I don't think you can distinguish RP-PvP servers from PvP since the ruleset was exactly the same. The only diffrence was the name policy that wasn't that well respected anyway.
As a PvPer you did have three choices. Some PvPers chose to go there because RP servers usually have better sence of community and many people enjoying organising events. Other les desirable PvPers chose to go there because they enjoy killing touchy feely players. Since the french community didn't have enough players to fill in more than 2 servers even in it's prime i find it a rather normal evolution.
I agree that RPers made the server resist better but not because of their numbers (rather few RPers outside of ERP to be honest) but because of the atmosphere it imposed on the server through guild rules.
I think we do understand that concept. We just dislike it. I for one think it's a poor short term solution. Being able to do everything kills activities that require limitations to make sense.
But anyway i think those thinking alike are way too few to have any weight in this matter.
Vali~The Mental Mushroom
Vehl~The Pink Flamingo
Vahlie~Redhead's bane
Tisane~Kettle of Xotli
Nvah~ . . .
What made Stygia (and Hyrkania, and all the others RP servers, be they under the pve or pvp ruleset) RP servers was the community. Of course we can separate them from classic PVP servers.
And you're totally forgetting that pvp is a part of roleplaying. Playing a role isn't about old words and grand declarations. A city brawler talks as bas as a farmer, but in a different way, and is prone to violence more often than not. Sitting in a tavern is a very small part of roleplaying, and I'd say it's not a significant one.
I haven't forgotten the wedding in Tesso, nor the hunts of the Picts.
Originally Posted by Angellis
And I don't get why this is even an issue. Everyone that plays AoC can agree on 1 thing, overall population sucks for a MMO, don't matter what server you are on, even on Crom.
PVE'rs freak out over the 1 superserver with separate pve/pvp instances cuz they for some stupid reason think the entire server will be pvp enabled. THAT IS NOT THE CASE, THERE WILL BE SEPARATE PVE AND PVP INSTANCES YOU CAN SELECT AT ZONE IN.
PVP'rs on the other hand freak out cuz they think no one will ever choose to zone into the pvp instance, instead everyone will take the path of least resistance and just play on the pve instance version. I personally don't think that will be the case, granted some will want to chill out and get stuff done peacefully in the pve instance, however I still feel many will zone into the pvp instance, including pve'rs.
In any case, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives, everyone will be on the same server, minigames will have many more participants, world pvp imo will probably increase, and everyone will have access to group/raid pve.
Seeing it this way that would also resolve the discussion about the pvp-events being crippled on crom, without making the pve'ers having their worst fears come true.
The fact that it was an RP server favored a certain standing within guilds and more broadly the server. I agree, but nonetheless active RPers with back ground stories and engaging in RP session more than once every three months where rare.
Take the wedding in Tesso, in Naerth there was like 5 people tops that gave a damn about RP. Their ranks were filled with *******s like Guerric or Talaban but tamed by a rigid circle of officers imposing their conception of the game to the mass. And it was more or less the same in every guild. Guild etiquette coined the server.
Yet, on Aquillonia the global atmosphere was far from Stygia, it felt much closer to Fury atmosphere in comparaison.
When it comes to blaming players, this it what i blame them for the most, having lost all interest in guilds, not giving much a damn anymore about anything else than efficiency and stats. Hence leading to the current indolent state in which all servers wallow. Ganking lowbies is the outer fringe of what makes the game less attractive. I bet most people nowadays raid or do 6mans while watching TV or do minis while eating.
@Texan615: There's a probleme: low population. How do you solve this problem ? If you're a pessimist you merge everything. If you're an optimist you try to build. I'm an optimist and for the first time in AoCs history PvPers can be optimistic without closing their eyes. I'm not going to write an other wall of text so i'll make it short. I like FFA open-world spontaneous fights. It doesn't work in a heavily instanciated game with no consequence nor constraints. The motto of most games nowadays seems to be "clustering". I find it dead boring.
The only way i'd find bearable a single server would be if their's a heavy infrastructure to encourage people to roam in PvP enabled zones with actual open GvsG content accessible daily. If it's just to have more minis and a Kheshatta duel spot...
Vali~The Mental Mushroom
Vehl~The Pink Flamingo
Vahlie~Redhead's bane
Tisane~Kettle of Xotli
Nvah~ . . .