In Part I of II, follow Editor Chris "Pwyff" Tom as he explores Aion's World PvP Vision and some small tips as to how you can survive it

If you've ever played Aion or any other MMORPG that focuses on world PvP (World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online) then you may also be aware of just how annoying-and awesome-this age-old MMO feature can be. It's annoying because world PvP is basically the act of giving a handful of players the ability to frustrate and ruin the plans of others for no reason whatsoever. On the other hand, however, world PvP can be awesome because… well… you could be one those players frustrating and ruining the plans of others for no reason whatsoever.

Cool, huh?

Sadly enough, for you younger or more inexperienced players, Aion may very well be your first MMORPG and, as a result, world PvP can be a baffling and incredibly stressful thing - a game mechanic whose sole objective is to ruin your double experience weekends and make you lose your food buffs before they normally expire (it's as if they're waiting for you to eat that sausage before they kill you!). If you find yourself frantically nodding your head in agreement to the above statement, then I have some more bad news for you.

Unfortunately, when it comes to world PvP, Aion has one of the steepest learning curves of any MMORPG. This is really due to the nature of the game itself; there are no battlegrounds for you to test your fighting (and flag capturing!) skills, poorer players are at an extreme disadvantage, as consumables tend to play a deciding factor in small skirmishes and the consequences for dying in Aion are some of the highest of any MMORPG. Luckily, however, amongst all of this scary news, there remains some hope as, over the next few articles, I will covering the basics of PvP and world PvP in order to, hopefully, get you introduced to this unforgiving, often frustrating, but potentially very, very fun world that is PvP in Aion. This week, we will talk about what world PvP is and give a few hints as to how you can survive in this hostile environment.

What is world PvP?

Interestingly enough, the definition and purpose of world PvP is something that even game developers have difficulty pinning down. In Aion, world PvP seems to be designed to encourage a global community of protectors and attackers - everything was created in such a way that players can quickly teleport to the general areas under attack, but travel within those areas is limited to walking. In this way, victims can call for help and, if the helper is a savvy enough tracker, he should be able to find the perpetrator and (hopefully) bring him to justice.

This works to encourage a sort of "patrol" system, where stronger players are expected to protect weaker players by patrolling maps for enemies when rifts are up (rifting will be explained next time!), or protecting high-traffic areas in the Abyss. It was expected that there would be constantly shifting battles taking place throughout Atreia, with players able to constantly wage large-scale war in the Abyss, or take to their respective home worlds of Elysia and Asmodae to defend their lower level players from roaming rifting parties.

So what is Aion's World PvP like?

Unfortunately, one big problem with Aion is that it is very dependent on the player base to create a competitive environment.

One thing common amongst many MMO gamers is that we like to "maximize" our time and our efficiency. Aion's PvP progression system is designed to encourage the accumulation of abyss points. The problem that stems from this, however, is that efficiency tends to breed apathy and boredom - endlessly killing NPC guards represents the safest and most efficient method of generating Abyss Points, and any player-related death can result in the loss of thousands of these points.

See what's happening?

In this way, most high level players try to stay as safe as possible and, as a result of this protective attitude, much of Aion's World PvP scene has been affected - Asmodae and Elysia are rife with roving bands of well-equipped attackers, but when it comes to defending, most players are wary of engaging such well-prepared groups, and so they avoid them. What ultimately ends up happening is that the strong are killing off the weak for both sides, but very little is being done to protect the weak.

So how do you survive if nobody is around to help you?