Re: Player Killers (Was PBM Report)

From: tim@leaphome.pelican.org (Tim Franklin)

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 00:00:00 +0000

MindShift Design <teammsd@mindshiftdesign.com> wrote:
>
>> The secret to stopping PKing is to have in-character methods of
>making it a
>> dead end, while not actually disallowing it at all.
>
>It does become that in STSI. Bounty hunters abound as do militia and
>armies. As a player gains notoriety, this is reflected in their "fame"
>stat. Certain events can happen that make it problematic, such as being
>sighted by NPCs who write messages on the message tree in the
>settlement, or when bounty hunters come out to claim a reward for
>bringing in "outlaws" - there are many types of bounty hunters, and if
>you upset the Silvandesh, don't wander into any forests without plenty
>of armor, or a line of site out of the woods <g>.
>
>We're hoping that these elements will help balance it out. Any thoughts
>or comments from players/moderators ?

Your in-game stuff sounds neat, but given that it sounds workable, I'd lose
the 'game rule' restriction.  If people want to do bad things, let them, but
make sure there are in-game consequences for whatever they do, preferably ones
that are supported (and even enforced) by the PCs, not just NPCs who are
effectively rules made manifest.

DungeonWorld, as Steve points out, manages to allow PKing while making the
in-game penalities for doing so severe enough that people will only usually
do it as a genuine role-playing choice, not to try and disrupt game balance.

The better MUDs have been doing similar for a long time, with varying degrees
of how far the repercussions wander into 'rules' territory (wizard-/god-level
PCs blur the boundary) and levels of success.  The new generation of on-line
role-players (UO etc), haven't really sussed this, as far as I'm aware.

Regards,
Tim.

References

Player Killers (Was PBM Report)
MindShift Design <teammsd@mindshiftdesign.com>
Mon, 16 Oct 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Player Killers (Was PBM Report)
MindShift Design <teammsd@mindshiftdesign.com>
Mon, 16 Oct 2000 00:00:00 +0000