When is it right to kill steal and the ettiqutte to follow

[Demelza Flameclaw]

Now i was reading a rants thread about ks;ing and i thought when is it right to kill steal?

well several occasions in my books

as a paladin i am able to heal and res, id ratehr heal than rez, now if i see someone runnign away with hardly any hps left and the mob still following i will attack the mob go either kill it or get it to aggro me, i wil then heal the other PC and kill the mob,

after i ahev done this i will proceed to heal the PC and buff and apologize for ks'ing and explain that id ratehr them not get a dp if i can help it

anotehr one is if im out in the field and a pc gets aggrod by one 2 many mobs again seeing the pc's health go down ill throw some heals and kill the extra mob, apologise buff etc

now from what ive read ks'ing is this bad evil thingthat is a big no no regardless of situation but i would rather people not get dps adn lose a bit of xp, maybe its just cos im a paladin in that mindset or what i dont know

feel free to now discuss this POV WITHOUT taking it off topic or into a class vs class, im fed up of reading them right now :P

[Gunnyr]

I usually do almost the same as you Demelza, the only exception is if the character seems to just barely be struggling I'll just keep throwing heals and buffs and let them get the kill and xp. However, if they're screaming "HELP ME!!!!" or I just can't keep up with the heals I'll step in.

On another note, if I'm fighting monsters and someone keeps killing the ones I'm fighting or stealing the ones I've aggro'd intentionally I have no remorse taking back the kills they have stolen and then some [;)]. I'm lenient but I don't like being a doormat. There's nothing wrong with someone targetting a wrong mob once in awhile, but someone who follows you around ks'ing is another story.

[AA0]

I would say assistance is really the only time its allowable.

But I do have to say, there are times when there are very very greedy players taking every mob they see, they don't know how to share. If I see players doing that around me, I will first ask them, if they don't change or have a bad attitude... well, I have a 90m range, I can ks better than they can.

[Shaw Moking]

Then you are kill stealing Demelza. No matter if your intention is to 'help' the other player, it is still KSing.

Heal the character 1st...let them kill the mob. At the worst, root the thing or stun it to give the other player some valuable time.
Unless they request otherwise.

[Demelza Flameclaw]

usually the heals i cast are negliable as the next hit takes 50-75% of the health i cast off the player, and as a 90% pure paldin, helped by 8 mage levels and now 12 monks we dont have such things as stuns or roots

[Aamer Khan]

I too will help a player thats is in danger of dying.

However I do exactly what Shaw suggests. I heal the PC and then ask if they want help killing the mob. 99% of the time they say "yes! please". Of course, with heals through t5 its not hard for me to give them breathing room.

I have had players come up while I was having problems and offer to help, I say sure, but instead of healing me, ( the time I can remember, it was a level 70 cleric ) he pulls out a weapon and starts to attack the mob... NO heals... I die, he kills the mob and loots it. Needless to say, I got pissed.

I'm curious what I should call that one.

[Jaraiden]

A rather odd topic as a player experienced in that character's class would know when to run and rest and just when to run to seek other monsters. About following . . . that could be a creative way to boost a character's fighting abilities to gain experience faster (allows learning and that social aspect of two characters with a high difference in levels).

I have found that all characters, in party or not, get experience for a killed monster (similar as if grouped, some XP anyway related to damage done). So this scenario is proper, especially if the monster sees you and aggros you without any action on your part.

However, exerience is a good teacher. The player behind that character may want to think about better tactics, be alert to monster adds,and/or just seek other monsters.

Another thing to consider, though, is having a hotkey setup for a "Help" or "Attack it please" for a quick way to talk.

[Demelza Flameclaw]

Screwed? @ Aamer

Its not something i do all the time of cours ebut sometimes when theyre running and im trying to cast its easier to put the mob down heal then apologize i usually get a np

[Levity]

If I'm about to die I appreciate any and all bystanders whaling on the enemy for me. Of course, I also have a hotkey with an exclamation inside a stop sign that makes me say "Please help me kill this thing!" which I will spam if I want help. I don't always notice that I'm in danger though, so if you see me with low health, jump right in.

There is a situation where I have no compunction about jumping in. In the old world it was in upper iron when the golem keepers came down into the field near the refinery. Now it's in New Rachival by the portal and pad when the wolves invade.

Those are vermin to be destroyed by anyone handy; no one is there for the purpose of hunting. Wolf hunters will go off into the sands :). So rather than let rabid desert wolves savage low level sorts as they port in, I will kill any wolf I see by New Rachival's walls even if someone else is fighting it. Once or twice I've jumped in and realized the combatant was the guard Bixbin [:D].

-Levity Merrel, Crai Aisling, Sans AoP by Aiya's pad
90 Blacksmith (all tools and weapons to IV; several V's, no V techs)
63 Fitter (through steel); 45 Mason (through slate); 40 Carpenter (through elm timbers)
72 Reaver (through anything my EB will hurt)

[Blue Hasia]

If im playing my biped I will will heal the person that is low on health but not attack the monster, I will also ask if they require helpin killingand if they say no I will stop and go back to what im doing or help them kill the monster if they ask for it.

If im playing my dragon I will go to theperson asking if they need help and will only assit if they ask for it.

So far this method has been fine for me 80% of the poeple i meet have asked for help 20% said "no thanks, but thanks for the offer".

[gopher65]

If I'm about to die I have no problem with someone killing a mob that has me aggroed. Sometimes it is appropriate to heal the person, sometimes it is better to kill a mob. It entirely depends on the situation. If it is an iffy situation then heal. Better safe than sorry.

[Hiko]

Well, I usually hunt in spawns where I am the only one there. In the past week and half of hunting, I have never seen anyone in the eastern deadlands. However, in the past when this situation occurs, I:
1) Heal them the best I can, if nothing else, it buys them the time to run away with the DoTs
2) Root or mez the mob. I usually use the roots with the least damage - BC II probably now.
3) if they keep running, I will kill it, if they stop, I will ask them if they want help.

[pogowolf]

I'm just happy there's people out there that are willing to help. Last night I was getting my butt kicked from a sand beetle (ok.. I was only lvl7) and was killed, with a lvl 66 dragon (can't remember the name) watching me die.

didn't even have enough time to type 'help me'..

Personally, if I'm out running around and see someone on a mob.. I'll healthem anyway. just a drive bye healing. Why not? heals don't hurt anything, and that little extra health allows them to get back into the fight quicker.

But yeah, it all depends on what's happening. If the mob has 16 HP, I"m hitting for an average of 30 dmg, and I have 30 HP left. Don't kill KS me.

if I have 20 mobs, and 10 HP.. please.. feel free to heal me and kill what ever you want. I would MUCH rather lose a few XP, then deal with an DP.

[magius]

I heal then ask if they want any more help.

[CeroBostwick]

Luckily I have some Sorcerer in my blood...a little Spellbind doesn't hurt anyone, and if they want help they can ask..if they want to run, they can..if they want to sit and watch the mob stand around uselessly, they can..[;)]

[Aamer Khan]

Maybe a further distinction needs to be made here.

What the thread starter mentions is more saving a fellow player than kill stealing.

To illustrate, out on the satyr islands, my guildie was hunting. A high level reaver, he was having no problems. Now, even though he was here first, and not encroaching on another group that arrived, one of them kept running to where my guild member was hunting and gathering up all mobs, even the ones he was fighting and dragging then back to his group. He asked them to stop. They just kept right on doing it. So now myself and other guild members go out and try to help him hunt the little area he was in. At first I just observe that what he claimed was happening was indeed going on. I tell my guild to stay planted in this area and not to hunt any of their mobs. Regardless of any efforts to try and keep it civil, they continue to try and snag our mobs that we are fighting. This goes on for awhile until we have enough members to kill our mobs without them being able to steal them. They tell us that they view it as fun compitition, and not kill stealing at all. They get bored with few mobs now, and decide to leave, tell us we are jerks and the drama is over.

Yes. We could have avoided the entire episode if we just moved on to another area. But My guildie was doing nothing wrong. It was the greedy actions of the others is what caused the whole thing. I don't know any of these guys in real life. Perhaps they are fine human beings.
Perhaps they are used to playing in a game where this is fine and dandy. perhaps thay are young. All I do know is that so far, anyone I have asked here or ingame has said that what they were doing was kill "stealing". Not helping a player in danger, not providing assistance, blatant greedy stealing.

Assisting a player that is in trouble, while technically KS'ing, is not the same thing.

[Cylian Golas]

I heal the toon in trouble then ask if they require help in killing the mob. If not I will stand by with heals unless otherwise directed.

[Korial]

I'm not psychic.

Hence, I will only buff and heal without being asked. I won't 'cold rez' someone without getting indication they want one, either because they could be AFK, or they have a superior rez coming. I definitely won't attack a mob on someone else.

Quite simply, I assume nothing. I can't mindread.

[Silvanathan Shadowbane]

I've healed people several times that were almost dead, as well as rez'd people..I don't however, think it gives me any rights to thier loot. I heal people as it is in character for a cleric (IMO) to heal those in need, I don't feel like I need to demand thier loot as some charge for the healing or rezing I do to them.
If I ask them if they'd like to group and they say yes, then of course we split the loot.

[Rocinante]

Unless directed I just throw heals. If you die I will ask if you want a rez.


Rocinante
Fury of Feladan