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Battlegrounds FAQ Provides Insight Into What Sets It Apart from Other Battle Royale Games - Paladins
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Battlegrounds FAQ Provides Insight Into What Sets It Apart from Other Battle Royale Games - Paladins: Champions of the Realm - MMORPG.com
Paladins: Champions of the Realm News - The Paladins site has been updated with a new FAQ to provide players with a bit more information about the recently-announced Battlegrounds feature that is being introduced to the game in Q1 2018. Battlegrounds are the Paladins-version of Battle Royale and will feature up to 100 players on the map at the same time.
Comments
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
Honestly, I feel that this being class based is going to be the thing that doesn't make it work in the end. The main draw of battle royale is that everyone starts exactly the same with only rng to tip the scale. Probably why many people prefer PUBG to Fortnite, since Fortnite, you need to be able to build fast and accurately in order to survive in many cases. PUBG is more about gun play.
I think it stands to reason that characters in a Battle Royale need to be self sufficient (at least if we're sticking to Free For All modes), but there is room for a game to distinguish itself with loadouts. Many will prefer standard starts, but a sizeable audience would prefer the alternative.
Case in point, we could be having the same argument about arena shooters if class based shooters were never a thing. Remember when Halo effectively was the FPS genre? You never know when someone will prefer apple or raspberry jelly to grape jelly if you never put it on store shelves.
I'm with your way of thinking if its squad based or even 50v50, but solos/duos a class system wouldn't work too well I feel. Now it would be great if they both (a full neutral experience and then a separate one for class based) to try and appeal to both sides. I suppose Hi-Rez would be the only ones to attempt this if it were the case and just the "heros" pure vanity in solo/duo queue while having their class functionality be in squads. They can even make it similar to Smite's Assault system, where classes are just randomly assigned and matching set ups across the board. The real thing that people care about is fairness in the match without any external factors. Probably one of the biggest selling points of mobas etc.
It wouldn't even mean discarding fair starts in a sense. While certain skills and loadout passives would be different, we could potentially see set basic starting weapons for each class that preserve balance and predictability. Gear picked up on the battleground would gain different but predictable bonuses based on class (ie: one archetype would gain different bonuses with a shotgun than another).
These are the types of substantial but reasonable innovations I think the genre could use in some future games.
I would be back to Overwatch in the blink of an eye. It really throws me off when i can't see my favorite characters while playing them.
There are two broad ways you differentiate yourself in a MOBA: by character selection and by item purchases. Both of these are completely pre-determined (with no RNG), which is what arguably makes this interesting.
Classes (Character Selection):
The most interesting aspects of character selection (picking a class out of a list) actually happen in the pre-game. The main idea behind this feature is to offer players, and teams especially, to craft unique compositions that work well against their opponents. This is most fun when you get to create a composition alongside your teammates, making your team work with a certain idea in mind. Perhaps you are trying to go for a composition where one player is a strong threat, while four players are there to support them. Or you may be going for a composition where you have three relatively self sufficient players, with two mobile players that can surprise the enemy.
This is arguably a lot less fun when you pick classes for the sake of it. If you pick a mobile character blindly into a match, it's not fun when your opponent has a strong fighter that beats your character in 75% cases.
All of this could also work in Battle Royale. If the game was team oriented, you could definitely have a system where teams create compositions with goals in mind. This has the possibility of resulting in new interactions with the map - such as a team of snipers strongly preferring a hill overlooking a filed, and your team knowing this and therefore setting up a trap on the hill.
Items (Character Progression):
This is a key aspect of MOBAs. It does two main things - provides an extra layer of variety and gives players the option to respond on the fly. Unlike class selection, this mainly shows in the mid-game, where you get to make decisions to counter what the opponent is doing. Do they have a slow, hard-hitting squad? I may choose to make my character faster, to approach them from the sides in a moment of surprise. These decisions let you specialize your character more in response to what's happening in the match, usually resulting in conflicts you would not see otherwise.
The fact that none of this is RNG based adds a greater feeling of responsibility. You overcome situations by your own merit. For a spectator, this is a lot more fun (especially if the viewers understand the basic concepts) than seeing a person get an advantage due to an RNG drop.
Again, this could very well apply to Battle Royale. Players could make decisions to specialize their character at key points in the match. Do I need to take over a small fortified village? I may pick a short-term Stealth skill that hides me for 2 seconds in order to sneak in unnoticed, as opposed to an area of effect heal. If players get to make these decisions mid-game, the experience becomes a lot more interesting (at least tactically) than simply walking in with your RNG finds and hoping for the best.
Now, do I think Paladins is the best company to do this? Probably not.
Based on what I've heard and read about their recent updates, it is fairly apparent they are pushing for microtransactions heavily. The insidious aspect of character progression is that it gives you yet another thing to monetize (and I wouldn't be surprised if that's one of the main reasons Paladins is going this way). You could monetize the classes themselves, the skills, any pre-selected talents or pretty much any aspect of this in general.
Still, I could very well see a tactical Battle Royale, perhaps in a fantasy setting, where these features would shine.