Thread: Managing PK
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Old 09-19-2002, 03:10 AM   #2
Neranz Laverani
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: The States
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I can think of three types of PK systems off the top of my head.

Anything Goes
Anyone can kill anyone else, anytime, anywhere.
Pro: Does not put any limits on the player.
Sometimes a high level character may have a valid RP reason to kill a relatively new person.
Con: Does not put any limits on the player.
Invariably you end up with someone who kills newbies because they are playing an "evil" character.

Anything Goes ends up being very abused in a hack and slash game. I would not recommend using it if that is the type of game you are creating. (Unless, of course, you are creating a pure PK mud like Genocide).

If using Anything Goes on a RP mud, I would have a guild of players that is in charge of law enforcement. Someone can kill newbies because they are evil, but the cops will come after them. Having the players control this aspect of the mud will also introduce more role-playing possibilities.

Level Restricted
A common way to keep high level players from killing newbies is to restrict someone to killing people a certain number of levels below themselves and the same number of levels above themselves.
Pro: Keeps high-levels from thumping newbies as a form of entertainment.
Con: RPers bristle at the fact of not being able to decide who they can kill for RP reasons.

This method is useful on hack and slash muds. The level of acceptance of it on RP muds varies.

Arena
Like Anything Goes, anyone can kill anyone else (or try). However, the arena is in a special area. When people are killed in the arena, they do not loose experience or their corpse.
Pro: Gives players a venue to see who is hardest without alienating newbies.
Con: Doesn't create the same feeling of danger that the other two methods can. It won't satisfy people who do it for the thrill.

This method is good for hack and slash muds where the players are generally afraid of PK muds. I have not seen it implemented on a RP mud, so I don't know how it would do there.

Neranz Laverani, Seeker of Knowledge
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