is this the worst pvp in MMO history?

No, its not the worst mmo pvp, not by a long way!


In terms of class balance, its one of the best I've played, every single class has access to multiple specs that make them good in pvp. All three archetypes are worth while in pvp

In terms of availability of pvp, its great for instanced pvp (quick queues) but pretty rubbish for world pvp. Still, during peak hours you can pvp quickly.

In terms of combat itself, it is fairly fluid but ability delays / bugs make melee harder than it should be. The combat is still flashy and fun and quite tactical, every class has CC to make things interesting!

In terms of overall design philosophy, its pretty poor. They stated during the hype that time to kill would be high but it really isn't, you die very quickly! Open world pvp sucks in terms of design, objectives and incentives. RNG bags suck

So, to sum up the important parts based on my experience of PvP in TOR, LOTRO, WAR and SWG (pre-cu), going best to worst:

Class Balance:

TOR
WAR
LOTRO
SWG

Availability of PvP:

WAR
TOR
LOTRO
SWG

Combat Flow:

SWG
LOTRO
TOR
WAR

Open World Design Philosophy:

SWG
WAR
LOTRO
TOR


So, based on this ranking, I am generally pleased with TOR pvp but due to poor combat flow (ttk too short) and lack of open world objectives, TOR pvp at the moment is looking like a short term activity rather than long term fun. There is no reason to fight on Ilum or any other open world pvp zone beyond farming valor or completing dailies. SWG's class balance may have sucked and the pvp may not have been wide spread, but when you got in to it on a decent template it was damn fun, it took ages to die and being able to build and defend your own base gave you such pride!

No, there are plenty worse.

WoW
WAR

Just a couple, out of the ones ive played anyway. AoC was better, DAoC is best but old.

^^^^^ This.


Miss UO

You guys actually realise that the ones saying that WOW arena and PVP was a failure are the exact ones that couldn't get past 1600 rating?

Sad but true!

I was on 2500+ rating in every season and I consider it the second best PVP in MMO history! The first is won by Guild Wars!

that's not it at all, wow pvp and arena was an addition that was never really intended, a perfect example was focus macros (these things existed solely because at its core, it was a pve game, noone in their right mind ever, would include them in a pvp game), they made me feel like i was in an arms race, they had theirs so i had mine, for example, the pvp would have been greatly improved by disabling focus on enemy players all together in pvp zones, and forcing you to like...be observant.

Ratings are also a bit meh, my first glad was on bg9, and the drastic step down in quality when i tried 7 was awe inspiring, it went from dozens of quality players, to a place where you could count the non mouth breathers on one hand, that being said wotlk never even got a subscription from me.