I don't get this idea that PvP without item loot is not meaningful. Killing and Dying isn't meaningful? Mass PvP for raid mobs isn't meaningful? Zone control isn't meaningful? Pride/reputation isn't meaningful? How does looting a piece of resist jewelry or something even less valuable (95% of the time at least) suddenly make PvP more meaningful?
I killed a lot of people on SZ with no item loot. I didn't need the incentive. PvP was fun by itself. The challenge, the risk, the thrill. Sure, some will say those things are enhanced by item loot - and this can be true. But more often than not item loot has the opposite effect, and makes people more risk averse and cowardly than they would be otherwise.
The bottom line is that item loot basically takes EQ PvP and puts it on steroids. It's just way too hardcore for most players' tastes. A vocal minority will love it, but the majority want nothing to do with it. And this, more than any other reason, is why item loot is a bad idea: it's simply unpopular. If for some reason the reverse were true, and item loot was extremely popular while I personally hated it, I would put my weight behind item loot regardless of how I personally felt, simply because more than anything else Teams needs as many players as possible.
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