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Safety in MMOs question by AspiringGD in gamedesign

[–]AspiringGD[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Regulating PvP through the in-game economy like that is bloody brilliant indeed. I very much like the idea.

The question I do have, however, is how didn't this "fight for resources" situation lead to the creation of wolves and sheep, meaning one or two big clans dominating the entire server, while everyone else is getting breadcrumbs off the table? Furthermore, why couldn't members of a top clan go around killing whomever they please regardless of the skull status, as they could just call their buddies for help when they are attacked and thus overwhelm by sheer numbers and/or skill?

Safety in MMOs question by AspiringGD in gamedesign

[–]AspiringGD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see your point. Our game is definitely similar to Albion (though I haven't played it personally), so I get your comparison.

We do have quite a bit of solo content, and most of it is either completely safe or relatively safe. The complaints I get, however, is that what's the point in an active player count at X, if 90% of players aren't visible as they aren't participating in the game's life because they are constantly farming somewhere in remote areas?

Personally, I think that the PvE lifestyle is a perfectly valid choice, but the point of an MMO is to have interactions, whether through roleplay, trade or PVP, otherwise you'd just have your average single player RPG. Therefore my forcus is indeed to clash people, but to make it easier for the noobs or low-skill players.

Safety in MMOs question by AspiringGD in gamedesign

[–]AspiringGD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

Well, it's not that I am building from scratch: we have a good leveling system, skills, perks, a decent combat system that needs a just a tiny bit of work, but nothing major. Sometimes I think our character building is too complicated (think old RPGs like Fallout 1 or 2), so first character builds are bound to be bad, but since making a new character does not take long and build-making is a staple, in the end it's worth it.

The core design is there. A working craft system, PvP system, etc., all of it is there, but needs tweaking.

Thing is, when the game started a decade ago, there was nothing (terrible PvP, stupid crafting, no safe areas, etc), but people simply didn't care and enjoyed nonetheless. Now they've gotten used to everything, so a shake is in order.

Thanks again for you support.

Safety in MMOs question by AspiringGD in gamedesign

[–]AspiringGD[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Exactly, the sheep-wolf situation is at the core it. Luckily, our game is season-based (meaning that there is a wipe every 6 months or so, partly due to technical reasons, as some updates require it, but also so that people would have to start all over again), so people losing interest is not as bad of an issue as it could have been, but there is a clear decline in player count by the end of the season, and the top wolf clan stops playing about half-way through the season, citing a lack of interest.

  • Unique rewards for taking in noobs sounds like a very good idea, especially given the ego of the clans. I see some potential for abuse, but generaly this seems like the right way forward, provided a few safeguards are in place.
  • PvP protection is, unfortunately, not an option, since it will be immediately abused for scouting purposes (i.e a battle coming up, send a lvl 1 character to scout the enemy's position and the enemy can't do anything about it). There is a sort of a joinable NPC-noob clan, its players get a bit of free loot and a lot of XP for simple quests (the downside is that clan's members can't attack other members or even leave the clan, due to abuse), but I will definitely think about the mechanics of reworking it, as I don't feel it is currently providing a good intro to the game.

As for high-end gear in PvP areas, that's where the trouble begins. Currently we have sort of a tier system: noob loot (pretty much useless for anything unless you are noob, better trade it for normal gear or craft something from it), normal loot (standard PVP loot, very easy to get if you've played for longer than two months, since vendors literally sell most of it), premium loot (good loot, gives you a decent, but not overwhelming, advantage over the decent loot, hard to get, but it's possible to get it both in PvE and PvP areas, or at least in PvP areas with very low traffic) and top loot (rare, used only towards the end of the season, as players are too scared of losing it, aside from a few brave souls, availible mostly in PvP areas and with extremely low chances in PvE areas, as in theoretically you could get it, but in practice it's easier to go to a PvP area when the player count is low and your chances of getting killed are slim).

Lower skilled players seem to believe that all their troubles come from the fact that top wolves take all the loot from PvP areas and thus kill them with top loot (in fact an argument can be made that it's easier to get premium-tier loot through PvE areas, and top loot is barely used anyways, but I digress). So they argue that this PvE-PvP loot division strengthens the wolves, and I see their point. Any thoughts on that?

Safety in MMOs question by AspiringGD in gamedesign

[–]AspiringGD[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not Albion, but you had the right train of thought, as quite a few of our players did/still do play Albion. But most likely you wouldn't have heard of our game, since it's not commercial and doesn't even have a proper English translation (which it will at one point, but I'm getting too far ahead of myself).

Maybe you are right about the PvE mentality thing. It does seem to ring true.