Diablo 3 would benefit more from implementing a PvP environment far more than it would by added content. I find it safe to assume that the majority of long term Diablo players want a longer more stable item cycle (that was added content rly means in this game). Given item drop rates, PvP support is the perfect implementation to kill time between appropriate content cycles (few and far between please).
I believe a PvP community will expand the item market and help PvE players more than not. I also believe proper E-Sports are emergent and that it is more fitting to make a fun player vs player environment first, with tweaks and fixes on the way, before looking at the E-Sport potential. Some types of games do this far better/easier.
I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree here. My experience in games I've played which have begun to focus on PvP is that it has always had negative repercussions for PvE. Developers and forum-goers always say it won't, and then it always does. This takes the form of changing PvE balance (always happens in my experience, no matter what developers say) and taking resources from new content (and I mean like new areas, new monsters, new champion affixes, etc, not just new items), balancing PvE, bugfixing or what-have-you. By the way, I use the absolute here because as I said, that has been my personal experience 100% of the time. If there are games where adding competetive PvP has not has negative PvE implications, and there may be though I doubt it, I haven't played them.
However, I think your argument that PvP is a good stand-in for new content is generally accepted by developers, and it's a major reason why we see it in so many games. The argument is somewhat valid for the subsection of players who enjoy PvP. For those of us who don't enjoy it, whenever games begin to focus on PvP balance, it makes the game measurably less enjoyable. Virtually every online game caters to the PvP crowd. Why can't I have my one AAA game without it? *SNIFF!*
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
...and if you disagree with me, you're probably <insert random ad hominem attack here>.
I voted no. I'm a PvE guy and I don't want to see resources (read developer time) directed away from what I like to go toward what I don't like. Additionally, while people can say that making PvP competitive won't affect PvE because of xyz reasons, it always does. That argument has been made for game after game and, in my experience, it's always been proven wrong. Sure, right now you're just talking about custom arena games, but the more effort and expense put toward PvP, the more PvP players will demand, such as better class balance (in PvP specifically), more arenas, nerf x skill, etc. Frankly, I'd be happier if PvP is never implemented at all.
Also, why does every game have to have esport-level, or even competetive, PvP? I really don't understand this. Imagine if someone came to these forums demanding 8-person progressive raiding. We'd tell them, almost universally I think, that this is probably the wrong game for them and that, no, we don't think Blizzard should add it. Why is it different when we're talking about competitive PvP? Neither one is what Diablo is or has ever been about.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
...and if you disagree with me, you're probably <insert random ad hominem attack here>.
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I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree here. My experience in games I've played which have begun to focus on PvP is that it has always had negative repercussions for PvE. Developers and forum-goers always say it won't, and then it always does. This takes the form of changing PvE balance (always happens in my experience, no matter what developers say) and taking resources from new content (and I mean like new areas, new monsters, new champion affixes, etc, not just new items), balancing PvE, bugfixing or what-have-you. By the way, I use the absolute here because as I said, that has been my personal experience 100% of the time. If there are games where adding competetive PvP has not has negative PvE implications, and there may be though I doubt it, I haven't played them.
However, I think your argument that PvP is a good stand-in for new content is generally accepted by developers, and it's a major reason why we see it in so many games. The argument is somewhat valid for the subsection of players who enjoy PvP. For those of us who don't enjoy it, whenever games begin to focus on PvP balance, it makes the game measurably less enjoyable. Virtually every online game caters to the PvP crowd. Why can't I have my one AAA game without it? *SNIFF!*
Also, why does every game have to have esport-level, or even competetive, PvP? I really don't understand this. Imagine if someone came to these forums demanding 8-person progressive raiding. We'd tell them, almost universally I think, that this is probably the wrong game for them and that, no, we don't think Blizzard should add it. Why is it different when we're talking about competitive PvP? Neither one is what Diablo is or has ever been about.