Posted by Lethality in Features | 34 Comments
Editorial: If It’s Red, It’s Dead – Proper PvP Etiquette
I like to consider myself a well-rounded player in terms of enjoying the various aspects within an MMO. I partake in role-playing, though I am not a role-player; progress in my share of raid encounters, though not a raider; I will gather and tinker, but do not call me a crafter. But if I had to label myself as any particular player, I’d fall into the category of a PvPer. Ah, yes. I can hear the boos and hisses already, as members of various other communities read these words.
"Red is cooler!" "NO, BLUE IS!"
Being a PvPer I understand the harsh stigma that is associated with my preferred gaming choice. We ruin role-plays, camp corpses, kill all members of opposing faction with no regard for level difference, ruin PvE, eat children, speak LEET, kill immersion and tea bag everything. We are the blight of everyone and are vile, disgusting, and flat out terrible human beings. We offer very little, if anything, to the game and should all jump off a bridge or DIAF (die in a firefor those not acronym savvy). I’ve heard, read and seen it all. PvPers are generally not tolerated and our presence is not welcome in some role-playing circles. While most of the disdain is justified, it’s the bad PvPers that ruin it for the good ones.
Fellow PvPers, here is some food for thought before you venture out on your next hunt…
Tea Bagging
I think this is generally the biggest no-no if you want to be taken seriously as a PvPer. It works in an FPS, where embarrassing your kill is good game, but this isn’t an FPS. Spitting on or dry humping your victim doesn’t validate your kill or net you any cool points in most circles. If ever after scattering someones teeth all over a war zone, you feel the need to dangle your dingle berries on their chin, do what I do: don’t. All your friends may be doing it, defiling their most recent corpse, but be the bigger and better PvPer.
Trash Talking
Keep. It. Clean. There is nothing wrong with talking trash. At all. Vader did it when fighting Luke. Yoda smugly did it when approaching Sidious. And, I am going to do it when fighting you. Refrain from swearing, even in retaliation. Leave out assumptive derogatories: sexual preference, dysfunctional youth and gender (moot because we all know girls don’t play video games :P). I find it fun to ruin someones day on the battlefield and provoke them by saying “Close. Next time bring your A-game.” A good portion of in game friends can made with healthy, anger provoking, clean and honest PvPing. I promise.
Ok, seriously... what do we do when we get to the middle?
Be Respectful
I cannot stress this enough. War zones are your house. If anyone comes in there making a mess or trying to redecorate, remind them of the rules. However, when you pack it in and count your kills, do not head into someone else’s house and try to setup shop. Role-Players I am looking out for you all on this one. PvPers, if an event is happening around you try your best to keep your talks of the Celtics game, how epic your skills are, how hot Jessica Biel is and other miscellaneous topics out of spatial chat. Role-players cannot play in tells or whispers and guild chat limits a lot. While this is a statement to be in force for all and by all players, no other game play can be ruined with the absurdities of general/spatial chat, like a role-players can.
I’d like to extend this to the game play of lower level players. Playing on a PvP server has a few perks, like the opportunity to kill any player in the open world at any time. While it is very fun and can often be an adrenaline rush to see red blips on your mini-map, be mindful of your level comparison to others. Do not go out of your way to attack lower level players. We’ve all been there and it’s very frustrating to be handled by someone 20+ levels higher than you. My general rule of thumb is, if you’ve been attacking me for more than five seconds or I cannot get out of combat to pull out my mount, then prepare for special delivery to the graveyard. Aside from those two scenarios, it is generally not okay to pick on lower-levels.
What Am I Getting At?
Look, I am not an authority or a PvP care bear. I love PvP. It’s my favorite form of game play and it bothers me to see “children” come and ruin it. Most of the reasons other gamers exile us is warranted. The actions and language you see in today’s MMO originates from PCFPS like Counterstrike. My honest advice to anyone coming from an FPS to an MMO to PvP is: Act like your mother is in the room. While it may seem funny or cool to degrade people and slander them in anonymity, the actuality is — it really isn’t. On the other end of those toons or characters you are eBullying are real, actual, living and breathing people. Some of them have kids and some of them are kids. I cannot make anyone take the advice in my article and apply it but I hope some readers actually do. Or, help me enlighten the troubled PvP youth of today.
Sound off below and give me your best/worst PvP experiences. Do you hate PvP or love PvP? Are you in the grey? Do you condone or participate in the heinous acts mentioned above? I really want to know! Be respectful when you are out there owning face and remember: If It’s Red It’s Dead.
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“(die in a firefor those not acronym savvy).”
You need a space in there.
“but this isn’t an FPS.” I believe “a FPS” is proper here.
“A good portion of in game friends can made with healthy, anger provoking, clean and honest PvPing. I promise.”
Can be made.
That is all I can see. And in response to the article. PVP, boo!! ( I’m the one who gets camped or gang-raped at every turn. )
It’s definitely “an FPS” because when you say the letter “F” out loud it sounds like it starts with an “E”; therefore, saying “an FPS” sounds better than “a FPS”.
That definitely makes sense to me. Thanks for that! ^.^
I’m with you here, always have been a PvP’er – but it depends really much on the game. For example I liked the PvP (not the rankingsystem) in Aion alot – but I ain’t getting warm with PvP in WoW (although I’m playing it since and before release).
The things you listed here though are a nice “play by the rules”-guide – its just something everybody should consider when playing an mmo which isnt solely consisting of PvP content(or even if it is).
I hope many ppl are reading your article and learn something from it (or consider themselves as playing by the rules for a long time).
Interesting article but mostly moot for SW:ToR as we cannot communicate with the other faction so insults will be confined to emotes.
They’ve said all along that we will be able to communicate I believe, unless some announcement has recently changed that.
Nope. They said as recently as SDCC that we will be able to at least /say to the other faction. So there will be plenty of opportunities for rude macros and offensive behavior.
It’s not PvPers that people hate. It’s open world griefers who harass people make their gaming experience miserable that people hate. I love to PvP, it’s what I do most at end game, but I do it in the confines of battlegrounds where it is what all are there to do. Open world PvP is not real PvP, since all are not there for the combat. It’s like an army invading a pre-school, not real fight.
Thanks all for the response. No matter how much proof reading I do, I still miss things.
@Scythe – I much of my article was created with wPvP in mind. I cannot tell you how often it is that I find people that do that. Oddly enough, I never catch those griefers/harrassers (a word?) in BGs.
I disagree that wPvP isn’t real PvP, however. There are players who ruin that aspect of the game for everyone. Some of my greatest memories in SWG and WoW were attacking Anchorhead (SWG) and Southshore (WoW). I don’t pick on lower level players, that’s never the objective. The feeling of causing mayhem and having that reacted to by players who come to defend — I don’t know that instanced PvP can ever match that.
Could not disagree more. Open world PvP, in my opinion, is the greatest form of PvP possible. I don’t mean griefers or lvl 50s camping a level 20. That’s not world PvP.
Real world PvP is the rush of attacking others, having them fight back and watching the scene escalate. There is nothing like attacking someone, having them respond, then responding in kind, calling in friends and guildies, or just people in the zone. A half hour later when dozens of people on both sides are slaughtering each other in the open world, you have just created true PvP.
No warzone can ever match that. Not just because of the numbers, but because of the organic, pure-joy-of-the-kill fun of it all!
I have never been into PvP in other games, but this is exaclty what I want to see on PvP servers in swtor.
Agreed. Nothing ruins PvP in a game more than making the only worthwhile player combat happen in specific zones. I have FPS games for Capture the Flag/Conquer/Etc. PvP out in the world while you are questing is the most fun/most challenging PvP there is. When you go into a Battleground/Warzone/Whatever, you’re there for one reason. To play a game within a game. You’re on teams, you know exactly where the enemy is going to be. Booooooriiiiiing. The only game with specific PvP zones that actually worked was DAoC and the RvR Frontiers. You go there not to play a game, but to hunt.
All that being said, I will probably end up playing in Warzones every so often, but I will not hesitate to PvP in the open world.
I loved the PVP zones in SWG, but then they ruined them by trying to clone WoW some more with the Battlegrounds. Not enough people where using them when I could have used them due to being in Iraq when they launched. But I was almost always outnumbered in the world PVP.
Great article. In other MMO’s I do generally try to be respectful of the players I kill in world pvp. Killing them once, /bowing, and leaving is a good way to end it IMO.
A tip for those being griefed that I employ on my low-level toons. If I’m getting camped, I just alt-tab and read the forums. That way I’m totally fine and still relatively entertained while they are waiting for me to rez…and waiting, and waiting..and then get ADD and leave.
I actually did stop killing low levels maybe a year or two ago. Instead, I found it more entertaining to use abilities on them that don’t kill them, but probably make them feel the apprehension that they are about to die. Not that I want to bring up wow, but for examples sake this could be an earthbind totem, chains of ice, hunter’s mark, hex/sheep, etc. And then just leave. You should try it!
I’ve only met a few griefers that could match my patience. Those are the ones I tip my hat to. They mostlt have very short attention spans.
I could certainly see myself putting an Imperial in ice or statis field.
i’m a role-player, and i agree with you completely. when on a rp-pvp server you have to be careful. i never go to starting planets because i’m afraid i will gank a newbie. i love pvp, but i have to be careful in it
RP-PvP servers are a pretty unique social scene though, because a lot of the people who will roll there are VERY aware of their character’s reputation. One reason a lot of former FPS players coming to MMORPGs to PvP give other PvPers a bad name is that they (the FPS players) are still in that “short, fast encounters” FPS mindset where the players they encounter in their current FPS match will likely not be seen again in the next match, or maybe ever again. So humiliating them makes no difference whatsoever as it has no repercussions.
In an MMO (and especially on an RP server) names are remembered, grudges are held, and favors are withheld if someone has behaved unfavorably (your factions PvPers are watching you too, make no mistake; pros want more pros to team with). More experienced PvPers will know that defeating an opponent is enough, and leave it at that to go looking for the next opponent.
I have some bad news: Annoying kids, and those who merely act like children, will be in SW:TOR and they will bring some bad habits with them. Local chat is visible within a certain proximity for opposing players, so expect local channel trash talk between factions when within fighting range, distracting macros, terrible language, and worse spelling & grammar. They will be out there. The best thing you can do is shun them, even if they’re supposedly on your side.
i agree. and sadly they will probably be on rp, pvp, and rp-pvp servers
I love to roleplay my character, and I play in RP-PvP servers whenever they are offered, which is too rarely imho. However, I am also a hardcore (world) pvper, and thankfully, the 2 are nowhere near mutually exclusive.
If I see an enemy player, my level, lower level than me, doesn’t matter; I make their life hell. Do I want to kill them now, when they are weaker than me/disadvantaged/etc, or wait until they gain experience, get more powerful, are fully buffed and ready for anything. Of course not. Give no quarter, ask for none. I don’t rub anyone’s face in it when I win, and I don’t begrudge them if I lose. The most fun I have had in PvP games is when small 1 on 1 skirmishes escalate into full blown battles. Starts off 2 people constantly going back and forth killing each other, waiting for reinforcements. Once they get there, huge battle that can last for hours. This happened a lot in WoW, and was the best PvP that game had to offer.
Also, World PvP gives my character a goal, especially after being killed. In Shadowbane, I once tracked a member of a rival nation for 3 hours through the desert, waiting to take back a rune he had stolen from me. After I got it back, I convinced my nation leader to order everyone to systematically hunt down every member, no matter the level, of the thief’s nation we could find, as a warning against doing it again.
PVP FTW! :D
I use to PvP a lot when I played WoW. in the first ever game, I gain Commander rank (11 of 14 possible). While doing this “farming”, I came across people that used the /spit emote on my corpse or the /laugh and it really ruined my day. I thought: “yeah, ok, so you got me, so what? you don’t have to be an arse about it”. I admit, it pissed me off and I hunted down these people’s guild mates.
I had this addon called KOS (Kill on Sight), where I could add entire guilds to the list and I hunted them down. if I saw one, I killed it, until I figured I had my fun on their expense. While I now think that was wrong, the fact is that many in said guilds behaved just as this person did and so, I judged everyone by their cover (the guild name). But that was many years ago and I’ve almost forgotten about that. I’m of course not gonna kill low levels, unless they attack first. I also had this rule in WoW, if it was gray, I left it alone. I also left people that quested alone. Green-yellow-orange-red was fair game. (green being 3-4 levels below myself I think).
While I will be rolling on a PvP server, I’m not gonna do much PvP while leveling up, since I plan on being tank specked, so…
Right on DJ Shadowm, U hit the nail on the head on this 1.
Kill.
/rude
/spit
Repeat.
I want them mad on me, don’t I?
They lost, that makes them mad enough, being rude is bad sportsmanship, and the act of a child. You can be rude on their behalf when you talk about the fight with your friends. Its normal to hate your enemies, and riddicule them to dispersonify them. However this is a game, so be polite please
One of the things that I will miss most about SWG was the space game and its PvP. The pilots were respectful to each side on Shadowfire. After each kill the other side would /salute the fallen. It was a weird WWI type of mutual respect among flyers. The ground game was anything but. Too bad no one went overt in other zones but the required ones.
I Like Pvp, I love world pvp, BUT only when you fight with honor, 3-5 levels below or above you, thats what you fight/kill.
In general any rude behavior is wrong. Speak to people in game like you would if they stood before you on the street.
What I hate most about the internet is the rudeness it brings. Especially young people trash talk because they can do so without the consequences of their action.
And the tea bag thing, I hate it. Lets talk in-game, Its not the republic way (Just like its not our way in war) to tea bag or do other dishonorable things to fallen enemies. And its below any sith lord to do so. (did Darth maul tea bag Qui-gon Jinn? No)
Agents are ruthless not riddiculos, Bounty Hunters are proffesionals, they hunt honor and glory, even if they were bastards and cut open the fallen or put them on spears…Teabagging..? Hell no.
People behave yourselves, that goes to everyone!
Only reason Darth Maul didnt tea bag Qui Gon is because he had to deal with Obi wan. I think it is in the Sith nature to tea bag a defeated opponent.
Or the fact that Darth Maul wasn’t a 13 year old who thinks teabagging makes him a badass. It is in Sith nature to be ruthless, to hunger for power, and to use that power for personal gain. Teabagging is the act of an immature, sexually repressed/awkward/frightened individual who has no capacity for empathy.
Any time I saw someone teabagging in WoW, by using a /sit macro, they were immediately KoS. I would tell others too, and that person’s very existence became a recurring cycle of death, humiliation, and shame. I enjoy PvP, i love the challenge of defeating other, human players. And i enjoy smack talk and similar jocularity. Teabagging, however, is just imbecilic and has no place in gaming.
/2credits
Amen brother
I take great pleasure in ruining LOLRP. Jumping on tables in a cantina is great fun. PvP FTW!!!
Kill
/rude
/say “L2P”
repeat
Very nice article. Had a blast reading!
I enjoy PVP from time to time, occasionally, would join a raid or 2 to hand Thrall’s ass to him(or the other way around :P), heck, I even reached the rank of commander back in Vanilla WOW(I did the grind because I didn’t have the money to buy me an epic mount and I only got inside Molten Core after reaching said rank. Before T1, the only epic gear I was able to wear was my PVP gear) and enjoyed it. But I don’t call myself a PVP’er. Like I said before I only PVP’d because I didn’t get into a proper raiding guild early on. I’m more of a RP’er/raider. Being on the Alliance side, and a do gooder IRL, I went with a PVE server and I only engaged in PVP if the other side hit me first. Occasionally, I’d kill them if they were red(they’ve been doing something naughty like killing the Flight master I was planning to go to.) But never did I shoot the first arrow, even in a warzone.
Then there’s those teabaggers who thinks they have a right to do what they do all because they got you from behind. Hate them teabaggers, and they do give PVP’ers a bad name. Something that I was disgusted to be associated with for a time.
But there’s you guys who polish that name again and it’s really nice to know, or to let the community know that PVP’ers are not just mind numb slobberers who get off with teabagging faces of dead corpses. There are PVP’ers like you. Good to know, cheers mate!
My very best PVP expirience is when i was playing my warrior in alterac valley, and i was fighting a mage on the bridge near the alliance boss. We we’re fighting for ages, until he jumped off with slow fall, and i charged him and removed the slow fall. He fell to his death, while i used heroic leap to prevent fall damage.
I like PvP, eaven i have experient hard corpse camping and got killed over powered guys, meny times :)
I try to play with some rules like dont do corpse camping :) And dont allways kill those small fish… But when i keep it my mind that this is PvP i usualy can evade my own death or make it look like grand finale of great show :)
I enjoy griefing people when they are my same level or higher, its just good PVP. The Competition and thrill you get from World PVP is close that to some as killing a raid boss on Hard mode you spent the last 4 hours wiping on ;) It’s also enjoyable to Grief to bring out groups of guildies out to try and stop you, and that i must say is enjoyable in every aspect. Do i believe people who hunt lowbies should be punished or take some sort of retribution for it, ya probably but in aspect to people who pick a World PVP Server, you picked it so you should know the dangers of it.