Let's be honest. How many times have you logged onto a new server, and found yourself killed by Mr. Diamond Armor a few minutes after spawning? C'mon. All you had was some dirt, wood, and maybe some used iron tools a friendly veteran gave you. Yes, you got frustrated, but all they said was, "It's PVP, noob. Get over it!" or "Join a faction/guild!".

Let's address that latter statement first. By nature, it would be difficult to join any kind of guild after five minutes of playing on a server. Especially if you're a noob on that server. You don't know anyone, and really... no one trusts you...yet?. One should take into account the amount of time to earn trust and develop your stockpile of equipment before any self-respecting guild would accept you as a member.

That was the easy part.

The former response addresses PVP. Now what is PVP? PVP stands for Player Versus Player. Easy-peasy.

Is PVP actually fighting against players of your own skill/equipment level? Or does PVP often entail the strong preying on the weak? I have found that it is, in most cases, the strong preying upon the weak. I expect to be flamed right about now.

BUT!

Please understand that...I understand what PVP is! When I get killed on a server as a total noob, I know for certain that it is allowed. I can't complain against it. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to log in, or apply to the whitelist, etc. I am not complaining about being killed. I understand that it's completely fair to be snuck up on and killed from behind.

What I am speaking about is something on a different level, maybe a sort of meta-PVP idea.

I recently played on a server where, as a new member, it was particularly difficult to get started, due to the fact that I kept getting killed by Mr. Diamond Armor. When a server ends up like this, I have a tested theory that the server begins to dig itself into a grave. By having an elite, and no particularly fun way for a noob to rise to that elite level, the server begins to have two player-bases: the veteran, and the noob who will leave after ten minutes because of frustration.

Most of the veterans will think: "Good. We don't need noobs here anyways."

Realize that I am not speaking to the player-base. You guys can do whatever you want. I give zero fucks. I am speaking for the server hosts and server creators.

When you create a server with no real way to rise up from the nooby ashes other than WoW style farming, how will you find that huge player-base you've always dreamed of having on your server? All this creates is a small, tight-knit community that will play for perhaps a few months, rise to the top, and then leave out of boredom.

This quality separates the unbelievable awesome servers from the unbelievably horrible. The greats, and the ones near that level, have found a way to create a fun, welcoming environment. (of course there are the servers that WANT that tight-knit group, you guys may disregard this I guess...)

This brings us back to the ambiguity of PVP. What do you want PVP to mean for your server? Do you want a fair fight? Do you want to do away with stupid landslide victories? These are the questions you must ask yourself before programming those mods and slapping PVP in the the tags for your server.

Of course, I am open to all input on this matter. Please leave your comments below in a polite fashion, grammatical fashion.

;]

- MC Server Review