I beg to differ. Unlocking and item acquisition is niether PvE nor PvP, it's Roleplaying. Also, I find the skill aquisition system to be hugely popular not only in my guild, but specifically the players that come from other ORPG's like UO, WoW, SB, L2, DAoC, etc. Maybe you want instant gratification in the ways of UAS, but many players who like to grind feel the opposite of you. There are players who do want to be rewarded for their time. They do want to feel like they accomplished something for their "Strategic planning, tactical execution and acheiving victory." Pretty much, that is why they play roleplaying games. Let me go back to something you said earlier in the thread, "A team with 100s of hours towards 'unlocking' in all classes is inherently at an advantage to someone who hasn't put 'unlocking' and PvE time in." Of course, but you need to remember that there is a learning curve. A team with 100s of hours can beat a team with 1000s of hours played at any time. And that is why I play GW's |
Competition is all about skill and the fact that you haven't 'unlocked' the defenses needed to protect you against an Air Spiking team you know you will face in a match 5 minutes from now, is a perfect example of losing out to a play mechanic that has nothing to do with your skillful abilities.
If it is so automatic a competitive gameplay element, why don't we see it implemented in tens of thousands of other 'player vs player' activities that have been around for hundreds of years? You don't have to wear slippers playing tennis until you 'unlock' a pair of tennis shoes based on first winning fifty matches. You don't start a round of Battleship using 3/5 game pieces until you've first won 100 games to unlock the last two. You don't start off in a Street Fighter match being able to only use two "skills" (i.e. special moves) until you've gotten through 150 hours of matches first to unlock the rest. You don't start off with an 'unlocked' Desert Eagle in Counter Strike until you've first beaten Half Life AND gotten 100 headshots with your USP. Why is this? Because starting with any kind of rule mandated advantage/disadvantage in accessing legal gameplay options is fundamentally anti-competition. It's really the most basic rule of fair play that there is.
Steady progression towards goals, item acquisition...these are PvE play mechanics in any adventure game. Strategic planning with all options the opponent has and tactically executing well as a team towards acheiving victory over an opponent... that's a PvP play mechanic in any competitive game. As of now, forced PvP play mechanics (competition) are virtually absent from PvE. You don't have to win 100 PvP matches in order to access new areas, quests, and missions.
It'll be nice one day if the PvP side received the same consideration for those who do not wish to participate in 100s of hours in PvE and 'unlocking' activities. Again, you may LIKE the current system as it is now. That's an opinion that I can't prove is wrong. However I would respectfully disagree based on the fact that it is a diservice to those who desire purely skillful competition, as in any other competitive activity. I would also not want to force PvP play mechanics into PvE in order to access new goals and quests, so at least I'm only asking for fair consistency.