Mooncat_1992 wrote: »

An astute question.

So this one, gladly, shares his opinion on why he does not like PvP.

First: if you don't like it, don't do it. This one declines duels, ALWAYS. And tries to stay away from Cyrodiil and Imperial City as much as possible. Unless this one really needs to go there for some lorebook or a lead to collect.

Its is good that there are so many zones to explore without having to fear for your life. That's why I like ESO.

But why ZOS put content and collectibles in Cyro is a riddle to me. Why punish completionists who really want to just collect a delve or a collect-this-or-that achievement?

See, why I hate the PvP zone:

You picked up your courage to finally go to Cyro to collect one of those leads for a nice painting in your house (The Heartland) . You manage to pick up the lead and you go for the scryed zone. you are five meters away from your goal and suddenly an EP or DC member shows up and finds it funny to turn this one into a fur cloak ... obv this player is an experienced PvP'er, dedicated to their alliance ... and kill you in mere seconds. This one does not even bother to defend himself. 5 METERS OF THE DIGSITE !!!! you revive at a wayshrine and have to travel all the way back to that digsite... again and hope you don't encounter that or another player.

That is why PvE players hate PvP zones .

If ppl enjoy PvP that's okay, there has to be something for everyone.
But why force players (even if we are in the minority) who like to enjoy all the content this game has to offer into PvP if we want to collect all? I just want to do the quests, collect my shards, collect fishes for this ones aquarium and fishing boat, ... I'm generally not interested in killing other players. Only bandits and wrongdoers, and threats to Tamriel.

Khajiit however, bears no hate towards PvP players. Only much confusion and question towards dev's of the Cyrodiil zone.

It's a nice landscape, and the IC storyline is interesting. But i'm afraid it will be forever untouched in my questbook.
It would be nice, as this one's Clan Mother already pointed out (@SantieClaws) to have a truce once a year, so that PvE'ers also can enjoy this zone and see the things collected we need for completing our achievements.

May everyone walk on Warm Sands,
And Jone and Jode ever light our paths.

Mooncat Zino-jo

Agree. It would be nice with a PvE Cyrodiil. Sure, it can have hostile NPCs for hostile pacts, but those are doable. A 1337 uber meta player is almost never defeatable. For those of us who are not super aggressive, have quick fingers or simply the mind for pvp, it is just a frustrating chore. :-(

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

Theo_VVS wrote: »

What do you guys have against PvP? I’m not saying all but a majority of you guys despise PvP. Doesn’t spamming the same rotation at a trial boss all day get boring? With PvP it’s never a boring moment and always different outcomes. There’s so many sets players can theory craft and make there character so unique and have others wondering “Wow that was cool, what sets do you run?” But with PvE it’s mother sorrows or relequen on almost every build. I understand the satisfaction of clearing a trial and getting cool skins and loot but then what’s next? With PvP: winning a duel, 1vX , or dropping 20+ kills in a BG with a build you made by yourself is far more satisfying in my opinion, and after that you can come up with a new build and so on. There’s never a boring moment. Although at the end of the day i understand why many choose to play PvE other than PvP. Some may think the skill gap is too high for them to just start into PvP. Some may think it’s too sophisticated to develop proper burst. There’s a lot a reason why many choose PvE other than PvP, but there’s no need to hate it. The learning curve may be steep but anyone can develop skill with effort applied. Much Love to all ESO players

Actually, even though I'm primarily a PVE player, I do love to mix it up in PVP. Specifically, Cyrodil though, because I hate BG's. But PVP is so hit or miss. Sometimes you get on and if there are only a few objectives to take, there is really little point in playing (few points to earn) and if you only have your home keeps - basically there's no point in playing because there aren't enough of your alliance on to make a significant impact. The lag is a persistent source of frustration. Then toss in the fact that PVP often brings out the most toxic behavior in people and IMO its easy to see why PVP is not well liked.

Toss in the fact that many balancing changes (not all) are solely because of PVP, and that just adds more fuel to the anti-PVP sentiment. The reality is that in a game like ESO, PVP will never be "balanced" so to speak because you have different classes with different strengths and weaknesses, and yet, PVP players seem to want perfect balance where any class can kill anyone of another class (assuming zero lag and equal skill and equal access to gear), when that isn't how a game like this should work. A game like this should be balanced around a Rock-Paper-Scissors model where Class X beats Class Y - Class Y beats Class Z, and Class Z beats Class X. But players don't like that kind of balancing because players will often win just because of the class they are on rather than "skill." However, rather than accept that model, PVP players often advocate for a balanced playing field across the board which is something that is just impossible to achieve in a game like this, and yet, their pursuit of that ideal often leads to negative changes in PVE.

Need an example? People often complain about unkillable tanks in PVP that can also kill, but anything done to reduce tankiness in PVP will ultimately make life more difficult for tanks in PVE, and tanks already have the toughest job in PVE.

"and tanks already have the toughest job in PVE."

Thank you.

I think the thing is that a lot of us just aren't mean enough for PvP. Let me explain:

When I am in IC, or Cyro, and I see a single PC from one of the other alliances, I leave them alone. If they do not attack me, I do not harm them. Maybe they are just out looking for leads, or trying to find all the Skyshards, or whatever other questing they might be doing. I can see them fishing, harvesting, doing anchors... I leave them alone. Sure, most of the time I know that they would probably win a fight, because I am far from leet, but even if someone is obviously weaker than me, I see no reason to attack them. Live and let live.

Some, however, take special delight in ruining other peoples plans. Attack from hiding, killing them quick before they can even respond. I honestly fail to see the fun in that, to me that is just mean and unfair. Rotten behaviour, really. Now because that sort of behaviour is considered to be "part of the game", I am appalled and wish no part of it. Sure, I like PvP when it is even and has a point, as in taking or holding castles or resources, but to just hang around the small towns to kill people trying to do obvious PvE quests? How can that amuse someone? That is the virtual version of pulling wings or legs off of insects, as I see it.

I do not meant to bait or flame anyone, this is just my opinion.

RPGplayer13579 wrote: »

I like a good story. With a beginning and and ending of some sort. There is no end goal. No scene where you see your alliance leader at least briefly sit on the ruby throne. Its just endless cycles of violence, and that gets boring. Very repetitive. Over and over again the same thing. Oh look I got killed again, for the 500th time, time for a long horse ride. Live. Die. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat....

What They Said ^

There is no story, no endgame goal, no real purpose, it is just the same thing over and over again and for someone who does not care about becoming Emperor, consider the following...

Your not the real Emperor, during this time period you need to be a Dragonborn to be the rightful Emperor by divine right, what the alliances are doing is taking the keeps around the Imperial City and declaring one of themselves the ruler despite not having the authority to do that, it is the Elder Council which names the Emperor, what the players are doing is no different to a kid climbing a box fort and claiming themselves as the King of the Fort but doing that does not make them an actual King, it is pretty much playing make believe.

My mind is not simple enough to stimulated by such repetitive content.

Theo_VVS wrote: »

What do you guys have against PvP?

...There’s so many sets players can theory craft

You say that like it's a good thing. I absolutely despise theory crafting, and farming for the right gear, and using the right rotation, and basically just creating an exact copy of whatever the build of the month happens to be. But if you don't there's no point in even trying because you won't succeed. Which are the same reasons I don't run veteran content, either.

Morgha_Kul wrote: »

Biro123 wrote: »

Meiox wrote: »

RaikaNA wrote: »

trackdemon5512 wrote: »

PVP is seriously toxic and barely, if ever, moderated.

It comes across as infantile. I’ve spent 4 years playing this game and PVE chat is downright saintly compared to PvP trash talking.

There’s so much racism, misspelling, hate, cursing that it’s a turn off.

And then PVP players have the gall to whine about literally everything but mainly that Cyrodiil is broken and there is nothing for them to do. Meanwhile they seem to have no problem spending 24 hours in Cyrodiil boosting AP, ganking questers and hate-whispering them about it, and just engaging in literal trollish behavior.

So yeah a lot of PvE players don’t find PVP worth their time.

Funny that you said this because Pve is just as toxic.. if not more than PvP. At least in PvP people don't criticize your lack of dps in the PvP community. you're still welcome to be part of the group. if you're not pulling the amount of DPS that Alcast or Liko is pulling on a parse dummy.. you can't be a part of the core group.. which means no veteran progression for dlc trials for you.. No skin achievements until you become like Alcast. I mean.. what? I can't count how many times I've seen core pvers advertising in craglorn zone that they're selling carries for millions of gold.

Yes.. there are a lot of crappy things that go on in PvP too. I won't deny it.. both PvE and the PvP are equally ***.. but if I had to pick my poison.. I would have to go with the PvP community.. Pve is just too narcissistic for me to deal with.

The difference is, that PVE is not just veteran stuff, actually I dont do this kind of pve, so for me pve is toxic free. But on pvp you can't avoid gankers and other toxic stuff. Until there is a 'nice' pvp mode its just not for me.

And that's the thing.. Mindset. There is nothing wrong with Ganking - its a perfectly valid playstyle in PVP. PVPers have the mindset that they will be attacked/surprised/outnumbered etc.. and understand its part of the game. In fact they would be upset if they didn't get attacked.

To view it as toxic is really your mistake(and the fact that these events pull PVE-ers into PVP zones for the wrong reasons) .. Hate whispers are toxic.. but I've never really encountered that.

Mindset is an interesting issue.
As I said before, many or most PvPers say they play PvP for the challenge. PvE is too easy, and so on. Then they only attack targets who have NO chance to fight back... either by blindsiding them, or ganking them with a group of 30, or by waiting for them to be occupied with something (like a skyshard, or opening a chest), or by simply being greatly higher level, or having vastly superior gear, meaning the opposition CAN'T compete (if you can run from keep to keep with someone continuously attacking you and he CAN'T defeat you, there's no competition)... I could go on. In such instances, there's NO CHALLENGE, because you're fighting with people who CAN'T fight back. So, saying you're in it for the challenge, for the competition... is a lie, because I've never seen anyone try to fight a fair, even fight.

Do you only PVP during Mid-Year mayhem ?

Who attacks who, when is sometimes contentious even among the PVP crowd - and its never simple. It depends if there is an objective involved - or the perception that the target is heading for the objective (ambushing re-inforcements is a valid play). There are a TON of bombers about right now - so groups WILL zerg down a single guy in the vicinity if they think he could be a bomber. But there is no point in a full group chasing one guy, and most know that. It just takes a full group out of the main game for the duration and only benefits that one-guy's team.
Battles are won/lost based on who has the advantage, and who can create the advantage. Outnumbered? survive, kite, lead them towards friendlies where suddenly THEY are outnumbered. It isn't duelling, Marquis of Queensbury rules etc.

I mean, if you are 'ganked by a group of 30'.. why are you alone around them? Why are you not keeping distance/line of sight? Why would you expect NOT to be attacked near an enemy? From their perspective, Are you a bomber about to wipe them? Are you scouting - feeding information on their whereabouts/route to your faction?
Blindsided? Yes - with 1v1s, getting the jump on an opponent gives a huge advantage, forcing the target to burn a ton of resources healing/dodging etc.. to get back to parity before they can try to fight back - but it doesn't give NO chance to fight back - not if you are built properly and know what you are doing.
Consider the opposite.. You see an enemy and DONT hit him first - he will turn around and do it to you. Why? BECAUSE ITS PVP and people are there specifically to fight each other. How are you to know in that split-second glance where you have to decide whether to hit first or be hit.. How do you know what the other player's intentions are? Are they out running quests/farming in the village? or are they a PVPer trying to take control of that village for the enemy faction? Are they running to a delve for a quest? or are they running to re-inforce a keep which happens to be under-siege in their direction. This is a split-second decision - and its usually safer to attack first if there is the slightest doubt. I hit a guy a few days ago - before MYM - turned out he was a PVE-er. I burst him - got him down to 10% and he just stood there - so I turned away and left him.. Then he didn't heal up and instead ran into a bunch of mobs and died.. go figure! You have NO idea what the other player wants - so can mostly assume that they are there to PVP - because they are in a PVP zone.

I was in IC last knight - there were small fights all over the place, with mobs adding to the chaos and it was fun. I haven't really been there on this character - so went off to grab a skyshard. Saw an AD player there already picking it up.. Did I attack? nope.. I just took the shard too then we went our separate ways. 2 mins later I killed them on an objective.

I agree its a *** move to gank someone who is VERY obviously taking a skyshard/opening a chest/grabbing a resource node etc. while off the beaten track - but not many PVPers do that. There are some, for sure - and I suspect a lot more more during midyear mayhem - why? because its often the only way an inexperienced PVPer can get a kill.

BGs: winning means you will be playing with tryhard toxic meta players later on. Losing is not fun. Premades ruin BGs too.

Cyro: PvDoor is boring. Defending againts zergs is mostly meaningless unless you have a group (I dont). 1vX is running around a barrier for LoS and idiots will chase you for no real reason. In the end you gain noting by beating the rabble too.

Duels: pointless. Game is not balanced for duels to begin with. I bet the cheesiesr setup wins considering duel torunaments ban lots of stuff.

IC: gankers' paradise, farmers' hell therefore an empty place. The incentive intinsically makes the place desolate. I bet the dev who designed it had a stroke prior to designing it. It is that bad. The real shame is ZoS still keep it this way. Pathetic.

ESO PvP is meaningless. You get nothing done at the end of day unless you have a solid group for: emperor push or top mmr BGs or insane IC farm.

Luckylancer wrote: »

BGs: winning means you will be playing with tryhard toxic meta players later on. Losing is not fun. Premades ruin BGs too.

Cyro: PvDoor is boring. Defending againts zergs is mostly meaningless unless you have a group (I dont). 1vX is running around a barrier for LoS and idiots will chase you for no real reason. In the end you gain noting by beating the rabble too.

Duels: pointless. Game is not balanced for duels to begin with. I bet the cheesiesr setup wins considering duel torunaments ban lots of stuff.

IC: gankers' paradise, farmers' hell therefore an empty place. The incentive intinsically makes the place desolate. I bet the dev who designed it had a stroke prior to designing it. It is that bad. The real shame is ZoS still keep it this way. Pathetic.

ESO PvP is meaningless. You get nothing done at the end of day unless you have a solid group for: emperor push or top mmr BGs or insane IC farm.

You could say any sport is meaningless - unless you are part of a top team, you get nothing at the end of the day..
But then people play for fun, not for rewards. If you enjoy it, play it - if not - find a different thing to enjoy. No point bashing on it.

Biro123 wrote: »

Morgha_Kul wrote: »

Biro123 wrote: »

Meiox wrote: »

RaikaNA wrote: »

trackdemon5512 wrote: »

PVP is seriously toxic and barely, if ever, moderated.

It comes across as infantile. I’ve spent 4 years playing this game and PVE chat is downright saintly compared to PvP trash talking.

There’s so much racism, misspelling, hate, cursing that it’s a turn off.

And then PVP players have the gall to whine about literally everything but mainly that Cyrodiil is broken and there is nothing for them to do. Meanwhile they seem to have no problem spending 24 hours in Cyrodiil boosting AP, ganking questers and hate-whispering them about it, and just engaging in literal trollish behavior.

So yeah a lot of PvE players don’t find PVP worth their time.

Funny that you said this because Pve is just as toxic.. if not more than PvP. At least in PvP people don't criticize your lack of dps in the PvP community. you're still welcome to be part of the group. if you're not pulling the amount of DPS that Alcast or Liko is pulling on a parse dummy.. you can't be a part of the core group.. which means no veteran progression for dlc trials for you.. No skin achievements until you become like Alcast. I mean.. what? I can't count how many times I've seen core pvers advertising in craglorn zone that they're selling carries for millions of gold.

Yes.. there are a lot of crappy things that go on in PvP too. I won't deny it.. both PvE and the PvP are equally ***.. but if I had to pick my poison.. I would have to go with the PvP community.. Pve is just too narcissistic for me to deal with.

The difference is, that PVE is not just veteran stuff, actually I dont do this kind of pve, so for me pve is toxic free. But on pvp you can't avoid gankers and other toxic stuff. Until there is a 'nice' pvp mode its just not for me.

And that's the thing.. Mindset. There is nothing wrong with Ganking - its a perfectly valid playstyle in PVP. PVPers have the mindset that they will be attacked/surprised/outnumbered etc.. and understand its part of the game. In fact they would be upset if they didn't get attacked.

To view it as toxic is really your mistake(and the fact that these events pull PVE-ers into PVP zones for the wrong reasons) .. Hate whispers are toxic.. but I've never really encountered that.

Mindset is an interesting issue.
As I said before, many or most PvPers say they play PvP for the challenge. PvE is too easy, and so on. Then they only attack targets who have NO chance to fight back... either by blindsiding them, or ganking them with a group of 30, or by waiting for them to be occupied with something (like a skyshard, or opening a chest), or by simply being greatly higher level, or having vastly superior gear, meaning the opposition CAN'T compete (if you can run from keep to keep with someone continuously attacking you and he CAN'T defeat you, there's no competition)... I could go on. In such instances, there's NO CHALLENGE, because you're fighting with people who CAN'T fight back. So, saying you're in it for the challenge, for the competition... is a lie, because I've never seen anyone try to fight a fair, even fight.

Do you only PVP during Mid-Year mayhem ?

Who attacks who, when is sometimes contentious even among the PVP crowd - and its never simple. It depends if there is an objective involved - or the perception that the target is heading for the objective (ambushing re-inforcements is a valid play). There are a TON of bombers about right now - so groups WILL zerg down a single guy in the vicinity if they think he could be a bomber. But there is no point in a full group chasing one guy, and most know that. It just takes a full group out of the main game for the duration and only benefits that one-guy's team.
Battles are won/lost based on who has the advantage, and who can create the advantage. Outnumbered? survive, kite, lead them towards friendlies where suddenly THEY are outnumbered. It isn't duelling, Marquis of Queensbury rules etc.

I mean, if you are 'ganked by a group of 30'.. why are you alone around them? Why are you not keeping distance/line of sight? Why would you expect NOT to be attacked near an enemy? From their perspective, Are you a bomber about to wipe them? Are you scouting - feeding information on their whereabouts/route to your faction?
Blindsided? Yes - with 1v1s, getting the jump on an opponent gives a huge advantage, forcing the target to burn a ton of resources healing/dodging etc.. to get back to parity before they can try to fight back - but it doesn't give NO chance to fight back - not if you are built properly and know what you are doing.
Consider the opposite.. You see an enemy and DONT hit him first - he will turn around and do it to you. Why? BECAUSE ITS PVP and people are there specifically to fight each other. How are you to know in that split-second glance where you have to decide whether to hit first or be hit.. How do you know what the other player's intentions are? Are they out running quests/farming in the village? or are they a PVPer trying to take control of that village for the enemy faction? Are they running to a delve for a quest? or are they running to re-inforce a keep which happens to be under-siege in their direction. This is a split-second decision - and its usually safer to attack first if there is the slightest doubt. I hit a guy a few days ago - before MYM - turned out he was a PVE-er. I burst him - got him down to 10% and he just stood there - so I turned away and left him.. Then he didn't heal up and instead ran into a bunch of mobs and died.. go figure! You have NO idea what the other player wants - so can mostly assume that they are there to PVP - because they are in a PVP zone.

I was in IC last knight - there were small fights all over the place, with mobs adding to the chaos and it was fun. I haven't really been there on this character - so went off to grab a skyshard. Saw an AD player there already picking it up.. Did I attack? nope.. I just took the shard too then we went our separate ways. 2 mins later I killed them on an objective.

I agree its a *** move to gank someone who is VERY obviously taking a skyshard/opening a chest/grabbing a resource node etc. while off the beaten track - but not many PVPers do that. There are some, for sure - and I suspect a lot more more during midyear mayhem - why? because its often the only way an inexperienced PVPer can get a kill.

"I mean, if you are 'ganked by a group of 30'.. why are you alone around them?"

Are you... are you serious? A normal PvE-er doesn't have 30 pals waiting around to enter PvP. And the zergs are often very fast, it's like being beetle that gets in the way of those ant zergs in the rain forest. You don't have a chance to escape. Also, when you are trying to do PvE stuff, you are often alone in wanting to do that.

trackdemon5512 wrote: »

[

- VAA: The second boss will swarm you adds. The third boss will kill everyone if enough clones aren’t killed.
- VHRC: the bottom boss will summon more and more dogs to kill the group. The full group can’t proceed without both bosses finished.
- VAS: failing to destroy the protectors or take down the other respawning bosses on higher difficulties will wipe the group
- VBanishedCells2: the final boss is impossible for low DPS to clear as eventually any tank will get overwhelmed managing daedroth
- VMOL and MGF: the second boss WILL wipe the group without enough damage
- VSS: each boss has a DPS, heal, and tank check. The group can’t clear if members of all three can’t meet minimums.

I will agree with most of that...but I am going to be honest in the fact that as long as I have been tanking(since launch, I have NEVER seen a group that has DPS so low that they can't complete vBC(I have seen many groups that don't know when to change focus from boss to Daedroth and back again, but its more that DPS often don't know when to stop and kill a few daedroth) or vHRC(sometimes I have more dogs to taunt than others, but that is all). As far as vMGF, the 2nd boss also does have a DPS check...but it takes a special kind of bad DPS to fail that one...I do admit though that as tank in a pug, I always run an off-tank setup for that fight and focus on doing a little DPS myself. The situation isn't as dire for DPS checks as you make it seem....denying that there is toxic elitism associated with veteran trial content is denying reality(not so much dungeons since you can pug those...and those that pug have no expectations of pugs)

I DO however see many groups fall apart because they are not willing to put forth the effort...as soon as PvE content becomes challenging because the run isn't smooth they start bailing like rats fleeing a sinking ship. In that regard, PvP players are more resilient....a PvP group will beat their head against a wall as long as they don't have to ride too far to get back to the fight.

Dropstitch wrote: »

Ok, I'll will take this thread in good faith and answer: -

1) I don't dislike PvP but I generally dislike the mechanics of MMORPG PvP. I love an arena shooter. I dislike zergs, I dislike gear/ xp advantages, I dislike ganking, and camping.

2) I specifically dislike the lag and sluggishness of a lot of the combat controls in ESO, which make PvP unsatisfying.

3) I dislike Cyrodil. I think the zone should be half the size with the same number of objectives, and then it would be less of a running simulator and more of an actual pvp zone.

4) I dislike that there is no simple mechanism to switch between a PvE/ PvP build in ESO, meaning you need a separate PvP character, or to completely rebuild your character every time you switch between the two.

Hopefully that provides some explanation.

I feel this is a good description of my feel about PvP in ESO.

There are design features in Cyro and IC i feel offputting eg. horse / walking simulator, too much emphasis on builds, etc. Comparatively, i feel battlegrounds are easier to access and progress, where focus can be shifted to learning the map and tactics rather than theorycrafting. Performance issues plays a part here as well but can't say that is the main deterrent.

I prefer to progress trial content with friends. I pvped in some other mmos and fps and i enjoyed it, but the time investment to perform at a level where i spend more time pvping than riding a horse accross the map is just too high for me given the time i have to invest in gaming every week.

Bottomline, nothing against pvp in general, just pvp design and features in ESO doesnt fit with me. To some extent, if i want to pvp nowadays i go fps, as the entry cost in term of gear buidl etc is a lot lower than eso - so i can enjoy some fun games with virtually little to no preparation.

josiahva wrote: »

Biro123 wrote: »

Morgha_Kul wrote: »

Biro123 wrote: »

Meiox wrote: »

RaikaNA wrote: »

trackdemon5512 wrote: »

PVP is seriously toxic and barely, if ever, moderated.

It comes across as infantile. I’ve spent 4 years playing this game and PVE chat is downright saintly compared to PvP trash talking.

There’s so much racism, misspelling, hate, cursing that it’s a turn off.

And then PVP players have the gall to whine about literally everything but mainly that Cyrodiil is broken and there is nothing for them to do. Meanwhile they seem to have no problem spending 24 hours in Cyrodiil boosting AP, ganking questers and hate-whispering them about it, and just engaging in literal trollish behavior.

So yeah a lot of PvE players don’t find PVP worth their time.

Funny that you said this because Pve is just as toxic.. if not more than PvP. At least in PvP people don't criticize your lack of dps in the PvP community. you're still welcome to be part of the group. if you're not pulling the amount of DPS that Alcast or Liko is pulling on a parse dummy.. you can't be a part of the core group.. which means no veteran progression for dlc trials for you.. No skin achievements until you become like Alcast. I mean.. what? I can't count how many times I've seen core pvers advertising in craglorn zone that they're selling carries for millions of gold.

Yes.. there are a lot of crappy things that go on in PvP too. I won't deny it.. both PvE and the PvP are equally ***.. but if I had to pick my poison.. I would have to go with the PvP community.. Pve is just too narcissistic for me to deal with.

The difference is, that PVE is not just veteran stuff, actually I dont do this kind of pve, so for me pve is toxic free. But on pvp you can't avoid gankers and other toxic stuff. Until there is a 'nice' pvp mode its just not for me.

And that's the thing.. Mindset. There is nothing wrong with Ganking - its a perfectly valid playstyle in PVP. PVPers have the mindset that they will be attacked/surprised/outnumbered etc.. and understand its part of the game. In fact they would be upset if they didn't get attacked.

To view it as toxic is really your mistake(and the fact that these events pull PVE-ers into PVP zones for the wrong reasons) .. Hate whispers are toxic.. but I've never really encountered that.

Mindset is an interesting issue.
As I said before, many or most PvPers say they play PvP for the challenge. PvE is too easy, and so on. Then they only attack targets who have NO chance to fight back... either by blindsiding them, or ganking them with a group of 30, or by waiting for them to be occupied with something (like a skyshard, or opening a chest), or by simply being greatly higher level, or having vastly superior gear, meaning the opposition CAN'T compete (if you can run from keep to keep with someone continuously attacking you and he CAN'T defeat you, there's no competition)... I could go on. In such instances, there's NO CHALLENGE, because you're fighting with people who CAN'T fight back. So, saying you're in it for the challenge, for the competition... is a lie, because I've never seen anyone try to fight a fair, even fight.

Do you only PVP during Mid-Year mayhem ?

Who attacks who, when is sometimes contentious even among the PVP crowd - and its never simple. It depends if there is an objective involved - or the perception that the target is heading for the objective (ambushing re-inforcements is a valid play). There are a TON of bombers about right now - so groups WILL zerg down a single guy in the vicinity if they think he could be a bomber. But there is no point in a full group chasing one guy, and most know that. It just takes a full group out of the main game for the duration and only benefits that one-guy's team.
Battles are won/lost based on who has the advantage, and who can create the advantage. Outnumbered? survive, kite, lead them towards friendlies where suddenly THEY are outnumbered. It isn't duelling, Marquis of Queensbury rules etc.

I mean, if you are 'ganked by a group of 30'.. why are you alone around them? Why are you not keeping distance/line of sight? Why would you expect NOT to be attacked near an enemy? From their perspective, Are you a bomber about to wipe them? Are you scouting - feeding information on their whereabouts/route to your faction?
Blindsided? Yes - with 1v1s, getting the jump on an opponent gives a huge advantage, forcing the target to burn a ton of resources healing/dodging etc.. to get back to parity before they can try to fight back - but it doesn't give NO chance to fight back - not if you are built properly and know what you are doing.
Consider the opposite.. You see an enemy and DONT hit him first - he will turn around and do it to you. Why? BECAUSE ITS PVP and people are there specifically to fight each other. How are you to know in that split-second glance where you have to decide whether to hit first or be hit.. How do you know what the other player's intentions are? Are they out running quests/farming in the village? or are they a PVPer trying to take control of that village for the enemy faction? Are they running to a delve for a quest? or are they running to re-inforce a keep which happens to be under-siege in their direction. This is a split-second decision - and its usually safer to attack first if there is the slightest doubt. I hit a guy a few days ago - before MYM - turned out he was a PVE-er. I burst him - got him down to 10% and he just stood there - so I turned away and left him.. Then he didn't heal up and instead ran into a bunch of mobs and died.. go figure! You have NO idea what the other player wants - so can mostly assume that they are there to PVP - because they are in a PVP zone.

I was in IC last knight - there were small fights all over the place, with mobs adding to the chaos and it was fun. I haven't really been there on this character - so went off to grab a skyshard. Saw an AD player there already picking it up.. Did I attack? nope.. I just took the shard too then we went our separate ways. 2 mins later I killed them on an objective.

I agree its a *** move to gank someone who is VERY obviously taking a skyshard/opening a chest/grabbing a resource node etc. while off the beaten track - but not many PVPers do that. There are some, for sure - and I suspect a lot more more during midyear mayhem - why? because its often the only way an inexperienced PVPer can get a kill.

Come on now...be honest. I PvP all the time. The fact is that most times people are zerged down, whether they are a ganker, bomber, etc etc etc have NOTHING to do with it. You see a yellow or red or blue flag over an enemy...you chase them down and kill them...its that simple. Don't believe me? This is a test I will do every so often...I will go out alone(no group) into an active battlefield and use the /sitchair emote. I am sitting there, obviously no threat to anyone for any reason and see how many people will kill me for no reason....you want to know the number last time I tried it? 23/25 players would kill me. Eventually I get bored of that test so I limit it to 25 deaths...but it proves my point...that the vast majority of people in PvP are just after kills. They don't care at all how fair a fight is or about anything else...in fact, the easier it is for them to get a kill, the better

That being said, when I PvP, I expect to be killed on sight...and I kill other players on sight as well, unless they are standing there not moving, or start blocking before I attack(which indicates they dont want to fight) or fishing, doing obvious PvE stuff, etc. For that matter....when I was in IC farming leads for Malacaths Band of Brutality(not that I have ever actually used it) I actually ran across a group of AD(was on my EP tank at the time) and tanked the bosses for them....that was fun and the type of thing that can only happen in IC.

I dunno.. I mean if you are in an active battlefield - then you're fair game, whether sitting/gathering or what. You know that as well as I do - you can instantly switch from sitting/gathering etc. to combat - and therefore still a potential threat.

I've ignored so many people who 'look' to be not taking part to then be burst by them when I turn away, the only safe option is to target every enemy you see. As long as everyone understands that, then there shouldn't be a problem with getting zerged/ganked/bombed etc.. it's just PVP. No confusion.