Why do people get so mad in pvp?

[Breezy]

I'm a new player to the twow scene, and new to wow overall. I've been world pvping other players in my level range in areas that have both factions in close proximity. I try not to kill anybody more than 3-4 levels below me to not be too lame. I'm not trying to trick anybody into flagging their pvp, or anything sketchy. I'm just killing other dudes already flagged. So why do they light up my chat with the worst stuff? Am I breaking some sort of unwritten rule or honor code? Or are there just a lot of people flagged for pvp who don't really want to fight? I'm confused.

[Kairion]

Many people flag themselves with warmode for the 30% increased exp. And when they face the consequences for their own actions, they get mad. Many of these people just want to be done with leveling as quickly as possible. But don't let that deter you. If someone is willingly flagging themselves, they are fair game and you should not feel sorry for attacking them.

[Jaxel]

I would say most people flagged for pvp don't want to fight. The 30% xp boost is super good but locked behind pvp and is a system that needs to change. It serves to offer an xp boost for those that want it while also making them easy prey for ganking. Feels like they were trying to make 2 sets of players happy at once, the pvpers and those that want to level faster. But of the 2 groups the pvpers get their benefit without a downside. They get free easy kills while the xp boosters get thier boost reduced via multiple corpse runs.

[Rat2156]

I would say most people flagged for pvp don't want to fight. The 30% xp boost is super good but locked behind pvp and is a system that needs to change. It serves to offer an xp boost for those that want it while also making them easy prey for ganking. Feels like they were trying to make 2 sets of players happy at once, the pvpers and those that want to level faster. But of the 2 groups the pvpers get their benefit without a downside. They get free easy kills while the xp boosters get thier boost reduced via multiple corpse runs.

It's not meant to be bonus xp, it's only meant to cover for the xp loss due to death. The fact that you see warmode as a 30% xp buff makes you part of the problem

[Aydea]

Breezy,

You are asking an excellent question and you do it respectfully and with courtesy. I am a firm believer in conduct and courtesy so I will try to give you my best take on an answer to this. Keep in mind though that this is only my personal opinion and I cannot speak for other people. I could also be wrong, mind you but I don't feel I am.

Anyways. here is my take on it ...

If I had to sum it up in one word: Responsibility (or lack thereof)

I know, more than one word, but you want more, right? You wouldn't have gone through the trouble of coming here and writing a respectful and courteous forum post. So here is some more ...

One of the problems plaguing society at large is a distinct tendency to not take responsibility for one's actions and choices. Not a new problem either, there were always people like that but nowadays it does feel a little bit more rampant, I'd say.

So, what does this even mean?

Take war-mode for instance. I've spoken to people who legit told me that they activated war-mode "for the +30% xp" (thats not meant as a "bonus" by the way). And yet, those same people would then send private messages to the person who pvped them with the intention to make them feel bad and outright lie to them just for the purpose of being spiteful. I am not kidding or exaggerating by the way.

Here is another example. People take short cuts, ask sixties to "Boost" them and forfeit learning how to play this game. And then when it comes actually performing in such a fashion that a concerted effort (such as raiding) is possible they fall flat on their face. And cause wipes. Why? Because they never learned to play properly, due to taking all sorts of short cuts.

Oh a favorite of mine: The "Bored sixty". This game is a beautifully crafted love letter to a long gone but not forgotten franchise created by developers (who were gamers themselves) in an effort that took years and years. A world full of details, attention and love. Its not always balanced, but it never tried overly hard to be. Its a world for fans of the warcraft franchise to play in as if they were an immersed part of it.
And yet, people have nothing better to do than to rush through it as fast as possible and, unironically, taking every chance to p!ss all over the place and disrespect the developers of this wonderful place by treating them with hostility and an entitled, demanding attitude. -> That does take a certain caliber of person.

So then ... what do these things all have in common?

Responsibility. Or lack there of.

A person who activates war-mode could choose to take responsibility for their choices. And take the thirty percent xp as a compensation, but also the hardship of being attacked any where anytime. And "ganked". And "spawn-camped". And all that jazz. Thats the price.

A person who has the choice to take short cuts could choose to take the time (yes, this game does take time) to learn how to play, to make friends, and goodness perhaps even just take a moment to enjoy the game for what it is, the craftsmanship, the readable books, the sounds or whatever they fancy.

A person could play responsibly. And not do a two or three week eighteen hour a day marathon session burning themselves out rushing, and perhaps even trying to play HC (thats Hard-Core Challenge mode) in such a fashion and then wondering why they are stressed, frustrated and probably not very successful. A person could take the time to bond with people, to create memories good or bad, to learn, the grow and maybe even bring a smile to some random person they meet every once in a while. And when they reach sixty? They would have a wealth of experience, learning, accomplishments and memories to look back on. And who knows perhaps they would even feel that gentle little nudge to just make a new character and do it again some time ...


But what do you get instead?

• People who blame others for pvp-ing them while they are in war-mode.
• People who play irresponsibly and use their time irresponsibly
• People who sh!t and p!ss all over the place, disrespecting staff, being hostile to them and still expecting and demanding them to parent them. Staff of this server are not your parents, people.
• People who take short cuts and don't take the time to learn, make friends, build community and act more like parasites rather than contributing members.
• People who blame everything and anything else except their own lack of responsibility.
• People who come to TURTLE Wow to "level fast"

I am hoping that my response helped you in some way. I am sorry that you made such a bad experience with pvp here. From the sound of it you have even made every effort to be a fair fighter, making sure you don't attack people who are too far outside your level range. Thats legit. And while my post can't undo the experience you already made I am hoping that knowing all of this may offer you some peace of mind and maybe provide you what you need to be in a position of good spirits by understanding what is going on and why.

[Zzerty]

It's not meant to be bonus xp, it's only meant to cover for the xp loss due to death. The fact that you see warmode as a 30% xp buff makes you part of the problem

That requires a huge [citation needed].

The time lost for being killed in pvp definitely isn't worth 30% of a level.

[Guilliman]

I'm a new player to the twow scene, and new to wow overall. I've been world pvping other players in my level range in areas that have both factions in close proximity. I try not to kill anybody more than 3-4 levels below me to not be too lame. I'm not trying to trick anybody into flagging their pvp, or anything sketchy. I'm just killing other dudes already flagged. So why do they light up my chat with the worst stuff? Am I breaking some sort of unwritten rule or honor code? Or are there just a lot of people flagged for pvp who don't really want to fight? I'm confused.

Battlegrounds is your solution. There, you certainly know that pvp is on and you will fight your own levels.

[Breezy]

Battlegrounds is your solution. There, you certainly know that pvp is on and you will fight your own levels.

I'm a little discouraged from trying bg just yet. I'm still playing through on my first character and am piecing things together as I go. I don't want to jump into such a competitive zone and lower my teams chances of winning from ignorance. I was hoping to ease into pvp by random encounters until I get a better understanding of how things work.

Thanks for all the other explanations as well. I myself haven't taken the warmode glyph and flag with /pvp when I feel like it. I could see how having it flagged constantly would be problematic, but that ultimately seems like their choice. It hasn't stopped me from enjoying the experience this game delivers so well. I've been having the most fun just getting immersed and lost in the world for hours.

[Elesion]

So why do they light up my chat with the worst stuff? Am I breaking some sort of unwritten rule or honor code? Or are there just a lot of people flagged for pvp who don't really want to fight? I'm confused.

Because people are going to be people. Some may have had bad experiences (you don't know how many times they've already been ganked the same day), some are just bad people lashing out, etc. That is no excuse for insulting you of course, since I agree with the other posters that getting killed is part of the deal. You take warmode for the XP and the cost is an occasional corpse run. If you let that get to you emotionally, maybe you shouldn't be playing WoW to begin with, let alone with warmode.

Also, you have to realize that "fair" world PvP is an absolute rarity. I have a warmode alt who just hit 40. I've been killed 15-20 times probably. There was 1 failed gank by rogue 3 levels above me (never saw them, just pieced it together from the combat log afterwards), there was an ambush kill by a player 6 levels above me who wanted the silver node I was mining, and the rest has entirely been getting absolutely obliterated by skull-level enemies. I've had some idea of perhaps trying some world pvp when I made that character... I've stopped trying at this point. I don't even fight back anymore, it just makes it longer until I can get back to playing.
And that character hasn't even encountered one of the twinked-out alts that go around ganking same-level enemies. On another warmode character very early on I've been absolutely stomped by someone 3 levels below me who was wearing several 100g in gear and enchants.
These constant incredibly unfair (and by that I mean only "no level playing field") ganks breed a fairly toxic environment where it's easy to get frustrated at anyone trying to kill you - especially if you go into warmode with a bad mindset. I completely agree that people who can't handle getting ganked a few dozen times should simply not enable warmode. But that's just the way people are (and especially shortsighted gamers who like to optimize everything to their own detriment).

Battlegrounds is your solution. There, you certainly know that pvp is on and you will fight your own levels.

I'm a little discouraged from trying bg just yet. I'm still playing through on my first character and am piecing things together as I go. I don't want to jump into such a competitive zone and lower my teams chances of winning from ignorance. I was hoping to ease into pvp by random encounters until I get a better understanding of how things work.

WSG is meant to be played at early levels and will give you plenty of PvP action. It's also a fairly straight-forward capture-the-flag mode where just killing enemies is often enough to help your team. The other BGs are a lot more objective oriented and require more tactics and teamplay. But due to the factors I've described above - it's an entirely different ecosystem. World PvP will never prepare you for a BG where you face same-level enemies who are prepared to fight you. You only have to watch out for twinks in low-level BGs, but that might give you a perspective on how some of your world PvP targets feel when you engage them :-P If you like PvP you should absolutely be in BGs. A few runs of WSG will teach you more about the PvP meta than days of world PvP.

[Breezy]

Thanks for all the different perspectives. I have been killed by some skull levels out in the world camping low level dungeons and quests. I've been flagged by invisible players standing on top of a quest npc. Stuff you can tell some plotting went into. If people are experiencing the same out there I can see how that would get people angry who can't unflag. I sort of wrongly assumed most of the pvp encounters would be similar to my own where it's players of similar level and gear ranges questing in the same region.

I will definitely look into trying battlegrounds.

[Jolikmc]

I think our friend Ilya Bryzgalov said it best: "Is only game! Why you heff to be mad…?"

But, yes. As most people have pointed out, sometimes you get a whiny crybaby who doesn't understand that flagging oneself for PvP isn't something to be taken lightly. It is a commitment and an unspoken agreement to the idea of letting yourself be attacked by the other faction. As has also been stated, it's an entirely optional part of the game, so people who get killed in PvP can't really get mad at anyone but themselves.

And yet, they do.

Just ignore the wienies, Breezy. Do what makes you happy.

[Getplucked]

Lotta kids here that get insanely salty over wpvp, yes. There was a 39 warrior and shaman who were camping people at Nesingwary, and when a 60 showed up to kill him, he started ragewhispering me (even though I had nothing to do with it) flinging insult after insult at me while simultaneously claiming he was "not mad" and "very chill".

He later ZG boosted to 60 so it's clear what kind of player he is.

[Breezy]

Just ignore the wienies, Breezy. Do what makes you happy.

The majority of my interactions have been very pleasant. I've even managed to salvage some of the salty private messages into friendly conversations and tips by explaining I'm new. Helps balance out the hate messages saying I'm a 45 year old basement dweller who lives on wow. Don't have the heart to tell them they lost to a noob.

[Redmagejoe]

People who voluntarily flag PvP and then whine at you when you kill them deserve to be killed more, is my attitude. I usually decide on a whim if I want to attack someone or not as I'm passing through the area to do other shit, and if I do and kill them, I mount up and continue on my way.

If I get an angry whisper from them, I will stop, turn around, and proceed to kill them again. I will continue to do this without responding to them until they learn some personal responsibility, or at least some respect, and cease whining. PvP whining on an opt-in PvP server should be responded to with more PvP. It is the only solution to purge this plague of entitled children.

[Sinrek]

People who voluntarily flag PvP and then whine at you when you kill them deserve to be killed more, is my attitude. I usually decide on a whim if I want to attack someone or not as I'm passing through the area to do other shit, and if I do and kill them, I mount up and continue on my way.

If I get an angry whisper from them, I will stop, turn around, and proceed to kill them again. I will continue to do this without responding to them until they learn some personal responsibility, or at least some respect, and cease whining. PvP whining on an opt-in PvP server should be responded to with more PvP. It is the only solution to purge this plague of entitled children.

Do you have their souls stored somewhere?

[Fizzler]

You just need to keep killing flaggeds until they stop messaging you out of anger

I did that and no one whispers me salt anymore to add to the TABC salt channel