I've just been reading through the above information, released earlier today, and have been wondering about something that's been in my head for a little while now - the matter of what server type we're going to play on.There will be four different server types in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Here's how they work generally, and details on how we're dealing with roleplaying (RP) servers:
PvE (Player vs Environment) – Players will have to manually flag themselves if they wish to engage in PvP outside of designated Warzones and Open World PvP areas.
PvP (Player vs Player) – Players are automatically flagged for PvP outside of the designated 'safe' areas (such as Origin Worlds, Capital Worlds, and the Republic/Imperial Fleets; see below for more info).
RP-PvE – Players are encouraged to roleplay and act ‘in-character’ while playing on an RP-PvE server. Players must manually flag themselves if they wish to engage in PvP outside of designated Warzones and Open World PvP areas.
RP-PvP – Players are encouraged to roleplay and act ‘in-character’ while playing on an RP-PvP server. Players are automatically flagged for PvP outside of the designated 'safe' areas (such as Origin Worlds, Capital Worlds, and the Republic/Imperial Fleets; see below for more info).
PvP server rulesets
We also wanted to expand on what the PvP server ruleset means in The Old Republic. The obvious overarching rule is that in general, if you see a player of the opposite faction, you may immediately engage them in combat.
The exception to this rule is sanctuaries, which are large areas where PvP may not take place, regardless of whether you are flagged or unflagged for PvP. Examples of this are the Origin Worlds (Tython, Ord Mantell, Hutta, and Korriban), the Capital Worlds for both sides (Dromund Kaas and Coruscant), and the Republic/Imperial Fleets.
Hopefully this post helps inform your decision as to which server type you'd like to play on at launch. If you haven’t already, create a guild on the Guild Headquarters so that you can get placed on a server before the game launches!
We seem to have kind of chosen PVP by default, since I don't recall a discussion about it, and I can understand why - it's what we've done in the past, and many people like a bit of PVP in their game. It would be unfair to deny them that part of the game. But since the above information suggests that PVE will offer all the benefits of PVP whilst offering an opt-out for anyone who doesn't want them, I'm wondering whether it's a discussion we may want to have prior to launch rather than our just going PVP by default.
I think considering the RP server types as an option may be going a bit far, since it would be extremely unfair to try and force everyone to roleplay all the time, but there does seem to be a viable PVP/PVE option which wouldn't be too unfair on people (at least to my mind).
I do have to admit to having a bit of a selfish motivation for prompting this question though, as reading the above I'd honestly much rather play on a PVE server than a PVP one - a view based upon the way that I intend to play the game and the fact that ganking in populous areas used to get me quite annoyed back in the WoW-EU days. I wouldn't be hugely upset on a PVP server, but I think it would more than likely mean more hassle to play on one in certain situations if WoW and NC2 were anything to go by. FFXI and its lack of general PVP was pretty much the perfect environment for me, and I can't pretend some part of me wouldn't like to see TOR being a similar environment.
What about anyone else? Is everyone happy with the choice of PVP, before it's too late to change? Or are others more tempted by other choices too? I haven't made this a vote, since I have a sneaking suspicion I may be the only one 'rocking the boat', but if it turns out a few of us would look elsewhere too given the choice I may edit a poll in later.