Rather than this being a nice little post about the evils of the computer AI and how it’s too easy for everyone and how it has to cheat in order to even somewhat compare to a human player, this is going to be a post on how to avoid the AI entirely. Many games have a single-player or PvE (Player vs. Environment) campaign with the addition on the side of a multiplayer or PvP (Player vs. Player) to increase replayability of the game. Richard Bartle (a man famous for his creation of MUD1 all those years ago) once wrote an article on gamer psychology, classifying all gamers into four different subcategories based on whether they liked to explore, compete, achieve, or socialize.
PvP or PK (Player-killing) has been a large part of the gaming scene since the creation of board games. Chess was entirely about PvP, working on destroying your opponent in the best way possible. I recently read somewhere (and I don’t remember where, so I apologize for a lack of a quote here) that males are constantly looking for some way to prove themselves superior to their fellow humans. Usually, this turns into a war game of some sort, chess being a prime example of a war game like this.
In more recent times, especially in games like MMORPGs, PvP is considered to be a very elite sport, requiring time, patience, and skill to compete well with others who try to put the same amount of dedication into the game. In fact, Korea actually deemed the PvP aspect of Starcraft important enough to make it a national sport, akin to United States’ basketball.
Some games have been entirely based on PvP, notably games like Demigod and Archlord and League of Legends, while others have PvE content as well, such as most mainstream MMORPGs. Each of these games have their strengths and weaknesses. Some of the most intense PvP that I’ve ever witnessed was actually in text-based MUDs of the past, notably games like Abandoned Realms and GodWarsII.
Why do you play a game? Do you play for the PvP aspect of the game? Do you even enjoy PvP? Let me know!
Character Creation 