I sure would love if armors were more equal.
That there were different armors, so the effort was in making the right choice, but that they were easily obtainable for all, so PVP would be about skill, not equipment and months of grinding.
Like AO classic, where you can roll missions for armor.
Sure, it takes a bit to do, but you can do it in a day.
the same with weapons.
That resulted in people having multiple setups
depending on the situation you would change.
Now we have so far out twinking, that it takes (took) months to change something.
I like twinking, it is a part of AO I like, what I do not like is that I need to spend a really really long time to get it.
one of my friends laugh at MMOs, his argument goes like this:
"Why spend months of work to get to the fair fight?
In other games you have a fair chance from the start"
He talks about CounterStrike and strategy games.
There practice and knowledge will give you an advantage, not how many times you have killed a gray or green alien and waited for an armor to drop.
With the rare armor/equipment system we have now, there are two options:
1) balancing around the average person
Pros of balancing around the average person:
+ Hopefully more new people will enjoy PVP
+ Random people, not just the top 2% can join in
+ You will be able to have fair fights without having to spend months of unbalanced PVPing getting VP for the armor you need to have, to get a fair fight. (eroz_c mentioned that you at least need OFAB to have a fair fight)
Cons
- The top 2% will likely be unbalanced, and with a lot of effort there will be a "best" profession.
- Less incentive to get the best gear, as you can have fun without.
2) balancing around the top 2% PVPer.
Pros of balancing around the top 2% PVPers:
+ The endgame, top-gear hardcore fighting will be balanced.
+ It is rewarded to have good equipment: you can easily kill everyone new that joins BS to try out PVP.
Cons
- You will need to spend a lot of time to get the gear, A LOT. Maybe farm AI city raids, or PVP in an unbalanced environment, to get the armor so you can compete with the others fairly.
- You will have difficulties training and getting better, as you are likely to get killed very fast.
- You can win just by grinding for months, or having a lot of credits, but little knowledge or skill.
- Buying credits with $ is attactive
But I have one worry about balancing around average joe: that the twinkers then still will have an enormous advantage.
In the scenario of equipment that is easy to get, you would have less of a span between top 2% and the average player.
so everyone would have the chance to twink.
Meaning that the game, overall could be more balanced and based on ingenuity and skill, rather than grinding.
I guess this is why some have called for a Fr00b only server: AO classic was easier to start with and get good setups without too much work.
and the post that sparked this thread to be started:
Thank you for your post eroz_c
I dislike the fact that your friends stopped PVPing, because they found the fights unfair, as they did not have good enough equipment, not because they lacked skill.
With good equipment they could train to become better in PVP, but without, they just were left for dead. With the option to grind an armor for months, then get a chance to learn and improve.
it is a very good point you have: around what players should be balance?
We can choose to balance the game around the top 2% PVPers, or around the top 50%, meaning the average player.
It is a very difficult decision indeed.
PVP is fun, when you have a chance to compete, to kill others.
but most trying it are steamrolled and stay away, as you mention it eroz_c.
Spending months and months getting equipment.. doing PVP without a chance for months, just for the possibility to get a fair chance.
That seems unfair and like too much work for many.
I see the LE mechs as a chance for the Mediocre equipped players.
but again, it is less fun, as you have so few buttons, AO is fun because it is challenging. The sad part is that it is near impossible for a Mediocre setup.
Sure there are games like GuildWars, where equipment does not matter, where it is pure skill, people could move there.
but
1) AO is more fun and challenging, also in PVM
2) AO has many many more items and actions, making it more tactical and knowledge based
3) AO is sci-fi
Kind Regards
-Ariensky
PS. Yes this is a "I want an easier time at getting equipment"-post
but please read the arguments.
It isn't a post where the point is to remove challenges from the game.
it is to move the challenge from: killing 10.000 aliens for an armor.
to: which combination of armor would do good.
Experimentation, fun and skill.
in essence: less grind, more skill.
The perk reset guy was a step on the way.
Please think of AO classic.
there you could get an armor easily.
Sure there were tradeskill armors as well, that were great, but they were rather easily doable for the average person.
--apart from the stiletto coldstone grinding. (but that is Notum Wars )
Also expensive GA fixers could be killed with a cheap AS weapon.
Has the game changed so much that new people should not have a chance?
it didn't use to be that way.
To me having to grind an AI armor to get a fair PVP fight is a waste of time.
I can go play chess with anyone in 2 min. There the result will be skill.
Twinking is skill, hence I like that part of AO
Grinding is not skill though.