Kurak
04-11-2004, 07:56 AM
First, let me address pklite.
I will give you my opinion, and tell you how it must evolve regardless of the fact that it's an insult to AC PVP.
My opinion - PKlite is a soft and insulting travesty that offends the basis of PVP in asheron's call
How it must evolve - Pk lite as it is now, is horrible, consequence free, and soft. I always said that the only thing pk lite will do, is give moronic little kids a way to trash talk without any chance of punishment and basically get away with anything, and with this, drive the true PVPers away.
PKlite is not a "horrid" idea (though IMO is still pretty bad). What must happen with pk lite is the placement of restrictions. People running around killing and getting killed with no death, vitae, or consequence is cheap and boring when thrust into the main stream of PVP. Pk lite as an entrance to Pk, however, is not a bad idea. The original argument was that it's for monarchs to have fun with on weekends with their followers etc. This however, never took hold, as those types don't tend to be the PVP type, whether it's PK or PKL. The problem with PKL is that it's not an entrance to pk, and it's not a practive pk. It is an all out main stream pk. How can it be fixed? Perhaps a time limit on how long you can go pkl? Perhaps restricted to mansion basements or designated small "practice" areas. There are many ideas but the fact is, PKL should be an entrance to pk, a practice pK, and hold true to it's name. PK Lite, not PKCheap. It should be this way, and not a total replacement to real pk.
The next issue, is of course, giving people an incentive to go PK. I saw a suggestion on this board discussing siege and territory holding in PK and PKL. This is good, as long as it's restricted to PK. As long as you give every pk benefit to PKL, PK is used either less or not at all.
Suggestion for a PK system (not all of these are my ideas):
Town sieging:
A monarchy can own a town by controlling a crystal in the center of town, or holding it for some length of time (how this is regulated would be anyones guess). Once a group of pks held this crystal, the entire allegiance would enjoy increased buy rates and perhaps stat bonuses (aka, Ayan = 105% buy rate +10 global melee D bonus. Shoushi = 100% Buy rate +5 Alchemy +5 Fletching) etc etc. Also, many more benefits could be added to owning or controlling a town on top of the looting of player's corpses which should definitely be a big part of PK. This is just one idea of course to give an *incentive* to go PK and not PKL.
Last but not least, is of course combat. Ahh, combat, something AC has managed to nearly perfect in many ways. Fast paced movement (running/jumping), animation breaking (being able to dodge while casting and break off melee attacks), and the dynamic systems involved in large scale combat. Unfortunately these things are starting to be thrown out of balance. Everytime someone complains about "balance" because they don't know how to do something properly with their character, others join in and demand certain changes to combat. IMO, the downfall of AC has been total and complete disregard for the original system and rules of combat and gameplay (ie gems, sellback etc). Some try to make points on the matter. For example: "In other games mages are the weak class" "in other games melees dont have magics!" "in other games etc etc".
Well, AC is fun because it's *not like* other games, and took a completely customisable route instead of adhering to the typical "42nd Level Dark Elf Warrior of the clan Blingblong" (with no magic of course). In some ways AC is more free form and true to the RPG equation than other MMORPGs and other RPGS in general. This is why certain things that have existed in AC are so important to the fun of the game, ie fast casting.
Fastcasting or animation breaking in general: Yes, a mage casts faster, but a melee doesn't sit there and take spells either, he can move and gauge combat as he/she sees fit. Imagine AC without animation breaking. It would be an entirely stat based game without any modicum of skill involved. Mage shoots war, but cant move, and melee runs in and can't dodge. In essence, it would become more like "typical" MMO games, but somehow the result of combat is no longer determined by fun and skill, but by stats and items alone. People who beg for a fix to fast cast don't understand the integral role it plays in AC and it's combat system, whether it's on purpose or not.
Melees: Melees in AC are not as powerful in *solo* PVP as in other games, because they have the distinct advantage of being able to chase down people who run away. Carebears sometimes can't fathom the idea of ganging someone, but a melee plays (or played) an integral role as a support character who did a lot of damage in gangs. Unfortunately this has no changed. The devs, by request of the people who complain instead of learning, decided to make melees equal or close to equal to mages in 1v1 combat, all in the name of "balance". The word "balance" is not understood by the average player of AC. Some think balance means equal in everything that is obvious or seen. An experienced player knows that balance means more. It means that melees are powerful b/c they can chase and mages cant, and it means that mages can take on multiple PKs but can't run away as easily or chase a single person. Balance, people, is "equal yet different". Once melees have the same 1v1 power as mages yet retain their chasing ability (which is what they should have) the combat dynamics get seriously skewed. Yes, perhaps melees having this solo power more typical, but definitely not what AC was designed for.
I urge people reading this to understand that constant changes to the embedded dynamics of AC won't make it more fun, and will make it less fun more than likely. AC is (or was) a unique and fast paced dynamicly free form game, but it's being turned into something else. If people want something else, go play lineage, EQ, SWG, *insert random clone MMORPG here*, as the changes to AC to reflect something it's not, are detrimental to the game and the players who enjoy the game.
I will give you my opinion, and tell you how it must evolve regardless of the fact that it's an insult to AC PVP.
My opinion - PKlite is a soft and insulting travesty that offends the basis of PVP in asheron's call
How it must evolve - Pk lite as it is now, is horrible, consequence free, and soft. I always said that the only thing pk lite will do, is give moronic little kids a way to trash talk without any chance of punishment and basically get away with anything, and with this, drive the true PVPers away.
PKlite is not a "horrid" idea (though IMO is still pretty bad). What must happen with pk lite is the placement of restrictions. People running around killing and getting killed with no death, vitae, or consequence is cheap and boring when thrust into the main stream of PVP. Pk lite as an entrance to Pk, however, is not a bad idea. The original argument was that it's for monarchs to have fun with on weekends with their followers etc. This however, never took hold, as those types don't tend to be the PVP type, whether it's PK or PKL. The problem with PKL is that it's not an entrance to pk, and it's not a practive pk. It is an all out main stream pk. How can it be fixed? Perhaps a time limit on how long you can go pkl? Perhaps restricted to mansion basements or designated small "practice" areas. There are many ideas but the fact is, PKL should be an entrance to pk, a practice pK, and hold true to it's name. PK Lite, not PKCheap. It should be this way, and not a total replacement to real pk.
The next issue, is of course, giving people an incentive to go PK. I saw a suggestion on this board discussing siege and territory holding in PK and PKL. This is good, as long as it's restricted to PK. As long as you give every pk benefit to PKL, PK is used either less or not at all.
Suggestion for a PK system (not all of these are my ideas):
Town sieging:
A monarchy can own a town by controlling a crystal in the center of town, or holding it for some length of time (how this is regulated would be anyones guess). Once a group of pks held this crystal, the entire allegiance would enjoy increased buy rates and perhaps stat bonuses (aka, Ayan = 105% buy rate +10 global melee D bonus. Shoushi = 100% Buy rate +5 Alchemy +5 Fletching) etc etc. Also, many more benefits could be added to owning or controlling a town on top of the looting of player's corpses which should definitely be a big part of PK. This is just one idea of course to give an *incentive* to go PK and not PKL.
Last but not least, is of course combat. Ahh, combat, something AC has managed to nearly perfect in many ways. Fast paced movement (running/jumping), animation breaking (being able to dodge while casting and break off melee attacks), and the dynamic systems involved in large scale combat. Unfortunately these things are starting to be thrown out of balance. Everytime someone complains about "balance" because they don't know how to do something properly with their character, others join in and demand certain changes to combat. IMO, the downfall of AC has been total and complete disregard for the original system and rules of combat and gameplay (ie gems, sellback etc). Some try to make points on the matter. For example: "In other games mages are the weak class" "in other games melees dont have magics!" "in other games etc etc".
Well, AC is fun because it's *not like* other games, and took a completely customisable route instead of adhering to the typical "42nd Level Dark Elf Warrior of the clan Blingblong" (with no magic of course). In some ways AC is more free form and true to the RPG equation than other MMORPGs and other RPGS in general. This is why certain things that have existed in AC are so important to the fun of the game, ie fast casting.
Fastcasting or animation breaking in general: Yes, a mage casts faster, but a melee doesn't sit there and take spells either, he can move and gauge combat as he/she sees fit. Imagine AC without animation breaking. It would be an entirely stat based game without any modicum of skill involved. Mage shoots war, but cant move, and melee runs in and can't dodge. In essence, it would become more like "typical" MMO games, but somehow the result of combat is no longer determined by fun and skill, but by stats and items alone. People who beg for a fix to fast cast don't understand the integral role it plays in AC and it's combat system, whether it's on purpose or not.
Melees: Melees in AC are not as powerful in *solo* PVP as in other games, because they have the distinct advantage of being able to chase down people who run away. Carebears sometimes can't fathom the idea of ganging someone, but a melee plays (or played) an integral role as a support character who did a lot of damage in gangs. Unfortunately this has no changed. The devs, by request of the people who complain instead of learning, decided to make melees equal or close to equal to mages in 1v1 combat, all in the name of "balance". The word "balance" is not understood by the average player of AC. Some think balance means equal in everything that is obvious or seen. An experienced player knows that balance means more. It means that melees are powerful b/c they can chase and mages cant, and it means that mages can take on multiple PKs but can't run away as easily or chase a single person. Balance, people, is "equal yet different". Once melees have the same 1v1 power as mages yet retain their chasing ability (which is what they should have) the combat dynamics get seriously skewed. Yes, perhaps melees having this solo power more typical, but definitely not what AC was designed for.
I urge people reading this to understand that constant changes to the embedded dynamics of AC won't make it more fun, and will make it less fun more than likely. AC is (or was) a unique and fast paced dynamicly free form game, but it's being turned into something else. If people want something else, go play lineage, EQ, SWG, *insert random clone MMORPG here*, as the changes to AC to reflect something it's not, are detrimental to the game and the players who enjoy the game.