Your point on the shifters is valid. It's pretty dang tough to learn how to actually play the game when all you can do is prep, shift, and murder. About IRC though...I remember a day when everyone used to hang out in irc and have fun. Twist, Nepenthe a bit, Thror, and Zulghinlour just to name a few imms. Don't hate the roots yo.

Distention honestly has no effect on pking in the lowbie-midbie ranks.

Most of the good pk'rs learned pking the hard way. They would get nailed by groups a few times a session by other groups. Then, either they would dust themselves off and learn what the others did to win, or they would whine on the forums about the lack of roleplay (boohoo). I remember wars involving neosoft (ragers), diku (empire), and smuggers (masters) decimating each other and everyone in between. The highlight of CF for me was being in battle during the Dhaevor/Rezkirat/Minalcar years. We died. A lot. In one hour. It was rough living, but I can't remember having more fun anywhere else.

I think the biggest thing missing from CF is good cabal wars. Massive cabal wars forge the pk instinct. I just hope it's not something of the past.

My ramblings.