Introduction:

To preface I just want to point out how prior to release this was advertised as a PvP focused game, now over a year at release issues abound and my thesis is this game is bottom tier for PvP.  I will use what the developer's said sourced here... aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Developer_Quotes/PvP  vs. the actual reality of PvP over a year after the game was released and why it has driven so many players away and continues to drive players away. I won't use Funcom's extreemly slow development cycle or the sheer lack of end game content against them but rather compare pre release quotes to the reality today. It is important to remember that the original director who made these quotes was fired and the current director was responsible for implementation, my point is the new guy made major leaps backwards in regards to PvP.

Shortly after release it was stated that there were way more players on PvP servers than  PvE servers by the head developer.  However, current players have noticed a shift to having a PvE majority.  forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php

Also, the new developer craig, said: Craig Morrison. game director for Age of Conan had this to say:

"I think we are comfortable that the majority of the servers have good healthy populations. There are a few though are possibly a little below where we would prefer" simple-n-complex.blogspot.com/2009/08/age-of-conan-servers-are-fine.html.  However, The new fresh start PvP server is a ghost town along with many other servers so the spin continues in regards to PvP forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php.

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What the head developers promised vs. what is in the game over a year latter:

1)  "I've always been of the opinion that PvP should be voluntary, fun and available for everyone in an online game. Some players prefer to PvP all the time, others never. The majority of players, though, are in between these two extremes. Our goal is to create a system where you can PvP with your main character when you want to, without any permanent penalties. There won't be dedicated PvP servers in Conan. PvP will be available to your character if you want to participate -- or you could shy away altogether."

Gamespy, 17th May 2005 (Gaute Godager)

AoC's only good marketing decision was to modify that and create FFA PvP servers. However, do to the wrong type of gamers joining these servers and not realizing that FFA PvP means Free For All there was a huge outcry from a vocal minority to add all sorts of restrictions to the FFA PvP servers.  The Irony is all the restrictions back fired and are easily exploitable which which was a huge critisism prior to it comming out, for example: reverse griefing where a group of lower level players can set up an ambush of a player 7 levels higher and kill them and the higher level player can't go avenge himself without having to grind faction for a couple of hours. Another irony is do to the game not having much progression in terms of power per level, even dishonor kills can be formidable.

2) "These four lines of thinking became the guides for the Conan team when designing PvP: - PvP should be available to everyone, if they want it - not only on special PvP servers. - There shouldn't be a harsh penalty should you die in PvP. No permanent loss of items or other hard-won valuables. There should be multiple forms of PvP, many which will serve as different mini-games. PvP should be available at all levels after the very first few."

IGN, 11th July 2005 (Gaute Godager)

This is true there is very little loss or gain from PvP.  My critisism here is there is no value in PvP, you gain a meager amount of PvP XP, I will discuss that system later. The sad thing is you lose nothing and all you have to do is change your instance to avoid whoever ganked you latter in the game when the majority of players congregate in one zone. Early in the game the PvP penalties prevent most open PvP risks.

3) "The first system is indeed massive battles. This technology was used for building player-made cities in Anarchy Online - Alien Invasion, and is simply reused and improved in Age of Conan.

King Conan has opened Aquilonia up for expansion into the bothersome Border Kingdoms. Several individuals in his court will thus sponsor settlements in this region. This means that the players can choose a side and set up their own castles in these instantiated areas. The castles must be defended against other guilds that want these highly lucrative areas.

This form of PvP will provide large-scale battles where a set number of defenders and attackers can clash together at predefined, regulated, intervals. To aid in these battles, the players can use hirelings, siege engines and all the tricks in the books to fight their way to the glory of King Conan's court."

IGN, 11th July 2005 (Gaute Godager)

Epic Failure today, over a year latter on both counts. 1) Keep battles are all but broken today do to crashing, lag, buggs,  not letting you finish them. A major selling point is not working today. forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php

Second, the border kingdoms did get an overhaul and resources were added for guilds to fight over. After a couple of weeks the guilds got what they needed and now they are the empty spaces they always were.

4) "The second type of PvP is the team-focused mini-games. Here, the players are fighting king of the hill, capture the flag and other types of team-oriented mini-games. To facilitate a "just" system in PvP games like these, we have included an auto-leveling feature where the players are divided into four different tiers; each 20 levels are grouped together. Each tier enables the player to auto-level to the highest level in it.

Using a matchmaking interface, the players are quickly grouped together into equally sized teams, and then their levels are equaled out."

Battlegrounds! It works it is 100% in favor of a select number of casters and much like Warhammer one team or the other is going to get rolled in these lopsided battles.  Many servers have very little Mini game activity do to geared out premades or just having a low population and there are no X-server Minis forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php. 

5) "Except for the brawling, all PvP kills will give PvP knowledge that slowly trains you in the game's 20 PvP levels. These gives you access to certain PvP-only feats, empowering abilities that can only be used in PvP situations. Though it is unlikely that much armor, quests or other PvP content will be available at launch, this system will allow us to make content updates focusing on giving the best PvPers the kudos they are due."

IGN, 11th July 2005 (Gaute Godager)

That sounds awesome, there are only 5 levels today no feats or any PvP stuff that matter.  Well first of all 5 levels, that seems pretty lame a low number that you have to grind and grind to achieve!  However you get PvP gear which is not good at all compared to PvE gear, so no reward for all that effort in the grind and once again Funcom scoffs at PvP players forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php.

6) " we have a very special, Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures exclusive--: Drunken Brawling. This is a fun, free-for-all system (specifically only found in bars) where players do not fight with their normal level, but rather with a system where how drunk you are defines how hard you hit, and to which degree you hit. We hope this will lure even the most avid PvP opponent into some stool smashing and table bashing in the essence of Conan."

PC.Gamezone, 22nd September 2005 (Gaute Godager)

Things that were stated and never made it into the game, at least this wasn't on the box.
 

7)"In Conan our PvP rewards will be based around PvP so they will be useful to a PvP player but will not imbalance the rest of the game for everyone else."

Forums, 11th October 2005 (Athelan)

I already mentioned that the PvP rewords are not worth it.

8) "We have stated that PvP will be consentual even if that consent is by you selecting to play on a PvP server. Consent doesnt mean "can I kill you?" "no" it means you actively choose to engage yourself in an area or areas where PvP is available. It is your choice to enter into that situation not mandated by the game."

Forums, 16th December 2005 (Athelan)

Now we are talking, so why all the penalties and reverse griefing? That is the type of game I wanted to play.

9) "Resources and territorial control are part of the Massive PvP/Siege system."

Forums, 5th January 2006 (Athelan)

I posted about this and after a couple of weeks the BKs were empty because of other game issues, "stuff" isn't worth much in AoC.  There is no real economy and the only good thing gold can be used for is mounts.

"This (editor: unwanted fights agains another player) would only be possible on a PvP server or in a PvP siege area. Given you are not a PvP player there would be no reason for you to CHOOSE to go there. So no it won't be an issue. Even on said PvP servers griefing behavior will have consequences."

Forums, 5th January 2006 (Athelan)

The more I think about it the more I realize aside from all the failures in the other 3 PvP options, open PvP server failure was mostly do to PvE players rolling on PvP servers and upset when they got rolled on a PvP server. However, Funcom listened to them and posted lopsided penalties which allowed lowbies to grief higher levels.

10)" In the outside world, however, players will find that things are very different. That's because every player will, in effect, be two different characters. Players will have two different level and experience point totals that track PvE and PvP experience. Combat moves and behaviors will be different in PvP fights, and damage output will be modified to make fights between players last longer and be more even. There will even be separate equipment tables for PvP and PvE weapons and armor. While no weapon will ever be completely ineffective, it goes a long way toward reducing the chronic problem of PvP fights being based on eies."

Gamespy, 25th April 2006 (Gaute Godager)

Some of the game mechanics just don't work well and it is apparent in PvP, granted Funcom has taken steps to make it less noticeable there are still a major issues, Funcom did try to do something new but it wasn't developed and even after the post release changes many decisions contradict PvP:

Melees use combos that use stamina while sprinting and hide use stamina in contrary to casters using spells that use mana with a bar to use all the sprint or hide they want .

Active blocking: not much to say here it was nurfed to useless because it uses stamina, and now it uses loads of stamina and casters could block for free.

Pot heavy combat: PvP can be very health, stam, and mana pot heavy do to low cooldown times.

Shields: Players get 3 shields but they can't manipulate them on reaction do to not knowing what your opponent will do. However, most classes have a strong combo or a spammable ability and if you know the class you can set shields against it. Players don't know how the other guy is blocking so they can't change combos accordingly. Also it only works against melees.

Strafing: it wrecks melee combat forcing many wiffs today. The game was designed for melee to stand toe to toe I guess but that is not what PvP players do. Having said that on my recent win back most of the players seemed to have trouble moving the arrow keys to keep me on the screen so maybe people don't strafe anymore.

11) Finaly, there was a new development in PvP, the War system for PvE servers but I think that got scrapped and I couldn't find the original article. However just like keep sieges at release people are declaring was and not showing up to grief other players a new failure in PvP forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php

In conclusion, a lot of hate has been directed towards Gaute but not much of anything has been a success since the release of Age of Conan in terms of PvP so that falls on Craig.  I wish Age of Conan could have fixed the PvP isses and made better decisions as that could have been a major selling point for the free trials, instead it has driven PvPers away. Perhaps Funcom can fix PvP prior to the Expansion as otherwise this game will continue to be in trouble by its own merits and more external competition.

Would you say you devote about 25% of your real life time and resources to trolling the aoc forums?

We got it long ago you dont like the game.

Find a new hobby please.

 End game pvp is fun, its not suppose to replace you life however, and can get old if you spend too much time playing. 

Suggesting this games not for pvpers is hilarious.

Don't know how long took you to find out AOC is not suitable for PVP? 

I play AOC at the beginning of August on PVP server and after left Tortage then I found out it is not a PVP game. Simply to put this way, created a few PVP servers on LOTRO then it is so-called PVP.

There is no difference between PVP and PVE server, the only difference is player can attack another player. 

In my opinion, AOC is a genuin PVE game and PVP would be after thought. Besides, the landscape in game is for PVE.

For PVE, AOC is okay but a bit bored. There are many things you could see AOC tried to make it good, perhaps not good enough but the main thing I think is the combat too boring. If AOC have combat engine like LOTRO or even WOW then AOC would be a good game.

Originally posted by Larry2298

 

 

For PVE, AOC is okay but a bit bored. There are many things you could see AOC tried to make it good, perhaps not good enough but the main thing I think is the combat too boring. If AOC have combat engine like LOTRO or even WOW then AOC would be a good game.

 

 

Haha no thank you! I love LOTRO and sub to it but it belongs there. AoC combat is great the way it is...oh in my opinion.

You just had bad luck with the guards always attacking you.

Originally posted by Larry2298  If AOC have combat engine like LOTRO or even WOW then AOC would be a good game.

Sounds awful. I never played LOTRO but AoC combat system simply kicks the crap out of WoW's

I don't think funcom had much choice. There just isn't a large enough market for a "pvp focused" game. We see it with Darkfall, it's totally focused on pvp and their population is extremely small. AoC was expensive to make and lost most of their potential customers after the poor launch. Funcom had to go the direction of WoW PvP to keep what subs they have left.

I'm not a pvp'er but I always play on pvp servers because the "danger" makes it fun. I have no problem getting ganked, its just a game, and nothing is more fun than escaping a gank, or rare for me, beating a ganker, and if I die, *shrug* its part of the game.  However in AoC, the lack of a death penalty or any meaning took away any sense of fun. Instead of pvp being fun it became just an annoying obstacle in my path.  If I wanted non-contextual spawn camping ffa pvp, I'd play halo. But in AoC, as an RPG, PvP should have context, meaning, penalties, and dynamics that both encourage AND discourage pvp depending on all kinds of factors. but the sheer pointlessness of it made what should have been fun into a buzzkill for me.

I know some here will disagree with this, and with the OP but clearly, the history and population of the game bears out that the devs didn't get pvp right.

Well in summary the 4 types of PvP that the game has are broken today: No bar room brawling, no siege warfare because it does not work most of the time, no pvp mini games due to imbalance and many servers don't have populations for it/ and it has no X-server ability so they are out of luck, No border lands PvP because the resources are worth nothing at all.

I took an hour to write that up and the reason is to show AoC fails at PvP 100%.

There is zero PvP worth it in AoC even the combat system works against them.

The funny thing is people who play AoC an empty game hours a day will make fun of my 1 hour in disproving thier advertising about how great AoC PvP is. I didn't write much it is just this game tried to do so little PvP stuff and failed each time that all I had to do is post the pre release quotes and rebuttle it with stuff written in the last few days.  LAST FEW DAYS that is how bad this game is in regards to PvP as there are few posts at all do to being scared of being banned and the low population.

Get real the fans wanting more people and are lying to players in that AoC is still a PvP game...www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/3049895#3049895

When in reality AoC fails 100% at PvP and isn't worth anyones time of the day unless thier sallery depends on AoC subscriptions.

Nerd rage of the year goes to, and it was quite an easy decision here ladies and gentleman, finaticd. Actually for someone who put so much time and effort into this, which is impressive actually, you got a few things wrong.

First of all they have fixed the lower level reverse ganking situation a bit ago. If I attack a player more than seven levels higher than myself they can defend themselves and kill me without murder points. Some level 59's and myself, also 59, decided to go into kesh and raise hell only to discover a little icon appearing above our health bar saying that we were in a zone too high level for us and were basically prey for high levels. We pressed on and sure enough after killing a few high levels they ganged up on us and suffered no ill consequences much to their delight I'm sure. It was a lot of fun actually and the only thing that got hurt was our kill/death ratio.

Minis are doing very well on my server. Of course if you have a complete aoe team it's going to be advantagous but it's not unbeatable. Recently we were able to win against an all caster hallowed vaults premade several times. They out killed us but we were able to secure their flag 3 out of 3 times and won the mini. In my experience what you have said here is inaccurate. I do believe casters need to be made more vulnerable as they have too much life is geared properly and are tough but not unbeatable with a well organized team. Premades can change the flow of pvp for sure and do hinder lower levels and such from joining which is a shame. However it has for me spawned great competition as you will see a pug team get rolled than several members banning together, advertising i global and putting together their own premade and will come back at you. This has made for some really good one night rivalries and given me some great competition. I've been on the other end of the spectrum and gotten rolled and formed my own premade instead of just lying down and taking it and maybe I don't always win but was at least able to be competitive and enjoy myself. Now I know this is not that case for everyone but with some practice and just not giving up we were able to overcome our dps handicap. Basically it came down to were we just going to rollover and take it or come up with a plan and fight back. The other team was unable to counter after multiple defeats and that was that. Had we have faced a smarter team or it been a different map than hallowed vaults, as the rez point is pretty close to the center or the map, it may have been different but we were able to dominate a technicallys "superior" team.

I think the rewards portion is to subjective to make such a statement. I'm really not a fan of raids so pvp gear is a great way for me to gear up. After the itemization patch it is true that it is not as good as tier 2 gear except for defense but thath may change again and for me it has been worth it. Also, even though there is not official rating system for pvp system you can look up a player pvp k/d ratio and is something I keep track of as it has become a badge of honor for me. You do make some good points and I will agree they could do better but it being pointless is certainly going to be a matter of opinion and for me it is not.

If you're on a FFA pvp server I think it's awesome and wouldn't change it. I love the rivalries etc. In the pve server you only do pvp in minis and in the border kingdoms I believe, not sure and going to be lazy on this one, and that's consentual pvp. I don't see a problem here.

The problem is not the resources in my opinion but the broken siege system. Since the sieges keep going through these broken phases and you obviously are not going to destroy someone's battle keep if you cannot siege it takes away the incentive. There also may be too much resources and this is something that needs to be sorted out and fine tuned but I don't look at is as broken, except the sieges not working part, just something that needs to be adjusted now that they have real life info on how people and guilds are reacting to it.

On your numbe 10 I really disagree with most of your points. First all strafing. Love it and the way it's implemented. Again you're saying something is wrong when it is very subjective and I know many of the people I play with it enjoy it. Active blocking could be better but is helpful and not meaningless though certainly not as good. It gives a large reduction to hit pts recieved and if you can spot a certain classes big comb it is very useful. I don't see the problem with pots. You  have to use them appropriately, especially with longer fights. I just don't see a problem with this one. I again don't see a problem with shields. If you are under the impression your attacks are doing less damage than they should you can try different combos. I like this idea as it requires very quick thinking and reaction. Also, I like having to know other classes combos to be worried about. When I fight rangers I put the arrows two or three up and it helps a pretty good amount. When I fight barbs I adjust my arrows etc. This just gives players who really know other classes a bit of a competitive edge. Now the stamina for melee characters part I will agree with you whole heartedly. We need a seperate bar for sprinting as it makes it to easy for casters to flee a losing battle or us unable to attack after a chase.

I understand not everything is for everyone but I for one really enjoy the combat of aoc. More than any other mmo I've played and participating in the various pvp oppertunities, except for sieges which is certainly ridiculous that they're having stability problems, has been a great gaming experience. The main problem I have with your post is that while you do bring up some good points you are also in some cases picking forum posts where people are whining that I personally don't feel represent the majority at all and you are trying to prove that something subjective is objective. We all have different tastes and things like strafing and what not is not a yes or no unless you are lookign at it on an individual basis. You can't objectify opinion, even if it is popular, and you really give off the impression that is what you are trying to do. Finally, I have never seen so much time dedicated to tearing down a game. Seriously, while you claim to dislike this game and I'm sure you do you still spend more time and energy on these forums discussing it than those that love it. Heck probably more than many people spend playing their respective mmo's. Why? You've become and advocaet against a game. Something that certain people enjoy and is open for interpretation. Yes you have brought up some truths about empty promises but you've been harping on this for a long time. Why?

well done, you really outdid yourself,   when AOC gets  "Worse game of the Year" award for a second/third time, im sure youll be there to applaud them.

In response to Jaysins: the majority of PvPers left and a most of the players remaining could care less about anything, notice my recent experience where they have to use arrow keys to keep me on thier screen, a PvPer would laugh at that. My doomslayer server got merger into Tyranny the most avid PvP server and it was a joke because all 4 PvP types promised were broken not to mention FFA.

Also you lose the lowbie gank buff after a few seconds so just hide a bit after ganking some one high level.

EDIT: ya Age fof Conan gets "wors game of "blank" often, it is no suprise to me. I am just upset how they advertise this game today!, if they spent half the dollars they do on advertising and viral marketing on fixing the actual game it would probably have at least 2 of 7 PvP things fixed instead of 0 of 7. Since AoC makes less and less each quarter it is comming to an end of the product life cycle, can you imagine any slower development?

 @finaticd

While I'm certainly not qualified to speak about the pvp population on servers I do not play on I can say for certain that crimmeria pvp has been very available  to me providing me many occasions to partake in aoc pvp. There seems to be a rivalry forming between tyranny and crimmeria with some banter between both sides over which is the better pvp server on the forums and people wanting cross server minis as a way to prove it. So while the pvp population may have diminished it does not seem to be dead by any means. 

Edit: You're not going to be able to kill someone in those few seconds being a lower level and at that point I believe the higher level player has ample chance to defend themselves as once they start exchanging blows it won't be a factor. I've been on both sides of the system and see nothing really bad about it though making it a full hour or what have you that the lower level is vulnerable would certainly make players think twice. I however like fighting players higher levels than me as it's a challenge.

The lack of a PVP consequcence system at launch killed this game. Stability was bad but largely fixed 3-6 months in. Players who exprienced nothing but ganking and griefing on the PVP servers left those for PVE or quit. The few that remained on PVP servers stayed because their guilds were replacing the strong guilds which had decided they had had enough of AOC.

When the PVP consequence system came along months after launch it was a failure too because it doesn't stop or even slow griefing but it does substantially annoy players on both PVP and PVE servers with unnecessary guards. Players on PVP servers want to settle their business without a stupid NPC without any logical AI getting in the way. Players on PVE servers have no business to settle. What this game needed and still needs, is meaningful PVP where you actually have a reason to attack new players and not the same crowd and strong disincentives for attacking the same player over and over, but with an option to allow consentual duels by players on both PVE and PVP servers anywhere at any time.

So you can settle a grievance without having to take it on global chat or losing nothing and gaining nothing in PVP on the PVP servers. AOC is stimply a failure on so many levels and here again we are reminded of what is missing from the exprience and yet again shown where the game had such potential to step up as a cut above the rest.

Ya PvP is an epic failure here and Funcom and its fans continue to blatantly lie about it that is why I wrote this up using people who play the game as sources, as this game is 70k players at best so most PvPers left already the opinions and feedback of current players are no where near as critical as PvP players who have payed for this broken PvP game after the first few months.

Get real, you have to basicaly be norwegian and working for Funcom or get some other compensation to sit at level cap when so little has been released there over the last year PvE wise, at the same thime all PvP is broken and Funcom could care less.

EDIT: I forgot in the OP: Age of Conan does not have duels, unlike wow, eq1, eq2, and probably every other PvP and PvE game.

 Straffin? working as intended - super useful feauture

Shields? Here you can observe how less this person know about game - you can see other person shield position - that was implemented in 1.04

Casters are squisihies. Let them run out of stamina and they are dead. Simple as this

As for sieges if it stil doesn't work (I saw some servers reporting that it works flawless) that is a big fail that has to be adressed as soon as possible, if it isnt already 2 late. 

(oh and drunken brawling is more of a RP thing for me than serious pvp feature)

EDIT: I didn't read the whole thing but seeing you used others as sources - you should have found better and up to date infos. Having a source that stopped playing after 1.03 and was never good at pvp (check videos - every good player will use at least front straffing : 2 sec stun is imba) is quite a fail

Funcom haters claiming that AoC is not a great game for PvP remind of the Funcom haters that dis Age of Conan for it's lacking graphics.

I have about 5 hours into this game and while it looks really good and the animation is well done I can't get passed level 13.

Whenever I enter a zone there is a lvl 25 or several just wating to kill me.  I can do nothing, and there is no one around to help.   I can't progress in the game so - logoff.  It's just a waste of a 13 gig dl.

I gotta say from my expierence this is the worst pvp that I have ever played.  It was 100% not fun.

Originally posted by zimquats

I have about 5 hours into this game and while it looks really good and the animation is well done I can't get passed level 13.

 

Whenever I enter a zone there is a lvl 25 or several just wating to kill me.  I can do nothing, and there is no one around to help.   I can't progress in the game so - logoff.  It's just a waste of a 13 gig dl.

I gotta say from my expierence this is the worst pvp that I have ever played.  It was 100% not fun.

Well PvP'rs have an understanding of the way things work when someone bigger and badder comes up. AoC offers two types of server, you can PvP on either. One has open world style the other just mini's and sieges.

Did you get into a guild as that helps. The reality is it can be harsh but what else what other options are there? A few when you think about it.

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

Originally posted by zimquats

I have about 5 hours into this game and while it looks really good and the animation is well done I can't get passed level 13.

 

Whenever I enter a zone there is a lvl 25 or several just wating to kill me.  I can do nothing, and there is no one around to help.   I can't progress in the game so - logoff.  It's just a waste of a 13 gig dl.

I gotta say from my expierence this is the worst pvp that I have ever played.  It was 100% not fun.

 

Well PvP'rs have an understanding of the way things work when someone bigger and badder comes up. AoC offers two types of server, you can PvP on either. One has open world style the other just mini's and sieges.

Did you get into a guild as that helps. The reality is it can be harsh but what else what other options are there? A few when you think about it.

So because PvP'rs have an understanding, that means it's ok for the game not to be fun.

Option #1.  Play Battlefield heroes

Option #2.  Play ArmA II

Option #3.  Play DAoC

Option #4. Go to the beach

Option #5. Do the dishes

All of which would be more fun then the expierence I had in AoC.   5 hours in and the game is not fun.  I'm going to count my losses, (which are few) and move on.  If its not  fun at this point I don't see how it will become fun after I get ganked 50 more times buy the door camping death squads.

There are more games then I can count with better pvp then AoC from my perspective.

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

Originally posted by zimquats

I have about 5 hours into this game and while it looks really good and the animation is well done I can't get passed level 13.

 

Whenever I enter a zone there is a lvl 25 or several just wating to kill me.  I can do nothing, and there is no one around to help.   I can't progress in the game so - logoff.  It's just a waste of a 13 gig dl.

I gotta say from my expierence this is the worst pvp that I have ever played.  It was 100% not fun.

 

Well PvP'rs have an understanding of the way things work when someone bigger and badder comes up. AoC offers two types of server, you can PvP on either. One has open world style the other just mini's and sieges.

Did you get into a guild as that helps. The reality is it can be harsh but what else what other options are there? A few when you think about it.

I really dont get you Avery. Why is it acceptable for the player to have to comply with a system which doesn't work, shouldn't the system at least be re-worked occassionally and improved or reworked to be more coherent with what all players on all servers want. Its the players fault when the mechanics are busted, or when balance is turned upside down every patch, or the players fault they rolled on a PVP server beacause they were bored to death on a PVE server? 

Why isn't there an improvement a real improvement on the part of FC with regards to their PVP system, a consequence system which has harsh penalties for killing players over and over, or killing a player who's been killed more than 5X in the last hours? Why not additional benefits for killing players who haven't been killed in a few hours? Why not bonuses for players who manage to stay alive longer avoiding the constant ganking? Why not a consentual system which allows players to turn off all of this so they can gank whereever and whatever, or consentual duels enabled on PVE servers so 85% of players can play there and levave the ganking behind? This is what a majority really want you know.

Of course AOC is perfect a 10! and nothing is wrong or ever was wrong and could be improved right? 

4 things they could do today that would add substantial value to AOC are...

1. Make Consentual Duels on PVE server a reality, click on another player and offer duel, if the other player declines thats it no PVP option, if the other player accepts Duel is on right then right there until one player is dead or zones.

2. Setup Arenas for PVP on PVP servers and PVE servers, places players can go to bet on other players, places players can go to practice their PVP skills. Nothing like this exists. Allow Guild cities to build their own duel hall. Rank duelers on a scroll at the guild city adding another reason to come and check out the city.

3. Bring Real Consequences on gankers. Create a system which prevents individuals from killing other individuals excessively, and by excessively we're talking more than 5X in an hour, however enable the Consentual Duel system so that if 2 players want to duel it out they can all day without the negative impacts. Make the negative impacts important, i.e. slowing XP gain on other kills and also adding real penalties for players who persist and wreck the exprience for new players. Also, make kills on murders carry double XP for others so once you become a murder, you are hunted all the time. Make murder status stick for hours not minutes.

4. Elminate level 25,24,23,22,21,20,19 in Tortage. Cap players at level 18. Oh sure allow them to continue to collect xp but if they want to be badass, let those players do it at level 80.