Editing Player versus environment

{{Short description|Fighting computer-controlled enemies}}
{{redirect2|PvE|PvM||PVE (disambiguation)|and|PVM (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2010}}
'''Player versus environment''' ('''PvE''', also known as '''player versus monster''' ('''PvM''') and commonly misinterpreted as '''player versus entity''') is a term used for both single player and [[online game]]s, particularly [[Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|MMORPGs]], CORPGs, [[Multi-user dungeon|MUD]]s, other online [[role-playing video game]]s and survival games to refer to fighting [[Mob (video gaming)|computer-controlled enemies]]<ref>{{cite book | last = Bartle | first = Richard | author-link = Richard Bartle | title = [[Designing Virtual Worlds]] | publisher = New Riders | year = 2003 | isbn = 0-13-101816-7 | pages = 406 | quote = ''Player versus Environment'' (PvE). Players are opposed by the environment - that is, the virtual world. In a combat situation, this means player characters (PCs) fight monsters.}}</ref> - in contrast to PvP ([[player versus player]]) which is fighting other players in the game.<ref>{{cite web |title=PvP and PvE in MMO Games – What's the Difference? |url=https://plarium.com/en/blog/pvp-and-pve/ |website=plarium.com |access-date=28 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref> In survival games a large part may be fighting the elements, controlling hunger and thirst, learning to adapt to the environment and exploration.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Usually a PvE mode can be played alone, with human companions or with [[Artificial intelligence in video games|AI]] companions. The PvE mode may contain a storyline that is narrated as the player progresses through missions. It may also contain missions that may be done in any order.

==Examples==
''[[Guild Wars]]'' narrates its story by displaying in-game [[cut scene]]s and dialogue with [[non-playable character]]s (NPCs). To enhance replayability, missions can often be completed many times. Characters playing in this mode are often protected against being [[Player killer|killed by other players]] and/or having their possessions stolen. An example of a game where this is not the case is ''[[Eve Online]]'', where players can be, and often are, ambushed by other human players [[player versus player]] while attempting to complete a quest. Some games, such as ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', offer the player the choice of participating in open-world PvP combat or doing quests without PvP interruption, by offering players the ability to join servers where PvP is enabled by default, or allowing them to activate temporary "flags" which allow them to attack and be attacked by other "flagged" players for a limited time.

==See also==
* [[Player versus player]]
* [[Cooperative video game|Cooperative gameplay]]
* [[Deathmatch (video games)|Deathmatch]]
* [[Single player video game]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{MUDs|state=collapsed}}
{{Video game gameplay}}

[[Category:MUD terminology]]
[[Category:Role-playing game terminology]]
[[Category:Video game terminology]]