We should get a Battle Royale / Extraction PvP mode using Vengeance skills

Erickson9610 · August 15

Rather than replace Cyrodiil with Vengeance, the Vengeance skills can be repurposed in a new Free-For-All PvP mode where the last man standing wins.

I really like the Vengeance balancing, possibly even more than I like the performance and population boost from it. And since it would be nigh impossible to balance a fair Battle Royale mode with ESO's combat system (the build you enter with is far more important than the combat itself), using the Vengeance ruleset would give everyone a level playing field, which is critical in that sort of PvP game.

If we think about the theme of this mode and how it would make sense in the setting of TES, there is one that makes the most sense to me. Hircine often hosts Great Hunts in his Hunting Grounds; that's what the March of Sacrifices dungeon was about. So, imagine a Great Hunt where you are fighting against other players to hunt some quarry to receive a boon from Hircine. This could be like the PvP version of the Infinite Archive, where instead of receiving boons from Hermaeus Mora, you're instead receiving boons from Hircine.

In terms of gameplay, this mode could be more like an extraction PvP game, where the goal is to hunt prey and leave without dying to collect a reward based on how much you've done. Or, it could be a standard battle royale, where the prey you hunt makes you stronger (Hircine could award boons similar to the Visions in the Infinite Archive) and the last player to survive in PvP wins.

I don't think this mode would work in Battlegrounds due to how different it is. But I do think it's something that should be queued for.

This mode would make use of Vengeance skills for an accessible and fair gameplay experience, while giving it appeal to a wider demographic of people. I'm positive that people would play ESO for this, especially if the marketing was done well.

xylena_lazarow · August 15

YES. This game's PvP would lend itself well to FFA. No more ball groups or heal stacking, for one.

aetherix8 · August 16

Very interesting idea and accommodating solution. Such a mode would give some players a much desired alternative, while keeping the old Cyro available for those who enjoy it and who have invested in it.

There would be no reason for a grumpy PvPer to complain about splitting an already small population, since they would still be able to farm plenty of all those players who prefer to hunt the doors of an empty keep (“for the score!”). In fact, they might even be happier than ever because of the increased choice of players to fight, namely Cyro’s good old PvD enthusiasts plus Vengeance’s PvP “tourists”.

Lore-wise, this is a naturally fitting concept, a Daedric Prince making players engage in a deadly hunt for a worthy reward. I like MoS; it has this very nice, dreamlike ambiance and surreal feel. With Vengeance skills in this setting, and maybe with some additional items, like traps replacing some of Cyro’s siege mechanics, such a hunt could represent a very attractive PvP experience.

It is also a refreshing idea for those who have grown tired of Cyrodiil’s repetitive door-to-door riding simulator. But I don’t think it should resemble the BG format. I believe it would need many more than 16 players to be fun, and vast hunting grounds, with some objective points here and there, so some riding is still required (so we can use our shiny mounts). Maybe it could work without a queue, but with pop-locks that set up automatically when one team/faction has X more players than the others. It could be designed as a longer-term hunting campaign with leaderboards, for example.

xylena_lazarow · August 16

FFA Deathmatch like old school shooters, like the first Unreal Tournament.

Mayrael · August 19

Should this game really aim to be an old-school FPS? Seriously?

xylena_lazarow · August 19

Mayrael wrote: »

Should this game really aim to be an old-school FPS? Seriously?

yes

danko355 · August 19

Sounds like a very cool concept, and yes, this would probably work only with Vengeance rules, e.g. same equipment/skills for everyone.

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO · August 19

I'm sure it would be fun sitting in 6h queue to get 100 players who want to play it.

Erickson9610 · August 19

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO wrote: »

I'm sure it would be fun sitting in 6h queue to get 100 players who want to play it.

It doesn't need to have a cap of 100 players. While I'm sure ZOS could figure out how to make CPU players to fill in the rest of the player slots, another solution would be to just lower the limit to 20-30 players, and put more emphasis on the PvE encounters in the zone. Maybe the PvE threats scale up the fewer PvP threats exist?

They could also make unique daily rewards for queuing for this mode per character, similar to the random Battlegrounds and dungeon queues, so there will always be some people trying to queue up.

xylena_lazarow · August 19

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO wrote: »

I'm sure it would be fun sitting in 6h queue to get 100 players who want to play it.

Current Cyrodiil you wait about 18 hours to get 100 players.

It doesn't need to be Fortnite style battle royale, old school FPS had small FFA DM arenas of 8-12 players.

JustLovely · August 19

We don't need to incorporate every aspect of every other game into ESO.

It's perfectly fine, and some like me would say advised, to keep ESO's identity unique. It's a bit late now that ESO has companions and housing, but the direction should be to create a unique game, not a game that does the same thing every other game does.

What ZOS should be focusing on is improving performance of the game systems they already have.

Erickson9610 · August 19

JustLovely wrote: »

We don't need to incorporate every aspect of every other game into ESO.

It's perfectly fine, and some like me would say advised, to keep ESO's identity unique. It's a bit late now that ESO has companions and housing, but the direction should be to create a unique game, not a game that does the same thing every other game does.

What ZOS should be focusing on is improving performance of the game systems they already have.

What I'm suggesting is not a blatant ripoff of other games. Rather, I've suggested a new PvP mode that is founded in existing TES lore to make an experience unique to ESO, not seen in other games. In addition, the Vengeance modification to ESO's PvP combat would make this mode stand out from other PvP modes in this game; the development time on those abilities wouldn't be wasted.

It'd be a lot more interesting than just having another version of Cyrodiil, and a gamemode like this could only be pulled off in ESO with the Vengeance ruleset.

Iriidius · August 20

Mayrael wrote: »

Should this game really aim to be an old-school FPS? Seriously?

So everyone having equal stats turns thisgame into a first person shooter? Always thought a fps would be about shooting(usually with a gun)in first person view.

Iriidius · August 20

Mayrael wrote: »

Should this game really aim to be an old-school FPS? Seriously?

Maybe some players play (MMO)RPGs because they prefer medieval combat with swords and magic over modern combat with guns rather than wanting to farm gear for hours to than farm others not having that gear without outplaying them.

kotisovich · August 21

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Rather than replace Cyrodiil with Vengeance, the Vengeance skills can be repurposed in a new Free-For-All PvP mode where the last man standing wins.

I really like the Vengeance balancing, possibly even more than I like the performance and population boost from it. And since it would be nigh impossible to balance a fair Battle Royale mode with ESO's combat system (the build you enter with is far more important than the combat itself), using the Vengeance ruleset would give everyone a level playing field, which is critical in that sort of PvP game.

If we think about the theme of this mode and how it would make sense in the setting of TES, there is one that makes the most sense to me. Hircine often hosts Great Hunts in his Hunting Grounds; that's what the March of Sacrifices dungeon was about. So, imagine a Great Hunt where you are fighting against other players to hunt some quarry to receive a boon from Hircine. This could be like the PvP version of the Infinite Archive, where instead of receiving boons from Hermaeus Mora, you're instead receiving boons from Hircine.

In terms of gameplay, this mode could be more like an extraction PvP game, where the goal is to hunt prey and leave without dying to collect a reward based on how much you've done. Or, it could be a standard battle royale, where the prey you hunt makes you stronger (Hircine could award boons similar to the Visions in the Infinite Archive) and the last player to survive in PvP wins.

I don't think this mode would work in Battlegrounds due to how different it is. But I do think it's something that should be queued for.

This mode would make use of Vengeance skills for an accessible and fair gameplay experience, while giving it appeal to a wider demographic of people. I'm positive that people would play ESO for this, especially if the marketing was done well.

There should be another mode though. With one special premade build for everyone, same gear at start, stealth disabled(only invis skills from special gear maybe). You get gear by "looting" dead players and random chests. Gear you find will give stats/new skills to slot while wearing etc. Maybe another minified version of cyro will work, with big castle and nasty loot in the center, instead of IC. On start all players will wait on platform, when everyone are ready portals will activate. Interacting with portal allows you to choose spawn place on map. No groups allowed. Smth like that comes in mind