[MUD-Dev] A Question on PvP and PK

[Paul Boyle]

From: <szii at sziisoft.com>

> A Yugo will get you from point A to point B.  My Z28 gets you there
> too, but in more style and you'll have more fun doing it.  My wife's
> Cavalier is a median point.  Some people like to advance and advance
> and advance with little effort and no setbacks (non-PvP EQ).  Some
> people like the challenge, intensity, and pride that comes with
> hitting the upper level cap on a hardcore PvP server.  Some people
> just don't care about levelling and want to brawl all the time.

<snip>

It's funny, but you demonstrate pretty well a lot of the things
anti-PvP players generally feel is stereotypical of PK.

The first is egotism.  Most anti-PvP players dislike PK's because of
their 'I'm better than everyone else, so they can all rot' attitude.

The second is the general dehumanization PK's enact toward their
opponents.  In this forum, you obviously feel that PvE players are
your opponents, so you've insulted their intelligence, and compared
them to 7-year olds, various animals, and a cheap european car.

I don't think anyone will take your post seriously, but I've seen a
couple of your points put forth often enough that I'd like to
comment.

  #1 PvE's don't seek challenge.  This just isn't true.  If EQ had
  come out, and killing the lowliest, least challenging mob netted
  the same reward as killing the biggest of dragons, PvE's wouldn't
  have flocked to it.

  #2 PvE's want something for nothing - Everyone wants something,
  that's not limited to PvE's.  PvP's want an enviorment in which
  their playstyle is rewarded as well.

  #3 PvP's seek extreme intellectual challenge - This just isn't
  true either.  The great majority of PvP encounters are settled by
  unequal power parties, in which the conclusion is foregone.  While
  it may be a social challenge to find a group of players to camp a
  zone line, it most certainly is not an intellectual challenge.  If
  PvP's really did seek that sort of challenge exclusively, then
  even-level dueling would be the encounter most often sought, and
  not the chase after the latest, greatest exploit.  Exploits
  wouldn't be a problem, because PvP's would avoid using them,
  instead seeking the greater honor of a fair match.

As you yourself pointed out though, any system that isn't exploit
free & perfectly balanced is unsuitable for PvP's.  This is another
reason MMORPG's are often unsuited to PvP.  It's exponentialy more
difficult to balance the broad array of classes and skill levels
(character and player) within the MMORPG community, that it is for
the small amount of character types in say, Counterstrike.

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