This just in...

[Bolty]

First off, PvP in WoW isn't ment to be balanced on the 1 v 1 scale.  It is ment to be balanced on the team v team scale.
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I'm still being misinterpreted. The PvP system that I'm referring to isn't balance in terms of who fighting who - it's the gameplay mechanic of a rewards system for PvP.

Believe it or not, I find the PvP server more enjoyable to play on than the PvE server. However, the worst character levels to be at on the server right now are 25-35. At this level, you're forced to go into contested zones to do quests, and you are nothing but cannon fodder for high-level gankers. There is no POINT to PvP except to annoy others.

I use the example I've used in the past - an alliance group I was in was outsiede the Uldaman instance doing quests when a horde group came along. The room we were both in was filled with mobs. Both teams stared at each other for a bit. I remember thinking how it was like a nuclear arms race - if either team attacked the other, both groups would be wiped out. That was not in question. But sure enough, one player on one of the groups finally attacked, and a battle royale ensued that wiped out both groups (since during our fight, we woke up most of the mobs in the room). It was incredibly pointless - there's no REASON to actually engage in PvP except to annoy someone. And believe me, even if just 1 out of 100 players gets a kick out of annoying lowbie players, the contested zones will be packed with gankers.

There's an almost-legendary player named Khandahar (sp), a horde mage, who goes up to Redridge Mountains almost every night and just ganks low level chars. That's all he does. Night after night! Under a proper PvP system, he would be punished for this behavior because it is not honorable. Such a system does not exist. There's no reason or point to PvP at all, and thus all it encourages is ganking and corpse camping and other griefing activities.

PvP CAN be fun, that's what's so frustrating. The sheer enjoyment I got when I once went to the Shimmering Flats to deliver a quest as a level 38 Warlock. I was cashing in the quest when I noticed some text in my combat log indicating that a player was starting to cast a spell. I turned around and saw a troll shaman opening up a volley on me. The shaman was level 43 - a whole 5 levels higher than me.

I proceeded to OWN him. Casting Curse of Tongues, I increased his casting time by 50%, and sent my minion on in him to interrupt his spells more. I cast Fear on him and it took, forcing him to run around like a ninny while I set up my Damage Over Time spells on him and then blasted him into oblivion with Shadow Bolt. It was extremely satisfying. But it was also relatively pointless, since the graveyard is a 30-second run away. And 60 seconds later, he was back. He left me alone, too. :)

PvP can make doing quests fun. You're always watching your back. Quests of "go out and kill x of x" variety, while immensely dull on a PvE server, become a lot more interesting on the PvP server when you're in contested/enemy zones. This is why I planned to play on the PvP server. But all you get for it is aggravation without a reward system in place.

I've seen group assaults on towns. Take Thelsamar for example. A bunch of Horde dropped in and just started whacking townspeople. Any lowbies who dared to fight them got annihilated, and even when I joined the fray and killed two of them, the other three would whack me...and those 2 would just respawn right away since the graveyard is right next to the town. It was so pointless.

Duskwood is a gankfest every night, as high level horde players go to Raven Hill and gank the level 20's players there on a regular basis. How to deter them? You can't. Sure, you can go by and kill them with a party of alliance players set to defend the turf, but it becomes a battle of who has more time on their hands. You can't get rid of the horde player - he'll just come back and respawn and keep killing lowbies. So the only way to deter the player is to camp his corpse and grief him back.

Most players have better things to do than to counter-grief other players. Since there's no point, no reward, to defending your turf, it's just a GIGANTIC waste of time.

THIS is what I mean by no PvP system. It's a fundamental gameplay mechanic that is missing from the game - one that Blizzard's been promising for months now and hasn't delivered on - and when it's initially delivered, it will be buggy/have loopholes/stink, pending further refinement.

By the way, Blizzard HAS been working around the clock for near 8-9 months now. There's no magic thing that will happen in the next 2 1/2 weeks that will produce the patch that delivers everything bug-free. The game needed months yet to be ready.

-Bolty