PvP and Me

In my last post I stated I did not enjoy player vs. player game play. As they say in Congress, I’d like to revise and extend my remarks. I should say that I don’t like getting ganked. Actually, I hate getting ganked. I hate it so much that I don’t like ganking other people, because I know how I feel about it and can’t look at other toons running around as just a bunch of pixels. I know that the “RPG” in MMORPG stands for “role-playing game”, but I just can’t get over that “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” thing. Maybe that’s why my main characters always belong to the good side in games.

World of Warcraft battlegrounds and Warhammer Online scenarios are a different story. I have no problem sneaking up on someone and cutting them down from behind. Why? We are playing a mini-game and killing the other person helps win the game. Also, any player in one of these organized fights knows the dangers going in, so I’m not going to hurt anyone’s feelings if I kill them.

From what I’ve heard, I probably should include 0.0 space in Eve Online in with the battlegrounds and scenarios. Why? 0.0 space is a campaign with huge stakes and no time limit waged between organized corporations and alliances. Players who do not wish to live in the mayhem can stay in high security space or can dip a toe into the action to get a taste of PvP. If I ever tried playing Eve, I would probably be one of those players.

For me, organized fights are okay, but mindless fighting or a high frequency of 4 vs. 1 fights without a greater purpose make me want to not play a game. Maybe that makes me a carebear, but I already suspected that was the case.