Most definitely not a love letter, this is best described as a hate letter. I really seriously dislike PvP servers. It would probably be for the best if I just walked away from my newly beloved shaman Yriani and never looked back. But I’m torn.
Here’s the thing. The way PvP works in WoW right now brings out the worst in people. It ensures bullying and vindictive behavior. My story starts in Stranglethorn Vale. It was a silly place to go to quest on a PvP server. But it seemed like a good idea at the time. The problem is that it’s a good place to quest for a huge range of levels. You can start there at level 30 (the level I was when I went there) and continue to quest up through the mid-40s. There’s a level 60 instance there, as well, so raid groups waiting for their party to arrive are hanging around with nothing to do.
My dying spree began in Booty Bay, the neutral city at the southmost point of Stranglethorn. There isn’t supposed to be PvP in the city itself. The are guards all over that will attack anyone that attacks another player inside the city. That didn’t stop a rogue, however. He one-shotted me in the back by the bank and then immediately vanished so the guards wouldn’t attack. That doesn’t seem very sporting. He got no honor for killing me and was just basically being annoying.
Oh well, I thought. I picked up some quests and began the long run north to where my quests were. I’m a shaman, so I can turn into a wolf and run 40% faster. I shifted and started running. I soon passed a level 60 priest on horseback. The jerk dismounted and threw a Shadow Word: Pain on me. I just kept running. It didn’t kill me and I managed to get out of his range since I was running much faster then he could on foot. So he mounted up and followed me. He ended up following me halfway across the zone before he killed me. Again, wtf? He got no honor, it took him very far out of his way, and it was just generally annoying. He then proceeded to stalk me and kill me twice more before I got some 60s to stand guard and protect me for a little while.
I stopped in Grom’gol, a Horde city in the middle of the zone. I got killed again as soon as I walked out the gates. Ok, this was getting old. I went off to kill some tigers. And this time, it was really bad.
This darn gnome rogue decided I made a great toy. He’d wait until I was in combat and at half life, then he’d come and backstab me. He was only 2 levels above me. There’s no way he could have taken me in a fair fight (come on, shammies rock!) But I never got the chance to find out. It got so bad with him doing this over and over that I made a targetting macro. It targetted him - the image above is the button I made for it. Jerk. Seriously. Before entering combat I’d mash the macro button a bunch to make sure he wasn’t nearby. Trouble is, you can’t target a rogue in stealth. So he did manage to get me again.
This was just totally frustrating. I’m sure he was getting some sick twisted joy out of tormenting me, but is that really a good thing? I eventually called for help and got a level 60 to stand nearby. He managed to kill the jerk for me. I then hung out near his corpse (like he’d been doing to me!) and tried to kill him when he spawned. But he got his own 60 to come in and kill me. Not cool. I was just trying to teach him that beating up people gets the same returned to you. But he had better luck calling in allies than I did.
Later on, I was just running by and he started attacking me again. I just kept running. I was so done with this. He got a hunter to Concussive Shot me. Come on! I was just trying to turn in my quest and get out of there. Fortunately, some nearby 60s were running by and killed them both. I turned in my quests and got out of there.
Time and time again, I see this kind of behavior on the PvP server. People hunt down and kill easy marks, just because they can. Then, when those victims get to a higher level, they do the same thing. I get beat, I beat someone else. It’s classic bully behavior, and it really bothers me. I’m not just talking about how annoying it is to get ganked over and over when trying to do the simplest things in game. I’m talking about what it says about people that so many of us find satisfaction in torturing and tormenting other people. They gain pleasure from wreaking havoc and making things difficult for others.
I’m still playing Yriani. I have friends on the server, and I decided to stay out of populus areas and give it another try. But I don’t enjoy the PvP server experience. And I guess I don’t like human nature all that much either.
7 Responses to “PvP Servers, a Hate Letter”
It’s like you’re reading my mind. I have exactly the same opinion of having my main on a PvP server. I’m taking my leveling slow (mainly because Guils Wars is also competing for gaming time) so I’m only at level 25. But I’ve observed exactly the same things.
The way that PvP works in WoW brings out the worst in people, as you said. No one wants to challenge anyone in a fair fight. The people who are willing to fight fair don’t get to. It’s a vicious cycle. When you get ganked, people feel that they can go back and take their revenge, and it perpetuates this awful bullying behaviour. I dislike it so much because it make people act horribly towards each other. There’s no room for good sportsmanship because people just become utterly frustrated with being killed over and over when they are just questing/exploring.
Last night I was exploring the northern Wetlands area, heading into the Arathi Highlands. I’d never been there and I was curious. On the way up, a level ?? Troll (forgot what class) passed me by. He paused, probably considering whether I was worth the time, since I’m a lowbie. I /waved to him. He just continued on his way. A minute later, I saw a 30 Night Elf run past me. Shortly after that, a level ?? Horde (forgot what race/class) came by, chasing after the Night Elf. The Hordie stopped his pursuit for 3 seconds to kill me, before going after the Night Elf. I was worth nothing to him, and no threat, but he did it anyway even though it interrupted his current task.
I mostly just hated PvP servers in any game I played. If you had the chance to get your friends off of their, it would be the way to go, but that’s likely unrealistic.
The best answers to any of these things on PvP servers that I’ve seen is that killing a normal player who is either notably below you or who you killed before (and are the aggressor again) should end up with a big bounty on their head, giving money to anyone who kills them.
But I still mostly hate PvP servers.
Glad to hear I’m not alone in my opinion!
(0_0),….
when I walk by pesky low level alliance scum….
I cast DOTs and keep walking and see if they die fast enough for me to hear their screams…
No Cecil, no!
[...] Tara has a post about why she dislikes PvP servers in World of Warcraft: People hunt down and kill easy marks, just because they can. Then, when those victims get to a higher level, they do the same thing. I get beat, I beat someone else. It’s classic bully behavior, and it really bothers me. I’m not just talking about how annoying it is to get ganked over and over when trying to do the simplest things in game. I’m talking about what it says about people that so many of us find satisfaction in torturing and tormenting other people. They gain pleasure from wreaking havoc and making things difficult for others. [...]
Pvp servers are absolutely horrible. It took me months to level up to level 70 on one and I just got tired of all the ganking and camping so I /transfer to pve and I have to say that I am having the time of my life getting stuff done finally with no worries of being ganked. Also it took me less than 2 weeks with work and school combined to make another 70 simply because pvp holds back real gaming potential. level 70 on any low level is not fair and it should be that is they are red to u in levels, u can attack first and start it whereas they cannot gank you.