Kill stealing
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In online games and especially MMORPGs, kill stealing is the practice of stealing the spoils resulting from an enemy vanquished by other players. Kill stealing occurs when defeating foes results in rewards that the players are competing for. The term is most often heard in MMORPGs, where rewards of items and experience points can be substantial, but can also be found in first-person shooters where players are rewarded a point for a kill. Many players feel that kill stealing is an undesirable practice.
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Overview
There are two main causes for kill stealing: The desire for the reward and the desire to cause other players grief. Kill stealing is predominantly done to gain the rewards from a kill. Griefers kill steal as only one of their tactics in annoying other players.
One of the most prominent games where the term kill stealing is heard is the fantasy MMORPG EverQuest. In this game, the experience points and right to the rewards for a kill goes entirely to the player or party that did the most damage to the defeated mob. Some player classes were designed to do more damage than others and could find it quite tempting "help" other players fighting monsters. For example, a warrior might be battling an orc only to have a spellcaster come along, blast the orc to death in an instant and get all the reward, while the warrior walks away from the fight having lost time and hit points and gaining nothing.
Complaints of kill stealing are sometimes heard in online first-person shooters. In most of these games, the credit for a kill goes to the player who deals the killing shot. Players usually ignore complaints of kill stealing in FPSs because the rewards are less significant and because these games move much faster (i.e., it was probably accidental).
Kill stealing is not heard in situations where a cooperative goal is being sought. One member of an MMORPG hunting party will not argue that another member of their party is "kill stealing" from them. Any help towards the cooperative goal is desired with the understanding that the rewards will be shared fairly amongst the participants.
Preventing kill stealing
Many newer MMORPGs implement game designs that distributes the reward more fairly to those who fought a creature. Rewards can be distributed based on how much the player contributed to defeating the creature. A player that does 30% of the damage gains 30% of the money and experience points rewarded for defeating the creature. A game might have a more sophisticated way to measure a player's contribution to the fight as well. A character whose primary task is healing other characters might be judged based on how much he healed combatants during the fight.
Another approach is to make "help" from other players something that the original player consents to. EverQuest II has a system of locked encounters that prevents players from helping others in killing a creature unless help is requested. In EQ2, once the warrior attacks the orc, the wizard cannot attack the warrior's orc unless the warrior uses a special yell command for help.
Related topics
- camping — another MMORPG practice that arises when players compete for rewards
- ninja looting — improperly taking the reward from a defeated creature
- powerleveling — powerlevelers are frequently blamed for kill stealing
References
- Koster, Raph. CGDC Presentation: "The Rules of Online World Design" (http://www.legendmud.org/raph/gaming/gdc.html).
External links
- "Kill Stealing: A Logical Deduction (http://cityofheroes.gameamp.com/article/viewArticles/100.php)", an opinion article on kill stealing in City of Heroes and MMORPGs in general.