Scrambles.2604

Yes, I'm fully aware of that, I'm not as stupid or naive as you think. Tools to resolve harassment are always welcome. As you quite rightly say, no=one is ever 100% safe from harassment. But the less I have to use those tools, the more time I can spend actually playing the game. I don't mind the PVP game mode, and have indulged in it a little myself when I'm in the mood, but introducing it into open world PVE invites that toxic side of PVP behaviour into a game mode that currently doesn't host it. You'll never convince me that opening up new opportunities for griefing and harassment is a good idea! No, players focus on it as A source of harassment, not THE source. Which begs the question - if your estimate is accurate, then WHY is 'everyone' focussed on it? Could it possibly be because of all the forms of harassment, persistent duel requests are among those forms of harassment that players find the most irritating? The thought of being subjected to the duelling or PVP of others when I'm not actively involved myself - ('passive PVPing'?) just doesn't butter my parsnips at all. It doesn't make a good spectator sport IMHO, and I really don't want to have to play around/through or alongside it. If you really can't live without open world PVP, then I have nothing against them providing the option for you to join a completely separate server where you can grief, gank and harass each other to your hearts' content. Just don't bring PVE/PVP to the servers I play on because I prefer things just the way they are.My point is, you are conflating two separate things. If someone is spamming you with duel flags, that is not dueling that is harassment. If someone is trash talking because they won a duel, that is not dueling that is harassment. I've seen newer MMOs provide an opt-in feature for dueling which is think is a great way to mitigate any concerns about dueling in the open world. One of the selling points of GW2 is the vast and varied open world and i think being able to duel (with consent) in those areas would add a lot. What you have expressed is a fear of change. What you are saying is that you have accepted the current level of griefing and harrassment in the game and any extra features added should be evaluated solely on a basis of "how can this be used for harrassment" and not "what does this add for players." Should no new raids or new instances be added to the game, because that creates new vehicles for harassment? Or do we add them because it creates new opportunities for players, knowing that there are tools to resolve harassment that comes as a natural risk of playing multiplayer games. I sat braindead for a half an hour waiting for the worm event with 100 other people and was reminded of how back in my WoW days this time would be passed by dueling with strangers and potentially making friends. I don't appreciate your implication that I would prefer a separate server so i can "grief, gank, and harrass" when i just want to duel other players with their consent. You have proven my point that you don't need pvp to be toxic. Thankfully, the game provides me with tools to report your toxic implications and i don't need to advocate for a removal of the forums as a gateway to harrassment.

I've played other games where open-world duelling was a thing. I can't think of anything I'd enjoy more than being hassled by some plonker following me around dumping duel flags every few seconds. I can't see that becoming annoying at all. This is the worst argument i've heard and it's repeated constantly. If someone is following you and spamming you it has nothing to do with dueling, it is just griefing and harrassment. A duel flag is just the vehicle. This could be accomplished with other mechanisms as well regardless of if it's a duel flag, trade window, inbox mail, instrument spam. The important thing is that you can block and report. You are never 100% safe from harrassment. The only thing that matters is that you have tools to resolve harrrassment. Everyone is so focused on dueling as the source of harrassment. Unless it is the ONLY source of harrassment (its not!) then your focus should be on strengthening support and reporting tools, not shooting down suggestions for options you're not interested in.

What i see is people that have no interest in a duel feature, personally, advocating against it under the guise of griefing or Toxicity. You can make that argument about literally any hypothetical feature added to the game. I think we are all well aware at this point that the only way to remove toxicity is to play single player games. By virtue of creating any interact-ability between people, someone will find some way to be toxic. In Halo it was simply crouching (teabagging). Heartstone and rocket league have preset chat that people spam to be toxic. I play online dynamax raids in Pokemon sword and people attack their teammates to be toxic. I watched summit get followed and spell effect spammed and instrument spammed in GW2. If you are that afraid of "toxicity" stick to single player games or advocate for tools to prevent toxicity, like robust reporting and support systems. Don't advocate for less features in a game because of a perception that people will abuse it. Abusive people will abuse what ever system is available. It's not an excuse to limit features. Dueling is a common requested feature because it is so common in MMOs. Back when this was litigated when i originally played GW2, people would point to a lack of mounts or DPS meters as GW2 divergence from the MMO formula. Clearly, GW2 adheres to the MMO formula. It's not unreasonable for people to request a feature (open world dueling) which is exists in every other MMO i've played. For the sake of argument, i'm referring only to opt-in, consensual duels. Not ganking. Consent from both parties to fight to 1hp almost anywhere in the open world.

I'm returning to this game after being absent for 6 years and it baffles me that dueling and open world pvp are still a point of contention. I'm guess i shouldn't be surprised. Some people simply cannot separate pvp and toxicity. They just think they're the same thing. This could be a consequence of spvp being it's own game. PvE players are so isolated from the pvp community that they assume everyone is toxic.