Player versus player. A very hot topic indeed. This is the first section of the PVP system. I'm dividing the PVP post into section so it isn't such an eye strain to read all at once.
More games on the horizon are not putting PVP on the backburner to PVE content; instead many are focusing on PVP like WAR and Fury. But how do you do PVP right?
Player versus Player combat is most intriguing to the "Killer" type of player. The thrill of victory against other players is the major attraction for any game with competitive multiplayer, be it an RTS, MMO, FPS or otherwise.
Doing PVP in RTS and FPS games is easy, everyone starts the same, and only the players skill, reflexes, and quick wit will bring victory. In a MMORPG it's much more difficult because of the RPG factor. Players have varying levels and varying gear. For open world PVP, it's extremely rare to have balanced teams and even competition. So lately developers have been focusing on things like WoW's battlegrounds or WAR's scenarios, which are short, objective based games with level restrictions, even teams, and many rules to make things as even and fair as possible for all sides.
Is this a bad thing? In a game like WoW, I think it is a necessary evil. WoW is SO level dependant, splitting the battlegrounds into tiers based off of level and forcing even teams (or close to it) must be done because of their gear/level systems. In WoW, I'd think it fair to say that it's 50% gear, 50% skill. Part of the skill 50% is having the right talent spec for PVP. I think WAR will be very, very similar. I have not yet played WAR, and I hope there is more skill involved and less gear dependency, but only time will tell.
I hinted at this before, but I believe that there should be an automatic balancing system in place for PVP. As I said before, if a level 50 player and a level 20 player fight, the 50 shouldn't have a guaranteed victory. The level 50 will have all the advantages, but sometimes David does beat Goliath. How? With the fixed stat/health/mana system I talked about before, and the skill based advancement, many of the balance problems are already removed. To take things one step further, an equation needs to be made to adjust the power of both players towards a more even middle ground. Say then that the 50 fights as if he/she were a 37 and the 20 fights as if he/she were a 33 or 34. That way, the level 50 still has all the advantages, but the 20 at least has a chance at victory.
What then if the number of players isn't even? Two level 20s versus a single level 50? The answer to this question falls into the combat system, and the multiple stances every character will have, and unfortunately that's all I can say now, as I haven't yet finalized the details for the combat system I wish to create. Basically, the level 50 in this situation will be able to select either an offensive or defensive stance (regardless of whatever skill sets they have, be it melee/magic/ranged) that performs better against multiple opponents rather then a different offensive/defensive stance that focuses on 1vs1 fights.
So we know about the skill set / level system, I've hinted at the combat system, we know about gear and how it works. So we can then assume the level 50 will have a further advantage because their inscribed Runes will be higher level then the level 20 character(s) and thus more powerful, and we know from the level/skill system that the level 50 will have more Focus Points spent into their Focus Web; so again we can say despite the level "balancing" the level 50 will still have the advantage.
I'm just trying to eliminate ganking, griefing, and 1-2 shot fights. PVP is suppose to be epic and fun, competitive and honorable, and I hope this system achieves that.
So what options for PVP to players have?
First off, it's important to say that players will gain experience as well as raise their skills from PVP.
Second, it's important to say that PVP and PVE will be totally separate, and both yes BOTH PVE and PVP are entirely optional. You can level your character and skill to max entirely in PVP or PVE at roughly the same rate. Obviously, this game doesn't exist and thus cannot be balance with hard data and coding, but ideally the leveling rates for full PVP, full PVE, and mixed play-styles will be balanced and equal.
The first part of PVP in my system is the Coliseums. Throughout the *PVE* world, there will be different coliseums. These will play host to a multitude of PVP options. There will be a coliseum for beginner PVP, and for intermediate and advanced PVP. Players will have to work their way through the different PVP game types at the beginner level before they can advance to the intermediate coliseum.
At the coliseums a player will be able to participate in ranked Dueling, 2vs2, 3vs3, and 5vs5 "last man standing" games, 10vs10 guild vs. guild games, and 25 vs. 25 guild games. The dueling, 2vs2, 3vs3, and 5vs5 games will use a matchmaking system similar to what we see in WoW. Why? It works. The game will keep track of how many wins and losses a player has in each category. You can join any of the types alone or in groups (except 1vs1 dueling of course.) If players wish to form their own teams and name them, they can, however membership in a team is not required, nor having the max number of players for that game type in your team required.
Once you win enough games in the beginner tier you can move up to the intermediate tier. As you go through the higher tiers, the rewards become greater for winning, but the losses from losing also become greater. After a certain number of wins in a tier you will not be allowed to fight in that tier anymore and must advance to the next tier.
There will be no punishment for death, as these are all "last man standing" games. So you only get one life, and if you die you'll become a "ghost observer" until the end of the match.
10 vs. 10 and 25 vs. 25 guild vs. guild battles will use a challenge system. The "leader" of the team must have the appropriate number of players, all from their guild, and issue a challenge to a member of another guild. That guild member then can accept or reject the challenge. There is no penalty for rejecting a challenge. If accepted, that guild member then needs to recruit the appropriate number of players from their guild for the game. The challenger requests a time and date for the challenge to take place which the challenged guild must accept or reject, if rejected they must offer a counter time and date. If no agreement on the time/date can be reached in a certain period of time, the challenge is cancelled and no battle takes place.
If all members of the guild team are not available at the time/date of the challenge, there are two options. It can be decided upon to add guild members to the team not listed in the challenge, or the team with more players has to kick members to match the number the other team has. Both guilds must agree upon these conditions or the challenge is cancelled.
Once the conditions have been met and the time and date arrive, all members are teleported from wherever they are to the Coliseum. After the game is over, the can chose to teleport back to where they were for free.
Players killed in any of the game types, guild or solo or small group, will drop money to be shared between the victors of the other team. The amount of gold is dependant upon the type of game, the number of players, and the total the winning team gets is reduced by the number of players from their team that died. The losing team gets the gold for the players they killed. In duels, the losing player doesn't get anything, but the winner player gets only a small amount of gold.
All players gain experience for participating in any of the game types, with much more experience going to the winning player/team. Skill is gained from using skills in combat, so as long as you are alive in a match you have the opportunity to fight and gain skills. Skill gain isn't rewarded to winners/losers it just happens as you battle naturally, just like in PVE in most games.
Also important to note, you will not be able to loot players bodies directly. And the gold you get will not come from the other players pocket.
Each battle in all game types awards you with points. I'm not sure what to call them without stealing names from other games, so we'll just go with Triumph points for now. In the beginning tier of Coliseum play, both winner and loser will receive Triumph points, with the winner obviously getting more then the loser. In the intermediate tier, the winning player/team will get many more Triumph points for a win, and only a few points for a loss. In the advanced coliseum tier, the winning team/player will win the most Triumph points, while the losing team/player will only get a very small number.
This is important because everyone should be rewarded for trying; however the winners obviously need to get a lot more.
For guild vs. guild battles, the Triumph points will go towards the Guilds point total, and also be split between the individual players.
So what do you do with these Triumph points?
Individual player's points will keep adding up, and once they get to a certain level the player will gain new titles specific to the Coliseum circuits. Things such a Duelist, Gladiator, Champion etc. Points may also be spent to purchase gear, runes, and other items that will be very helpful in the Coliseum in all game types. Spent points will not count against your total points earned as it pertains to rank and titles. All points will be divided between the different game types you participate in, and grant different titles accordingly, but they will all add to the pool of points you can spend on gear/items/runes etc. So for instance you'll maybe have 500 points in the Duel circuit and get the title of Duelist, and 800 points in the 3vs3 circuit and get the title of Champion available to you, but you'll have 1,300 points to spend. And once you spend the points, you'll have 0 to spend but still retain you 500 and 800 in the two circuits. Make sense?
Guilds will be able to purchase special emblems to adorn their armor and clothing in battle, and the whole guild will go up in rank and gain titles, and the top guild's banners will hang from the walls of the Coliseum of the tier they are fighting in.
Statues of the top players in the dueling, 2vs2, 3vs3, and 5vs5 circuits will be featured in the Coliseums too. No, it won't look exactly like your character but it will be the right race and gender and the plaque at the base of the statue will read you characters name.
To eliminate a terrible grind in the Coliseum system, the points required for purchasing items and getting titles will be no where near is high as we see in other games like WoW. There will be multiple sets of gear and weapons with different looks and stats, runes of all level and types, and everything else. Most items will cost a combination of gold and Triumph points.
Why? I want player to be able to level and play entirely through PVP if possible. Though the Coliseum is only but a small part of the overall PVP system in game, it's an important one. So, you make gear and items from very, very cheap and easy to get up to really expensive and hard to get, and everything in between. Because of the way the gear system works, with the runes leveling themselves as your character's base level goes up, you're gear will continue to level as you advance. However, you have tons of options to purchase new styles and upgrades from your leveled gear. As an example you could say that "yeah, I know my Runes will level on their own, but I can buy a Rune of a different type that's already a level higher with my Triumph points and looted gold, so it's my choice if I want to save my points and gold or spend them to avoid having to wait for them to level naturally."
And for certain more expensive gear will be higher quality and/or have more Rune slots.
Revisions and additions to come I'm sure, and later, the rest of the sections on PVP. Please leave feedback and what you think about this part of the overall PVP system!
Thanks for reading!
User Comments
Really? Completely separate? I would have thought you'd include at least a pvp-flagging system for open-world combat or duel requests. Of course, I can see the problem with that being that if a character was engaged with both an NPC and a player the game (so far) would be making the character act at different levels between the two mobs. I agree with being able to actually move forward via a PvP system, but only if it offers as much variety as the PvE system does. Random obstacle generation that affects tactical choices for example would keep PvP players sharp instead of meta-gaming with pre-knowledge about what they're getting into. It all sounds good and reasonable though. You just have to make sure you don't lost players to monotony, I know you're working hard to think outside the box filled with the word "grind." after all. Good work.
remember Myndonos, this is only the first "section" of part 5 dedicated to PVP, the open world stuff is coming. So are objective based skirmishes like capture the flag etc. I'm all about giving options.
No duels in the open world, however. I want duels to mean something, thus they are ranked and rewarded in the Coliseum. And it's really annoying to get spammed for duels all the time. However...
As the Guild vs Guild battle can teleport you to the Coliseum and back, maybe I should have duels be the same... accept a duel, get ported to coliseum, duel is ranked and recorded, then teleport back. hmm... thoughts?
i do like the idea of "practice" though, so all game types (except for the guild vs. guild) will have non-ranked practice modes, but no xp, skill, points, or money for practice
I do like the idea of random obstacle generation... like different pits or ramps or barriers inside the coliseum in each game? I like that idea, with line of site issues and range it could add a lot of variety to different games... hmmm....
As a little preview of the next post...
Another big point will be made in the next section, all the gear and items you can get in the Coliseum will also be available in the open world PVP rewards system.
That way, you don't "have" to do either of the two, you can choose to do one or the other or both. They will both use Triumph points, and will both add to the same total for purchases, but add to different totals for ranks and titles.
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