Ever since I got into MMORPGs with DAOC, I've always felt like they almost hit on a really great PvP design. I say almost because, while the core PvP design was revolutionary, (IMO, of course) I still think it was fairly shallow and too restricting.
Before I get into that though, I'll briefly explain the basics of DAOC's PvP system for anyone who may not be familiar with it. In DAOC, there were three realms, separated by physical barriers and "connected" by frontiers, with HEAVILY guarded realm gates. There was no PvP inside of the realms and the frontiers were full-on RvR. As far as I know, the only way anyone ever managed to get into an enemy realm was through gaps in the zone walls. This was considered an exploit.
So, what would I add or change?
Frontiers - I would add a few features to the frontiers to give them more depth and to give players more incentive to populate them.
1) Resources - Ideally, the frontiers would hold the most valuable crafting resources. Locating these resources and controlling them would be an important aspect of the game.
2) Structures - Players could build structures almost anyone in the frontiers, however, these structures would be vulerable to attack. To counter this, guilds/players could purchase a very significant amount of defense for their structure, such as more durable materials, NPC guards, and possibly spawn points.
Realms - This is where I would make the biggest changes.
1) PvP Raids - It would be possible, though difficult, to raid the enemies realm. All that would be required is a force big enough to fight their way through the realm gate with it's uber guards and defending players. Once inside an enemy realm, the raiding force would have free reign to slaughter and loot players and NPC's as long as they can stay alive. I might even suggest moving the relics into the capitol of the realm that's currently in possession of them. Of course, the big challenge would be to make sure that this is not a "common" occurance. It should be extremely difficult to bust into an enemy realm and once inside, the realm gate guards should respawn at twice their original numbers (or something along those lines) and should stay this way for a pre-determined amount of time. In addition, there would be no respawning in an enemy realm and resurections might be restriced.
2) Guild vs. Guild - I know this is an RvR design, but I would also add the ability for guilds (of the same realm) to declare war on each other. Members of enemy guilds would be attackable anytime, any where. Although, NPC guards would aggro and join in if there is fighting near them. Not sure if there should be any rewards or incentives for this, other than settling a dispute or possible RP purposes.
Of course, there are many other changes I would make (such as removing the level grind, changing to skill based, and focusing more on a player driven economy) but this is what I would love to see, as far as PvP design.
