Since I didn't see any PvP conversation going on today, and I'm pulling my hair out over these last 6? days before early release, I thought I'd try to spark some conversation and creativity

*Puts on Robe and Wizard Hat*

Let's start by acknowledging that PvP in ESO should be optional, and in no way is this thread meant to impose on PvE, that being said people show me the same respect and keep an open mind if you decide to read what I have to say

All I'm hoping to do here is spark some positive and creative brainstorming for PvP in ESO, going into the future, say one or two years down the road.

The way I feel personally, when it comes to PvP in Elder Scrolls, is I'm completely content with having Cyrodiil to start, it's a great way for us to brew some rivalry between factions and have a lot of fun in epic large - scale battles. However, when I hear people say that other forms of PvP would take away from Cyrodiil, I have to disagree. I feel that having smaller scale battles would not only give us more variety, but it would glorify Cyrodiil for what it is - war !

The experience you get from battling alongside 100's of your teammates, going up against armies of foes ( REAL PLAYERS ), is completely different than say 10vs10, 5v5, or even 2v2. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be in the game.

Yes, if you want you can travel Cyrodiil in smaller groups if you choose too and yes there's tons you can do in Cyrodiil. Even better !

Having instanced PvP wouldn't be a bad thing. It allows for things like:

Capture the Flag,

Arena,

Guild vs Guild,

Tournament,

Team Deathmatch

To everyone thinking "ESports", I completely agree with you, where there is ranking, or leaderboards there is always going to be competition, and people who take passion in the game. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as it's not forced upon you - for example in WarCraft where 2v2 literally is the fastest way to get the recent tier of armour - I disagree with this completely. But there's no reason people shouldn't be able to if they want to. After all - Cyrodiil has Emperor Status, and Leaderboards, which people will of course be playing their hearts out to get. And that's awesome ! You know, my experience with PvP in WoW is a perfect example for how ESports or PvP is really optional. If you don't like the idea of Arena in ESO, you shouldn't be scared of it. I know so many people who play WoW, who only raid. This games going to have raids. So don't worry. But anyway, my story with WoW. In 7 years of playing the game, only in the recent 2 have I really gotten into PvP. That's 2 whole years of learning PvP, different classes and healing. I only ever looked at the game as an ESport once, in 2's and tried to push rating with a friend. I made it to the 1750 achievement and I was happy with that. And just to get 1750 took a great deal of effort in learning how to time our CC's and what not. Maybe not getting to 2k makes me bad, but the point is that I DONT CARE, it's still just a game. But, having a system like that, that you can work towards getting higher in, it's FUN and adds A LOT to the game, not to mention appeal, to the 5 million + MMO PVP players in the world..

If you're going to say "Just Go Play WoW or LoL" - well, I've been a loyal subscriber to WarCraft for 7 years now, and I just want something new. You know, my experience with PvP in WoW is a perfect example for how ESports or PvP is really optional. If you don't like the idea of Arena in ESO, you shouldn't be scared of it. I know so many people who play WoW, who only raid. This games going to have raids. So don't worry. But anyway, my story with WoW. In 7 years of playing the game, only in the recent 2 have I really gotten into PvP. That's 2 whole years of learning PvP, different classes and healing. I only ever looked at the game as an ESport once, in 2's and tried to push rating with a friend. I made it to the 1750 achievement and I was happy with that. And just to get 1750 took a great deal of effort in learning how to time our CC's and what not. Maybe not getting to 2k makes me bad, but the point is that I DONT CARE, it's still just a game. But, having a system like that, that you can work towards getting higher in, it's FUN and adds A LOT to the game, not to mention appeal, to the 5 million + MMO PVP players in the world..

I've noticed there's a lot of room for expansions on the World Map ! It might be fun to add in an optional high-level zone in an expansion, not a map like Cyrodiil but an actual zone where all three factions have their own territory / quest hubs, but can also World PvP ? It would be really immersive once your high level knowing that at any moment you could be attacked by a member or group of the other factions ( without having to be in Cyrodiil doing RvRvR )

Those are some ideas I had, but all in all, I feel that in the future, the PvP community is going to want some variety in PvP, but I admit I really do like Cyrodiil.

Anyway, so that's how I feel about PvP right now - I tried to explain everything the best I could because I know there are a lot of people against adding other forms of PvP to the game... to PvP fans, this is like saying that they shouldnt add a certain form of PvE, simply because we don't want to take part in it. As long as you're not forced into anyway it shouldn't be an issue. As for my idea for an Open World PvP zone, well that should be an optional area as well. It's really just about having variety! It would make the game flexible and unique.

This is getting long. Oh, what my life has become since they took the beta servers down, and with only 6 days to go

So what do you think? Do I talk to much? Okay I talk to much. But do you agree? Disagree? Any thoughts on PvP in our future here in ESO ? That's all I'll say, and I probably said too much anyway

ALRIGHT GUYS ! I'M REALLY EXCITED TO LIKE, HEAR BACK FROM ALL OF YOU AND STUFF

Considering that this style of PvP has been proven to sustain games even when pve is failing, I see no reason to add things that will drastically change the pvp in the game.

Not yet. Maybe in a few years. No point in even debating it yet. There is PLENTY to do is Cyrodill and they're undoubtedly going to add more.

So long as it's a strict rule that what happens in Cyrodil, World PvP, battlegrounds, and PvE of course, are not nerfed or buffed according to what happens in the arena, and so long as like you said, the Arena gear issue from WoW doesn't intrude on to ESO's wider PvP as a whole, I'd be fine with that.

If it's just titles, and aesthetic stuff, maybe some unique vanity pets or mounts that aren't stronger or weaker, that would be something I wouldn't be opposed to at all.

The worst things that happened in WoW were the gear issue as you mentioned, the other worst thing, was so many classes getting ruined, because Blizzard buffs/nerfed the classes as a whole based off of what happened in the arena itself. If the buffs and nerfs only applied strictly within the arena itself (if those happened), and it didn't cause those gear imbalances, I wouldn't have been bothered though.

If you aren't adding to the meta or the current world map for PvP there's no point in discussing it.

I think if people want to do 2 v 2, 5 v 5, mano y mano or whatever go ahead and do that. Call each other out on the forums and create your own little fight club in Cyridil. But I find the move away from that meaningless e-sport stuff refreshing and don’t want to see e-sports here. I firmly and sincerely believe that it would dramatically take away from what they have built here. There are so many games oriented towards capturing flags until out point count wins the round, in bite sized 15 minute battles. Can’t we have just one game where the battles feel semi real and ongoing?

I say this because the opportunities for e-sport gaming are legion and the opportunities for something that feels more meaningful are virtually nonexistent. WoW and its clones have their following, if this game wants to succeed they need to provide for the people who did not care for the e-sport model which is already well saturated, to cater to that niche of players who are hungry for something else. We have seen the fate of games trying to copy WoW, and the prognosis is not very good.