Originally posted by ramlambmoo
There is no random duelling IC.
What if your character likes randommly attacking people? Its conceivable, especially if you were Chaotic Evil. You\'re just making a generalisation because of the behavior of some people.
Absolutely not, no. Please read on.
Originally posted by ramlambmoo
Or shouldn\'t, if they strive to be(come) good RPers.
Thats your opinion, that it is required that you must follow these rules to be in character.
Also not, the distinct diffrence is IC and OOC, as I\'ll try to expres in the end.
Originally posted by ramlambmoo
Therefore, even if a character disobeys the IC interpretation, the player of that character won\'t ignore the OOC convention.
How are you to simultaneously obey these rules OOC but disobey them IC? Using the example of the theif or brigand again, are you to walk up to someone and OOC ask them what their skill level is, whether you want magic in a duel, etc, stand around for them to reply and then start a fight? To me, that breaks the realism more, and defeats the entire purpose.
Yes, absolutely. When I receive a random duelling request, I am
always going to ignore it. I know that a true RPer will never just send a duelling request. Instead, they will state that they have an IC reason to attack you. In almost all cases, you will know the reason or that there is one.
You won\'t necessarily need to be so really specific about things in that case, but the general idea remains, for the simple reason that while your char might be very high in level compared to mine (or vice-versa), this difference might be due to a whole lot of factors that are entirely OOC. It is this problem of the actual levels being 100% RL related and 0% RP related that makes the duelling system almost inherently unusable for IC fights. These are better RP\'d instead of fought, which has the added benefit of allowing a lot more interesting battles, though that also requires a high level of discipline on both sides.
If, however, you use the duelling system for RP, then you must make sure that the ensuing fight will actually have some realistic resemblance of the RP of both players.
The effort to make sure that your \"target\" knows that you are IC, and a trustworthy RPer (OOC, not IC, mind you!) will usually be what counts in whether or not a duel will be accepted or not.
Even when you\'re chaotic evil and mad, you will not simply send a challenge to someone OOC-ly. Instead, you will RP that, if your wish to fight is actually IC and not OOC jerkiness. Also, you would make sure t5hat you only attack people of whom you are sure they also are IC, _and_ you would also make sure that the situation they RP actually gives an opportunity for you to attack. In almost no way would you manage to randomly attack someone who just moments ago RP\'d \"/me looks around warily\".
The scene would then be something like this:
Madman: *giggles silently, looking at Victim*
Victim:
Madman: *draws the dagger and moves closer, stifling the giggles*
Victim: *is still not suspicious*
Madman: *suddenly jumps forward to stab Victim*
Victim: *is caught by surprise and barely manages to evade the first blow and assumes a defensive position*
Only now is the duelling request to be sent!
Also, since the plaza is IC-ly properly guarded, you would then have to RP beign arrested if you get caught, which you will also have to RP. In no way can you just duel and walk off. These are the problems that are most easily \"overlooked\" by those that \"RP chaotic / evil chars\". I am very much inclined that it is ignoring on purpose, but I might be wrong. If I were wrong, though, then all the trouble Monketh was having with trying to RP a guard division would never have arisen, so it is fair to assume that almost all of those \"RP\"ers are merely out to very OOC-ly do some PvP.
Edit: And even then, out of courtesy, you would likely relocate the actual fight to somewhere else. IC you wouldn\'t move locations, but OOC-ly you would, as convention to keep the plaza clean./Edit
I sincerely hope that this explains things. 