Alright everyone, let's go counter-clockwise, ok?

I like to PvP.



It's fun, it's dynamic, it's an ever evolving facet of most games.

In Diablo 2: LoD, I ran a pair of assassins, level 18, and level 42. Each was a powerhouse made to fight characters much higher in level, and win. The level 18 assassin, Solaki, was pretty vanilla; tons of +max damage gems, Twitchthroe unique studded leather armor, Luna Pelta unique buckler, and a few other unique set items. Go hostile, cast Burst of Speed, spam Tiger Strike till I have 3 charges, then unleash over 1700 dmg on my targets candy ass (average HP of a normal level 18 character is around 200). My level 42 assassin, Slice_O_Rama, was more original, and much nastier. Using the Martial Arts skills Dragon's Talon and Dragon's Flight, I tweaked her build to deliver 3500 dmg a hit, with 4.5 swings per second (almost 16k a second). Furthermore, I gave her ranks in Venom, giving her a 2500 dmg poison DoT, over 0.6 seconds, re-applied every time she hit. In order to catch those pesky Sorcerers who like to teleport around, I used Dragon's Flight to teleport attack foes, stunning them for a precious split second, giving me the window to tear into them. I was particularly proud of Slice_O_Rama, to my knowledge, she was unique.

In City of Heroes, I loved using unorthodoxed, seemingly underpowered characters, to relentlessly pursue and engage other players with. In the Invention Origin Era of CoH, I ran an AR/Dev Blaster that was stealth capped, perception capped, with massive inherent acc and rech buffs, with the ability to gut a targets defense and resistance. I'd, literally, fly around the zone, snaring Villains and revealing Stalkers, being a pest to everyone. People like to poke fun at me for using Assault Rifle in PvP, but I found it very useful. Unable to deliver a spike like Ice or Fire, and without that hard hitting 3rd single target blast, AR lags behind other sets. However, most of its attacks are instantaneous (no striking animation, once the bullet is fired, the target is hit immediately). That meant that any time I sniped someone, or blasted someone with a few rounds, they had no idea where I was. I could follow foes for a few minutes, confounding them, till they had the sense to simply look up, and see me hovering above, chambering another round. That, or I'd run my Invul/SS Tanker. Not nearly as many bells and whistles as my Blaster, but he was relentless and hit hard. Given that I mainly PvPed in Siren's Call, my Tanker hit harder in melee than almost anything else other than a /EM Blaster.

I didn't get to PvP much in WoW, but I did enjoy Warsong Gulch. I enjoyed the team based, objective emphasized combat, and I liked the feeling of storming into the enemies base. I enjoyed, more so, the knowledge that at any given point, I could encounter other players while questing, and be forced to fight them. In particular, I was questing, alone, in the mountains northwest of Ogrimar (can't remember their name, been too long), when I came upon an Elven Rouge, 2 levels higher than me, in the same area. I ambushed an defeated her, only to have her track me down and try to return the favor (final score, Horde 2, Alliance 0).

Then there is Guild Wars, in which I love to PvP with my Warrior. I prefer Hammers to Swords or Axes, I prefer the elite Backbreaker especially. I think that 1/4 knocking someone is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, and requires very good timing. I like the Arenas, I enjoy Alliance Battles, and I hope to storm Heroes Ascent soon.

However, I've found Alliance Battles troublesome lately. I can't tell you how much I hate to hear, at the beginning of a match, "don't fight, just cap." I understand how important it is to capture and hold shrines, I probably capture more than anyone on my team. However, you HAVE to fight. You can't just ignore the enemy and hope they don't kick your ass, while you're trying to take their shrine from them. You need to be aggressive, and balance killing with capping. You need to know when it's a good idea to stop for a second to beat someones face in, and you need to know when fighting is a waste of time. The idea that fighting is always a waste a time is ignorant at best. I mean, you get points for killing enemies. What do you get from shrines? Point. Know what makes it easier to cap shrines? Killing enemies. It may just be me, but I see an odd synergy there.

Besides, you know it's epic lulz when I kill the Minion Mancer, and his minions turn on his team. You know it's awesome when I spike a monk and kill it while his Dervish ally tries desperately to stop me. You know that every time you kill them, it breaks them a little. You know how many times I've seen the other side leave the match after getting smashed during the first 45 seconds of an AB? Or how often I have players simply avoid me and run away at all costs, after I beat them in a 3v1?

Or course, it works both ways. Can't even begin to tell you how many times I've been Michael Jackson'ed to death by R/Ns, or worked over by Elementalists that actually know how to play.

Anyway, I digress. Point is, it's call Alliance Battles, not Alliance Real Estate. Fighting and Capping should be balance, and the team that does so wins.