My Kill-Steal Definition

I was running through Gehenna Bridge out of boredom, and saw Gerero near the entrance walking around. Nobody was attacking it, and it wasn't attacking anyone. So I hit it, and it went the usual "Ugh. Ashardalon, I shall kill you!" Then someone else was also hitting it. He thought I was KS'ing him, and I thought he was KS'ing me.

So whatever, if you want to go Free-For-All on me, there's really nothing I can do about it. Whining and being vulgar in-game won't help, so I never bother doing any of that. Then he decided to start a broad drama over just a Gerero, I responded a bit before giving up.

Basically, of-Ibelin family claimed to have found Gerero, and tried to lure it to the entrance. But he didn't hold its hostility, so Gerero ended up walking around casually. So when I came and saw it walking around without anyone hitting it, I attacked it...


BOSS KILL-STEAL
I define a Boss KS as attacking a boss monster when it is already attacking, or being attacked by, someone else. So there are basically 2 criteria.

1. The boss monster is attacking you.
2. You are attacking the boss monster.
   

So if you satisfy at least one of the above 2 criteria, I will NOT get involved. This means if you do not hold its hostility (i.e. boss is not attacking you), you need to be hitting it to claim the kill. But if the boss monster is just walking around casually without getting hit or hitting anyone (as is the case with this particular Gerero), then it is not a KS as far as I'm concerned.

Basically, if you attack the boss before anyone else shows up, it will usually attack you. This establishes it as your kill. For Gerero, this has the additional announcement of "Ugh. Family_Name, I shall kill you!".

If you stop attacking it and it stops attacking you (usually because you run off too far), then it is not your kill anymore. Luring requires you to hold its hostility; if you lose it, then you lose your claim and need to re-establish it before someone else does. Why should you hold its hostility? This is to let other players know that this boss is being engaged by someone already, and is thus "tagged". If you didn't even bother to keep the boss engaged ("tagged"), you are in no position to claim the kill.

If your entire team or squad is killed, you can't claim the kill either, unless you revive within the next 10 seconds or so.

If we find a boss together at the same time, I will bid with firecracker if you agree to do so. Otherwise, it will just be FFA. This includes being at the spawn spot together before the boss actually spawns (e.g. Barrow de la Muerte, Corridor of Assize).

The above is what I consider boss-KS, and what I avoid doing. Note that some players also impose a time constraint for you to kill a boss, but I usually don't.


SPOT KILL-STEAL
Spot KS is basically attacking monsters within someone's range of attack when the latter is already in a relatively-static location (i.e. spot). It may be unavoidable for spots to overlap a bit in crowded zones like Fire Isle, but generally I will estimate the distance and try to leave some room for other players. Both criteria below must be satisfied before I recognize a particular spot as yours, in which case, I will simply go elsewhere.

1. You are in that particular location first, and remain there without leaving.
2. You are attacking monsters.
   

Basically, if you are there first, then it is your spot. If you leave the spot for whatever reasons (e.g. disconnection, return to town to reload bullets, run off to collect EXP card), then it is no longer your spot.

If you are just standing there without attacking (e.g. noob characters in Gigante Beach, shooters ran out of bullets), it is also not your spot anymore.

If your entire team is dead, then obviously you can't claim the spot either, unless you revive within the next 10 seconds or so after getting killed.

Unintentional spot-KS usually happens when someone is using a melee character, who has an annoying habit of running all over the place. For me, I usually try to lure the offending character away from my spot, rather than using spinelles right away. I might also just put up with it, depending on my mood.

So if you see me trying to lure your melee character off, take a closer look at the surroundings before you accuse me of screwing around with your character. Is it really where you left your melee character before you went AFK? Chances are it is your character who ran off and started KS'ing me while you were away. (IIRC, this happened with someone from Core clan inside Ancient Area once.) If my AFK melee character is unintentionally KS'ing you instead, feel free to lure the character away or whatever.

An example of me getting spot-KS'ed by another player... See here.

SUCCEED REAGENTS
As far as I know, Succeed Reagents (aka Successful Subjects) have always been completely Free-For-All before I even started hunting them in Orpesia. Since they are neither bosses nor spots (i.e. hunters don't stay in one spot, they run around), there is no kill-claim whatsoever.

So just run around and kill whatever you see. If you kill it, it is yours. If not, just try again at the next spawn time. If you need to kill one for the quest, let me know if I happen to be there too. I will leave that one alone for you.


EPILOGUE
I have played in other servers where even the lowliest boss is FFA, so I usually try not to make too big a fuss about being KS'ed by others. But I won't back down just because someone publicly whine and complain in a vulgar manner, trying to play at being a victim.

These are simply my personal guidelines that I abide by when dealing with KS issues in-game. There are of course no universal definitions of KS, but I hope that mine is relatively fair to myself and to other players that I happen to interact with as well. You may or may not agree with them, but the point is that I do not simply kill whatever I see or want. If you can improve on my personal guidelines, please leave a constructive comment in this blog entry. I will consider it. Thanks.