“Granted, all games involve some degree of PvP competition. The problem is that PvP and griefing seem to go hand-in-hand as players seek out new ways to piss others off deliberately. I’ve been told that there’s a significant PvE (Player Vs. Environment) portion to the game, but then again that’s no good either as it basically relegates the game into greed-driven grinding. Partying with people becomes excessively taxing as well because whenever you have a situation where people have to share loot, there will be Drama.”

You say “granted” about some PvP interaction, but you dismiss the possibilities of the PvE almost out of hand. Yes, there will be drama among people. There will be interaction among them. WoW can do nothing (nor can any MMO) to address that.

” The Warcraft setting (Horde Vs. Alliance) naturally predisposes players into the PvP mindset, which I don’t like due to the potential for abuse.”

Therefore, let no MMO universe be made of any game series that had conflict? But if a story doesn’t have conflict… you see where I’m going.

“My theory is this: Forcing players into a PvP combat situation is akin to forcing players to be griefed; conversely, restricting players from PvP forces them into mindless grinding without any purpose. World of Warcraft does not provide enough PvE variety or non-combat PvP competition.”

See, you mention NOW the lack of variety, but it would sure do well (especially earlier when you dismissed the PvE) to know what’s there and what’s lacking and why the PvE there doesn’t count.

I know you’re playing the game to test your assumptions… which is exactly why I wanted you to be aware of this one.

Ismail

You’re still bound to find alot of asshats though.