News 2 16 - Recover your items! (long news item!)

NEWS article 2-16:

Dateline 5/7/2011: RECOVER YOUR ITEMS! (LONG NEWS ITEM!)

RECOVER YOUR ITEMS! (LONG NEWS ITEM!)

It is with great pleasure that we update and re-release this (recently re-released) announcement about recovering stolen items! Yes, please read this AGAIN, as there have been multiple clarifications made.

Recovering graverobbed Items

As well all know, theft, including graverobbing, grants consent. Sometimes, however, a person doesn't wish to exercise consent, they simply want to retrieve their item(s) and be done with it. We encourage this. If simply asking for your item(s) back doesn't work, you aren't left with no recourse other than killing the perpetrator. A victim may SEARCH someone who's stolen (aka picked up, without consent) an item from the victim's grave or that was dropped when the victim died.

Using the SEARCH verb is simple -- type SEARCH (name) or SEARCH (name) for (item). SEARCHing someone will not reveal his inventory.

While item recovery with SEARCH is not (I repeat NOT) 100% guaranteed, there are ways to improve your odds. CHALLENGE is the preferred method for settling the conflict -- it's rather difficult for your foe to resist being SEARCHed if he is unconscious at your feet, right?

That being said, there are other less palatable options (like rendering your victim unconscious through the use of magic) that we won't discuss since we know *everyone* will want to use the CHALLENGE system. If you don't want to do it that way, you'll have to determine what other methods are available to you on your own.

Please know that the only time that a victim can EVER get an item that belongs to a thief with the SEARCH verb is if the thief is intelligence-impaired enough to steal a container and then put their own items into it. We do know, however, that any items accidentally grabbed in this manner will be returned, since all the victim wanted was what belonged to him, right? Be forewarned that if the victim chooses to keep those items despite the thief's request that they be returned, what happens next is entirely between the two of you. The GMs will not (repeat NOT) get involved.

The use of SEARCH on someone is not consent to PVP. If you're the one being SEARCHed for ill-gotten goods, you do not have consent to PVP. If you're the person doing the SEARCHing, we would hope that a successful search would satisfy your need for retribution. However, theft IS consent and so if a victim chooses to seek vengeance ONCE after retrieving their item(s) from the thief, the GMs are not going to become involved. NOTE: This vengeance does not guarantee one kill. If the victim calls off his attack after he's begun to retaliate, the conflict is effectively over and consent between victim and thief is concluded.

Also - If you're carrying somebody's graverobbed item and proceed to instigate more problems with them, you should expect them to respond in kind. While your returning the item ends consent in the vast majority of cases, there is something to be said for playing nice as opposed to dropping the item in their hand after a 12 day search and then smugly insisting "but I returned it, you don't have consent now!" Consider this fair warning because the GMs will NOT get involved in this sort of situation and if your victim cleans your clock, well, you deserved it, didn't you?

Also, please refer to NEWS 2 14 -- ASSISTING THE VICTIM OF A CRIME, as well as NEWS 5 25 - CONSENT POLICY for additional information that may be of interest.