You have got to stop doing this on all aspects of conflict in a broad brushstroke approach.

Stealing is in the interest of conflict, as no one has ever made serious money (except when bankbots weren't in the special safe rooms you have also set up and allowed to exist) to believe stealing as a way to generate cashflow was any better than actual hunting. It led to the production of money belts, helped solidify a Paladin ability, and ensured that people interested in hefting around large sums of money made use of moongates, trained their perception, or were escorted.

On the other side, since long ago stealing from players has consistently been mitigated as it was removed from people actively in combat, from designated safe-rooms, from festival grounds which are almost all accessible a short distance from a bank thanks to the portals, MT gems "regardless" of time and area, etc. Instead of solving the problem, such where there are people that sit and abuse the capabilities, you've patched on a band-aid as a solution preventing EVERYONE altogether from it--in a broadsword attempt at being surgical you've slashed the wrists of everyone else involved, regardless of distance, to the individuals that are creating a real problem. There are certainly creative solutions that could be implemented that weren't drawn from the community...

I see this akin to the forced changes on Necros and their hilarious glass orbs. Some may not have liked Zehira occasionally running around and playing the villain, but for damn sure everyone TALKED about her antics, and while this wasn't the same RP vein of other events, it was meaningful regardless and created a situation of conflict even though not everyone could respond to--new and returning players alike.

If you're going to make the claim of retention being a key factor here, then remove ALL activities that new and returning players may not be able to respond to. For instance, I had a low-circle Bard who got caught up in the Zenzic invasion and every time he tried to get to a safe area, was stunned and torn apart by some random attack. I can't imagine what new and returning players felt like during that.



If that claim is sufficient to make changes, then please remove the following:

- Remove in-town invasions per the description above.

- Oh, and I didn't think about it, but a new and returning player could get themselves in the middle of an out-of-town invasion. Remove those, too.

- Those "Gorbesh return!" invasions and similar? Never do those again. They risked the retention of new and returning players getting caught up in the middle of them unexpectedly.

- Because it's possible that new and returning players can get attacked by griefers or in general, remove PvP combat altogether unless consent is explicitly given, not just assumed through that weird PvP Open status which new and returning players may not be familiar with.

- Please remove Empath's ability to compel or ask their guild NPC to force someone out of the guild, because a new and returning player may experience abuse from this (which has happened). Let's not risk it.

Anything else that players complain about that you can commit wholesale against all parties rather than solving the actual problems...



I'm all for solutions to specific problems, but it seems like there's been a consistent attack on PvP-related conflict opportunities in a variety of forms in general that don't get high-quality solutions that rise to the level of the issue presented.

The magic pathway is the approach timer which mitigates en route stealing. Anyone who stands around, which is more likely to be those new and returning players, are more likely targets.

However, this doesn't appear to argue against the issue. If you favor stealing en route, and its acceptable to do so, then why would it be unacceptable at the destination?

>Stealing is in the interest of conflict, as no one has ever made serious money (except when bankbots weren't in the special safe rooms you have also set up and allowed to exist) to believe stealing as a way to generate cashflow was any better than actual hunting.

PVP Stealing is a balancing act. DR wouldn't be the same if we bubble wrapped it, and I don't think people want to play in a game without risk. A few days ago I was at Catrox's I saw a character stealing repeatedly from people as they came in with no conflict or interaction at all. I did it once, a long while back, because someone had suggested you could make a lot of money at the repair shop. They weren't wrong. These days lots of people just carry plats because everyone has so much coin and its not a big deal for HLCs to lose a few plat, because they can gain it back quickly hunting. The flip side is that for lower level characters, getting cleaned out could be a big deal for them. I'm not suggesting I know the best way to "fix" it, but I do know the impact varies greatly between players.

Jalika

>its not a big deal for HLCs to lose a few plat, because they can gain it back quickly hunting. The flip side is that for lower level characters, getting cleaned out could be a big deal for

As a returning player...

I made over a plat hunting the goblins out the west gate of Crossing with a new character. I spent maybe 30 minutes out there relearning the combat system.

That character being level 20+ now, it's pretty easy to make 3-5 plat per hunting trip at level (including boxes). I can only imagine how much I'll make once I start going to higher level places. I don't think it'd be that big of a deal. I've been cleaned out - it made me want to work on my perception and magic skills so it doesn't happen again.

Also - people are scripting and the interaction is minimal in game anyway.