Ok so i want to put my 2 cents down between the two.
Ill first say i finally got a character to 110 ish so i had some pvp action. I have played the game since it came out. Just every time i get a character to like level 80 i decide i dont like it and then make a new one. Or perhaps learn some new little trick that i didnt know of before.
Anyways In one night of trying some invading i have no idea how you veteran players enjoy it. lol
What to me is PvP.
I encountered about 80 percent of the time the old large axe curse weapon roll o dope. One dude that was THE ONLY THING HE DID. He was with a blue and well wow ganged up on me. So i ran into some skeletons in the shrine to try and recover. Lol the dude killed alllll the skeletons with the roll o dope move. So if it takes skill to use a weapon that can only kill with one move?
If it wasent that it was a blue blood sword light weapon. Or maybe combined with the morion blade.
Then there was the dual katana dude repeatedly trying to push me to do the old stun lock wail on the old attack button.
Ohh and i got tired of getting gang up on when i busted out the scraping spear by everyone, lol especially after everyone greeted one another and waited for everyone to cast this and that. I bust out scraping spear bam EVERYONE.
And the rest had the old meridian hammer.
So i say pvp. There is no actual real skill involved with these tactics. Its a game move set that pretty much, while yet it usually works, it takes no real actual skill to use. I bet like i have said before if your buddy came over, had never played demons souls before, and you showed him the old roll o dope move he too would be able to kill people. So an individual who has never even played the game could do exactly what the person who made the character build could do. So i ask where is the skill in that?
Yes a skilled player could most of the time dodge the move set and come out on top thinks like that tiny bit of lag make it impossible to dodge it every time. Then once down most of those players have the timing down so you cant always get back up by repeated roll o dope. Again does it work, yes. Does it take any skill no.
Now on to a duel. Well as such i have not seen any ACTUAL duels. I believe a duel would be more along the lines of two people who will not exploit any of these weaknesses of game mechanics.
Like if you get knocked down they will let you back up.
Ohh and i believe in no healing items. You can eat and get more magic but no healing. That way people would be able to use the damage over time spells and they actually mean something.
That way people would actually have to think about not getting hit rather than rushing in, ground pound, run away, heal, ground pound and rinse and repeat.
And no uber bazillion damage weapons. Yea neat you can demolish someones stamina with the old meridian hammer and then with the curse weapon destroy their health.
It just seems so un exciting when you invade a game and see 4 dudes One meridian hammer one blue blood sword one meat cleaver and one large axe dude.
Ohh and dont forget if you are beating one of them blam the other 3 come on in and finish you off.
I was invaded by a dude who actually tried something new. Did it work? Well no He was wearing vinland armor and the hands of god. Lol well he needed to get close to me and with the scraping spear/acid cloud build i am best at distance. Soo in the end he left when everything was broken. The difference. I actually felt bad about that. That person did something different. As opposed to all the freaking meat cleaver dudes who i break their weapons and armor. Then instead of killing them i let them heal and try everything they can to kill me. Only to keep poking them doing like 50 damage at a time. Just to make them know. Hey i figured you out, you cant kill me, and im not gonna kill you. So leave or lose a soul level and kill yourself. Dirty probably, but i honestly believe a meat cleaver weapon is a dirty over used weapon.
So now i have a new goal. Im going to make a hybrid build. I want this build to be able to deal with all these cheap game mechanics. I dont know what im gonna do. I know it will probably take a few tries but i will. Im just so tired of seeing the same old stagnant weapons that yes work but only because of some game mechanic that does so.
Sorry for the long post. Ohh i cant wait for the dude who says "Man your post is too long and boring, get a life."
With all the possibilities for builds in this game. Why does everyone do the same freaking thing and call it skill?