First off, I think it would be a nice idea for the more experienced players to maybe blog about roleplaying, pvp and theresuch here on the forum. Maybe this could be bundled with some kind of "School of Roleplay" and reduce the amout of reoccuring discussions on "Being evil" and PVP-related topics, and maybe it would help the RP a great deal.
I settle mostly with Tessra and Caraick here. As far as my little in-game experience goes, most of these issues spring from the OOC causes, let it be godmodding players or (currently) unbalanced rules/game mechanics. These issues should be addressed seperately.
davante, PVP just means player versus player. It does not implicate any form of duel in the sense of a duel. It could be an ambush in a dark alley, a brawl in a tavern or someone dropping pies at another character. To make a believable game world, it is necessary to make a certain amount of PVP possible which does not break the balance of power while maintaining an easy access to new characters and players.
What you are addressing here is not the issue of PVP, it is the issue of "balance of power" if I understood you correctly. When I speak of balance of power, I mean the relation between player behaviour, player interaction and game mechanics: players who played for a long time tend to have stronger characters when it comes to numbers and equipment (rightfully so!) and also more knowledge about the setting (this depends on how many information is accessable by new players - as for PlaneShift, it is difficult to play a scientist who has lived her or his whole life in Hydlaa as a new player: there is simply not enough information around OOCly since most of it needs to be obtained ICly. This leads to difficulties in fleshing out character backgrounds or RP a believable character.) Players with longer game experience also have connections to other players (Alliances, Guilds, friendships between characters and so on) which make them althogether relatively strong. Newer players or players whose game style differs from the majority of other players are usually very weak when it comes to numbers (crunch) and background knowledge and social connections (fluff).
Or, in short: balance of power = new players/characters are weaker than older players/characters because of crunch and fluff. A new character/player that is suddenly stronger than she or he should be is endangering the balance of power. Example: Godmodding ("I wield a sword of [Insert random endboss here]-destruction. I hit you. I do 10^10 dmg") which is an extremer version of a rule-break (not letting your character get hit in a roleplayed fight despite the fact that your opponent is way better in fighting than you, crunch-wise).
If one only applies the balance of power to a game, this could e.g. end in older players taking advantage of newer players to the point that it becomes very difficult for a new player to progress beyond a certain threshold. This could be poison to a MMOPG since it could tear a community apart. On the other hand, it could become a thriving force behind the game, and I think EVE takes said approach
(see this wikipedia article).
On the other hand, if you restrict it the balance of power too much, this could lead to the same effect: the game becomes uninteresting to a part of the community, this time the more experienced players. Sure, they can start new characters, then again, why should they?
Your idea of punishing PVP in general falls in latter category. Remember, you talk about game mechanics here. And heavy punishment for PVP, crunch wise, might not be what the community is looking for. I don't want my dunrken dwarf be punished heavily because he started a brawl in Kada-El's - sure, he might be thrown in jail or even expelled from the city, but that is fluff and a whole different issue. And if my paladin finally manages to kill the assassin that has killed his master, I don't want him to be punished by the mechanics either just because he just killed someone. And neither my vagabond after he raided a merchant's convoy. The mechanics support the overall balance of the gameplay, the balance of power. I want to be able to play spies, vagabonds and assassins as well as paladins, cooks and healers. PlaneShift features a system that requires to understand the power of the community. Somebody killed your character, or you want a bounty on someone's head? Go to a guild that does bounty hunting, work out a contract. Or contact a "good" alliance with the information about a really, really evil character. Then watch what happens. Be sure to have the right shader settings so you could enjoy the fireworks.
Now, try to raid a merchant on the other hand is really difficult. You have strong characters on patrol in no time because there is a challege and, if you are unlucky, you will be getting godmodded.
As it stands, I see no need to punish PVP at the moment. What the community could to do improve the situation is:
- Found a "School of Roleplay" with blogs and discussions.
- Behave maturely and polite. Maintain the separation between OOC and IC. Keep within the borders that are set by the crunch.
- Plan bigger events or plots in a cooperative manner. This could be done with the help of the GM and Dev team (if latter do have the time: do some "Plothooks of the Month"). In general, keep the game world dynamic. And yes, this means arguments, discussions and lots of work.
- OOC events, something along the lines of "Good description day" and "Roleplay Awards" to encourage players to improve their RP.
- Help with the development. Apply. Work on the wiki. Post suggestions.
- And remember: Report a bug a day, it keeps the crash away!