PvP combat in CRPGs has its roots in various MUDs like Gemstone II and Avalon: The Legend Lives.
While the ability to kill another player existed in many MUDs, it was usually frowned upon because of general strict adherences and heavy influences from tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.
The term PvP originated in text based MUDs played on bulletin board systems like MajorMUD and Usurper.
The first graphical MMORPG was Neverwinter Nights, which began development in 1989 and ran on AOL 1991–1997, and which included PvP, which was initially limited to magical attacks in the game.
Much of the PvP activity was coordinated events by the game's guilds, which were the first such organized user groups in MMORPGs.
Genocide, an LPMud launched in 1992, was a pioneer in PvP conflict as the first "pure PK" MUD,[4] removing all non-PvP gameplay and discarding the RPG-style character development normally found in MUDs in favor of placing characters on an even footing, with only player skill providing an advantage.
This system also exists in Tibia, where death includes significant penalty, and killing someone inflicts considerable harm to their character.
In 2000, in response to complaints about malicious player-killers, Ultima Online controversially added an extra copy of the game world to each server in which open PvP was disabled.
Permanent death (such that the player must create a new character) is relatively uncommon in online games, especially if PKing is permitted.
Dark Age of Camelot was the first graphical MMORPG to debut a formal dueling system in-game (Ballista); other MMORPGs such as City of Heroes, Anarchy Online, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Lineage 2, Wurm Online, and RuneScape feature PvP as competitive dueling in a group setting.
In Star Wars Galaxies, the flag may be turned off by interacting with faction specific NPCs located throughout the game or by typing an in-game command (/pvp).
In 2001, Mythic Entertainment introduced a new team-based form of PvP combat with the release of Dark Age of Camelot.
This can include normal skirmishes between rival groups that is common in other PvP systems, but also consists of objective-based battles such as taking and holding keeps or capturing enemy relics.
For example, in the highly satirical Paranoia, lethal PvP conflict is a core game element, considered normal and heavily encouraged by the rules and support materials.