Your personal rules of random PVP?

[Savingsupertokyo]

Today I landed in Dustwallow and mounted up to head towards Onyxia, that sly beast with the newly uncontrollable aggro.

As I was riding I came upon a level 31 Human Warlock named Sassafras. I dismounted and walked behind her for a while and she didn't notice me. I wasn't trying to sneak up on her or anything.

Then my instincts kicked in. I smelt burned flesh and tasted blood in my mouth in anticipation. Fireblast. Frost nova. Cone of cold. All critical hits.

I took off my robe and pants and cannibalized her.


Then I was ashamed, because I had broken my rules of pvp. #1) Red = Dead. #2) Unless they have a clever emote/name/guild tag that makes me laugh

She was in the guild <Respek Knuckles> and I laughed. I /apologize and rode on to two hours of wiping on Onyxia. Karma?

[Walkiry]

My rules of open PvP, when I was still playing, were 2:

1. /wave at some of the enemies while they 5+-to-1 proceeded to pwn my poor night elven butt.
2. /clap at the enemy who very skillfully managed to sneak up on my 5 to 10 levels lower self while I was at half health or lower fighting some random mob.

Didn't have a chance to make any other rules, as these covered all the random PvP I encountered.

[Brista]

I generally reckon that anyone who picked pvp servers is fair game, either because they picked the server type with their eyes open or because they need to have their eyes opened.

I don't have hard and fast rules, I just go with the flow of the situation. If I've been pvping somewhere already then I'm very likely to kill anything I can and die trying to kill anything I can't

The game gives no penalties for losing while rewarding winning so there really is nothing to lose, plus it's terrific when you achieve an underdog win

Things I try to avoid are:
- hiding at the back of a big fight, keeping myself alive while others take the risks (unless I'm doing something of significant tactical value like healing)
- exploiting
- denying the opponent a chance to escape. I've been accused of corpse camping a few times but only by people who felt that after I killed them they had a right to come back to the territory I had contested with them and won. So I won't say I don't corpse camp - if I'm in a particular spot and someone keeps coming back over and over I'll cheerfully kill them every time
- /afking out of battlegrounds
- making deals with opposing faction players
- passing up an opportunity for fair pvp. While I don't have anything against unfair pvp, I've killed a level 2 at one point, I particularly seek fights where you don't know who is going to win when it starts and try not to slink off if there's the prospect of one
- targetting the player behind the character (griefing, psychological stuff, etc)

[Tal]

Today I landed in Dustwallow and mounted up to head towards Onyxia, that sly beast with the newly uncontrollable aggro.

As I was riding I came upon a level 31 Human Warlock named Sassafras.&nbsp; I dismounted and walked behind her for a while and she didn't&nbsp; notice me.&nbsp; I wasn't trying to sneak up on her or anything.

Then my instincts kicked in.&nbsp; I smelt burned flesh and tasted blood in my mouth in anticipation.&nbsp; Fireblast.&nbsp; Frost nova.&nbsp; Cone of cold.&nbsp; All critical hits.&nbsp;

I took off my robe and pants and cannibalized her.
Then I was ashamed, because I had broken my rules of pvp.&nbsp; #1) Red = Dead.&nbsp; #2) Unless they have a clever emote/name/guild tag that makes me laugh

She was in the guild <Respek Knuckles> and I laughed.&nbsp; I /apologize and rode on to two hours of wiping on Onyxia.&nbsp; Karma?
[right][snapback]89976[/snapback][/right]

What a challenge that player 29 levels lower than you must have presented. And that string of critcals - surely sign of a fluke in game mechanics and not the vast disparity in levels + equipment. To me I think the crowning unglory was disrobing and cannibalizing your victim. Class moves there.

But then again I'm a carebear. I prefer a honorable and fair fight. In group PvP in the world I seek out opponents that are within levels of me. I don't attack an opponent that is engaged with a mob and will let them med up before I attack.

For example the other day I was heading to Molten core when I saw a flagged paladin fighting a pair of spiders in the Burning Steppes. As I closed a undead rogue unstealthed and dropped the paladin to 1/3 or 1/4 health in his opening moves. I dismounted and engaged the rogue. I'm sure that the horde will see this as an example of Alliance zerging but if its not a fair fight then I will jump in to even the odds. After all the rogue had a chance to finish off the paladin while trying to evade me. About as much chance as the paladin had when the rogue jumped him at less than half health.

Or another example from yesterday. I was escorting a level 31 hunter who was flagged with my priestess who was 35 to the Vile Reef. He sees a level 37 tauren shaman fighting off 3 37 to 39 ogres and decides to pull one of the mobs off the Shaman to help him. I rolled my eyes knowing the predictable result. The shaman finished the fights, medded and drank and promptly attacked the level 31 hunter while he was still trying to kill the 37 ogre. But oh how the Shaman ran when he took the full force of my mind blast and I dotted him with SW:P. :whistling:

My rules and these are the rules I lived by when I was on the pvp server in Beta (I got an undead rogue to 43 before end of beta).

+ or - 5 levels and red = dead. Unless they attack me first and its on like Donkey Kong.

Do not attack an opponent who is busy fighting another mob. Sure I spent more time face down in the dirt for extending that courtesy but you don't lead by anything but example.

If you do fight honorably do not desecrate your victim. No spitting, no sitting on their corpses, no cannibalizing. The worst I have ever done was to chain sap a prominent warlock outside of Booty Bay. But I paid for that sin when his friends showed up. I eventually had to log because they were so intent on corpse camping. ;)

Allow your opponent time to med and return to the battle. Corpse camping is unseeming unless they have done it to you.

Group PvP is slightly different in that there will frequently be 2 or 3 on 1 kind of odds. Do your best but do not gank opponents who are trying to re-enter battle.

We have a real problem on Stormrage that the Alliance for so long were so bad with behavior in PvP that many horde have decided to forgo PvP all together. The imbalance has gotten so bad that many of the alliance have re-rolled horde to be able to PvP. But even some of them have seen the brunt end of dishonorable play and are only doing battlegrounds. Group PvP in the wild is very rare and a lot of the reason for it being scarce lies on the shoulders of players who do not play honorably.

[vor_lord]

My rules of open PvP, when I was still playing, were 2:

1. /wave at some of the enemies while they 5+-to-1 proceeded to pwn my poor night elven butt.
2. /clap at the enemy who very skillfully managed to sneak up on my 5 to 10 levels lower self while I was at half health or lower fighting some random mob.

Didn't have a chance to make any other rules, as these covered all the random PvP I encountered.
[right][snapback]89985[/snapback][/right]

No one is forcing you to read (let alone post in) threads about a game that you:

1. Didn't play very much
2. Hated when you did play it
3. Don't play anymore

Lighten up! :D :P :lol:

[Walkiry]

Lighten up!&nbsp; :D&nbsp; :P&nbsp; :lol:
[right][snapback]89994[/snapback][/right]

Hey! Who says I'm gloomy? :) <- See? :P ;)

Besides, things like open PvP work the same for a lot of games, but you don't hear many people bitching when they are headshotted in Unreal Tournament, do you? Errrr, wait... ^_^

[Artega]

Red=dead, regardless of level difference. They chose a PvP server, and if they don't like it, they can go roll on a PvE server.

No mercy. If they're fighting a mob, I may let them kill it and loot it before I attack, or I may kill them before they know I'm there, or I may harm them enough so that the mob kills them and they suffer durability loss. Depends on how malicious I'm feeling.

Go for the weakest player first. If I see a high level escorting a low level, I will kill the low level first. If I'm participating in roaming group PvP, I will go for the recently raised before the established people.

[Tal]

Red=dead, regardless of level difference.&nbsp; They chose a PvP server, and if they don't like it, they can go roll on a PvE server.

No mercy.&nbsp; If they're fighting a mob, I may let them kill it and loot it before I attack, or I may kill them before they know I'm there, or I may harm them enough so that the mob kills them and they suffer durability loss.&nbsp; Depends on how malicious I'm feeling.

Go for the weakest player first.&nbsp; If I see a high level escorting a low level, I will kill the low level first.&nbsp; If I'm participating in roaming group PvP, I will go for the recently raised before the established people.
[right][snapback]90004[/snapback][/right]

This is very interesting in light of what your user title used to be.

[Savingsupertokyo]

What a challenge that player 29 levels lower than you must have presented. And that string of critcals - surely sign of a fluke in game mechanics and not the vast disparity in levels + equipment. To me I think the crowning unglory was disrobing and cannibalizing your victim. Class moves there.

while leveling i knew better. i knew that STV was gank central, I stayed away. When honor came out the TM/SS zergfest was the best way to pick up honor. I stayed away. Dustwallow Marsh? I knew there was the possibility of running into a 40 man raid on the way to onyxia. I was very careful while in there. Basically, I tried to stay on horde turf and away from alliance turf unless I was looking for a fight.

and do unto others, right? I got killed by plenty of skulls while leveling up, and I didn't mind. I am the enemy. Anything to impede my progress is fair game, because the sooner I level the sooner I will come and kill you. Alls fair in love and war.

and as far as class moves go, /laugh for unsucessful gank moves, /spit for the few people that deserve it (traitors to the horde, rogues in general) and cannibalize for comedy.

But then again I'm a carebear. I prefer a honorable and fair fight. In group PvP in the world I seek out opponents that are within levels of me. I don't attack an opponent that is engaged with a mob and will let them med up before I attack.

For example the other day I was heading to Molten core when I saw a flagged paladin fighting a pair of spiders in the Burning Steppes. As I closed a undead rogue unstealthed and dropped the paladin to 1/3 or 1/4 health in his opening moves. I dismounted and engaged the rogue. I'm sure that the horde will see this as an example of Alliance zerging but if its not a fair fight then I will jump in to even the odds. After all the rogue had a chance to finish off the paladin while trying to evade me. About as much chance as the paladin had when the rogue jumped him at less than half health.

Or another example from yesterday. I was escorting a level 31 hunter who was flagged with my priestess who was 35 to the Vile Reef. He sees a level 37 tauren shaman fighting off 3 37 to 39 ogres and decides to pull one of the mobs off the Shaman to help him. I rolled my eyes knowing the predictable result. The shaman finished the fights, medded and drank and promptly attacked the level 31 hunter while he was still trying to kill the 37 ogre. But oh how the Shaman ran when he took the full force of my mind blast and I dotted him with SW:P.&nbsp; :whistling:

im assuming that you're on a pve server by the way you mentioned being flagged. we're obviously going to be made of a different cut. pvp4lyfe.

My rules and these are the rules I lived by when I was on the pvp server in Beta (I got an undead rogue to 43 before end of beta).

+ or - 5 levels and red = dead. Unless they attack me first and its on like Donkey Kong.

Do not attack an opponent who is busy fighting another mob. Sure I spent more time face down in the dirt for extending that courtesy but you don't lead by anything but example.

If you do fight honorably do not desecrate your victim. No spitting, no sitting on their corpses, no cannibalizing. The worst I have ever done was to chain sap a prominent warlock outside of Booty Bay. But I paid for that sin when his friends showed up. I eventually had to log because they were so intent on corpse camping. ;)

Allow your opponent time to med and return to the battle. Corpse camping is unseeming unless they have done it to you.

every time i head into BRM i seem to run into a group of alliance or my group of horde runs into a single alliance. sometimes i die alone, sometimes they die alone. spirestone is a low population server so the lvl 60s see each other often and kill each other often. friendly rivalry ftw.

Group PvP is slightly different in that there will frequently be 2 or 3 on 1 kind of odds. Do your best but do not gank opponents who are trying to re-enter battle.

We have a real problem on Stormrage that the Alliance for so long were so bad with behavior in PvP that many horde have decided to forgo PvP all together. The imbalance has gotten so bad that many of the alliance have re-rolled horde to be able to PvP. But even some of them have seen the brunt end of dishonorable play and are only doing battlegrounds. Group PvP in the wild is very rare and a lot of the reason for it being scarce lies on the shoulders of players who do not play honorably.
[right][snapback]89990[/snapback][/right]

dishonor hardly exists, imo. i don't go looking for lowbies, but in the event that i find one flagged they are probably going to die and its probably because they tried to attack someone that they shouldn't have, or were in an area that they shouldn't have been in.

while im farming herbs in a lowbie zone and riding down the path there are three kinds of alliance i run into. those that scatter and hide. and they live because im busy. those that are foolish enough to attack. and they die. and those that are my level and farming too. and i will kill them if i can, because i want to defend my herbs.

[Tal]

while leveling i knew better.&nbsp; i knew that STV was gank central, I stayed away.&nbsp; When honor came out the TM/SS zergfest was the best way to pick up honor.&nbsp; I stayed away.&nbsp; Dustwallow Marsh?&nbsp; I knew there was the possibility of running into a 40 man raid on the way to onyxia.&nbsp; I was very careful while in there.&nbsp; Basically, I tried to stay on horde turf and away from alliance turf unless I was looking for a fight.

and do unto others, right?&nbsp; I got killed by plenty of skulls while leveling up, and I didn't mind.&nbsp; I am the enemy.&nbsp; Anything to impede my progress is fair game, because the sooner I level the sooner I will come and kill you.&nbsp; Alls fair in love and war.

and as far as class moves go, /laugh for unsucessful gank moves, /spit for the few people that deserve it (traitors to the horde, rogues in general) and cannibalize for comedy.&nbsp;
im assuming that you're on a pve server by the way you mentioned being flagged.&nbsp; we're obviously going to be made of a different cut.&nbsp; pvp4lyfe.
every time i head into BRM i seem to run into a group of alliance or my group of horde runs into a single alliance.&nbsp; sometimes i die alone, sometimes they die alone.&nbsp; spirestone is a low population server so the lvl 60s see each other often and kill each other often.&nbsp; friendly rivalry ftw.
dishonor hardly exists, imo.&nbsp; i don't go looking for lowbies, but in the event that i find one flagged they are probably going to die and its probably because they tried to attack someone that they shouldn't have, or were in an area that they shouldn't have been in.

while im farming herbs in a lowbie zone and riding down the path there are three kinds of alliance i run into.&nbsp; those that scatter and hide.&nbsp; and they live because im busy.&nbsp; those that are foolish enough to attack.&nbsp; and they die.&nbsp; and those that are my level and farming too.&nbsp; and i will kill them if i can, because i want to defend my herbs.
[right][snapback]90008[/snapback][/right]

If you were going to be dismissive of my opinions on random PvP why did you make this thread?

Yes I'm on a PvE server. Ask anyone on Stormrage if I ever run from pvp fights - even unwinnable ones. You will find that your assumptions of what cloth I am cut from to be wrong.

Even when I was on the PvP server I did not prey upon the weak. I did not find solace for my defeats in doing upon others as had been done to me. I did not humiliate those who attacked me with little chance at success. Why? Because I know it is not fun for those who have no chance of winning to be attacked and then humiliated. I don't PvP to feel stronger than someone else or as any validation for my superiority. I PvP for the challenge that it gives over your random PvE fights. But because of the way that blizzard implemented PvP amongst other reasons I chose a PvE server.

But it does lead me to wonder what you were looking for with this post if you didn't want to hear differing viewpoints. If you weren't looking to spark discussion why ask at all? Were you expecting folks to slap you on the back and congratulating you on pwning the clueless n00b? What were your intentions with your post?

[Arnulf]

Tal: 2 - SST: 0

;)

[Savingsupertokyo]

If you were going to be dismissive of my opinions on random PvP why did you make this thread?

Yes I'm on a PvE server. Ask anyone on Stormrage if I ever run from pvp fights - even unwinnable ones. You will find that your assumptions of what cloth I am cut from to be wrong.

Even when I was on the PvP server I did not prey upon the weak. I did not find solace for my defeats in doing upon others as had been done to me. I did not humiliate those who attacked me with little chance at success. Why? Because I know it is not fun for those who have no chance of winning to be attacked and then humiliated. I don't PvP to feel stronger than someone else or as any validation for my superiority. I PvP for the challenge that it gives over your random PvE fights. But because of the way that blizzard implemented PvP amongst other reasons I chose a PvE server.

But it does lead me to wonder what you were looking for with this post if you didn't want to hear differing viewpoints. If you weren't looking to spark discussion why ask at all? Were you expecting folks to slap you on the back and congratulating you on pwning the clueless n00b? What were your intentions with your post?
[right][snapback]90013[/snapback][/right]

/sigh. i post on another forum where i'm in the top 10 in postcount. i know what its like to be a big dog on the forum and by that fact alone being entitled to look down upon those with lesser postcounts. maybe its just me that's how you're coming across. if its any consolation, i've lurked here since october 2000. but i digress.

What a challenge that player 29 levels lower than you must have presented. And that string of critcals - surely sign of a fluke in game mechanics and not the vast disparity in levels + equipment. To me I think the crowning unglory was disrobing and cannibalizing your victim. Class moves there.

accuse me of being dismissive?

---------------------------

im not slighting you in the least bit, i'm simply saing that pvp and pve servers are vastly different, and attract different people. true, you may never run from a pvp fight, and for that i applaud. but do you type /pvp every time you see the opposing faction? i'm always flagged, and if i am unflagged in horde territory and see alliance, you can bet that i will be flagged shortly.

and maybe i am preying upon the weak, but he is the enemy. strike at the women and children to bring your enemy to its knees. in 31 levels when he is able to kill me, i have no doubts that any mercy showen would be forgotten.

i'm not dishonorable when it comes to pvp. im realistic. i expect no quarter and i give none, unless something makes me laugh and you get to go on your way.

and the purpose of my thread is clear. Your personal rules of random PVP? I just happen to think that mine are the best and will defend my position. Take pride in what you do?

[Walkiry]

/sigh.&nbsp; i post on another forum where i'm in the top 10 in postcount.&nbsp; i know what its like to be a big dog on the forum and by that fact alone being entitled to look down upon those with lesser postcounts.&nbsp; maybe its just me that's how you're coming across.
[right][snapback]90016[/snapback][/right]

It's just you. I can't for the life of me see where Tal was pretending to lord his postcount over yours.

Doubly so given that the LL has reset postcounts and moved the forums around no less than 3 times if memory serves. Which makes postcount less than important to just about anyone (except, of course, the 1 post scam spammers, but I think that's for a good cause ;) ).

[Tal]

/sigh.&nbsp; i post on another forum where i'm in the top 10 in postcount.&nbsp; i know what its like to be a big dog on the forum and by that fact alone being entitled to look down upon those with lesser postcounts.&nbsp; maybe its just me that's how you're coming across.&nbsp; if its any consolation, i've lurked here since october 2000.&nbsp; but i digress.[right][snapback]90016[/snapback][/right]

What does postcount have to do with anything? I care less than nought what my post count is or what yours is. I write from the position of feeling that what you did was wrong and that my own actions are justifiable.

accuse me of being dismissive? [right][snapback]90016[/snapback][/right]

You're right I did overreact with my sarcastic response. My only defense is that your post came across as a bully crowing about his conquests.

im not slighting you in the least bit, i'm simply saing that pvp and pve servers are vastly different, and attract different people.&nbsp; true, you may never run from a pvp fight, and for that i applaud.&nbsp; but do you type /pvp every time you see the opposing faction?&nbsp; i'm always flagged, and if i am unflagged in horde territory and see alliance, you can bet that i will be flagged shortly.[right][snapback]90016[/snapback][/right]

If I am running with folks I regularly PvP with yes I am flagged. If I am running with folks I know that are not into PvP I respect that they may not wish to be delayed while I fight members of the other faction. If I am soloing and run across a flagged horde I will flag as well. Sometimes we size each other up and go our seperate ways. Othertimes its a battle royale.

and maybe i am preying upon the weak, but he is the enemy.&nbsp; strike at the women and children to bring your enemy to its knees.&nbsp; in 31 levels when he is able to kill me, i have no doubts that any mercy showen would be forgotten.[right][snapback]90016[/snapback][/right]

Truthfully in WorldofWarcraft there is no "enemy" at this time. The Horde and the Alliance exist in a tenous peace. Striking at a civillian populace (women and children) where no declaration of war exists is generally viewed to be acts of murder and terrorism. But lets drop the meaningless war analogies. I've already explained that I frequently suffered for my choices to not attack someone when they were weak. But at least I know that I've never knowingly ruined someones fun by ganking them while weak. I know on at least a few occassions when I was on the PvP server that I ran across someone who I had "spared" when they were weak and been shown the same courtesy. I also vividly remember my levelling slowing or quests being ignored because I was responding to calls for help from lower level characters being attacked in the Arathi area.

i'm not dishonorable when it comes to pvp.&nbsp; im realistic.&nbsp; i expect no quarter and i give none, unless something makes me laugh and you get to go on your way. [right][snapback]90016[/snapback][/right]

Shades of the strip and dance or die debacle from Beta.

and the purpose of my thread is clear.&nbsp; Your personal rules of random PVP?&nbsp; I just happen to think that mine are the best and will defend my position.&nbsp; Take pride in what you do?
[right][snapback]90016[/snapback][/right]

Did you truly feel pride in what you did? Else why bring up Karma at all if you were in the right?

[Savingsupertokyo]

What does postcount have to do with anything? I care less than nought what my post count is or what yours is. I write from the position of feeling that what you did was wrong and that my own actions are justifiable.

that i can respect. RESPEK KNUCKLES

You're right I did overreact with my sarcastic response. My only defense is that your post came across as a bully crowing about his conquests.

understandable. no harm no foul

If I am running with folks I regularly PvP with yes I am flagged. If I am running with folks I know that are not into PvP I respect that they may not wish to be delayed while I fight members of the other faction. If I am soloing and run across a flagged horde I will flag as well. Sometimes we size each other up and go our seperate ways. Othertimes its a battle royale.

wow. im truly impressed

Truthfully in WorldofWarcraft there is no "enemy" at this time. The Horde and the Alliance exist in a tenous peace. Striking at a civillian populace (women and children) where no declaration of war exists is generally viewed to be acts of murder and terrorism. But lets drop the meaningless war analogies. I've already explained that I frequently suffered for my choices to not attack someone when they were weak. But at least I know that I've never knowingly ruined someones fun by ganking them while weak. I know on at least a few occassions when I was on the PvP server that I ran across someone who I had "spared" when they were weak and been shown the same courtesy. I also vividly remember my levelling slowing or quests being ignored because I was responding to calls for help from lower level characters being attacked in the Arathi area.

the "enemy" on my server would tend to disagree :shuriken:

but i understand where you're coming from. i just don't play it that way, or expect to have it played that way. there are notable exceptions though. Let me share a story.

A few weeks ago I had rounded up yet another 10 man strath group in my neverending quest for AD rep. Four of the ten had already landed in LHC and were waiting around on the rest of the raid to land and head our way to Stratholme. While we waited we decided to clear the area of alliance scum for some HKs and hopefully some group pvp action. First we killed the flight master to ensure a captive audience. Fair or not? I'm not sure, but she was PVP flagged. We cleared groups that came into our "turf" and chased them off when they rezzed. This is the notable part of the story. A well known alliance rogue landed and we pounced on him. he quickly /no /no /no and then /point at the other mage in our group. They have something of a love/hate arch-rival relationship.

We backed off and let them fight. The rogue got the better of the mage and we /laugh at our comrade and /bye the rogue. He won the fight fairly and we let him go.

Shades of the strip and dance or die debacle from Beta.

hardly. i demand nothing from anyone for their life. they die unless i see something that makes me chuckle. clever name? go on youngun. clever guild name? run along. funny series of emotes? heh, i like you kid, get outta here.

Did you truly feel pride in what you did? Else why bring up Karma at all if you were in the right?
[right][snapback]90027[/snapback][/right]

pride, no. indifference, yeah. I said it was karma because I broke my rules. His guild tag made me laugh and I killed him anyway. In my defense, I didn't notice the tag until he had already crumpled to the ground.

[Lissa]

Today I landed in Dustwallow and mounted up to head towards Onyxia, that sly beast with the newly uncontrollable aggro.

As I was riding I came upon a level 31 Human Warlock named Sassafras.&nbsp; I dismounted and walked behind her for a while and she didn't&nbsp; notice me.&nbsp; I wasn't trying to sneak up on her or anything.

Then my instincts kicked in.&nbsp; I smelt burned flesh and tasted blood in my mouth in anticipation.&nbsp; Fireblast.&nbsp; Frost nova.&nbsp; Cone of cold.&nbsp; All critical hits.&nbsp;

I took off my robe and pants and cannibalized her.
Then I was ashamed, because I had broken my rules of pvp.&nbsp; #1) Red = Dead.&nbsp; #2) Unless they have a clever emote/name/guild tag that makes me laugh

She was in the guild <Respek Knuckles> and I laughed.&nbsp; I /apologize and rode on to two hours of wiping on Onyxia.&nbsp; Karma?
[right][snapback]89976[/snapback][/right]

Generally, I'm in the same boat as Tal. I fight when it's a choice by both sides and I do defend the weak. Case in point, some weeks back Horde were assaulting Darkshire. As I arrived in Darkshire, the Horde were returning to SoS. I had decided that I would go out and farm the Warlocks in Deadwind for the +Str bracer enchant. On my way, I had a couple of Horde in front of me, about 10 levels below me. All of the sudden a lv 20 NE Warrior was running back to Darkshire with his flag up from chasing Horde further ahead. The lv 50 Shaman decided to hit said lv 20 with a Frost Shock and then hit him with something else and he died. At that point, I attacked the Shaman and decimated him for his cowardly act of attacking someone 30 levels below him. If the Shaman had minded his own business and kept retreating instead of attacking the Warrior, I would have not bothered, but the Shaman decided that someone 30 levels lower was good sport. Said Shaman learned what it's like then an there what it feels like to be ganked by someone higher level (atleast the Shaman was still green to me, unlike the Warrior which was grey to the Shaman). The Shaman had an Undead Mage with him that tried to fight me, but when I laid the DoTs on him for attacking me first, he promptly decided that sheeping and running was the better course of action, and with that I let him run (my DoTs didn't kill him).

To me, it's more about fair play than anything else (and yes, I know there's nothing fair in war, but, this is not war, this is a game for enjoyment).

[Bob the Beholder]

I started playing this game the month after it came out. And have spent 95 percent of that time on a PvP server. I went alt-insane for months before finally capping a character, bringing one character after another after another through the level 20-35 gankfest, on the horde side of a server with an alliance faction twice the size of the horde. And I agree with Tal. Because... enemy players aren't MY enemies. Maybe for some sort of odd RP purposes which I would not follow anyway, I should attack each and every alliance player I see whether they'd be able to put up an entertaining fight or not FOR THE HOOOOOORDE! BLAAAAARGH! But then, I'm also one to agree with Tal's assessment that in the Warcraft storyline, any current 'war' between the two factions is not open, undeclared, and entirely based in the members of each faction who have especially good reason to hate the other going, "NOOOOO I WILL KILL THEM ALLL OR SOME SUCH" and slaughtering at random. (See: Thrall's alliance with Jaina, which Garithos threw away the moment he decided the horde scum needed to die. Also, the gossip text of several horde NPCs in WoW that state that they fought beside alliance troops like real allies, at one point--which is hard to find, but I've seen it on occasion.)

Anyway, I play on a pvp server because I like a good fight. Lowbies? Not so much of a good fight. Which is not to say that I simply ignore them, and let them do whatever they like. But I don't insta-kill them simply on the principle of OMGREDNAMEOMG. They're not a threat to me, and they probably haven't done anything to me in specific. So unless somebody in general chat goes, "Hey, this alliance guy who just happens to be standing in front of the 60 mage who is not making with the insta-death ganked me like seven times in the space of thirty seconds," then why should I bother? All it would do is waste a bit of mana and make the rare relatively peaceful enemy player into an angry ganker. (Unless they're dumb enough to attack another horde player while I'm around. Or me. Or doing anything to me, really. A mage 20 levels under me once sheeped me when I was on my way through STV, and then ran away. So I chased him half way across the map, into an alliance camp, sheeped him, and walked away. What? I thought it was funny.)

So if I'm looking for a decent fight, then blasting away an enemy's last ten percent of health after he's finished off three mobs at once does not count. Neither does starting up a pyroblast on a guy with two mobs on him. All that'll get me is somebody wanting especially much to do the same to me. And believe me, they can. I'm a cloth wearer here; a decent ambush can take about 45 percent of my life instantly.

That said, it's all about remembering the names of the people who ganked you while you're levelling up. Particularly if they're also still levelling, and you happen to level faster. For example, there was a dwarf priest who ganked the living hell out of me, my friends and my alts in STV back in the day. He was maybe level 40 back then, and had the annoying habit of finding and latching onto the highest level player in the area, so that even two or three lower level enemies couldn't take him down. Buuuuuut... I hit about level 57.... and ended up seeing him EVERYWHERE. And he was level 46. That guy ate the dirt constantly. Because he had proven to be an annoying dick, through my experience and that of the people I party with.

In summary: I like to extend some modicum of courtesy to my enemies, whether by not one-shotting lowbies, or by not attacking at a time that they can't at least try to fight back. Many of them do the same for me. Especially at 60, on the low population server I'm playing on. There are few enough 60s that having some idea of who pretty much everybody is is easy, and knowing that one guy is a dick and deserves to die and that another guy is cool and should be given a fighting chance isn't much harder.

But then, there are always exceptions. I really like doing odd things to confuse enemy players, for example. Like, a while ago a priest, a druid and I were in Tanaris farming Volatile Rum off of some pirates. And for some reason alliance players tend to come there in groups of at least two. So every time two alliance players appeared, we'd kill one, mind control the other, finish off whatever mob he was on, heal him, buff him, release him, and go about our business, leaving the poor bastards to wonder what the hell just happened. And may whatever god watches over night elves show mercy on any night elf that is capable of giving my warlock friend honor. He is of the opinion that shards farmed off of night elves work better than other shards. But only night elves. The simple thought of that is funny enough that if I'm around I'll generally at least make sure he doesn't die horribly while channeling his his happy little Drain Soul.

[kandrathe]

That's about how I do it too Lissa. One memorable time I also responded with my hunter then level 54 Celethirian to a level 60 warrior harrassing and killing lowbies in Darkshire. I lined up and fired on the Warrior. Suddenly, from behind me by the fountain, I was ganked by no less than 5 level 60 rogues. Obviously an elaborate trap with warrior bait, well arranged and I fell for it. /golfclap 1HK for them. I waited until reinforcements arrived and a group of us beat on them mercilessly all the way back to Grom'gol. 6 HK's for me.

My rules;
1] If me or my group are attacked I defend.
2] If I come across the enemy harassing my allies or homeland, I defend.
3] If I join a raid against an enemy, I target opponents +/- 5 of my level, with the exception of hostile rogues who are killed on sight regardless of level.
4] If I come across some enemy obviously questing or moving toward their bases I let them pass, however if they are moving toward allied territory I ride ahead to warn the defenders then track them to see what they are up to.

ph34r meh p057 c0w/\/7... :D

I do find somewhat despicable the repeated practice of lvl 25-35 Horde killing the NPC defias traitor being escorted to frustrate lowbies into attacking. HK gank farming at it's best. Usually one or two level 20 somethings are being escorted by a high level into a lowbie zone, like Westfall. The low level HK farmers attack, and the high level (rogue stealthed or druid in stealth form) provides the killing blow. Or, let's see, the first and last time I agreed to dual an equal level (~30) horde while I was crossing the Barrens. As soon as I was able to attack, the horde fliped his /pvp flag and 3 of his higher level friends rushed over and killed me. Nice.

Both sides are frought with idiots who have no honor. But is it any wonder that the designers who enabled the PK, in DiabloII would not attract the same infantile gankers to this game. Artega's sentiments are an example of why I have deferred playing on a PvP server. Even in a war, there is a warrior code of honor which is where I resonate with the original poster. Wars are extreme politics in motion and warriors are not ordered to seek and kill remorselessly whenever and however possible. My ultimate reaction if the game were only PvP and populated thus, would have been to cancel my subscription. I signed up for World of Warcraft, not World of Homicide.

[oldmandennis]

I don't corpse camp unless severly provoked.

I have no qualms about jumping someone mid fight, or going 2v1 if thats what the odds are.

If I have killed someone once or twice already, I will let them res, then give them a /doom and /shoo, if it seems they are going after my spawns. If they don't understand, I will kill them to defend my area, no matter how low they are.

Unless I am trying to farm something specific, I don't hang around in low level areas.

I usually let people who are grey pass, unless they are on my personal blacklist of guilds who have annoyed me.

The spirit I'm going for is that playing on a PvP server should be exciting and unpredictable, but not always fair. If you think it is fun to ruin my fun, your guild goes on the blacklist, and I will gank but not camp you wherever you are.

[Boutros]

My rule is that, if I see a person with a red name, I kill them if I feel like it. I con them after they are dead, if I decided to kill them.