Let's assume that instanced PVP battlegrounds and arenas are off the table.  Also assume that PVP must be avoidable for PVE'ers.

That leaves a few options.

Note: "working best" means working best so that PVEers, PVPers and those who like both are satisfied with the design.

Seperate Pve and Pvp realms with appropriate ruleset.

PvP realm with 3 way faction pvp.  PvP can occur anywhere except for a handful of safe zones (cities).  Then add in instanced battlegrounds or TDM.

Originally posted by Maephisto

Seperate Pve and Pvp realms with appropriate ruleset.

PvP realm with 3 way faction pvp.  PvP can occur anywhere except for a handful of safe zones (cities).  Then add in instanced battlegrounds or TDM.

I don't know the term TDM.  DOH... team death match.  Sorry, brain fart.

I realize I'm out on the extreme end of the PvP-aversion bell curve, but ideally I'd like the PvP to be in a completely seperate game from the one I'm playing. 

The only thing that PvP adds to my game is news: it's drama and it is entertaining to read about the tides of war.  But I've never encountered a game where I felt that having PvPers on my server made the game a more enjoyable experience.

Originally posted by maplestone

I realize I'm out on the extreme end of the PvP-aversion bell curve, but ideally I'd like the PvP to be in a completely seperate game from the one I'm playing. 

The only thing that PvP adds to my game is news: it's drama and it is entertaining to read about the tides of war.  But I've never encountered a game where I felt that having PvPers on my server made the game a more enjoyable experience.

A nemesis appears.........

just kidding.....

Originally posted by Ortwig
Flagged PvP ala SWG.  As long as PVE and PVP are protected from each other, I'm all for open world.

My problem with that is even if you have your PvP flag off, you get asstards coming up to you all the time going "wanna fight?"

I don't want that at all.

Originally posted by Cephus404

Originally posted by Ortwig
Flagged PvP ala SWG.  As long as PVE and PVP are protected from each other, I'm all for open world.

My problem with that is even if you have your PvP flag off, you get asstards coming up to you all the time going "wanna fight?"

I don't want that at all.

The one that gets me are the ones who inspect you to see if you have good gear before asking to duel.  That is so tacky.

Originally posted by XAPGames

Originally posted by Cephus404

Originally posted by Ortwig
Flagged PvP ala SWG.  As long as PVE and PVP are protected from each other, I'm all for open world.

My problem with that is even if you have your PvP flag off, you get asstards coming up to you all the time going "wanna fight?"

I don't want that at all.

 

The one that gets me are the ones who inspect you to see if you have good gear before asking to duel.  That is so tacky.

 

Of course, they only want to win so they only fight people they can beat.

Originally posted by ThaneSolus
Best PVP in a themepark were in Lineage II and DAOC.  

I've read about DAOC's system.

How is PVP setup in L2?  Not one I know much about.

Originally posted by Quirhid
Why do you want to take arenas and battlegrounds off the table?

Three reasons:

1. They've become the de facto standard for PVP in themeparks.

2. I'm using no instancing for market positioning.  Including instanced BGs would water that down.

3. The software I'm working with is very limited.  I have enough that I could setup dynamic instance loading on the fly, but nothing exists to do queing or scheduling.

So I'm looking at alternatives.

Originally posted by RefMinor
I would like to see areas where there is no PvP but random PvE death events, rockfalls, overpowered lion ambush etc. give people the thrill of PvP and spare us the cries of "Gank"

Zod would also like to see the done.

No one thinking outside the box here??? Here's an idea...

What about dividing the game world into a dozen different nations that are run by the players... Allow these nations to declare war on each other, make peace, have alliances, etc. Have control points scattered around the map for the PvP'ers to fight over, and have a few control points in each city (ex: town hall, main gate, bridge)

PvP Players: Players who tag themselves for war can fight for their nation, can capture and hold control points to make their nation gain territory. They can't attack players from their own nation, can't attack players from a nation they aren't at war with, and can't attack any players/NPCs who aren't tagged for war (Civilians / PvE'ers). If a player's country currently isn't at war, players can go mercenary for another nation that is at war.

PvE Players: Aren't ganked by the PvP'ers, Can take advantage of the economy changing based on the war. Crafters can gather materials and craft goods for the war without getting ganked. Some materials dropped by mobs could be important to city defenses and special weapons. The PvP'ers would partly rely on the PvE'ers to keep their nations defenses and economy strong. Nations can buy mobs (strong but don't drop mats) to station in nation territory that attack other nations' PvE'ers but leave their own players alone, PvE'er and crafters will be the ones who want the wars to happen because they will want easy access to more materials and mobs that drop.

This would foster mutual reliance between PvP'ers and PvE'ers, and drive the engines of war at the same time.