How do you feel about PC killing?

[AreteX]

I have been directly involved in a few player deaths over my character's lives.  I have wanted to kill many characters as my characters, and I would of killed them without any problem if I had the chance or the ability.  I think killing is fine and for me it makes the game world go around, at least a little more interestingly.  I have also been indirectly involved in PLENTY of people's deaths over the years.  I have either convinced people to kill for my character, ordered it, or what have you.

I have had plenty of characters I knew that died to NPC's.  Oh, Amos?  He died to a Mekillot the other day.  That is so interesting :/  I can get revenge on a Mekillot, maybe, but it isn't really quite as interesting as killing someone else in revenge, or trying to hunt down the person.  NPC deaths are so much less plot causing than PC deaths and this is why I love PK even if I don't participate in it very often.

To this day I have several characters that I wish I knew what happened.  My character was involved with them so often on a daily basis and when they were killed(by players) I never did find out who it was or the circumstances of it and still some of those deaths tickle the back of my mind like, "What happened?  Who was it?".  I wish it was okay to ask, HEY AMOS, WHO KILLED YOU?  Years after the fact, because I would.

This is why I like PK.  It keeps me intrigued, even after my characters are long gone and I'm on new ones.

[Zul]

I enjoy it.

[Morrolan]

I don't really enjoy it.

So, please, don't cross my characters. They will bow to inevitable and send you to the infinite. 

[Wastrel]

People keep saying they have ordered hits, it would be interesting to hear from a player who has actually played a hitman (yes I've read that assassin's primer) and who has actually killed a bunch of PCs, if they were brave enough to come forward. Such a player's perspective on an OOC level would be worth hearing. Because in the world of gaming the kind of multiplayer permadeath that is featured in arm is really a novelty and basically unheard of. It really is a unique exerience.

[Morrolan]

If you want bodycount experts, talk to Templars and Staff.

[Wug]

Players have played hitmen. A lot of characters have been assassinated. You'll have to take my word for it though.

Due to the sensitive nature of assassination plots they aren't really ever okay to talk about on the GDB so we'd prefer not to hear from players who have actually done that sort of thing.

[Wastrel]

I'm not suggesting someone talk about intimate details of the game but rather just what it felt like killing a lot PCs. Is that sort thing taboo? I just find the whole affair really interesting, coming from a game design perspective.

[Fredd]

I'm not suggesting someone talk about intimate details of the game but rather just what it felt like killing a lot PCs. Is that sort thing taboo? I just find the whole affair really interesting, coming from a game design perspective.

It's not Taboo. But you do have to report PK's to staff when you do them, and they prefer to know before hand if it's not random (like if you are planning on assasinating another PC) As someone that played a raider I will say that it's a rush. You never know if that other guy is better then you, or if they will escape and bring back friends. It is a lot of fun.

But the big thing I want to stress here, is give some sort of RP to the dying person, either in the fight, or as they are bleeding out. The only times I have been PKed that I walked away mad, was because of a lack of RP. RP makes it worth it.

[Mendel]

I've only pked somebody once, and in retrospect I wish I hadn't.  IC motivations and blah blah blah were all acceptable, but I think the world is a much better place if people just get knocked down a peg and wake up naked and ashamed.

[Molten Heart]

PKing isn't easy, in fact it's very difficult to pull off effectively, and almost impossible to do cleanly unless it's well planned, or carried out behind locked doors.  With that said, I rarely if ever use the feel command while I'm trying to kill someone.  It's just not something that occurs to me in the heat of the moment with my heart racing as the chase ensues.  Sure.... afterwards is a good time to feel AND think.  Doing the whole personal introspection thing is great for personal development, but -while- I'm doing the deed, it's often something I overlook.  Call me an unfeeling Pkiller, but sometimes it's just a little too much.



But seriously, death is a part of the game.  Death is an ending and a beginning (even if just for the victim's new character).  I believe that a good death can be the beginning of many new things, especially for those involved around the death.  Death can be a transforming change, inspiring other characters to act, creating a void to be filled by others, and many other things.

Personally, I do try to avoid killing others unless it is essential, otherwise those other characters will likely add more play value to the game than their death would, especially for myself.

[Harmless]

I can't believe nobody's posted this yet.

(in the cab after Butch has left the boxing match)
Esmeralda: What does it feel like?
Butch: What does what feel like?
Esmeralda: Killing a man. Beating another man to death with your bare hands.
Butch: What are you a weirdo?
Esmeralda: No. It's a subject I have much interested in. You are the first person I have ever met who has killed somebody. So, what does it feel like to kill a man?
Butch: Tell you what, you give me one of them cigarettes you got up there and I'll tell you all about it.
(Esmeralda hands him a cigarette)

Anyway. Out of respect for my victims, I'll leave my own personal thoughts out of this thread, where they belong. This game is full of killers. If you want to understand them, ask them IC. (Or, get killed by them.)

If you want to know how the PLAYERS feel about it, I would say this is a game for mature adults. We have consent rules. Follow them. Anything beyond that is irrelevant. This is the internet. Who knows why any of you people do what you do? I have questions about the player behind the curtain at times, but it's rarely over a PK. But out of respect for them, I make the assumption that they are mature responsible members of society when not playing a convincing character in a dark, starving, dangerous world. I make the same assumption about myself.

[Zul]

I'm not suggesting someone talk about intimate details of the game but rather just what it felt like killing a lot PCs. Is that sort thing taboo? I just find the whole affair really interesting, coming from a game design perspective.

Wait another year or so and I'll submit a few logs for you to read. 

[Case]

I've killed quite a few. Some made me feel IRL bad. Some were exciting, really high stakes stuff.

[Derain]

I never killed nobody ever.... they fell on my sword.

[AdamBlue]

Be a pacifist with master slashing, Incredibly Amazing stats, and master dual wield. Watch the look of total horror as they attempt to kill you and find themselves brutally slaughtered within mere seconds.
Truly, this must be the best feeling.

[X-D]

I have played PCs like that...it is amusing, at the very least.

[spicemustflow]

I have killed a really small number of PCs. Most of the time it is I who ends up dead. Either I mess up the fight (most likely) or I let the other char go out of OOC considerations. I don't think I'll be doing that anymore. If my PC would kill you, I will, and I won't care if you liked the concept or how many days you put into it.

[Morrolan]

Be a pacifist with master slashing, Incredibly Amazing stats, and master dual wield. Watch the look of total horror as they attempt to kill you and find themselves brutally slaughtered within mere seconds.
Truly, this must be the best feeling.

It's educational. It teaches them the different between "I don't want to fight" and "I can't fight."

It does make want to join the byn for a couple of years then dress up in newbie clothes with a newbie weapon, and troll the sands for raiders.

>say (emotelessly) Oh, hai guyz. Wanna groop?
>say How do I wear belt? Oh, ha! Got it!
...
>em sighs
>bash
>disarm
...
>clean sword blood
>get all corpse

[AdamBlue]

Still sorta waiting on the Jackie Chan PC to come about where it's the guy who just doesn't want trouble with anyone and then seconds later it's an entire room full of dead people killed in hilarious ways. Then again, maybe Templars are all Jackie Chan, because that's how it usually ends up, isn't it?

[Marauder Moe]

I've always wanted to do something like that.  Skill up a PC in the Byn, quit, take a few months off, then come back and hope no one is around that remembers that character.  Maybe then join a clan and wallop the recruiting leader, or just take up an unassoming profession and roflstomp some hapless assassin/raider.

It's a terribly meta-gamey and excessivly long-term plan, but those few times where you surprise the hell out of someone might we worth it.

[Barzalene]

Still sorta waiting on the Jackie Chan PC to come about where it's the guy who just doesn't want trouble with anyone and then seconds later it's an entire room full of dead people killed in hilarious ways. Then again, maybe Templars are all Jackie Chan, because that's how it usually ends up, isn't it?

Jackie Chan with a toothache, on crank, drinking bad black coffee, which causes his ulcer to act up, dealing with a hangover.

Jackie isn't grumpy enough for the templarate.

[Is Friday]

Being a low profile average statted high skilled warrior was an incredibly amusing experience to me.

Dude rides up to see my PC hurt. "Oh, do you need help?"

My chick says, "No, thanks. I'll be fine."

Dude guards my PC and forces a white knight's escort upon her. On the way back to RSV he says, "It's a good thing you're a beautiful woman. If you were a man I'd have killed you." <Dude smug smirks>

My chick hemote sighs.

Beetle ambushes the pair. Dude gets torn up really quickly and my chick rescues him, dispatching the beetle in a blinding reel spam.

My chick says to him, "It is a good thing you didn't attack me." Dude performs Tuff Guy walk of shame.

[Bogre]

I had a half-giant warrior that was being ridiculed and taunted by some noble's aide. I gave her every warning that the giant was getting distraught...

Slamming that pickaxe into her head in the middle of public was -so- satisfying. 

[Wastrel]

bogre is so badass

[LauraMars]

My favorite player kills have all been tragic accidents