And the only reason devs are paying the pvpers so much attention is because they scream the loudest, you know the saying? the squeakiest wheel gets the oil, and man do they squeak!

PvP challenge people to outsmart each other.

PvE is a far more passive form of entertainment. Real challenges don’t usually start until the ridiclious-level Raid quests, and are usually solved just by having lots of uber-powered people on your team. Complaints from players abound regarding the difficulty levels of these encounters – the curious can study WoW and see how it’s gone from a “casual” MMO to one of the most hardcore grindfests around, due to the relative player skill and the requirement to meet it.

Not to say that PvP players don’t complain about tuning, though. Nerf complaints are certainly just as common among PvPers, if not even moreso, but the attitude towards challenges isdifferent.

In short, PVP is “human” balanced, PVE is “computer” balanced.

I’ve been playing a game the past few days called Lunia. It’s much like Guild Wars in the fact that the whole game is instanced and you have a story to progress through. However, unlike typical MMOs it takes pride in calling itself an Arcade/MMO hybrid. What’s cool is that the bosses play out like an adventure game. You learn boss patterns and dodge moves. You hit the boss because YOU did it, not because the dice said you hit or missed. It’s a fun change of pace.

To me, the glory of MMOs is the interaction with other players, and the fact that other players drive the game and contribute to the fiction.

If I didn’t want interaction with other players, or a player-driven game, I would (and do) play kick ass single player games or non-massive multiplayer games.

I tried to play WoW with a locally running hacked server. No lag: awesome. Total lack of idiots (expect, possibly, for one): awesome. Game itself: still kinda stinks. Went back to playing single-player games.

Played EVE. Totally different experience. What I did mattered – to me, to other people, to some degree the world around me. With enough effort, especially with some teamwork, I could seriously mess with an entire region’s economy. I could blow up someone’s ship and have it actually matter to them. I could build a home base in a barren star system, and have it besieged by an enemy corporation.

Note, also, that PvP doesn’t (have to) mean ganking. A Tale in the Desert is a PvP game by my definition. Thus, PvE and “carebear” doesn’t have to go together at all.

To me, a game with PvE focus means a single-player game with lag and idiots. It means subscription fees, massive mandatory patches that drastically change my gameplay, and server queuing when I could be playing. It means shallow gameplay which has been artificially obfuscated for the illusion of complexity, when in actuality the underlying formulas are easily perceived – as they must be, to reduce server load and response time.

If you like a PvE RPG experience with friends, why aren’t you playing NeverWinter Nights? It’s free to play and most modules have far better storylines and combat experiences than most high-profile MMOs. You can make your own dungeons and stop badgering Blizzard for more content patches. Heck, one of you can even be a GM, and you don’t even have to perform virtual sexual favours for the privilege.

Me, I prefer to think that Funcom, Mythic, FLS and ArenaNet have caught on to the fact that gamers are catching on to the scam. PvE players have bought Xboxes. My best indicator of this trend is the fact that the Massively Online Gamers podcast has stopped being about MMOGs. :)

In fact, some of the PvPers are complaining that they’ve been shafted in GW: EN in terms of PvP content. There’s a huge amount of story, questing, mythos, and lore in GW: EN. There are mini games, but you can’t play other players. All of the new Skills in GW: EN are PvE-only. In one of the panels, someone asked the developers why it seemed that GW: EN was PvE-centric. I think they ignored the fact that GW now has the automated tournament system, which was introduced recently.

If there’s anything that I learned over this weekend after attending the Guild Wars panels at PAX and speaking to the developers in-person, its that the developers want their game to be enjoyed in as many ways as possible, and this means catering to as many play styles as possible.

Please check out my write-up of one of the PAX Guild Wars panels for more information: http://acidforblood.net/2007/08/25/pax-panel-guild-wars-past-present-and-future/

I don’t hear many complaints about WoW pve any more. Sure the raid game has it’s fault inherent to raiding, but overall it’s supposed to be pretty good now. PvP on the other hand… well, there’s always the balance issues. And then the afking… and the lack of world pvp… Remember pvp was a second priority for WoW, so naturally some major games will probably try to make improvements on that theme.