PVP & Death: Current Thinking Megapost

They don't need this though. Guildwars2 was an example of having a plot you could run all the way through on single player, while also allowing some 5 man dungeons and having big PvP castle sieges for those that wanted it. You could go into any of the plot instances "personal story" with more people and it would scale their levels down and the encounter up to attempt to provide an equivalent challenge.

 

True, but Guild Wars 2 is a proper MMO, whereas SotA is...something a bit different. There's a difference between the soloable plot in GW2 and the solo-play modes in SotA.

As far as I'm aware, there is not "single player offline" mode in GW2, for example, whereas there will be in SotA. So while it makes sense to have areas in GW2 that require groups to conquer -- because you're always online anyway, with other players, and can find a group if need be -- it doesn't necessarily make sense to have similar content in SotA, as the result would be to close off areas of the map to those who play a) solo and b) without tapping in to the persistent world features.

I...can't see that going over well with those backers who backed the game for its single-player experience.

 

They're not areas of the map though. The entire map is soloable. It's just an instance of bonus play for people with a certain group. SotA can do exactly the same thing. They already with have multiple "versions" of a particular hex depending on many things, from RNG to PVP to quest status to number of people in the area.

 

Yeah, that would work. Thought about that shortly after I posted my reply, actually.

Eh, one more reason for me to stick to SPO.

 

What happened to all the talk of having NPC companions or hirelings? Did that get dropped?

 

Last time I saw one of the ways this would happen would be by allowing players to have companions of some sort to help them, enabling them to do multiplayer content on their own. There was even some talk about allowing players to recruit NPC versions of their friends to help with content.

Not much about the exact approach was defined, though.

This soloing capability is needed even online, BTW, if the game really intents to make players that usually prefer to play offline engage in the SPO mode. If part of the content doable in the offline mode isn't doable in SPO, you can bet that the appeal of SPO will be quite lower than it meeds to be in order to attract offline players.

 

It's more the jump between SPO and FPO, I think. That's the one that Portalarium (I suspect) is hoping to entice players to make.

 

Judging by early dev posts, both, actually. But the jump from offline to SPO is more critical, I believe, because to make that jump the player has to create a new character, whereas the jump from SPO to FPO/OPO can be done (and undone) at any time.

Also, AFAIK most players, in games that offer the choice of playing offline, tend to stay offline, which makes convincing players to try SPO instead of offline even more important.

 

I do believe that Richard Garriott is on record saying no single player should be able to solo a dragon. I think the same thing should be true of an Ogre Lord, or a Lich Lord, or any other uber NPC.

It would be incumbent, then, upon the dev team not to make it a requirement for a solo player to defeat uber creatures like these necessary to complete the story line quest.

I think that should be a low hurdle to accomplish.

 

On the other hand, were SotA to provide a sonic screwdriver, that would be awesome.

 

And that is where NPC companions might come in. I would have to hunt what was said in the videos, but I believe a further comment was said about how solo meant a player alone, without NPC companions.

Though we have no idea of how exactly they will work, and Chris has hinted before that they want a little content that absolutely requires more than one player; I believe he said such content would be just a small part of the game's content, and completely optional, though.

 

What if the reward - was nil - or nothing of value ... would it really make a difference? ... Anything associated with the story should either be soloable or possible with help from NPC companion

If it's not part of the story - like a roving dragon - then I could see that you would have to participate in a group .. otherwise I see no need to force folks to group

I personally don't have a problem with being forced to group to complete story quests - but we have not heard much on the single player story campaign

 

I'd be OK with that, but it should be a real fight, and not a gimme.

 

To draw comparasons to UO..

If there is a Siege Perilous "mega server" I would love to play on that.

I don't want to play on a server that separates players based on a trivial flag.

 

I would also Siege Perilous,

I played on it since recently where I was so rejected by the community I left on my own. And its not because I was pvping, its because I was philosophying.

Thats alot of time I spent on the supposed "terrorizing" server where people can pk and grief you anywhere.

Well you guys would be amazed at the community there, its so tight that I never got pked once in all those years, and I had all kinds of adventures like you guys are looking forward to. Everytime I would get threatened they would show up, the good guys were everywhere. And exept for one guy who happened to be my neighbor and is "pure pk" from Dad to Son (I know lol) all the other evil players had roleplay and deep respect for people farming mobs and just doing their job. There never was a feeling like you all needed to express, now we know how you felt, do you know how I feel ?

All these long painful years...

 

Except we know it won't be the same here and the game doesn't even play the same since it is strongly story based with quests etc.

 

you've made your point... don't be the parrot you know I know you for a long time now, others I've said it I'm in total denial.

 

I know I'm annoying, by the way, thats why they made me feel unwelcome (I kept questioning the lore coherence and other habits I have), but I still compliment them alot because they resisted the "elements" for so long and in such a magnifiscient way.

I had that tought earlier, whence I hoped that Lord Gariott and Lord DarkStarr have or shall be visiting old UO, I have no idea if that is legal (contract-wise) but its quite a jawdropping sight. To see for your own eyes... people have worked hard to preserve what you created, its one of the most gratifying things in life.

So never forget avatar, that we are speaking from a place of light and virtue, order and marriage. We represent the most temperate and mature selection of players you can imagine. Most of us have sacrificed alot IRL and virtually to get here and we deserve to be more enjoying what is being created without being condescending in any notion. If I elicit those feelings in you then its time to ponder.

Now I understand maybe wanting to get a fresh start, maybe we want to break from the old... its a new world ! But somehow the shards still sparkle and I'm tempted to veto the movement to ignore the simple fact that one of the only reasons some of these players will be remaining on those servers is because of the history, the fond memories and the companions... what if that edifying value was considered to be what is holy ? What if we let that bright light guide us through the last rough times before the golden age ?

What if....

Thus I would love to see if some of those players that worked so hard to preserve and work on the lore of UO could be dragged here by their feet with a very generous offer to join as a honored member.

Why not reunite the tribes ? Why do we fear ?

There is nothing illegal in talking someone out of a game, and waiting on the other side with gifts, thats the nature of competition in the game market !

Hey look this way Avatar !

My presence was needed here for this very reason ; yes I play and let the most primal parts of me speak such is the nature of a forum : there was no way in hell that I was going to let trolls *on both sides* ruin this precious mega-thread. I read it and it took me a long time and it was full of the same discourse I used to see on stratics before...

*rubs feet on ground shyly*

Yeah ok before I got banned, happy now ? ^^

 

I'd just like to comment on something Chris said. I'm not sure if anyone else has brought this up. Full loot DOES NOT mean that people will always leave their best gear in the bank. I play Mortal Online which is a full loot MMO and trust me, powerful players do run about in full steel armor or better. It depends on your capabilities: if you are running with other strong players then you will clearly be safer wearing expensive gear. So in some ways it ties the community together and provides an incentive for teamwork. I'll be honest, I used to play other non full-loot MMOs for years and nothing was ever as satisfying as UO or Mortal Online. I'd rather have their always be a risk of losing my gear.

 

I'm with you on that. UO and Darkfall would have been horrible without it. It actually decreases the frequency of PvP rather than creating a mindless hack fest death celebration.