“The damage that Boutique-san suffered. It wasn’t an attack or interference from a player. It was friendly fire. An accident.”
What Minashigo-san said stunned me into silence.
“Also, you almost got shot with an arrow by another player, didn’t you? Even if that hit you, it was friendly fire. It was an accident.”
The following words she added made me gawk even more.
What? There is no way that it was an accident. It was obviously intentional.
Friendly fire is that thing, isn’t it? When you accidentally attack a friend or ally.
In the first place, I wasn’t friends with the sniper, and that person was aiming at me.
“—The management kept insisting, and before long, more than half a year had passed.”
“Yes?”
The argument presented by Minashigo-san, or the management of Kimakura Utopia, was this:
We players are united against a single disaster during a defensive event like this.
In other words, we are all on the same side. Everyone is a friend.
The players can only make the event successful if they cooperate; there is no point in being hostile to each other.
Furthermore, if you attempt to sabotage the event, you will hinder its progress and potentially cause harm to yourself.
Since damage is determined even between players, this gimmick is not a system that encourages PK but rather a friendly fire system.
Hmmm, I get it. Well, if you put it that way, it makes sense.
Does that mean the player who attacked me, intentionally or by mistake, has a comparable loss?
“Well, not really.”
“Huh.”
“The only thing that would happen is, as I said before, that it would affect the progress of the whole event? However, that’s a negative effect on the entire event, including the victim, not just the individual attacker. Therefore, if we’re going to look at things in relative terms, it’s effectively a zero penalty. And what makes it even more of a violation is the ‘ranking spec.'”
The ‘ranking’ refers to the VP ranking that accompanies this type of event. There are separate categories for clans and individuals, and the players who contribute the most to the event are the ones who accumulate the most special guild points and are awarded the top spots.
Are the specifications the culprit?
Minashigo-san nodded with a difficult look on her face.
“Well, maybe it’s just a ranking, but it’s a relative evaluation, not an absolute one.”
“Relative evaluation…?”
“This is why it doesn’t matter if the event itself goes down the successful route or the unsuccessful route. The winner is the player who earns the most points. When it came down to it… Some people noticed. The most efficient way to become a ranker isn’t to collect points diligently, but to collect points while sabotaging others.”
There were other reasons why many players came to this conclusion.
Although there were far fewer of them than there are today, interference led to interference, personal grudge led to personal grudge, and the negative chain of events continued unabated to the present day.
Additionally, the rewards earned for the top ranking are more valuable than those earned for the highest overall number of points, which is also a contributing factor to the problem.
If someone is going to interrupt you anyway… it would be better if I could benefit myself.
Many people will inevitably put their interests first when you think like this. Few players would approach the event properly, and leading the scenario to a successful outcome has become almost impossible.
However, I don’t blame them for doing so when the rules or the system don’t regulate it. The more I hear about it, the more I believe it’s a management issue.
“This is normal. There have been many requests for this kind of thing in the past, of course. Such things as appropriate penalties for obvious sabotage, or reviewing the ranking specifications. But, you know, God doesn’t move. In the end, they came up with the trump card, Mess Rules.”
“I’ve been hearing a lot about Mess Rules lately in foreign games and such. Like extraterritoriality within the game world….”
“This is why you can’t think with common sense anymore. It is only common sense in our world that there is no such thing as sabotage in such a relaxing, task-oriented game, or that the person who earnestly and diligently works hard should be the top-ranking player. It doesn’t work in this world. This is essentially what management is saying: We will not change the specifications. You guys shut up. The end.“
“Pfft, did the players accept that…?”
“Those with common sense who disagree with it have long since left the game behind.
“Yet, there are a lot of good things about this game. In my opinion, the graphics are the best in the world. The game offers excellent versatility, complex scenarios, cute character designs, and an abundance of content. All those game idiots who clung to those things and couldn’t get away from them had to swallow. God insists.”
The result is a crazy game with only crazy people. Closing her speech, Minashigo-san continued.
“If you accept that this is the way it is, you can enjoy the game in some way. For some, it’s a game of earning points while sabotaging other players; for others, it’s a game of enjoying steady production while protecting themselves from dangerous elements; for others, it’s a game of protecting the serious players from harm; for others, it’s a game of exposing the masses in videos.”
“Isn’t that too much?”
“Maybe so. But if you can’t accept this, maybe Kimakura is not for you. Oh, I said it.”
I looked around in disbelief.
Minashigo-san, the leader who helped me earlier, most of the players participating in events here, Takenaka-san, Memeko-san, my sister, Shadow-san, and Zoe-san, all played Kimakura after accepting that it was that kind of game…?
Before judging whether that was good or bad, I was just shocked. It was like I thought I was grazing in a peaceful pasture, but all the sheep around me were wolves.
“If you think I’m lying, why don’t you go up to the east watchtower? Maybe now you’ll see something interesting.”
I followed Minashigo-san’s lead and headed in that direction, and there below me were two forces in conflict over a single monster.
Takenaka-san and Shadow-san were cursing and attacking each other.
I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
******
[Kimakura Utopia. Talk Room (Official)・World Events Discussions]
[Itachi]
The limited edition equipped items aren’t always very effective
[Narutick]
Just take the Fog Crystal
The people who don’t produce sodas would pay for it
[Chon]
HimeP?
[3745]
Today’s Without Borders log
(Video)
[Zoebel]
kami
[YTYT]
You call yourself homeless
[Poiret]
I’m just terrified that Zoe-niki, who is running amok in the north, is the first to respond
[송사리]
I don’t think they can afford to change… (shudder)
[Kohaku]
I guess she can spare the time to watch the video and type a reply, heh~… (shudder)
[Chon]
Oh my God
[Panda]
I thought it was Ciel, but it’s just a video of B-san getting tangled up with a thug and a pervert
[Piano Jam]
It seems that Zoe-niki these days aren’t on Ciel’s side but on CieB’s side…
[Zoebel]
morelikefromzoeshantatocievivi
[Narutick]
I don’t get it anymore; just connect to the voice chats!
[3745]
I won’t bother trying to decipher it
[Itachi]
If you connect the voice now, the chat log will be swallowed by the stream of noise