The core of the discussion is around mechanics that only one game has ever successfully resolved. Not getting this right drives players away and once that happens, there is almost no chance to get them back.
There is nothing wrong with players who want to PvP being able to engage with anyone they come across, whether the target is willing to engage in PvP or not. Games like NW that only allow this through a flagging system miss the entire point behind having PvP in the wild. Being a potential target is what makes venturing in the wild more thrilling. Otherwise the trip becomes something you do while watching Netflix on another screen.
However, getting killed over and over again isn’t engaging. It doesn’t matter if it’s PvP or PvE. No one would be playing this game if it was the recently dead killing players over and over again in the GY, or if bears/wolves were sitting right outside of every town and new players only had a small chance of sneaking out and returning with their harvests. I think the majority of the player base can agree with this. Just like I think the majority of the player base can agree that if two guilds are at war with each other, there should be no consequences in standings for killing each other. Similarly, players should not log into this game thinking they can wander the world protected from other player’s misdeeds.
In my opinion the solution to this dilemma is to make the system much more nuanced. If you are roaming the world seeking PvP, any encounters with others doing the same should result in very little change in standings for either group. You are, after all, effectively dueling at a larger scale. However, if you come across someone who is not out roaming, the penalties for engaging them should be a bit stiffer. As should be the penalties if those not out looking for PvP decide to actively engage in some. Engaging players in a somewhat protected area (such as the GY), should be stiffer yet, and killing players repeatedly at spawn points should carry severe penalties. Not prohibited mind you, just costlier.
In reality, this is the approach that Eve took. It wasn’t just the security status of the sector you were in that dictated the risk vs reward aspects of the game. In Eve you would be flagged as a criminal for looting other people’s wrecks, but unless it happened in front of a ‘guard’, only the victim could do anything about it. There were companies that focused on high-sec wars (often being anonymously hired) to harass others that the ‘guards’ were never get involved in. There were other companies who routinely paid rewards for random players to kill others engaged in various activities, rewards high enough to cover any costs when the ‘guards’ did step in. You could even seek revenge against someone who killed you, regardless of the security status of the sector, for a certain period of time. It wasn’t perfect, but it certainly provided an environment that was never safe from other players killing you and taking your stuff, but one where risk vs reward was scaled and known.
That’s the type of system MO2 needs.
