There will be no real PvP system

[MongoJerry]

Mongos take on things would interest me greatly too :)

My take was that this post by Blizzard wasn't news. Bolty's take on this post, however, leaves me puzzled.

While the honor system is actually in the game manual, it will never be implemented.

I'm going to have to pull one of these on you, Bolty. Did you actually read the post you're commenting on? There's lots of stuff there about an upcoming honor system.

However, I gather that what you mean is that you wanted a dishonor system to punish high level characters for killing low level characters. I feared the implementation of such a system far more than I feared the current griefing system, and the comments by Blizzard developers on this issue reassure me that they do in fact know what they're talking about. A dishonor system would have simply implemented a different kind of griefing -- one where low level characters take advantage of the system to grief higher level characters.

I will simply quote Tyren's responses to questions and comments made by other players:

The introduction of a PvP penalty system opens the doors to many "what if" situations.

Lets say theres a mass PvP raid with players of all levels. Are you forced to watch who you are attacking for fear that killing those players will result in a penalty?

What if a lower level player is walking around buffing players who do not have a PvP flag. So lets say he sits there and buffs people prior to fights and after they rezz. You cannot touch that person because they are not flagged for PvP.

What if a lower level player decides it'd be fun to follow you around everywhere but not attack you to make a nuisance of himself.

The system is currently very wide open. But it's a more natural system of PvP, rather than try to figure out who you can attack and who you can't and what are the consequences.

How about adding a deity (and resultant deity faction) for every race where each deity has the power to remove a portion of a character's experience (and even lose a level) for defying that deity by engaging a sufficiently lower-level player. The only time this wouldn't happen is if the low-level player (or his group) attacks the higher player.

True, it would be the only source of losing XP, but I can guarantee you people would think twice before engaging...unless they want to be level 1 again... :)

This would effectively discourage any average player from participating in raids, for fear that during large fights they kill a player out of their range. A group of very low level players could harass higher level players who cannot attack them for fear of either losing EXP or if they attack the lower level player, getting attacked back by other lower level players who could kill him with impunity.

Tyren,
See this is where tweaking comes in...IF that lowbee gets invovled in the raid he should be marked as honorable points maybe very little but worth killing even for 1 point. Create a level range for the the color system.

If I am solo and get caught in the middle of two big parties going at it....i should be that odd ball discolored name that shouldnt be targeted...lets say GREY.....and all red names are Honorable kills. The second I heal or attack a member in a PVP situation my name should go red for the duration of my time in that zone till death or leaving the area.

But then you introduce baiting.

Assuming you can see color codes in big fights (sometimes that's harder than you think), the lower level player will ALWAYS have to take initiative, since the average higher level player would never attack first for fear of a penalty.

Or, you could get a very low player with a very high level partner hiding in the wings. The low level player hits a passerby who retaliates and is now flagged for PvP. The high level partner swoops in and kills the passerby. Thus this would also be considered ganking.

The concept is that players believe a punishment system prevents "ganking". It does nothing of the sort. It makes the worst gankers think up and new creative ways to avoid the penalty system or cause penalties on the players they are targeting.

I've said this before, but the assumption that a penalty system will stop ganking, griefing, etc, is ill-conceived.

If a player is dedicated enough to camp your corpse and kill you repeatedly, a penalty system would not deter such a player.

The notion that we don't care about ganking is incorrect. Our point is that a penalty system does not address ganking. It only creates more avenues for exploitation.

In reality a penalty system gives rise to griefing and baiting. A penalty system would discourage PvP rather than make it more fair across the board.

I 100% agree and couldn't say it better.

As far as what we can expect to see with the honor system or any new system, my position is and has always been to wait and see it in game. The idea is not to take on the herculean task of trying to eliminate ganking/griefing entirely but to lessen the frequency of it. A lot of the ganking and griefing is done by people who are level capped and bored. If a system is in place that motivates people to keep playing in the higher level areas and/or fight high level players, then it will lessen the frequency of ganking and griefing.

At least, that's the idea. Now, let's wait and see what the actual implementation is like.