Along with the other FAQ I posted above, this FAQ may also be relevant to the debates here..
http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1409
QUESTION
A player took me to Felucca under false pretenses and killed me?
Answer
We do not consider this action illegal. There have been safeguards put in place so that you are fully aware of the destination of any gates or runes.
Gates from Trammel to Felucca are highlighted red in color as a warning to you that you enter at your own risk. Runes are a specific Felucca hue and also labeled as having a Felucca destination. Killing other players in Felucca is a normal game mechanic,
and you knowingly accept this when you enter a clearly marked Felucca gate or use a Felucca labeled and colored rune. It is recommended that you be careful before entering any player made gate or recall off someone else's rune, even the blue gates can lead you to heavy monster spawn and you could be killed.
Key Word =
Illegal.
It is not
illegal to kill other players in Fel. It is a normal game mechanic. That's why a player can get Murder Counts for an unprovoked attack against a Blue.
It is "Allowed"...a player knows they can be attacked...but when they do get attacked and don't want to fight (being attacked at any time I fully understand is a Risk, of entering Fel...but not my open and willing Consent to be attacked and die...it is a
Risk, as stated above), that would be "Non-Consensual" PvP, by most standards, in an objective evaluation of the cause and effect. It is Non-Consensual PvP, in a land where open PvP is "Allowed".
PvP, as a rule, is "Allowed" in Fel, and there are most assuredly ways for both players, who decide, Consensually, together, that they want to duel each other to the death for whatever reason (like when I took lessons from a player before Trammel came along, in PvP) to go Grey first to each other, so neither can give the other a count, if they get ticked if they die...or agreeing that if one flags on the other, that no count will be given.
That, by the purest definition of the word, is "Consensual" PvP. It's "Consensual PvP" in a land where open PvP is "Allowed". The offer to fight is extended, and both accept, knowing that there will be a fight. Neither can be penalized for killing the other...both have a chance to die.
This simply cannot happen in Trammel, without certain criterion being met first. Like being guilded, or being guilded and being at war. And...in these circumstances, in a land like Trammel, where ONLY Consensual PvP can occur...and this is an important point:
Neither side in any fight, when guilded, or at war, can give the other side a Murder Count...ever. In my opinion, the reason for that is simple: When you join a guild, or a Faction, or fgo to war against another Guild...game mechanics look at that as "Consensual" all the way...there are no repurcussions for killing another Guildy, or opponent, even in Town. It is like an open Arena Deathmatch, everywhere a person goes, if they sign up for it. And a person signed up for it can simply leave a guild at war, and no more attacks, then.
Guards will kill anyone trying to kill another player in town, in Fel, in an unprovoked attack against a Blue, if the Guards are called. That, in and of itself, should be proof enough that although I
can attack another player in Fel ("Allowed" game mechanics), anywhere I want...if I do so in town, and am not in a Guild War, or in a Guild...or in a Faction...my "Non-Consensual" attack could end in my death. Guard Whacking does not occur for Guild Wars, even in Trammel.
In Fel, it is "Allowed" that a Red Toons can attack a Blue Toon unprovoked ("Allowed" and "To Be Expected"...but NOT "Consensual", in this case), at will, and sometimes suffer consequences for doing so if the attack is an unprovoked attack against a Blue Toon, that results in the death of the Blue Toon. That act, in my mind, would be the opposite of a duel, or a guild fight, or a guild war, or a faction war...or truly "Consensual" PvP.
That act would be "Non-Consensual", and could result in a Murder Count for the attacker.
Open PvP is "Allowed" in Fel...even Non-Consensual PvP is allowed in Fel, and it isn't illegal, and the most a person can do is give some that attacks them, and kills them, if they are Blue to the attacker, a Murder Count.
But when a Toon of any color gets killed in Fel by another player, in an unprovoked or sneak attack it is not
illegal. But to me, most assuredly, that is not Consensual. I understand it CAN happen (the
risk is always there that I can be subjected to Non-Consensual PvP at any time), everytime I go to Fel...but when and if it does happen, and it doesn't every time...then it would have to fall in the "Non-Consensual" column, unless both parties agreed to the fight. Stepping into the Red Moongate means you are aware that an unprovoked attack by another player can, and likely will happen. It doesn't mean that a player is consenting to getting attacked...just consenting to the
risk that it can occur, as far as I can see.
That's my take on it. I understand that a person accepts the game mechanics that they can be attacked and killed by another player...but that isn't my "Consent" to be attacked and killed. It is my acknowledgment, and acceptance and consent, that an attack
can happen, whether I want it to, or not...Consensual...vs...Non-Consensual.