Remove duels from the game. (This is not a joke.)

[drah]

With the recent changes designed to prevent cheating, we've already seen a bunch of them leave.

Is this cheating the timed attacks, reacting to stance changes, etc. .... or was it the instant-kill thing (I think that may still be present in the combat system)!?!

Their idea of roleplaying is killing people at the drop of a hat if they feel they have to protect their "honour".

Some of them I guess!?

Not only do they attack anyone who looks at them the wrong way or gets between them and their mob, but they'll /shout insults for half an hour at anyone who declines the challenge. 

Now you seem to be trying to pin the behavior of the some noobs who want to bug you with PVP on ALL those who've enjoyed dueling for it's fun (rather than for the ability to harass people).

Zanzibar, the behavior of an idiotic minority does NOT represent the behavior of ALL those who like dueling.

I enjoy dueling... and if you come to a spawn point and take the mob I'm camping (though I usually run around more)... I either wait for it to respawn, laugh at you IC, mumble something about how "I have to stop daydreaming" or go find another mob. -- Additionally... almost all RP-related duels I get in ... are from other people challenging me.  That alone contradicts the thing you seem to be implying about EVERYONE who likes dueling.

As much as there seems to be a few who've put dueling on a pedestal, there's equally been a few who seem to be saying "if you enjoy RP and/or are good at it.. you CANNOT enjoy dueling".

If you get rid of dueling, it's not going to stop people being abusive when they THINK that you've 'stolen' their kill (which is what seems to have been the catalyst for all this anyway Zanzibar)... they'll still shout, still be abusive, etc.

BUT... that said, I won't deny there are plenty of fools who abuse it... have weak RP as an excuse to duel... and some who don't even say anything and just try attacking you...

So I can understand many reasons that dueling can be annoying.

[Under the moon]

My take on this:

A: Dueling goes against the settings, where it is stated that there is not a great deal of hostility.

B: Dueling is not realistic in that there is no punishment for killing someone.

C: Death is supposed to be rare.

D: Dueling and killing are actually good for RP, but only for a very narrow range of character types.

E: Dueling is done 98% (made up figure) of the time for ooc reasons. "Hey, let's fight to see who is better!"

F: People have no power to stop others who are over-dueling. (grrrr. I hate this the most)

G: Any RPG reject can walk into the game and start dueling almost right away.

I am working on an idea for a system that would address all of these concerns.

A: The first part prevents new players from starting duels for a good bit of time (based on godly powers).

B: The second does not even allow players to kill one another -legally-. Killing another player is deemed illegal no matter the situation. (legality and punishments to be defined in the finished presentation)

C: The third limits how often you can fight in non-lethal duels. (also based on legality)

D: No one is ever killed for crimes. The Settings state that execution rarely happens, so it won't. This includes the vigilantly style killing given in duels as they are now. You simply can not kill someone (legaly).

E: New commands will be created to define what is legal, and what is not. If you type /<illegal command>, you know damn well that you are doing something against the system of law in the game, and can be punished IC. this is not to be confused with ooc punishment of the player, as the game needs to remain fun, even when your character is being punished.

F: You can not do illegal commands until you develop a character that would do such things. This is done by means of a dark quest system. The more dark quests you do, the more illegal commands are unlocked. Yes, I have an IC explanation for this.

G: Doing illegal actions can be detected by certain guards (see empathic skill for reason). People who do 'evil' things will have to avoid these folks at all costs.

H: Prison map. If you complete some of the dark quests that give you access to ilegal commands, and get caught doing one of them, you go to jail. Note: this is not a normal little jail, but an entire -huge- map filled to the brim with quests, NPCs, and unique skills to learn. You do not get out until your term is completed, be it a few days, weeks, or a month, depending on your crimes.

I: Don't like the sound of H? Tough shit. If you can't take the punishments, don't play the role. Simple as that.

J: Those who complete a great number of dark quests -will- have unlimited PvP options. They can steal, kill, and do generally evil things at will. However, it only takes one time getting caught to strip all these powers away. This automatically weeds out the stupid criminals.

K: NPCs will not treat you the same if you become known as a 'bad guy', and many will no longer train you, sell or buy from you, give you quests, or even talk to you. However some -will- give you new quests, and sell you....certain items.

L: The path divides. IF you start down the path of darkness, there is no return. The game changes for you forever. You kill once, and you are forever known as a killer. You steal once, and the guards will watch your every move. You do any illegal action (defined by commands), and they -will- know. That is if you are stupid enough to get caught.

M: Duels are still legal, as long as you do not do it too much, and the other person agrees with it. Face it, everyone gets in a fistfight now and again. Not everyone kills someone every day. Save that for the creatures.

N: All of the above is aimed at getting rid of random duels, creating a system that gives power to those who think dueling is not respectable, but at the same time making a good base for players to act on who wish to be evil, and those who oppose them.

As of now, dueling is a flawed system. It is being tested, so it can not be removed. I suggest removing the ability to fight in all but specific areas (such as the Arena) and limit dueling to so many times an hour. Or charge the dueler for making the challenge, and giving the victim the money if the challenge is refused. Now, that would make them think twice.

[Karyuu]

That sounds very awesome! Except when I think of the amount of time/work needed to make that work, I shudder.. But that's unavoidable for a good system.

[lordraleigh]

A: Dueling goes against the settings, where it is stated that there is not a great deal of hostility.

In that case, this game will never be interesting, because if there isn't conflict, then it would be a pretty monotonous roleplay for many ones. Also it breaks down many guild backgrounds into dust. Great, lets it be a utopian peaceful land of cute bunnies and don't forget to invite Barney and Mickey Mouse to join it!

No one is ever killed for crimes. The Settings state that exicution rarely happens, so it won't. This includes the vigilanty style killing given in duels as they are now. You simply can not kill someone (legaly).

Polluting the lake is one of the few crimes punished with death.

[Allive]

what take out deuls from the game then what we ment to do stand around all day now comeone be real hell im one of the best deulists in the game but do you see me running about the game looking for fights ? no i rp i take up jobs i do quests i actualy dont really practice much. ok yes theres a crowd that just wanna deul but there is also an ignore button and theres also an option if you wanna deul witch i personaly think should be removed. but takeing out the deul feature is just idiotic. why should players lose yet more thing{ points to tria insodent} cause of a few a very few players that do things ? why is it fair that the few should ruin things or the game for all or others that actualy like doing things ?.

[Karyuu]

Lordraleigh: UTM said "rarely happens," and the settings you quote also say "one of the few crimes"

There is much conflict in Yliakum, but the majority of it comes from the Stone Labyrinths. Yliakum is far from a utopia.

[Under the moon]

Sorry, I meant killing and execution as two different things, where-as killing is done by players, and execution is done by a legal system.

[John80sk]

I think a lot of this would be solved by non lethal duels and the faction system (if it's done right).

[Allive]

ok guys 1 for the prison map makeing ppl stay there for a month real life will lose you players i promise you this not to mention you will most likely lose a lot of older players i can say for damn sure if i have to go to jail for a month ill hardly ever be playing within that time and im pritty sure others will do the same thing not to mention new ppl they come in dont know what things do punch in command bang jail for a month you think they are going to stick around hell no there going to uninstall the game quicker than the can blink.

[Under the moon]

I agree. The more you duel, the more you become known to NPCs as a bully. Quest lockouts and higher prices are in your future.

[lordraleigh]

Lordraleigh: UTM said "rarely happens," and the settings you quote also say "one of the few crimes"

There is much conflict in Yliakum, but the majority of it comes from the Stone Labyrinths. Yliakum is far from a utopia.

Just need to be sure, if that is really the Thing, I guess I will have to scrap down the organization I had the idea of making(and that is being done) because it won't fit on PS Settings(Although its conflicts are of another type). And also I won't forget to delete my account and give up on this game because it's supposed to be a relatively peaceful Setting thus characters with conflicts won't be fitting. I'll be looking for another game then with a more interesting, unstable and dynamic setting because peacefullness usually equals to a setting written on stone where players have no influence over it.

[Karyuu]

Allive: It doesn't seem like you fully read the description for the prison map.

Note: this is not a normal little jail, but an entire -huge- map filled to the brim with quests, NPCs, and unique skills to learn.

Does that really sound so bad? Seems like a place you may want to go to, if you are a darker person.

Lordraleigh: Bye-bye! Frankly I am tired of players threatening to leave. So if you're threatening to leave, just go and get it over with. Honestly. I don't really care :)

[Allive]

erm nope if i go its by choice if i get put there for a month that might well be an accident then no i aint going if im forced nope i aint going to stick around. ide rather lose items or tria depending upon the severity of the crime get placed on map then get out. and ill tell you something though loseing items and tria will keep more ppl playing and hurt them enough to think twice about doing it again. but makeing them stay on a single map for a month rl will just make ppl leave.

[lordraleigh]

Lordraleigh: Bye-bye! Frankly I am tired of players threatening to leave. So if you're threatening to leave, just go and get it over with. Honestly. I don't really care

Honestly I am looking for answers on what will be the implications of this internal "peacefulness" that PS will enforced to become according ot the currently settings on whether guilds like the Crimson Order have acceptable backgrounds or not, and you just answered another question I always had.

[zanzibar]

@Krann Omins:  Setting my character to auto-decline challenges doesn't solve the problem because the problem players would still be around.

@drah:  It doesn't seem like a minority.

@UTM:  A very creative and well thought out answer, but also very complex.  Quick and dirty solutions are more likely to be used.

what take out deuls from the game then what we ment to do stand around all day now comeone be real hell im one of the best deulists in the game but do you see me running about the game looking for fights ? no i rp i take up jobs i do quests i actualy dont really practice much. ok yes theres a crowd that just wanna deul but there is also an ignore button and theres also an option if you wanna deul witch i personaly think should be removed. but takeing out the deul feature is just idiotic. why should players lose yet more thing{ points to tria insodent} cause of a few a very few players that do things ? why is it fair that the few should ruin things or the game for all or others that actualy like doing things ?.

You do realize that combat is relatively new to Planeshift?  But from what I can tell, things were ok back then.  If duels were taken out of the game, then people would work together to defend the city against invasion.  And there would still be guild wars.