Kingdom of Pleasure (review)
written by Maldoror Bowman
Kingdom of Pleasure is a capture sim strictly divided on gender lines. I've visited several times (as a pred) and there have always been plenty of players there and a good mix of pred and prey.
You arrive in a large and busy mall 1500m above the sim. Setup can be a bit confusing, and the instructions were evidently written in Italian and translated to English with some loss of clarity. The point that I took a while to grasp is that the weapons are in the meter: you attach the meter and select your weapon from a menu, and if, for example, you choose the bow then the meter 'morphs' into a quiver and the bow is rezzed an attaches to you. I'll say a bit more about the weapons later, but once you have learned the system I can see the attachment could become pretty straightforward.
Now you can tp down to the sim and start hunting. There's no requirement to roleplay any attack, a pred can simply single out a target and open fire. I have to admit that I took my prey with me - or to be quite honest she took me - the first time and so we were able to puzzle things out together.
The sim is laid out with the prey village surrounded with canals in one corner, a walled settlement and some open areas, including a large mountain with a valley running through it. The build is a little reminiscent of candy boxes in some parts but not obtrusively so. Floating above it is a castle.
Post-capture roleplay is encouraged and suitable equipment scattered around. There are rlv areas, but use of rlv is not required. Roleplay is such a personal thing, so dependent on the two players involved developing a theme that each enjoys, that I shan't try to make any generalizations about it.
Most importantly, a lot of people seem to have a lot of fun here. The guards are helpful and relaxed, I saw no disputes about rules, and newcomers are made welcome. I've enjoyed my visits and met some interesting players, but this wouldn't be my choice for a regular capture sim to play in. The game here is closer to combat and further from hunting than I like, though I have heard others make the opposite criticism of sims I like better. It's just a matter of choice.
One reason for this is that the layout of the sim does not favor evasive play by the prey. There are very few places to lose a pursuer: the castle would be ideal, but it is isolated from the rest of the sim on its rock; the villages have narrow passages and entrances but these are very often blind; and the terrain otherwise does not offer much by way of concealment.
On the other hand, prey receive as their free weapon a knife, which is not a lot of use because of its low range, but can also buy better weapons such as bows and also shields. Another benefit for prey is that there are a lot of safe areas, scattered all around the sim. As a result it's to the advantage of prey, and especially of prey who can afford top spec weapons, to fight rather than run.
The meter used is called the DM meter. I know a lot of players prefer the more familiar Gor meter, but personally, as I am not a particular devotee of Gor, I am happy to try an alternative. The Gor meter is in some ways over-featured for a simple capture game with its peculiar system of splash damage and multiple menus and choices. The DM meter seems to be robust and straightforward. It's a shame that it has no falling damage, as this encourages players to do strange and unrealistic things like leaping out of the castle into the middle of the sim. A feature I do like is that players emit a small sound to show when they are hit, much better than having to to keep an eye on floating text all the time (although the female hit sound sounds more as though the prey were being tickled than shot).
I think that the aspect that would most irritate me if I were to play here regularly would be the 'arms race'. Because the meter does not recognize most sl weapons, players are restricted to the use of weapons sold (I assume) by the makers of the meter itself. If you want to hunt prey with bows, you have to buy an even bigger bow, and then the prey can go and buy an even bigger bow still and so on. Because the weapon makers have a monopoly, weapons that are, to be blunt, pretty mediocre can be sold at prices beyond what one would pay for some of the best modeled weapons in second life. There is a system to allow players to buy weapons for experience points, but I had the impression that a great deal of time in sim would be required to get even a simple enhanced bow.
In summary: this is a lively and very active community in a well-organized sim enviably free of stress about rules. A good place for combat fans, less so for hunters.
After-note: After I finished this I received a note advertising a 'wild hunt' event in Kingdom of Pleasure. I assume this means that prey are allowed to hunt preds (normally they may only fight when attacked). During this time the safe areas are closed. I wasn't able to go along, but it sounded like fun.
