PKer List

A Player Killer list is a form of Metagaming through which players inform each other of individuals who practice Player Killing, otherwise known as Player Killers, or PKers.

About

These lists are most easily found on the more frequented forums in the community, and generally require proof of the killing in the form of a screenshot and profile link. Many groups, however, have their own lists of people who have preyed on each other.

Forum based lists usually assign a bounty to each case depending on how many people they have been observed killing, though some add other things onto the list, such as alleged Zombie Spies, Generator Killers, Radio Killers, and occasionally, alleged Griefers. Zerging is also on some lists as something that can earn a bounty.

History

The first major PKer list was located on the old Proboards forum. When that forum was shut down by Proboards over a misunderstanding, the list was moved to the Desensitised forum (now shut down as well) where it was administrated by several different people over the course of its long stay. The list finally moved to its present home, the Resensitised forum, and can be found here. It is being administrated by Token Black Man.

The DEM created its own PKer list on Brainstock, where reports were submitted on the board and then placed onto an external tool found here. This has evolved into the Rogues Gallery, which today is an DEM-independent organization run by several moderators.

Criticisms

There are many criticisms of PKer lists, coming from various individuals ranging from PKers themselves to everyday folk.

No cross recognition
Many of the lists do not recognize each other validity, and thus a person killing an individual listed as a PKer by one groups list is liable to end up on another groups list as a PKer.

Verifiability
Despite the requirement of screenshots for a report, it is not difficult to fake one up and post it as the real thing. Properly faked screenshots do not even require image manipulation software to perform.

Bias
Many lists have their own bias. For example, individual group lists usually lack any form of proof required, and can often contain innocent people. The major forums lists are not immune to these biases.

Who player killed who

One of the most common things is to see a player-killer claim he is killing a player killer, and in this case, determining the truth of the situation is often impossible.