A gamer in the Sons of Sword Universe is playing through a great game of Champions of Battle. Not willing to pay the outrageous price for an upgrade, she has gathered the ore to make the next piece of armor herself. Now it’s time to return to the forge. She’s about to get back into her ship when suddenly a lightning bolt comes out of nowhere killing her instantly.
By the time her body is retrieved, she has lost the ore and her shirt, literally. All the stat increasing Hanja it contained now makes her mysterious assailant stronger or richer. So, she has another difficult task to complete before she can continue her adventure.
Another gamer has just finished the final leg of an extensive quest chain with a secretive and hard to impress faction. The prize for months of frustrating quests and searches is a rare treasure that only this faction can give. He has burned many bridges with former allies in order to get this prize, steeling or ruining things they hold dear.
All of the trouble is well worth it. This prize is as useful as it is rare. It is not however all powerful. This fact is easily proven. Not five minutes after getting it, he is swarmed by an overwhelming horde of attackers. They rip the prize from his Champion’s cold dead hands and roll dice to see who keeps it. By the time his body is retrieved the attackers are nowhere to be found. To get a similar prize, he has to start the whole process again with no access to his former allies.
These attacks are just a small portion of what is capable of those who have been named “gankers” in the game Champions of Battle. A common occurrence in free roam games, they are a problem and a peril that is difficult to sort out. They have been called bandits, cheaters, cowards, thieves, raiders, and many other colorful phrases. To the enemies of the attacked, they could be called fortunate. They have been hunted, hired, and are usually not trusted. They are the reason that most low level players stay in cities with high level guards.
Who knows why they do what they do? Perhaps in a gaming world a player can act out their craziest dreams without being punished. The player can become an outlaw then sleep soundly at home. Perhaps the player’s idea of fun is making sure that others don’t have fun. Maybe the player is powerless in the real world and lash out in the world of fiction. For any of these reasons, the result is the same. Whenever a Champion steps out of the protected cities, they must be wary.
It is not an easy existence. Gankers too live in fear in the Champions of Battle world. They too must be careful. With increasing reports of dishonorable activities, they have to be careful where they go. They have few safe places to rest. There is usually a bounty for their capture. This bounty increases with every dishonorable thing they do. This, “fun,” is encouraged to become less fun for the players.
With an increasing bounty, gankers have to take greater strides to stay hidden while carrying out their daily lives. They have to look for more and more secure hideouts. They have to search for special cities equally full of lawlessness to be relatively safe from bounty hunters.
When gankers are caught, painful strength reducing torture in a prison cell may await. All of their acquired equipment and a great amount of their funds could be taken. To be completely free from their captors, they must hope for rescue from their allies or the enemies of their captors. Such help may or may not come depending on how securely the prison is hidden away. Anyone that attempts to free a ganker and fails is placed in a similar condition.
Gankers are difficult to deal with because they have uses in Champions of Battle. The Crisho race is a very small. The average height is around five centimeters. Even in a video game world, ill-equipped explorers should be wary. Low level players are not supposed to wander far. They are encouraged to play carefully and strategically or fail a task they may not be trusted with again. Gankers create the necessary fear for other players to stay relatively safe until they are ready to venture out with all the proper equipment and tactics.
Gankers are used politically in game as well. There are always warring and conniving factions. Catching or hiring a known outlaw creates a winning situation. They are used as free agents to attack or spy on foe or ally without revealing the true source of aggression.
The temptation to break, steal, or vandalize stuff is sometimes too powerful to resist, especially in video games. However, Champions of Battle is a game where things are continually moving. A Champion is still active even when their player is not playing. It is possible for a Champion to commit a crime, only to be caught while its player is off-line. Even if a player does a few dishonorable actions they must be careful.