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Mattlow's Top 10 PvP MMOGs of all time list is out, and the list includes a few suprises and leaves out a few standbys. I was surprised how many of the games hold no appeal for me apart from their PvP action. Has the recent emphasis on competitive play made MMOGs more mathematically precise, but increasingly soulless? That's our topic in today's Loading... Zero Sum Game.
The Pulse
You vote with what you
view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse (
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).
Here
are today's top 5 Pulse results:
- World
of Warcraft -
EverQuest
II (UP 1) -
EVE
Online (down 1)
-
Lord
of the Rings Online (UP 1) href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve">
-
Dungeons
and
Dragons Online (down 1)
Biggest
movers today:
- 12/1
- LotRO:
Siege of Mirkwood (expansion) - 12/1
- EVE
Online: Dominion (expansion) - 12/15
- EverQuest:
Underfoot (expansion) - 1/26
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2389">Mass
Effect 2
(release date) - 2/1
- Global
Agenda (release date) -
style="font-weight: bold;">2/1
- Mortal
Online (release date) -
2/2
size="-1">
- Star
Trek Online (release date) -
2/10 - Stargate
Resistance (expansion)
Releases
- 2/16
- href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion) - March 2010
- APB -
style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2010
- Mytheon - TBA 2010
- Final
Fantasy XIV
-
style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2011
- Star Wars:
The Old
Republic
Loading... Daily
A 10 best PvP MMOGs opinion piece is out today, and there are some good picks as well as a few you and I might disagree with. But it's all in good fun, and hats off to Mattlow for getting the conversation started. I can't name a mainstream MMO game that doesn't have some kind of PvP anymore; and that's supposedly a win for players and developers (since PvP, though difficult to balance, is a relatively easy way to extend the endgame indefinitely).
I'm not convinced every MMOG should have a PvP side though. As Space Junkie recently pointed out, PvP (done correctly) is a culture, not just an alternative way to play. It's a meritocracy that's one step beyond the usual measuring stick of loot and levels; PvP is about knowledge and skill. Instead of confronting scripted mobs programmed on a muzzy Friday afternoon months or years ago, you're pitted against human wolves (and occasionally, joyously, human cattle) bent on humiliation and domination. While your opponents' skill sets might be more predictable than that of an endgame boss, their individual actions may be much less predictable. That's especially true if your enemies show any degree of cooperation.
With a pervasive and energetic culture like that in your game, the entire community becomes an order of magnitude more hardcore than they would be in a PvE-oriented game. When PvP comes in, patience goes out. A bugged class or playstyle isn't just an inconvenience, it's a competitive disadvantage, or at the very least it's perceived as one. Rabble rabble rabble, and a game's would-be biggest supporters are jumping ship rather than feel stupid in the face of the hardcore fury.
So one of two things typically happens. To level out the playing field, erring on the side of caution, PvP often seems to have a homogenizing effect on classes - they all play roughly the same, albeit with different spell effects. Either that, or the devs make draconian changes to how the class plays, confusing the casual players and further enraging hardcore types. In either case, the game becomes a little like a set of blueprints; mathematically pristine, but soulless.
Whether or not the impatiently rabblerousing condition is unique to Western game communities, as a few of my recent interviewees contend, it's nerveracking for the PvE-oriented types among us. Call me a carebear, but I don't usually want my victory to come at someone else's expense. If I'm in the mood for PvP, I'll play a shooter (thanks Global Agenda), not an MMORPG. It's probably my conditioning. Thinking back to EQ, bugs were pervasive, but great fun. Getting stuck between worlds was a regular occurrence, mobs regularly de-spawned at inopportune times or behaved erratically, and I'm fairly sure half the classes wouldn't have passed muster in any kind of PvP arena. But since cooperation and patience were the true underpinnings of the game, buggy behavior was almost a new and randomized level of challenge.
I'm not lobbying for a return to those days. PvP is here to stay, and if you're going to play one of the games on Mattlow's list, you're likely going to have to put up with, if not embrace, the concept. But MMO games would be better off, in my opinion, if the quality of game experience was judged not on which class can kill which other class the fastest, but moreso on the quality of the game's PvE environment and story. PvP can be part of that mix without being consumed by it.
Has PvP helped or hampered MMOG development? MMOG enjoyment? Let's discuss in the
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=49554">Loading...
forum.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our STO General Discussion
For your viewing pleasure
OneEyeRed
has compiled an epic collection of his own screenshots from Star
Trek Online. If you're still considering the game, or beautiful
(virtual) vistas are important to you, take a look.
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"I'm noticing a distinct lack of boobies in your pictures."
- AngryBeaver
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell
us!
New and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer
8 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 52 in February! 167
in 2010!
OPINIONS / EDITORIALS
Top 10 PvP MMOGs
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80808
With
PvP a main feature in online gaming, the question is what MMOGs have
the best PvP? To that end, Mattlow gives you his top 10 list of PvP
action in MMOGs.
FEATURES & GUIDES
Runes of Magic - Auction House Companion
http://www.tentonhammer.com/rom/guides/auctionhouse
One
of the many things that you can do in a MMOG is buy and sell things.
Whether you're a shopaholic or you want to make your virtual fortune
selling virtual goods, join ZeroMerc as he delivers the basics of the
Auction House.
Star Trek Online Captain's Blog #2 - Decisions and Directions
http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/captains_blog
Star
Trek Online offers free mounts--how many other MMOGs can say that?
Medeor achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander this week and is the
proud owner of a new race car, aka Escort ship. How did he come to the
decision of fast and furious versus slow and steady for winning the
race?
Star Trek Online: Your First Days in the Klingon Empire
http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/editorials/klingonfirstdays
The
mere mention of the word “Klingon” sends a shiver down the spine of the
most battle-hardened veteran. Respected and feared throughout the
galaxy, the Klingons and their allies are not to be trifled with .
Here’s what you can expect in Star Trek Online when you add your name
to the list of warriors wishing to be worthy of an afterlife within
Sto’Vo’Kor.
Today's
Hottest Articles and Guides
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80680">EVE
Online href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80680">
Sins of a Solar Spymaster #38: Self-Immolation for Fun and Profit - Top 10 PvP MMOGs
-
Top
5 Single-Player Games That Need To Be MMOGs href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80771">
- Daring
to Dev -
The Journey from Fan to Game Designer - Star Trek Online Captain's Blog #2 - Decisions and Directions
-
Allods
Online href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80678"> Archetype
Interview
Series Part 1 - The Warrior - Star Trek Online: Your First Days in the Klingon Empire
-
Mass
Effect 2 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80183"> (PC) Review -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/globalagenda/editorials/betaimpressions">
style="font-weight: bold;">Global Agenda
Beta
Impressions -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/advanced_combat_tactics">Star
Trek Online Advanced Combat Tactics
Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network!
- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle
and the
Ten Ton Hammer team
