To have the Fame result of a kill be rendered non-exploitable seems rather simple.
This is only for PvP, GvG, FvF or whatever areas, NOT for consensual duels.
First person to attack gets flagged as aggressor. If their target does not fight back and gets killed, agressor looses 1 fame point from every civilization their target has 30+fame with, and looses .5 fame points for whichever faction, if either, their target has +30 fame with. Neither target nor agressor recieve a fame reward.
If the target fights back, the winner of the fight (either one, target or agressor) gains .5 fame with any civilization the loser has -30 fame with, and gains .2 fame with whichever faction the loser has -30 fame with. Neither target nor aggressor lose fame.
In either case, a fame rating of -29 through +29 would have no impact, just as +30 fame is the threshold where you are allowed to undertake some missions, it means you are at least reasonably well-known and well-regarded by the civilization/faction in question. As with missions, another fight with the same person, within a certain period of time (1-2 hours realtime) would have no impact on fame.
Works from a players perspective, as well as from an RP perspective.
You kill a non-combatant, even if that is only their stance at the moment, it is murder, plain and simple. You kill someone who is fighting back, you have defeated them.
2 examples:
1)Bob returns to Fairhaven from PR, he goes to the bar, the bartender notices some scorch-marks,
"Run into some trouble, Bob?" he asks.
"Yeah, was hunting down below, got into a fight with John. He kicked my @$$."
"Hrm, better luck next time. Have a drink on me
"
2) Bob returns to Fairhaven, once again scorched. He goes to the raw materials merchant to sell what's in his bag.
The merchant looks at the proferred mats, and at Bob's state, and says"You look a might touseled, and there isn't nearly as much here as usual. What gives?"
"I was digging down below, and John nuked me to death again." Bob replies.
"Did you get a chance to fight back?"
"No, I was in my Focus gear, and had left my weapons at home to make room for more mats."
"That blackguard! Because you're a friend of mine, from now on I'm going to charge him more, and darned if I'm going to pay top dapper for what he wants to sell!"
*Edit* It occurs to me that some may object, because of the possibility of eventually recieving overall negative fame, or overall positive fame. I do not see the problem.
History is full of diplomats who were well regarded by opposing sides in a war.
If you wind up with negatives to all civilization fame, and negative fame with both factions, only able to sell your wares at a tiny fraction of their cost, and having to pay huge amounts of "tax" for being disliked (that is, if the guards of the town do not attack you on sight), and the only places you can respawn are the neutral portals, TOUGH. You are a serial killer, did you expect people do give you flowers and candy?
OOC:
