Before I retired I dealt with dozens of people daily, hundreds a week. (military) Both counseling and critiquing, I have had troopies, honest and liars stare me in the face and swear on their mothers grave something was one way or the other. I have the experience to know how people think in a myriad of situations.
Take this game for example. A small number of gamers want PVP, a larger amount do not want PVP in multiplayer. Arguments on both sides attack and defend positions as to why it happens, how it can be avoided and what controls can or cant be set in place.
There are a voicefull few that use the excuse, you come into a warzone, do not cry. This is a true and valid statement. Where this starts to become a self serving statement is when a PK gamer, and many do this, find a nice nesting spot to squat down and knowing they will interact with many lesser opponents, farm the area and be quite satisfied doing it. This leads to bad experiences to others. The Pk gamer will eventually be killed but this does not deter the gamer that thinks like they do, they will return or find another hunting ground and repeat the same conduct. The vast majority of PVP'rs do not seek out equal or more powerful opponents, that's a fact.
There is abhorrent behavior in this world, and people will grin, shake your hand and be pleasant until the moment they stab someone in the back if they think they can get away with it. Many think they can and will use the forums to decry others and stand on a soapbox stating their position is the only way and quite justified. What happens when this justification ends up leaving them in an instance where others think the way they do, where all they do is gnaw on each others ankles? There is the prey and there is the predator, once all the prey is gone, the predators will turn on each other, then themselves, Lord of the Flies is a great example of the way these people think.
This game isn't made for just the type A people, its made for everyone that loves space sims and being a gamer. We need game mechanics in place to prevent abuse of the killing privilege, we need oversight and regulations for those few people that want to actively seek out and trash other people, regardless of the reason, they paid money, so they should get to do what they want within reason.
We need to make the PVE player happy too, and not restrict them to just single player game modes, that's an absurd idea, and only the PK's suggest it. What does it matter to the PK that cant kill everyone (player) they want in a multiplayer game? The only tenable argument a player has for wanting to kill every player they meet is their own entitled wants. These PK players want everything their way, they do not deserve or require everything their way.
There are many ways to handle both PVP and PVE and make it great for all involved. The developers simply have to have an iron fist and common sense game mechanics to execute this. the developers also need to temper choices between common sense requests and simple "I want, I deserve, I want, I demand" requests by any type of gamer PVE or PVP.
In the end the developers will do what they want. The voicefull minority of PVP'rs will not end up getting their way, this is a simple fact. It is far better to lose a few disgruntled pk's than lose thousands of potential consumers ready to spend cash.
Limiting PVE players to a single player play style is a foolish line of thought and not good for the health of the game. Letting PK players run amok on the other hand is also not healthy....so what do you do? Separation is not the answer. PVP spices up a sometime dull multiplayer experience, it is when the game mechanics in place do not regulate this PVP behavior that the game begins to sour the experience of others. PVP Gamers will never police themselves. Developers need to think out of the box and be careful who they listen to for feedback and just what they implement.
