There was a time when it was common for every MMORPG to have a similar server list: there were the normal servers where most players could be found, a roleplaying server or two for people to constantly argue what is and isn’t roleplaying, and then somewhere near the bottom of that list, usually with a warning to new players, there was the ubiquitous, ignored and unbalanced
hardcore PvP server. Regardless of the game, the players on this server believed themselves to be above everyone else. Playing on the hardcore server was the ultimate rush, it was living life on the edge, they were a part of the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-TREME generation, and people on other servers were pussies.
For example, if you just got back from dodging Juba on the front lines to continue your career as a skydiving trainer while spending your weekends riding motocross without a helmet, but you played Dark Ages of Ultima Quest on a normal server, they’d call you a faggot, ez-mode carebear. And they’d be right, because you are!
Those same X-treme dudes are found today on the official forums of WoW, Everquest 2 and DDO, begging the developers for the same thing:
“
ATTN BLUE: Free for all liek in that south park episode!”
“Make gold lootable in world-PvP!”
“Make ppl lose a level when you kill them!”
“BLUE PLZ RESOND: permanent character death”
“just let us loot their items!!!!!”
“MAKE A HARDCORE SERVER”
Do they think that will work? Will Blizzard, SOE, or any developer make a hardcore server because PvP studs beg? They’d rather base their decision on what’s happened in the past, and they’d do that by looking at a history lesson I made up in a few minutes. You can look too.
(note that I’m not listing games that were made for PvP such as Eve or Shadowbane, and that I have never played any of these games and I don’t have a computer and I don’t know what I’m doing.)
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| wahts ur equip? |
Ultima Online: Siege Perilous
Launched: ‘99
Why? Because someone thought UO (a game where players hacked up each other’s corpses and trapped their victims in chairs) needed to be harder. Siege was designed with an increased focus on player interaction through economics, player dependency and the crowd favorite, killing. However, as developers come and go, the ideals were lost and today Siege is treated like a secret that no member of EA is allowed to speak of.
The Special Rules (EA, take note): A pure player-driven economy (hey it was a new idea back then), as selling items to NPC’s is not allowed and buying is difficult. Normal traveling methods are removed, making players depend on other players (specifically mages) in order to travel long distances. There are no safe areas in the entire game, everything is open to PvP. And if you happen to be killed your items can be looted. Insurance; a way of protecting your items, is almost completely removed, on this server you may only insure a single item. Skills are also difficult to obtain, sometimes taking months longer than the 2-3 hours required on the normal servers.
What is it like?
If you are able to find the server (you must enter a secret code that is found nowhere in the game or the official website, or obtain a high level on a normal server) you are treated to a very different culture. As one long-time UO player said after starting a new character on Siege,
“Logging in gives me that feeling of fear and vulnerability. That is what I missed the most [on normal servers].
The feeling that at anytime, someone could run into my screen and things could change.” In response to item looting, nudist colonies have popped up across the land, taking no-risk pot shots at passerby.
Was it successful? (In terms of population)
It’s hard to estimate population in UO, but it seems the server was very busy after the release in the summer of ’99. However, current estimates are that Siege has 1/3 the population of a normal server. Players are quick to point out that lack of developer attention could be the problem, and also that the server is HIDDEN WITH A SECRET CODE. I still can't get over that.
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| pais toal dis my road |
Everquest: Rallos Zek
Launched: '99
Why? It was kind of pathetic when the developers caved in to player demand, but that was in vogue back in those days when devs called it “listening to the community.” Originally players on any server could choose to be "PvP Flagged" or not, but once a PvP-only server came out all the players who wanted to be PvP simply went there - which effectively ruined the "PvP Flag" idea and what could have been a major part of Everquest. Oh well!
The special rules: Free for all, players within 4 levels of one another could kill and loot one item from their victim.
What was it like?
The first good item I got on this server was a rare drop from a rare monster. My initial emotion was joy, but that quickly turned into paranoia. “Someone is going to steal it from me, I can’t let them take my precious Ivandyr’s Hoop!” and I ran back to the city. I put that wonderful item in a bag where it was safe from other players. I didn’t take it out until nearly a year later when I decided to risk everything and become a full time player-killer.
It was kind of a cool system, probably unintentional, but what they (accidently?) created was a risk vs reward system in PvP. If you wore your best items you’d be risking them, but then you’d be rewarded by your PvP ability giving you a better chance at the other guy’s items. It was kind of like Las Vegas. The more you risked, the more you could make.
The weirdest thing about this server was that PvP was rare, especially at higher levels. If you played it safe, you could go several months to a year without experiencing a fight with another player, and remember there were no safe zones! (until expansion #163 anyway) The safety was due partly to the community policing themselves by forming groups of “anti-player killers,” roaming the world protecting innocents and stopping “random-player killers.” to a greater extent than any mmorpg before it, which turned out to be almost too effective.
Random player killers were rare, they made a lot of money, but were usually outcast from the community, making it nearly impossible for them to attend raids and difficult for them to get buffs or teleports. If you became a random player killer, everything else in the game became off limits, and groups of anti-pk’s would actively hunt you from the moment you logged on until you logged off.
Was it successful? (in terms of player population): Initially it was one of the most populous servers and sat near the top, but it slowly declined to the bottom of the list after a year. However, Rallos Zek was popular compared to future “hardcore” servers released, one of them being…
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| SZ's first law of nature: training > pvp |
Everquest: Sullon Zek
Launched: '01
Why? One of the developers decided he knew what went wrong on every other PvP server and wanted to fix all of the problems, one of them being people were too afraid to PvP, but instead he convinced Sony to make a new server – despite past failures. He played a girl character (I forgot his name, lady something or other) and was sure this would be the greatest thing ever. The word “hardcore” was thrown around every other sentence.
The special rules: It was called the "no rules" server, but that referred to player's actions. The hard-coded rules gave players 3 teams to choose from, each separated by religion. There were no level limits on PvP. The penalty for getting killed was a small loss of experience (about a 1/3 of a normal Everquest death), but this penalty was only handed out if the killer was within 5 levels. There was nothing to be gained by killing other players – though a token system was half-implemented, rewards were never given until the server was nearly offline.
What was it like? PvP was frequent and random at all levels. If a player could kill you, they usually would. The teams were horribly lopsided, though all teams were able to achieve high level raiding guilds, one team clearly dominated the others.
Was it successful? Initially yes, it had more players than any other server, but after a few months, no. Its small community loved it dearly, but it was the least popular server in Everquest – until…
Everquest: Discord
Launched: '03 (?)
Why? Some sadistic asshole on the dev team must have been pretty influential. Discord was billed as a temporary contest to see who could survive in the most brutal server for Everquest in anticipation for an upcoming expansion pack, "Gates of Discord". In other words, it was an experiment on how much shit players could take.
The Special Rules: Permanent character death for any reason, even if the character died to a monster. Upon death your items, your levels, your spells and your money were all gone, but you did get to keep your name. No level limits. No teams. No guilds. Other players could loot every single item off of a dead player. The winners (the players who were still alive and had the most kills) were allowed to keep their character and move it to a server of their choice.
What was it like? Pure chaos. If you got past level 10, you were an exceptional player. If you did it without cheating, you were godly. The excitement of knowing your character's death was permanent made every little fight - even against a level 4 monster, exciting. However, death was almost inevitable and the penalty so harsh that it was tough to muster the will to start over again. I had some of the most exciting moments in my gaming life here – but after dying to a monster when my cable went out, could not bring myself to start all over a third time.
Was it successful? It was wildly popular at first, but the numbers quickly fell, and in the final weeks they hit all-time lows, with only 200 to 300 players on at a time, (normal Everquest servers had 1,500 to 2,000 players on at a time, even the other unpopular PvP servers had double or triple Discord’s amount) though this could partly be because the server was temporary, and everyone knew it was about to end.
Dark Ages of Camelot: Mordred (and Andred)
Launched: ‘02
Why? Developers either gave in to player demand or they were worried about Shadowbane (which was released a few months later). While DAoC servers already had PvP, which was a ho-hum team “realm versus realm” deal, it wasn’t good enough for the messageboard warriors who begged for a true PvP experience.
The Special Rules:
Open communication, the ability to group with any player, fight any player, and travel to any area of the game. All zones are PvP enabled except capital cities and player housing areas.
What is it like?
In the very beginning there were a few anti-PK guilds, but they gave up and now PvP is rampant and common. Public raids aren’t a good idea, as they are easily spied on and ruined by PvP. Guilds frequently get into wars with one another, sometimes lasting years before one side finally gives in.
Was it successful?
The population was extremely high after the initial release. Within a year the server went from supporting a 3000 player population to roughly a 1500 player population. Developers quit paying attention to the server, letting bugs and exploits get the best of it. Now it is the smallest DAoC server in existence, with a population of about 200.
Asheron’s Call: Darktide
Launched: ‘99
Why? Part player-demand, and part necessity. Both UO and Everquest had special PvP servers – I don’t think anyone at that point could imagine a MMORPG without a hardcore PvP server.
The Special Rules: If you die, players can loot a random item on your body. This could be an item that took you 2 years to get. Your killer could even loot your bag which carried other items. Your skills will decrease upon death as well, until you kill enough monsters to earn them back. No town guards, no "safe zones."
What was it like? As the loading screen states, Darktide is a harsh existence. One player gave this advice,
“dta [don’t trust anyone] even if they’re in your guild.”
That an acroynym for the saying was necessary speaks volumes about life on Darktide.
The PvP itself was unique in that players could dodge spells and attacks. If a poorly geared player is especially good at dodging attacks, he can overcome a more powerful character.
Guilds of anti-PK’s are constantly formed to attempt to stop random killing, but unlike Rallos Zek, they are not the majority. The way the guild system is set up it’s difficult to filter out trouble makers from guilds, especially if that guild is large. This keeps anti-PK guilds small since they are picky who joins, and allows random-PK guilds to get big since they generally don’t care about their reputation.
Was it successful? (in terms of population)
Darktide is the anomaly on this list. The server was nearly deserted at first, as one of the history sites I found related,
“
you could run through specific towns without meeting a single person for hours (I remember myself sitting in Yanshi on the town-rock without a single person popping up on radar for 3 hours)”
Which was unheard of at the time – every other server was packed. But instead of frustrated players quitting like everywhere else, the challenges on Darktide slowly attracted more people, until it became the most popular Asheron’s Call server, and still is today.
Conclusions
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None of these PvP servers turned out to be a big hit.
By big hit, I mean that in 0 out 6 of the cases above did a majority of players quit their normal servers and go for the hardcore PvP life. Yes, Darktide was popular, but it was the only PvP server. There was never a need to create more hardcore servers than normal servers, because there was never enough interest. Why would a developer create a server that only a fraction of their players will use?
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In most cases, the amount of people who beg for a hardcore PvP server is infinitely greater than the amount people who will actually play it for more than a week.
Nobody creates their evil Orc Shadowknight and imagines that one day he’ll be crying and begging a PK for his +2 cloak back, or goes out of his way to avoid PvP in fear of getting embarrassed again. They imagine their level 352 Orc crushing wave upon wave of newbie roleplaying paladins, because they have a master plan, a little secret that nobody else thought of:
“I’m going to get lots of levels and items!” Their dream is crushed when they find that 3,000 other people have the same plan, and back to the normal server they go.
- Anti-PK’s only appear on servers with item loot.
I have nothing to add, I just thought it was interesting.
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Cheating bad.
A god-mode exploit doesn’t mean much to a monster, but it’s a different story with players especially if they have something to lose.
- Cheating not so bad.
As one player on Siege said,
“We have no problems with cheaters, we just kill them.” Two of the most common forms of cheating on normal servers, AFK botting/macroing and buying gold, are both bad ideas when people can steal your stuff.
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That “Paranoid Feeling”
Anyone who has played on one of the above servers knows what I’m talking about – you can’t get it on any other server or game.
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Server History
When researching the servers above, history was everywhere. With the increased drama comes increase interest in history, and people dedicate whole websites to famous battles, powerful alliances, the day the most powerful guild was crushed, and so on.
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Players on every single server above complained about developer neglect.
There is no question these servers are neglected. Bugs that have never been fixed, horrible class imbalance, and in one case a developer didn’t even know the rules for the server and he was the guy assigned to fix it. It makes sense, if you don’t have a lot of players you’re not going to have money to fix problems. The question is who gave up first, the devs or the players?
- And finally, there will not be a hardcore PvP server for WoW or any MMORPG in the near future.
Adding an unpopular server that takes large amounts of development time is a stupid idea. In the case of WoW and its 7,000,000 players, any type of experimental server would take 15 times the resources and could fail on a scale 15 times bigger than any server listed above. That could be colossally, millions-of-dollars-lost stupid. It’s not worth the risk.
Glimmers of hope for PvP tough guys
Financial success of a hardcore server doesn’t make a difference to the players. They believe they’ve found the height of gaming; A PvE server is to McDonalds as Siege Perilous is to foie gras. If you don't prefer hardcore servers, you just haven’t acquired the taste because all you know is an immature, childish carebear server. When you grow up and your tastes mature to player-driven economies, meaningful PvP and actual communication, remember that you can fuck off faggot, you’re probably 14 IRL and a virgin, I’m going to log my main and kick ur ass and ur guilds until you quit.
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