Player versus player
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Player versus player, or PvP, is competitive interaction within a game between two live participants. This is in contrast to games where players compete against computer controlled opponent, which is similarly referred to as player versus environment (PvE) or player versus monster (PvM). PvP could be a type of combat in MMORPGs, MUDs and other computer role-playing games (CRPGs) pitting one player's 'skill' against another's.
PvP can be broadly used to describe any game where players compete against each other, such as first-person shooters, real-time strategy games or tennis. In computer role-playing games, this is typically called player killing or PKing, where player controlled characters actively do battle against other player controlled characters. The expression, 2pvp, arose from this community to describe the sentiment of improving oneself through the virtual destruction of others.
The term has also been adopted in discussions about traditional role-playing games and live-action gaming, with approximately the same meaning.
History and background
PvP combat in CRPGs has its roots in various MUDs like Gemstone III. However, while the ability to kill another player existed in many MUDs, it was usually frowned upon because of general strict adherences and heavy influences from role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. The term PvP originated in Neverwinter Nights, a multi-player roleplaying game hosted by America Online in 1991. Originally intended to be PvM, a work-around was found that allowed players to cast spells to damage other players. After much discussion, PvP was sanctioned and certain areas were labeled "Player versus Player" and the term PvP was born.
Other early MMORPGs, including Meridian 59 (1996) and Ultima Online (1997) also had PvP combat as a feature. In Ultima Online, the goal was to allow players to police themselves in a "frontier justice" way. In Meridian 59, the game tried to focus PvP by having different political factions for players to join. However, these games tended to be unfriendly to more casual players. With the popularity of EverQuest in 1999, primarily consisting of PvM elements (with the exception of limited PvP on one specific server), PvP became a negative for MMORPG players and developers.
PvP has remained in other games such as Asheron's Call in late 1999, Diablo II in 2000, Dark Age of Camelot in 2001, Asheron's Call 2 in 2002 and Shadowbane in 2003. While these games included PvP, they still contained large portions of prerequisite PvM, mostly to build characters. Critics argued the comprehensiveness of this type of PvP lacked in comparison to Ultima Online's implementation before the release of the Age of Shadows expansion. The main concerns voiced by critics were lack of an individual's skill involved (primarily reaction time and hand-eye coordination), heavy dependence on items, and too much prerequisite PvM to build a character. Some MMORPGs currently in development are starting to use competitive PvP, such as dueling, as a main feature. In most MMORPGs, dying results in negative consequences. Therefore being the losing party in PvP combat is undesirable. For example, in Asheron's Call, you lose items upon death.
Though many MUDs have gone the route of roleplay intensive gameplay (RPI), or followed the hack 'n slash trends in popular graphical MMORPGs, some MUDs have focused strongly on the PvP gameplay. Many MUD designers claim that PvP in graphical MMORPGs is not player-skill oriented, and that the more versatile gameplay of text-based MUDs can allow for better PvP combat implementation.
In most MUDs, players engaged in PvP are usually separated from the rest of the community, and are organized in clans, or other player-run groups as well. A few of the most popular MUDs who lay claim to advanced PvP combat systems are God Wars II, Achaea, MUME, Clandestine MUD, Realms of Despair, DragonRealms: The Fallen, Everwar, and Duris: Land of Bloodlust.
On August 4, 2005, the Chinese government announced a ban on all "violent" MMORPG play for minors (under 18). Chinese officials defined "violent" as any game that involves player vs. player combat. This new policy is part of a crackdown on pornographic, violent, gambling and superstitious content on the internet and mobile phone networks in an effort to create a so-called "healthy online environment".[1]
Classifications
Player killing
Player killing, or PKing, is non-consensual PvP resulting in a character's death. Some games offer "open PvP" (also sometimes called "world PvP"), where one player can attack another without warning anywhere in the game world. An aggressor attacks an opponent without agreement to any set of rules of engagement or combat.
PvP can also create additional facets in the community. In Ultima Online, a rift formed between those who enjoyed PKing, those who enjoyed hunting the PKs and those who simply did not want to fight at all. The Renaissance expansion later added a Trammel facet where PvP was not allowed, giving some out to the UO crowd that did not wish to engage in PvP at all.
Some players find PK deaths to be unfair, since the most effective tactics require surprise or attacking an opponent in a weakened state and sometimes, the abuse of bugs and/or hacks. In PvE, the goal is to learn the pattern of the monsters and often to exploit those patterns for fastest gains. Fighting challenging monsters in online games usually requires a period of recuperation before fighting another monster, and this downtime is the perfect chance for a PKer to strike. PvP, and more specifically PKing, goes against the predictability of the game. While some people enjoy this aspect of gameplay, others do not and criticize such gameplay design. PKs who consistently harass players by "corpse camping", "resurrection killing", and other involvement which the PK has nothing material to gain by it, these PKs are considered Griefers
Character death in an online game usually comes with a penalty (though some games remove it from PvP combat), so habitual PKers can find themselves ostracized by the local community. In some games a character will die many times and the player must often sacrifice some experience points (XP) or gold to restore that character to life. Permanent death (such that the player must create a new character) is relatively uncommon in online games in general, and more specifically when PK is involved.
Dueling
Dueling is both consensual and competitive. Both parties agree to a certain set of rules before combat, which can include a specified area and restrictions on items and combat type. Dueling ladders and leagues setup by fans are common for most MMORPGs that have PvP. Runescape was the first graphical MMORPG to debut a formal dueling system ingame (Ballista); other MMORPGs such as City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Lineage 2 and RuneScape feature PvP as competitive, consensual dueling in a group setting. This removes the unpredictable element from PvP, allowing players to challenge each other on "even" ground. Dueling is often considered an inferior and less challenging form of PvP by the more hardcore PvP communities.
Flagging
EverQuest and Star Wars Galaxies have a system that involves a PK flag, where a character has their PK flag set to "off" by default. Through various means, this flag can be turned on, allowing PvP combat with other people who have also turned on their flag. In Everquest, there is no way to turn the flag off once it has been turned on. In Star Wars Galaxies, the flag may be turned off by interacting with faction specific NPCs located throughout the game. Other games have a similar bounty system where players that kill or heal other players open themselves up to being killed in return. This is sometimes called the "revenge flag". Use of this 'bounty' system is not standardized among MMORPGs, and there are debates raging about how to 'police' the system to avoid abuse. The web-browser centric MMORPG, Urban Dead has no NPC characters, so policing of players who break player-created regulations against certain forms of PK face player 'Bounty Hunters', who specialize in hunting down those listed as Outlaws on the metagame community. In this instance, flagging is a community effort, and not an in-game mechanism.
PvP in video games
EVE Online takes place entirely on one server, so there are no specific PvP servers to join or any specific areas designated for PvP. Effectively, any player can attack another at any given time and place, if they are prepared to accept the consequences dictated by local law.
In Eve Online each star system has a security rating ranging from 0.0 to 1.0, if you attack another player in a system rated 0.5 to 1.0 then the local police will appear and destroy your ship. However if you manage to inflict enough damage to your target before Concord arrives they will be destroyed; the game mechanics only guarantee punishment, not protection.
In systems rated 0.1 to 0.4, the local police do not operate. However, certain areas within star systems are guarded by "Sentry Guns" which will fire on hostile players. These guns are not very powerful, however, and do not guarantee the destruction of a hostile.
Systems rated 0.0 are free from any form of protection or repercussion.
Player characters also have a security rating which is negatively affected by hostile actions in secure space. Once this rating gets too low, their ship will be destroyed on sight whether they attack another player or not. The lower a character's security rating the fewer secure systems will accept them without intervention.
Similar to other MMOs, players can form player-run organizations. In Eve Online, these organizations are called Corporations. One Corporation can declare war on another, which allows the two to fight without Concord's intervention even in secure space. It is also worth noting that a declaration of war is not mutual. If one side has players who does not want to fight, their only option is to avoid the attackers or leave the besieged Corporation.
Eve Online's death penalty can be seen by some as quite harsh. When your ship is destroyed, it is gone for good and there is a chance that any of the cargo or fittings will be left behind for the attacker to collect. So for example, if your rare ship is carrying everything you own and gets destroyed, the cost is high.
Guild Wars is unique in the MMORPG world, in that players have the option to create PvP-only characters, that may not interact with the PvE world and are very customizable. PvE characters may still PvP, but PvP characters cater to PKers who would rather unlock skills through PvP combat, and not have to play the co-operative sections of the game at all.
In Guild Wars, players are only allowed 8 skills and only 1-8 other party members (for a total of 2-16 players in total, depending on the type of match you are playing). This makes the game based heavily on strategic play and creating skill setups (called builds) that work with the builds of your teammates. Expansions are released regularly in Guild Wars, and consistently create new forms of PvP combat.
PvP formats in Guild Wars include:
- Random Arenas - Random teams of four versus other random teams of four.
- Team arenas - Chosen teams of four versus other chosen teams of four.
- Heroes' Ascent - Teams of eight fighting in a tournament style game.
- Guild vs Guild - Two 8-man teams from two different guilds fight to conquer the other's guild hall. Considered the most competitive form of PvP combat, there are worldwide tournaments for Guild vs Guild, resulting in cash prizes to the best-of-the-best.
- Hero Battles - One person and his or her team of three customized NPCs battles another person with a team of three NPCs. Like Guild vs Guild battle, there are worldwide tournaments for Hero Battles, resulting in possible cash prizes.
- Alliance Battles- Pits the Luxon and the Kurzick Factions in a 12 vs 12 player battle. Battles are won by killing opposing players, while taking maintaining control over strategy points. There are several maps for these pitched battles, and the map battleground changes depending on the "borders" of the two factions. In this way, Alliance Battles redefine the borders constantly, allowing Guilds allied with a certain faction to take control of certain towns in an effort to increase notoriety.
Currently one of the most active PvP games is Lineage II. Most of the goals of the game directly revolve around PvP. In this particular MMORPG, almost all clans/guilds are PvP-oriented, and the siege feature of the game is exclusively a massive PvP event involving up to 300 or more people, and centering around the capture and defense of a clan's castle (there are nine castles in the game that can be conquered by clans). The opportunities for both solo and party PvP are numerous outside the towns, which are marked as peace zones. Lineage II incorporates a "flagging" system whereby players have to make a conscious effort to attack another PC (in this case pressing the ctrl and attack hotkey simultaneously). When a player "flags" or attacks another player, his name changes color from neutral white to purple, and other players can choose to flag him or her as well. If one successfully kills a flagged player, he receives a PvP point on his PvP counter.
Player-killing, on the other hand, is defined as killing a "white" or neutral player; one who has not attacked or "flagged" back. When a player PKs another, his name changes to red and he receives a certain amount of "karma" points based on the number of people he has just PKed, as well as his current PK count, which is separate from his PvP counter. If his aura is red, the chances of a player dropping equipment upon death increases to almost 90%, and thus "red" players are heavily targeted by those outside his or her own clan or alliance. This makes getting rid of karma an absolute necessity. The only ways a player can be rid of karma points are by either killing a variable number of mobs, or losing karma points by dying. This serves as an effective PK deterrent to those wary of losing XP (experience points). Lineage II has no clear-cut rules regarding PK or PvP, nor servers to separate PvE (Player versus Environment) and PvP gameplay (as compared to World of Warcraft).
The ruleset used for PvP in Lineage II is a commonly used PvP system. Similar systems are used in a variety of MMORPGs, especially those developed in Korea. Lineage II is notable as an example of this system because of its popularity.
Neverwinter Knights is a custom content mode for Neverwinter Nights, available to the public for free. It is found in the Action category and is consistently the most popular server under "Local Vault", where you are allowed to bring in your own character builds. NWKnights is arguably the hidden gem of the team pvp universe. Unlike many other MMORPGs, NWKnights allows you to build and rebuild characters and their skill combinations instantly to maximum level and use all abilities available at that level. You build a library of pvp characters on your own computer and can choose to use any one of them when logging into the real-time combat arena. Many players have 100 or more character builds. Battles are continuous and there is no waiting for a match to begin. Matches include formats like Capture the Flag and King of the Hill. What makes NWKnights outstandingly unique is that it is essential to have skills in building your character as well as playing it. This means merely having a good build is a poor assurance of survival in the combat zone. Team sizes are generally between 4 to 11 per side. NWKnights is designed such that team play is not critical to success. Even if you do not know your team members personally, you will always have the chance to shine as a hero on the battefield. NWK does not charge monthly fees and all you need is a legitimate purchase of Neverwinter Nights. Expansion sets are not essential to joining and playing on the NWKnights server.
RuneScape caters to PKers with its wilderness system. There is an area at the northern region of the map that is known as the wilderness. This is an area ruled over by chaos and contains high level monsters and challenges. The wilderness is also the only place where rule-free PVP combat may take place(people can die in the wilderness, unlike during dueling, where you may only lose ammunition and whatever wager you may have bet on the battle).
This system is helpful for non-PKers, as they do not have to go into the wilderness. Some high level quests may require players to go into the wilderness, but it is assumed that their high level enables them to defend themself.
The wilderness also prevents high level PKers from attacking low level PKers. Each point in the wilderness has a "level" and the further into the wilderness you go, the higher the level. This level works by allowing you to attack anyone who is the same level as you and anyone who is within the same number levels above or below you as the wilderness level you are in. For example, a level 51 character in level 3 wilderness could attack level 48 to 54 players.
Death is also experienced differently for PKers. This makes it more risky than PvE combat. When a player dies in PvE combat, they get to keep their 3 most valuable items. However, if they attack another player they get a skull-and-crossbones icon above their head (referred to as being 'skulled'). If a player dies while skulled, they lose all of the items in their inventory. This can only be avoided if they use the "Item Protect" prayer, allowing them to keep their most valuable item.
In World of Warcraft, characters come from one of two factions, and apart from duels and the "arena", PvP is limited to combat between the factions. This type of PvP is also known as faction versus faction (FvF). World of Warcraft includes both normal, or PvE (player versus environment), and PvP servers. On a normal server, PvP is optional and regulated: characters cannot be attacked by other characters except in designated 'battlegrounds' locations, unless they have "flagged" for PvP through a command, attacked a flagged enemy, entered an enemy city or assisted a flagged character. On a PvP server, characters adventuring in areas outside of the initial starting areas (these areas are known as contested zones) are automatically flagged and players of the opposite faction in these regions, which make up the bulk of the game-world, may attack one another without restriction. Players may also "raid" cities and towns belonging to the other faction, attacking the NPCs there. On a PvP server, many of the guidelines for appropriate behavior are relaxed-- players are expected to enforce these guidelines themselves; actions which would be considered grieving, annoying, or hurtful on a PvE server are tolerated due to the lore behind the game.
With patch 2.0, players no longer compete to gain higher ranks, the honor system has been changed to allow players to save the honor points they receive from PvP. Players may gain honor from killing other players or winning certain PvP events. The honor gained from killing players decreases the number of times you kill them that day. Currently you get 10 for the first kill, and one is subtracted each time you kill that player. These "diminishing returns" are reset every day when the honor points are tallied. The PvP events include battlegrounds, which are short matches between both of WoW's factions. An example includes the Arathi Basin, where teams compete for resource nodes (mine, lumber mill, farm, stables, and blacksmith) and must be the first team to gain 2000 resources.
Many players criticized the old PvP ranking system where players were expected to make an unhealthy time investment of 12 hours a day, or greater, to achieve the highest ranks. Players often noted that most PvE content was accessible to all players even without constant play. World of Warcraft now has quests for both hardcore and casual players.
An Arena system has been added to include another rank-based system to the game. Teams of 2, 3, or 5 will be created to fight each other. Each team starts with a rating that changes depending on the team's wins and losses and receive Arena points based on that rating every week. These points can be redeemed for special items such as the Gladiator's gear. In order to receive points, each member must participate in at least 30% of the team's fights also the team must compete in a minimum of 10 arena battles each week to be eligible to earn Arena points. The top ranking arena teams every season (season lasts 6 months) will receive a unique flying mount and the rank of Gladiator.
Since the release of The Burning Crusade, brand new world objective-based PvP has been incorporated into most continents in outland, such as Hellfire Peninsula, Nagrand, Zangarmarsh, and Terrokar Forest, where players must stay in a specific area and "capture" the target by having a majority of your faction occupy the target for a certain amount of time. Factions may also benefit by capturing neutral towns (Halaa) which unlock quests, vendors, and rep rewards which are not normally accessible if the other faction controls the town.
Live action role-playing games (LARPs) have always featured player versus player conflicts, partly because even in PvM games the monsters are played by other players ('monster crew') rather than by GMs/referees/computers, partly because there is little a human referee can do to prevent one player-character attacking another player-character (apart from asking 'please don't do this'), and partly because it is often considered that another free-willed player is a more worthy opponent than an NPC whose background, choices and abilities may be determined by a plotwriter.
PvP conflict is not limited to lethal combat - in LARP it might include theft, social one-up-manship, political maneuvering, economic domination, or even romantic affairs. Still, the most direct and unambiguous PvP conflict is combat.
While there are a few LARP (or LARP-like) games whose primary focus is on killing other PCs, a lot of LARP gaming styles do not look fondly on unmotivated killings, or players who abandon any kind of characterisation but simply look for opportunities to kill monsters and characters, as might be normal in some CRPGs.
Some few LARPs ban player-killing outright. Many games have a stronger focus on PvM than PvP play, and social conventions deter (for example) the killing of a low-level character by a high-level character, at least without considerable provocation. Some LARPs, especially the larger ones, make complex PvP a principle element of the game.
PvP can be an advantage in LARP, especially large-scale LARP (hundreds of players or more) since it reduces the need for monster crew and plotwriting, and can enhance the sense of fair play, as well as produce a wider variety of opponents than a small plotwriting team could easily create. However, it can be hard to maintain PVP alongside some kinds of PvM plot. (For example, if the end of the world is at stake, the rational strategy is to temporarily ally with your enemies until the threat is over.)
The term PVP has been gaining adoption in LARP circles with the rise of internet-based discussion groups.