FFA Full loot PvP in a Level based ITem Centric game would never do well and thats why there is such a mindset from several players who come from EQ WoW and other games Based on the Level/Uber item MMO game concept. I for one know i would loathe the idea of losing some super rare item to some asshat due to poor preparation or just sucking in game skills.
The difference tot hat is a game like DarkFall, its skill based and items are secondary to the players in game skills. If i get trumped by joe schmoe and lose my gear it is not that devastating as it would be in say a game like WoW or EQ2. FFA full loot would never do well in Van mainly because of this fact alone. Sure the devs could spend the time, effort, and money on a server like this but who would want to spend the time dedicated to the leveling grind/item grind just to lose them in some large scale pvp battle ?
Van is what it is, its a hybrid of several games on the market that all use the Level grind, and Uber Items concept. While thats in itself is not really bad its old and stale in my opinion and i hope Darkfall, and Oblivion will help to re-energize the skill based game mentality.
I would be more concerned that Van is dated now to be released the end of this month.. will you fork out the 50.00 for this game ??? I am a bit weary about it. It plays well but has so many many issues that it certainly feels beta .... but like the first beta after its released from alpha, not the last beta before release.
I was aiming more at the OP's idea that UO's original system was the Holy Grail of pvp goodness.
I do agree, context is important. Otherwise it's just mindless ganking. Though, I don't think context alone would be enough to make a pvp server anything more than an afterthought for most players. Take away the seperation of the PvE and PvP areas on any random DAoC server, and watch it turn into a ghost town, a la Mordred.
I'll just agree to disagree with respects to the wolf and sheep analogy.
Personally, I look forward to Warhammer. Assuming Mythic don't drop the ball. While not quite skill based, it is moving away from the usual class/level based advancement. And I never have to PvE if I chose not too.
To actually answer the OP's question, last I heard was a FFA type server, and a Race/Factional server like Vallon Zek/Tallon Zek in EQ. Might be others, but I haven't paid much attention, as I have pretty much written off PvP in this game. Already seen it in EQ, and I don't feel like doing it again.
I agree the early pre-Trammel UO days were great but I doubt we will ever see anything like that again. It had the advantage of being the only MMO at the time, which meant the devs could dictate the style of play to the players. I liked having to watch out for bandits and theives while I was out hunting, made the game a little less controlled and I liked the little adrenaline rush I got when a player came into the same area, unless they were red you didnt know if they would be friendly or not.
That all came to and end with the release of EQ though from what I remember, UO had some competition for the MMO playerbase, a lot of people decided they didn't like having to risk loosing their stuff to other players when they went hunting so they switched to playing EQ, Trammel was the response by the UO team to that. Most MMOs since then have taken further steps to lessen the impact of dying to the point where the death penalties are now negligable and players no longer care if their toons die or not.
TBH I dont see things changing much if an MMO plans on being 'mainstream', if they want to pander to the masses (aka Sheep) then they will just simplify the games to the point where it is inevitable that a player will reach max level/best gear if they are willing to put the time in and pay the subs (like WoW). Not a bad model if all you care about is making money.
Unfortunately, those of us who aren't satisfied with spoon-fed-content have to hope that someone is happy to develop a more engaging MMO and settle for a smaller share of the market. Hopefully WAR will meet my requirements, as VSOH seems to have missed the mark.
you will never be able to explain the joy that was uo back in the day to people that never played it. they just wont get it. one time at a convention some guy claimed i was "rubbing it in his face about how noob he was" when i did.
some people just dont get it, youre right about that. /shakes head
Games i'm playing right now...
"In short, I thought NGE was a very bad idea" - Raph Koster talking about NGE on his blog at raphkoster.com
Comments
The difference tot hat is a game like DarkFall, its skill based and items are secondary to the players in game skills. If i get trumped by joe schmoe and lose my gear it is not that devastating as it would be in say a game like WoW or EQ2. FFA full loot would never do well in Van mainly because of this fact alone. Sure the devs could spend the time, effort, and money on a server like this but who would want to spend the time dedicated to the leveling grind/item grind just to lose them in some large scale pvp battle ?
Van is what it is, its a hybrid of several games on the market that all use the Level grind, and Uber Items concept. While thats in itself is not really bad its old and stale in my opinion and i hope Darkfall, and Oblivion will help to re-energize the skill based game mentality.
I would be more concerned that Van is dated now to be released the end of this month.. will you fork out the 50.00 for this game ??? I am a bit weary about it. It plays well but has so many many issues that it certainly feels beta .... but like the first beta after its released from alpha, not the last beta before release.
I was aiming more at the OP's idea that UO's original system was the Holy Grail of pvp goodness.
I do agree, context is important. Otherwise it's just mindless ganking. Though, I don't think context alone would be enough to make a pvp server anything more than an afterthought for most players. Take away the seperation of the PvE and PvP areas on any random DAoC server, and watch it turn into a ghost town, a la Mordred.
I'll just agree to disagree with respects to the wolf and sheep analogy.
Personally, I look forward to Warhammer. Assuming Mythic don't drop the ball. While not quite skill based, it is moving away from the usual class/level based advancement. And I never have to PvE if I chose not too.
To actually answer the OP's question, last I heard was a FFA type server, and a Race/Factional server like Vallon Zek/Tallon Zek in EQ. Might be others, but I haven't paid much attention, as I have pretty much written off PvP in this game. Already seen it in EQ, and I don't feel like doing it again.
I agree the early pre-Trammel UO days were great but I doubt we will ever see anything like that again. It had the advantage of being the only MMO at the time, which meant the devs could dictate the style of play to the players. I liked having to watch out for bandits and theives while I was out hunting, made the game a little less controlled and I liked the little adrenaline rush I got when a player came into the same area, unless they were red you didnt know if they would be friendly or not.
That all came to and end with the release of EQ though from what I remember, UO had some competition for the MMO playerbase, a lot of people decided they didn't like having to risk loosing their stuff to other players when they went hunting so they switched to playing EQ, Trammel was the response by the UO team to that. Most MMOs since then have taken further steps to lessen the impact of dying to the point where the death penalties are now negligable and players no longer care if their toons die or not.
TBH I dont see things changing much if an MMO plans on being 'mainstream', if they want to pander to the masses (aka Sheep) then they will just simplify the games to the point where it is inevitable that a player will reach max level/best gear if they are willing to put the time in and pay the subs (like WoW). Not a bad model if all you care about is making money.
Unfortunately, those of us who aren't satisfied with spoon-fed-content have to hope that someone is happy to develop a more engaging MMO and settle for a smaller share of the market. Hopefully WAR will meet my requirements, as VSOH seems to have missed the mark.
you will never be able to explain the joy that was uo back in the day to people that never played it. they just wont get it. one time at a convention some guy claimed i was "rubbing it in his face about how noob he was" when i did.
some people just dont get it, youre right about that. /shakes head
Games i'm playing right now...
"In short, I thought NGE was a very bad idea" - Raph Koster talking about NGE on his blog at raphkoster.com