In the past it's been shorthanded, like "you mop the floor with the sickly looking giant beetles" or "you rush in to fight well armored giant beetles swinging 30 crush and die."
I was envisioning something similar to what Eric said. I would think of online combat as being there for a reason. For example, do not think of the giant beetles as just some random thing to fight. Instead, think that they are there because they have to be there--it may help with the overall understanding of the plot or add a detail that was unclear before or may for now seem meaningless but will make more sense later. Online combat, in this format, are simply clues to the larger plot as a whole. As I mentioned in another post, I wouldn't kill anyone in this format because of the cheese factor...unless of course you'd like me to--how about this, pledge your allegiance to one of my npc's and I will kill the player of your choice
Just a quick amendment to my earlier post--while I will not kill your character I will do something creatively evil to him/her should you do something I consider stupid (and lets face it, it would have to be pretty dumb for me to recognize it as such)
Relax guys. There's nothing to worry about. I did something immeasurably stupid (being the only one to actually get out of bed during the attack) and it hasn't been a bad thing so fa.........
Wait, it has been a bad thing.
Never mind. Worry all you like...
One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though ... betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope.