Since MUD1 back in 1978, PvP has been a part of multiplayer games. But it wasn’t until the late 90s, when consumer-grade internet connections became available, that true, publicly accessible MMO games began to appear. Very few of these games have not included some form of PvP.

There have been a great many MMO games that had excellent PvP. Many of these date back to the early 2000s and are still online today. Some of these games keep the PvP small scale, often using special, instanced zones and limited teams. Others promote mass battles in an open world, in a huge free-for-all brawl.

7 JumpGate

Real-Time 3D Space Combat, Trading and Exploration Over Dial-Up

• Platform: Microsoft Windows
• Released: 2001
• Developer: Netdevil
• Genre: Space Simulator

Way back in 2001, a little-known space combat, exploration, and trading MMO was released. Consider for a moment, that this was still the days of dial-up internet. This game was JumpGate. When modern titles such as ELITE Dangerous and Star Citizen have struggled with real-time, multiplayer space combat using modern technology, JumpGate did it over dial-up, and before Nvidia released the very first GeForce 2 GPU.

Based on the proprietary DANCER engine, the game hosted hundreds of players in a single galaxy. PvP took the form of faction-aligned combat, and there was a healthy dose of player pirates inhabiting unregulated areas of space. To this day, no game has managed to duplicate what JumpGate did with so few resources. It was ahead of its time. Gamers who would like to try JumpGate can play using the server emulator hosted by JumpGate TRI.

6 Lineage 2

Brutal Open World PvP

Lineage 2 is one of the original Korean grind fest MMOs. Often overlooked today, even though it has been in operation for over two decades. This is a simple game in many respects. A throwback to old-school MMO with a long leveling grind.

PvP in Lineage 2 takes place anywhere outside of the sight of guards. When a player is killed, they lose a large chunk of experience points and drop their entire inventory on the floor to be looted by anyone. PvP in this game is simply brutal. Furthermore, the game features tower-defense-style battles with guilds protecting fortifications from being captured.

5 Guild Wars

A PvP League Wrapped In A Game

The original Guild Wars was one of the first MMOs to move the focus from PvE gameplay to competitive PvP. Yes, there was a lot of PvE content in the game, but most of it was aimed at player leveling, unlocking skills, and acquiring PvP-ready gear.

The real action in Guild Wars took place on small PvP-instanced maps, following a capture-the-flag style of challenge. Teams would compete in a ranked league, unlocking bonuses and upgrades if they did well. At its peak, there were dozens of ranked matches taking place 24 hours a day.

4 Dark Age Of Camelot

The First Realm Versus Realm PvP

• Platforms: Microsoft Windows, DOS
• Released: October 9, 2001
• Developer: Mythic Entertainment
• Genre: MMORPG

Dark Age of Camelot is another old-school MMO that is still in operation today. It has been running for more than 20 years and still has a very loyal player base. Something that DAOC pioneered, was realm versus realm PvP. A three-way struggle between three player factions for control of the territory.

RvR combat in this game involved huge battles, with players either defending a castle or other fortified position or trying to capture it. This involved the use of siege engines, which needed to be crafted and moved into position before a battle. Player crafters were needed to build these siege engines or to repair the defenses of fortified positions. Larger battles would take hours to resolve.

3 Planetside 2

Epic Battles For Planetary Control

Planetside 2 takes the idea of competitive FPS games and blows it up to a massive scale. Battles involving hundreds of players at the same time are quite common. Combat involves vehicles, aircraft, and infantry soldiers. There is a huge range of weapons and equipment that players can specialize their build around.

PS2 players choose one of three factions to fight for. These factions battle to lock down points of interest on a planetary map, with the aim of capturing enough of them that they can lock down the whole planet, and get a game-wide bonus of buff for their faction. Regular scripted events take place throughout the day, which help to funnel combat into especially challenging locations. Overall, Planetside 2 does a great job of simulating planetary warfare on a grand scale.

2 Guild Wars 2

The First Game With Server Versus Server PvP

When Guild Wars 2 was launched, most players thought it would follow a similar format to the original Guild Wars game, with an embedded PvP league and less PvE Focus. Surprisingly, it didn’t. It is a much more PvE-centric game. But it does have instanced, structured PvP battles as well.

Something that Guild Wars 2 introduced that was entirely new at the time, was World versus World combat. In this game mode, players from two different servers compete as teams, to complete PvE challenges and win PvP combat encounters on a special game map.

1 EVE Online

Massive PvP Battles

EVE Online currently holds the world record for the most players involved in a single PvP battle. Most MMOs would be proud to host a battle involving several hundred players smoothly. EVE does things differently, and the world-record-breaking battle involved over 8,000 active players.

Not all battles in EVE online are such epic engagements. PvP can take place between just two players. Small group PvP is encouraged by the faction warfare system in low-security space, and large fleet battles take place in what is known as nullsec space, where player alliances provide security and policing.

PvP in EVE Online is run with near-military precision and very strict rules related to player behavior. Gamers who want the ultimate PvP challenge should try EVE.