Okay - I guess it's up to me to be the 'negative nancy' here?
But seriously folks - look at the concept maps. You have all played MMOs before... do any of you seriously think the map will ever look like that map in the third concept drawing?
MMO players just don't play that way.
This is what will happen:
Initially, players will spread out all over the 'world' in a mad land grab. Fighting will be chaotic and furious. If you are not there on day one - don't expect to see this. This is the initial exploration phase in the honeymoon period. One week to one month max.
Soon however, players will settle into a predictable pattern. Organisation will grow and players will try to claim land in a serious way. Obviously, players not being completely stupid, they will learn to only invest time and effort in land they think they can take and hold. That means each realm will concentrate on the islands closest to them first. If you look at the third concept map it suggests players from the realms have invested time and effort in lots of little groups of islands still not linked to their home realm island?
Players don't work that way.
Not only due to the fact that islands like that make great raid targets (as players will learn very quickly) but lots of spread out lands make defence difficult. Fast travel could help in defence - but it actually does more to aid zergers than defenders.
Either way, realms will learn fast that the only winning strategy is to concentrate on one island at a time until it is totally secure - then move on to the next island. Each realm will develop a 'leadership' which directs this - and not in a good way.
Players that dare to go against the will of the 'realm leaders' and attempt to settle an island that is not 'priority 1' will be openly harassed and accused of 'wasting realm resources' etc. A certain group will form in each realm - 'the elite' - and they will expect (and largely be given) priority over other players - to the point other players will be told to move and make way for them. Players that don't will be harrassed. New players will learn that they must either 'tow the line' or be shunned.
This phase will develop from 2months to 6 months after initial release. After a year the 'elite' players will be cemented in positions and impossible to remove. They may wield so much power that even the Devs will be reluctant to stand up to them.
Final stage. How quickly this arrives depends on the players - could be as early as 2-3 months in.
One realm will dominate. The map will be hopelessly unbalanced and so will player populations. The map will have one major 'continent' belonging to the dominant realm with two minor islands belonging to the other realms - possibly just consisting of their safe zone homelands.
Although - it is likely the dominant realm will leave one or two free puzzle pieces floating around just so they have somewhere to raid when they get bored. The only players left in the non-dominant realms will be a few players who enjoy quick hit and run attacks 'for LOLs' and newbies who only last a week or two.
The mechanics actually favour the dominant realm and work against the realms that are losing - if you think about it?
Because if you are part of a dominant realm and all your islands are linked you can move about with less effort than those realms which will require boats to travel from isolated islands.
The ideal 'concept' here presented by CityState assumes player population balance and that players will play contrary to any player behaviour we have seen in the past. MJ should know better.
As much as this may be true, there will always be groups of people that switch factions only with the intention to fight as the underdog to claim mightier victories. It has been done in the past in both DAoC and Warhammer Online. The question is though if this type of gameplay will be possible or if the combat mechanics make it mere impossible to fight as a (i.e 20man) smaller group against greater numbers, no matter if the opposition is complete garbage or "newbies" or unorganized zerg guilds. The ability to kite as a group is really the key to this style of guerilla gameplay and some sort of "morale" crowd control abilities to put a dent in a large group of players ability to heal or deal damage in order to execute some form of "nuke" to turn the odds into the underdogs favor.
Time will tell, and also i am as thrilled for this game as everyone else here RvR is where the action is at. PvP in World of Warcraft is for babies and resembles nothing, not even a fraction of how true warfare looks like.
Comments
As much as this may be true, there will always be groups of people that switch factions only with the intention to fight as the underdog to claim mightier victories. It has been done in the past in both DAoC and Warhammer Online. The question is though if this type of gameplay will be possible or if the combat mechanics make it mere impossible to fight as a (i.e 20man) smaller group against greater numbers, no matter if the opposition is complete garbage or "newbies" or unorganized zerg guilds. The ability to kite as a group is really the key to this style of guerilla gameplay and some sort of "morale" crowd control abilities to put a dent in a large group of players ability to heal or deal damage in order to execute some form of "nuke" to turn the odds into the underdogs favor.
Time will tell, and also i am as thrilled for this game as everyone else here
RvR is where the action is at. PvP in World of Warcraft is for babies and resembles nothing, not even a fraction of how true warfare looks like.