I've been holding off on finalizing this and polling members because I really don't like giving up hard core CvC for ALFA.
We've spent a lot of time here and in closed forums thinking about how to keep CvC in ALFA without driving off our players and dms because of a handful of members that are too inappropriate or immature for CvC.
The only other solution I see to the consent rule would be a much more pro-active and subjective management of members that have trouble using CvC appropriately. Basically, the PA and or DMA would simply red flag members causing problems, they would not be able to participate in CvC in any way (including having others CvC with them). This could change if the player's behavior improves or maybe they make a new PC that isn't a psycho killer, for instance. Some of you will say, well just ban them- but that's not practical and is a non-starter. Everyone is happy to suggest banning until they themselves have to do it- believe me it's not pleasant or easy in alfa, especially with our small numbers.
I believe this makes sense as we would not be punishing the larger membership for the bad behavior of a few members. It does make for a change in policy as it's pro-active instead of re-active. Rather than waiting for trouble and then getting staff and dms buried in weeks of complaint, cross complaint and appeals threads, ultimately leading to much drama, animosity and possibly sanctions, we simply side-line the problem players. I will tell you those that ultimately get side-lined from CvC will not be happy and will not think it's fair.
You of course need to have a good amount of faith and confidence in the PA to be level headed and as fair as possible.
Below is the revised CvC policy we will be using, based on the feedback from this thread.
I will be posting a poll shortly where members can vote to either adopt this policy or the admin red flag policy I discussed above this post. A big thanks to everyone who participated in these efforts.
One finial note, I am going to propose, subject to admin and HDM discussion, that evil alignments are added to the extraordinary approval list.
Thanks,
Reg
Alfa CvC policy:
CvC requires DM oversight and DMs are not required in any way to provide such oversight if they would rather invest their time elsewhere. The only exception to this rule is when Players agree to consensual CvC without DM oversight, and in such cases there is no appeal for what may come of such CvC.
The following information is provied to help clarify the above policy:
You may engage in Character vs. Character conflict in ALFA when:
You have been granted permission from the DM team, and there is a DM overseeing the conflict.
DM's have the right to ignore or refuse CvC requests for any reason, and such refusal is not appealable to any admin in ALFA
In accordance with ALFA's broader rules, you must notify us as soon as the intent to commit CvC is established.
-OR-
All involved parties consent.
If all parties consent to CvC without a DM, they forfeit any right to contest the results with the DM team or Player Admin, although staff may act if they wish. Screenshots should be taken of in-game tells showing this consent. This consent can include the use of abilities which otherwise require a DM, such as invisibility or grappling, even if no DM is present. In short we just won't touch consensual CvC. Have a ball. Parties may of course also consent to CvC with a DM present. Naturally the location must be suitable so that it does not require DM involvement. For example, do not engage in CvC in front of guards without a DM present.
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Any players found to be gaming the CvC rules to bully or provoke other players and subsequently hide behind the consent rule will face severe IC and OOC consequences to include censure for griefing.
- Once a PC's behavior has solicited a request from another player for CvC that player must stop the ic behavior if they wish to decline CvC.
- Examples of provocation include but are not limited to brandishing weapons, casting spells (buffing), antagonistic language, obvious hostile or openly provocative actions (defiling altars, killing innocents ect).
- Make use of non-lethal combat, the ic legal structures of the settings, and other appropriate rp methods to offer a range of responses short of lethal CvC where appropriate.
- Logs and screenshots should be used when dealing with pc conflicts.
- Griefing, meta-gaming or trying to game these rules will lead to sanctions or banning.
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You may NOT engage in CvC when:
- It primarily results from a random encounter between two or more PCs in a public or outdoor location (wilderness, road, tavern, shop, etc.). ALFA is geographically much smaller than it should be, and so we must fudge random encounters in order to support PC diversity.
- A PC 'hates' all members of another race or public faction which is not normally kill-on-sight in their environment.
- It is a random act of violence; that is what NPCs are for. The CvC must be sparked by RP on both sides of the conflict.
- There is a large level difference, unless the defender is a known antagonizer of the attacker or the attacker's faction(s). High-level PCs should have better things to do than pursue lowbies.
- The DM team is busy and has no time to deal with it.
- The aggressor is willfully causing grief or disrupting others' ability to enjoy the game without meaningful context to role-play. We often enjoy PCs coming into conflict, but if players do as well then something as gone wrong.
If a PC requires an IC reason not to engage in CvC, the DM team can provide it.
