Sahdowrun has only one goal, have fun. If you take that to mean "Have my fun" you may find yourself without a group to play with, and that's no fun. In truth the name of the game is to "Have fun together", and you will find that both rewarding and sustainable.

If you've convinced yourself that your style of fun precludes that type of thing, that you need to get the GM and all other players up against the ropes, get over yourself. Play the game like a civilized human being and everyone wins.

I suggest everyone play Shadowrun to win.

I disagree Critias, the problem isn't that Twixt was engaging in PVP that is the problem, the problem is that if you believe the story he was using a combo of broken powers that weren't meant to be used in PVP in order to gangrape the zone.

A Shadowrun player using the original Blood Spirit rules in order to "win" the game would be an example of Twixt's playstyle.

If that combo was not meant to be used in PVP, then my question is how was he able to use it. It was precisely because it was meant to be used that it could be used. The other players were constrained by their own mental paradigms. A PVP server/arena is the virtual equivalent of an underground fight club, there are no rules and there are no holds barred, you do whatever you can to bring the other side down.

Could a SR player use the original Blood Spirit rules to "win" the game? Yes, if the GM so chooses to let him use Blood magic over the recommendations as stated in RAW. But no, Twixt's playstyle is not using the Blood spirit rules, it would be him using the Long Shot + Called Shot rules. While the GM is explicitly warned against allowing PC Blood magic, the rules do not do so for either the Long Shot or Called Shot rules. Everytime I see someone complain that someone else was cheating in a PVP server, unless the player being complained about was using a third party hack, I always get the mental image of Nute Gunray crying,"She's not supposed to do that! Shoot her, Jango!" Unless the other player is using something you do not have access to and that the game does not give you access to, those players are simply being hypocritical.

Because unlike a true rpg, MMOs don't have the personal touch of an actual DM to make judgement calls on how every little combo or tactic should mesh with each other. If said combo was intended to be used as Twixt supposedly did than doing so would have rewarded him for defeating his foe, but yet curiously enough it didn't.

I think that's the goal of every games, even video games and probably MMORPG too.
Most of the time, trying to win the game is the best way to have fun. Sometimes it's not.

If said combo was not intended to be used as Twixt supposedly did, then he wouldn't have been able to do so for as long as he did, but yet curiously he was able to do so. Unless the game is no longer supported and the combo was not meant to be used as such, then the programmers would have nerfed the combo somehow, yet curiously they did not.

I'll explain RV since I've had exposure to it.

In PvP zones in CoH/V each faction has a base protected by drones. The drones insta-kill the opposing faction. You get teleported back to your base when you die.

Recluse's Victory features 7 pillboxes that are guarded by 4 turrets. Once all 4 turrets are destroyed, the pillbox can be captured. Players may also collect a "heavy" that is situated around the map and use them to assist capturing a pillbox. Capturing pillboxes is pretty simple for most players, especially with the assistance of "heavies". As a Brute, I would use the heavy to tank and hurt turrets while I beat on them myself. IIRC I could capture one pillbox and possibly even two pillboxes with a single heavy. I could also solo pillboxes without a heavy, but I would typically only be able to take out 1 or 2 turrets before having to run off and heal. It's pretty easy to get yourself into a position so only 1 or 2 of the turrets can target you at once.

The goal is to capture 6 of the 7 pillboxes. When one faction has 4 pillboxes signature heroes/villains show up to assist the losing side. A second wave of signature NPCs show up at 5 pillboxes. These signature NPCs typically cannot be soloed, but certain signature NPCs, but certain archetypes with certain power sets can solo these NPCs with the assistance of a heavy.

Twixt was essentially a study to see what would happen when an individual acts outside of the established social conventions and pacts. In other words, it is an insight into how people would reach to anarchy in the real world. The rules established by the developers function as the laws of physics in the real world, while the social conventions within the game are for all purposes rules and laws set forth by society, except without any effective way of enforcing them.

Not really suprising at all torturi, back when I actually played City of Heroes the devs were always slow to react to anything, and then only got their asses in gear once everyone started jumping on the bandwagon by making massive changes that fixed one "problem" but tended to create at least two others.

I disagree StealthSigma, if for no other reason then the fact that any thirteen-year-old could have given the professor the answer if he had asked.

Yes, but then the professor wouldn't have been paid to play City of Heroes.

What would a Shadowrun game be like if players played to win? Would we see bloodzillas and pornomancers in the game? Would the entire gaming world be subordinated for their enjoyment. Would it be less fun?

Then there would be no players, only GMs. A player can never win as he is limited by the BP, karma and nuyen that the GM grants him.

If they weren't meant to be used in PVP, why did the code allow it? He didn't hack anything. He didn't have any extra downloaded content. He didn't purchase a limited edition of the game that gave him access to powers other people didn't have access to. His behavior was -- despite numerous complaints to the mods in-game and rants on their forums -- never corrected by the game's moderators or nerfed by the game's programmers.

Only if you think winning means beating the GM. That's like going to work with the intention of beating your boss. It's a misconception that will only get you so far. Eventually everyone realizes that you're a self centered little shit and you're sacked. The only way to get ahead in life, or gaming, is to find the ways in the situations you face to win together with the other players and people involved.

Sometimes that's taking one for the team, sometimes it's an over whelming boon to you. There's a balance, and in the end everyone "wins".

Except several players have already conceded that the developers are incredibly slow to respond to the concerns of the player base. While we can all agree that such a powerful ability should be weakened for the best improvement of the game, we don't have the power to do so. The players are left with two choices:

1. Make Teleport Foe a mandatory part of the arsenal of anyone who wants to participate in Recluse's Victory.
2. Agree not to use TF in such a horribly game-breaking fashion.

The problem with solution #1, despite all of Sirlin's rants about scrubs and fun, is that it automatically excludes a large number of players from playing in RV. Anyone who can't learn Teleport Foe simply cannot compete in RV if everyone uses it. On top of that, the zone is degraded from a contest between players trying to outmaneuver each other and apply meaningful tactics into a quicktime event to see who can click TF first. If there is an imbalance in how many players assault a pillbox versus how many are present to defend it, the side with more players automatically wins regardless of anyone's skill. I don't think even Sirlin can defend that as being a deep game without throwing out his own article on Yomi Layer 3.

#2, on the other hand, provides a MAD solution much like what has prevailed in the modern era of warfare. Nobody uses nuclear or chemical weapons anymore, because doing so would turn the world into a place which none of us want to live in. A few people are crazy enough to try to do so, of course, but the entire population of Earth stands against them, because we don't want people suffering from mustard gas or radiation poisoning. The problem with implementing #2 is that if someone decides to be a terrorist jerkass, we can't send the armies of ten nations in to stop them. The worst consequence you can inflict upon someone in a MMORPG is to prevent them from playing for a short time. That's not enough to discourage any 13-year-old (or middle aged psychologist with the mindset of a 13-year-old) from griefing the bejeezus out of everyone in sight like this.

Hey! It's not griefing! The game staff supported Dr. Myers's actions!
The GMs don't have the authority to decide how the game is supposed to be played, that's the purview of the developers, and the developers have shown that they don't give a rat's ass what happens to their fans so long as the money keeps rolling in. What we have here is not a case of winners vs. scrubs, it's just a griefer taking advantage of bad game design and being ignored by bad developers..

EDIT: Upon further reading of Myers's article, he admits to deliberately interfering with other players' friendly duels. In other words, he stood on the balcony of the Colosseum of Rome and threw spears at the gladiators who agreed to fight for the entertainment of other players. So yeah, he's griefing, even by Sirlin's standards, by destroying the entertainment of dozens of players for no personal gain whatsoever. He doesn't even win through his actions, he only causes other players to lose.