I see PS is developing nicely ^^
anyway - - I just came from Lineage2, which is all about pvp,pk,siege etc, you level up and get better grades to kick
other players harder.
but that's what whole game l2 is about.
as for PS and its rpg feeling, implementing such system would be suicidal.
best idea is here:
http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=24374.0EvE really has it done well.
and PS is much like EvE, with its great advantage over L2 that you can have your own character build,
you can go and harvest precious resources instead of killing-that-stupid-mob-thousands-times.
It is possible to take EvE system directly into PS, making great cities and surrounding areas a hi-lvl security zones,
with countryside less secured and with some no-mans land. There can be patrols in low-sec areas that will hunt pk
Add to it some kind of greater conflic between good & evil, like some major religies, so the players could join
one side or the other (or stay neutral) and gain bonus(god's favor?) while killing members of opposite force (and penalty after killing their side)
If results of such conlict could have impact on the world (like city being overrun by evil after they besiedged it) this would give players something to - guild can then join forces to protect some valuable mine somewhere in the wasteland from common enemy, instead of fight each other.
uhm, i think that there is quite "natural" way of reducing PvP, that is, make players dependand on one another.
the more cooperation needed to acheive wanted goal, the less fight between bored pc.
see the EvE, where alone you will be noone, where you must work together with others or you will die.
there is very little pvp between low-lvl chars, as mentioned in link given above, but there are often raids and skirmishes between corporation operatives.
on the other hand you have Lineage2, where you can play from beginning to the very 78 lvl almost alone, clan not needed, friends not needed, only bots/dualbox etc. there you get killed just outside newbie towns.
Since PS has nice skills system that coul be developed further to allow truly support characters to arrive, no inteligent person would kill an alchemist who supplies entire city with potions, or enchanter who creates nice items, or a smith who crafts something needed, cause they can stop trading with that pk.
ok this post is getting already too long... one last word about dropping equipment. this can be solved with giving a "soulbound" properity to items, and at the same time setting some limit of how many "soulbound" items player can equip(this could be increased by some skill or what). these would stay with player after death, but all other items in inventory would have a certain % chance to be dropped.
Regards,