Before playing PS I was playing Dark Age of Camelot, which in my opinion has the best PvP system between all the mmorpgs I have tested so far. And they are quiet a few.
1. They have 3 realms and the players from the different realms cannot communicate with each other.
2. There are 6 relics. If a realm posesses a relic it gives a Bonus to everybody in that realm.
3. There are PvP exclusive zones at the gate to the realm. ( the wild
) and the entrances to the realms are guarded and fortified.
4. It is possible to lay siege, capture and occupy keeps in the ennemy realm. The realm which occupies the most keeps gets access to an exclusive zone with unique loots, etc...
Allright, in the case of DAOC the whole setting of the mmorpg is based on the PvPing side of the game. Besides, whenever a player kills an ennemy in PvP he gets Realm Points which allow him/her to access special skills.
So the PvP system has it's own rewards. I think that in order to get a good PvPing system one has to respect the following guidelines:
- It has to have a greater purpouse then just killing other players (relics, keeps, etc...)
- It has to be rewarding for the player without damaging the other players (realm points)
- It has to be absolutely limited to PvP specific areas (the wild, no man's land, etc.....)
The PvP system in DAOC was a total bliss, it gave huge adrenaline rushes, especially during sieges and kept the game interesting.
But off course these are just my 2 cents.