WoW Fansite Chat Coming on Dec 13th

[Occhidiangela]

I'm curious on how you came up with that vision, Occhi.
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Easy. Human nature.

In a realm that is set up according to "jungle rules" the natural titration of powerful, harcore, team oriented gaming guilds to the top is a human dynamic that is repeated over and over in human history. See how Mafia or Cripps rise to power and thrive in streets, albeit in different decades. They don't play by anyone's rules but their own. Similar to those exercising monopolistic business practices, snuffing competition early is how to sustain power, not waiting until there is a "fair fight." The craving for power shapes behaviour in some folks.

It's not the game, at that point, it is the people. I wrote the question before I read the 13+ page discussion on bnet forums about where PvP was and was not going, and all that discussion did, besides drive me mad with redundant argument, was reconfirm for me the suspicion that there is only so much one can do to counter griefers.

Perhaps the PvP Realms and a deliberate misdirection in the manual (could that be?), versus the PvE and RP Realms, is Blizzard's attempt to get the griefers' money and then give the griefers their own haven for a while so that the bulk of them get their jollies away from "nice people" when the game starts out.

In that pursuit, die hard and dedicated PvP players will still get a rush for dominating a realm. That too is a people thing, and they won't all necessarily be griefers. What they will be is disciplined, organized, and team focused. Remember RussBarb from D II? The best PvP guild may be a dedicated anti griefer team. The key is focused and dedicated Team effort. The best teams, before the salary cap in the NFL for example, tended to make dynasties who rule a realm. See the Feudalism point above. ;)

Occhi