The Opportunists

The Opportunists

Abbreviation:	(OP)
Group Numbers:	90+
Leadership:	None (founded by Tsaya)
Goals:	To increase fun.
Recruitment Policy:	Anyone who's interested.
Contact:	Talk page.

The Opportunists (OP)

The creation of The Opportunists is an attempt to add to the verisimilitude of Urban Dead. (Verisimilitude is a big word for "realism in context", which is a wordy phrase meaning "as believable as it gets when the living dead are around".)

While the whole idea of pure Human-groups and pure Zombie-groups is understandable, it is somewhat counterproductive when it comes to generating the desired atmosphere of an environment infested by zombies. I, for my part, have never seen a movie or read a book about zombies where recently deceased survivors would instantly seek revives or freshly revived zombies do everything in order to die again right away. This may appear logical to the player who has duties and friends in "the other team" that he doesn't wish to abandon, but actually makes no sense whatsoever. If zombies were calm, organized and desiring revives, then there wouldn't have been a plague in the first place!

If you think that zombies should behave like zombies and humans like humans, then please read on!

The Idea

The idea of The Opportunists is to add some tactical relevance to deaths and revives. The way it is right now, killing a survivor or destroying a zombie makes no difference but just slows the other team down. However, it should be possible for the undead to bolster their ranks by killing survivors. It should be an option for scientists to revive zombies even in combat and expect them to fight for their lives!

To give both teams, humans and zombies, a tactical element of surprise, all members of The Opportunists agree on instantly changing the team should they be killed or revived. An undead opportunist will always behave like a zombie, while a living one will try to stay alive. Zombies are welcome to specifically target opportunists to increase their numbers, while scientists may do the same.

This is an invitation especially to higher level players, who have zombie- and survivor-skills anyways, as well as those who wish to start over with a new character and a fresh way to play (like myself). This can also benefit the newer player in that waiting at a revive point is time where a newer player could otherwise gain experience fighting as a zombie. In total, it probably won't change the number of zombies and survivors but it will add a natural flow between the two.

Location

There is no limitation as to where an Opportunist may go. Since this group is more of a concept than an actual team of players, all of Malton is the playing ground.

The Guidelines

While there is no hierarchy and no one will ever be told what to do, there are 5 simple guidelines that should be followed in order to make the basic concept work:

1. If you are (un)dead, behave like a typical zombie would

Should you die, you become one of the undead - act accordingly. Don't attack other zombies simply because they just made you what you are, don't rush to the next RP and get revived. Instead, give in to your desire to find some survivors and consume their tasty brains. If that means turning against the very people who defended your life yesterday, then so be it.

2. If you are alive, act like any other survivor would

So, you just got revived? You can finally breathe again! Don't just throw that away and jump out of the next window or let one of those undead things catch you. What you got is another chance at life - use it! Help your fellow survivors, fight the plague and destroy the zombies. Don't run around killing people - there are more then enough zombies on the loose already!

3. Don't turn against your (current) team

If you are undead, your teammates are the undead so don't attack them - attack humans, they taste better anyways (The only exception being: if you are a low level zombie and have no other means to gain experience, then do what must be done). If you are alive, then help the living. Don't kill other survivors, that would only result in more zombies chasing you! (With an exception for killing PKs who attacked you while you were human. Revenge is human, after all)

4. You don't chose when to revive or die - it's chosen for you

If you get killed, you shouldn't go looking for a revive right away. If you get revived, shouldn't chose to die again right away. You may actively change your team by dying willingly or seeking a revive only if your last death or revive took place approximately one week ago. (Naturally, this rule may be bent every now and then, but it shouldn't be broken - and bending it shouldn't become a habit either)

PK exemption clause:
Should you be the victim of a PK attack, it will be your choice whether or not to seek a revive. Since the act of killing another player defeats the idea of a game that's based on zombies vs. humans, no living Opportunist should be forced to stick to his code in the case of his death by the hands of another survivor. This should prevent Opportunists from become prime targets for PKs as well as making it a little harder to abuse our philosophies.

5. No Brain Rot

Of all possible skills the only one prohibited to members and supporters is Brain Rot, since it would undermine the very idea of being able to change sides at random.

Membership & Support

Becoming a Member

Zombies as well as Survivors may join The Opportunists. Membership does not exclude membership of other groups, neither human nor zombie, as long as it's ok with the respective group's leaders and rules. Basically, everyone who thinks that the underlying idea is a good one may join. For obvious reasons, PKs are not welcome to join.

Everyone who's interested in joining may simply add (OP) or The Opportunists to their Character's profile in-game as well as that Character's name to the list of Members on this page. If you don't feel like editing this site yourself please ask someone you know to do it for you.

Of course groups are welcome as well, should they decide to support the idea as a whole group.

Should you wish to show your support of The Opportunists on your user- or group-page, please feel free to use our flagbox:

	The Opportunists
	This user or group supports opportunistic behavior.

Simply add the following to any page, at the point you want the design above to appear:

{{Opportunist}}

Alternatively, you can use the bigger version:

	The Opportunists
	This user or group supports opportunistic behavior and plays for whichever side they are currently on.

{{OPLarge}}

List of Members

--Thepieninja 22:04, 3 April 2009 (BST)

Supporting Groups

Supported Policies

Since there is nothing more annoying than being forced to change to the state of zombie simply due to not being able to enter overbarricaded buildings, the use of the Uniform Barricading Policy is advised.

	Uniform Barricading Policy Supporter
	This User or Group supports the Uniform Barricading Policy by actively maintaining barricades according to local plan or UBP standard.

Those interested in the ideas presented on this page may also wish check out the Dual Nature Policy. Support of the Dual Nature Policy is not required in order to become a member of The Opportunists as it goes one step further than we do, but some may find it to be a welcome addition.

	Dual Nature
	This User or Group supports the Dual Nature Policy & believes that the citizens of Malton should embrace their two-fold nature.

Ramifications

The existence of Opportunists in the game poses some fascinating challenges for strategy.

Whether human or zombie, an Opportunist is logically the first target of revive or attack. You know that you're costing the enemy an ally, and gaining one yourself, if you convert an Opportunist. This turns the mantra of "no combat revives" on its head.

If everyone in the game was an Opportunist, the current dynamics would skew wildly; the Mall Tour would be unbelievably successful, as everyone in it would willingly join its ranks. The counterpart to this is that local zombie hordes, overpowered by local survivor teams, would be quickly assimilated into their ranks. This is, of course, impossible due to widespread Brain Rot.

Given a pool of max-leveled players, firearms and melee weapons are totally useless against Opportunist zombies. Why waste AP shooting someone who you can instantly convert into an ally for a much lower cost?

It should also be noted that many new players to the game, having no concept of revive points, alliances, groups, or loyalty, can already be considered Opportunists.

The Opportunists

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