Shattered Kingdoms

Are there rules that you generally follow as a player that are not necessarily hard coded rules but rules you follow because you feel that it creates a sense of good sportsmanship?

Example: Do you not attack someone within a week to let them have a chance? Do you always return items from someone you have killed or maybe you just found?

I am curious on what the general standard is as far as courtesy among other players.

<insert comments about the Empire attacking Exile repeatedly every day again and again when they regularly had 4-6 people on, and the hilarity of this post and what inspired it>

I know what you are referring to and that is not what inspired it.

It actually has to do with something else that happened.

And honestly, I want to know: What do other players EXPECT.

SK golden rule has become "Do unto others before they can do unto you." There is no such thing as good sportsmanship in SK. Only yourself being the better person, expect no favors from anyone else to do so though. In fact expect people to call you names and joke about you for not doing the "best" thing at every opportunity. Expect the worsted, be shocked if something that isnt that happens.

I personally believe this comes from a lack of OOC communication between people. Back in the "golden years" people use to use OOC tells to set up a large group battle. Now if you sent a tell saying you where going to attack people would call you stupid. Chances are the people you where attacking would either double in number or log out. Playing SK for fun is done by fewer and fewer people every year.

what inspired this anyway? You been griefing newbs again syn?

I'm not much of a PKer, but I don't instigate drama/fights unless I know I have the power to back it up. I have no problems surrendering in SK if needed. I still try to fight for things my character believes in regardless. I think I avoid fights personally pretty well, but will help if asked. Diplomacy is a thing. Don't live and die by loot, but have good friends to help you regain it back. Accept the consequences that come with your character's decisions. And most importantly, behave as your character, not as the player.

So not being a PKer, I can't imagine how I would react if I were killing players on the regular, but I don't think I'd go for loot too much unless I needed some myself, and whether I continued PKing that character or not would depend on their reaction to the death. Honorable defeat RP? No OOC/IC whining? I'd probably respect that more and not go for it again. Crying of "it's not fair" without any defeat discussion, diplomacy, or changes to terms would [REDACTED] me off. But also - not being a PKer - I probably wouldn't target people who are clearly trying to avoid PK (non-affiliated people, etc) and I couldn't see myself killing a dude more than once a day. This is a pretty hilarious grand fantasy for someone who tends to go into panic mode when I enter into PK. I miss playing with Ardith and OA; that is the most PK-comfortable I ever was as a player.

Don't tarnish/blemish someone without telling them how the can atone.

Don't get into war without terms.

I always loot what I can use myself. This also includes all consumables.

Aside from what I can use, I hardly ever full-loot someone aside from this except for big players I'm at war with, or characters who have died multiple times and act like it doesn't matter. I also avoid fights with overwhelming odds in my favor like the plague, because I know how annoying it is to only get to fight when people are summon-killing you 5v1. I'm much more interested in a "fair" fight than I am in winning, although I also really want to win.

I expect absolutely no such treatment from any other players. Having expectations of other players based on your own preferences only leads to frustration with the game and is the cause of a great deal of ragequits.

I also don't ever bother trying to PK Ardith. That's one of the stupidest mistakes anyone can make, because the only time he'll ever allow himself to be engaged in PK is when he has an overwhelming numbers advantage or has no possible chance of dying, and if those conditions cannot be met, he'll either avoid you completely or log out. Given that SK's playerbase is dwindling, and it's much more likely that any random player will end up PKing against ardith, I'd also suggest they follow this advice.

Agreed. Also, put Ardith on "foe"

Ardith hardly ever even plays. You need to pay more attention to the game to find out who the current hated figures are. Because now entire cabals log off for weeks at a time if there's even a chance that they might have to engage in PK, and not just a single person.

Okay Ardith, you were right and I was wrong. You DO have real-life haters.