PvP vs. PvE

Not being an enthusiast for this blogging shit, I can nevertheless assert that the average lifespan of some random windbag's e-soapbox probably proceeds like so:

1. Dude gets idea.
2. Dude makes blog.
3. Dude posts like a fiend for about a week, because his mind is full of topics.
4. Dude posts sporadically over the next couple weeks, either because he didn't have a lot of material to begin with, or he is bad at thinking of ways to express himself entertainingly.
5. Blog lies fallow thereafter.

Let's see if I can sustain Step 3 longer than a week. I'll shoot for two for now.

Anyhow, on to the real topic of this second post.

PvP vs. PvE has been a long-running debate that has, at times, degenerated into the kind of stupidity usually confined to 9/11 conspiracy theorists or religious nutjobs. Without rehashing the long, sorry history of this neverending argument, let me sum up the salient points that both sides make.

PvE sez:
"I'm harder because I require you to recruit, organize, and direct 25-40 people on an almost daily basis. I require you to tackle encounter after encounter full of random elements while maintaining a balanced raid group, sometimes expecting changes in raid makeup from fight to fight. I require you to not only get over the hump of defeating this content once, but also to continue to farm it thereafter in an efficient fashion while I throw fights of ever-increasing difficulty at you. PvP ain't got shit on me."

PvP sez:
"I'm harder because I require you to recruit, organize, and direct 3-10 people on an almost daily basis. I require you to tackle arena match after arena match full of random elements while maintaining a balanced arena team, sometimes expecting changes in team makeup from match to match. I require you to not only get over the hump of defeating other team makeups once, but also to continue to defeat them in an efficient fashion while I throw brackets of ever-increasing difficult at you. PvE ain't got shit on me."

I know, I know, "I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE." Honestly though, has anyone with half a brain not figured this shit out by now?

"lolz pve is all scripted pvp is different every time you do it" - Is it really? As you're riding your S4-equipped MS warrior towards an equally geared frost mage, are you thinking, "Fuck it, this time I'm going to use RETALIATION!" No. He icelances to burn your Charge, you Hamstring him, he frost novas, you trinket, etc etc probably the frost mage wins. Point is, PvP is scripted too. The only time it ISN'T is when your opponent makes a dumbfuck mistake and you capitalize. PvE bosses just don't make those mistakes.

"rofl pvp is free epics if you do it long enough you can have exactly the gear you want" - Now, I'll allow some leeway on this one. Prior to Season 4, with the exception of shoulders and weapons, you could buy any piece of arena or PvP gear by virtue of nothing more than time spent. Do 10 arena matches a week, someday you'll have enough points for a hat. Daily BG every day? Eventually, here's a ring for your trouble. Now, however, the vast majority of pieces require SOME amount of arena rating. Meaning the more gear you want, the more skilled you have to be. JUST LIKE PVE.

"nobody cares about pve but pvp is an E-SPORT its more popular so it wins lmao" - Please, no. I watched a few minutes of the live broadcast of the 2008 CGS WoW Arena Championship. I honestly felt like punching myself in the dick. Seriously, watching an arena match while two dudes commentate, pretending that this makes video gaming legitimate? Aspiring arena TV stars, don't kid yourselves. People will watch anything competitive. Take curling. Or truck driving. Some people even go head-to-head (wait for it) over oral sex. The point is, you are not special because someone else is watching. Also, PvE guilds broadcast their shit too.

These are three of literally TENS of ways hardcore PvPers and PvE junkies find to put each other down.

Honestly, has a video game come to mean so much to some people that not only must they be REALLY REALLY good at it, but anyone else taking part in a different facet of the game than they are is essentially slumming it?

I ran on BG teams filled with High Warlords-to-be back in the day. I've played at a respectable (2100+) level of arenas. I've cleared every major raid in the game except Naxxramas and Sunwell (C'thun doesn't exist, shut up). I've tanked, healed, and dpsed throughout my PvE career. Is one harder than the other?

Answer: Who gives a shit?