Nep said it pretty well...as a general rule we really don't like maiming or killing characters. As a general rule I think even the most boastful, proud, couragous and savage evil would wince when his taunting suddenly brought forth Shokai...and the business end of Shokai's spear.

There have been several very well played evils over the years that I've been forced to assault or attack or what not because they didn't back down. Some of them, it may not have been in their roleplay to back down...but once again, I'll play the god card. Now from an OOC standpoint, I will say that I've had some very cool interactions (yes some of them ended with a fight, or me whacking the mortal in question) with evils. The basic key is something I see a lot of people neglect, respect and awe. There are two places I see this ignored, and I suppose I'll take this chance to ramble at length about it.

Area One: Dealing with an immortal IC.

Think like your character would, this is a God in front of you...meaning this is a being that could crush you with a thought, send you sprawling into the void, turn you inside out, in general...someone who can do a lot of rather terrible things to you should they wish. Even if it's your patron god, there should still be a slight bit of awe and reverance. Some of the players I enjoy interacting with (evils, goods and neutrals) are thsoe that when Shokai shows up and talks, they treat the encounter like I imagine someone in Thera would treat a god showing up and chatting. It's hard to put into words, I just know it when I see it. This doesn't mean that if a god shows up you should drop to your knees and grovel in the dirt before them...since that's not in a lot of people's roleplay. However, treating a god like just another mortal, or even worse...just like another player (IC) is almost always bad juju.


Area Two: Dealing with heros.

It annoys me to no end that so many people flat out ignore the guild ranks in terms of how they treat other players. If you're a level one and you walk into a guild and two heros are sitting there...IC there'd be a bit of 'wow'. Even if you think the two guys are tools OOC, don't let it slip into IC territory. Think of it this way...one day you walk into your highschool history classroom, and sitting there is George W. Bush, Tony Blair and #### Cheny. Regardless of how you feel about these guys, you'd be pretty floored. Since here are three VERY important people and they're right there are arm's length. To some degree heros of your guild should probably be viewed in the same light.

I could say more, but this is already gone vastly off subject, did I come close to or even attempt to answer your question?