arbitrary
Out in the Ettenmoors in LotRO as my weaver, there is nothing I enjoy more than seeing the name of someone I know running towards me, and then seeing them killed. We laugh about it when not in PvMP (player vs monster player, as it is in that game). I like to think they get the same buzz out of killing me too.
The same happened on DAoC with RvR. Ok, so it’s not quite the same, because we could only play one realm per server (as WAR will be), but it didn’t take long for a few players to become pretty ‘famous’ in the RvR zones. I always preferred being killed by one of these famous people than by someone I’d never heard of, and in the same vein I got an extra buzz from seeing them brought down.
And that seems the mark of a good, healthily competitive server community. Sure there will be whines on either side, complaints about ganking, zergfests and all the other emotive issues that come hand-in-hand with PvP. But there’s also a chance for some friendly banter on server forums (whichever forum you and your server-mates pick out of the ones that are going to spring up as soon as we get the server names). I hope it goes that way, especially on the server I play on!
Spinks
We were discussing yesterday how much more fun and personal PvP (or RvR) can be when you recognise a lot of the names you see both among your realm mates and the opposing team. Like Arbitrary says, people collect reputations, and it is a buzz to be involved in a fight with one of the top names on the server and their tricked out group. Sure, most of the time you may lose but that one time when you didn’t is the one you will be talking about for a long time. My husband still grins when talking about the time in DaoC when our group managed to surprise and kill one of the top name Hibbie groups on the server and his name went out in the zone-wide kill spam.
In WoW, veteran players will remember that servers used to be like this. You used to only ever see characters from your own server in battlegrounds, and it did give each server a better sense of community. They changed it and allowed cross-server queues and battlegrounds as a fix to realm balance issues. In the ‘old days’ it could take hours (or even days) for some of the battlegrounds to come up, because there just weren’t enough people queueing. These days, your PvP groups will be full of strangers with weird names who you may never see again, but you don’t have to queue very long at all. It changed the feel of battleground PvP immensely and it became a dull impersonal experience that no one really cared about.
Although there are still many questions about population balance that need to be answered, I am sure we won’t be queueing for days to get /some/ PvP action. And there will be a lot of scenarios running, if only because RvR is so engrained into the game (unlike WoW, where a lot of people have no interest) and although not everyone likes the scenario-style mini-game, it is a good way to get a quick fair fight. We’re both looking forwards to killing people we recognise and being killed by them in WAR! How about you?
Filed under: community, General Gaming, RvR | Tagged: fame, name recognition, pvp, RvR, scenarios, server fame |
Book of Grudges 
I never had a chance to get to know people on my server because the darn BG’s were never up.
Open World RvR should be enough to get to know the other faction in WAR, I hope they introduce cross-server to the scenarios or they’ll rarely happen.
The smaller bgs were up a fair amount of time on my server (which was a RP PvE one), but actually I think WAR is going to have a busier PvP scene anyway.
I think they’ll be very active in general, whether or not people get focussed on a few popular ones or not we’ll have to wait and see.
Wotcha everyone,
Whenever I’m chatting with my friends about PvP (in whatever game happens to be a part of the discussion), I’m reminded of two things.
The first is Han Solo’s “Good against remotes is one thing, but good against the living…” comment from Star Wars. The second is the nagging doubt that at our age, I’m sure we should be discussing mortgages, or the cost of living, or something.
I find solo pve’ing remarkably relaxing, most of the time. The fights are simple, and quite formulaic. Once I “know” a mob, it’s easy enough to know what attacks to use, at what time, to get the best possible result; an easy kill, complete with a side-order of trez and xp. The formula doesn’t make it any less entertaining, but it is there.
Going against the living, however, is a different thing. I am rubbish at PvP. If I don’t die horrendously in a one-on-one fight (but just die giving a good accounting of myself), I class that as Made of Win(tm). But I love a big PvP/RvR fight. I don’t count my own deaths, as therein lies madness, but I do watch out for “Names”. Whether it be guild or individual, there is a certain satisfaction in seeing a win forced against them.
It’s not even personal. After all, it’s hard to get personal against a set of pixels and someone who is potentially in another time zone. However, I do like it when I get good enemies. And in PvP gaming, I think it’s better to have good enemies than good friends. A victory against the odds brings more pleasure than an expected one, and that’s what I game for – the challenge.
I look forward to finding the “Names” on the Warhammer Online server we end up in. Because, just possibly, they will become “Legends”. And who knows, if I do well enough, maybe I’ll be a “Name” too.
Probably as an easy target, but I can still dream…
Cheers,
Hawley.
I’m already making my lists of hated enemies in WAR 🙂 It happens so quickly!
In-game is certainly one way to create a rivalry, but I found in DAoC that it was enhanced by discussions over on the old Camelot Vault boards. You got to meet the people behind the characters there, and luckily, most of the players from Percival were pleasant to chat with.
I know WAR is going to have great in-game rivalries. I’m hoping that out-of-game forums also form and grow, so we can get to know each other on a different level. It definitely adds an edge to killing each other in-game 🙂
Yes I remember those days in WoW fondly. It was nice to be recognized in a battleground for being “that awesome healer, follow him”. I also remember certain opponents that became legendary.
Back in the days when AV was a thing of fun, there was a certain orc warrior with a high rank and using the Unstoppable Force (it was hard to get back then). When people saw him coming, they just dashed to the sides, because that weapon together with MS spec and mace specialization was just devastating. And when you actually beat him (rarely) it just felt so great.
I was horde back then, so I didn’t suffer too badly from the long queues, but it was more fun before the X-realms, even if it took longer.
And speaking of this, you got to announce what server you get on at release, arbitrary and spinks *wink* 😉
Haha. Yes we’re planning on giving character names and server so anyone who wants to come kill us is welcome to have a go 🙂
Yeah, I capitulated and as soon as I have my chosen name secured I will happily give name, server, guild 🙂
oo.. I can stalk you! beware!
I do hope I’ll get to know people on the US servers quite quickly and be able to form some meaningful hate/smash relationships 😛
I do hope however if ever fame comes my way, it is not due to impressive skills in RvR or huge achievements, though both are nice.
I want to be known as that guy who did something completely insane and pulled it off or at least failed in a very amusing fashion. This is all back to C&C Rengade and charging off a cliff with a shotgun.
I aim to break tactics.