PvP

[Bolty]

You may not like it, but the simple fact of the matter is that Blizzard considers PvP a majority component of the end game content - even on PvE servers.  Once you've done the high level raid areas a couple times and have gotten bored of alts, PvP is the only thing left in the game to keep you around.  So either Blizz accepts that people will quit their subscriptions after 8 months or they put an opt-in PvP onto every server to try and keep these people playing.  And, no, saying "those people should go to PvP servers" is not a legitimate response.[right][snapback]75253[/snapback][/right]

savaughn has this dead to rights. From a business perspective, PvP is an absolute necessity for Blizzard to maintain subscribership in the future. Since it is impossible to continue to add content quickly enough for hardcore players to eat up, players will ultimately have to drive the content themselves. Thus, pitting the players directly against each other makes sense.

You may wish to play on a completely non-PvP server, but to Blizzard you would then be a guaranteed loss. Once you've accomplished whatever goal you've set for yourself, whether it be a level 60 character, or multiple ones, you are done. You will either then quit immediately, or complain that there's not content additions quickly enough for you and quit.

Blizzard is betting that the number of people upset enough at the inconveniences and quitting will not outweigh the number of people who would quit after seeing all the content. I think their bet is a good one.

PvP is and always will be a part of the game, that's how Blizzard designed it. Not every game can be for everybody. Playing Guild Wars for its PvE content would be really silly, because the entire game is designed for PvP. Still, I'm sure there will be some people who buy it and then complain that they don't want to PvP.

I think in WoW's case it's a symptom of the still-ongoing confusion for many players of what the designations "PvP", "PvE", and "RP" mean. Perusing the Blizzard forums shows that there are still quite a few players who have no clue whatsoever that PvP is even possible on PvE servers. The server types should have been labeled "Full PvP", "Consensual PvP", and "Consensual PvP with Some Extra Rules that Nobody Quite Understands but We'll Call Role-Playing". :)

Ultimately, you pick PvE servers so that you can PvP when you want to. To me, it's mostly about being able to get to 60 without being ganked to holy hell. But that doesn't mean you can just ignore it in a bubble of your own. I sympathize with those who want no PvP whatsoever, but this game won't provide that to you. When Battlegrounds is released, I think the attacks on enemy towns and NPCs will once again reduce to the pre-honor system levels, and most players on PvE servers will flock to the new way of testing their mettle.

Still, I encourage you to at least try PvP sometime, even if that's not until level 60. I enjoy picking fights from time to time, and look forward to the Battlegrounds. And until you've tried playing a Priest at the top of the Great Lift, using Mind Control to fling anyone who attacks you off the cliff to their deaths, you just haven't lived. :) Good times.

-Bolty