Pvp flag (PvP Help)

The administration has long felt that a problem exists in the game: that some players may be bullied by others via the combat system, with the result being either death, merciful, or blessing. Regardless of the result, this bullying has had the result of directing some players away from the game. We have defined the problem in the following manner:

• Players are forced into the Player vs Player Combat system without their consent.

While it can be argued that this is the way the game is played, this administration believes that the game may be played in other ways.

We've tried to resolve this particular problem in the history through various ways: we've deleted repeat offenders and those who sought to drive other players away through their combative actions. In more recent history, we've instituted the Blessing of Mandos in hopes of preventing these problems from occurring. Sadly, none of these implementations have had the desired effect of providing a safe and consensual environment away from the problems of real life. This is, and always shall be a fantasy world free from the trappings of the mundane; to that effect, we believe that our players should not be required to participate in interpersonal strife against their will. In order to resolve this problem, we have decided to change the manner in which Player vs Player Combat is initiated:

An opt-in three-state PvP flag has been created. The states are 'off', 'on', and 'merciful'. The PvP flag affects the gameplay in the following ways:

Combat:

• A player cannot be attacked by another player unless the victim has the flag in 'on' or 'merciful' state.
• A player cannot attack another player unless the attacker has the flag in 'on' or 'merciful' state.
• A player with their flag set to 'merciful' cannot die from combat with another player. Instead, they will be knocked unconscious as if the killer were 'merciful' towards them. While in this case the killer cannot be fined for murder, they are still responsible for the attempt.
• A player with their flag set to 'merciful' cannot kill another player. Instead, the victim will always be only knocked unconscious as in the above case.

Theft:

• A player cannot steal from another player unless the thief has the flag set to 'on' or 'merciful'.

Contracts:

• A player cannot be contracted unless the victim has the flag set to 'on'.
• A player cannot place a contract unless the contractor has the flag set to 'on'.

Find/Sense/Sniff/Track:

• A player with the flag set to 'ON' or 'MERCIFUL' may run finds on anyone, always.
• A player with the flag set to 'OFF' may not run finds on players with other flag statuses, with the following exceptions:
  • you can always find MUTUAL friends, guildmates or clanmates
  • you can always find your party members
  • you can always find wanted players
  • you can run finds on players whom you may fight regardless of the flag status, that is spar opponents and mutual guild enemies.
  • a player without the flag (ie. set to 'off') who is in Mordor can run finds on anyone, but he/she will only get a location if the target is either without the flag (and anywhere in Arda) or with the flag AND also in Mordor. This means that no location will be produced if the target has the flag and is not in Mordor. Such find attempt will end up costing only half of the usual EP.
• A player with the flag set to 'OFF' who is outside Mordor may run finds on any other player with the other flag statuses, however:
  • A precise location will only be produced if the target is not in Mordor. Half the standard find EP loss will occur similar to the previous case.

Shield:

• A player with the flag set to 'OFF' who shields a player with any other flag status will find that shielding will not work in PvP combat: it will work only against NPCs.

These are the conditions which must be met in order to change the flag status to 'less dangerous' (ie. on->off, on->merciful, merciful->off):

• At least 24 hours of AGE must have passed since the flag was last changed.
• Player must not be in combat (i.e. all parties must 'stop').
• Player must not be in a lawless land.
• Player must not be wanted, or in some other lawless state (such as a punishment).
• Player must be in a courthouse.
• At least 7 days (of realtime) have passed since the player's last lawsys crime.
• Player must not have any pending lawsys fines or subpoenas.
• Player must not be contracted.

These are the conditions which must be met in order to change the flag status to 'more dangerous' (ie. off->on, off->merciful, merciful->on):

• At least 24 hours of AGE must have passed since the flag was last changed.
• Player must not be in combat (i.e. all parties must 'stop').
• Player must not be in a lawless land.
• Player must not be wanted, or in some other lawless state (such as a punishment).
• Player must be in a courthouse.

Exceptions to the flag (these will make the flag count as 'on', but will not turn it on per-se):

• A player in a lawless land will be attackable (and killable) by anyone.
• A victim of a mutual guild war will be attackable (and killable) by the enemy guild members.
• Spars are fully mutual acts which exist outside the lawsys, so any player may spar with any other player.
• Handcuffing/shackling a wanted player is possible for PvP-off players.

The command to change your PvP status is 'pvp'.