Non-PVP options

[Theleos]

I am very interested in this game but I do not like forced PVP. I noticed there is world PVP and I heard that GW original was heavily PVP. My question is, will I be able to control whether I PVP or not? Are there Non-PVP servers? I like the PVE structure of WoW (with the exception of being able to be tricked into flagging). How much control will have over this?

I like PVP on level ground but HATE not even making it out of the starting area without having legions of level capped jerks running rampant, killing guards, quest-givers, and low-level players.

[Centaur]

Hi Theleos,

Welcome to these forums. Yes, you will definitely be able to select whether you want to pvp or not. Each server will have pve areas and pvp areas, they are strictly separated, each with their own starting points. As long as you don't consciously choose to enter a pvp area, you will always be in a pve only zone.

Note that the "world vs world vs world" in Guild Wars 2 is completely different from "world pvp" in other MMOs. In other MMO's, "world pvp" means that out in the wide open world where everyone is pve-ing, there will also be people that do pvp. Guild Wars 2 does not have that kind of pvp. In GW2, pve areas and pvp areas are always separated. "World vs World vs World" is a special pvp mode, where every single player consciously chooses to enter the WvWvW battle, and where 3 servers (ie. everyone in their WvWvW pvp zones) are battling against each other. These battles are covering a huge area, but they are still strictly separated from the pve areas.
The other pvp mode that GW2 has, is competitive pvp, in which 5-man teams will compete against each other (in designated areas) for positions on a competition ladder. Again, players competing here made the conscious choice.

One small addition:
Within the pve world you can also choose to participate in small mini games, like a Bar Brawl or a Snowball Fight, in which you will also battle other players. I guess you can see those as a form of pvp as well, although these minigames happen (in designated areas) within the pve zone. But again, you have to consciously choose to participate.

So, to conclude: you will have full control over the decision whether you want to pvp or not, and if so, what pvp mode you want to participate in and when (you can switch between these zones at will).

To quote one of the developers (Eric Flannum):

We basically divided our PVE and our PvP… well, our PVP is divided into two sections. Firstly, we have what we refer to as our “competitive PvP” which all players can go into. You don’t make a PvP character. You just take your character to a place in the mists – which is our space between worlds – and when you’re in there, you have everything unlocked. You have all the skills, you’re max level, you have a set of equipment every player has access to. They’re on equal footing. And then it works how it would on a server based first-person shooter, where you browse for a game and then play. There’s no unlocking. We’re having automated tournaments and things like that. There’s a couple of ways to play that, but it’s all completely on an even foot.

Secondly, we have world versus world – which is what would be called servers or a shards in another game. That’s more if you want to think of it as an open world PvP, where levels matter and you can have unequal fights like 5 on 1 or 3 on 2 – or even 100 on 50. That’s where we have our epic castle sieges and that kind of thing. In both of those types of PvP, they’re separate from each other and separate from the PvE, but you have the same character you take between them.

PS: in the original Guild Wars, pvp was also a conscious choice and completely optional, and you could very well play through the game in pve mode without ever doing a single pvp match.

[Theleos]

Oh man! Now all they have to do is release the game! Thanks for the reply, I'm even more excited about this game than I was before!

[Centaur]

Always happy to help out another convert Unfortunately, it looks like the game will be released Q1 2012 at the earliest...

[ComplexNuber]

*Sigh* I remember when saying a GW2 release in Q1 2011 seemed pessimistic. Now Q1 2012 is optimistic. If it wasn't for the constant activity and news from them I'd be saying they're pulling a Duke Nukem Forever on us.

Anyway, Centaur pretty much covered everything there is to say. GW1 wasn't all that PvP dedicated, though. While PvP was a -huge- part of GW1, ArenaNet never cut back on quality or quantity of PvE. Personally, I can hardly play GW1 PvP due to Australian ping time (ever tried playing a Mesmer or Ranger with 500ms ping + ping spikes? Yeah...), but that doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed several thousand hours of play time of GW1 PvE. PvP was also completely optional, you had to "teleport" to a completely different land just to engage in PvP.

Anyway, welcome to the forums.

[Amei]

PvP will not be forced on PVE servers.
Or this will be the shortest run great MMO is history

[Nem]

PvP heavy =/= forced PvP. GW1 indeed has amazing PvP structures but in 2 years that I (solely) played the game's PvE I wasn't forced into PvP for a single second.

EDIT: My bad, yes I was.. for like a minute O.o

[Winterbay]

PvP heavy =/= forced PvP. GW1 indeed has amazing PvP structures but in 2 years that I (solely) played the game's PvE I wasn't forced into PvP for a single second.

EDIT: My bad, yes I was.. for like a minute O.o

Yes, didn't the start of Prophecies force you into a short PvP match against other prospective starters? I seem to recall something to that regard...

[ComplexNuber]

Yes, didn't the start of Prophecies force you into a short PvP match against other prospective starters? I seem to recall something to that regard...

That's true, but not always.

I've never looked into the mechanics of it, but I've always assumed it puts you in a PvP match if it can (another person is waiting to finish pre as well), otherwise it will let you skip it so you don't have to wait. In any case, you can start a character in one of the other campaigns to prevent it, you also get through the early game a -lot- quicker if you don't choose prophecies.

[Winterbay]

That's true, but not always.

I've never looked into the mechanics of it, but I've always assumed it puts you in a PvP match if it can (another person is waiting to finish pre as well), otherwise it will let you skip it so you don't have to wait. In any case, you can start a character in one of the other campaigns to prevent it, you also get through the early game a -lot- quicker if you don't choose prophecies.

Well, yes, but at the time only Prophecies was available and I think I got a 5vs5 match so it was probably rather well populated then
This was the week or so before Factions was released which was when I started playing.