What makes PVE enjoyable?

[psandak]

I agree with many here who have stated that dedicated PvPers place too much emphasis on the "scripted" nature of PvE. PvP may not be scripted per se, but the strategies involved in most WZs are pretty static:

• ACW: couple of players go to one side (invariably left as you face the center), (maybe) one player to the other, rest to the middle
  
• Denova: one player goes to the north, the rest to the south, maybe harass the other team's north
  
• Voidstar: one or two attack one side while the rest attack the other, same thing goes for defense.
  
• AH: overwhelming majority of the time one or two go to cap their side's pylon (invariably left side when facing the other team), the rest go center. Occasionally someone will attempt to harass and even cap the second pylon
  
• Arenas: kill the healer, then the tank, then the rest
  
• Huttball: the only one where group composition plays a significant role in strategy because certain classes/specs are better suited to carrying the ball.
  

 

The same thing goes for PvE: strategies are static but group composition and player execution play a significant part in how well the group handles the various fights.

Edited February 12, 2014 by psandak

[GreenLantern]

Here is a long and convoluted metaphor for PvE.

 

Scripted encounter: Every time you open your bathroom door, a gun will fire through the doorway and If unaccounted for, will most likely kill you. Let's assume for arguments sake that you can't just open the door and not be in the doorway because storytelling has to have some plot holes.

 

Strategy 1: You can walk into your bathroom door with a bullet proof vest, man up, and take the blow to the chest, but how long will this strategy work before the bones in your torso are turned to pulp from the blunt force trauma. There's also the chance that the bullet rips through your Kevlar jacket and kills you anyway.

 

Strategy 2: Perhaps you attempt to learn from the greatest ninja master in the world how to catch a bullet before it hits you. You master this strategy but there's still always the lingering chance that you fail and find yourself bleeding out in your hallway.

 

Strategy 3: You just so happen to be Nick Cage and have just stolen the Deceleration of Independence from Washington D.C. but this time you've brought the bullet proof casing with you. You can now open the door and shield yourself with the case. Of course there is still a chance that you drop the case and die, or the gun backfires and sets your whole house on fire effectively ruining your life since you didn't think a fire would happen to you and didn't take out that affordable fire damage policy from All State.

 

Strategy 4: You say screw it. You get a new house and let the new tenants deal with this crap.

 

Strategy 5: You zerg rush the gun, hoping to dismantle the elaborate and underestimated firing mechanism before the bullet can rip through your jugular and cause your bathtub to be filled with your corpse as it empties the remaining blood like a high pressure sand blaster.

 

Strategy 6: You absorb the bullet but you have a surgeon on standby every time you need to number 2. You've decided to only use this bathroom for boo booing and you'll just use the kitchen for all your other hygiene needs. Your body won't be able to handle this strategy for long either and there's a chance that your surgeon's skills are to be found wanting and you die on the operating table that is your vinyl floor.

 

Now do you understand why PvE is enjoyable??? I don't think I can make it more clear.

[NotAnyOldName]

3. Don't run around in circles unless fight mechanics require it. Seeing someone run circles around a boss is a tell-tale sign of a PvPer. But it's a bad idea, because you are probably just going to get yourself cleaved.

 

This would be the single most difficult thing for me to overcome I circle strafe like crazy and I also jump a hell of a lot but the thing is I don't even notice that I am doing it as it just naturally happens when I am in combat.

[Shadokitty]

While I pvp in the form of GSF, I mostly pve, cause I enjoy the story.

[nightsproull]

I played on a pvp server in Everquest for four years. I pvped a fair amount at various times in my WoW career. I've done a little bit of pvp in SWTOR.

 

PVP in mmos is never very balanced. There's always some class/spec combination that has an unfair advantage over others. Also, I hate all the crowd control stuff.

 

I would argue that PVP is very much scripted. At 55, most of the guys you're fighting will be cookie-cutter specced, you'll know exactly which abilities they have, and you'll recognize them being used. When they use an ability, you react to mitigate it, interrupt it, or avoid it. When you see a group coming at your group, you instantly recognize their composition and you have a pretty good idea of exactly what they're going to try to do. There's a lot of skill in pvp, but I think it's just as much about reacting to the script as pve is. You're dancing to different music, but you're still dancing.

 

Personally, I find pve more relaxing. I've got a couple of dedicated pvp games, and after playing them extensively, I save my pvp time for pvp games.

[Khaleijo]

For me it's the aspect of playing together for a common goal instead of playing against somebody. While you play with your team mates in PVP too, you also play against the other team.

PVE is pure coop mode and i just prefer this playstyle. Not telling that i don't like to be competitive here and there but not with the goal to win over my rival by defeating him in a direct confrontation. It's more like "come on we both do the same "neutral" thing and see who is better" without one of us clearly loosing.

 

One of my hobbies is archery, while we have competition there of course, it's not like for example boxing.

For me PVE is like archery, i have a "scripted environment" and it is my own responsibility if i'm good or bad in the end. The other one may be better, but then he is just that, better without lowering or influencing my own effort.

PVP would be boxing then, where i have unpredictable actions of my counterpart and my win is both, my accomplishment as it is the one of my opponent as our actions depend on each other.

[Rieverre]

I enjoy setpieces. Figuring out how to solve one with only the resources available (H2s with just a tank and a healer companion, H4s with 2 dps and their companions, etc.) is fun for me.

[magi_melcior]

This would be the single most difficult thing for me to overcome I circle strafe like crazy and I also jump a hell of a lot but the thing is I don't even notice that I am doing it as it just naturally happens when I am in combat.

 

Actually we have someone like that in our guild, he plays a hell of a lot of PvP but also is a member of the progression raid group. It's quite funny watching him bounce around bosses like the Energizer Bunny.

 

Thing is, he does good DPS but we know he'd be do better if he stopped bouncing. He also misses the occasional critical interrupt due to his bounciness

[Methoxa]

Have seen posts from obvious pvp players who say operations would be boring and too easy. As I stated in my previous thread you can't compare pvp's difficulty with a storymode operation but with nightmare operation. If that is still too easy and you still think understanding the tactics makes bosses freeloot i assume you never did those operations. There is still a difference in understanding the fight and winning the fight. In basic warlords nm is an easy to understand fight however if the Tu'chuck tank is grabbed by another warlord and gets targeted by Vilus Garr the tank is probably dead. This is a randomfactor in these fights. These factors dont occur in sm operations or they are not leading to a wipe. Bossfights may be scripted but in the higher difficulties there is a random factor. This is similar to pvp. There are strategies against certain classes, you can predict the skills they might use but still there is a random factor. Many pvp players state that pve was too easy and thats why they dont do operations. Thats wrong, its not easy, but its ok if you dont do operations but dont say its too easy.

[GlenFletcher]

What I like about PVE is that the players are for the most part a lot more mature than their PVP counterparts. They also have a tendency to help and teach others rather than expect you to be an expert from the get go. Edited February 14, 2014 by GlenFletcher

[CaptainApop]

What I like about PVE is that the players are for the most part a lot more mature than their PVP counterparts. They also have a tendency to help and teach others rather than expect you to be an expert from the get go.

 

LFM 16m story TfB, need fulll 78s and know tactics

[CaliJoe]

I don't play PvE for fights. 'Nuff said.

 

I'm a story player. I play solely for story, for nothing else. The rest is a nice bonus for me.

 

I agree with this. I signed up for the stories. At first I was very skittish about doing PvP, but now I'm okay with getting rolled or doing the rolling occasionally.

[Aharx]

Cos raid bosses don't spam /spit and /laugh.

 

Hah. This.

[Aharx]

I enjoy setpieces. Figuring out how to solve one with only the resources available (H2s with just a tank and a healer companion, H4s with 2 dps and their companions, etc.) is fun for me.

 

I love the little things in PVE like working to be geared in order to try to solo things like H2's and H4's. I'll still 99.99% of the time group even for H2's just because this is a social game... but I always love the challenge of doing it once in a while.

[AngusFTW]

Cos raid bosses don't spam /spit and /laugh.

I do both to get the full experience of the game.. but this is actually one of the most enjoyable aspects of pvp for me.. if they do that to you.. you've annoyed them enough cause of skillz xD

 

I wish raid bosses would do that too Instead they just turn once in a while where you haev to camo like a wimp...

[ALaggyGrunt]

What makes PvE fun: Running it for the first time. It's about the only place where "Cool story bro" isn't sarcastic. The whole point is so you can play a Star Wars movie. Except it goes on and on and on...

[AlrikFassbauer]

I would be careful including the term "scripted boss fights" as many PvPers use this as basically an insult against PvEers,

 

Yes, some already use it in this way.