Braddus

I'm a nub to this mod and I don't know exactly how humanity works, but I assume it's essentially; kill players and humanity goes down, eventually labeled as a bandit. The thing is, the society within this game, and the social structure of Zombie Apocalypses are a great example of Hobbes' 'state of nature'. You are always going to be under the threat of murder. It the state of nature it would be impossible to identify whom may attack you. If you possess something they don't, there is no reason why they should not try to take it from you. Removal of the humanity system and the 'bandit' labels and such promotes this paranoia. I've seen the argument in this thread that essentially flows "it's just a game, there's no consequences for killing another player, no one would care." This is very much true. But this is also true of the state of nature. There are no repercussions, there is no social contract, no government or laws. In the state of nature it would be safer to kill another than to negotiate and risk letting them gain the initiative. Without the labels; every meeting of another player becomes the most distressing event possible. Just as you would in the state of nature, you would have no knowledge of their intentions and they of you. Do you kill them to erase the threat? Hide from them? Interrogate them for their intentions or simply pass by peacefully? Maybe someone who plays a bandit would cooperate if thrown into a real state of nature, but that doesn't mean there wouldn't be individuals who killed for safety, provisions or sport in the state of nature. These players therefore account for the personalities that would arise anyway within reality. tl;dr: Removing the humanity/bandit labeling system could potentially add much depth to the PvP aspect of the game. Every encounter has the potential to be deadly and gut instincts will become a predominant part of social interaction. On the other hand it could actually just create a permanent state of war between players.