IMO, PvP should be more about skill than the gear that you're using. If I go to a race track and get matched against someone driving a Bugatti - and I'm driving a Yugo - chances are pretty good that no matter how skilled I am at driving, I'm still going to get destroyed on the track. With that being said, here's my "fix-all" for PvP... this is assuming that the "matching" system is up to snuff and is matching combatants as closely as possible by level...
-First - when you enter the PvP arena, you are immediately stripped of your gear and outfitted with Arena Garb and Wand - everyone gets the same stats... - no boosts for damage, accuracy, pierce, critical or block. No supplemental gear like rings, athames or amulets. Health would be scaled back to the level of the lowest competitor so no one can outlast their opponent by simply having more health to start with. -Second - everyone gets the same blank spell book along with a list of all of the spells that would be available to a wizard at your level from your school as well as all of the standard buffing spells and TCs. You get one minute to fill in the spells you want to use. -Third - no pets.
By using these guidelines PvP would be reduced to a game of strategy with the only real advantage being the "first play". It would also eliminate the argument against the current critical/block system because everyone would be on equal footing at the start of the match.
I can see why you think this, but the truth is PvP is just like PvE. We're going up against people/enemies who want to knock us out of the ring, and we do what we can to protect against that and knock them out as well. I slaved over the crafting table and hatchery for weeks to tune up my stats and pet for PvP. The best part about Playing against other people is the CHALLENGE.
If someone has high resist or something like that, I learn to focus more on my defenses while I'm chipping the health down and eventually I found a thing that works.
If someone has higher health than me, well I better blade up and buff so I can hit hard.
If they hit hard like I do, I have healing pet.
PvP is COMPETITIVE and you learn to defend yourself and what works the best/hits the hardest.
I can see why you think this, but the truth is PvP is just like PvE. We're going up against people/enemies who want to knock us out of the ring, and we do what we can to protect against that and knock them out as well. I slaved over the crafting table and hatchery for weeks to tune up my stats and pet for PvP. The best part about Playing against other people is the CHALLENGE.
If someone has high resist or something like that, I learn to focus more on my defenses while I'm chipping the health down and eventually I found a thing that works.
If someone has higher health than me, well I better blade up and buff so I can hit hard.
If they hit hard like I do, I have healing pet.
PvP is COMPETITIVE and you learn to defend yourself and what works the best/hits the hardest.
It's not really supposed to be fair.
If you read through the posts in this forum you'll see that the majority of them are complaining that one aspect or another of PvP is "not fair". That's the whole point... in order for PvP to be competitive it needs to start out with everyone being nearly equal. Where's the challenge in fighting someone who's gear or pet is inferior to yours? It just seems to me that starting out exactly even would emphasize the strategic aspect of PvP. I also understand that "exactly even" is subjective. Some would argue that one school might have a distinct advantage over another and this could be true when you look at the damage potentials, but this is where your strategy becomes your best weapon. You say PvP is just like PvE and in some regards this is true (one of the reasons why PvP is broken) but one major difference is that in PvP we're fighting against other humans with the ability to plan ahead. The AI in the game has been improved but it's still woefully inept when compared to the mind of another living, thinking human being who is able to anticipate his/her opponent's moves. So, I respectfully disagree... I think in order for PvP to be a valid indicator of player versus player "abilities" it needs to start out fair. If someone has earned their PvP Warlord badge by plowing through wave after wave of inferior opponents it just seems to me that those would be hollow victories.
