Getting more players into pvp zones

That was so in UO... it was extreemly long until you reached master level on some skills and it made quite a big difference in pvp... more so than gear, but thats the thing : the mechanics of the game made that viable, whereas our pixel drug oriented mechanics clashes with the old gameplay.

I would say choose one or the other... don't try to please everyone or you'll end up split in the middle, I think we're far enough now to at least acknowledge the great divide.

 

The game is incredibly grindy at higher levels. But getting to level 50 is really a short jog when it comes to MMO's.

Level 40 is where players reach a type of "proficiency" with the game.
Level 80 is really a low level "mastery".
And level 100 is "Grand Mastery" of the game and or skills, if you're talking about individual skill levels.

It's through levels 80 to 100 that really slow down progression and you can feel the grind.

So what does that mean exactly? It means that if you want to play the game, have fun, complete the story, and explore just about every area of the game, you probably want to be at least level 50. Anything level 50 to level 80 will be a bonus. If you don't want to spend your days grinding out levels though, don't expect to go above level 80 in skills or adventurer levels. At level 80 you can be a "contributor" to PVE and PVP, but you're not going to win fights against opponents that are 20 levels higher than you are (unless they're AFK or already low on health and you're ganking them).

 

You got that right! There's a reason folks call SotA, "Grind of the Avatar" lol, quite apropos currently. Everytime I say, "Ok i'm gonna focus on grinding out a level today!" I lose interest after an hour, at best.

Like you Gix, I bought this for a kickass compelling pve experience. Unfortunately, it still needs a lot of work and is one of the grindiest parts of the game. It's just so boring. How many wolves can one really kill until you throw up your hands in boredom? I do respect your diligence to branch out and pvp though!

I don't pvp, and take nothing away from those that do, but it seems to me that it is just another system that doesn't work currently. I know as a simple pve guy I will do EVERYTHING in my power to avoid pvp zones. I suck at it and simply don't enjoy losing xp, skills and my hard earned money lol.

So what would get me in there? TBH, probably nothing. I already resent the fact greatly that the main questline nudges you into those zones. Sure, there are other routes to take but you would never know that unless someone told you (thanks @discipleofweb ). I also know I am not the only pve person who feels like this. Though in fairness I can only speak for myself!

 

So people are finding advancing from around 50 and up to be grindy if they're working solo?

Is that an accurate synopsis?

 

Thats why I wanted that as a community, we accept that a siege perilous type server *IN THE FUTURE* might be a good idea to *KEEP AN OPEN MIND* about because its a gameplay option and we have repeatedly stated that the more options we have the larger our niche.

Have you lived this glorious time Stundorn ? know what I mean ?

The ressources and skills were scarce on siege, but the fact that people had no choice but to team up made such a strong community that any new player was granted immunity by the NEW guild. If anyone didn't respect the new players, they would live hell on sosaria... even the bandits and murderers would shun them and give them no rest. Also the players from the NEW guild were basically guaranteed never to lack ressources because everyone wanted more playerbase and everyone worked in the same intention.

Here we have on the other hand, a handful of rich RMT players who could care less if they lose a few players, they will say well you're not happy go play somewhere else and such nonsense.

 

Yea some people don't like to be carried around by their guild like a little doggie, as they wait while their XP goes up 1 million an hour on exploitable scenes

 

From what I am reading it looks like we might be onto something here.

What point in the leveling process will someone become viable for PvP?
What skills are needed to be viable?

If I start as a freshly created Avatar and log my entire process. Flagged open PvP the entire time. Then made a PvP viability thread - entry level. Would it be useful for illustrating entry level PvP goals? (I am sure I would get smacked around a good many times just from my forum postings over the years)

Not talking high end PvP. Only entry level. High end PvP would be beyond the scope of getting more people into PvP.

Having a working knowledge of the process would be good when approaching the devs for changes.

Unless this stuff is already known, in that case, links please so I can do my homework.

 

I did my reports when I started to pvp... most threads were ignored of course becsause of my radically different idea of what a RPG is...

The main points to keep this simple :

- It seems that to be competitive at low levels, you must become a kind of jack of all trades, which makes the classless system feel like a joke.

- The interactions even at very low levels look like a fireworks display, the UI is kind of hard to control, the camera gets stuck or falls behind trees or get stucked in a corridor.

- I've learned to somewhat enjoy the random card combat, but being low health it seems highly improbable that my avatar would "forget how to heal" in the "heat of the action". This total illogism and lack of algorythm behind the randomness takes away from the fun to privilege the "fair" which is what is usually expected from high end pvp, but in the start you want some magic, some mystery, you want things to make sense and encourage fun so you at least make it to lvl 50 without rage quitting.

- There is absolutely no reason to flag pvp... I was never attacked ONCE and I flagged from the get go... I even tried "looking afk" in busy cities and noone ever touched me.

- The loot system is an insult to realism... price of the oracle... really this sounds commercial quick solution and lacking in lore... feels like arena pvp... nothing to attract the real warriors.

- People kind of laughed at me all the time, came and stole my spot in a low skull region and were high level, they teased me "oh look at the angry pvp player, you can't attack me haha"

- I barely made enough gold to cover my repairs... forget about buying potions to have somewhat of an edge... this is really more of a WoW experience than a ultima experience.

- All in all it was a horrible experience.

:/

 

The more people gets to experience this, the more noise we can make so that the devs can be aware of it and do something about it.

//

I recommend any of the devs who are working on anything PvP related to play the game as a level 20-30 character with no dev hacks. Remove the Oracle protection, try to attack anyone you see flagged. Go to Blood Bay or any Shard Fall, try to have fun there with or without people around. Go to the various arenas found in certain cities like Ardoris and Owl's Head.

Try it with a character that hasn't changed any of the skill's train/untrain configurations since creation. Because, by doing that, you might realize how un-intuitive the skill system really is. I mean, you won't understand the problem since you built it yourself so you already know how to make it work but at least you'll feel its effects. If some people are having issues with skill development and grinding, maybe you have to look at the underlying issue.

If one has to open a spread sheet to "properly" level up, you've built your RPG wrong. If one has to grind endlessly to PvP, you've done PvP wrong.

 

If you're not talking "high end pvp" then the idea of being viable is up for grabs. The power curve begins to flatten at skill levels of 80. The grind begins to set in around adventurer level 80. That's really where players become "viable" when they have enough skill points to obtain a high degree of fighting ability (meaning they have multiple skills at 80 or above) and enough hit points and focus to compete in PVP (which comes from being around level 80). Can you pvp and win at level 60? Sure. Can you PVP and win with some skills around 40? Sure. But these are going to be outliers that will be situational and reflective of who you're fighting against.

I think this is a good system that encourages players to get involved. Obtaining level 80 skills is something that a player can do on day one if they know what they're doing.