Early on in 2023, Sandbox Interactive sent Albion Online players a detailed survey asking about their game preferences, and included within was a question about preferences for PvP types – one of which was ZvZ aka zerg vs. zerg. And we need to talk about this because it’s one of those concepts that everyone immediately understands, but the term is seldom used. Heck, we had a tag for zerg, but not zerg vs. zerg or ZvZ – until today.
World vs. world or alliance vs. alliance guild vs. guild or (two-way) faction PvP are the terms we’d be more likely to use for big massed groups of players thwomping each other in PvP. And yet “zerg” has some extra nuance; there’s a sense that it’s less organized, that players are running back from death to rejoin the fray, that it’s formless and maybe even leaderless and potentially even without goals. I’m thinking of some of the big Dark Age of Camelot keep battles or even the ol’ Southshore stand-offs.
Frankly, I’m a fan of ZvZ, and I kinda wish it were an option in more MMOs. How about you? Do you like zerg vs. zerg PvP in MMOs? Where has it been used to best effect?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
