PvP idea

So as we know the flag system works to allow people who want to pvp can do so vs each other only.

My Idea is to give people a reason to keep that PvP flag up. Make it so your kills/deaths are somehow displayed over your head!

Now the catch is if your turn off the flag then you lose all your k/d ratio and have to start over (makes it good for newbs and also makes it so seasoned pvpers will keep the PVP flag active at all times in fear of losing there KD)

Just a little incentive to keep the flag up will help the pvp community stay active

 

Something needs to be done. I really don't want to play with other players that hide behind the flag.

 

And we don't want to play where we're forced into someone else's game at the time of their choosing.

 

Kill counts wouldn't entice me into PvP at all, let alone into PvP to stay.

But decent story driven PvP with the game combat engine behind it, might.

 

Consensual PvP is a fundamental design choice. That will not change.

 

LoL so you can sit there and kill your other character to look stronger? Kill counts and points for killing are just weak - Sorry

Want to play a FPS there are many out there this will NOT be one of them

 

There definitely needs to be an incentive to stay flagged, though, or some inability to flag in and out at leisure. With so many anti-PvPers harping on "choice", there really should be a PvP "server" possibility. I chuckle when people quote consensual PvP being a mainstay of the game design and how PvPers can go play another game.

I wonder how many of those same people will be begging PvPers back when Portalarium lacks the funds to make Episode 2 for them.

 

Consensual PvP is not a problem for me and if that's what some people want then give it to them. But casual selective PvP players and full time 24/7 players should be separated. I'm not interested in playing in your type of world any more then you'll want to play mine. I'm not sure why we have to play together. Each to there own.

Open world 24/7 PvP with the exception of some civil areas.

 

I kind of like this idea, and I think it has some merit, but I'd like the distribution of the idea to be less artificial and game-like. What I'd prefer instead is something that fits into the lore and integrates to support roleplaying. Here's what I mean. Say there's a Temple of the Ebon Cultists, and let's just say they love death and the death of Avatars most of all. So instead of putting the numbers over someone's head or putting them in a leaderbaord, the cultists make a huge wall that updates in real time with the total kills. You don't have to join their cult, they just celebrate everyone's kill count on their own.

But if you go under the protection of the Oracle, that kill count is erased for all eternity. It's really the same basic idea, but not it fits into the lore a little better and keeps people of many playstyles inside the game and not outside the game either talking about floating numbers over people's heads or looking at a leaderboard on an external site.

 

I hope you find what you're looking for.

 

Selective multiplayer + meta server + filter.

The system they have in place could be loose enough to allow casual PvP to cross around the PvE or PvP areas while the full time PvP never see PvE. The filter is still only lightly known so we don't know how tight/loose this will be.

I can't imagine why someone diving head first into PvP would be matched up with a bunch of non PvP. So what you want is plausible.

 

I never really had any issues with that type of game-play. If fact I enjoyed it. Always watching your back. Taking side routes to avoid trouble. I just don't enjoy preparation like PvP. People will PvE all the time and when they have all the best gear and 5 people then they will flag. I think you should be in or out.

 

Chaos vs Order......bring it back and make everyone happy!

PvP ranks in your faction
A robe to represent
Some small incentive to be part of the faction

 

"PVP" wasn't even a phrase back then. There was just a open world with a risks vs rewards approach. Which should be returned to the MMO world.

 

It is a nice idea. But personally, I would be discouraged by it because I would feel like I had a judgement over my head. I sometimes get in a mood where I go PVP against the odds for the fun of it to burn off the steam. Having that thing over my head would actually discourage me. Maybe there could be a twist on the idea, where the top ranked PvPers get a title they can use (if they choose) and have it only last as long as they stay in the top 100 or whatever.

 

You what works besides titles to attract people to PVP is rare rewards, like rare mounts or something they can show off.

The main problem with all of those ideas is that they only work in organized PVP situations. In open world, two friends will just get together and game the stats.

 

I did wonder about this freedom of turning flags on and off, could leave a lot of room for abuse.

We know that players will have the freedom either way for many good reasons, but I agree that there needs to be a penalty to discourage the abuse of it.

While non PvPers will just always keep their flag in place, some PvPers may feel inclined to put the flag on in certain situations and whip it off for others. How easy should that be? Should their be consequences to the contrary behaviour? What would the benefit be to a player switching back and forth exactly?

I like the OP thoughts of a penalty for constant switching. Could be just a time limit, reduces it significantly, so if a PvPer disabled his ability to PvP for any reasons he would be stuck with that choice for x amount of time and visa versa.

This in no way effects non PvPers because we would never select PvP. Just isn't an issue on that side of the fence.

Maybe not over the head though, I am hoping, in the future, we will be able to access a limited paperdoll for other players we select, details could be on there.

 

I think WoW has a pretty decent PvP system in harmonic existence with an equally large PVE player base. It can flag on anywhere instantly either automatically by attacking someone or intentionally, but it takes 5 minutes to flag off. They have a gazillion perks for PVP rewards, PVP zones in all worlds, pvp battle grounds out the rear, PVP worlds, PVP quest lines and PVP achievements and nobody ever complains about it with the exception of the never ending balancing whiner debate. The biggest defining difference that WoW has and SOTA does not is factions. It is hard to have open world PVP in a PVE game without factions.

I don't want another WoW, but there is no harm in taking a few of the better ideas from it. It does not have to be an all or nothing proposition.

 

I actually see a few of the ideas here being highly worthwhile. I agree that there should be some penalty or delay for the constant flagging (I'm PvE, RP primarily, but there are times you just want to hit someone so being able to occasionally go PvP but not being bound to it is nice, like what Tahru said above) . Laila is spot on about that never affecting my friends who will never flag.

I'm not as big for the rare mounts or rewards unless they are purely cosmetic, and they aren't only given to the top tier players... need to be accessible to ANYONE that PvP's otherwise it just won't be worth trying if you aren't one of the few top tier PvP players. The gaming of the system could easily be fixed by capping the number of kills against a specific person in a certain amount of time (2 tahru kills/wk or whatever). This doesn't stop just ganking each other... but it stops counting it towards the max (yes this would be an absolute total so if he ganked me 80 times and I ganked him 4 times it would be 2 moisey kills to his credit and I'd be at a total -2). Then implement the great lore based idea that Baron Drocis Fondorlatos had. Truthfully, it could even be tied into the Oracle (she has watchers EVERYWHERE and permits PvP so it makes sense that she would keep track of it). Doing a temporary title for the top tier players I have no issues with (great in game way to announce to every, "Why yes, yes I AM the baddest around). I wouldn't necessarily drop total kill count for going non-PvP because it would make it so casual PvP players are less likely to be motivated to flag (crud I'm back to 0 out of the 250 kills needed to get the nightmare mount, screw it vs dang I'm only 15 kills from the new ocelot pet summon, I'll flag PvP for a bit and try to get it).