The Weekly Raid: How Important Is PvP In An MMORPG?
I'm on my priest in a luscious forest, bending down to pick up morning glory seeds. I need them to craft a potion. The hotbar ticker is nearly finished when my character becomes dazed like she was suddenly struck by an epiphany or a brain aneurysm. What's happening? Oh no. An undead rogue unstealths and shanks my liver while typing "KEK" again and again. I just got ganked.
Some players hate the idea of free-reigns PvP. It disrupts the rhythm inherent to leveling: a player-created roadbloack that results in time lost to one persistent rogue. I get it. It can be a pain, but I love it. I love when a player camps my ragged corpse and I have to beg other players to help me or log out in frustration. I'm not a masochist. I just love the emergent interactions between players that result as a part of spontaneous PvP.
I'm only talking about open world PvP, because that's the type of PvP that only matters to me. If there's PvP arenas or battlegrounds I appreciate them, but they don't factor into my checklist when I judge whether or not a game is worth playing. Only world PvP makes the cut.
Some players dismiss games that have World PvP as too annoying, too soul-sucking, and aggravating. Others need to have a battleground or arena where they can test their might. While still other players could care less about PvP, so long as it doesn't interfere with PvE.
How important is PvP in an MMORPG to you? Let us know in the comments below!
Related:
From Mega Man II to Ape Escape, I've been playing games for as long as I can remember. I've spent months killing porings in Ragnarok Online and more recently lived a second life in Eve Online. I usually play as gUMBY, gUMBLEoni, or gUMBLes in-game.
