Let's start by what I mean when I say safe raiding. That's getting into enemy territory, for farmers, miners or whatnot, when all the people who are from the faction you are raiding either:
-not-fighters
-very busy and therefore you are almost sure they won't interrupt you

I often used to do such safe raids. Mostly on Magnagora - that is, Acknor and Angkrag. They were quite effective, but I understand how frustrating it might be for non-combatants who are present who hear 5 miners scream for help in a row, knowing that they cannot help.
On the other hand, I tried some non-safe raids. It resulted in 6 praying deaths for me in a four day period.

So, what are your thoughts on the matter? Flamethrowing people not appreciated, please go to Idiots.

*shrug* Sounds like my kind of raid, no risk.

You actually RAID?! O.O

from the deathsights I saw, you -really- didn't have to pray. Seriously , heartstopping right after vitaeing is silly, at least try and get out

You don't think all my characters on all MUDs are pushovers, do you? O_o'

...yes.

The very point of a "raid" is to hit fast and get back out before the enemy can rally and respond. If you're planning to meet them in open battle, it's called a "battle".

"Raids" are surprise attacks, a staple of guerilla warfare, and as such tend to be viewed as cowardly by whoever happens to be the victim, especially if the victim would be able to totally overwhelm his opponent in open battle.

Conversely, open battles are generally viewed as "bullying" by the weaker of the two factions, who then retaliate with righteous "raids" against their "oppressors".

War is not a pretty pastime, and he who fights fair falls.

On the other other hand, warfare in Lusternia is not like RL warfare. No opponent is ever truly vanquished, no victory decisive, and warding off one raid will not generally make you any safer from future ones. Conflicts go on until one side gets too sick of it to care about whatever's been lost.

I would say, then, that raids were meant to be stealthy, but that no one has every developed a full, satisfactory system of MUD warfare to accommodate either raids or open battles, because they've never addressed the issue of the endless circle of violence.

Before I raid I make sure there are people on who can defend against it, or atleast fighters around..Otherwise why not just bash? Because essentially that is what you are doing.

Well... not in this MUD.

What fighters were around who could defend against you, Daevos, Revan, and the rest of your clan when you invaded Stewartsville yesterday? I believe Riesa, Flacarealah, Laysus and I responded - none of us are exactly top-tier.

Only thing I've ever seen implemented is perma-death, and that's not happening on an IRE. If you've seen anything else successfully enacted, I'd love to hear about it.

I wish Orone was still around... damn programer egos!

I'd rather not blatantly advertise other MUDs here, so I'll PM you.

I was kind of thinking about this too last night when people raided Nil…It was really late, I was tired, I had no desire to fight, but I didn’t want to stand around while people were dying defending…so I go to the group where there are a few combatants but none of us are really great at leading and the raiders have a partial demesne. The first encounter our side ends up dying and by this time I’m just so sleepy that I want them off as soon as possible and decide to use thunderclap. They die. Afterwards I received two responses from the raiders: One of praise saying that it was a smart tactic to get rid of them and another scolding me and saying that they are now going to be “nasty” (whatever that means) because I used it.

Should I not thunderclap just because it’s too effective? Is it lame or smart?

They are just irked they died, heh. Ignore it. You could've finished them off one by one with mindblast anyway.

There was tons of people around in Celest also, and don't bother with the "WE R NOT ALLIED" because you both jump to each others defense at the drop of a hat.

There was tons of people around in Celest also, and don't bother with the "WE R NOT ALLIED" because you both jump to each others defense at the drop of a hat.

By that you imply there are other, better MUDs out there...

HERETIC!

So what you mean is that you only invade an organization if there is someone out there in the realms that can push you out - not simply if that organization can push you out on their own. So, for example, we could raid Nil happily so long as some Glomdorian fighters are around.

Out of curiosity, which of the Celestians came to help defend against you? Or which of us went to help defend Delport when you attacked it? I believe Laysus might have gone on his own, I don't know of any others...so your point doesn't really seem viable.

Except Glomdoring combatants don't help Magnagora defend.