Would you PVP if PVP worked better?

I don't think I would unless "worked better" meant complete redesign - something like Rodoan's suggestion might entice me, but just alterations to how mezzes work or what have you won't.

Generally I prefer to PvP in games where PvE either doesn't exist, or doesn't have any real impact on your PvP performance. I quite enjoy low level PvP in some mainly PvE games, just as the statistical difference between characters hasn't widened too much at that point, but the higher levels are usually a turnoff to me.

For reference, probably my favourite PvP game/environment was Planetside: you get a choice as to what gear you equip yourself with, there's some advancement/unlocking as you play and get xp, but the difference between a high level and low level char is more about flexibility/choice than actual raw power. Plus I just liked the scale of PvP there: big battles with lots on both sides with very little scope for one-on-one and the balance hell that that entails, but also not much of the 8v1 ganking that goes on in most MMO open PvP. I sit in hope that one day someone does a modern Planetside-like based around the WH40k setting.

I've had a very strange relationship with PvP in this game.

I have dabbled in it since it was first introduced on the test server for I4. I have never been exceptional at it, but I am good enough to have won a few tournaments as part of a team. As a solo player, I would die more than kill but also had my fair share of kills.

Every iteration of PvP has made me excited to try it out as much as I get excited to try out a new TF or new powerset. But eventually, I get disappointed.

The most fun I ever had in pvp was when RV was introduced on test and everyone was granted enough experience to instantly level to 40 and enough influence/infamy to buy SOs. It was exciting, chaotic, and while their were certain imbalances everyone was on an equal enough footing to keep it fun.

A similar experience is low level PvP. An arena match of characters at level 4 or 5 is a trip. A lot of it is just button mashing. But so what? I found it entertaining.

I also initially enjoyed base raids until we fought a team with a death trap spawn point. Our opponents had cleverly raised the floor on the spawn point and dropped caltrops and tarpatches and had players and guns waiting for us. We were half dead before we had fully zoned in.

The latest incarnation of PvP is the worst. There is no countermove to anything. You cannot escape unless you phase. The only slow effect is suppression upon attacking or being attacked -- but powers that are meant to slow do nothing. You cannot avoid being mezzed. And even melee characters need to have several -kb ios or risk being tossed around like a rag doll.

I could build a character with phase and the -kb ios, but I have no desire to. Under older systems I could casually participate in PvP even with SO builds. Sure, people with better builds could still beat me, but the differences weren't so extreme. The devs design intent of making it more casual friendly had the exact opposite effect.

So yes, I would PvP more if PvP worked better. I know that because I used to PvP more.

I think a lot of you are being dense and basing your distaste of the community of a few vocal trashtalkers.
My experences is that most people won't treat you like a ****** if you don't act like one.
Some are very infectious sure but they are individuals and do not represent the whole community.

Also i can't think of a competetive game or mode from racing to fps to chess to fighting that doesn't have trash talk. Doesn't matter if it's at a casual or pro level, trash talk exists.

You know, I'm really wondering if only allowing SOs and/or reducing IO benefits is the answer. It would make things less build centered and more focused around the player's skill. Also, PvP IOs seem ill conceived in the concept that they are only purple level in strength/rarity and that there aren't any weaker ones that are much more common. Regardless, changing to a system mostly like the I12 rules might help simply due to goodwill though many things like the uselessness of slows show that I13 simply didn't work as planned.

Another interesting point that was touched on was that this game as a whole revolves around team synergy but most people's first experience with zones is sticking their head in solo. I don't know of a proper way to rememdy that for zone pvp outside of making a "PvP TF".

If there was a point to PVP i'd do it.

Say a one time event where heroes had to protect something/villains had to destroy it. STORY BASED.

Then next issue a different event heroes and villains could partake in, all with their own special but not gamebreaking awards, like costume pieces. And the next event went off of if heroes won more often/villains won more often.


Yeah, i'd PVP if there was something like that. That is to say, a point.

Thing is, people do exactly that and yet the offended don't care. It isn't the 38-40 nice ones in the group that get remembered, it's the one bad one. (To lift from another thread)

Not only have I seen quality members of the PvP community offer as a counter to the jerks, but also shown ways to eliminate interacting with jerks entirely. The most common response to these methods is "But why should I HAVE to do that?"

In short, there isn't a problem with the "community". There's a problem with people holding the community responsible for the actions of individuals. I don't hold non-PvP'ers responsible for things that jerk carebears say, mostly because I recognize that every person is responsible for themselves and how they behave. No more, no less.

As long as I can land the PVP IOs and sell them "off market" for 5 BILLION Inf and up, sure...I'll keep rotating several accounts, across several computers, all day long.

Oh, you mean PVP for the "fun" of it? If by fun, you mean a crapload of 10 year olds screaming everything from "lolz ur <insert string of everything from sexual orientation slurs to southern usages and slangs from a time when equal rights were followed by equal lefts and heavy ropes, to language that would make a sailor blush>" then no thanks. It's bad enough that an NPC can kick your tail and you're defenseless against them, or lucky to escape them, when they con white to you. Atleast that Force Mage didn't just say you <Insert some slur, include ur mom, and make a strap on joke>.

I'm reading a lot of reasons why people don't PVP here and many of their complaints I simply don't recognise. It seems some have a kind of persecution complex - kill stealing, jerk behaviour and filthy language - hordes ganking individuals.

I've done zone and arena PVP and it doesn't seem to happen like that on the EU servers. Mostly fights are conducted with a sense of fair play and fun - and yet I still faceplant incredibly frequently.

Part of that reason of course is that when it comes to PVP I'm actually not that good at it! I've not built toons specifically to PVP, I'm not that fast on my feet (well fingers for the pedantic amongst you ) but I still get a reasonable number of kills in and I also have a bucketload of fun.

There's another thing to consider: There's four excellent PVP zones in game, Bloody Bay, Sirens Call, Warburg and RV - they have great stories, and excellent content. There's also some useful bits and pieces to be had there too, Shivans and Nukes the obvious choices.

So to anyone who's never tried it, I'd suggest it's worth a go. Don't let the nay-sayers put you off too much even if the devs did break the mechanics a bit.

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

A lot of what people are saying are isolated incidents. I've been PvPing for a good month now and have yet to see anything remotely close to that happening. Yeah you have your dummies but you just hit ignore user and go about playing the game.

Also to those who've said I'm here for badges and not PvP and expect NOT to get attacked are crazy.

Probably not.

I don't believe the devs are going to invest that much time into something that is only used by a small portion of the population.Usually it's the same folks in zone,unless a badger comes in,then it is "fair" play to jump them.

I'll leave my personal opinion out of it on what I think about the zones.

On a side note I do occasionally go into the arena w/my sg mates and one guy pvp's alot.I've given him a run for his money,but,usually I treat it as a joke.Example;taking my fire/kin troller to fight his spec'd out toons.It's a lark to me,BECAUSE,I know it will be fun.

The game is alittle to long in the tooth now to be wishing for a "change",I believe I13 was the last chance for pvp,and we see what happened there.

One thing about pre-I13 pvp,whenever I used to go in zone and got jumped repeatedly,I'd use the 'ole tp foe into the drones.You start doing that to folks a few times and they get the point.Yeah,they would ***** and whine about it on bc,but,they learned their lesson.

The only thing that I really miss is base raids,now that was fun.But,like I said I think pvp is like an endangered species in this game and it's only a matter of time before it becomes extinct.

I loved PvP prior to The Changes. I'd go into Siren's Call or Bloody Bay a time or six a week and just attack anything moving until I was satisfied. Virtue's SC used to have a good community, to boot, with a lot of people engaging in good-natured IC smack-talk that was 100% not serious. Hell, for a while, I was getting better RP in Siren's Call than in Pocket D. As long as I was on a character that did half-decently solo in PvE, I'd do half-decently in PvP, too.

This is no longer really the case, and then you add travel suppression and the fact that powers' effectiveness changes drastically in PvP now... it feels like a totally different game from PvE now, and not a better one.