Can PvP and PvE Coexist in the same game?

[Angerak]

My main concern in games with "safe zones" is the inevitable situation where griefers actually camp in the safe zone, rush out to put the hurt on someone en masse, and then retire back to the security of the safe zone.

I've tried to take that problem into consideration in Cohorts.

If you leave the safe zone to attack somebody, you're going to have to spend the rest of the turn exposed and vulnerable to a counter attack.  You cannot move out, strike and run back under cover in the same turn.  A player can do what you're suggesting, but it takes quite a bit of effort.  They'd have to open a stack, teleport into the stack, make the attack and then run away.

This might still cause a problem, but if a player is willing to commit their precious resources (stacks and character actions) to conduct these sorts of raids, perhaps it's not so bad.  

Not to mention, it's possible to trap these attackers through the use of good offensive/defensive strategies:

1. you can have allied backup stacks nearby that will immediately come to you're aid if attacked,
2. you could cast spells on the potential escape path to either bar the player's ability to run away or slow them down enough that they end their turn in the PvP zone (where they can be counter attacked).
3. don't move through PvP zones where you are close enough for the attacker to run & hide in a safe zone.

All this being said, this could potentially be a real problem and it's one that I might not have considered closely enough.  As I continue to refine the game world, I'll try to mitigate how many places this sort of tactic might be used.