WoW Honor system
PvP in WoW has always been rather pointless. I mean sure it's fun to run around killing other players every once in a while but the only thing you ever got out of it was NOT being the one doing a corpse run. Of course, depending on the location, you can be back up and fighting in like 2 minutes even if you do die. You can't loot the dead guy, you get no XP, there is no point to it. I've been in a couple of big battles and they always go the same way. Everyone runs around, lagging like crazy, killing each other for 15 or 20 minutes then everyone gets bored and wanders off.
So, to make PvP have some meaning and to hopefully keep the level 60s from ganking the level 20s, they put in the Honor system. Bottom line is that you get 1 honorable kill point for killing anyone who cons green (or better) to you. For a level 60, that means that anyone over about level 50 is fair game. Not only is it fair game, you get points for killing them. These points get you cool titles based on your ranking and can also be used for cool swag. You're supposed to get dishonor points for killing something too low but I'm not sure that works yet.
I play lots of different characters and most of them can pretty easily take a mob 2 levels higher. Some can take 3. If my mage tries to blast something more than three level higher than her, they resist every spell which basically means she gets her ass ripped off. Taking on something even 5 levels higher is just unheard of.
Now, I play on a PvE server which means I don't have to PvP if I don't want to. Ever. If I don't attack a Player or NPC of the opposing faction, they can't attack me. There are certain places, as is the way with these games, where everyone congregates for the PvP action. Since the honor system went in, these places are extreme lag fests as the PvPers fight back and forth. There are also places where NPCs regularly disappear but all in all, the honor system has had little affect on me and my game play. Things do seem a bit laggier in places but it shall pass I'm sure.
Where this has had a big impact is on the PvP servers. On a PvP server, you can be attacked at any time in any contested or opposing faction controlled zone. Seems that the honor system has made what used to be just griefing for fun become killing for points. What hardcore PvPer could resist using every trick in the book to be the first one on his server to have all the cool new armor. Supposedly, you can't move into a contested zone any more within being blasted into oblivion. What really tickles the shit out of me is how surprised everyone is about this. Anyone who was surprised by this obviously never played UO before the split. Anytime you reward someone for killing another player, whether that be with allowing them to loot or giving them points of some kind, they are going to figure out the quickest, easiest and more effective way of committing mass murder. It's amazing that people choose to play on a PvP server then scream and whine when someone engages them in PvP.
Lag is a big problem, I will admit that. When you arrive in a new zone with lots of people, you just freeze for a length of time directly proportionate to the numbr of characters in that zone. Well, if it's a PvP zone and you're flagged, you're probably dead before your screen frees up. Blizzard really screwed the pooch on this design and I don't understand why. This particular scenario has been a problem in lots of games, AC2, SWG, UO, and DaoC. Why is Blizzard making the same mistakes these poeple made?
Anyway, it's kind of fun to watch all the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the forums.
So, to make PvP have some meaning and to hopefully keep the level 60s from ganking the level 20s, they put in the Honor system. Bottom line is that you get 1 honorable kill point for killing anyone who cons green (or better) to you. For a level 60, that means that anyone over about level 50 is fair game. Not only is it fair game, you get points for killing them. These points get you cool titles based on your ranking and can also be used for cool swag. You're supposed to get dishonor points for killing something too low but I'm not sure that works yet.
I play lots of different characters and most of them can pretty easily take a mob 2 levels higher. Some can take 3. If my mage tries to blast something more than three level higher than her, they resist every spell which basically means she gets her ass ripped off. Taking on something even 5 levels higher is just unheard of.
Now, I play on a PvE server which means I don't have to PvP if I don't want to. Ever. If I don't attack a Player or NPC of the opposing faction, they can't attack me. There are certain places, as is the way with these games, where everyone congregates for the PvP action. Since the honor system went in, these places are extreme lag fests as the PvPers fight back and forth. There are also places where NPCs regularly disappear but all in all, the honor system has had little affect on me and my game play. Things do seem a bit laggier in places but it shall pass I'm sure.
Where this has had a big impact is on the PvP servers. On a PvP server, you can be attacked at any time in any contested or opposing faction controlled zone. Seems that the honor system has made what used to be just griefing for fun become killing for points. What hardcore PvPer could resist using every trick in the book to be the first one on his server to have all the cool new armor. Supposedly, you can't move into a contested zone any more within being blasted into oblivion. What really tickles the shit out of me is how surprised everyone is about this. Anyone who was surprised by this obviously never played UO before the split. Anytime you reward someone for killing another player, whether that be with allowing them to loot or giving them points of some kind, they are going to figure out the quickest, easiest and more effective way of committing mass murder. It's amazing that people choose to play on a PvP server then scream and whine when someone engages them in PvP.
Lag is a big problem, I will admit that. When you arrive in a new zone with lots of people, you just freeze for a length of time directly proportionate to the numbr of characters in that zone. Well, if it's a PvP zone and you're flagged, you're probably dead before your screen frees up. Blizzard really screwed the pooch on this design and I don't understand why. This particular scenario has been a problem in lots of games, AC2, SWG, UO, and DaoC. Why is Blizzard making the same mistakes these poeple made?
Anyway, it's kind of fun to watch all the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the forums.
posted by Big Ed at 3:19 PM
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