Roleplaying vs greifing?

[Occhidiangela]

This isnt about LL guild rules(its not my guild so I dont care what rules you use). But this is about perspective on MMORP gaming and was inspired by the LL guild rules.

Mongo made this quote - "There can be legitimate role-playing reasons for playing this way[{KOS], but because KoS activity is just a hair's breadth away from griefing and harassment, one should not do this while under the banner of the Lurker Lounge."

2 questions.
1 Why does a roleplaying validate an activity otherwise considered wrong?

2 Is it even possible to grief someone on a PvP server?(Of course using exploits against someone is greifing, but we all agree exploits are wrong.)
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I think it is possible to grief someone on a PvP server, but I think most of those include corpse camping and exploits. Beyond that, it is a free for all between two factions.

RL issue: KoS was the general approach to a guy called Zarqawi, yet the instructions (when I was over there) were "capture or kill." KoS is a subset of a larger approach to your enemy.

Game issue: Since there is no "capture" in this online RP, which is different from pen and paper RP's where you can indeed bind and capture a stunned or charmed opponent, hostile player factions are left with three choices regarding their opponents:

Ignor/Avoid
Attack with intent to kill or scare off
Grief/Annoy/Harass

There is little accountability to higher authority outside of any guild, and a few GM guidelines, so any Guild establishes its own RoE if any. This RoE applies to its own members. Or, it does not, and the KoS policy statement, a crude yet simple RoE, remains as the guidance for "meeting engagements:" running across a patrol from the other side.

KoS can be used as an excuse for slopiness in decision making, for lack of common sense, for lack of energy to establish guild RoE, for breeding hate and discontent for its own sake, and so on.

Mongo Jerry's guidelines are established in an effort to shape the LL guild's rep. Rep is important in an RPG. The idea is that LL guild members exercise a certain amount of self discipline for the good of the LL guild rep.

This is similar to the RL issue of establishing a consistent "perception" in the media via policies, discipline, and how one approaches one's enemy. Lindy England and her colleagues would not be a good example of how one extablishes a "good rep" as a "guild."

Role Playing as a Horde character, I would probably tend to be more cruel if this were a robust RP experience: More likely to kill, or torment and then kill, than capture unless a goodly ransom was likely. Tribal behaviour. (My troll is tribal, that is for sure.)

In a different fantasy example, I'd suggest that the general RoE from Galadriel regarding Orcs "crossing the line" into Lothlorien, would be "kill on sight." Likewise Elrond in Rivendell.

Occhi