I was spending time on Erud's Crossing last night. I'm level 15, nearing 16
and the wisps are still slow experience and pretty good money for me.
Anyhow...

There is normally anywhere from 1 to 14 people in that zone (it's spooky
seeing only yourself in a /w), and it's a pretty small island so you come to
"know" the others that are there and share wisp rotation, etc. Last night
about midnight a guy that I'd been playing alongside for hours (but don't have
any long-term association with) gets killed by the Kerran Cat on the docks..
I'm not sure what all happened but he claimed that the cat woman killed him
while he was on the boat. I never did see how that was possible, but I
digress. When he comes back onto the island from Qeynos he /tells me asking
for a corpse location. I had done this a couple of times for others on the
island (always for free), as sometimes your corpse ends up offshore when
fighting the zombie sailors. Anyhow, I say "sure, I'll find it for you.",
meet up with him on the dock, target him and "Wow... I'm pointing offshore
here..." Blah, blah, yeah cat killed me on boat, blah blah... Ok... "Let's
find out how far offshore you are by triangulation." I start to move up and
down the beach now to see how my angle changes as I move. "Why the hell are
you running back and forth up the beach? I thought you were going to help me
find my corpse!?!?! What's tringlation?" Sigh... Explain. "Oh kewl."
Unfortunately my angle isn't changing much as I run up and down the beach.
His corpse is *way* offshore - and it gets seriously deep out there - after
you swim past the sharks. "Oh, I died on the boat and I'll bet my corpse fell
off when it hit the zone border." Ok, sounds plausible. "Well, it's in that
direction. Good luck." I say. "Wait! I need for you to go with me and
point at my corpse."

Whoah now.

I'm standing on this island with full banded armor, spiked collar, rusty
spiked shoulders, snakeskin mask, misc. magic jewelry, 80pp in cash, a Dragood
Dirk, a Tentacle Whip, A Combine long sword and three backpacks with various
lighstones in them. So I, as politely as I can, say "I'm sorry, I'd really
like to help you, but most of the valuable items I own are on my person and I
don't like the thought of putting myself into a position where my corpse might
be permanently irretrievable." So he replies "Oh PLEASE! You have to help
me! All of my stuff is on that corpse!" I say "Yes, but assuming we get past
the sharks, what if we hit the zone and zone into Erudin? How can we be sure
that we can zone back in this direction?", "Oh I'm sure we could! Or we
could follow a boat to Erudin."

Nope. Sorry.

The last time I saw this guy he was understandably upset, but swimming
offshore to look for his corpse in the direction that I gave him. Believe me
I wished him well, but I couldn't put my character in that potentially
disarterous position.

How would others have handled this situation? Given it's midnight, and you
plan on logging within an hour or so and there's no bank on the island.

Do others have experiences where players feel like just because we can located
we're somehow *obligated* to do so regardless of the circumstances or dangers?

Just wondering.

Crier
Bard of the 15th song on Fennin Ro