Was what I did considered bad etiquette?

You did nothing wrong. Only assholes invade in Blighttown.

I was invaded in Blighttown on NG+, straight up murdered that fool while dodging poison darts.

I probably would have fought the guy if only for a change of pace from the horror that is Blighttown. But I can't really fault you for not wanting to deal with PVP in that area.

If that happens again, lead the invader upwards and just spam kicks at him.

I don't play this game, but my impression has always been that anyone who invades is probably inherently a dick, so they forfeit the right to etiquette.

The only time you get invaded is by people who only spend their time invading. It's a complete waste of time for both parties if one person is progressing through the game, and the other is someone who's done this shit a thousand times before. You stand no chance against invaders any more, because they all know the bullshit they need to kill low level players without gear.

PvP should be reserved for the generally agreed upon PvP areas. Fuck you, let me kindle my bonfire.

PvP deaths are only a valuable learning experience if you plan on doing PvP. Otherwise, they are often just a quick waste of time and souls. Especially when it's against one of the maximum-efficiency builds most PvPers run these days that they made using an armor calculator and running the game at low levels to get some badass equipment early on. Some of them are fun. A lot of them are just certain death to a newbie.

There's no such concept in Dark Souls.

@sinusoidal: So you're saying the thousands of people that use the Uchigatana do it because they naturally gravitated towards it and not because they learned how powerful it was from seeing another player use it on them? My first time though the game I didn't use any magics at all but some of the stuff people used on me sure made it seem really useful. Seeing other play styles or attack animations and their results can inform your decisions on how you play the game. I must have seen a dozen people in the Tomb of Giants use the sunlight maggot before I realized I should give up using that stupid lantern.

Might as well try and fight, you're just rolling over and giving him a free kill otherwise.

What I usually do if that happens to me is look for allies to summon around the bonfire while the enemy is working his way to you, pretty funny to 3v1 someone and roll through them.

@mosespippy: All of that can be gained just from experimenting which is what I see many players do. You can learn by using your own curiosity rather than studying other people.

I imagine most Uchigatana users used a guide since that weapon is not easy to acquire through normal play. Also it's often impossible to tell exactly why those builds are so effective. Especially in the case of something like a low level pyromancer. What does one learn by being annihilated by someone packing Chaos Storm and a +15 Pyromancy Glove at level 10? You'd have to look at a guide to figure out what they're doing to you anyway.

Don't get me wrong. I love the PvP and I think it really enriches the experience, but at this stage of the game 2 years since it came out, the competition is really too high for anyone trying to get into it, and especially for anyone just trying to get through the single player campaign of an already extremely difficult game. I played through it for the first time a couple months back, and I'm not exactly a scrub at video games, yet every single online encounter I had resulted in my swift death. It's practically impossible to get to Ornstein and Smough's room in human form without getting invaded. Never mind the time I was on the top of the world after I finally got a win under my belt only to find out later that that particular invasion was scripted... HURGH!

I've done the same thing. There are so many cheaters on PC it's not even worth it to try and fight anyone (I only turn human to kindle bonfires).

Nope. I just alt-f4 when invaded. Fuck that stupid poorly put together mechanic. I'm in human form for 2 minutes to kill a specific NPC and i'm not interested in that bullshit.

Are you Canadian or something?

Nah. The online in Dark Souls is interesting but pretty annoying. It becomes downright infuriating when it's time to fight Ornstein and Smough.

invasions fascinated me when i first heard about them in Demon's Souls. now they just sound like the shittiest thing. i know it's a slight on the CODE OF DARK SOULS or something but i wish there was a way to specifically opt out of invasions (or at least player-led ones, or at least somehow match up the invaders to the invadees in a fairer way...)

I summoned two buddies of mine the first while of the game, and they were pretty over-leveled for where I was on the map. Some dude invaded me, and my friend and I ganged up on and promptly destroyed him. My friend ended up getting hate mail from the guy, even though he was the one who instigated that fight. So yeah, who gives a shit. Do what you gotta do.

Nah. People are invading you expressly to fuck with you, so if you can't/don't want to fight back, or just want to fuck with them a little bit in return, you're under no obligation to give them the satisfaction of a kill, especially if it's obviously someone who habitually hangs out at difficult spots and ganks in order to grief. I'll usually try to fight them off (especially if I can find a summoning sign somewhere nearby), but if I get the impression that the person is trolling me or just out to grief, I'll either put the controller down or just suicide to give them less satisfaction.

@supersambo: Not especially, no.

You can only be invaded after selecting "Reverse Hollowing" at a bonfire, so you don't need to be so extreme as to, for instance, disconnect your Xbox from a wireless network or something.

When you're killed by an invader, you don't lose anything that you wouldn't lose in a typical death. Since you need to Reverse Hollowing to Kindle a bonfire (and, thus, indefinitely doubling the number of Estus Flasks you'll receive from resting at that bonfire), and since you'll typically be invaded within moments of Reversing Hollow, my system follows as such:

Rest at bonfire --> Level Up (if possible) --> Reverse Hollowing --> Kindle --> Leave

Once I leave, it's usually just a few minutes before I'm invaded, at which point I just wait by that bonfire for the asshole to kill me, then respawn (as a Hollow, so that you can't be invaded again), collect my shit, and continue my journey.

Tedious, sure. But for someone who doesn't want to partake in any of the PVP shit yet, it works.

Dark Souls 2 is at least going to have 1 boss where players are summoned into the fight to help the boss kill you. It's better to accept PVP as part of the game if you plan on playing Dark Souls 2. There will be more chances to summon players to balance the increase in possible invasions.

@golguin: That sounds dumb as hell. But also like a bridge I'll cross when/if it's reached.

It's not without precedent, though, as there's a boss in Demon's Souls (The Old Monk) that has a gimmick where there's a chance it may instead be controlled by a player. Still, given what appears to be an increased focus towards the player summoning/invading aspects for Dark Souls 2, that would hopefully signify that the online isn't going to be a laggy mess this time. I would hope so anywhoo, as I too wasn't that much of a fan of the PVP in Dark Souls.

I don't see a problem with that. I probably would've just let him/her kill me near the bonfire but either way you can still get your souls back.

if i invaded i would have laughed. Its understandable. Bad etiquette is more about shrugging or well what is it'ing and being a general douche when there is a duel going on. If youre just trying to get through the game, invaders usually understand if you run off

If you were close to the bonfire why didn't you try to fight? You never know what might happen, you could have even won(there are so many ledges there that a bad roll or a good kick makes all the difference)

You just gave him free souls, good job :|

Can't wait until Dark Souls 2 you can't run and hide from invaders anymore if you want to be online with the game. =D

Do they automatically get souls if I die or is it a looting thing? Because I was able to retrieve all the souls I lost from the suicide. And I realize now that I probably could have just waited around at the bonfire and tried to fight, but I was at the tail end of a fairly long session so my patience was wearing pretty thin by that point.

They get souls, but they aren't yours. Yours will still be in your bloodstain like normal.

Invasions were always just a nuisance during my playthoughs. I never had any interest engaging them, and they always just turn into a circle fight where all you can hope to do is not be backstabbed by someone who is much more experienced in PVP than you are. Whenever it happened I would just run closer to a bonfire.