Impressions PvE Vs PvP Servers - Note To Players, Both Have Lots Of PvP
By: Foghladha
There's a lot of misunderstanding going about and I feel that perhaps I can shed some light on it. I've been playing a while now on both styles of servers. Both servers types have PvP. And no im not talking about Warfronts.
My PvE Server Experience
At level 15 I swam my way to the island with the tower on it which links Freemarch to Silverwood. I ventured over to the hostile territory to see just what PvP would be like on the PvE servers. Within 5 minutes of arriving in hostile territory I had my first fight with a couple Defiants. Attacking Defiant footholds and villages flag you PvP instantly. You can heal guardian shardstones and guardian invasion forces. Any of these actions flags you PvP. In the higher levels opening rifts in hostile territory flags you as well, taking hostile camps flags you PvP. I have spent most of my time on a PvE server flagged PvP not by triggering my PvP flag but by actions I've taken. I have found that on the PvE servers the fights almost always are close to my own level. I rarely encountered a level 50 camping the lowbie zones like I have in the PvP servers. For the most part the PvE server has given me some great times to not only PvP but also to make some friends on the other side of the ball by helping them close rifts and get some of those Close x Rifts in a hostile zone achievements. In the higher levels it's like a giant rvr lake and you will almost always be flagged pvp if your doing anything thats not pve centric ;). Killing hubs is a lot of fun and rewards you some pretty nice rewards.
My PvP Server Experience
I followed the same drill. Swam out to Freemarch at level 15 and wandered around a bit. You don't get autoflagged in freemarch or silverwood, however if your guardian and you go to freemarch your permaflagged. So you'll be running around PvP flagged while the defiant stare at you blankly. Occasionally one will flag themselves but most of the time if they have a guild tag above their head you'll see the standard of death appear and out will spawn 3 to 5 level 50's to pummel you over and over again. Just recently one even went as far as to /em pees on Conchobairs corpse. The maturity level of the PvP server is way lower than that of the PvE server and I almost NEVER find anyone willing to fight fair. They almost always summon their high level friends and then /laugh at you. Now if your like me, I'm pretty honored that a level 17 has to summon 3 level 50's to take me down at level 15. If im that big of a threat i must be doing something right lol. While I can find the occasional player leaving the warfronts whos still flagged and remotely close to my level the majority of the time im running for my life from players who are 3 to 4x my level. Also I find that PvP servers are very prone to Guild Griefing nights. A few days ago a entire guild decided it would be fun to camp the border to glomewood and kill everyone who entered. All level 40+ they sat and camped a level 20 zone for "Fun".
The Big Picture
In my experience I had a lot more fun and a lot more PvP fights that were closer to my own level on the PvE server. The difference between the servers from what I can tell is predominantly the maturity level. Players on the PvE side are more likely to say good fight or chat it up with ya over a rift before they go and /pee on you. When I first started playing I thought the PvP servers were the only way we would see PvP and from my experience I can tell you the PvP was a lot funner on the PvE server. The PvP server caters to insecure kids who have to show their pride by beating up people 1/4 their own level then laughing about it and thumping their chest about how cool they are. They are the same types who run from a fair fight. If you play on a PvP server you can expect, Rude gestures and emotes, rude messages, quest hub camping, quest location camping, and a metric ton of Grieifing. While I did manage to have some fun on the PvP server I have to say that there is very little that separates the two styles. Both server types will have pvp centric content. One you just don't have to worry about the insecure ones thumping their chest every time you try to turn a quest in.