Shattered Kingdoms

Given this apparently new opinion on the staff that every pk needs to be preceded by at least dinner, and dancing or a movie, and then to have a consent form signed by the target, I'm going to remind them that there is no separation between mechanics and RP in this game.

Therefore, once that lobster has been sprung for, the credits roll, and the consent form is signed (and notarized!), failure of the other party to engage in mechanical combat constitutes just as much breach of RP as failure to stroke the hand of the target on the part of the aggressor. There are plenty of players (who involve themselves in factions, and carry limited loot often obtained by pk from their allies) who will log out, or go hide in some random wilderness room and refuse to meet an even challenge (even while their bounty NPCs are screaming about dying in droves). If aggressors are going to be threatened for failing to go buy condoms before they go on the offensive, then the defenders ought to face the same penalties for failure to meet the challenge in a mechanical sense. I'm not talking about people that bail from 6 v 2. I'm talking about people that refuse to go 1 v 1 or engage in similar sized group pk.

I think the fact that mechanics and faction membership are a built-in part of RP and that flowery emotes and says are not the only thing that constitutes RP in this game needs to be remembered on-high. Let's not pretend we can have our cake and eat it too. If you're going to insist on the flowery emotes to enemies, then insist as well on mechanical participation. The same penalties ought to apply.

I'm not opposed to creating IC repercussions for tribunal members who refuse to uphold their oaths.

The tarnish command already exists. Just needs more liberal application, methinks, with some roleplayed harsh words and wrist slaps.

Granting existing imperfections, that's a recipe for either 1) trib drama or 2) YIM tribs.

If tribunal members are not honoring their oath and doing their duty, I would suggest drama in the form of tarnish or new leadership is exactly what is needed. The second item on your list already plagues SK, so I don't know how it applies here more than normal.