Before I get started with the second part of this article, I want to mention another requirement for a good pvp(player versus player) game; Open Pvp. I know that I have opened a large can of worms with this one. But, I want all of you reading this to realize that I am not trying to make friends. Many of the things I say will offend some (I tend to call them carebears). The plague of carebears will be discussed in another article. Anyway, back on topic…
Why is Open PVP so important Tay?
Open pvp/pk is the very heart of competition in online games. “Survival of the fittest” If you concentrate on the pvp niche, you will find many people who will sign up for these games. There are consequences to open pvp however. Most of the paying customers of MMORPGs despise failure(getting killed). Why? Well, many people use MMORPGs to get away from their real lives. In many cases, these lives are already filled with enough drama and failure. So, why would they want to experience failure in an artificial world as well? It’s much too easy to complain about failure instead of taking the proper steps to correct the problem.
So what about the player-killers that target newbies? How will I ever level?
You can level easily in every game that you play if you take the proper steps. I personally haven’t had any major problems in this area. You may get killed every now and then, but never to the point where you can’t continue leveling. Read the “How to avoid getting ganked in WoW” article for survival tips. The strategies can be carried over in most games.
You can grief others in consentual pvp/pk based games much easier than an open pvp environment
So, what makes a bad pvp game?
* Heavy restrictions on the pvp/pk environment
* Item/Time based leveling
* Lack of goals, rewards, competition, and public kill/death ratio
* Overpowered classes
* Over censorship from Game Masters (Gms)
* Relying on others to advance your character – This is a pet peeve of mine. If I want to grind for 12 hours straight solo, I should be able to do that. Many will say, “But, playing online with friends is the purpose of a *multiplayer* game.” That may be true, but time zone differences and other restrictions make it difficult at times. I shouldn’t need to join a zerg just to continue leveling…
Many of these items were discussed in the first part of the article, so I won’t regurgitate the same information twice.
How do I satisfy everyone as a developer and make money at the same time?
I will use WoW and Lineage 2 as examples. World of Warcraft has 89y67123 different servers now…but where is the open pvp server? It would be so exciting to be able to kill anyone, anywhere. Just make a few of the major towns safe zones so you can use the warehouse, etc.(Ogrimmar, Undercity, etc.)
In Lineage 2, you should get rid of the highly flawed karma system. A discussion of this topic would take an entire page… The only thing I will say is, there must be a balance. Gaining more karma from defending yourself is the most ignorant idea ever.
If you want to satisfy everyone, create a game where all of the best gear and equipment is gained through pvp. You must enter the “wastelands” in order to obtain the best items. No artificial boundaries like a karma system, unbalanced item drops, etc.
The best aspects of each game MMORPG that I have played will be discussed in the next article. In the meantime, keep killing, keep grinding, and always strive to be the best. **Failure isn’t an option**
Tayman is the webmaster at http:///share_save">
