Quoting the words of the immortal bard - once more into the breach dear friends - this week New Attitude takes a brief glimpse at pvp and some of the reasons why we do (or don’t do) it.

Read on…

Lately I have been spending quite a bit of time in and around Maj’dul.  It is simply a fascinating city - just like stepping into the Tales from the Arabian Nights.  At any moment I expect Aladin to come around the carpet on a flying carpet. Instead  I have my own to lend to the air of things.  But now that the wonderful new home just off a courtyard guarded by Coins factions bodyguards is done I have been venturing out into the deep desert to see what can be discovered.  And each time I do, I pass by the Sultans Palace/Arena.

Ah the arena!

It would seem that it could have been a place of infinite charm and cheering crowds - and at one point it was. But that was only for one brief shining moment when The Deserts of Ro expansion was brand new. Now, sadly, it sits abandon. But why? I set out to find out for myself.

When I entered the arena I found a choice of battlegrounds waiting. Even the conditions for victory could be customized. Battle could take place as your player character or as any one of a number of champions.  I am sure you have seen them if you have done a bit of exploring in peoples homes as I do from time to time. You see small house pets with labels like “Tempest” and “Avenger”. If you examine them you will see the labels all say “can be used as a combatant in the Maj’dul arena”. There are even titles to be had for those who are victorious often enough along with trophies to place in your house.

Yet still the arenas remain silent. I asked some of my guild mates why? Here is one of the responses:

“I have never tried the arena -but again in WOW you gained status, titles and could use the status to buy items. From what I have heard there is no reason to PVP in EQ2 on PVE servers apart from bragging rights and fun.” - Rastis

Recently Richard Garriott described end game (that period of any mmo after the level cap is reached) in World of Warcraft (WoW) as being nothing more than “inventory management”.  He was certainly right in that description.  Certainly, players raid to see the inside of the new instance the first time. But what about after that? At some point you have seen the instance and done the new content.  After that point raiding is about getting better gear.  But why work toward better gear? Why so we can all go raid harder instances of course!

PvP in WoW works much the same way.  Many is the weekend afternoon I have watched my sister take part in one of the battlegrounds in WoW.   Talk about getting involved! She hammers away at the keyboard like a jackhammer with overdrive, giving out instructions.  When her character dies, as must inevitable happen no matter how good you are, the cries of agony eventually work up to a fevered pitch.

But if you ask here why she keeps running the battlegrounds even though they aggravate her she will simply tell you about all the great gear she can get while she accumulates “honor points” which are spent like gold to buy pvp gear.  Now with each passing arena season, not only does the arena gear get better but the battlegrounds gear that can be had gets better too.

Always better gear to be had - inventory management.

But is that necessarily a bad thing? Have we become so materialistic as gamers that we can no longer simply play a game “because it’s fun?” Is something no longer enjoyable just for the sake of doing it? Or because it’s a challenge? On the face of it the answer might be yes - especially if you compare the battlegrounds/arenas in WoW and EQ2.  But the fact that there are no virtual goodies to be had isn’t always the answer.

“Going into an instance and knowing/expecting PVP is not true PVP because
you are prepared for it. Not knowing when or where or how strong it is going to happen is the true thrill of open PVP” - Mandrak

There is certainly something to what Mandrak says here. I think back to games like Eve-Online where all the players are on the same server - where just taking your character outside in a low security area (or any area if your guild is at war with another) can result in the lost of millions in Isk (virtual currency).  Consider the tension that builds where you  can step outside your door and under just the right  circumstances (or wrong circumstances would perhaps be more appropriate) can result in permanent character death - as in time to start a new character.

Now THAT is tension…

…and that is the thrill that Mandrak is talking about in “Open pvp”.

But that still leaves one question that has still gone begging - what would it take to turn the arenas around? What would it take to bring back the crowds? The answer, it seems, in a word is rewards. But that lets not just one cat out of the bag, but a whole room full of cats out of the bag.  Problems come in to play like having to micro-manage class abilities. Then there is the danger of encouraging the attitude of creating a game that becomes a system of inventory management as you must continually dangle better and better carrots in front of the players to get them to continue to participate. This also opens the flood gate to having to continually find ways to stop players who will find ways to exploit whatever system of rewards is put in place.

The easier answer seems to be the route that most game developers chose to go - concentrate on new development.  Most of the time  you will see a new 20 levels when new playable races or classes are presented to the players.  You will always see new content added in the form of a new level cap.  But ask yourself when was the last time you saw the middle game added in any other form than another instance or two. The answer to that question is two words…

…almost never.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather