Posted by Counselor Damsel on April 27, 1999 at 15:22:32:

Hello again :)

Still wondering about murder counts? Ok, I am going to give it a shot :)

Murder of an innocent (blue) results in the victim getting an option to report their attacker(s) as a murderer. If the innocent opts to report the players who contributed to their demise one murder count is assigned to each of the players reported. This means that if PK1 flamestrikes me, PK2 ebolts me and PK3 whacks me with his kryss, and I die prior to regaining full health, and I am not flagged a criminal, or a murderer when was attacked, I can report all three of them and assign one murder count to each. ( I can also opt to place a bounty on one or more of them but WARNING: this money is taken FROM THE VICTEMS BANK ACCOUNT).

Interesting, but what does this murder count mean to me?

Murder counts spawn off a few things:
Three murder (trackers) counters � Long term, Short term and �Ping-Pong�
Massive Karma loss
A criminal flag
And Possibly, Murderer status (five murder counts based on the long term counter and murderer status will result)

Ok, I know what karma loss is and I know that a criminal flag can get me guard killed in town and a viable target for anyone looking for a fight, but what are these counters?

Short term counter � one murder equals 8hrs, this counter is to track stat loss. (Over four murders (32hrs) or more on this counter and you will suffer stat loss on resurrection) This counter only tracks for stat loss.

Long term counter � one murder equals 40hrs on this counter to track murderer status. More than four murders (160 hrs) on this counter and you will appear red, as a murderer to other players. So five murders and this counter would be 200hrs, after 8 you would be able to ress without penalty but you would remain a murderer until this counter reached 160.

�Ping � Pong� counter � this counter gets one count each time you become a murderer (turn red, gain five or more murders), once you have gotten five counts on this counter, you will remain red, and essentially the long term counter is moot. So if you go blue to red, five times you are �perma red�. In this state the short term counter will still track stat loss for you but you will never be blue again.

Ok, eesh, but how do I know if I am going to suffer stat loss if my murderer (red) status does not tell me that anymore?
You can now say outloud:

�I must consider my sins�

Your character will then get a message, the gist of which will tell you if you are going to have stat loss on ress.

I hope this does not add to any confusion. I get a lot of calls about this and this is how I explain it, and most of the time the caller understands better. At least that is what they tell me (they might just be trying to shut me up :P).

As a tip, I suggest you keep your journal open when you are discussing such a complex issue with a counselor. It will allow you to follow along more easily and prevent the need for repetition, you can read back over it at your leisure too.

Have fun :)

*Blows Kisses*

Counselor Lady Damsel
Atlantic

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