taking satisfaction in anothers hc death

@Knappogue
Don't get me wrong, I'm not OK with PK, and I did many many PvP back in LOD so I know the differences and I completely agree with your argue.

D2 isn't the only game with the possibility to turn hostile and kill.
So if it was so game breaking, Blizzard North would have already done something to prevent this.

We just haven't the same opinion about PK. Surely because I never got PKed in HC.

I'm getting the feeling that PK was an unintended consequence of setting the game up for PVP, because it wouldn't work without going hostile. The screenshot is taken from a Response post by one of the D2 co-founders Max Schaefer, who apparently was named after Th3ory's ( War The Wise...'s?) elusive Hammer. The first part is an answer and the second half of the screenshot is a rationale for not fixing it.

I don't like PK...
but it's part of the game...

That said... once you know they exist, it is not that difficult to avoid them on public games:
- Always go to town when you're doing something else (eating lunch, going to the bathroom, searching for something online...).
And before leaving town, check the in-game messages and/or the "Party screen" (press "P"), to see if any Hostile player have appeared.
- When someone declares hostility:
-- exit the game
-- or go to town or enter on a red portal ( The Secret Cow Level or Tristram - post1805865.html#p1805865 ). Most PKs will exit the game after a few minutes with no player on the "battlefield"

My friend from HSCHOOL used to make lvl 14 Dins. He was obsessed with image. My friends nonetheless.

fredkid wrote: 1 year ago

- Always go to town when you're doing something else (eating lunch, going to the bathroom, searching for something online...).

This is an universal rule, not only anti-PK, and applies to other games than D2 as well.
A monster can spawn or get lured (either naturally or by a griefing player). Or you may be standing in a trap/AoE.
I remember a D3 streamer who played HC. He hit TP hotkey and went AFK. Sadly for him, a monster shot him just before he teleported to town, and interrupted the teleportation. He went back only to see his character long dead.
If your character is not perfectly safe from death, i.e. not in town or not logged out, it is not safe at all.

Timely history of PKing from Coooley.


PKing these days is very mild compared to original D2. I was shocked the first time I played HC in D2R and I went weeks without anybody trying to PK me. Things are way more mellow these days. I did lose a HC char to a PK this season but I can't remember losing one before this. It pretty much requires negligence to get PK'd now and it did in this case. I don't PK but they do add some spice to the game. Back when Zons could one shot TPPK you with a Guided Arrow from 3 screens away, that was a different story.