The Point of PvP

I have some friends wanting to buy Guild Wars but they stumped me with a question and I'm hoping you can answer...

They basically want to know what's the 'point' of PvP. Here's a quote:

"What I want to know is the rewards you get for being skilled at pvp. Like in UO, you got kill points, honor points, a reputation, title.. you could take over a town, and if u took it over you could make elite faction clothing, buy a faction horse, etc...

bragging rights and showing off must come into play.. cause who honestly wants to be elite at something but has nothing to show for it?"

I couldn't answer the question, so I turn to you...

PvP is fun. We play games for fun.

BF1942 is fun. We play it for fun. It's all PvP with no real "point" except the gameplay.

They do throw your friends a bone though - as you succeed in PvP, you will gain fame, and be able to use the /fame command to show people just how 1337 you are.

Personally, I think that PvP is a waste of time and effort. Unless you get something for it then all you are doing is killing other players for recreation. If you were able to take their armor, their swords, or their gold then I could see how PvP would be beneficial to you as a player. Or, if you were able to get double experience from fighting a player than you would from finishing a quest then it might be worth it. But unless you get anything for it then it's really just annoying and a waste of your gameplay time. I like to do things, even if it is for fun, that have a purpose.

Honestly, I think the point of pvp lies in more of a first-person shooter idea than in a traditional MMORPG idea (like the one you mentioned).

A game like Counter-Strike, Quake3, or Return to Castle Wolfenstein is played for years by people because they are fun and it is always a thrill to play against other people. They offer no in-game persistant awards for being good at it. It's just the satisfaction that you are a good player and the enjoyment of their basic game dynamics keep you playing.

In my opinion, Guild Wars is very much akin to those games. It is not so much another iteration of UO or Wow, as it is a hybrid of MMO character development and exhilarating FPS action.

It's a mistake to come into Guild Wars with an MMORPG item-hungry, grow grow grow my character mentality. That well will soon run dry. Within a couple of weeks you will be level 20, at the end of the existing mission sequence, and you'll be left looking at your hands.

Experience means little. When you're level 20, what is experience to you? It affords you flexability with your character, but you're not going to be able to find the Maul of Pwning.

Like I said, we play these games because we enjoy the gameplay. There is a certain call to growing your character, as I'm sure any MMORPG veteran will attest, but you're not going to be getting more powerful, just more flexable. Your role can change, which is something that's hardly possible in most MMORPGs. A healer is a healer. In this game, your healer can ditch all of his healing stuff and decide he wants to use his melee or nuking skills instead.

well, if you hold the hall of heroes for a certain length of time, you open up areas for your world in the WaW tournament, and more besides.

the Hall of Heroes is the highest PVP map acessible only through Tombs of Primeval Kings.

only the best get there.

when a World guild wins 6 matches in the HOH (holding) the statues of the Gods in the Temple of Ages burn, and portals open to new PVE areas with original items and new content. they close only if the winning team loses. so if Koreans win, we lose the areas and they get them. etc.

Worlds are

Euro
America
Asia

I think that's all. also, you can get a celestial sigil for free and you can have your own Guild Hall for GVG(guild v guild)