Time to talk about economy!

Honostly, now that we can have additional characters, they should severely limit the respec ability.

 

and if crafting skills are as easy to flip flop as combat skills then i can craft what ever i want as i will just switch my gathering skills over to what ever i need to craft ....

 

If I understand you correctly, I've thought about this before. The trouble is that not all skills are equal in the number of points they require. I suppose any difference in points could be added to your unused point pool. I hadn't considered that before. lol

 

Pretty much.

 

The argument being made is that PvP is an expense that needs balancing. We are not talking about sport PvP like duels and arenas. This is only talking about open world PvP. Pick just about any other MMO out there that mixes PvP and PvE together and you will find a common thread about more abundant resources in PvP zones. It is a lot more profitable to go gathering anywhere else in the world because Mob's are much easier to get around than other players. It is seriously not a big deal at all because those nodes will be fought over. It is not a hand out, it is balancing. Just because I like fishing, does not mean I should not profit from it. The game needs to be fun for everyone. Anyway, it is not going to impact anyone that does not want to PvP in any meaningful way any more or less than choosing a different profession.

 

True, but a significant design goal has always been the idea that players shouldn't feel they need additional characters. This is a driving force behind the respec in the first place.

Personally I'm going to use every character slot I can, but for RP reasons. If I didn't care about what my main character was intended to be I'd just use him and abuse respec as much as I could because I like my independence to a degree and I love to craft for my own purposes. As it is though, Bowen isn't meant to be a mage or a blacksmith so I refuse to game the system that way. I need other characters to fill those roles. I suppose that's getting a bit off track though.

 

@Bowen
I like the idea of locking skills and using skills to gain them.

@abj9562
I like the idea of spending additional skill points to re-spec too. Tbh I think if that were the case, Skill point gain would have to be consistent after hitting a cap. The new skill point essentially being spent to replace an old skill point. That way you could save up for a full re-spec or do it bit by bit. I would probably prefer choosing which skills I lost though. For example, you may not use Resurrection much, but you wouldn't want it to disappear.

 

well, their design goal changed haha, and we have additional characters. I believe if you dont have the pledge level you will be able to buy the extra slots in game for gold. So it would be an incentive to purchase these extra slots if respec was severely limited.

 

One way or another someone who wants to will learn everything they need to fit their gameplay. Artificial skill caps have never stopped me from being able to be self-sufficient. I have always played a crafter who can craft it all even if it required extra accounts

 

My main question with this would be the same as its always been :

What is stopping PvP players from strip mining ultra rare resources all day long and cornering the market, ultimately over time becoming ultra rich?

Most crafters will want to make the best stuff for players, which presumably will be made from the rarest resources, which PvP players will basically control in vast quantities.

The little bit of those rare resources obtainable outside of PvP zones won't stand a chance of competing with the vast quantities coming out of PvP zones.

If they don't want the prices of these goods to drop too fast, they can just control the quantities being sold and sit on stockpiles, the same as is done in real life by cartels like the Middle East oil producing states for example.

I still havent seen a good argument that convinces me this won't happen, especially as time goes on, and the wealth slowly accumulates.

My assumption here is that despite Portalarium trying to convince PvE players to go into PvP zones to be slaughtered, they probably wont, since most PvE players dont want to be forced to PvP. Therefore these resources will be gathered almost entirely by PvPers. I think this is a pretty safe bet based on every other game out there that has tried to force PvE players to participate in PvP.

If I'm wrong, I'm open to an explanation on how, because right now I just cant see it.

 

I don't think that goal has changed, but I am glad the opened up the extra slots.

 

This is a valid point BUT I have more faith in the devs than to turn a blind eye to a broken system. I could list a million ways to prevent this from occurring. The goal of PvP zones should always be to promote PvP.

Here are some ideas:

1.) Shut down the resource nodes when a zone reaches a certain percentage of players.
2.) If a zone reaches a certain percentage of players a bunch of invulnerable NPC's come out and start to slaughter everyone.
3.) A zone will only allow a certain amount of players from any one guild/party/raid/nation/allies etc.
4.) A zone resets every 30 minutes kicking everyone from it. (AKA event timer)
5.) Individuals have timers so they can only stay in a PvP zone for so long before being kicked and must re-zone. (A deadly fog that kills you after 30 minutes) Make it so that if people are dying in the zone it adds to the timer.

 

Interesing.. I don't think 3, 4 or 5 would really fly but 5 made me think of radiation sickness. If you stayed for too long you might aquire an unremovable 10-15 minute debuff that continually refreshed until you left the area.

There might be ways to prolong how long it took for the debuff to kick in but the idea is it would make it harder to fight. So you'd need to sit out for awhile now and then to continue fighting at full strength.

I do not think however that it would be a popular idea among PvPers.. but perhaps with some modification it might have some small merit? Honestly though, I don't think we should be detering PvP in PvP zones.. it was just an idea that popped into my head.

 

I think Chris would use the term death by a thousand duck bites if he had to implement all sorts or anti exploit mechanisms. If the zone can be easily exploited then it is the design fault that should be addressed.

 

How about making rares spawn in proportion to what is gathered in PvE and vis-a-vis. Tie one to the other. that maintains equality and cash incentive for PvP.

 

Would someone who invests top points in gathering certain material like mining, have a good chance at getting the rare resources in PvE areas, or would it still be a very small chance compared to PvP zones?

 

I think this is too speculative. The correct answer probably reads something like "it is a balancing act and will be adjusted appropriately". Nowhere did Chris say that PvPers were going to be richer.

 

that obviously makes sense. However, the ability to exploit an (somewhat) exclusive zone still remains.

 

Another thought I had reagarding special resources to help resist the camping of them, of course someone will probably still find a way, is to randomize where they are found, skill level to acquire, limit quantity obtainable by players, put nasty creatures nearby besides pvpers.
LOL is that enough of a deterrent for camping. Sorry if already mentioned, just what came to mind. Then those work order payments will truly be deserved

 

Because out in the nasty world, there are nasty people. I look at PvPers as a Mob to be avoided that the devs dont have to design. Anyway, that is a PvP argument and its been through the cycle. BTW, Im not a PvPer but it adds to the (fake)realism. Travel back in the day was scary.