So. I hate PvP. I hate it because for some reason, for me, being attacked by other players is intrinsically antifun. This is not restricted to video games; I can’t spar, and I can’t play a lot of competitive board games. (I can play games of competing to reach a goal, but not games of preventing other people from reaching a goal. Except Robo Rally which I play as a single-player game of moving across the board so fast that I’m not in contact with other players anyway.)
But… The thing is, being aware of this means that I now have a shot at, say, changing it. After all, it’s just bits and pieces and thinking and habits; it does what I tell it to. Sometimes. Up to a point.
So I’m going to go roll me up a character on a PvP server in RIFT and see what I make of it. If it’s unfun enough, I’ll walk away, but… part of the point is to see whether I can change it. As part of the experiment, I’ve been asking people who enjoy PvP to explain what’s fun about it. I’ve… well, let’s just say I don’t understand the answers. :)
Why RIFT?
1. Most fun MMO I’ve ever played.
2. Above-average quality of community.
3. The calling/soul system means that I get a lot of variety of things to try.
Will be playing two characters on the Harrow server. (Why two? Because people always complain about how getting corpse-camped prevents them from playing. I see… a solution.)
Comments [archived]
From: Zhiva
Date: 2011-06-03 02:41:39 -0500
# Why two? Because people always complain about how getting corpse-camped prevents them from playing. I see… a solution. #
I doubt this is a solution. What if there will be second ganker griefing your second character?
From: Jarshall
Date: 2011-06-07 14:39:04 -0500
“I’ve been asking people who enjoy PvP to explain what’s fun about it.”
For me PvP simply is a thrill. I love to pick my weapons/playstyle, prepare and study my enemys and myself and then engage.
It’s like chess, you know your possible turns and your enemys ones, and you need to choose wisely which path you take to success.
And then there is of course speed/time as a important values, quick AND good decisions make a match.
It’s really hard to fit it into words, or at least in English words (native German ftl).
PvPing for more than 5 Years now in Wow,GW, D2, RoM etc. and its still great fun.
Though i do like the duel/arenamatches more than open world ganking, which mostly isn’t really challenging as the attacker.
“Will be playing two characters on the Harrow server. (Why two? Because people always complain about how getting corpse-camped prevents them from playing. I see… a solution.)”
Dont be too concerned, ganking in Rift is a very rare thing.
From: Prustass
Date: 2011-06-15 10:44:22 -0500
The fun in PvP is often the unpredictability of a Player vs AI. Unfortunately we have not progressed quite so far in technology to make a AI so smart as to be unpredictable.
Humans by nature are unpredictable thus posing a new level of challenge.
An AI has a set parameter of moves/abilities and once sorted by a player are easy to predict and counter for the win. No such “base behavior” for players you always have to think will they use this move will they go left or right..what about ducking behind obstacles cutting LoS off and so forth.
PvP has IMO one downside and that is a certain population base who get there joy out of ruining yours, not by beating you as this is a fundamental of PvP but by being an asshole and literally grinding it in and or slinging insults. Poor Sports.