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PvP Done Almost Right or EQ Nostolgia
galapagos
Member Posts: 75
Does anyone remember EQ Rallos Zek server in the beginning? It was great. The spells affected PCs in basically the same way that they affected NPCs. Any item could be looted.
Then came the changes...
Soon spells (Fear for example-a spell that made the target flee if a save was not made) were tinkered with so that they only worked on NPCs. Then looting was limited to items that were being worn at the time of death, i.e. stored items could not be looted. Later, wielded weapons, shields, and ammo could not be looted. By the time I left, no-drop equipment was everywhere and virtually nothing apart from coins could be looted.
Those of you who want FFA PVP, do you remember EQ Rallos Zek server in its glory days (the first 6 months). Was this format one of the best that you remember?
Good points of the format..
Spells and combat worked the same on PCs as NPCs.
There were consequences to PVP.
Bad points..
The dreaded gankers and griefers were there.
Fighters were at a distinct disadvantage after being pked because they needed a weapon (which was usually looted) to be effective while casters still had their spells.
The system was basically an afterthought to a game designed for PvE. With that said, it was one of the best PvP systems that I have experienced in MMORPGs. Too bad it lasted for only a few months and not many players had the opportunity to enjoy it.
Comments
Have to disagree. I never played on Rallos Zek because as you readily admit, PvP was tacked on to a PvE engine. EQ's game engine was class and level based rather than skill based, and heavily equipment centric. Even removing the equipment factor, someone 5 levels above you could have been dropped off by the short, yellow bus and be dribbing their dinner down their front and you would STILL lose.
That's not to say that Rallos Zek would not have been fun, but as a decent PvP system? I don't think so. Doesn't matter if it was FFA PvP because the game mechanics were essentially class and level based.
For any future affadavit, I'm not either pro or anti-PvP as I have been both a PvP player and ganker during my Mudding career. It's how the mechanic is implemented that works for me i.e. I will always choose PvE over PvP that has been tacked on to a PvE engine. As I've mentioned, that doesn't mean that a PvP server for an essentially PvE game will not be fun - I bet it's still bundles of fun - but it's just not the kind of PvP that I would be looking for.
In any case, the most important thing is that you had fun and have happy memories. I think we as gamers tend to forget about the 'fun' element at times.
Regards,
Riotgirl
"If you think I'm plucky and scrappy and all I need is love, you're in way over your head. I don't have a heart of gold or get nice. There are a lot nicer people coming up. We call them losers."
Shadowbane's PvP is pretty hardcore. Everything works on mobs or players. The game was balanced FOR PvP. Come show your support, try it out, and help us keep the game alive.
There are PvPers who say ganking and griefing is part of PvP, think otherwise and you're a carebear. Then you've got people who want a return to the "glory days" of PvP, whose memory tends to be a little selective and say "How do you know if it's fun when there isn't anything to compare it to" - that is a bit chicken and egg to me.
If you ignore the bugs and gfx with Shadowbane for just a minute (tough to do, but try) then by all reckoning lots and lots of people should be playing it. Obviously now it's free, more are, but doesn't the fact it hasn't done that well and is on the brink of closure testament to the fact that people just don't want hardcore PvP any more. They don't want a return to pre-Trammel UO, they are happy with the current state. They want fun and fair PvP.
If it makes me a carebear that I have a job/life and don't want to spend the rest of my time trying to keep up just to get owned in one hit by a jobless kid then I guess that makes me a carebear. Rather that then some rose-tinted spectacle wearing geriatric sitting on a rocking chair on a porch with a shotgun muttering about the "Good old days", "Geez son, you don't know how lucky you are. Back in my day I hunted rabbits with nothing more than a rusty, blunt pocket knife".
No annoying animated GIF here!