See that is exactly why I am posting, as often as I have the opportunity, that the devs need to base game changing decisions on something other than the kind of player complaints they read here. For so many of the tamer haters that are complaining the loudest about tamers it doesn't appear to be that they are complaining because anything is unbalanced. They don't seem to be concerned with balance or fairness, they simply don't want to ever lose to a tamer, regardless of the circumstances. They don't want balance or fairness, they simply want tamers gone, gone, gone... and for some of them they don't simply want them gone from pvp, they want them gone from the game period.
And I'll post exactly what I've posted elsewhere. A tamer with a pet is pvp'ing as much as any other template is, and has as much right to be there as any other template. No, a tamer doesn't control the specific attacks that the pet chooses. No a tamer doesn't directly control the pet's movement. But a tamer that knows what she is doing most certainly does control when and where the pet attacks, and indirectly completely controls the pet's movement.
When a warrior toon with a weapon swings the weapon, it isn't the player swinging the weapon, it's the character's (ie. the toon's) a.i.. When a mage toon casts a spell, it isn't the player casting the spell, it's the character's a.i. Just as with a tamer, the player controls the when and where of the attack, not the attack itself. A tamer pvp'ing with a pet is pvp'ing as much as any warrior or mage is.
Is it different? Certainly it is. Every template is different, and requires different skills, and different kinds of preparation, but every single template requires skill and preparation, and having put in two solid years of pvp'ing as a tamer, and having some experience with other templates, it is my opinion that the various tamer templates require more preparation than some of the other templates, if the template is to be skillfully, and successfully played.
And I'll repeat yet another thing that I have posted elsewhere. UO is all about choices, and that is one of the major reasons why the tamer haters can so easily make me angry. Ultimately what they are trying to accomplish is to limit choice in pvp. If they succeed in their campaign, the game in general, and pvp specifically, will be the poorer for it.
