This is a bit of a false choice because Rule #1 is not phrased: Roleplay.Xanos950 wrote:What's worse?
- Breaking Character and RP and going with an option the character usually would not do IC.
- Maybe breaking the Be Nice Rule.
Looking purely from a rules perspective, I would rephrase it like:
- Bend, or Break the Roleplay rule which states Stay IC at all times
- Potentially Break the Be Nice rule which states to not partake in unwarranted rudeness, harassment and poor gamesmanship.
Remember, Rule 1 is Roleplay. It's the paramount, cardinal rule of the game. There's a reason why it is right at the top of the list. 'Be Nice' means unwarranted rudeness, harassment, or poor gamesmanship. One of them governs remaining IC at all times, the other refers to OOC etiquette, not IC etiquette.
I would say it's not unwarranted rudeness because the other party is tossing around threats and inviting confrontation IC. The player may not even be motivated to fight; sometimes RPing a hostile and spontaneous character has its drawbacks, it means biting off more that they can chew, if they are being true to their character. I've always read Be Nice to mean politeness OOC towards fellow players, not mandated IC politeness. Harassment isn't the issue here because one isolated case of PvP or conflict doesn't fit the definition of harassment and isn't repeated. So is it poor gamesmanship? Where do you draw the line between IC and OOC motivation? I think this is important because it's not enough to assume that a character's decision-making process matches a player's knowledge of the game, mechanics, and of the other player at the keyboard. That is metagaming information your character doesn't know, and it's not kosher.
Is it considered poor gamesmanship to stomp a lowbie who is asking to be stomped? Phrased in a different way: Is my RP conducive to the setting, atmosphere, and believably of my character? Are the consequences of the RP on both sides a proportionate and reasonable outcome? Is it reasonable to consider alternative RP routes like letting the person escape, subduel, etc? Will alternatives to PvP improve the overall RP? Or is this encounter really just motivated by OOC pride and a desire to win, on either side?
It can be hard to tell at times what the best option is; it really depends on how the situation is unfolding and the personas of the characters involved. I would say giving players a get-out-of-jail-free option whenever PvP could potentially happen is a bit silly and artificially forced, and here's why I think that: Be Nice doesn't mean abandoning your character's identity and RP, or suddenly developing gross incompetence to allow for their escape. Be Nice is an OOC imperative to Be Nice to your fellow player. That really goes both ways, and it means accepting the consequences of RP on both sides.
The lowbie shouldn't be trying to pick a fight because it's a lowbie area either. The notion that "Only low level characters are going to be in this low level dungeon, so I can fight this guy and win because I am strong for my level range" is a fallacy in any open-ended MMO game, and though reasonable to assume, there's a mote of metagame mixed in there too. This other party is really opening a Pandora's Box by threatening someone they don't really know, and if you think about it: They're threatening you!
If you assume that the other party is abiding both the Roleplay and Be Nice rules, and that they are going to give you some reasonable, justifiable, IC out if you RP in an appropriate fashion... why not just pursue PvP? If it's his character's RP to be aggressive and threatening, and it is your character's RP to not back down to a challenge... just let it be done. Accept that there are conflicting persona designs from character creation. Being in a lowbie area doesn't automatically put him in the right, but it does put a lot of suspicion on why you were there to begin with. A DM is going to look at it something like this: If the lowbie reports you, it's probably going to be something along the lines of "Why is this high level character in a lowbie area in the first place?" Make sure you have a justified reason IC to be there, because DMs are going to be asking the same question: Is it good for the setting, or is it OOC pride? You just need to make sure that the DMs and the other party can see clearly that it isn't OOC pride with demonstrable evidence.
As a disclaimer, this isn't an invitation on my part to design characters whose RP just happens to involve PvP at the drop of a hat, or to troll others and invite PvP onto them. The character has to be conducive to the setting, the gameworld. I expect that overly confrontational, one-dimensional characters would not last long, whether they be starting fights at low level, or keeping their head down until 30 and then starting it. You don't need to play a character that gets along with everybody, just have respect towards your gameplay environment. Come to terms with the fact that the gameworld and most characters will seek to destroy villains, and be prepared to bow out when it happens. I just feel like giving everyone an out all the time trivializes hostilities and let's people get away with trolling ("I'm going to incite this guy, but he has to give me an out otherwise he's breaking the rules."). Part of the charm of the game is when people have varying decision-making processes. If we slap on a blanket Out for every encounter, we risk homogenizing encounters, turning it into a template Yes PvP No PvP type thing when something in between might exist (such as robbery of items, sacrificing one person in the group as a peace offering to cannibals rather than the whole group). If you let characters off the hook all the time, and give them an out with a neon flashing sign pointing the way, then it's disingenuous to the environment and characters that are a part of it. I think that for a RP environment to be taken seriously, we need to accept that things won't always go our way, as players. Usual stuff when it comes to highly questionable play and unclear motivations, report it, there's likely more to the story, but if there isn't, a DM will sort it out.
Without a clear definition on what is and isn't poor gamesmanship (and assuming that is just left to interpretation for the DM team), that would be my take on it. However, being an open-ended term, your mileage may vary from DM to DM and from person to person. This is just my take on it.