This isn't new news, but it is something that's gotten stuck in my craw a bit, so I thought I'd go ahead and post about it anyway.

TCLN-Zenn has written a piece on Team Killing in Halo at BGH; it seems to be one of their favorite topics of late. This one is after the new anti-TK features in the 1.03 release.

For my money, TCLN-Zenn does point out a valid criticism of the system, but then falls into the usual trap, the one that the team killers are hoping everyone will fall into.

The first point:

Only a few months after its release the TKers have easily found a way around the system. "I get booted for killing my teamates 3 times in a session? Well gee, I'll just disconnect, then connect again." It takes them 3 seconds to reconnect, and they can TK as many people as they want, as often as they want.

If this is the way it works-- and I don't know, because I've never been booted from a server for TKing-- then it makes no sense. Since every copy of Halo has to be authenticated through GameSpy to connect, it makes no sense to clear the TKing record according to session. If an automatic system is going to have any decent chance of doing its job, it has to be able to identify players across gaming sessions. Since hardcore griefers don't give a damn about kill counts or team progress, they lose nothing by disconnecting and reconnecting.

Here, however, is where TCLN-Zenn falls into the trap, by asserting that the system hurts "perfectly normal, upstanding players":

Team Killer betrays Joebob. Billy watches Team Killer intentionaly kill Joebob, Billy Kills Team Killer and tells him to stop TKing. Team Killer respawns, fires at Billy as if he's going to kill him, Billy defends himself, Team Killer lets Billy kill him. The process is repeated once more and blam...Billy is banned from the server, and in many cases ALL Bungie servers...and for what? For defending himself, and his teammates.

Guys, this is the trap. DO NOT RETALIATE. Since the TKer can just reconnect and you can't without losing your stats, you cannot risk getting banned yourself. If you're killing your teammates enough to get booted then you are part of the problem and not part of the solution. This is not real life. There's no reason to "defend" your teammates. You can't anyway, without killing one of your own teammates (the TKer), putting yourself at risk, and causing general chaos. Don't do it. It achieves absolutely nothing except getting yourself booted or banned. What's more, that is exactly what the TKer is hoping you will do, so he can laugh at your foolishness and proclaim his innocence, since the system booted the other guy and not him.

Don't fall into the trap.

Now don't get me wrong. I think a voting system belongs in Halo. I don't believe in the justifications Gearbox gave (abuse) for leaving it out, because it has been shown that the existing system can also be abused, and since it is entirely automated, cannot be easily overridden by anyone in-game when someone abuses it. Other games have it, and although it may have its problems, works better and I think on a more sound theory than the current system.