PvP: More Variety?

arena25 · September 2014

As a Rift PvPer and a Cyrodiil player, I honestly think more variety of PvP is necessary.

Why? Well, Cyrodiil is meant for large groups of players...however, a huge chunk of us have to work everyday from nine to five...so, what do we do for those times when most of us are at work?

Here are some PvP things that I wish players can do when bulk of the people are at work:

1: Molag Bal's Garden. Similar to Rift's black garden, this instance has 5-10 players from each alliance compete to take and hold the Fang of Molag Bal. Each time a person picks it up, they accrue points for their team. However, no one can withstand the power of the fang for long, and the carrier takes an increasing amount of damage until he/she dies. You can gain a varying amount of points...if, for example the Covenant has the fang, and it is a 500-point limit, you gain +2 points per tick for holding it close to Covenant's spawn, +6 for holding it at center, and +10 for holding it at an opposing spawn. You also accrue points by defeating enemy players.

2: The Communication Tower: Similar to Rift's Codex, this instance has 5-15 players from each alliance compete to take and hold 3-6 separate bases. It's a little bit like Cyrodiil, but much faster. 1 base is the Communication Tower, and holding the tower grants that alliance 5 points for every 5 seconds they hold the tower. Each team also has a base that is closer to its spawn than the other two alliances, in addition to 1-2 central bases. The other bases only count for 3 points per 5 seconds. The limit is 1000 points, and you can also accrue points (+2) by defeating enemy players. The bases take 30 seconds to take (15 if you are the first alliance to grab the point at the start of the match).

3: Ruined City: The three alliances once shared this city, trading, and flourishing. Molag Bal snatched it up when the Soulburst happened, and now the three alliances fight to take the other alliances flags.

Similar to Capture the Flag, this instance has 5-15 players from each alliance compete to capture the opposing flags. Each team starts with 2 flags: one at the forward camp, and one in the rear of the territory. There are 2 ways to win:

1: Get all 6 flags (your 2 flags plus the other alliances flags) at your base at one time to win.
2: Have the most amount of flags at the end of the timer to win.

Beware though, you cannot capture enemy flags if one of the enemies has your rear flag. If the enemy has your rear flag, you will need to send someone out to retrieve it, or do it yourself.

If the rear flag is taken whilst there are enemy flags captured, those flags are returned to base. This means that if two teams are on the edge of losing, they can grab the rear flag to instantly "reset the map" and keep the game alive.

Ok, I know, long post. Bear with me, one more:

4: Imperial City

The three alliances clash in the Imperial City for control in a King of the Hill style matchup for 5-10 players from each alliance.

Each team starts with a 3 minute timer. When the alliance holds a central point, their timer starts counting down. However, if the alliance allows an enemy combatant within 5 meters of the point or do not have any alive combatants within 5 meters, their timer stops. Note that this timer stop does not reset the clock. For example, if Dominion had the point, but were all killed by the Pact at 2:37 left, their clock stops at 2:37. If Dominion retakes point, their clock starts at 2:37, not 3:00.

That's my suggestion. Just some small scale PvP for people to do when the workforce is at their jobs, doing whatever their responsibilities are.

Well, what do you guys think?

Comments, questions, concerns, insults?

xChewtoyx · September 2014

I think you miss Rift

Aenra · September 2014

i think that if people left and tried some real PvP for once, in the relevant MMOs that -do- offer it, we'd all be better off

- you would get to see what proper open PvP is like, and what the consequences are (mechanics and class design -wise) for having it
- we would have had a much smaller wait time and/or a much higher hope of eventually achieving some sort of balance
- you would be participating in games that make the content you are after
- we would be participating in a game that makes the content we are after
- half of the whining posts in this forum and the posters behind them would no longer exist

now of course that does entail a certain drop in subscriptions, but hate as i do to break it to you, PvP is such a minority, that no one in the Shire or outside it would be impacted

oooor, we, you, whomever, can keep supporting games that try to paint themselves as the figurative 3 in 1, while at the same complaining about how their devs never pull through in the end!
but that is just me at my illogical finest

arena25 · September 2014

Yeah, may be a Rift player more so than an ESO player, but you gotta realize that while I do appreciate Cyrodiil, when you factor in things like jobs, there is just literally nothing much you can accomplish over the weekend. In fact, I bet that if you asked ZeniMax how many keeps were taken over this past summer, almost 90% of them would have been taken by groups consisting of mainly teenagers and schoolchildren.

This is why sometimes when I game in the summer I usually will explain what to do in language a fourth grader understands. In fact, at the high school level (usually in history class), teachers will have their students do exercises like "Translate the Declaration of Independeance in language a third grader understands," or something like that.

smeeprocketnub19_ESO · September 2014

arena25 wrote: »

Yeah, may be a Rift player more so than an ESO player, but you gotta realize that while I do appreciate Cyrodiil, when you factor in things like jobs, there is just literally nothing much you can accomplish over the weekend. In fact, I bet that if you asked ZeniMax how many keeps were taken over this past summer, almost 90% of them would have been taken by groups consisting of mainly teenagers and schoolchildren.

This is why sometimes when I game in the summer I usually will explain what to do in language a fourth grader understands. In fact, at the high school level (usually in history class), teachers will have their students do exercises like "Translate the Declaration of Independeance in language a third grader understands," or something like that.

Not everyone works your hours. I realize it seems like the world is about you, but many people have many different schedules.

Small pvp exists in cyrodiil, go find it, it isn't going to walk up to you and hit you on the head. My advice is go to some quest hubs, that's where the action is at.

Arenas of this sort take players away from cyrodiil, so no.

Also, I still think we need a tyro rank requirement for IC.

Evergnar · September 2014

I can agree that Cyrodiil needs to evolve into something more dynamic. The addition of the Imperial City will help that I think.

Still, there needs to be additions and improvements to keeps & resources as well as mini games within the current PvP area. The possibilities of what can be done in Cyrodiil are endless. Question is do the devs see it that way or do they think it's just fine how it is.

smeeprocketnub19_ESO · September 2014

pvp is player created content, you shouldn't have to have things handed to you in cyrodiil, there's all manner of things that facilitate pvp there. Use them.

milesrodneymcneely2_ESO · September 2014

I want a 1v1 Arena like we had in Oblivion.

guybrushtb16_ESO · September 2014

I think you would probably be happier playing rift right now.

That being said, if you gotta steal somewhere, please steal huttball. Complete with Baron Deathmark and all.

Artis · September 2014

The problem is, if they release battlegrounds, no one will play in Cyrodiil. Alterac Valley used to be epic in WoW. Now all you can see is people rushing to the boss to finish it asap and play something else, something that is simpler.

firstdecan · September 2014

I don't think he has bad ideas. I think there's a number of people frustrated with PvP in this game, be cause it mostly boils down to zerg vs zerg or gank squads. I could see an appeal to more limited PvP engagements, especially since it would be an opportunity for many people to 'l2p' their toons.

Vunter · September 2014

Artemis wrote: »

The problem is, if they release battlegrounds, no one will play in Cyrodiil. Alterac Valley used to be epic in WoW. Now all you can see is people rushing to the boss to finish it asap and play something else, something that is simpler.

Have you got a crystal ball or something?

Cyrodiil is fun in its own ways and people that like it will still like it.

arena25 · September 2014

Now, I can definitely see why battlegrounds would probably be a bad idea. But let's be honest:

1: Keeps are meant to be taken with large groups of people. In fact, as I stated before, summer is primetime for taking keeps, but only because the kids are out of school. Sadly, workers in the labor force don't get summer vacation, and unfortunately, playing PvP in the summer makes my job 10 times harder. Why? See my previous comment.

2: Cyrodiil goes for 30, 14, or 7 days (post-overhaul). Eventually, people start to get that itch, thinking "Grrrrr...same old, same old. Grrrrr...i don't want to capture another keep and get 99 people who won't even listen."

3: Continuation from Point #1: When it's summer, Cyrodiil has people around the clock.

5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The hardcore gamers go on a last ditch spree, killing all who is not hiding behind walls (reminds me of Warhammer and the Witch Elves custom of "Death Night"

9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The workforce goes to work, kids come on and, with a mix of creativity and troublemaking, they try their best to destroy what the hardcore gamers have spent all of the previous night working hard on.

6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The kids and the hardcore gamers (aka adults) come together, and usually one of the following things happens:

Option 1: Kids and adults split, the kids go off and continue their mischief while the adults go drink beer (legally, of course) and wait for the kids to go to bed which, unless the kids have really bad parents, they dully have to do.

Option 2: The kids and the adults come together as one, and while the kids distract the enemy by causing their mischief, the adults take keeps and raid, drink, pillage, and sing (ok, maybe not sing, but you get my point).

9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. The kids go to bed, adults try to correct the damage the kids had done and their spree continues long into the night.

4: Small scale PvP will allow people to learn how to use abilities, and could also help people make wise decisions about rotations before using them in a large scale battle where everyone has to work together or they all fall together.

At the very least, incorporate some mini PvP games that could add up to a huge advantage in the grand scheme of things. Just taking keeps eventually gets boring.

Comments, questions, concerns, insults?

Zabus · September 2014

Yes, I'm all in favor of these things. I never played rift, but after a while PvP just becomes boring and this would definitely help alleviate it.

I know things like this will affect the population in cyrodiil, so I want it to be a small scaled as possible.

I'm in favor of having weekly pvp events such as these on the weekend, maybe just one day during the week and then it's back to normal PvP.

The event can change weekly, so maybe it's 3v3 koh in the imperial city one week then it's arena style another.

All I can do now is anxiously wait for imperial city to be released.

JoffyToffy69 · September 2014

smeeprocketnub19_ESO wrote: »

Not everyone works your hours. I realize it seems like the world is about you, but many people have many different schedules.

So many people forget this! I find it mostly with Americans complaining keeps getting capped when they're asleep. Pretty much forgetting the rest of the world exists outside USA and have different time zones.
Some of them even have the nerve to ask for lock out timers and other similar ridiculous ideas.

The dev's have stated they're working on different PvP game modes which I'm sure will work out. I know they plan to have a 'King of the Hill' style mode and possibly an Arena. I think they also said dueling will be on the way further down the track.

We do not need to copy other games. If you love another game so much, go play that. I, and many others, love ESO because it is NOT like other mmos. The things that are unique to this game is why we play!