PvE/PvP etiquette in Cyrodiil

vometia · July 2018

Just wondering what's a reasonable expectation venturing into Cyrodiil as a strictly PvE player: I'm guessing "that's probably not a very good idea", which seems to sum me up, but I figured I'd ask anyway. My perhaps rather naive assumption was that perhaps I might be left alone if it was reasonably obvious I was just exploring and otherwise minding my own business, but I was quickly disabused of that notion after being pwned twice within less than a minute of venturing into the wilderness. Is this an unlucky experience of poor etiquette or more a case of me having to alter my expectations to accept that pretty much anything goes in Cyrodiil and whatever happens, happens?

VaranisArano · July 2018

There is no etiquette, in my experience. Its a PVP zone, so prepare for PVP. Some players will leave you be if you look like a PVE quester, others won't. Keep in mind that its impossible to tell if you are a quester. My PVP character wears the Master Angler title and Work's raiment, so they look like a PVEer at first glance, but really aren't.

Going to an emptier campaign is probably your best bet.

I recently got all the (non-gated) skyshards on PC/NA Vivec and only saw a couple of players. One killed me while I was fighting delve mobs, one let me grab the skyshard and run, and one I just ran away from.

Ive also been ganked while fishing and I've been chased by two players only for them to walk away when I reached a fishing hole and started fishing.

Cyrodiil is a PVP zone, so even when I was a PVE only player, I expected to die in the process of PVEing in a PVP zone where I wasn't prepared/willing to fight back. I've since come to really enjoy PVP since venturing into Cyrodiil for fishing.

vometia · July 2018

Thanks for the insight. In my case I don't have a title and attempted to move away from them but they weren't having any of it. This was in the NA Vivec zone but I have no idea whether or not that was a bad one to choose.

PvP will probably not draw me in as I kinda suck at not entirely trivial things like combat and builds!

I guess wandering around Cyrodiil as a somewhat clueless PvE player is a bit like being that person who will IRL wander down a dark alley at night thinking "well this should be safe enough." And I am that person.

Skinzz · July 2018

If I find a player ranked tyro or higher, then I'll kill them, unless they are in the middle of no where and look innocent enough lol.

W0lf_z13 · July 2018

really depends on the day/mood im in.... sometimes ill let people survive others ill go all out on ...best bet, tbh, would be maybe shor ( its usually lower pop than vivec ) ....

As previously stated though .... keep in mind that there is a good chance you will get ganked, killed, etc while trying to PvE .... cause to some people you are just AP

White wabbit · July 2018

If it moves kill it simple as that

NBrookus · July 2018

Problem is about half the time you try to leave an apparent PVE'er/quester alone, they attack you or come back with a bunch of friends to attack you. It does not encourage PVP'ers to be gentle.

Make invis pots and be sneaky, but expect to die sometimes.

White wabbit · July 2018

If it moves kill it simple as that

NBrookus wrote: »

Problem is about half the time you try to leave an apparent PVE'er/quester alone, they attack you or come back with a bunch of friends to attack you. It does not encourage PVP'ers to be gentle.

Make invis pots and be sneaky, but expect to die sometimes.

Yeah I've left pvers alone only for one to attack you and then his or her mates join in , so I take the attuide kill first ask questions later , just avoid main campaigns and you should be ok

vometia · July 2018

White wabbit wrote: »

Yeah I've left pvers alone only for one to attack you and then his or her mates join in , so I take the attuide kill first ask questions later , just avoid main campaigns and you should be ok

In my case, first time was probably quite ill-advised, I'd decided to go for a stroll in a battle-zone as it was the laziest way of getting close to central Cyrodiil which I randomly felt like exploring. Second time seemed a bit off as it was at Weye and I think I was fairly obviously just wandering about and not a threat but lolganking etc. If I wanted pain I would cut up chillies before putting my contacts in. Oh wait, I do that anyway. For the record, I really don't recommend it.

VirtualElizabeth · July 2018

I PVP regularly but sometimes I go into the questing zones to help level a new char or collect boxes. What I have done in the past which works about 90% of the time is if I whisper the person who killed me and explain that I am just here to quest, they agree to leave me alone.

Dreyloch · July 2018

If your on NA servers, I would suggest going to Shor. As long as your not attacking any Keep resources, or trying to take town flags (3 towns, if owned by your faction have a vendor for gear). Then you should be ok. Now depending on what faction you belong to, you may have to ride a long time as that campaign is typically held by AD forces.This makes it a little more difficult as the Keeps won't be open to you for quicker transport around the map. Most PvP'ers don't even go to "quest" towns. They are typically fighting others for map supremacy.

zyk · July 2018

PVE players are fair game and that is what is intended by the design of the game. Think of it as a survival horror game.

geonsocal · July 2018

learn to use your hello, dancing and instrument playing emotes...also, you can hold block to let folks know you're not looking to fight...

those emotes saved me sooooo many times when I was just starting out in cyrodiil...

Grimhallow · July 2018

It's hard to complain about etiquette when you're worth money. A lot of new players don't realize that even when they are smelling the flowers, they look like walking AP to most other players.

Avoid the "lines" connecting all keeps and you'll generally be good.

The other option is to get good enough that you can explore freely, killing anyone you meet. Or hire a bodyguard?

Xai_Zi · July 2018

vometia wrote: »

Just wondering what's a reasonable expectation venturing into Cyrodiil as a strictly PvE player: I'm guessing "that's probably not a very good idea", which seems to sum me up, but I figured I'd ask anyway. My perhaps rather naive assumption was that perhaps I might be left alone if it was reasonably obvious I was just exploring and otherwise minding my own business, but I was quickly disabused of that notion after being pwned twice within less than a minute of venturing into the wilderness. Is this an unlucky experience of poor etiquette or more a case of me having to alter my expectations to accept that pretty much anything goes in Cyrodiil and whatever happens, happens?

Here is what I generally experience in PC NA Cyrodiil.

Scenario 1: I win or lose a 1v1: I get a rage tell.
Scenario 2: I win or lose a group fight: I get a hate tell
Scenario 3: I win a 1vX: I get a rage tell which sometimes alleges I use CE or that I'm macroing.
Scenario 4: I lose a 1vX: I get tbagged and maybe a hate tell that includes, "Go back to your zerg you [asian slur]". Like, lol.
Scenario 5: I play in offline mode and generally have a positive experience.

Note: Most people that send me rage tells and hate tells put me on ignore beforehand or go in offline mode first because they can't handle responses from people that possess any level of civility and intelligence.

pdebie64b16_ESO · July 2018

Cyro is a PvP zone and you can be killed almost everywere, if you want to PvE prepare to get killed, or see it as a challenge to PvE in a PvP zone.

Back in the day i did the Cyro dailies and it was fun to do.

Amdar_Godkiller · July 2018

Expecting to enter PVP and not get attacked by players is like queuing as a healer in PVE on a stamblade with only vigor as a heal

disintegr8 · July 2018

I find PVP in general to be a toxic place, with a large population of toxic people who are only their to kill anyone they can to make up for their miserable real world existences.

However, if you pick the right campaign, at the right time, you stand a good chance of doing dailies, delves and dolmens in relative piece. I have caught all trophy fish on one character, have completed all delves and collected all skyshards on several characters and even done all dailies on some.

I even did some of this while travelling with a friend from another alliance.

Pirhana7_ESO · July 2018

Just look at the Battle map and see where the action is, see what keeps are under attack and what alliance is invading another. If you avoid that area you will generally be safe and the chances are any enemy player you encounters is also doing PVE. But there are also a lot of players who like to PVE and then fight enemy players when those random 1v1s happen.

zyk · July 2018

If there was a rule to avoid killing PVE players that everyone adhered to, Cyrodiil campaigns would quickly fill with PVE players seeking achievements. As each campaign has a relatively low per-faction population cap, this would result in fewer players to PVP with.

After feeling comfortable, they would then proceed to ask for more and better PVE content in Cyrodiil to better flesh out the very sparse zone.

Therefore I have no sympathy for PVE players seeking a 'safe' experience in Cyrodiil. If it's not fun for you, please feel free to avoid it. You may feel consoled by the fact the vast majority of the game is PVE exclusive content.

Let PVP players have their laggy, neglected corner in total mayhem and war.

vometia · July 2018

Thanks for the replies, all. An interesting range of thoughts and experiences and certainly food for thought.

And indeed it seems my analogy of wandering down a dark alley at night isn't such a bad one: will probably be okay using some common sense but one should expect anything!

Knootewoot · July 2018

It's to hard to tell if anyone is questing for PvE or is just bored and does PvE because there is little PvP action.

It's also to hard to see if 2 or 3 people are duelling. If you help, they curse you. If you dn't help and watch you get a whisper why i didn't help because i thought it was guys duelling.

It's a PvP zone. I attack everything now. I might die if i attack you, but i charge everything. Low levels, low CP's. duelling guys who might or might not be actually doing a duel, fully buffed DK's who flame whip me to death instant (im a vamp), mudscrabs, game masters, supersonic ballbreakers..

FloppyTouch · July 2018

Be sneaky craft invisible pots if you are not a nb.
Stay away from the keeps and the lines that connect them on the map those are heavy traffic areas for zergs
Sneak near the big towns bring a friend can help having a look out
Read zone chat and see where ur faction is calling out enemies
And use zone chat if ur being killed by someone ur faction will come to help.

90% of the map is not even seen by most pvp players leaving huge area where you wont run into anyone ever. We go to the fight and to the action not away from it.

If you run into an enemy might as well try to fight back or make it as hard as possible dont feed those pigs ur better then that.

Beardimus · July 2018

vometia wrote: »

Just wondering what's a reasonable expectation venturing into Cyrodiil as a strictly PvE player: I'm guessing "that's probably not a very good idea", which seems to sum me up, but I figured I'd ask anyway. My perhaps rather naive assumption was that perhaps I might be left alone if it was reasonably obvious I was just exploring and otherwise minding my own business, but I was quickly disabused of that notion after being pwned twice within less than a minute of venturing into the wilderness. Is this an unlucky experience of poor etiquette or more a case of me having to alter my expectations to accept that pretty much anything goes in Cyrodiil and whatever happens, happens?

Its not about etiquette, its about your expectation. Wandering a war zone armed to the teeth is pretty obviously going to lead to combat one way or another.

You can be clever, sneak about, go to quieter campaigns (Sotha Sil), choose quieter times, avoid roads / transit points (skirting the edge of the map is a good way, don't go near choke points)

Part of the buzz of trying PVE in PVP is avoiding combat. But hey why not embrace it, get a PVP setup and try to get your first kill - its a buzz.

I did a ton of PVE in Cyrodiil before I converted to PVP - its all doable, skyshards, lore books etc. Just be wise

frozywozy · July 2018

Best quote ever on this subject was made by @Talcyndl last major event where you could farm quests to get motifs.

Pve players were complaining about getting killed while questing for these motifs in Cyrodiil.

@Talcyndl replied saying he was also questing completing his "Kill enemy players".

albesca · July 2018

I got into Cyrodiil for the first time just a week ago, so I'm not an expert, but I after the first couple of hours of sneaking everywhere I discovered that you can avoid action pretty easily by circling around contested keeps and resources, as Cyrodiil is mostly empy.
That said, if I meet anyone and I'm not outnumbered I attack, regardless of what they're apparently doing, rather than risking a surprise attack as soon as I turn my back.

Theignson · July 2018

As others have said, it is hard to tell that you are a PVEr.
One way to do this is get a set of Jailbreakers and a set of Night Silence. Then you can run around Cyrodil in sneak to your heart's content with little risk as long as you avoid battle areas.
Another approach is to join the zerg (ie follow the larger hoardes of players of your alliance). You will get AP, learn some basic PVP technique, and get your skill lines.

Talcyndl · July 2018

frozywozy wrote: »

Best quote ever on this subject was made by @Talcyndl last major event where you could farm quests to get motifs.

Pve players were complaining about getting killed while questing for these motifs in Cyrodiil.

@Talcyndl replied saying he was also questing completing his "Kill enemy players".

Biro123 · July 2018

disintegr8 wrote: »

I find PVP in general to be a toxic place, with a large population of toxic people who are only their to kill anyone they can to make up for their miserable real world existences.

However, if you pick the right campaign, at the right time, you stand a good chance of doing dailies, delves and dolmens in relative piece. I have caught all trophy fish on one character, have completed all delves and collected all skyshards on several characters and even done all dailies on some.

I even did some of this while travelling with a friend from another alliance.

Hm, so killing players in a game mode where you're meant to kill players is toxic?

Ever wonder that you might be the one with the wrong attitude?

How do you play chess? Do you just move stuff around trying not to take any pieces and then yell 'Toxic' when they take one of yours?

Get a grip. It's a game and the goal is to best your opponent.

vometia · July 2018

Biro123 wrote: »

Hm, so killing players in a game mode where you're meant to kill players is toxic?

Ever wonder that you might be the one with the wrong attitude?

How do you play chess? Do you just move stuff around trying not to take any pieces and then yell 'Toxic' when they take one of yours?

Get a grip. It's a game and the goal is to best your opponent.

I think the trouble is that the game does sometimes seem to be bringing players with different requirements and expectations together which is unsurprisingly going to cause conflict. I'm not interested in PvP and though my inclination to explore might be seen as "misadventure", actually being given a quest in my PvE game that involves traipsing across Cyrodiil seems to be potentially inciting trouble. Trying to bring together one person who's playing chess with another who's playing solitaire is at best going to end with some degree of disappointment for at least one side.

The response about "my quest is to kill enemy players" is an awkward one when the two players in question have entirely different outlooks.

VaranisArano · July 2018

vometia wrote: »

Biro123 wrote: »

Hm, so killing players in a game mode where you're meant to kill players is toxic?

Ever wonder that you might be the one with the wrong attitude?

How do you play chess? Do you just move stuff around trying not to take any pieces and then yell 'Toxic' when they take one of yours?

Get a grip. It's a game and the goal is to best your opponent.

I think the trouble is that the game does sometimes seem to be bringing players with different requirements and expectations together which is unsurprisingly going to cause conflict. I'm not interested in PvP and though my inclination to explore might be seen as "misadventure", actually being given a quest in my PvE game that involves traipsing across Cyrodiil seems to be potentially inciting trouble. Trying to bring together one person who's playing chess with another who's playing solitaire is at best going to end with some degree of disappointment for at least one side.

The response about "my quest is to kill enemy players" is an awkward one when the two players in question have entirely different outlooks.

The thing about Cyrodiil is that its a PVP zone. Even though you can do PVE activities like town quests, its still always a PVP zone.

So everyone should have the expectation that there may be PVP involved in a PVP zone.

What happened during the Anniversary Event was a bunch of PVEers came to do the PVE (designed with the threat of PVP in mind) town quests, and complained when inevitably PVP happened in a PVP zone.