You are free to rant a bit on why it should be in the game, but what we need are good ideas and concepts, not "Because I want it" or "Because it is cool" or "Because that is realistic."
...
The more I look around the more contempt I have for people who think the best use of their time is causing others grief. Don't take this the wrong way, there should be winners and losers in most conflicts. However taking advantage of the less fortunate or of some in-game absurdity will be avoided at all costs.
It seems to me that the primary reasoning behind disallowing PvP is because it would move the game's focus away from RP and would cause players grief. I hope to show how PvP could be implemented in a way to cause no grief, without breaking RP, and still being satisfiable to those who truly enjoy PvP.
The first case I would like to make is that a lack of any open PvP zone does not encourage Role Play, but actually hinders it. Players are encouraged to develop characters in any way they want (the classic polarization of Good and Evil is often brought up). However, an evil character is fundamentally unable to truly play his role. He has no opportunity to be wronged, and hence no opportunity for revenge, and no opportunity to surprise an opponent, and effectively cannot do anything without the consent of the other player. It's fairly obvious, then, that the mechanics of the game are not adequate to allow for a truly dynamic relationship between players.
Often brought up in retort is that the game mechanics are not important to Role Playing. Characters can act out their stories without using the game's mechanics and can effectively betray one another, become enemies and perform evil acts against one another. While I believe that player cooperation is essential to feel-good Role Playing experience, this set-up has a fundamental detractor--their is no uncertainty. No RP story can happen truly spontaneously, you may encounter a surprise, but in the end everything that happens happens according to your consent, and while you can play it realistically, you cannot subject yourself to chance--in the end, the players make all the decisions, removing the very real element of randomness, coincidence and happenstance. Effectively, you play the Role of not just your character but of God as well, with nothing happening outside the control of players.
The problem is with implementing PvP, how does a game designer protect players who do not wish to be harassed, or taken advantage of by other 'evil' characters? The answer is simple, and has been proposed before, but I hope to be making the argument for how it is truly conducive and helpful to the experience. Areas where there is no law, where PvP can happen spontaneously and you can be jumped (and possibly pickpocketed). To allow players to remain safe, there could be paths around every PvP zone, so as to
allow every player access to anywhere they wish to travel without having to enter a PvP zone. No character who does not wish to brave such dangerous territory would never have to tread there, and a warning could appear on screen before you arrive so no one could accidentally wander in and be assaulted.
RP could easily be enforced there as well as it is in any area. Players must remain in character or be warned by a GM and then booted. It would not be harder to enforce it in the lawless zones than it is anywhere else. Players would not be able to harm any other player who did not wish to be subjected to the danger. Essentially, it opens more possibilities with no limitations. Such areas would allow players to experience the uncertainty (and thrill that comes therewith) of a real, wide, and sometimes dangerous world.
