Having us kill civilians in Oriath Square is tasteless.

Yep, I know that there are (much) greater problems with the game than this in 2019.

Yep, I know that some of the less thoughtful denizens of this forum will ridicule this very topic being brought up. ("STFU, SJW!")

But I have to say it: It just feels gross.

I know that killing innocents in video games is a thing. I actually don't necessarily object to it. In some cases it drives a narrative forward, or is even done to try and force new perspectives upon the players. It's never easy to do well, but it does have a potentially legitimate role in narrative design.

But we all know that PoE doesn't have such narrative aspirations. In the absence of the above, having the hero of the story kill "frightened citizens" (as they are labeled), just because they are also being targeted by the rebels who are against the civilians' government, doesn't feel edgy nor impactful. It feels repulsive. Not everyone wants to play a villain, so why virtually force it upon us by flagging these NPCs as enemies?

Easy fix: Keep their behavior, and make them untargetable.

Edit: For the benefit of those who like to respond without reading the thread, using arguments which have already been shot down, I suggest you check out these two posts before doing so. (It may save you some embarrassment.)

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2703335/page/4#p22647465

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2703335/page/19#p22678325

If no one else agrees, at least you have one person in me. It makes no sense to have to do this. Truth be told, i play the game to displace aggression. I like melee because I can be up close and hear the death screams. I've been giving short narratives in chat describing some of the deaths of the mobs. I get too much pleasure out of killing in this game. But, I get no pleasure out of killing those who don't deserve to die.

They're. Not. Real. People.

"

Shagsbeard wrote:

They're. Not. Real. People.

There's always at least one.

Congratulations for being "that guy."

"

Shagsbeard wrote:

They're. Not. Real. People.

then don't kill them. you have control over that. so my question is, if it makes you feel gross, why do you keep doing it?

I don't think you're meant to kill them, at least not on purpose, since if they don't accidentally die then they'll run as far as they can from you and they are flagged as giving zero experience or rewards for killing them. They're mostly there to show how chaotic the war had become, including your involvement in it. They also never show up in maps.

Of course if you're playing a minion build, then they will kill the citizens without your permission.

@xMustard: Is that even a serious question?

@I_NO: Thank you for proving my point. I was actually hoping you'd show up to illustrate it, since you are exactly the kind of poster I was describing in the second sentence of my initial post.

@VolcanoElixir: It's a good observation, but PoE stopped being a name-locking melee game long before this content was introduced. You can't even call it "friendly fire" when most of your skills, when working as intended, blow up half of the screen.

@gibbousmoon: Is this a serious concern?

I just raised them as spectres how do you feel?