Me, I'm a hardcore roleplayer, having cut my teeth on tabletop RPG games and MUSHs before MMOs were around. However, when I signed up on WoW I still chose a PvP server over an RP server, for these reasons:
1. The idea of world PvP, Horde vs Alliance appealed to me. Of course, at that time I didn't know how futile world PvP was - no lasting changes made to the geographical or political landscape, next to no rewards provided for world PvP, hardly any way to use the environment to your advantage during combat (preventing guerilla fighting and sieges, for example), the level 60 shopkeeps and level 62 city guards and so on.
2. I thought the out-of-character restrictive rules governing PvP on Normal and RP servers were ridiculous. If I manage to sneak my way past the war front lines all the way into newbieland, I want to be able to do some damage - and vice versa. Also, I'm a big fan of Eve's freedom-with-consequences philosophy - if there is some reason I should not be able to kill you, I want that reason to be In-Character so I can refer to it in-game. The lumbering tree dudes in the Night Elf starting zones is such a reason - hardcoded Rules of Engagement and EULAs are not.
3. I could not fathom roleplaying in a world I cannot affect, where nothing is dynamic, and keeps reverting back to its original state without any explanation why. Everyone does the same quests for the same people, kills the same monsters (even uniques) and are constantly being resurrected from the dead. How are you supposed to suspend your disbelief and go In-Character under such conditions?
So if a harcore RPer can toss in his opinion, I chose a PvP server because under WoW's conditions, the environment presented on the PvP server was actually closer to an environment I could believe in than the Normal or RP servers were. It is ridiculously easy to see the underlying game abstract under WoW's "reality" compared to other MMOs, which led me to cancel my subscription as soon as PvE got boring and world PvP was ruled out. Frankly, Guild Wars does the Battlegrounds/CS type of PvP better and doesn't have a monthly charge.
Re: PvP and faulty thinking - How to learn all the wrong lessons
Me, I'm a hardcore roleplayer, having cut my teeth on tabletop RPG games and MUSHs before MMOs were around. However, when I signed up on WoW I still chose a PvP server over an RP server, for these reasons:
1. The idea of world PvP, Horde vs Alliance appealed to me. Of course, at that time I didn't know how futile world PvP was - no lasting changes made to the geographical or political landscape, next to no rewards provided for world PvP, hardly any way to use the environment to your advantage during combat (preventing guerilla fighting and sieges, for example), the level 60 shopkeeps and level 62 city guards and so on.
2. I thought the out-of-character restrictive rules governing PvP on Normal and RP servers were ridiculous. If I manage to sneak my way past the war front lines all the way into newbieland, I want to be able to do some damage - and vice versa. Also, I'm a big fan of Eve's freedom-with-consequences philosophy - if there is some reason I should not be able to kill you, I want that reason to be In-Character so I can refer to it in-game. The lumbering tree dudes in the Night Elf starting zones is such a reason - hardcoded Rules of Engagement and EULAs are not.
3. I could not fathom roleplaying in a world I cannot affect, where nothing is dynamic, and keeps reverting back to its original state without any explanation why. Everyone does the same quests for the same people, kills the same monsters (even uniques) and are constantly being resurrected from the dead. How are you supposed to suspend your disbelief and go In-Character under such conditions?
So if a harcore RPer can toss in his opinion, I chose a PvP server because under WoW's conditions, the environment presented on the PvP server was actually closer to an environment I could believe in than the Normal or RP servers were. It is ridiculously easy to see the underlying game abstract under WoW's "reality" compared to other MMOs, which led me to cancel my subscription as soon as PvE got boring and world PvP was ruled out. Frankly, Guild Wars does the Battlegrounds/CS type of PvP better and doesn't have a monthly charge.