I've mentioned a few times that I don't much like the idea of non-consensual PvP. But at the same time the proposed design of the game makes it seem like a server without PvP would make a number of the game elements very tough to deal with. I don't know how workable this will be, but wanted to pass on my own idea for mitigating my concerns and see what others think about it. Sorry if all the tags bother you, but it looked like a bit of a wall of text without them!
The general idea:
I'd like to see a non-PvP faction in the game, which could be the Pathfinder Society themselves. Much like in the organised play members of the Society can have ties to another faction, but their loyalty above all is to the Society itself. Due to their unique position all factions have cordial (at least on the surface) relations with the Society and very strict rules forbidding them from taking action against a Society representative.
In game terms this would mean that Society members could not be targeted for PvP. The flavour description can be left to someone more talented than myself, but the general idea would be that the divine powers themselves have decreed that the Society need to be allowed to go about their business. With the divine patrons of each faction having their own reasons for that decree of course...
Advantages:
The advantage for a member of the Society would be that they can't be engaged in non-consensual PvP (either altogether or only under very specific and clear circumstances). They also would be free to deal with and trade with any other factions in the game, able to sell any secrets or treasure they discover to the highest bidder.
Disadvantages
On the other side the Society wouldn't be able to have access to the 'inner sanctum' of any of the other factions. While they can deal with them all they don't have the full benefits of being in any of them either. The same decrees that prevent the Pathfinder Society from becoming part of the factional warfare in the River Kingdoms also enforce them into a position of neutrality. Individual members can favour other factions through their trading and try to help that way, but they can't get involved in the wars directly.
What is this trying to achieve?:
The general idea here is that a member of the Pathfinder Society is free to explore the world without fear of non consensual PvP and can take part in at least the vast majority of any 'theme park' content within the game through missions and quests and the like. This should make it an attractive position for a casual player who wants to have some involvement but doesn't want to get involved in the PvP side of things. But it also locks off a lot of the more interesting content in terms of claiming a piece of the land for your own faction, so more serious players are unlikely to remain in the Society.
For balance (and RP!) reasons there would need to be some kind of restriction on how often you could move in and out of the faction. And anybody with a bounty on their head probably shouldn't be able to join until that has been settled one way or the other.
I haven't developed the thought much yet, but as someone who isn't interested in non-consensual PvP I think this would give me a route into trying the game and exploring the world. And in having that opportunity it may be that the game seems so compelling and I can't help but take a side eventually and move out of the Pathfinder Society and into another faction.
