What is so great about open world pvp?

[Archendrus]

So far I can see that the cases against open world PvP are basically "It encourages ganking, and I don't like to be ganked" and "It's just a case of which side has the numbers"

 

Clarification on ganking: 2v1 is not a gank, 1v1 within five levels of each other is not a gank. Hell, I'd even go so far to say that a ten level difference, in this game, is not a gank because I've stood toe to toe with players 10 levels over me. I lost, but it was sooo close. So, say you do get ganked, big deal. I've never raged over getting ganked. It just makes me say "Man, those high levels pack a punch, I want that!" It's an RPG, you're supposed to feel like a wimp in the lower levels. It makes character progression all the more satisfying. You start out as a measly wimp, become more powerful, and end up with the strongest character you can be.

 

The "numbers game" case: It's true, that's how it usually starts. Large group rolls over small group. Then small group gets on the horn, rallies the troops, and you have some good PvP goin', not to mention community. I don't care if I'm part of the smaller group, that's dangerous, and fun. Being part of the bigger group is fun too. Once again, this is an RPG, why does everything have to be "fair"? When all PvP content is basically a predictable, repetiive, fair, badminton match with little scoreboards at the end, it's a waste of an RPG world.

 

All that being said, instanced PvP matches have their place, and can be fun, but not as the main PvP content.

[vrok-]

Ok fine, so you do not like the "feeling" of instanced pvp being separate from the regular world? So the downside is that we have lop sided fights with one side being outmatched.

I mean who would want unbalanced pvp to begin with? That is the entire reason world pvp in WoW went away.

 

I mean are you guys that rp nerdy that you have to have the pvp "feel" meaningful? Its one person playing against another person. That is pvp in my book...

World PvP only went away in WoW because, after crashing the servers on an uncountable number of occasions, Blizzard invented instanced minigames and made sure the rewards gained from it was 100x better in order to actively discourage real PvP, because their servers simply couldn't handle so many players actually having fun.

Edited February 10, 2012 by vrok-

[Rehash]

World PvP has its merits, so does Instanced PvP. Can we get both please?

[Tinmancreeping]

One of the problems in a game like SWTOR attempting to implement World PvP is the utter lack of risk. The zerg can only be the zerg because it is literally inconsequential if they die. Kill trading would not exist if people were penalized when they die (equipment damage isn't good enough as they'll just strip naked first, sadly I've seen this). RvR only compounds this, the only games I've played to date with quality open world PvP were either free for all or RvRvR. Basically lots of people think its lame because they've never played it most likely, we've instead been spoonfed different flavors of inconsequential deathmatches for years.

 

I like the game as is, but attempts at world PvP (a la Ilum) were pretty much doomed from the start. Maybe they'll come up with something to make it enjoyable, imo they never should have incentivized it the way they did. Not everyone likes world PvP but it was originally a fair place for those who enjoy it. Now its just the newest grind and a spot for kill traders.

 

The last game I played that got world PvP even close to right was probably the AoC Blood & Glory server (which was bad for its own reasons). Basically the argument boils down to:

Ongoing Conflict > Esports

 

Of course your mileage may vary.

 

 

 

Worse yet due to its repetitive nature and utter worthlessness in terms of impacting anything in the game (instanced PvP is just a minigame basically) instanced warzone style PvP necessitates personal PvP rewards (ie gear) undermining one of the few great things about PvP (community building). I still enjoy my warzones/battlegrounds/wtfever but it is easy to look at the state of Open World PvP with sad nostalgia.

 

^ If you (the OP) have never had a true OWpvp experience it's truely hard to understand.

I hail from the land of SwG, all problems put aside I Loved PvP in Swg... People pvp for the sake of PvP rights, to claim the best to be the best for the challenge etc etc.

Warzones are the same repeat strat over n over and lots of times you got people Pvp'ing for the Easy gear or titles instead of enjoyment, braging rights, lulz moments.

Take away the pvp rewards and titles and you would see how few the true pvpers are.

^check my sig.

Edited February 10, 2012 by Tinmancreeping

[Onekagai]

i ddint read your post or anyone elses. I just saw your titel. the answer is, open world pvp truley tests your skill and is just fun!

[furiousferret]

I like them both, even arena.

 

DAOC was hands down my favorite pvp, but there is a ton of downtime in open world, but when its on, its on.

 

I remember a relic fight in DAOC where the Albs got jumped by Midgard and Hibernia. There were hundreds of people and while it was zerg on zerg, I remember pew pewing on my scout, thinking this is the most awesome gaming experience I'll ever have. It lasted for about 15 minutes and it was literallly just me, a Cleric, and another Scout left. It was epic.

 

What makes OWPVP is risk reward. In DAOC, losing a relic was huge, an getting one was a huge bonus for everyone, not just endgame players. So if something was going down, the guy who reported was a hero, and everyone dropped what they were doing or logged off their alts and to their main to stop it.

 

In between those you had minor skirmishes out in the middle of nowhere with small groups which was epic as well, but again, there was downtime before and after the fight. Instanced pvp is fun but it is a grind and somewhat premeditated. I dont hate it, but it just seems repetitive at times.

 

In WOW, I remember Horde going to Ironforge to kill the boss. No Alliance batted an eye. They just let them through, and made no attempt to stop them. It was actually sad.

 

I think the best thing SWTOR can do is add a new faction for 50's only, have server wide pvp bonuses, and spread out the dailies so everyone is not clumped in one spot.