1.Lag isn't MC's fault, it's the servers.
-True. But it's still THERE, which is the problem. And it has to be compensated for. Just like slow (graphics wise) are compensated with fast/fancy. And lag ISN'T compensated for. You have to deal with armor AND lag. Combat should be a little less dependent on lag. Give people time to recover from hits, make all weapons kill a bit more consistently against players (more fist damage, less sword damage, etc.), etc.
2.MC wasn't made for PvP.
-Doesn't matter whether or not it was made for PvP. What matters is that it's here and a huge problem on most servers. It's an in game feature, and it's broken, so it needs a fix.
I don't even see what kind of logic that is. We could have flying camouflaged 1x1 creepers with a blast radius of Uranus and that would be totally fine because MC wasn't just made for creepers. No, I'm serious, that's how it sounds.
3.Use lava/pistons/redstone.
-The amount of effort that takes is ridiculous just for something you should already have;a fair chance. And that's what I'm here for. Lava and pistons do not fix PvP. They just fortify that sneaky, unforgiving, don't-logoff, two-sword-slashes-and-youded mentality. Which is what I'm trying to fix. Plus, you don't even have access to things like this within your first ~5 hours on a server, in which you STILL have a lot of effort invested, all ready to lose in a few sword swings.
4.Just use MCMMO.
-Not only do I hate 99% of plugins with a deep burning passion, but this is for plain MC as a whole, to be included in the game. PvP is a HUGE aspect. And it's so broken. Plus, MCMMO works just as much/more for raiders.
5.Get the jump on someone.
-We shouldn't have to. If two people face off, seeing each other at the same time, one with inferior armor and weapons, the outcome should be undecided. It should weigh in the better armor's favor, but that shouldn't completely determine who should win. Skill and intelligence should. But that's not the case now. Just run and click.
With that, I agree with JSM on most parts. I don't think exp. should be a huge factor in all of it, because then whoever has played longer wins (we want to avoid that), but new weapons and some armor penalties would be nice.
Knockback for unenchanted weapons/fists/etc. should be SEVERELY nerfed, if not removed. Default unenchanted knockback distance is WAY too far at the moment. IMO, it should be reduced to less than 1/3 of a block and should not knock back upward like it does right now.
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Rainbow Dash is Mah Laz0r. Your Argument Is Invalid.
You get into your base at dusk, creating your charcoal and lighting up your simple hut with torches.
You go mining, discover iron, and fight off a few laggy creepers.
You go to the surface...and you hear 3 rapid sounds of distorted jelly as the game over screen comes up, and as a noob clad in full iron takes your stuff and t-bags you.
Welcome to MC PvP, a broken aspect that needs a fix.
Why does it need a fix? It's WAY too dependent on lag, armor, and weapons. Quite simply, if you don't have good connection, you lose. If you don't have a good weapon, and the enemy has so much as one tier of a sword better than you, you lose. Enemy has armor? You lose. These flaws make the idea of glorious PvP nonexistent in MC, and it's for one reason.
It's because you're treated like a mob.
The major features of this are knockback and health. You have roughly the same health as most mobs and the same knockback when hit. The health aspect makes unarmed duels long, tedious, and purely connection based. The knockback makes sure that the person with the better weapon wins (unless you have armor), and both make it very tedious when it can be fun. Better weapons and armor should make winning more likely, but in Minecraft they guarantee it, which is unfair given our average lifespan and the length of fights.
In short? We're not mobs. Don't give us combat like them.
Some suggestions? A large delay between hits, much less knockback, and less spread among weapons and armor (punches to players do more, diamond swords do less), etc. I don't have any specifics but it needs change in general.
You make some valid points. Let's say we were playing Skyrim, though - that's what all the hip kids are playing these days, right?
In Skyrim, if you are of a similar level to your opponent with a similar weapon persuasion (one-handed weapons, for the sake of argument), and you both have on similar armor, but one person is using an iron dagger while the other is using a Daedric sword, the fight's going to be over pretty quickly, and there's a pretty clear cut winner. Likewise, if the same two characters were using similar weapons, but one was in street clothes and the other was in a suit of Daedric armor, that's another victory for the well-armored player.
So what's my point? Simply put, I think a stronger weapon and armor should play far more into it than you would like it to. If you want to get ahead, take advantage of the few combat features that Minecraft has - there is a block function (though admittedly I'm not a frequent user of it) as well as a bow. If you're on a PvP server and are approached by someone who is more decked out than you, use the world around you to your advantage: drop a bucket of water between you two and sprint away, then turn around and pepper him with arrows. Minecraft is all about creating something out of nothing - your combat experience is going to be as exciting (and successful) as you make it!
this is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. and I seem to remember a ridiculously in depth thread about the art of war in minecraft kicking around somewhere.
This is problem to most players in a PVP server, some moron got some iron armor and tools, then starts rampaging the hell outta people when they get out of the spawn area, making them rage quit and never come back, even worse that the admins can't do anything at all since it's PVP survival, you're on your own.
I agree it needs to be fixed.
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Quote from SteevyT »
Quote from sirzippety56 »
Quote from dust »
maybe you can name your wolves after different parts of your computer like I did. [iapprove]
Good job, power button!
USB PORT, GET OVER HERE NOW!
Time for dinner, video card!
Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter!!!! Look at what you did!!!!!
You are mining and your user is StevieWonder123
StevieWonder123 says"OMG! I found 10 diamonds in one mine!"
BadLittleCreepers sneaks up behind you
You were hit by BadLittleCreepers!
Hit again!
5 hearts left!
3, 2 , 1!
StevieWonder123 was killed by BadLittleCreepers
BadLittleCreepers says "HAHAHAHAHA!"
StevieWonder123 cries
I hate the spawn campers..
Anyways,
I agree.. Thats why I travel as far away from spawn as possible and build and underground lair, and then get revenge? D:
this is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. and I seem to remember a ridiculously in depth thread about the art of war in minecraft kicking around somewhere.
You already HAVE an advantage with armor/weapons against mobs. 20 punches or 3 sword swings? 1 creeper explosions or 5 before you die?
So, the whole "We deserve an advantage" crap doesn't work. You already have one. Go out and kill a few mobs and you'll see.
The issue is that we are not mobs. We are different. We deserve different multipliers and systems. We shouldn't be killed so fast after obtaining so much just because "we were unprepared". Imagine how any FPS would be if we had the same health as single player enemies. It would be a mess. And that's what we have here, except supercharged because we actually have a lot to lose when we die.
We shouldn't have to resort to lava or water or landmines or any other BS. That does not solve the problem. That hides it, like pissing on a wall you want to paint yellow. If combat itself is ultimately flawed, which it is, it needs a fix. Not some lava crap. A fix to COMBAT.
PvP sucks because i have played on the creed faction pvp server before and let me say, if u don't have full diamond armor ur screwed, pvp is infact a stupid way of trolling and potentiually it can become a form of griefing on servers that don't allow pvp i hate pvp because every time i want to look for rescources in a new spot, guys with full diamond armor wait outside spawn and kill u before u can even think. I think jeb should just remove pvp entirely as a whole from smp unless if there's a pvp plugin for the server and people with armor shouldn't be allowed to attack people without armor, or while people are building, plus i'm not so worried about iron armor, me and my brother giantsquid00 and my friend robot2468 went up aginst a player named tc18 well me and the gang all had full iron armor well he had full diamond armor as well as enchanted dia sword and the armor was enchanted the odds seemed in our favor, 3 iron armor vs 1 dia enchanted armor, well he cheated by taking us on 1 at a time and he would eat food and take breaks inside of the non-pvp area he owned us and we just decided he(or the cheater) was just to powerful and quit the server as a whole thats y i hate pvp, i agree with dropdragon
NO PvP ANYMORE!!!!!!! EVER!!!! >_< and for those who say just don't play smp if u don't like pvp ur wrong :angry.gif: :angry.gif: :angry.gif:
I think there should crit-hit points, like the head and neck area, hits to this area will cause more damage. And you should be able to break of the armor of anther. these are just a few i have.
^No, that would be another excuse for spamming clicks. Headshots are overdone.
There should be disadvantages to armor to balance it out, and a way around it other than breakage. For example, a lance could ignore armor x% of the time. Something.
And I'd read that other wall of text but I really just can't. I'd make some witty joke here but I really need to do some HW ATM.
You obviously haven't played much pvp or are very bad at it. It takes SKILL to block and aim your shots with bows and hit people, using critical hits to your advantage. A skilled pvp'er could take down someone with higher tier gear than them, where a less skilled player could not. Someone burn down your house? build underground. Use things to your advantage. enchant your stuff. Use potions. If you think it's broken and needs fixing, your not trying to actually do it.
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pinocchio: "My nose will grow"
My little pony is for little girls
I, bare naked, but for my stone sword, and the laggiest connection immaginable (barely playable), completely annihilated an enemy in full iron armour, and a diamond sword.
I hereby render your argument invalid
Cool story bro.
(I would have posted a pic, but hotlinking is off and I cant be bothered to host a image.)
Anyways, let me list the ways that that could have happened.
A. 6 creepers hit him and you stabbed him in the back
B. He fell in lava and as he was burning you finished him off.
C He took any form of other damage and you hit him to finish
D. He was AFK
Choose the correct answer kids
OT: Personally, If anyone knows what Im talking about a combat system like Haven and Hearth Would have been cool. (Check out the game, open world sandbox MMO with no safezones, PVP everywhere. Not for the faint of heart. If you die horribly, do not rage on the forums. Nobody will care, everyone's hardened defenders or stone cold killers) The short explanation is that you have 5 meters, Attack, defense, initiative, combat tempo, and advantage. The fight consists of you "breaking" your opponents defense bar to deal ULTIMATE DAMAGE!!! You consume all of your meters to preform special moves, such as gaining initiative, which you use to attack, preforming moves to regen your defense bar, using your attack bar to hit hard, gaining advantage( which makes you hit harder) or increasing the tempo to make you attacks faster. Its complex and strategic, while keeping the combat fast paced and exiting. (This is not what happens in haven unfortunately, the game has a mountain for a learning curve, and late game players overpower new players 100000000000000000000000000x more than in minecraft, but the principal is great.) This would work well in minecraft, making surprise, ambushes, and preparation necessary if you want to overpower your opponent, since everyone in minecraft is actually not that far from each other equipment wise like in haven. Anyways, that's my 2 cents, hope you read the whole thing
A couple of solutions I thought of off the top of my head.
Random critical hits:
Allows people with weak gear to still have a chance against powerful enemies. Before you say it would be overpowered, a skilled player with good gear would still be able to easily win a fight with random critical hits.
Blocking negates all frontal damage from swords:
Using the block feature makes you invincible from attacks in front of you from a sword. You can still be shot with a bow or stabbed from behind, and you lose a lot of manueverability when blocking...
Sword critical hits negate 50% of the enemy's armor:
Getting a random critical/jump strike with a sword will cause you to ignore 50% of your enemy's armor strength. For example, if your sword would have hit 6 hearts on a foe, but his armor absorbs 4, instead of hitting 2 you would hit 4, plus the standard critical bonus (which is also affected by armor).
Feel free to change anything I said if you think it wouldn't work.
I agree with most things but the fist part.But then, i snipe anyone i see near my property on my roof. That's how i got 5 stacks o' diamond on a server.
Wait, so you're saying that the player who's better prepared wins? :ohmy.gif: THOSE MONSTERS! NERF!!!
No, you're dumb, shut up. Minecraft isn't supposed to be a game about pvp. It's not the major focus of the game. Besides, there are ways to get ahead. Put a water bucket between you two, and you'll be pushed opposite directions. Turn around and run away, then drop a lava source and jump over it. Use splash damage potions, or health potions. Use a bow. Use enchanted weapons.
Maybe you just... Suck?
Wait, so you're saying that the player who's better prepared wins? :ohmy.gif: THOSE MONSTERS! NERF!!!
No, you're dumb, shut up. Minecraft isn't supposed to be a game about pvp. It's not the major focus of the game. Besides, there are ways to get ahead. Put a water bucket between you two, and you'll be pushed opposite directions. Turn around and run away, then drop a lava source and jump over it. Use splash damage potions, or health potions. Use a bow. Use enchanted weapons.
Maybe you just... Suck?
Are you trying to sound smart? Because <insert insult here that I don't want to waste time on>.
Firstly. I don't give a flying flux if this game is based on PvP or not. It's already in the game, and it's a major part. And it's broken. That pretty much entails a fix. That's like keeping in glitches because glitches aren't a focus of the game. Or like making creepers huge gigantic nuclear devices of utter rape, which would be fair because creepers aren't a focus of the game. That's exactly what that sounds like to anyone else.
Secondly. I never said I was asking for advice on how to kill people. Yes, you can use <x> on <y> and get a kill. But that's not the issue. The issue is that without good weapons/armor or all of these BS unnecessary factors that you shouldn't NEED anyways, all of the time and effort you spent on a server go straight down the drain just because the guy in full iron played longer than you. For a game that emphasizes survival, gathering plenty of materials, and long lives, PvP at it's core is too random and unreliable.
So from now on, I'm going to tell an analogy to anyone who brings up this annoying lava logic. Because this is how it sounds to anyone else.
Let's say you want to see a movie, but the movie theater is kinda far. You go on a long drive with your girlfriend with only the money to get in. So you finally get there, and the guy won't let you in. You tell him of all the time you spent getting there, but he just says no, unless your GF blows him. But he recommends that you blow a hole in the wall or drive a truck through the wall to see the movie.
That is exactly how that "logic" sounds. And it's a perfect analogy. There is something wrong with PvP (going to movies) as a whole, and you're not allowed to do it because of BS from noobs (the guy who won't let you in). All of your effort is wasted (the drive), and the only way of protection is to become a douche in armor (pimping your GF) or using ridiculous means that take more effort than getting there anyway (blowing a hole through the wall).
Now you know how annoying and stupid that sort of view is.
As for anyone else regarding any combat systems, I'd prefer to keep it simple. Little/no knockback, invincibility period after hit, changed (and averaged) multipliers for all weapons to make them all consistent in killing time). That's the first step, really.
The problem with the issues that you want fixed is that its extremely inherent to the game itself.
When a new person joins the server with nothing, what else do you expect when someone else thats logged in with a crazy amount of hours with loads of resources at his disposal?
As much as you don't like it, when you have nothing and you go against someone with iron armor+sword, you're chances of survival SHOULD be so little its frustrating. Iron is 2 tier equipment, 2 levels above bare. It should take little to no skill for them to kill a bare person because they prepared and worked for the equipment. There shouldn't be a "fair chance" it should be favored towards those better equipped.
This is a valid argument, your arguments do not refute it in any way.
There is absolutely nothing you can do about people being jerks and abusing the system. Thats just how every PvP game goes.
There's also no fix all solution against lag. You just have to deal with it.
There are some ways I can think of that can fix this problem, without devaluing equipment.
-Make sprinting with armor on slower than with no armor/shorter sprinting duration with armor on than no armor.
Legitimately, I think thats enough to keep the balance to make sure the guy with armor should almost always win while giving the underdog a chance to survive. No need for fancy critical hits or negating damage for blocking. In terms of combat balance in general, I think leather should be made MUCH more plentiful. 1-4 drops per cow. Always guaranteed 1 drop of leather. Easier access to lower tier of equipment should alleviate the huge disparity.
tl;dr
The game could use some balancing. But from the solutions and reasoning you are putting forward, all signs point to you being a little *****.
Minecraft is Minecraft, the main focus of the game could be anything it depends on the player and what that player likes. For some it may be the exploring, adventuring, travelling through caves and fighting off mobs in your way. For some it may be sandbox, building, creating anything you like. For some it could be the redstone aspect which is what they may find the main focus of the game for them, and for some - player verses player combat is one, gearing up in armour, stashing up on potions, pearls, lava and water buckets and heading out to fight other players for fun.
Although, you cannot just suggest ways for some people to help them with player verses player combat, dropdragon obviously knows all of these tactics but that is not the point at all.
At the moment pvp is just a slapping contest - whoever can hit the most accurately wins, there is no dodging, you just keep hitting each other clicking as fast as possible until the other person is dead, that's all there is to pvp in most cases. This happens the majourity of the time.
1.Lag isn't MC's fault, it's the servers.
-True. But it's still THERE, which is the problem. And it has to be compensated for. Just like slow (graphics wise) are compensated with fast/fancy. And lag ISN'T compensated for. You have to deal with armor AND lag. Combat should be a little less dependent on lag. Give people time to recover from hits, make all weapons kill a bit more consistently against players (more fist damage, less sword damage, etc.), etc.
2.MC wasn't made for PvP.
-Doesn't matter whether or not it was made for PvP. What matters is that it's here and a huge problem on most servers. It's an in game feature, and it's broken, so it needs a fix.
I don't even see what kind of logic that is. We could have flying camouflaged 1x1 creepers with a blast radius of Uranus and that would be totally fine because MC wasn't just made for creepers. No, I'm serious, that's how it sounds.
3.Use lava/pistons/redstone.
-The amount of effort that takes is ridiculous just for something you should already have;a fair chance. And that's what I'm here for. Lava and pistons do not fix PvP. They just fortify that sneaky, unforgiving, don't-logoff, two-sword-slashes-and-youded mentality. Which is what I'm trying to fix. Plus, you don't even have access to things like this within your first ~5 hours on a server, in which you STILL have a lot of effort invested, all ready to lose in a few sword swings.
4.Just use MCMMO.
-Not only do I hate 99% of plugins with a deep burning passion, but this is for plain MC as a whole, to be included in the game. PvP is a HUGE aspect. And it's so broken. Plus, MCMMO works just as much/more for raiders.
5.Get the jump on someone.
-We shouldn't have to. If two people face off, seeing each other at the same time, one with inferior armor and weapons, the outcome should be undecided. It should weigh in the better armor's favor, but that shouldn't completely determine who should win. Skill and intelligence should. But that's not the case now. Just run and click.
With that, I agree with JSM on most parts. I don't think exp. should be a huge factor in all of it, because then whoever has played longer wins (we want to avoid that), but new weapons and some armor penalties would be nice.
well done
this is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. and I seem to remember a ridiculously in depth thread about the art of war in minecraft kicking around somewhere.
I agree it needs to be fixed.
StevieWonder123 says"OMG! I found 10 diamonds in one mine!"
BadLittleCreepers sneaks up behind you
You were hit by BadLittleCreepers!
Hit again!
5 hearts left!
3, 2 , 1!
StevieWonder123 was killed by BadLittleCreepers
BadLittleCreepers says "HAHAHAHAHA!"
StevieWonder123 cries
See? We are treated like CREEPERS
Everypony is awesome!
Anyways,
I agree.. Thats why I travel as far away from spawn as possible and build and underground lair, and then get revenge? D:
You already HAVE an advantage with armor/weapons against mobs. 20 punches or 3 sword swings? 1 creeper explosions or 5 before you die?
So, the whole "We deserve an advantage" crap doesn't work. You already have one. Go out and kill a few mobs and you'll see.
The issue is that we are not mobs. We are different. We deserve different multipliers and systems. We shouldn't be killed so fast after obtaining so much just because "we were unprepared". Imagine how any FPS would be if we had the same health as single player enemies. It would be a mess. And that's what we have here, except supercharged because we actually have a lot to lose when we die.
We shouldn't have to resort to lava or water or landmines or any other BS. That does not solve the problem. That hides it, like pissing on a wall you want to paint yellow. If combat itself is ultimately flawed, which it is, it needs a fix. Not some lava crap. A fix to COMBAT.
NO PvP ANYMORE!!!!!!! EVER!!!! >_< and for those who say just don't play smp if u don't like pvp ur wrong :angry.gif: :angry.gif: :angry.gif:
There should be disadvantages to armor to balance it out, and a way around it other than breakage. For example, a lance could ignore armor x% of the time. Something.
And I'd read that other wall of text but I really just can't. I'd make some witty joke here but I really need to do some HW ATM.
My little pony is for little girls
Cool story bro.
(I would have posted a pic, but hotlinking is off and I cant be bothered to host a image.)
Anyways, let me list the ways that that could have happened.
A. 6 creepers hit him and you stabbed him in the back
B. He fell in lava and as he was burning you finished him off.
C He took any form of other damage and you hit him to finish
D. He was AFK
Choose the correct answer kids
OT: Personally, If anyone knows what Im talking about a combat system like Haven and Hearth Would have been cool. (Check out the game, open world sandbox MMO with no safezones, PVP everywhere. Not for the faint of heart. If you die horribly, do not rage on the forums. Nobody will care, everyone's hardened defenders or stone cold killers) The short explanation is that you have 5 meters, Attack, defense, initiative, combat tempo, and advantage. The fight consists of you "breaking" your opponents defense bar to deal ULTIMATE DAMAGE!!! You consume all of your meters to preform special moves, such as gaining initiative, which you use to attack, preforming moves to regen your defense bar, using your attack bar to hit hard, gaining advantage( which makes you hit harder) or increasing the tempo to make you attacks faster. Its complex and strategic, while keeping the combat fast paced and exiting. (This is not what happens in haven unfortunately, the game has a mountain for a learning curve, and late game players overpower new players 100000000000000000000000000x more than in minecraft, but the principal is great.) This would work well in minecraft, making surprise, ambushes, and preparation necessary if you want to overpower your opponent, since everyone in minecraft is actually not that far from each other equipment wise like in haven. Anyways, that's my 2 cents, hope you read the whole thing
Random critical hits:
Allows people with weak gear to still have a chance against powerful enemies. Before you say it would be overpowered, a skilled player with good gear would still be able to easily win a fight with random critical hits.
Blocking negates all frontal damage from swords:
Using the block feature makes you invincible from attacks in front of you from a sword. You can still be shot with a bow or stabbed from behind, and you lose a lot of manueverability when blocking...
Sword critical hits negate 50% of the enemy's armor:
Getting a random critical/jump strike with a sword will cause you to ignore 50% of your enemy's armor strength. For example, if your sword would have hit 6 hearts on a foe, but his armor absorbs 4, instead of hitting 2 you would hit 4, plus the standard critical bonus (which is also affected by armor).
Feel free to change anything I said if you think it wouldn't work.
No, you're dumb, shut up. Minecraft isn't supposed to be a game about pvp. It's not the major focus of the game. Besides, there are ways to get ahead. Put a water bucket between you two, and you'll be pushed opposite directions. Turn around and run away, then drop a lava source and jump over it. Use splash damage potions, or health potions. Use a bow. Use enchanted weapons.
Maybe you just... Suck?
http://www.youtube.com/user/xPulse365
Are you trying to sound smart? Because <insert insult here that I don't want to waste time on>.
Firstly. I don't give a flying flux if this game is based on PvP or not. It's already in the game, and it's a major part. And it's broken. That pretty much entails a fix. That's like keeping in glitches because glitches aren't a focus of the game. Or like making creepers huge gigantic nuclear devices of utter rape, which would be fair because creepers aren't a focus of the game. That's exactly what that sounds like to anyone else.
Secondly. I never said I was asking for advice on how to kill people. Yes, you can use <x> on <y> and get a kill. But that's not the issue. The issue is that without good weapons/armor or all of these BS unnecessary factors that you shouldn't NEED anyways, all of the time and effort you spent on a server go straight down the drain just because the guy in full iron played longer than you. For a game that emphasizes survival, gathering plenty of materials, and long lives, PvP at it's core is too random and unreliable.
So from now on, I'm going to tell an analogy to anyone who brings up this annoying lava logic. Because this is how it sounds to anyone else.
Let's say you want to see a movie, but the movie theater is kinda far. You go on a long drive with your girlfriend with only the money to get in. So you finally get there, and the guy won't let you in. You tell him of all the time you spent getting there, but he just says no, unless your GF blows him. But he recommends that you blow a hole in the wall or drive a truck through the wall to see the movie.
That is exactly how that "logic" sounds. And it's a perfect analogy. There is something wrong with PvP (going to movies) as a whole, and you're not allowed to do it because of BS from noobs (the guy who won't let you in). All of your effort is wasted (the drive), and the only way of protection is to become a douche in armor (pimping your GF) or using ridiculous means that take more effort than getting there anyway (blowing a hole through the wall).
Now you know how annoying and stupid that sort of view is.
As for anyone else regarding any combat systems, I'd prefer to keep it simple. Little/no knockback, invincibility period after hit, changed (and averaged) multipliers for all weapons to make them all consistent in killing time). That's the first step, really.
When a new person joins the server with nothing, what else do you expect when someone else thats logged in with a crazy amount of hours with loads of resources at his disposal?
As much as you don't like it, when you have nothing and you go against someone with iron armor+sword, you're chances of survival SHOULD be so little its frustrating. Iron is 2 tier equipment, 2 levels above bare. It should take little to no skill for them to kill a bare person because they prepared and worked for the equipment. There shouldn't be a "fair chance" it should be favored towards those better equipped.
This is a valid argument, your arguments do not refute it in any way.
There is absolutely nothing you can do about people being jerks and abusing the system. Thats just how every PvP game goes.
There's also no fix all solution against lag. You just have to deal with it.
There are some ways I can think of that can fix this problem, without devaluing equipment.
-Make sprinting with armor on slower than with no armor/shorter sprinting duration with armor on than no armor.
Legitimately, I think thats enough to keep the balance to make sure the guy with armor should almost always win while giving the underdog a chance to survive. No need for fancy critical hits or negating damage for blocking. In terms of combat balance in general, I think leather should be made MUCH more plentiful. 1-4 drops per cow. Always guaranteed 1 drop of leather. Easier access to lower tier of equipment should alleviate the huge disparity.
tl;dr
The game could use some balancing. But from the solutions and reasoning you are putting forward, all signs point to you being a little *****.
What is Minecraft meant to be about then?
Minecraft is Minecraft, the main focus of the game could be anything it depends on the player and what that player likes. For some it may be the exploring, adventuring, travelling through caves and fighting off mobs in your way. For some it may be sandbox, building, creating anything you like. For some it could be the redstone aspect which is what they may find the main focus of the game for them, and for some - player verses player combat is one, gearing up in armour, stashing up on potions, pearls, lava and water buckets and heading out to fight other players for fun.
Although, you cannot just suggest ways for some people to help them with player verses player combat, dropdragon obviously knows all of these tactics but that is not the point at all.
At the moment pvp is just a slapping contest - whoever can hit the most accurately wins, there is no dodging, you just keep hitting each other clicking as fast as possible until the other person is dead, that's all there is to pvp in most cases. This happens the majourity of the time.