I'm not sure where the DM's stand on this issue, but thought I'd ask, as one player to another, a courtesy of those that actively seek PvP.

When you encounter a character just standing in one spot -- that is, you happen across them, and they're not moving around or talking to someone -- it's possible the attention of that player is not on their character at that moment. That is, they could be engaged in important OOC tells, or they could have crashed, or they may have been forced to step away from their keyboard momentarily to answer the door, etc.

I think it would be a nice courtesy to wait until you see them move/RP/etc, prior to attacking, especially if a fugue death is intended.

Would it be super polite to do so, yes. Is it required, no.

If you need to attend to other things, log off. Then you are safe. If you do not want to log off, then make sure you are in a safe place. For the record:

Back alley way hidden in a corner - not safe. The Pissing Crone - not safe. (the name itself should be a tip off) Canal Wards, Lower, Dunwarren Ruins, parts of Upper - not safe Random underdark (including invised/stealthed) - not safe

Inside a locked room / faction area - probably safe, but maybe not. Standing right next to a watchman/spellguard agent - maybe safe

Logging off - yeah, fully safe.

Beggar has it. It's not the responsibility of the attacker to ensure that you're paying attention. If something comes up, the safest measure is indeed to log off for a few minutes. If you go AFK and stay IG, then if you get killed it's really nobody's fault that you were AFK but your own (provided all rules of PVP were followed, of course).

That being said, the DMs would not stop players from going OOC and tipping their enemy off to impending attack OOCly if they so choose, but doing so would not really be encouraged, let alone enforced. In the end it's entirely your responsibility in choosing how you deal with your own OOC issues, not anyone elses.

No, I wouldn't expect that it be required. And I agree that responsibility for a PvP death as a result of an unexpected distraction or system crash lies with the killed player. I've died enough senseless deaths to AI to realize that.

But it certainly isn't fun to die under such a situation, if it can be avoided, and I can't imagine the PvP to be much fun for the attacker if there isn't the challenge of a response or RP involved.

Someone who is initiating PvP has the opportunity to do something the AI can't do, and that's assess whether their victim is ready for PvP. I think everyone benefits if such consideration is given.