WoW might be tame in its approach to death and pvp, but I think that is a large part of its success. People who play MMORPGs play them to build a character and watch it grow as they progress. A "play for keeps" design takes away from the affinity people have for their characters. They care less about them, because they know they could lose it all at any given moment. No one enjoys having all the gear, which they spent a year or more obtaining, vanish before their eyes because a sadistic punk decides he's going to vent his anger about being grounded by Mom and Dad.

I, personally, cannot see hardcore pvp succeeding on an MMO level. I've played small community MUDS where it works out, because everyone gets to know everyone else, and you know who to look out for. The problem with MMOs is the chaotic randomness of having so many people playing. Chances are, any time you play, the only people who won't jack you for your gear are those who are you friends, those who can't solo you, and those who can't muster enough friends to take you down.

If wanting to hang onto the stuff that I worked for is "carebear," then call me Tenderheart.

And if these people who play on these servers are so incredibly "hardcore," maybe they should step it up and join the military IRL where the REAL risk is.

That being said, I would not mind seeing servers pop up that would allow you to level up through PVP. WoW has made me really happy with the addition of gear obtainable solely through PVP (it brought me back, after canceling my subscription), and I think that aspect could be taken further. More capturable towns like Halaa would be great. Giving a tangible reward other than access to NPCs would be great, too.

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