The Daily Grind: Is free-for-all PvP a dealbreaker?
Games like EVE Online, Darkfall, and Mortal Online sell themselves on the premise of being wild and lawless. Like in the Wild West of ages past, anyone can kill you at any time. Of course, also like in the Wild West, this reputation bears only some resemblance to reality, as you're relatively unlikely to be consistently ganked and robbed by someone for no reason. But the fact that it's possible makes a lot of players decide that it's just not worth the hassle. The threat of losing everything to malicious player actions is more powerful than the real rarity of the event.
Obviously, some players embrace the possibility as part of the charm of an open-world game. But it's possible to have a game with broad player options without the constant threat of cruelty, and there's a reason a lot of Ultima Online players happily opted out of being hunted by other players. Is open PvP the sort of thing that makes you write off a game no matter what other features it might have?
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
