Comments on: Why We Fight PvP

By: moople

moople — Mon, 09 May 2011 02:55:07 +0000

the first few mmos I ever played all had a pvp system that focused on the end game ( D2,AO,DAOC,SB ) and most of em figured out a way to encorporate pvp in the early and mid levels. These games had an amazing replay value for me. I felt a well played out seige, a night of rvr or just a busy evening of ganking was soo much more fun than any epic mob pve experience. Some of the games i listed had pvp for loot and that was fine as it brought more people to the fight!

I never understood exactly why a player could die repeatedly to a mob and not feel anywhere near as upset as when dieing to another living thinking player….

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:41:55 +0000

The thrill of battle and the thrill of victory are separate. In my experience, players who love PvP in MMOs focus more on bragging rights and the rewards of victory than on the combat itself.

All combatants want to win, of course. But MMO PvP is not like the PvP in Killer Instinct or Call of Duty 4, in which players are more likely to remember cool combos and surprising events than whether they won or lost a particular match.

By: Adam Tiler

Adam Tiler — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:38:39 +0000

I am actually inclined to agree with the developer. Sure, there are people who frag for the fun of it, but they could go to a first person shooter, as you mentioned, for a much better PvP experience. People play MMOs to interact with other players in ways that a shooter can’t provide, including cooperating or competing to achieve long-term goals like acquisition of wealth and power.

EVE Online, for instance, has a clear motivation for staking out territory and holding it against all comers — valuable resources used in all economic activity. Even WoW, though players can have no lasting impact on the world, has little points you can rack up to buy more power (in the form of better gear). The trouble with a shallow system like the latter is that it rapidly turns into a grind.

Back on topic. Sure, there are people who kill other players just for the fun of it. But I don’t think they represent anything close to a majority in the MMO genre specifically.