PvP in Age of Conan: The acronym that pumps some, and makes
others shiver. We’re talking about Player versus Player
combat.




So what’s the deal? How big of a role is PvP going to play
in the game? Are PvP players going to have a blast, while the PvE
(Player
versus Environment) persuasion only gets half a game? Will the PvE-only
type
players have to participate in PvP just to have fun?




All that remains to be seen.

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style="font-style: italic;">Gather your army to combat
another guild.

What we do know, is that AoC boasts some pretty cool sounding
PvP functions. Players will be able to build their own keeps and
destroy other
guilds’ keeps. There will be arena matches and games, and
drunken bar brawls.
All of these lend themselves to making a fairly large focus on PvP
game-play.




Let’s face it. No one likes to be ganked. It’s just
not much
fun logging on for an hour, planning on getting a quick quest finished,
only to
find out that another player is blocking your path and will continually
beat
you down every time you try to progress. But while that may be what
enters some
people’s minds when they hear the term
“PvP,” it’s not necessarily an accurate
description on what Player versus Player gamers are looking forward to.
AoC is
going to offer a lot of variations on PvP play, and will offer
something for everyone
– maybe even for those who formerly were none too keen on the
PvP scene.




So why PvP? To start, when it comes to player versus player
combat; you never know what to expect. Oppositely, with a
computer-controlled
encounter, you pretty much know what you’re getting into. The
NPCs you fight
will either be easy for you to defeat, or they’ll be more
powerful than you
are, and you’ll have to team up with other players and use
your combined forces
to beat them down. Player versus player combat is not so black and
white. While
someone may be lower or higher level than you, there are no guarantees.
You
never know what the other player has up their sleeve, whether they have
powerful gear, a bunch of friends coming to back them up, or a sneaky
special
attack you never would have expected.




Siege warfare, for example, promises to offer a challenge toall
players. One can take time away from their adventuring, and build
their own
battlekeep with their guild. Once complete, they’ll be able
to use a trebuchet
or other siege engines to launch objects at, or crush their enemies.
Just
imagine dozens of players from

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style="font-style: italic;">Defend your keep against other
players.

around the world, gathered on a virtual
playfield, using strategy and brute force to overcome another group of
players.
Both groups have a strategy and a plan, but they don’t know
what the other
group will be doing. Soon, the battlehorns cry, and the teams set their
strategy in motion. Some stand back and launch projectiles, while
others rush the
opposing force, sword in hand. Soon, the fields run red with the blood
of the
slain. Each group yells commands at their team; for support, and for
aid. A
small group breaks from the foray, and takes down a trebuchet, or a
keep wall.
The combatants flood through the opening, and the massive battle
continues
within the remaining walls of the keep. Victory is always up in the
air, as
there’s no such thing as a “sure thing”
in the battlefields.




Siege play isn’t the only thing that Funcom has planned.
There will also be Arena Events and Bar Brawls. The Arena Events will
include
PvP games such as “Capture the Flag” while Bar
Brawls will pit players against
each other in matches that ignore levels and equipment and are just a
primal
rock-em, sock-em, beat-em-up. Players will get drunk in game, and start
throwing their fists. Who they hit won’t really matter as it
will be all about
the violence.




All this is a far-cry from the pitiless “ganking”
some
players have begun to associate with the term
“PvP.” There is no denying that
there are players out there that thrive off making others miserable.
However,
there is also no denying that the above game components sound like a
heck of a
lot of fun. Again, these aspects of the game will not be required play.
You won’t
have to join them if you don’t want to. But why
wouldn’t you?