Player vs Player

Art ©AEG, 2001 ©Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, and not exclusive to TSS. http://www.shadowscapes.com

Nothing spices up life in a game world like a little Player versus Player (PvP) action. In Xaltoria, there is enough to go around if that is what you desire from the game. How much you will actually be affected by it depends entirely on where you start, and what class you choose. In Lazaron, PvP is limited. You can run around and randomly attack people, but you will be penalized with Villain Points. There is nothing to stop anyone from doing anything as that would not be realistic. If you attack someone, however, they can attack you back and so can everyone else. Additionally, you will be punished in Lazaron for attacking someone without cause.

Lazaron PvP

In Lazaron, the only automatically approved PvP would be against those people from Karatta. If there is an invasion from Karatta, both sides can attack without either party gaining villain points. How much will people in Lazaron have to worry about invasions from Karatta? That depends on how much the people of Karatta actually hate what they consider to be the rival Kingdom of Lazaron. They will not be able to just waltz over and start a fight, there is a process to entering another Kingdom, so they will have to make some plans and prepare. It is highly likely, however, that the inhabitants of Lazaron will eventually be subject to random invasions from Karatta. More details can be found on the Lazaron tab above.

If you are a trade person, the chances that you will be directly involved in such invasions are unlikely unless your kingdom falls to Karatta. Hopefully the warriors and magic wielders of your kingdom, as well as the Ruling Estates, won't allow that to happen.

Karatta PvP

In Karatta, the PvP situation is quite different. Anything goes. Karatta is a very torn, unstable, hostile environment in which to reside. If you are choosing a race which begins in Karatta, you should be aware that you will come in contact with frequent PvP.

In Karatta, attacking someone 10 levels lower than you will result in obtaining villain points which is used as a preventative. If they attack you, however, you can then fight back with no consequences. In Karatta the protection of a Ruling Estate and your family will be very important to survival. Making friends and watching your enemies closely will be a necessary practice. For more on PvP in Karatta, click the Karatta tab above.

Penalties

Villain points are obtained when you do something violent which is considered to be dishonorable and unacceptable in the area. If you attack someone you gain a villain point. If you kill them, you gain another. Villain points are costly because they affect how NPC's react to you, including your aspect/god, as well as slowing your advancement. For every ONE villain point you have, it takes 1% more experience points to level. This may not sound like a lot, but if you keep accumulating them, it will become almost impossible to level in a reasonable amount of time.

Villain points will be taken away in 14 real life days. However it is 14 days for EACH point. So if you have two points, it will take 28 days for them to go away. Further, if you get another villain point during the time you are waiting for others to go away, the timer is reset on ALL villain points. The system is designed to allow for the occasional fight due to honor related issues and accidents, but punish those who would consistently harm other players. In Lazaron, you can fight legally without either party gaining villain points by CHALLENGING the other person. They must, of course, accept the challenge.

More detailed information will be posted about PvP over the next few months. Join our forums to discuss your thoughts and ideas regarding Player vs. Player activity.

While PvP is always fun, being killed is not. That is just part of the whole ordeal and unless you’re super good, bound to happen. What ruins the experience of PvP is when people take it too far. They don't stop at just killing you and reaping whatever reward there may be and moving on. Some people just don't know when to stop. They will do all manner of annoying things to make the whole PvP experience unappealing.

One of the most damaging things is corpse camping. For those of you fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with this term, corpse camping is when someone kills you, then remains at your body instead of moving on. They usually cause a problem for anyone who wants to help you like clerical types etc. Further, they may even kill you when you get back to your body and of course this is further frustration and annoyance. This has been known to happen in other games, and ruin the PvP experience.

Because this seems to be the most major problem that we can do anything about, TSS will apply a 'corpse camping' policy. The policy is pretty simple. Kill, and move on. If you kill someone, wait at their body, then kill them again when they try to get their items, you can be reported by the victim, and you will get a villain point applied to you by a GM. If you continue, you can be looking at a lot of villain points and finally suspension.

Further enforcement will be directed at this issue and others that may arise to help keep the PvP experience as enjoyable as possible. If you have a PvP issue that you would like to see addressed, please post it on our forums.

Player Estates may find themselves in positions where they have a disagreement with another Estate. When this happens, war can be declared between the two, and they can in fact battle. However, because of the different societal structures of Lazaron and Karatta, the process to War is a little different. In Lazaron, you must first DECLARE WAR on another Estate. This is done by sending a messenger to the Estate which will deliver both in written form and verbal form that war has been declared. This is a necessary step to allow the two Estates to be 'flagged' for PvP with one another so their members do not obtain villain points. Now until a truce is called, someone surrenders, or the attacking Estate obtains victory, all members of both Estates will be automatically PvP to one another.

In Karatta, you can declare war as a protocol in which case it is announced to the general populace that you are at war and it will also announce the victor. However since Karatta is free for all PvP, this is not necessary to avoid any kind of punishment.

In either case, declaring war gives you 'fan fare'. The Kingdom is notified by various messengers and heralds that indeed war between the Estate of Joe and the Estate of Jim has been declared! The victor in either case either captures a Keep owned by the Estate, or causes the other Estate to surrender, and hand over the Keep without further fighting. If a truce is called, neither side wins and everyone gets to hang on to their Keeps.

Much more information on all the systems, including PvP between Player Estates will be released as the systems are tested and confirmed.

Kingdom vs. Kingdom PvP will be some of the most exciting and fun opportunities. The first step to having any PvP encounters with another Kingdom will be getting into their territory or them getting into yours. This is difficult because of the Rift. It divides the two Kingdoms and is virtually impossible to simply 'walk through'. There are, however, several ways in which the Rift will be traversable.

Briefly, their are two methods to allow Rift crossing and those will include a higher level player spell which Necromancers, Summoners, and Druids will be able to learn, as well as the Rift responding to certain astrological events. Getting back to your home Kingdom can be accomplished by the use of special talismans that can be obtained from a temple. These talismans will provide a one-time teleportation back to the temple. This allows players to 'soul bind' themselves in the other Kingdom yet still have a way to get home.

Once you're in the other Kingdom, you may have to wander around for a while before you find some action. If you wander through a House territory where guards have been assigned to patrol, you are likely to get some grief from them. This will also alert the House there are enemies about. If you're planning a stealth attack in a certain area, you may want to utilize the abilities of scouts to sneak about and make sure it is safe.

PvP between Kingdoms, while pretty much 'free for all', does have some restrictions. Villain points can indeed be obtained if you are overly obnoxious about it. While killing someone from another Kingdom has no penalty, corpse camping and griefing are not taken lightly. PvP between the Kingdoms is meant to be a fun and exciting time. We know it will be frustrating to die or be invaded by an enemy, but aside from that we will try to minimize the hassles that have become a major problem in other game ventures.

To sum up Kingdom vs. Kingdom, the following things Occur:

If you are killed:

1. You die.

2. You lose experience associated with dying, however the penalties are cut in half.

3. Your money is lootable, and anything you\'re holding would fall to the ground and be lootable.

4. You will need to get back to your body/grave within 1 hour and collect your items or they WILL be lootable.

You will have 15 minutes of protection after you are resurrected or after you RIP to the nearest shrine/temple in which you will not suffer further exp penalties if you die. So if you make a run back to your body and you are killed along the way, you will lose no EXP. Just the inconvenience of having to go back to your body - again.

If you kill someone:

1. You will get to loot whatever money they have on them, and take whatever weapons or items they may have been holding that were not bonded to them.

2. You will gain Honor points which can be translated to devotion points, (used for gaining EXP back after death) skill points, (used to buy more skills and kits) or attribute points (used to raise attributes like strength, dexterity, etc.).

3. Your Honor rating will increase. Honor ratings will be displayed on the website if you choose to participate. This is a toggle, which means you can choose to have it displayed or not.

Lazaron was designed to be a more secure place to live than Karatta. The Kingdoms were created to provide different kinds of role playing experiences. Karatta was designed to provide the opportunity to engage in PvP on a regular basis, or as often as you like, without any 'trouble' or penalty.

Lazaron was designed to provide role-playing experiences with PvP on a regulated and occasional basis. In Lazaron, you cannot just walk around attacking people. If a person does something to you that warrants physical violence, than you will be able to attack them with no consequence. Things that would warrant violence include, but are not limited to, physically attacking someone, violent actions such as punch, kick, smack, spit, etc., or getting caught stealing from someone.

PvP can also freely occur between two rival Estates or two Estates that are at war. Also, families can PvP between one another. IE: The Jones are upset at the Smiths for something a Smith did to a Jones. The founder of the Jones can then declare a 'feud' with the Smiths.

On an individual level, players can PvP if any of the above mentioned situations occur, but there is also the Duel system. This allows a player to challenge another player to a duel. The challenged person has to accept the duel for the fight to be legal. This provides a way for people to defend honor or friends and family without being penalized.

There are also 'pits' around the world that can be compared to a 'PvP Arena'. In the pits, any kind of Player vs. Player action can take place without penalty. Items cannot be looted, EXP is not lost, virtually nothing happens to you other than you die, and will suffer death effects upon coming back to life.

Should players in Lazaron engage in non-consensual or unprovoked PvP, meaning that there was no challenge accepted or that nothing was done that warranted PvP, villain points will be applied. Yes you can still attack people, yes you can still kill them, but you will gain villain points.

To learn more about villain points and how they affect you, see the Villain Points.

PvP in KarattaPvP in Karatta is markedly different than in Lazaron. While Lazaron has a regulated PvP system, Karatta is pretty much a free-for-all. In other words, in Karatta you can kill whomever you want to for any reason.

The only restriction to PvP in Karatta is the relative levels of the two parties. You cannot attack someone 5 levels below you unless they attack you first, or unless they actively assist a person attacking you. Attacking someone 5 levels below you without provocation will result in Villain Points.

Villain points are somewhat rare in Karatta. They are still possible to obtain, but not generally from PvP. Some of the ways to obtain villain points by PvP in Karatta include,but are not limited to, attacking players more than five levels lower than you, corpse camping, and killing someone more than once in a 15 minute time frame. Corpse camping is explained further under the tab 'Corpse Camping'.

The multi-kill timer is designed to protect people from being killed over and over again. If you kill someone and meet up with them somewhere else within 15 minutes and THEY attack YOU, then no villain points will apply. However if you kill someone then find themand kill them again within 15 minutes, you will obtain villain points.

You will want to take a look at Villain Points, PvP FAQ and Rewards for more information on PvP in Karatta.

While The Seventh Sun does not want to promote PvP, we do support it as part of the game. We feel that if people engage in PvP there should be risks and rewards outside of living or dying.

Below we have listed the possible PvP conditions and the rewards. We have also listed the 'risk' involved in the various situations.

I find the need to express once again, that there are ways in the game for players to 'bond' or keep their items after death. The talk of taking items/weapons/money is assuming that players have not properly prepared or taken advantage of these things. It is to outline the possibility.

PvP in Lazaron:

In Lazaron there are only regulated conditions in which PvP is permitted.To learn more about PvP in Lazaron, explore the link to the right.

Dueling: If two players in Lazaron consent to a duel, they are able to fight one another without either of them obtaining villain points.

The reward for winning a duel is of course winning, but also 'Duel' points apply. These points are accumulated to give you an over all duelist rating. You do not have to participate in this rating system, the choice is yours. Duelist ratings will be posted on the web site.

The risks involved in dueling are that if you lose, any money you have falls to the ground and can be taken by the victor. Any items you were holding that were not bound to you will fall to the ground and can also be taken by the victor. You will lose some EXP, but only half of what you would normally lose at your level.

Pit Fights: Scattered around the world you will find 'pits'. These can be compared to arenas and people can enter and fight one another without risk of penalty. In a pit, however, you neither lose nor gain anything when you die or win a fight. It is simply a way for people to fight one without risk.

If you die you must be resurrected and you will have the normal negative death effects, but other than that, no harm will befall you or your items.

Provoked PvP: If you have not attacked another player, stolen from them and been caught in the act, performed a hostile action to them like spitting on them or kicking, slapping or punching them and have not accepted a duel, you are considered not to have provoked them. The person who attacks without sufficient provocation will get villain points.

If the intended victim kills the attacker, the victim is be able to take any money or items the attacker held and would gain a duel point for winning. If the attacker kills the victim, they get one villain point for attacking, and another for the murder. They would get the same rewards the victim would have if they had killed the attacker (the money and items), minus the duel point.

House vs. House: If you belong to a House at war with another House, you and any member of the opposing House can engage in PvP at any time without receiving villain points. Normal PvP rules apply with rewards, EXP loss and Duel Points. This also applies to Family vs. Family.

Re-write offering more technical information about the pvp system. Refer to Lazaron > About Lazaron > PvP tab for general information. --Xivory ^(talk) 00:53, 16 April 2008 (CDT)

PvP in Karatta:

In Karatta, PvP is much more common and you can attack anyone you want. You don't need an 'acceptable' reason. The only stipulation that really applies is that you will get villain points should you attack someone 10 levels or more below you without being provoked. The reward system is a little different.

Player vs. Player: When two players fight in Karatta, the victor gets the normal rewards mentioned above but they also gets 'Kill Points'. These Kill Points will accumulate and display on the web site much like Lazaron's 'Duel Points'. EXP penalties apply.

House vs. House: If you belong to a House at war with another House, you and any member of the opposing House can engage in PvP at any time without penalty of villain points. Normal PvP rules apply with rewards, EXP loss and Kill Points. This also applies to Family vs. Family.

Pit Fights: Scattered around the world you will find 'pits', comparable to arenas, which can be entered and players may battle one another there without penalties. In a pit, however, you neither lose nor gain anything when you die or win a fight. It is simply a way for people to fight one another without risk. If you die you must be resurrected and you will have the negative death effects, but no harm will befall you or your items.

In many role playing games, punishment for unacceptable behaviour is offen difficult. It generally results in suspensions or other such consequences. In TSS Villain Points are used as punishment. You may have heard of something similar in other games, but we will go over them to make certain you understand exactly what a villain point (VP) is.

Villain points are applied to a character when they do something unacceptable. They can be applied to a player either automaticallyor by a GM. This accomplishes a number of things.

VP's take away 1% of your experience both skill and overall. That means for every one VP you have, it will take you 1% more in experience to level or gain skill. This may not sound too bad, but when you start collecting VP's, it can really add up.

VP's also cause NPC's to treat a character differently. This means some may not sell to you, and others may physically attack you. Depending on what deity you worship, you may even find your god giving you the cold shoulder.

The amount of VP's it takes to upset your god depends on the deity's outlook on things. Once that amount has accumulated, however, your diety can refuse you any kind of aid which could result in great difficulties if you should die and need to be resurrected.

In Lazaron a certain number of VP's will flag you as constantly PvP to everyone. This means anyone can attack you without fearing punishment.

Villain points stay on for 14 days each. So if you had two villain points they would stay for 28 days. Further, if you have a VP and you have had it for 6 days of the 14, and you get another, the timer resets.

After obtaining 5 villain points, the EXP penalty doubles. So at five VP's you would have a 10% EXP drain. At 10 VP's, you are flagged and GMs will be watching you very closely.

As stated throughout this web site, VP's are most commonly gained by performing hostile acts against someone. Unprovoked attacking, killing, getting caught stealing from someone, and violent actions such as spitting, kicking, smacking, etc., can all result in villain points.

The only class that is exempt for stealing is the Rogue class. They can get caught stealing and will not get villain points, but they will be flagged for PvP just the same. This means you can attack them and have no fear of getting villain points in Lazaron. In Karatta, even if the thief is 10 levels or lower than you, you can attack them if you catch them stealing.

Aside from all that, there are other things which will result in VP's being applied to your character by GM's if they see the need. Any action that would result in a VP will prompt a warning notice to be displayed to you as notification that if you continue with your action, you WILL get a villain point.