To Kill Steal or not to Kill Steal?
There has always been a strong aversion to theft. In the old west, a horse thief could get strung up, while a murderer might not even get a second glance (especially if the killing was in a saloon). In the mid east, you could still have your hands cut off for pick-pocketing. Even in modern America, the lowest of the low is the person who takes something that does not belong to him.
But with the advent of MMOs, comes a new type of thievery; Theft of the Intangible. Taking something that is a virtual object, like a drop, or something that doesn't even have a form, like experience. In almost every game, the cries of "No KSing!" and "Don't KS!" echo across the battlefields. People are afraid to go near other players for fear of looking like a dirty kill stealer. But really, is all of it really that big of a deal?The game designers think so. Kill stealing is one of the major design focuses of MMOs. Big games and small games alike work hard to make sure that kill stealing is made as unlikely as possible. Guild Wars, for instance only allows you to go out into PvE areas with a chosen party. Only you and your friends are there to reap the rewards of your hard work. And even then, drops and experience are doled out on an equal basis, so that everyone in the party gets a share. In other games that allow non-party characters to mingle, such as Acclaim's new 9 Dragons, experience and drops are based on who has done the actual damage. So if you do 99% of the damage, you get the lion’s share of the experience and drops.
But still, even in 9 Dragons, there are cries of anguish as low level characters spend minutes beating on a zombie, only to have a higher level character come by and do the majority of damage in one blow. These cries are even more evident during events where there are special creatures that give unique items as drops.The temptation to walk over and take that shiny little trinket from someone who you don't even know and will probably never meet is overwhelming to some. MMOs allow the nerds to become the school bullies and the one thing that bullies do best is to pick on the weak.
And thus we get to the inevitable “can’t we all just get along” statement. Seriously, though; does taking that little victory really make you feel good? If the game consisted of nothing but people you could swoop in and take their kills, would you really want to play that game?
I’ve always combated my urge to kill steal by looking at it as an opportunity to give the little guy something. Sure, I’m not really giving him the kill. But I am giving him something a little more than that. I’m giving him a break.
- Marco Soto
