I have underlined what is important here.General Server Rules wrote:By committing an IC crime in front of witnesses, and then running away, you are automatically considered to have consented to PVP and are at the mercy of the player against whom you have acted, if they catch you. No RP out is required.
You can Role-play the situation, or simply attack the thief (though you must set them to Hostile first).
There is a BIG difference between in-character hostile, and setting a Player to Hostile.
The goal here is to impress that confrontational situations do not always require "ending them" through mechanical wins, based on the attacking, then killing, to decide the outcome. Not to mention how many PCs use PvP to solve in-character arguments, in areas with NPC Guards (a form of godmodding). Because PvP is violence, and violent behavior should have in-character consequences. Just like pick-pocketing should have them. But pick-pocketing is not a violent act, where attacking and killing the thief, is.
Hence my suggestion or desire for a "subdue" action, before the mechanical dying part of PvP.