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PvP is dying a slow painful death

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Sep 12, 2006 moldyman link
I have been here for over a year, so I guess some people will call me a vet stuck in the past. But I remember times when going to Sedina meant fights all day. Now, I know times change but this is ridiculous in my opinion. If you fight along the border, there's a chance you could get a fight. But that's mostly it, unless you're a pirate, and even they will agree that getting fights these days is difficult, let alone prey.

I originally signed up for this game because of the combat The 3D dynamic is unique. There is no ground to worry about crashing into, nor worries of stall nor gravity or the effect of Gs on the pilot. But I see PvP in this great game is dying out. And it saddens me. I see warriors trading now because in their own words "There's no one to fight". Some have said "I want to be needed at the border not here trading". Bots are NOT people. Bots cannot replace a person by any measure.

I understand that these are the stages to get the game ready for rapid growth once it is advertised, so that there will be actual stuff to do in the game for all the new playerrs. But I ask that you don't forget us. CTC is dead and BP/BS is dying. Give us old pvpers something to rally on in the short term, please. Even something that doesn't fit the game, like Capture the Flag.

And to all those who want to add their two cents, be sepcific with suggestions so we can improve and make them better and maybe get something to do in this game for straight up combat. Unless the aim is to make this game all about cops and robbers and the robbed. How much fun can a game be if everyone becomes a pirate, even the traders themselves?
Sep 12, 2006 Snax_28 link
I dunno, the few times I log into my BP/BS character I usually find some fights. And my pirate character gets quite a bit of action. Yes, B8 is dying, as it should. Its not that its necessarily less, but its more spread out.

I dunno, I think its just the fact that there are not that many people ever online. Once the user base rises it will be better (after all that groovy new content is added of course).

But then again... I dunno.
Sep 12, 2006 moldyman link
That's the point Snax. What are we supposed to do between now and when the userbase expands tremendously? Hang onto "Soon(tm)"?
Sep 12, 2006 toshiro link
Funny. When I log in (which is seldom enough these days. Damn you for stealing my time, MechE!), I could usually fight all the time if I wanted (but mostly, I don't want to. I'm a scaredy-cat).

Maybe I'm just lucky.
Sep 12, 2006 Ghost link
I do agree about not finding anyone moldy. But I also agree with snax that B8 needed to die. It just wouldn't be good for the direction that the game needs to go. Unfortunately, it leaves the playerbase scattered now with nowhere to meet and fight without bot interference unless you msg someone and ask to meet in an empty sector. It will get better with a larger playerbase, but I still think a large portion of the problem is posed by unbots. They still replenish their numbers waaaay too quickly. If once they were killed off, you had 15 minutes or so, we might see some more pvp action in grey again. Problem is, just when you finally clean a sector, another pirate jumps in within 2 minutes. I'm beginning to think they have greater numbers than the hive.

Bots also prove a problem for PvP with BP, but the solution is more difficult. The reason being that you can't just remove the BP bots, otherwise when there's no players, there's no one to BP.
Sep 12, 2006 Professor Chaos link
CTF would be a fun short-term solution. Eventually, capturable stations/territory will give people a real reason to fight a real nation war with real consequenses to battles. The stakes will be higher, and people will be forced to congregate where there is valuable real estate to fight for it, and the game will be much more fun.
Sep 12, 2006 LeberMac link
Hrm. Yes, after I became a pirate, I noticed that PvP dropped dramatically. Coincidence? I think not.

But, yes, moldy. I share your sentiment. I think it's almost entirely due to the new "cool stuff" to do in Deneb. PvP-ers split time now, or have two or more alts.

The solution? Vendetta 2.0 and advertising. BUT - let's not rush things.
Sep 12, 2006 upper case link
sedina sucks for itanis because it's a long way to get a decent ship like the valk. sercos have their ubber prom just next door.

thats one reason i tired of pvp in sedina. i just couldn't bare the hauling of equipment anymore.

when i rp-ed mogul's death, i really had been in talks with guides & devs about opening up a new wh connecting sedina out or even closing the sed-latos wh in favor of some other route. that discussion (and the slow process of communication) took about a month. in the end, it just wasn't possible. too much dependencies, like the nav map's hardcoded maps.

just a new route to cut the travel time in half would have been great.

now, most of the action lies in deneb. it sucks for uits but at least, we itanis dont feel left out in some dead end part of space.

if we could open up a bypass (coz, you know, you got to build bypasses), i'm sure the universe would be more happy.

and the plans *where* on display (in the cellar, down the broken stairs, behind the door marked "beware of the lepers"):



alas, mogul velaio died in vain. though we did get nice fireworks.
Sep 12, 2006 Zed1985 link
Wouldn't it be smarter if it were between cantus and Arta? That way There wouldn' be another border through which the serco army coud come (since the can go into grey space but no UIT space technically... though UIT could be the next belgium...)
Sep 13, 2006 Professor Chaos link
I think I'd rather see, with the release of Vendetta 2.0, a larger, more entangled map, with more connections between sectors. Wormholes now seem to simply connect adjacent systems, but who says there has to be a limit to the length of a wormhole? It would be interesting if some wormholes took you across the universe in one jump, but some systems very close together didn't have a wormhole connecting them. Also, more than one pair of systems forming the "border" between two nations. Also, if it's so inconvenient for you Itani, maybe you should just become Serco. :)
Sep 13, 2006 bojansplash link
I tried to get some response with this thread but I gave up.
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/14814
Devs have their own list of priorities and are probably working on them 24/7.
Does general unhappiness of existing VO pvpers pose a problem for them or not I cannot say.
Maybe in the big scheme of things they can afford to let us slowly give up and fade away from VO.
When VO goes public, expected influx of new players will make us "troublemakers" insignificant.
Sep 13, 2006 toshiro link
I don't know... aren't you being a bit melodramatic, bojansplash? VO has weathered storms worse than this, and I think it will continue to do so. The important thing would be to continue supporting the devs, perhaps taking a time-out before you're completely turned off by VO, and return when you think the game's gotten better.
Sep 13, 2006 bojansplash link
@toshiro
Drama is not my thing. I didnt play for a month or more. When i came back VO pvp was in a worse state then when I left.
As I said, I can understand that devs have their own agenda and are working hard on VO development.
Im a loyal VO supporter and will continue to be one. Thats one of the reasons i said ill let this thread : http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/14814 fade away.
Sep 13, 2006 Whistler link
Guild is hands down the most responsive and user-loving game development team I've ever encountered.

They do have their priorities, and they have stated them clearly in the newsposts. They seem to be totally reasonable and necessary steps to me.

Sedina did need to die as it was poorly placed and was, in my opinion, a vestigial tail from a space-quake infancy. Perhaps there will be some sort of olympic battle arena to take the place of the B-8 experience for those who crave it. Ultimately there will be more missions and automated events that will become natural draws for PvP the way the Capture the ___ things have been.
Sep 13, 2006 bojansplash link
Spoken like a true afficionado Whistler. :)
Dont get me wrong, imho VO pvpers like me or my SKV guildies are not looking for a revival of B8 or some pvp arena.
We are looking to RP, team up and get into a war or furballs but we need a valid reason to do so.
CTC used to be the trigger for a good allout war and good teamplay, to some extent BP did the same... when we had real players we could fight in BP.
As i said earlier I can understand the situation devs are in, agendas, priorities, etc so im not pushing this. And I totally agree, Guild is a great game development team.
It just makes me sad that my enjoyment of the pvp in VO has reduced to playing cops and robbers.
Sep 13, 2006 toshiro link
Hmm, I can understand your being sad about PvP having encountered a baisse, I was a bit flummoxed when the new universe was set in place, as well.
Sep 13, 2006 Zed1985 link
I am not exactly sure what the old universe was, since I wasn't there. My argument for 1 border was for simplicities sake. If you want more than one bring it on. We can and will kick serco ass. Yes we will loose battles, but we will win some too. And who knows what that might bring to :).

I think that PvP is cool. And have even agreed to leaving my spam rag at home when enemy members (i.e. Serco scum) are also doing BP and BS (when alone i like using my spam rag anyway). The only thing that would kill this game would be a non PvP zone appearing (like for those who know UO, trammel). But since a non PvP zone is not in plans I don't think that PvP will die out. Note that I think that no friendly fire is a good thing. Being hit by your own HAC really blows.

As for PvP slowing down, all I can say is patience. The Devs are working to implement dynamic economy, which in my opinion will be the greatest asset of the game. So until that is implemented we can wait.
Sep 13, 2006 Ghost link
My hope is that once they release 2.0 and start advertising, they will be able to hire a larger devolopment team. Don't get me wrong, I love our 4 devs, but if this game goes bigtime, 4 people no matter how dedicated won't be able to keep content coming as quickly as is needed. Once there is a larger team, I think we'll start seeing a very rapid influx of things to help game issues, pvp included. Maybe they could even add some conflict places where bots aren't there to fill the spots of players. Hence, some real PvP with no bot interference.
Sep 13, 2006 tumblemonster link
I think PvP has taken a backseat to the bots. They infest the areas where pure PvP was most often practiced, and a new home for the PvP only crowd has yet to really assert itself. I understand the development priorities and the need to make the game accesable to new players, but I also know that the old players, the ones who really want to see the game grow, are getting frustrated.

Something I would like to see is an interim step for the core players, like a new capture the flag or something. A dedicated sector with an ongoing game that can be joined and left at anytime, a place where we can gather and play the part of the game we like best. I would never have stayed in this game if it had not been for the fantastic PvP. I know that the game needs the improvements it's getting right now, but please don't neglect the parts that are already great.
Sep 13, 2006 moldyman link
Wow, I agree with tumble fully on somehting. I call the skybox for the trip to the "Hell's Ice Age" show.