So basically what you're saying, Zanzi, is that evil shouldn't be toned down for RPs because everyone's smart enough to not be disturbed by it, yet it doesn't matter because most don't RP evil properly anyway (i.e. RP 'Shakespearian evil')?
That's not even slightly what I'm saying.
Shakespearian evil and Tolkienesque evil are not simply toned down real world evil.
It's entirely proper to RP evil in a Shakespearian style.
A lot of people in game do a good job of RPing evil.
Playing a rapist and doing a realistic job of it in the game is NOT ok. It violates quite a few of the rules, it's rude and mean spiritted, it's hazardous, it's potentially triggering to certain players, it's just a plain bad idea.
But you admit that Shakespearian and Tolienesque evil is substantially more toned down than "doing a realistic job", by saying that real-world evil is "hazardous, mean-spirited and a bad idea", but the other stuff isn't.
And when I say 'properly' I don't mean that it's bad RP, I mean that it doesn't actually reflect 'proper evil' - proper evil where when somebody rapes somebody else, they get HIV and die slowly.
That's evil, not this nice clean 'duelling to the death' that goes on.
The thing about Shakespearian evil is that it's not real. I'm just wondering if we can really expect to create a world that lacks a shadow. It's indeniable that darkness like this is inherent in any real society - you might even say that without evil to make people seek each other out for safety, there would
be no society, or at least not one recognisable to us. And PS lacks that edge. But is that a good thing, or a bad thing?
