let me live. I have PK'ed a few though. Like some others mentioned, it strikes me as odd that someone could actually get PK'ed so much, lol. I expect to get some attempts on my character's life when he reaches day 40 or so, but below 5 days, it's very odd, unless you're asking for it. Or very unlucky.

[Simple]

Whenever you're PKed, it is so much more memorable.
Even though you die, they are good deaths. It's the ones in the rinth or to a raptor chasing you that make you feel stupid.

[deviant storm]

I'm like the queen of stupid deaths. Really.

I have to say being PK can suck, especially if you don't have a clue why and you'd never met the people before in your life who killed you. You learn to live with the lack of knowledge. And you log off and go deal with your frustration after your character dies. Then, when you're calmer, a new concept makes him or herself known to you in your head and you find yourself logging back onto Arm.

Sorry you died. Good luck on your next one. Trust me in that dying to some PC is in the end a little more gratifying than to some NPC critter.

[shadeoux]

Didn't they change it anyways so that apartment keys are changed often? To get rid of those lifetime burglers who had the key to every apartment in the game?

The newer apartments don't even let you take the key out of the complex. Its automatically given back to the clerk on your way out.

Not necessarily

[spawnloser]

There are ways in and out of apartment buildings that don't require the key, first off.  Granted, somewhat off-topic.

Second, HTX got it best... examine your characters and see what behaviors they had in common.  THAT's more than likely what's getting you killed.  If you're getting PKed often, it's probably because you're pissing people off.  Why are your characters pissing off people that can kill them?  Maybe make an ass-kissing sycophant for your next character instead?

Third, as others have said, cherish the PKs.  You're more likely to get interaction from a PC than you are an NPC.  It's the interaction that makes things awesome, even if you're dying.

Finally, I'm going to assume that you're something of a noob, even though you registered back in '06, due to the small postcount which suggests not much participation in the community and thus less experience with the mud as a whole.  You'll learn to keep your characters alive as you grow out of being a noob, mostly because you become familiar with the mechanics more but also because you become more understanding of the environment, and by this I mean the whole setting... the factions and the types of people, how people expect to be treated, etc.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

Yeah, I'm up around 120 PCs, I think. Longest ones have survived, regular play, for only about 1 or 1.5 years IG. (1.5 - 2 months, IRL) But 75% of them have went down within their creation week. Seriously, I still do it more than I'd like to admit. I've been playing for 3-4 years and all I can say is "I'm getting better." Haha. The bazaar thing is that I've got a decent amount of karma. *boggle*

Anyways, back to the topic: In retrospect, I've decided that the reason why all my early characters had kicked it is because they were all the same. Assassins who acted like total twat bags, based on the assumption that I could flee any concept, max out my character, and return in a couple weeks as the deadliest mofo on the planet. Or something like that.

Tips:
a) Forget about pride.[/]   When you fuck up, apologize. Also, if you've offended someone who looks like they can whoop you, bribe them with a hundred sid or so.  Templars / Guards especially will be lenient if you seem to have both learned from your mistake, and offered a repentance.  (IE; Apologize and pay. It's the only way!)

b) Join a Clan!   Clans give you training, food/water, a cloak that says "fuck with me, and my extremely rich boss will fuck back", and comrades to watch your back. If you spar regularly, you'll get stronger pretty darned quick. At least strong enough to survive until you get a chance to flee.

c) FLEE!    I was bad at this. I would fight mobs in the rinth who clearly outclassed me until I was down to like 20-30 HP, thinking "this guy only hits for like 8-10 max, I can stick it out a little longer." Wrong. The lower you get on health, the worse your fighting seems to become, and then all of a sudden you get that Viscious stab to the head, or that "PANIC! You cannot escape" message and that's all she wrote.  Learn to gauge your fight from the start, if he takes 20 HP off you, and you haven't even HIT him yet, you're gonna lose. Don't stick around to find out the hard way. Smart fleeing is done the very second you realize you ain't gonna win - such as when 3 guys walk in and start killing up on you. I've seen some pretty hard warriors die to outnumbering.

d) Take a load off, and MAKE FRIENDS!     My earlier characters made very few friends because I was always running around stabbing something, and never spent any time in the tavern, in the stool. And when someone would talk to me, I'd be a condescending prick because I was so sure that this character was gonna be a bad-ass. Friends have a lot to offer. Skills, support, and useful info/advice.

e) Don't take yourself too seriously   Not every mom or breed joke has to carry a death sentence with it. Those who go looking for blood find it, and if you're a newb and don't know how things go, it's probably gonna be your own.

Those're some things I've eventually learned. My play style was purely criminal / PK back in the day. I was here to conquer. That just doesn't happen on Armageddon.

But, don't get down because you die every 3 days. I've had 3 PCs in a single day before. (2 deaths) It's the people that say "I've had 7 characters in 5 years. My first one lasted 1 year, etc, etc." that are the minority around here. The rest of us do stupid shit and die alot. It's part of the game.
   

[Aruven]

I've never been PK'ed.

New Focus. Do I have to say it?

[Aruven]

Yeah, I'm up around 120 PCs, I think. Longest ones have survived, regular play, for only about 1 or 1.5 years IG. (1.5 - 2 months, IRL) But 75% of them have went down within their creation week. Seriously, I still do it more than I'd like to admit. I've been playing for 3-4 years and all I can say is "I'm getting better." Haha. The bazaar thing is that I've got a decent amount of karma. *boggle*

Anyways, back to the topic: In retrospect, I've decided that the reason why all my early characters had kicked it is because they were all the same. Assassins who acted like total twat bags, based on the assumption that I could flee any concept, max out my character, and return in a couple weeks as the deadliest mofo on the planet. Or something like that.

Tips:
a) Forget about pride.[/]   When you fuck up, apologize. Also, if you've offended someone who looks like they can whoop you, bribe them with a hundred sid or so.  Templars / Guards especially will be lenient if you seem to have both learned from your mistake, and offered a repentance.  (IE; Apologize and pay. It's the only way!)

b) Join a Clan!   Clans give you training, food/water, a cloak that says "fuck with me, and my extremely rich boss will fuck back", and comrades to watch your back. If you spar regularly, you'll get stronger pretty darned quick. At least strong enough to survive until you get a chance to flee.

c) FLEE!    I was bad at this. I would fight mobs in the rinth who clearly outclassed me until I was down to like 20-30 HP, thinking "this guy only hits for like 8-10 max, I can stick it out a little longer." Wrong. The lower you get on health, the worse your fighting seems to become, and then all of a sudden you get that Viscious stab to the head, or that "PANIC! You cannot escape" message and that's all she wrote.  Learn to gauge your fight from the start, if he takes 20 HP off you, and you haven't even HIT him yet, you're gonna lose. Don't stick around to find out the hard way. Smart fleeing is done the very second you realize you ain't gonna win - such as when 3 guys walk in and start killing up on you. I've seen some pretty hard warriors die to outnumbering.

d) Take a load off, and MAKE FRIENDS!     My earlier characters made very few friends because I was always running around stabbing something, and never spent any time in the tavern, in the stool. And when someone would talk to me, I'd be a condescending prick because I was so sure that this character was gonna be a bad-ass. Friends have a lot to offer. Skills, support, and useful info/advice.

e) Don't take yourself too seriously   Not every mom or breed joke has to carry a death sentence with it. Those who go looking for blood find it, and if you're a newb and don't know how things go, it's probably gonna be your own.

Those're some things I've eventually learned. My play style was purely criminal / PK back in the day. I was here to conquer. That just doesn't happen on Armageddon.

But, don't get down because you die every 3 days. I've had 3 PCs in a single day before. (2 deaths) It's the people that say "I've had 7 characters in 5 years. My first one lasted 1 year, etc, etc." that are the minority around here. The rest of us do stupid shit and die alot. It's part of the game.
   

Dude, I will continuously defend my title holding the shortest lived characters in the known world. More than one character, die, before the hour was up. That means, four deaths, in two days.
I've had three PC's within 24 hours as well, three deaths. My longest lived character was like... oh, 30 something day warrior.

*In bruce-campbell accented sirihish: "Who Rules!?"*

[IAmJacksOpinion]

Lets see.. I've had 3 characters within 24 hours.

I've died within 1 - 2 hours as well, several times.

I guess what rockets me into the win is that I've been PK'd by a templar in 45 minutes for being found to be a follower of The Dragon, (not Tek, the one who was born that way) by virtue of the bag of goodies I had lifted off of a Kuraci guard who was being led down the street, hitched to the other end of the bag. (Classic problem of item weight). Course, that character didn't end there, but me and the templar had a good OOC laugh using The Way. Can ya beat that? Huh? Can ya!?