The Shape of PvP to Come

[Rhaegar]

Snap has just published a new devlog entitled The Shape of PVP to Come, in which he reveals the PVP changes that are coming with version 1.7.

Click here to read the article, and then tell us what you think in this thread!

[Alex_jr]

Well i think it answer my two main problems: the spawn situation and the lack of reinforcement...

I think the open ended reinforcement will surely lead to great encounter. I foresee a time of epic OS battle.

So far, I think it's great.

[Garbad_the_Weak]

Nice job killing 1v1 =(

Now PvP is about how many people you can dogpile into a zone.

[Blackbeard the Pirate]

Seems good, but I wish there was a game mechanic (like surrender) where a pop up comes and you can offer them 1v1 and the battle closes so that nobody jumps in and disrupts the battle. I've had lots of problems with trying to organize 1v1 and then somebody from either side pops in and a huge flame war erupts, so I think some sort of thing like that would help.

[Schneemann]

So 1vs1 will be death, and the end of a PvP battle will be determined by those who have more reinforcements than the other. A experienced Group of lets say frensh could until 1.7 fight and win against a equal group of lets say brtis. After that the Battlew as over and you could determine what to do next. Now brtis can push through their higher number lots of reinforcements - those loney 6 frensh so will finally die. Not because they aren't as good as the brits - just because they have no reinforcements and will get finally overwhelmed while fightig in already heavy hit ships fighting the maybe 3rd bunch of 6 fresh brit ships...

[Snap]

Originally Posted by Blackbeard the Pirate

Seems good, but I wish there was a game mechanic (like surrender) where a pop up comes and you can offer them 1v1 and the battle closes so that nobody jumps in and disrupts the battle. I've had lots of problems with trying to organize 1v1 and then somebody from either side pops in and a huge flame war erupts, so I think some sort of thing like that would help.

Right, maybe something like right-click and "Demand Satisfaction." Basically like the existing 1v1 duels, but with the same consequences as a real fight. It's something we could consider.

[Undrsiege]

Originally Posted by Garbad_the_Weak

Nice job killing 1v1 =(

Now PvP is about how many people you can dogpile into a zone.

The battles will close if equal number of players correct? IF a 6vs6 hits doesn't that close the battle? The only way to get reinforcements if outnumbered by +2?


Fill in the Blank

Group of 3 attacked by 6 how many reinforcements for the 3?
Group of 2 attacked by 6 how many reinforcements for the 2?

And does those 6 ever get reinforcements as aggressors?

[beltpouch]

Originally Posted by snap

First, were fixing the way spawning works in ad hoc battles; it’ll be more consistent and eliminate battles in which the winner is determined by lucky positioning.

1.) Do the new spawning rules only effect the reinforcements, or do they also somehow effect the initial combatants?

Originally Posted by snap

However, late joiners will not hop immediately into the fray theyll spawn some distance away, giving existing combatants time to steer the combat to their favor

2.) What is "some distance away" in more numerical terms?

Originally Posted by snap

if you attack an NPC, other players can come in and rain on your parade.

3.) Could you define this a little more? Does this mean you will allow multi nation battles as long as one of the other nations is an NPC?

4.) What keeps a large groups of players from "time griefing" by just throwing cheap small ships into the battle to keep it going forever?

5.) Are there any changes to the exit points?

6.) Are there any changes to the "exit battle" timer?

7.) Any chance we can have a /nohelp flag if we don't want reinforcements showing up?

8.) Are there any changes to the loot tagging rules? In other words, the way it works now, some can come in and steal the loot from my target just by being the ship that fired the last shot. I would hate to spend 10 mintues taking down a determined enemy only to have some yahoo show up at the last second and steal the loot. Please see question #7.

9.) So now that we have systems for more fair and balanced PvP fights can we open up the PvP a bit and stop protecting the high level players in the new player ports?

Very interesting ideas. I have concerns for what effect it will have on 1v1 combat. I don't think I will ever be able to catch a lone marchant again, I just hope I can take them out before the reinforcements get close enough to derail my pirating. Also I'm not really convinced this will make "ganking go away".

[beltpouch]

10.) Let's say I attack an Atlas Bark in 1v1 and capture the bark. To keep all the good loot I have to "take command" of the bark. How am I suppose to get the bark safely out of the zones with 5 billion angry hungry ferocious naval officers baring down on me from the other side of the Caribbean?

11.) Is it realistic that a player from Bridgetown can join a battle that starts just outside New Orleans?

[Snap]

Originally Posted by Schneemann

So 1vs1 will be death, and the end of a PvP battle will be determined by those who have more reinforcements than the other. A experienced Group of lets say frensh could until 1.7 fight and win against a equal group of lets say brtis. After that the Battlew as over and you could determine what to do next. Now brtis can push through their higher number lots of reinforcements - those loney 6 frensh so will finally die. Not because they aren't as good as the brits - just because they have no reinforcements and will get finally overwhelmed while fightig in already heavy hit ships fighting the maybe 3rd bunch of 6 fresh brit ships...

It could happen that way; or, the French players could wisely steer the fight away from the British reinforcement spawn point, giving themselves time to take their victory and get out before the cavalry bears down upon them. I see this as an interesting new layer of strategy.

Also, it's not obvious that the British reinforcements would do so well. They wouldn't be able to enter 6 at a time (if there were 6 free slots, the French could just leave because that'd mean they'd beaten all their opponents). The French might pick them off as they come in. Or surround the spawn point -- when reinforcements spawn in, they're at a dead stop, and seeing themselves surrounded they might just bail and look for an easier fight. This is one of those things that we'll just have to experiment with and see how it works, so I encourage you to participate in the upcoming Testbed PvP event and help us all get some experience with these changes.