How vital is PVP to a MMO?

[Itisamuh]

PvP in an MMO may be unbalanced, it may not be competitive compared to other genres, it may not get enough love from the developers, but it is still quite necessary in my book. PvP is the only thing I do once I finish leveling, and many players are the same way. Again, other genres are fundamentally superior for it, but it can still provide some noncompetitive fun with friends. I think multiplayer against other players is essential for any type of game these days, even more so for pay to play MMOs. It adds longevity past leveling for people like myself who have no interest whatsoever in raiding or any other type of group PvE.

[apepi]

I think it can be very important. Some games live off of pvp, even when that is not how the developers meant it to be. I mean people still play counter-strike, the thing about pvp is that it creates a randomness to it and each game is not the same as the last. While a game does not need it it does vastly increase it's life span and playability.

Even Demon Souls had pvp in it, though it was not pvp based game, that is what made that game.

[Remilia]

What's PvP?

On a serious note.
I find it as a nice to have feature, but ONLY if they are competent in doing so.
Issue with MMOs is if they don't make it a separate method to the rest of the game. Balancing PvE and PvP is a nightmare when they work on the same system.
If you have two separate system, then it'd be a lot better, however most games to date don't do that.

Rift I believe had a separate talent tree dedicated to PvP for every class and separate system, but I don't know if they changed it.

[Deleted]

If there is more then 1 playable faction it is good to have, if only 1 it does not matter to terribly much to me.

[Dezerte]

Nice to have.

I can't stand more than 1 match of PvP before I get bored to death (WoW, GW2, SWTOR).

I'd also say, that in general I feel that PvP does not suit themepark games. But it's an rather important part for a sandbox game.

[Pachycrocuta]

What's PvP?

On a serious note.
I find it as a nice to have feature, but ONLY if they are competent in doing so.
Issue with MMOs is if they don't make it a separate method to the rest of the game. Balancing PvE and PvP is a nightmare when they work on the same system.
If you have two separate system, then it'd be a lot better, however most games to date don't do that.

Rift I believe had a separate talent tree dedicated to PvP for every class and separate system, but I don't know if they changed it.

Rift got rid of those. But they do balance the 2 sides (pve and pvp) seperate from each other. So they can nerf healing for pvp but not affect the pve side of healing. And such.

As for the topic at hand: Completely unnecessary. Pvp is not essential for an RPG, and is typically a Rock vs Paper vs Scissors thing, in which people are always "Nerf Rock, Paper is fine -- Scissors". Or add in "buff Scissors" into that quote. Pvp is fine for FPS games like Planetside 2 and such. But honestly, pvp typically attracts those with the most toxic sociopathic mindsets who only get enjoyment from ruining the enjoyment of others. Yes, generalization.

[Forgottenone]

Slaying NPCs can only remain fun for so long, everyone in my guild and real ID does pvp to some degree. Whether it be as simple as fun random battlegrounds or high end arena player vs player is vital imo. Every decent mmo has had it if I am correct (gamers correct me!) and just imagine WoW as of now with no pvp. People COMPLAIN about daily quests (pve), grinding dungeons for gear (pve), upgrading gear through JP/valor (pve), difficulty of raid bosses (pve). I know there are a TON of complaints on the pvp side but just completely imagine WoW right now without PvE. It would make the Alliance vs. Horde story very different and justmake the whole game weird.

With that said I believe that a game can be made that is strictly PvE, however I doubt it will be as popular as any game that involves PvE as well as PvP, even if the pvp is on a small scale.

edit**

I am currently in guild that has cleared on normal content and has gotten 5 heroic bosses down, nothing special but I do take pve seriously. Quick question, how can people not like pvp even if it is just some random bg with friends? The thought of only battling npcs sends shivers throughout my body, I don't think I could personally do it. Do you not find it fun testing your skills against another players through means other than "who does more dps, who does more healing, who holds threat better".

[Pachycrocuta]

I have no problem fighting other people. It can be fine sometimes. But almost always, unless they have a massive advantage over you (much higher level, you are near death, etc), the person will never engage you until they obtain said advantage (which usually ends up getting 4+ other guys to come and slaughter you). Oh, and the fact that a large number of pvp people are shitty winners (or losers).

[Redblade]

Depends what the game is, if it's a sandbox game like EvE-Online then it's very necessary but if it's a theme park style MMO like WoW then it's purely optional, obviously a game like WoW benefits from having it when it comes to broader appeal.

If developers could just let go of the ridiculous idea that players can't cope with having abilities and talents being different in PvP and PvE there wouldn't be any balance issues as it would effectively be two games to balance.

[LilSaihah]

Good PvP is a basis for good design; you can extrapolate backwards to make good PvE. That said, I probably should've picked "What is PvP?" because how you interpret "PvP" is variable. High-end raiding is PvP because you're competing against other players on a time trial.

[Deleted]

The only form of PvP that's important for me is ganking and unbalanced, unregulated PvP. I wouldn't even start playing an MMO that doesn't have either that or at least completely free and lively market. As for BG's, arenas and other forms of team vs team or 1v1 PvP, I guess it's nice if its there but I wouldn't miss it if it was gone.

[Valeron]

PVE is vastly more popular in mmos than PVP. If pvp was missing from a game you'd lose some population for sure but it would probably be a better game for the pve folks.

[Boricha]

It is the majority of what I do in an MMO, so I think it would kill the game for me personally, but not kill the game in general.

[Buttfear]

I want the challenge of killing other players. Also, gearing in pvp is very straight forward

On the other hand, I could care less about killing the same boss for months straight on hopes of a marginal upgrade.

[Treeskee]

Yeah I couldn't imagine playing an MMO without PvP, it's basically my favourite part of online gaming.

[Northy]

For me it's a must-have. So much more enjoyment killing players than intrawebz dargons.

[Tekkommo]

I'm not into PVP on a MMO, but lots are and I think it is very important. I do like world pvp though, unless it's ganking.

I prefer to PVP in games like BF3.

[Deleted]

For me, a lack of PvP completely kills the game. I prefer the challenge out outwitting other humans, as opposed to mucking around with computer controlled characters. Completely necessary.

[Repefe]

In the future PvP will be more and more prominent part of MMOs. You can see how popular MOBA games and online FPS games are ... MMO developers just need time to catch up.

[Mekanikos]

Thank you for the responses thus far.

It seems that PVP is a 'nice-to-have' is the prevailing attitude, and from what I've been reading over the past few years is that modifying the abilities so they have different effects or having a completely separate set of abilities for PVE and PVP is ideal from the player viewpoint.