PVP will be the death of Warcraft.

You can quote me on this. Get your pens out, and I'll even put it in nice big letters to make it easy.

Arena, and by proxy all of PVP, will be the death of World of Warcraft due to the people it attracts.

Call me prophetic, call me insane, call me a carebear for all you want. The schadenfreude, self-bolstering, the scathing disregard for your fellow man... PVP in this game (and I would dare say in any MMO) brings to light the ills of humanity as a whole. Many people seem to forget that the character they are "pwning" has a real, living human behind it with a variety of emotions, thoughts, and feelings.

In short: Think before you gank.

Now yes, I play on a PVP server. As you read last update, I have a old friend who plays on my server - this is why I've turned down extended guild invitations from my most wonderful readers and why I exist on a PVP server to begin with. But I'll tell you this - I would pay double my monthly fee for a World of Warcraft with no PVP at all.

I recently made another pro-Marksmanship topic on the Suggestions Forum. It was, again, summarily dismissed by immature, PVP-minded children who are afraid of... what, exactly? I don't even understand the resistance. A few choice quotes that stuck out at me are:

• "If you're serious about PvE DPS, respec for PvE. If you're upset that you can't excel in both arenas and raids with the same spec, join the f-ing club of the rest of us. "
• "Not every build needs to be raid viable."
• "If you only care about PVE that's fine, but that's not the only aspect of the game, and Blizzard absolutely has to consider PVP whenever they make talent changes."
• "but not every class needs to be abel to do everything with every spec. hmph." (coming from a Druid, no less.)
• "Because you're a pure DPS class. Live with it, or reroll a hybrid. "

Now maybe I'm just fucking stupid, but doesn't it make perfect fucking sense for all the trees of a "pure DPS class" to, y'know... BE GOOD AT DOING DPS?!

Nerfs for PVP's sake are the reason that Marksmanship's damage is horrible. Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot, the bread and meat of our rotation (whereas Steady Shot is the nummy brown mustard), were nerfed sharply shortly after the release of The Burning Crusade, as they were buffed in an environment that was not yet 70 and did not know the "joy" (and I use that exceedingly loosely) of Resilience. Due to complaints about Hunters (and specifically Marksman) being "overpowered", our core abilities were smashed into uselessness and our core talent line (Barrage/Improved Barrage) was weakened as well. Marksmen were martyred to stem the tears of people who did not know that at 70, balance would be achieved.

Except every effing beta tester said we were fine at 70.

So here I sit, penning up a blog entry before I go to bed, and I wonder why I'm still playing World of Warcraft, aside from the socializing with my friends that I've met in my brief return to the game. I'd love desperately to challenge Serpentshrine Cavern, The Eye, Mount Hyjal, Black Temple, and Sunwell. But if I have to sacrifice my enjoyment of my character for the enjoyment of the game, it's a zero-gain experience, and I'd rather just quit.

I remember the days when we were "overpowered" because we could Aimed Shot/Multi-Shot/Auto Shot kill someone. But no one cared, because dying to another player meant nothing. Balance was not made for the children who sit in their vaulted Arena halls with their Vengeful Asshole's Mouth-Breathing Shoulders.

Whiny children should not be the arbiters of game balance. Schadenfreude-generating "gladiatorial combat" should not be the end-all be-all of an MMORPG.

And if it is going to be, start roleplaying a gladiator (that's what the RP in MMORPG stands for, by the way) and stop roleplaying a fucking stripper. You are not in an Arena to practice how to pole-dance.