I was reminiscing with someone recently over an MMO we used to play like a decade ago, and I laughed when I found out that in some respects, the essential conflict is still the same.
Basically, most of the players kill villager NPCs to level up, which then re-spawn. But if one is trying to RP logically, the villagers must be treated like real people. Thus, one might feel compelled to wage a war over the villagers (if playing “good”). But then, all the other players complain that one is being unreasonable by protecting them.
This sort of thing drove me crazy back when I played. I just couldn’t get over how illogical and inconsistent it was to throw a fit in an RPG when someone (like me) behaves in an IC way by protecting the villagers. Yes, it makes leveling harder, but that’s an OOC complaint. But somehow, I could never get these people to grok that.
Does anyone else get annoyed when they see inconsistencies in how other players RP in MMOs?