The hydra PKing of 1.10

[Taem]

Sorry guys, but D2 PvP with consent (aka no PK'ing, friendly duels only) isn't gonna happen.

No argument there.

PK'ing, like it or not is what keeps HC fresh..

I disagree with you on this point. I think dying in general keeps hardcore fresh. Since I've started 1.1 ladder, I've lost over twelve 50+ leveled characters mostly due to Fire Enchanted creatures when they go "pop". Furthermore, but especially with the timer, I have never died to a pk'er, but have PK'd plenty myself. As a general rule of thumb, if your going to play public games, don't trust anyone except for yourself and you should be fine. So what am I implying? That PK'ers don't attribute to that many deaths overall in the Diablo Hardcore world.

with little people in 'uber 1337' gear,

What exactly are you saying by this, and what do you consider elite? Just because I found an Arkaines Valor +2 all skills in hell the other day, does that make me elite? If people find their items in ladder legitimately instead of eBay but their items are some of the best, are they 'elite', or just lucky? When you say "little people," it lead me to believe your putting down people who have good gear, when in reality any legit player could in fact have good gear if they've played this game long enough. I really don't know where your going with this!

and little to no hacks out on Ladder HC, PvP hasn't been this good in ages..

What do hacks have to do with PK'ing? Trigger (the fire guided arrow and take TP hack) is still out and used with fireball now. All trigger does is send the packet to take the tp and go hostile immediately after initiating 'x' skill. ALL of the "old" hacks are still there my friend. I've seen people go hostile and show up at a WP in half a second and you know what, its easy to do! Your client prevents you from taking the WP when hostile, so if you send the packet saying your taking the WP, you take it and avoid the hostile wait timer... I could go on and on. So no, your quite mistaken about hacks. And BTW, what DOES THIS HAVE TO DO with Pk'ing or how "good" PvP is? People are still using modified versions of trigger and farcast in games FYI, so I honestly don't see how PvP has changed at all. For the record, I abhor cheaters, but am aware of their tactics and methods.

Lamers will always find a way to be lame.

You must be referring to 'grief-players'. I view those as the annoying PK'ers whom, at level 75+, go into your game with all level 20's, hostile, walk around where you and your friends are making you wait 10 minutes before he leaves, the after leaving and flinging a massive amount of garbage out of his mouth, promptly returns to pester you some more. PK'ing in essence (what it stands for and what your doing to the other player) is really a crime of assault on their virtual character.

In theory, if I choose to PK now in 1.1, I would trap TP's, which would most certainly be considered grief-playing, yet somehow in 1.09 when I use to PK, I still respected others in game and would not mouth off to them, taunt them, or otherwise. If I choose to hostile and gave chase and they stood their ground and died, I'd congratulate them on their bravery. If they managed to kill me, I'd tell them I was the fool this evening. I use to always be polite in speech, and I don't think this would change. All in all, I found it to be a pleasant experience, and in one-way or another we (the victim and myself) both learned something. And believe it or not, if I have loot on my victim, I would always return their gear - every last piece. What I'm trying to say here is that if people choose to PK, at least they should be polite about the incident and toward their victim, excepting to get chewed out by the victim yet still being polite. This politeness, IMO, makes pk'ing un-'lame'.

Immunity timers aren't the awnser.

Hear hear! I really dislike the immunity timers for several reasons:

1.) If your going to go hostile and there is a 10-second time limit before you can take WP's, then what is the point of PK'ing? The only thing the PK'er can do is go hostile and ruin your game as you all wait in town for him to leave.

2.) Because if you enjoy pk'ing by surprise, its now impossible to get your target off guard unless you TP trap. The method use to be to party with a group and get a good idea where they were and when they were near a WP that you had, go hostile and take that wp as fast as possible. If you got lucky, some people panicked and didn't go to town or press escape fast enough so you could take them out. It was these surprise PK's that really made Pking fun. I think if I were to PK again (which I have no urge to), then I'd definatly Tp trap because I really enjoyed the surprise PK's and hate the timer.