What makes a good leader in pk?

[Sqwak]

Good leading is recurrently combinatorially explosive. Each person can individually make decisions which may or may not be optimal. A talented leader will take this into consideration in the plays in the game-theoretic estimations they make moment to moment. It is one of the primary reasons this game continues to be interesting to people that have pretty much figured out the single pvp aspects entailed in the dice game aspect.

Witnessing people far more skilled than I will ever hope to be make these calculations in real time is one of the most entertaining aspects of playing the game.

So, what makes a good leader? Recognition that this is a game and that the people playing it are willing to take risks for fun... then estimating what counts as fun for their followers AND their fellow contestant players.

Sitting at mobs because you might otherwise lose sucks. Sitting at mobs because you will otherwise lose makes sense. Dancing that line is the skill of good leadership, I think.

[erulak]

Good leading is recurrently combinatorially explosive. Each person can individually make decisions which may or may not be optimal. A talented leader will take this into consideration in the plays in the game-theoretic estimations they make moment to moment. It is one of the primary reasons this game continues to be interesting to people that have pretty much figured out the single pvp aspects entailed in the dice game aspect.

Witnessing people far more skilled than I will ever hope to be make these calculations in real time is one of the most entertaining aspects of playing the game.

So, what makes a good leader? Recognition that this is a game and that the people playing it are willing to take risks for fun... then estimating what counts as fun for their followers AND their fellow contestant players.

Sitting at mobs because you might otherwise lose sucks. Sitting at mobs because you will otherwise lose makes sense. Dancing that line is the skill of good leadership, I think.

A little wordy, but probably the most useful and accurate post in the whole thread.

A lot of us are 20 years into this game. Leading exclusively to not lose or slow-rolling to let the other team take all the risks generally isn't hard or impressive. Numbers and circumstances are not always going to be in your favor, so sometimes the onus is on certain players ("leaders") to contrive (group) PK* where there might be more tentativeness to try that from others. This doesn't mean you mindlessly int into the other group for no reason, but there is often a vast ground to cover between inting and playing ultra conservative, and I think that dancefloor is the line you're referring to. I'll add that I think the heavier onus can (and should) fall on DS for that -- almost everything about the design of the side is built to initiate and maintain PK. Which shouldn't be misconstrued as 'everything is perfectly balanced and in favor of DS to initiate and maintain pk'.


*Not referring to the solo person fleeing around against a group with zero attempt to generate group pk.

[Meren]

Beyond speed, zone knowledge, and knowing your opponents...

...Knowing the "ebb and flow" of pk. The give and take required to make things happen. If your beaten opponents are sat at a patrol that you can't win at, it's fine. Knowing that, you can hit, lose, and generate a better fight elsewhere.

I guess the final aspect is once you're a good leader, your opponents know. They'll flee earlier because they're scared if they flee low you'll run them down. Their groups break sooner and lose fights they could have won.

[isabel]

So interesting that some of us interpret this question as what makes a leader a leader that wins battles, and some as what makes a leader a leader that wins followers.

[vittak]

Good leading is recurrently combinatorially explosive. Each person can individually make decisions which may or may not be optimal. A talented leader will take this into consideration in the plays in the game-theoretic estimations they make moment to moment. It is one of the primary reasons this game continues to be interesting to people that have pretty much figured out the single pvp aspects entailed in the dice game aspect.

Witnessing people far more skilled than I will ever hope to be make these calculations in real time is one of the most entertaining aspects of playing the game.

So, what makes a good leader? Recognition that this is a game and that the people playing it are willing to take risks for fun... then estimating what counts as fun for their followers AND their fellow contestant players.

Sitting at mobs because you might otherwise lose sucks. Sitting at mobs because you will otherwise lose makes sense. Dancing that line is the skill of good leadership, I think.

A little wordy, but probably the most useful and accurate post in the whole thread.

A lot of us are 20 years into this game. Leading exclusively to not lose or slow-rolling to let the other team take all the risks generally isn't hard or impressive. Numbers and circumstances are not always going to be in your favor, so sometimes the onus is on certain players ("leaders") to contrive (group) PK* where there might be more tentativeness to try that from others. This doesn't mean you mindlessly int into the other group for no reason, but there is often a vast ground to cover between inting and playing ultra conservative, and I think that dancefloor is the line you're referring to. I'll add that I think the heavier onus can (and should) fall on DS for that -- almost everything about the design of the side is built to initiate and maintain PK. Which shouldn't be misconstrued as 'everything is perfectly balanced and in favor of DS to initiate and maintain pk'.


*Not referring to the solo person fleeing around against a group with zero attempt to generate group pk.

I really like the way you explained this, it did remind me of when I first fell in love with DS pk. The idea of mindlessly following, dieing, getting back into 60% abs spiked club/mattock and heading back out. There seemed to be an endless supply of half naked trolls trying to meat shield to victory. We definitely need more of that in todays pk. I was talking to a friend the other day about Craven's early days on DS before he became Ko'bal he would raid with the intent of dying 9/10 times with the idea to push himself and find that line. Needless to say he improved very quickly. As a result people loved to pk against him and he became very good at leading and directing pk with the intent of generating risky pk. I think as time went on he played with less risk or perhaps he got worse at dying who knows but I have very fond memories of raiding with him at that time.