Release 30 Instructions

Rufus answered this correctly. Post wipe schedule

 

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Let me first say, despite a criticism below, I am thoroughly impressed with these releases on the whole. Kudos to the Portalarium staff!

I like the compromise of allowing to constantly repair but making it expensive, to encourage purchasing replacement gear, but allowing people to keep the same items if they want (paving the way for the item history/affinity system that has been much discussed in the past and I *REALLY HOPE* is still coming).

I am disappointed that the best gear has reduced durability, making it more disposable. Because of this, I think you'll find players sticking with starter gear from NPC Vendors, killing crafitng and the player economy. It needs to be the opposite, that starter gear has the worst durability. A successful application of an enchantment or masterwork application should INCREASE durability, so that the best gear is worth the cost and players will buy it from crafters.

Given how long you have to gather resources to make a single item, and how you will break items trying to make a masterwork item, that equipment is suddenly going to be very expensive. If it isn't durable, no one will buy it.

Fixed that for you!

 

This latest change fixes that. If I see you're flagged and I'm not, and I decide to attack you, now I'm flagged and anyone can attack me. I can't remove that flag unless I visit an Oracle. So even if I kill you with an attack of opportunity, people have the ability to get vengeance on me before I can unflag, as opposed to me just quickly leaving the scene to unflag.

 

Unfortunately it doesn't fix the actual problem. In PVP initiative is king. If my intent is to attack you when you're most vulnerable, I have more people on my side than you do, or you're not suspecting it, these mechanics encourage that behavior and make accountability for those actions a trivial event.

Not only can I easily get to an Oracle while you're respawning, I can simply go out of the scene and stand on the overworld map laughing at anyone that is chasing me because I know I can't be attacked there. (which is also why someone flagged for pvp should be able to be pulled down into a scene with someone else flagged for pvp. But I assume that's not something we wish to tackle now.)

In order to truly balance pvp, we MUST either make it impossible to attack someone if you're not already flagged for pvp (which is my STRONG preference) or we have to put a timer on switching from unflagged to flagged (at least 30 seconds) and we have to make it visible to everyone near by that it's happening, thus giving them a chance to assess the situation and decide if this is a fight they want to run from.

 

I think that this will not be impossible to balance long term. I like the reduced durability because it means maintaining good gear costs more than minor gear. As far as I'm concerned, all they need to do is iterate on max durability loss as a whole until they have expensive items lasting as long as they'd like.

 

If initiative trumps everything, then stealth and moon magic also trump everything. Are you asking for those to be removed from the game? It seems many PvP players (if not most) depend on those to make sure they kill people before they have a chance to respond. How is that different?

 

If you have to spend tons of gold on a masterwork item, and then tons of crowns to repair it, or tons of gold to replace it, or you can get starter gear for pennies on the dollar that is more convenient and doesn't need constant replacing, which are people going to go with?

 

Stealth doesn't make you invulnerable to attack, being unflagged does.

That's the most important difference. That allows me as a non-flagged person to literally shadow you (as a flagged person) wherever you go simply waiting for the opportune moment to attack you - say when you're low on hit points while fighting a mob? That's not only unfair, it's stupid. Stealth on the other hand doesn't allow for this. If someone sees you they can attack you.

 

It probably depends on the amount of gold income they have. If they can support a better item, i don't see much reason they wouldn't get it.

You might run into situations where people don't use their best gear for all situations, but i don't see any problem with giving people a meaningful decision.

 

My impression has been that there will not be any "starter gear" from NPCs in the long run, unless you count rusty swords and the like. Those definitely need to have almost no durability, so they are essentially salvage trash. But NPC vendors should NOT keep a stock of gear on hand; all those augmented armors and such need to go away, and they will instead (perhaps) take their stock from the same pool of sold/destroyed items that monsters will pull items from.

Any item that is usable long-term should be crafted. Period.

 

Stealth means you get to attack first, same with the unflagged people getting the first strike in. The moment they attack you, they become flagged.

If you're saying guaranteeing that you have initiative is unfair, then stealth and moon magic is unfair.

 

Convenience. If I have to stop playing to go back to a town to find a vendor to buy replacement gear constantly, then I won't.

Never underestimate convenience. People want games to be fun, not a chore, especially when you play something long term.

 

Which is still just a matter of scaling. If i need new armor 3 times a day i mind , if i need it every 2 months i don't.

 

Durability loss has been decreased by half in R30, and can be tweaked more if it is still being lost too quickly. The number I've seen folks shooting for is items to last 2-3 months of (fairly casual) play before it needs replacement. If you can tell you are getting that close, carry a backup to switch to. Its not "constant", its should be easily predictable when it will be necessary.

 

We should take this discussion to a new thread if we're going to continue it.

But you're missing the point. Being unflagged not only ensures you NEVER lose initiative it literally prevents you from taking damage from other players. That's not even a skill you have to train in nor is it a skill you have to actually use it's innate. Stealth skills require training and use, and they do not shield a player from damage. The only way stealth skills give a player initiative is if the player successfully uses them within a very limited framework. There's absolutely zero comparison between stealth skills and being unflagged (which is an exploit of poor game design).

 

I do think the half speed is still way too fast, but i agree it just needs tweaking.

 

Dang! Maybe you can at least get us a pick of it on an Avatar when you get time

 

So is it a service token to rotate a template 180 degrees PER POT or all of them at once?

 

The difference being that people who have enough Stealth and Moon Magic to make this effective have made a substantial investment to achieve the ability... Being unflagged requires none.

To say anything further on this topic would be to break my vow to make no comment on the execution of PvP so long as it remains consensual.