User:A.schwan/sandbox/Combat revive policy

Combat revive policy

To properly convey this group’s policy regarding combat revives, it is first necessary to understand what the phrase combat revive means to the zombie population of Malton. Ostensibly, a combat revive is a revivification procedure performed on a zombie who did not seek it. This procedure can be performed out of malice toward the subject, as an act of self preservation, or for no reason at all. In most zombie circles, a combat revive is considered rude as the zombie in question has no interest in being a human.

From a survivor point of view, many military organizations frown on combat revives as they may lead to freerunning zombie spies and/or vandalism of important generators. Other groups view it in a more utilitarian fashion, as the simplest and most effective way to drop a zombie and clear it from a building. To be clear, while some survivors view it as unwise, the primary victim of the combat revive is generally purported to be the zombie. The issue is then one of preference and ethics rather than of practicality or strategy. It must therefore be discussed in ethical terms. Something may be considered rude if it is a breach of decorum (something that does not usually happen), if it is uncalled for (that which not rendered necessary by the situation), if it is unfairly injurious or inconvenient to the recipient, or if it is aesthetically or personally insulting.

Is combat reviving a breach of decorum? Let the frequency of the action speak to that. Most zombies of high level will attest that at several points they have been combat revived. Additionally, the largest group tag active in Malton is “dual nature” which is composed of individuals who, by definition are never looking for a revive. If revivification without prior request was not a standard occurrence, these individuals would all remain permanently zombies. Facts attest that this is not the case as several can be spotted in each suburb populating survivor-held buildings. In fact, Combat revives are not irregular and are part of the standard way in which zombies and humans in Malton interact with each other.

May they then be considered capricious or uncalled for? While surely some of them can, the majority of combat revives are performed in defense of buildings. They are a part of the survivor skill-set and are a useful and practical tool as discussed earlier. Revivification is, much like the infectious nature of a zombie bite, a tool used to slow down an opponent. In many ways, revivification is the most effective means for dealing with a zombie as some will remain survivors and others will jump out the nearest window thereby removing themselves from the building. Some zombies will rise and attack the survivors within the building, but unless there is some ethical or social injustice that can be perceived to have befallen them, this behavior puts them on even footing with motiveless PKers and therefore outside of the scope of any ration discourse on this issue.

There can be no doubt that it is by definition inconvenient to a zombie natured player to be revivified when in the process of murdering a scientist. Anything that prevents said zombie from the accomplishment of his or her aims would be so. It can however be said to be not unfairly inconvenient. A scientist must spend several hours in search of a syringe before a revive can occur. Said scientist must then spend five hours draining the syringe into the offending zombie, an act which consumes the syringe requiring that another be obtained. The zombie, can reverse the process in a matter of minutes. The accomplishment of a combat revive is easier in some circumstances than a physical assault but, owing to the disproportionate ease with which a zombie can kill a survivor, the relative difficulty of once more becoming human after an attack, and the further inconvenience of infection, any inconvenience said to have been experienced by a zombie upon being combat revived does not, in a utilitarian sense, seem unfair.

As this group is primarily composed of scientists, it is worth mentioning that the official stance of this group is that there is no such thing as a combat revive.