Boring for some, fun for others. Sounds a bit like EVE.
It has some similarities to EVE, but the game is designed differently and, to be honest, I think it has a lower overall appeal to people than EVE does.
In EVE, PAs can actually control their own neck of the woods, mafioso-style, monopolizing resources, ganking interlopers freely, entering into alliances and then backstabbing your allies and so forth -- it's very freewheeling at the higher end of the game, and it's that factor that keeps people interested. PvP can be irritating in EVE -- 80% is finding the fight. But the actual fighting itself is fast paced, which is more traditional PvP than you have in PotBS.
The issues that PotBS will have in terms of popularity are:
(1) its PvE side is not the greatest (this also hurts EVE, which has even more lackluster PvE imo), so the PvE player is probably not going to stay unless they want to play the economic simulator aspect, but that as well is more limited than EVE's simulator
(2) its PvP side is not as wide open (very limited FFA PvP), and the PvP itself is slow-paced, tactical and as a result very untraditional PvP. Traditionally PvP tests how fast you can think on your feet and react and adjust under incredible time pressure -- that's what PvPers tend to like, and how their skillsets tend to be. The PvP in PotBS is slowed down so that it is almost entirely tactical. You have time to set things up, to react, and so forth. Time pressure is never the issue, instead it's things like what your slillset is, what the wind direction is, how the ships match up and that kind of thing, as well as using sound offensive and defensive tactics -- not split-second decision making that is characteristic of most online PvP
(3) the focus on "winning the map for your side" is something that can capture a player's attention for the short term, but not for the long term in a game of this type, imo. There just isn't enough room in the game design (at this point at least) for individual (or PA) glory, and that, at the end of the day, is what PvPers live for. Kill mails, kill boards, kill rankings and the like. Killing over the course of months and months for the glory of some NPC faction is not going to be enough to attract and sustain interest, I think, and it's a structural issue with the game.
The game is very deep man, with territory control (Realm PvP - not item grinding thank god!) being key. So yeah I am sure grinding levels will get boring at some point - like that in every game so I agree with ya there. Just remember to focus on territory controlled realm based PvP. That's what we gotta be prepping for. Very similar to Shadowbane but with a SHIT ton more PvE content and a MUCH MUCH better economy system/engine. The zerg/lag is yet to come. Hopefully these guys prepped for that better than Wolf Pack/UBi did. hehe
im sorry but i doubt that potbs pvp will be even remotely close to that of shadowbane. hell has pvp even been tested at all yet for potbs? i mean the port sieges and battles? once they put the pvp in the game they will be spending the next year or two balancing it. cant do that over night. hell even wow is still balancing pvp. so for potbs to have a great pvp side of things they better get the testing done right before dumping it on live...oh ya btw its so easy to see who is a shill and who is not eh??
Originally posted by skitzdout hell has pvp even been tested at all yet for potbs? i mean the port sieges and battles? so for potbs to have a great pvp side of things they better get the testing done right before dumping it on live...oh ya btw its so easy to see who is a shill and who is not eh??
Of course beta had PvP! The "pre-boarding" period did not, but there was certainly PvP in the beta testing stage, as well as port contentions and the like.
1) some amount of your earned contention points carry over if you fail to win a slot in the lottery. that gives casual players an increasingly better chance to get into a final battle over time, as every time they contribute and fial to win, they bring more chances into the next lottery. when a player wins a slot, those carry-over chances get reset. of course hardcore pvp'ers will stll have the more 'wins' of the lottery, but that only seems fair.
2) yes, pvp has been tested both mechanically and as a system, in limited ways, during the beta. Yes, it needs balancing over time, because the community of players will always find ways to leverage any imbalance, and they outnnumber us devs. Compared to WOW we have far fewer "PVE-only" abilities, which makes it easier to balance in some ways. But we also have PVP with real impact on the world, so yes we'll be carefully watching how things go with a full set of players in the worlds.
I find the rest of the game far from boring. But between releasing the game and a new kid at home, I'll have to stick addressing to a few short specifics above.
Comments
It has some similarities to EVE, but the game is designed differently and, to be honest, I think it has a lower overall appeal to people than EVE does.
In EVE, PAs can actually control their own neck of the woods, mafioso-style, monopolizing resources, ganking interlopers freely, entering into alliances and then backstabbing your allies and so forth -- it's very freewheeling at the higher end of the game, and it's that factor that keeps people interested. PvP can be irritating in EVE -- 80% is finding the fight. But the actual fighting itself is fast paced, which is more traditional PvP than you have in PotBS.
The issues that PotBS will have in terms of popularity are:
(1) its PvE side is not the greatest (this also hurts EVE, which has even more lackluster PvE imo), so the PvE player is probably not going to stay unless they want to play the economic simulator aspect, but that as well is more limited than EVE's simulator
(2) its PvP side is not as wide open (very limited FFA PvP), and the PvP itself is slow-paced, tactical and as a result very untraditional PvP. Traditionally PvP tests how fast you can think on your feet and react and adjust under incredible time pressure -- that's what PvPers tend to like, and how their skillsets tend to be. The PvP in PotBS is slowed down so that it is almost entirely tactical. You have time to set things up, to react, and so forth. Time pressure is never the issue, instead it's things like what your slillset is, what the wind direction is, how the ships match up and that kind of thing, as well as using sound offensive and defensive tactics -- not split-second decision making that is characteristic of most online PvP
(3) the focus on "winning the map for your side" is something that can capture a player's attention for the short term, but not for the long term in a game of this type, imo. There just isn't enough room in the game design (at this point at least) for individual (or PA) glory, and that, at the end of the day, is what PvPers live for. Kill mails, kill boards, kill rankings and the like. Killing over the course of months and months for the glory of some NPC faction is not going to be enough to attract and sustain interest, I think, and it's a structural issue with the game.
im sorry but i doubt that potbs pvp will be even remotely close to that of shadowbane. hell has pvp even been tested at all yet for potbs? i mean the port sieges and battles? once they put the pvp in the game they will be spending the next year or two balancing it. cant do that over night. hell even wow is still balancing pvp. so for potbs to have a great pvp side of things they better get the testing done right before dumping it on live...oh ya btw its so easy to see who is a shill and who is not eh??
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Of course beta had PvP! The "pre-boarding" period did not, but there was certainly PvP in the beta testing stage, as well as port contentions and the like.
Pardon my terse reply, busy week.
1) some amount of your earned contention points carry over if you fail to win a slot in the lottery. that gives casual players an increasingly better chance to get into a final battle over time, as every time they contribute and fial to win, they bring more chances into the next lottery. when a player wins a slot, those carry-over chances get reset. of course hardcore pvp'ers will stll have the more 'wins' of the lottery, but that only seems fair.
2) yes, pvp has been tested both mechanically and as a system, in limited ways, during the beta. Yes, it needs balancing over time, because the community of players will always find ways to leverage any imbalance, and they outnnumber us devs. Compared to WOW we have far fewer "PVE-only" abilities, which makes it easier to balance in some ways. But we also have PVP with real impact on the world, so yes we'll be carefully watching how things go with a full set of players in the worlds.
I find the rest of the game far from boring.
But between releasing the game and a new kid at home, I'll have to stick addressing to a few short specifics above.
Dead on.