After I learned that PvP characters would soon be able to unlock PvE skins, I looked back on why I've made most of my PvE characters. It was mainly to get a hold of better looking armor. I also liked some of the weaponry. In some cases, it was to take advantage of PvE environments. For instance, I made my Ranger for the sole purpose of UW trapper farming. Of course, she doesn't do that much anymore, as I neither find it fun nor lucrative, but I digress. Generally, I made my characters for the sole purpose of making them better looking, or to have fun in some environment within PvE. Arguably, also to unlock the non-elite skills at a faster rate than I could in PvP.
Now, looking back on that, I don't have much reason to continue playing my PvE characters. I've grown worn out taking all of my characters through each campaign, arduously farming for thousands, perhaps millions of gold so that I can purchase basic skills and buy armor. In recent months this has become even more difficult due to how difficult it is to make money now.
So, this might sound silly, but I sat down and made a short list of the advantages, or Pros, of creating a PvP character, or a PvE character. I avoid the Cons because I feel like the list would be too long and biased.
PvP
Can instantly recreate armor at no cost
Can recreate character appearance at any point
Can recreate character name at any point
Can use any skill unlocked by any character at any time
Can create, and customize, any type of item at will
Is always level 20 with maximum attributes
Has free access to any rune at no cost
PvE
Can interact with the PvE and PvP world
Has access to PvE-exclusive items and armor (soon to be removed)
Has access to more advanced dyes / dye mixes (will this be removed too?)
Unlocks PvP items and skills more quickly
That last one doesn't make a lot of sense to me, now that I think about it. You would think that unlocking PvP items would come more quickly in PvP, but...
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone can add to the list without getting too much into details. Because right now, I see little reason for me not to delete some of my PvE characters (my Elementalist or Mesmer, Dervish, Ritualist and Assassin would be quick to leave) in favor of creating PvP characters using the same appearance and armor (when that option presents itself).
I say this because it would, for one, give me the ability to concentrate on just one or two PvE characters instead of carrying half a dozen+ of them through all three campaigns AND a new expansion. (I'm still not done taking even my first character completely through all of them, quests and all.) Having to play through each campaign just to hit every outpost marker (so I can get to armor / resources more easily) has worn me out. I find myself playing PvP more and more due to this, just to "get away from the home."
Really, all I want from PvE for most of my characters (not all) is 15k armor and some fancy weapons. That's all. I don't want to be the richest man in Guild Wars, I just want to look nice and have access to any skills that I'd like to have.
I'm very near having every skill, item and accessory upgrade in the game unlocked. Unfortunately, when I play PvP, I often am forced to create an entirely new character.
For example, I was playing around recently and wanted to see what would happen when I made a Dervish / Assassin that used Avatar of Lyssa in combination with some Assassin Dagger Mastery skills. I brought out my PvE Dervish, because he's a fine-looking-man. He has a unique weapon and full 15k Primeval armor. (Well, minus the 1.5k shoes that no one ever notices.) I quickly realized I couldn't do this with him because he was a D/Mo, and did not even have D/A "unlocked" for himself. In order to try the build, I would have to farm gold, travel across multiple continents buying skills, possibly capturing elites that I already have on other characters. I can easily grab Melonni and create the build on her first. To me, that's ridiculous. It would take hours to create the build on my Dervish. Actually, it might take days, due to the fact that he would also need new armor and runes to make the most of the build.
On a related note, I still do not have a Superior Vigor on any of my PvE characters, for obvious reasons. Of course, on any PvP character I create, it's a simple matter, as I unlocked it months ago. I remember being excited that I had enough money to purchase a Superior Absorption for my Warrior's 15k Canthan chest piece.
But you get the idea. PvE characters often make a PvP life very difficult. It's a simple matter to create a copy of the character with a new name and aesthetically-challenged armor, but to me, that's just silly. I know it's not a right to own 15k armor, even Obsidian, but I still see no reason for this difficulty.
For any developers, hopefully you understand where I'm coming from. Is anything being done to resolve this? Perhaps giving PvE characters the ability to wear PvP-only armor that they can create at a whim in PvP arenas? I know Tomes and such are being introduced to try to ease the pain regarding things like this, but honestly, it's not working very well. I've still only seen a single non-elite Mesmer tome drop in all my time playing Guild Wars, so I can't say that's the golden road to PvE-driven PvP equality.
Long post, possibly a rant, but I think most of you guys know what I'm talking about.
