Why does a majority of the WoW population avoid pvp?

[mmowin]

Call me ignorant I guess, but i've read that only about 5-10% of players participate in pvp like arena / battlegrounds etc. I've always been curious about this. Do WoW players just hate PVP in general or do they get more joy out of slaying dragons instead? Someone help me out here. btw I participate in both pve and pvp. I like both aspects of the game a lot.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

PvP is just not fun for me, funny that I play on a PvP server.

[mmowin]

PvP is just not fun for me, funny that I play on a PvP server.

Why is it not fun for you, my dude? I really wanna know.

[Raqubor]

The current iteration of pvp talents, balance, gearing is absolutely horrendous, that's the reason.
I personally played a LOT of pvp before Legion.

[l33t]

Class balance, class design, boring gameplay (pillar hugging). Pick any three.

[Bodakane]

Because it's infuriating and the opposite of fun.

[Dungo]

LoL and many other games have much more enjoyable PvP than WoW

[Cerilis]

I did enjoy pvp in controlled environments like battlegrounds (when playing in a group), but open world pvp or playing on a pvp server is cancer.

[Cynep]

I did pvp in WoW for many years, but not anymore; I'd say WoW pvp has lost its soul. There are much better games for when I feel like pvp'ing, so I just carebear in WoW.

[Aeula]

It's typically not fun. My view on it has been tainted from too much ganking on my former PvP server. (Didn't know what PvP meant at the time, it was my first MMO and I only went on that server because it said 'new player' next to it).

[Osmeric]

People largely don't play the game to get the message that they suck. As a result, the people doing PvP are self-selected to tend to be unusually good at it, and if a random person tries PvP they will likely do badly going up against them. This is more true now when there's little gear incentive for average players to grit their teeth and do it anyway.

[RaZz0r]

I just don't enjoy PvP at all WoW's Cat and mouse style pvp is the most boring and infuriating type of play ever.
And on top of that the legion pvp system is a total mess the only reason why i am on a PvP server.
Is the lack of good guilds on PvE ones if my guild where to transfer to a pve server i would move in a heart beat.

[Nmkyungri]

its a side game that has nothing in it. Other games do pvp better and until legion pvp had a bad taste in everyone's mouths when a class was nerfed because of pvp.

[Basemath]

Hmm I don't hate it. In fact, my history would show that I kinda love it. I haven't done any serious PvP though since Legion launched. Think i'm still in the high 30s of prestige zero.

My situation is I had a ~1 year pause from WoW right before HFC got released. Came back on Legion release. Before Legion, PvP (BGs + Arena) have been integral parts of my WoW playtime, but PvE mattered more. Still I felt able to pursue both comfortably. I don't PvP now because I feel like Legion overwhelmed me with so much PvE, and I don't really wanna dedicate more playtime to PvP cuz then i'd be playing way too much.

[Sinndra]

PvP... especially WPvP, is an unrewarding pile of crap that wastes my time.

it has been this way for several expansions now, with previous expansions being focused on the hardcore PvP'rs getting gear fast then spending the rest of a patch cycle just roflstomping players without.

idk, i just like a gearless PvP scene. let it be about the skill and zero gear advantages. rewards come in the form of unique transmogs/mounts/titles, and to a lesser extent ratings (something i personally dont care about, but recognize others fap to it).

[RobertMugabe]

Because they do not like PVP

/thread

[Galathir]

Because it's infuriating and the opposite of fun.

This. My experiences with pvp are mostly limited to being stunlocked by someone in stealth and then having to watch my char being murdered without being able to do shit.

PvE is fair. It's designed to be fair. In PvP you deal with other humans. Humans are unfair scumbags.

[Sansnom]

Call me ignorant I guess, but i've read that only about 5-10% of players participate in pvp like arena / battlegrounds etc. I've always been curious about this. Do WoW players just hate PVP in general or do they get more joy out of slaying dragons instead? Someone help me out here. btw I participate in both pve and pvp. I like both aspects of the game a lot.

Partly the gloating and insults traded. It does not always happen but for some, there is the bragging right and profanity from both sides when losing.

Besides that, there are enough PvE content for me to do with my limited time so I spend that time on things I enjoy more.

[ls-]

For the same reason why majority of population avoids pet battles, they don't like it. Although I myself am PvPer, I understand that PvP in WoW is a side activity, just like pet battles, TBQH, I wouldn't be surprised if pet battles turned out to be more popular than PvP.

If people want to PvP they often choose PvP games like LoL, DOTA, OW, and even Hearthstone. WoW is not a PvP game, it's mainly a PvE game, it's balanced around PvE, characters' toolkits are built around PvE, that's why PvP community "suffers" from characters' ability pruning. PvP balancing is an afterthought.

[Shoat]

I used to occasionally PvP, but the whole template situation has ruined it completely for me. I don't even wanna do instanced PvP for quests anymore.