Open world PvP Zone

[Alien_Gamer]

Actually I had an idea to incorporate gatherers as part of a PvP mode idea so that wouldn't really bug me. I already have bots that would be that equivalent.

So why would you be opposed to optional PvP in a PvE area? What would it do to your gaming experience? Now being optional I am clearly stating you have to flag yourself, register, or some other thing where you are opting in to participate (not just loading in)?

Short answer, it never ends well.

I have never played a game where the PVP element didn't devolve into PvPers harassing non-PvPers for duels or a fight or whatever. To them you either participate in PvP voluntarily or are there for them to treat like crap until you give in. Flags only stop mechanics, it does nothing to stop harassment. I don't believe it will foster a healthy community and the overall game experience would go down because of it. I know you and others have stated different experience, but thats been mine.

From a game design perspective there's too much that will need to be held together with duct tape and superglue. The way classes and skills are built are different for PvP and PvE, how would balance be handled? I mean, balance is already a hot point for most people in PvE and thats when they aren't fighting each other; add PvP with PvE skills and those arguments will blow up 10x as big. If you assume PvP skills are more balanced then do you force peoples hotbars to change to PvP hotbars once they're attacked? If your hotbars change when you set your flag so you're always in PvP mode then how do you handle PvP skills vs open world mobs in fates and such? PvPers have far fewer skills at their disposal and could be at a disadvantage for credit.

This game simply wasn't built for it and pushing the two together would make for a very awkward experience for everyone. Given time the devs could probably make it work but why bother? The amount of work and time that would be spent trying to merge the two sides would be much better spent creating something for each.

[Wintersandman]

This game simply wasn't built for it and pushing the two together would make for a very awkward experience for everyone. Given time the devs could probably make it work but why bother? The amount of work and time that would be spent trying to merge the two sides would be much better spent creating something for each.

The game did make it work until 4.0. 4.0 caused the biggest divide amongst PvP and PvE. Up to 4.0 you could use PvE skills and hopefully you wouldn't have NPC enemies in a PvP zone/area. If you were flagged for PvP the NPC's wouldn't attack you.

We already had this and the balance argument was actually less than PvE balance so I have to disagree with you.

I have played PvP games and I never experienced being harassed. I just went about my business. We have the Blacklist feature, you can walk away, or you can go busy. There are many tools to alleviate the harassment you are so paranoid about. I show up at the wolves den all the time and stand in the dueling circle. I have no problems shutting someone down or I just let them kill me and watch them sulk even more because I didn't put up a fight. It demotivates people when you refuse to engage and they end up leaving you alone.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

I have no problems shutting someone down or I just let them kill me and watch them sulk even more because I didn't put up a fight. It demotivates people when you refuse to engage and they end up leaving you alone.

Sounds crazy, but you have a great point. People looking to grief or troll will move on if you show don't give them the reaction they want, because at that point, it's no fun for them.