Player versus Player (PvP)
Before you engage yourself in a Player versus Player (PvP) related situations, you must read the rules below thoroughly and follow them. PvP in general is a very touchy topic, so rule breakings are never popular. Pangaea is not a PvP or Player killing (PK) oriented shard, but we feel that PvP to a certain point can be great asset to RP, which is why it is allowed. Situations where the rules have been bent or misinterpreted, will likely fall out to the victim’s advantage so stay on your toes and don`t break the rules.
Not every situation in which one character has some justification to kill another character necessarily has to result in combat. Maybe your character is too tired from a night of drinking the previous night or has a temporary change of heart. Likewise, not every potentially illegal PvP situation needs to be reported. Players are encouraged to resolve as many situations in game as they can.
If you believe you have been involved in an illegal (un-roleplayed) PvP situation, you are welcome to make a complaint to the staff; however, be sure that you are very clear on what rules were broken (preferably with your own proof) as frivolous/untrue accusations will be punished in the same manner as illegal PvP attacks (see below). We encourage all players who are likely to be involved in PvP (either as victim or aggressor) to use either a screenshot utility such as UOSnapshot or a video recording utility such as Bandicam, in order to be able to provide the necessary proof of the legality of their actions to the GMs.
Examples –
- Iktomi sees Ares out in the woods and attacks and kills him without any discussion. Ares makes a complaint to the GM staff that the attack had no roleplaying. The GMs investigate and Iktomi didn’t take any screenshots, but neither did Ares, so the PvP incident is reversed and any looted items are returned to Ares.
- Iktomi sees Ares in the woods and attacks and kills him without any discussion. Ares makes a complaint to the GM staff that the attack had no preliminary roleplaying. Ares provides a screenshot showing the attack with no preceding dialogue and Iktomi has no screenshots. Iktomi receives punishment.
- Iktomi sees Ares in the woods, yells for Ares to “Halt!” but Ares immediately runs away. Iktomi catches Ares and kills and loots him. Ares makes a complaint to the GM staff that Iktomi attacked without warning. GMs investigate and Iktomi provides screenshots that show he did in fact yell for Ares to stop but Ares ran. Ares receives punishment.
Any accusations should be made via a PM on the forums to the GM team, including any relevant screenshots or links to videos. Before making an accusation, particular if it’s a grey area, we encourage you to check the history of previous PvP rulings, as this may help determine whether to make an accusation or not.
Punishment
- First instance within a 6 month period: 2 days in jail
- Second instance within a 6 month period: 7 days in jail
- Third instance within a 6 month period: 14 days in jail
* If a player is very new to Pangaea, the GM team may give a warning on the first offence.
For specific details regarding PvP rules, see below.
Before an attack
All attacks must have some form of pre-existing reason for occurring, and the victim should understand what those reasons are before they are attacked. The following is a list of some examples, however this is by no means exhaustive and, if there is any doubt, the attacker should first check the record of previous PvP rulings and/or check with a GM. Although the attacker may have a legitimate reason to attack, they still cannot attack on sight and must attempt to initiate a dialogue with the victim (in which the attacker explains the reasons for the attack).
Legitimate reasons that could lead to a PvP attack include:
- The victim’s membership in a guild against which the attacker has an GM-approved war declaration.
- The victim’s membership in a guild which is allied with a GM-approved enemy of the attacker’s guild.
- The victim is an outlaw and the attacker is either a member of a law-enforcing religion (Law/Imperial) or has previously roleplayed a role as an enforcer.
- The victim is a member of a law-enforcing religion (Law/Imperial) or has previously roleplayed a role as an enforcer and the attacker is an outlaw.
- The victim has been warned to leave an area, been given sufficient time to do so and is refusing.
- The victim is a known thief.
- Robbery (see special robber rules below).
- The victim has recently (within the last 30 minutes), participated in an attack against the attacker’s guildmate or member of an allied guild.
- The attacker (Assassin only) has been hired to kill the victim as part of a GM-approved assassination contract.
For an attack to be acceptable there must be a role play reason for the attack, and this reason MUST be made perfectly clear to the victim BEFORE the attack starts (before the victim receives the *’Name’ is attacking you*). However, we recognise that it can be a delicate balance between providing time for appropriate roleplaying and the victim calling for reinforcements.
To assist with this, we have implemented the .halt command, which is meant to ensure the victim understands that any attempts to run will be a reason for the attacker to initiate combat (provided a legitimate reason to attack exists). The command will also notify both the attacker and the victim when the mandatory minimum roleplay period has elapsed (15 seconds); however, just because the time has elapsed does not mean the attacking player is immediately allowed to attack. Sufficient roleplaying is still the criteria for a legal kill NOT simply waiting for the 15 second time period to elapse.
During discussions, if the victim begins any action that could be interpreted aggressively (casting a spell, even if harmless; drinking a potion; religious characters concentrating; etc.), this is sufficient for the attacker to begin the attack. Use of .halt is not mandatory, and players are still welcome to simply yell “Halt!” to initiate the period in which any attempts to run or take an aggressive action by the victim are grounds for an immediate attack.
There are a limited number of instances where the victim may be attacked on sight, provided that a legitimate reason for attack is present (as mentioned above). The victim may be attacked on sight (without halt/discussion) if they are in the process of attacking the attacker’s town guards, alter guards or are present in a city in which a siege attempt is being made (either offensive or defensive).
Robberies
For those looking to play a robber character, be sure to contact staff to be marked as a robber before hand. Robberies should not be undertaken prior to being marked as a robber. Those aiding and abetting robbers will also find themselves marked as one.
Robberies proceed like any other PvP event. To initiate a robbery, the attacker must demand for belongings from the victim and, if the victim complies, then the attacker must let them be on their way. If the victim refuses or runs, then they may be killed. The victim must be given at least 15 seconds to respond to the robber’s demands before the attack is initiated.
Once a robbery has been committed, the character is designated as a robber for a 3 month period. Members of any religion are not allowed to associate with robber scum, and any religious characters found doing so will face temporary piety loss due to the disapproval of their gods.
Guild war
Guild war is one of the many reasons for players to engage in PvP activity. Declarations of war by a guild (either against another guild or even against an individual) must be approved by a GM. Whether the recipient guild of the war declaration decides to accept the declaration is up to them (during a mutually agreed-to war, neither side receives murder counts). Every war declaration must be approved by the GM team, and details of previous wars and peace terms are tracked here.
The below table includes a sample of some of the reasons that may be sufficient to declare war:
- Attack on a guildmember
- Attack on an allied guild
- Taking direct part in a situation that leads to the death of a guildmember
- Being allied with an enemy guild
The declaring guild is also encouraged to establish criteria for ending or preventing the war. If players are unable to define terms that they can agree on, the GM team will step in to arbitrate terms. Regardless of whether peace terms are player determined or arbitrated, the GM team will enforce the terms of the peace.
Asshole Rule
There are number of actions that players may take that are designed purely for damaging the playing experience of other players or are abuses of game mechanics. These will be punished with a 2 day jail sentence; however, they do not count as an illegal PvP attack as per the punishment schedule above. Repeated asshole behaviour may result in escalated punishment as decided by the GM team. Some examples of asshole behaviour include:
- Trashing or leaving looted items on the ground decaying.
- Corpse camping: deliberately preventing a player from accessing any equipment left on their body by summoning guards or luring monsters
- Using “I ban thee” to try and defend an alter area
- Person A gives money to Person B for a house exchange, and Person B decides not to give them the house
- Constant harassment toward a specific player without a proper RP reason to do so
- Initiating an attack from a boat against a land-bound target
- Initiating an attack on a player who has no way to escape (for example they are locked in your house, trapped on your boat, have been summoned to a tiny island, etc.) An exception exists for house robbers who are caught in the act
- Spying as a ghost when there is no valid RP reason to do so
- Robbing a character in base class
These rules are not meant to be exhaustive and there are certain actions that will be determined by GMs as illegal on a case-by-case basis (with punishments noted on the forums).
Special PvP rules:
Blocking a passage
It is not allowed to block a passage with wall of stone for another player BEFORE you introduce roleplay. You may use wall of stone AFTER you introduce roleplay, then use wall of stone to prevent their escape. If you plan to use a wall of stone to block an escape route, two screenshots are required: one which shows the RP being initiated with the escape route open and one with a journal entry which shows the wall of stone being cast after the RP has been initiated.
Casting wall of stone is considered an attack, and therefore sufficient time must be provided for the victim to respond to any requests etc. (15 seconds from begin of roleplay).
Quickly switching characters during a PvP fight It is illegal to quickly switch between an account’s different characters during a PvP instance. However, if a player does want to switch characters during a siege, for example, they must have their account fully logged off for a full 20 minutes between each character. Failing to provide the necessary delay (or incorrectly accusing someone of changing characters too quickly) will result in a 2 day jail period as per the asshole rules.
