[MUD-Dev] The Relationship between pkers and monster A I?

[Sellers]

Jon Lambert wrote:
> Is it theoretically possible that there are many more immature 
> anti-PKers than immature pro-PKers?  
> Is the inability to deal with or handle harassment, violence, or offensive

> behavior without recourse to authority a sign of immaturity or stunted
> emotional development?  

Typically, lashing out at others without provocation or merely to get a
thrill at someone else's expense or misery is seen as self-centered and
self-absorbed, and thus as immature.  Wanting to be able to get some
entertainment *without* being harassed by others isn't (who's more likely to
be seen as obnoxious and immature -- the guy in line at Disneyland who keeps
smacking another person in the back of the head for kicks, or the person who
tries to get the smacker tossed out of the park?).  So right off the bat,
PKing behavior puts the PKer at sort of a moral disadvantage, no matter what
the actual maturity levels involved are.

A lot of this is context-dependant of course.  I love a good paintball game
(arguably the closest you're going to come to consensual PKing in this
life!), and sometimes even a good game of Quake.  But in situations like
this, everyone going into it knows that the "harassment" of being smacked by
somebody else *is* the game.  

In a MUD, a lot of the appeal for many/most players is the social nature of
the entertainment.  Some MUDs carry this so far as to eliminate PKing as
part of the game system (but most of those in this discussion seem to have
discarded that possibility -- I certainly have).  Thus, there is some
expectation of not being used as a punching bag for someone else; where's
the entertainment in that?  

The delicate balance that a lot of mud-designers want to reach is that where
the entertainment value of the potential danger of being PK'ed exists,
without allowing PKing to take over the game and swamp any other sources of
enjoyment or entertainment.  PKing should be possible, but not without risk,
cost, or recourse.  And other forms of competitive behavior should be
possible too.  IMHO.

Mike Sellers



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