Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed reply. I really appreciate your effort and thoughtful points. I completely understand your concerns about the two-faction PvP system, especially the issue of faction imbalance across servers. In my own experience, I can barely remember the last time I encountered true world PvP — aside from some limited PvP zones where players fight over resources, most people just focus on getting to their next objective as quickly as possible to upgrade their gear. So in a way, world PvP has basically disappeared, or at least faded into the background.
But I don’t think this kind of gameplay will ever truly vanish — it will likely return under different mechanics, rebranded and repackaged. That’s why I feel it’s too early to say that PvP combined with death penalties automatically leads to negative experiences.
You’re right that a death penalty is a rather extreme idea. My intention was to explore what kind of feeling it might bring — maybe something unexpected or intense. And if it does create a unique emotional experience for players, then from a design perspective, it could be balanced with appropriate rewards to soften the potential frustration.
What interested me most in your comment was the problem of faction imbalance. It’s a fascinating design challenge. In Warcraft I, there were only humans and orcs — two sides set up to serve the story. But in World of Warcraft, I don’t think it has to be this way. If we were to imagine a completely new timeline in a parallel universe, then anything could be possible — both the lore and the game mechanics could be rebuilt to serve a more engaging experience for players.
When I was writing that section, I actually thought about the fact that the Alliance hadn’t even formally formed at that time in the story. What were the other races doing then? If the focus is on humans vs orcs, how do the other races fit in? At one point, I even considered removing the faction system altogether and using races as the core of player identity. Then, alliances or rivalries between races could be formed dynamically by the game system — though honestly, I don’t yet have the ability to design that far ahead.
So, if I were to explain how to avoid the possible downsides of these systems, here’s what I’d suggest:
- The death penalty could be limited to solo exploration or story quests. It wouldn’t apply to PvP activities or dungeon/raid content.
- Faction-based conflicts could be initiated by the system, and players could opt in. The system could then place them into different instanced phases (like separate battlefields), each with a cap on participants. Think of it like multiple army divisions fighting in the same war. If one side lacks numbers, the system could fill the gap with AI-controlled NPC fighters to maintain balance. The battle would have a limited number of revives per player, and outcomes would be decided by system-based evaluation. Eventually, players could be merged into a final large-scale instance for a decisive battle, if the tech supports it.
- Random events could occur mainly within enemy strongholds or cities — like paratroopers, infiltration sabotage, or boss monster invasions. These would largely involve NPCs, so enemy players wouldn’t usually be part of the event. In essence, it would be like converting today’s world events into spontaneous surprise attacks, instead of static scheduled spawns.
You mentioned this feels like an entirely new game — and I completely get why. My goal isn’t to tear down World of Warcraft, but rather to explore a version of it that’s more immersive, with clearer feedback, and simpler systems. What matters most is whether something is fun. And if something is fun, then there will be systems and algorithms to support it and solve the problems it may bring.
There was a time when I imagined a multiplayer online game themed entirely around the pursuit of legendary weapons. I came up with all sorts of original ideas, but I never turned it into a full proposal — because no matter how interesting it was, it wasn’t World of Warcraft. Unlike some players, I didn’t come to WoW because I wanted an MMO — I play WoW because I enjoy being in this world. I wouldn’t even say I love it — I just genuinely like being here.