I actually cannot stand pvp servers in mmorpg’s. I get that you want to be able to get the jump on your enemy any time you want, but the problem is there’s always a level difference.I’ve heard some good arguments “Well, it makes the game more realistic, because sometimes life just kicks you in the ass for no reason.” The thing they’re missing is that life kicks you in the ass usually when you didn’t prepare yourself. Now I know, there are natural disasters that nobody can prepare for, but those are extremely unlikely to happen to everyone in the world. I think it’s more realistic for me to die or get killed because I didn’t take the time to prepare myself for everything that could happen to me.
My problem with this play style is that you cannot progress in the game to be competent against any other players because they’re always there to kill you. To progress, you need to accept quests and complete them. When most of the quests are in an area that a group of high-level people with nothing better to do are residing, it makes it completely impossible to progress. I just want to kill wild boars so I can collect the 8 snouts I need to turn in the quest… Why should I have to keep getting killed over and over again by people who are greatly beyond my level?
It feels like going into the ghetto. Can’t go anywhere unless you’re with a group of people that have as much guns as all the other people. If you get caught traveling alone, you’re going to get robbed and/or shot. There’s this pack mentality. And in an MMORPG I shouldn’t have to always travel with high level bodyguards.
If you’re going to introduce pvp in an area, then force a level cap. Also, force a stat cap. I don’t want to have my ass handed to me by someone with a lot of great armor and weapons; I’d rather have my ass handed to me by someone who has more skill than me. This allows you to get better as a player, and learning better ways of playing. Imagine playing a game of pool with someone who had a +19 hat of cue-ball-hitting and trousers of +20% ball-in-hole and a +10 pool cue of ricochet luck. Oh, and this player is 50 levels above you, so all their luck and hits on the cue ball are increased exponentially beyond yours. They don’t even have to utilize any skill because all their stats are through the roof. You, however, are severely handicapped and having to wing it. You’re going to fail, and the game’s rigged for you to fail from the beginning. You wouldn’t even bother starting.
I never understood all these items that give you these crazy stats to use in battle. “Oh look, I played longer than you, so I’ve got all this sparkly gear that does most of the actual work for me. Screw having any skill!” In a single-player RPG it makes sense, because the monsters are whatever level they are, and every bit of hard work you do helps in handling them all. But when you go up against other people, the game changes.
The only real reason all this shiny gear is in the game is because at some point your level cannot go any higher. The game designers add more dungeons and bosses, but want to keep giving the players a challenge. To make up for this, they make the enemies even stronger, and you make up for your level cap by wearing all this ridiculous gear to be stronger.
Here’s a thought: remove the damn level cap. Why the hell is there a level cap at all? Let me get a level over 9000. At least then I know that I’ve actually grown as a character. I know it’s hard thinking up new abilities all the time, but who needs new abilities? At some point, always keeping it fresh is unneeded. Instead of raising the level cap and including new abilities for those levels, why not just leave out the level cap and introduce more and more abilities?
Also, remove the damn gear stats… The only stats gear should have are roleplaying elements like +10 persuasion or +15 find traps. Maybe allow the player a special sword that’s only usable for that one quest, or a quest chain. The only real difference with all the gear should simply be looks. You spend so much time getting your character to look just right, so why not keep the gear limited to your looks as a character?
And yes… introduce area level caps. This forces you to always be on your toes. cap the level only at the point where everything in the area becomes relatively easy. Maybe 5 levels above the strongest group of monsters. If you’re too low-level, you shouldn’t be here anyway. In this manner your level difference won’t matter much to other players, and you’ll be able to at least hold your own against any attackers. The fights will be based on skill, not on stupid crap like stats.
So yes, I’m the kind of player that plays on PvE servers, and if I want to engage in PvP, I do it where it counts: arena battles. But even then, the arena battles are rigged by people who have already collected the absolute best gear and are now wiping the floor with everyone. Still, at least I can go gain levels at a decent pace and enjoy the story without getting unfairly killed every step of the way.