It's a long time coming. Any person who went to school and knows basic math can see that adding pvp to the scheme means that there's increased risk (from getting killed by players). So in order to balance the risk vs reward, one must increase the reward. In this case, you increase the exp gain to balance the equation.
Just look at the blue server and the red server as two different zones. In one zone, you just battle the npcs. In the other, you battle both players and the npcs. Naturally, the risk is higher on the latter. So, logically, most players would expect some sort of extra reward. Otherwise, it's like beating your head against the wall.
I think they along with many other people in history vastly underrate the pains of pvp. It changes everything. People on the red server are much more anon than on the blue server. So this means finding a group is harder because people are too afraid of each other. And there're twinks running around that you cannot win against. And players, by their nature, are non-linear. They're harder to predict. It's not like adding additional NPCs.
This is the reason PVP is so unpopular. The question is how much reward is enough? People will compare their PVE experiences with their PVP experiences, across games and servers. If the PVP game is endless grief and heartache, compared to their PVE experiences elsewhere, then they must arrive at the conclusion that it's not worth it. So when you make a PVP-based MMORPG, you must keep in mind everything that's out there before leaping into the fray. PVP-based MMORPGS -should- have faster progression most of the time. Either that or they got to offer features and gameplay that make the game stand out in a special and memorable way.
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