To me the problem with PVP is the griefing, the rude players, the kiddies that level in a hurry then sit and kill newbies. I think PVP attracts the worst types in an MMO. Also I find that by and large is attracts too many kids. Also I have found the language in Chat to be far more offensive in PVP than on PVE.

Granted I have not played PVP much, but every time I experience it, it is such a negative experience that I avoid it like the plague. I have never had anything but a negative experience on PVP and to me it leeches the fun I get out of the game.

There was also a bounty system in EVE to balance out the “criminal” aspect.

On a personal note, I’m jazzed about playing on an FFA PvP server in AoC. I miss those days back in UO. It’s fun to outsmart real players. Last night, I had an 80 guardian gank me from behind. As a ranger, I can trap. I dropped a trap, ran behind a rock and went stealth. It was just as good as getting a kill.

I agree that the AoC measures being put in place are way too prone to reverse griefing. One can only hope they will test them pretty throughly but given the bugs they’ve introduced after patching, I’m not holding my breath.

I originally rolled on a PvE server, but I may move over to a PvP server. I found myself frustrated that I couldn’t smack a spawn stealer. Ahhh how bloodthirsty I’ve become.

Asshats will always find a way. If you can easily see some easy methods you can count on the more dedicated griefers finding more. That’s why I’m so sceptical of all the ’self policing’ proposals. I want hard coded PvP switches at the very least or, even better, complete segregation.

They’ll run into this more than other games because most of their combat is AoE in some way (you swing in an arc in front of you with melee attacks, for example). I’m not quite sure how they’ll prevent this myself. Maybe they’ll label zones as being for certain level ranges, and if you get killed in there as a lower level player, there will be no repercussions for the higher level player.

We’ll see how it plays out. But they’re at least planning on punishing players for killing characters of lower level or for killing the same character repeatedly. In both those cases, I can see some very easy methods of reverse griefing others. Even as a higher level character, I could jump off a cliff then hop in front of the same character many times in a row to make the game think they are repeatedly killing me (they are, but it’s because I am griefing them, yet they will be punished).

I think most people find WoW’s PvP acceptable since it’s fairly controlled, much like DAoC’s normal RvR servers. I just rolled a Priest of Mitra (might switch to Bear Shaman) on one of the PvP RP servers and I haven’t been ganked yet, but two people have tried (hint: can’t fight in the water). New Player Help chat was also filled with complaints about people being ganked by people 10 levels higher than them. I’ll see it through, since that’s only the beginning levels, but I don’t think I’m going to see a huge change in those complaints personally.