Hengist

I love PvP

In the two and half years since The Old Republic has been announced there hasn’t been a topic that I’ve wanted information on more than PvP. My obsession began in Ultima Online, followed me into Dark Age of Camelot, again into Star Wars Galaxies, and then eventually into World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online. In fact, PvP is a benchmark for me, something that defines if I will be able to get into a game or not. My foray into Rift was cut short for a variety of reasons, but key among those reasons was the laughable PvP system.

I’ve been a “bad guy” when it comes to PvP, I’ve killed someone over and over to the point where they could not login a character, and I’ve done it for several days on end. I’ve run thru lower level towns and killed every player character that I saw, and every quest giver that I could find. (My only defense is that I never stay, its do it and then leave ‘em alone, leveling people should not be griefed). My World of Warcraft rogue reached the rank of Marshall (Field Marshall and Grand Marshall felt too pretentious to go after). My SWG Bounty Hunter made a “living” off hunting player bounties. Warhammer Online saw me lead RvR and Scenario groups as both a Knight of the Blazing Sun, and as a Warrior Priest. When it comes to PvP, I’ve run with all the archetypes: Tank, Healer, Melee DPS, and Ranged DPS. To think, this “love affair” began with me getting ganked, repeatedly in UO and having all my crafting supplies taken. I died more times than I can conveniently remember, and one day it hit me, fighting a player was more challenge than I would ever find in fighting the AI. Ever since then, I’ve been a man driven to PvP, and not just PvP, but to be the absolute best PvPer that I could be.

Hengist & Friends Prepare to PvP

Types of PvP

We do have scenarios in The Old Republic. These instanced PvP fights have become a standard in MMO’s, and The Old Republic is no different. The first warzone that we received information about was Alderaan. This warzone is something akin to Arathi Basin in WoW. There are drop ships for each faction, and the PvP centers around three ground based turrets. Instead of holding for some invisible point, you hold the turret for control of it to shoot down the enemy drop ship, when a drop ship dies, one side wins. This is a pretty simple mechanic and obviously you want to hold 2 of the 3 nodes for as long as possible.

The second warzone that has not been shown, but has been talked about is The Void Star. The Void Star is a derelict ship that has been found and both the Republic and Sith have dispatched teams to find out where it went, and what happened to it. This is pretty much an attack/defend mechanic. The attacker needs to capture the ship and must go room by room, with each room having a different objective. Those include breaching a door, extending a bridge, and turning on a shield projector. There is a time limit, and once that is reached, or once the objectives are met the teams switch sides.

The Void Star

RvR

There has been no direct confirmation that there is RvR. However there were a couple of interviews that indicate we just might have something here.

Originally Posted by mmorpg.com interview w/Emmanuel Lusinchi

Mmorpg.com: Will there be meaningful ways for Guilds to get involved in PvP? Will guilds or groups of players be able to hold territory?

Emmanuel Lusinchi: I won’t say anything on that. Sounds fun!

Full Article

In another interview, a comment was made that even on PvE servers there will be areas for open world PvP, which would seem to indicate that there might be some objective’s, and some RvR presence.


Dueling & Open World PvP

Yes, the Old Republic will have dueling, and there is open world PvP, however even PvP servers will have “safe zones”. We know for a fact that opposing factions cannot see Capital Worlds, and that they cannot go to “starter” worlds. Above and beyond that we aren’t really sure. What we are really talking about is merely having guards in some quest hubs. In a story driven game that is going to be essential for people who want to PvP as a sideline, and not as their primary reason for playing.


PvP Features

One of the most useless archetypes in PvP is generally the tank. While being needed in PvE, the tank has always found it a struggle to find a place in the PvP environment. One of the best mechanics that Warhammer had was the “Guard” mechanic. TOR has adapted that, and essentially a tank can put “guard” on any other player, and will absorb 50% of damage that the other player would take. This makes healers harder to kill, and DPS classes even more deadly if they essentially have their HP doubled. In addition, tanks can “taunt” an enemy and reduce the damage the enemy does for a short period of time. This combination makes a tank not only fun but useful. I would never thought that I would enjoy a tank in PvP, but if it plays like Knight of the Blazing Sun, then I know I would have an absolute blast.

The other addition is “resolve”. This isnt really something new, most MMO’s have diminishing returns on crowd control, TOR just took the step of putting a bar on the screen, and allowing people to see it. The designers wanted to keep the “long animations”, and heroic abilities so their solution was to fill a bar with CC. If the player is CC’d for 2 seconds, the bar fills-up 2 seconds worth (8 seconds is 100% full), once the player reaches 100% resolve, they have 8 seconds of CC immunity. As someone who has played a rogue, this is a welcome addition, no more stun-locking a player into submission.

Miscellaneous (from: Darth Hater's PvP Info Learned)

• Warzone maps include power-up scattered in key locations that refresh regularly. Observed power-ups include Increased Speed, Increased Damage, and Healing.
• You can receive at least four different rewards for PvP: Valor, Tokens, Experience, and Credits.
• Valor is tracked like social points. Your Valor level supplies additional titles and other prestigious privileges (i.e. within a Warzone players with the highest Valor are the party leaders, can mark targets, etc).
  Tokens are physical items that can be redeemed for stims and medkits within Warzones, or accumulated to buy PvP-specific gear and trinkets.
• PVP gear will come with a "PVP Stat." This stat will increase a character's damage, damage absorption, and healing effectiveness specifically in PVP. It was stated that PVP gear will be, at most, 10% better for PVP then comparable PVE gear. This limit is in place to give PVP focused players a boost while still letting non-PVPers compete.
• Match results track several stats including: Commendations, Damage Done, Kills, Defense, Deaths, Healing, Objectives, and Badges. Hovering over each of these items will give a breakdown of more stats. For example, if you hover over damage you will also see the largest hit, DPS, etc.
• Each player is allowed to assign one commendation at the end of the match to any teammate. These commendations increase the rewards acquired by that player.
• Kills are tracked by two numbers: enemies who died after you damaged them (or assists) and killing blows. The composite of these two numbers is the primary display on the results screen.
• The Defense number shown on the result screen is the accumulated damage absorbed while using the "Guard" ability, as well as the damage prevented through the taunt ability.
• Objectives are tracked by two numbers based on offense and defense. Participating in capturing a location gives you one point while participating in defending a location also gives you one point. The composite of these numbers is the primary display on the results screen.
• Badges are rewards acquired by actions performed in a Warzone match. Similar to the point rewards seen in modern First Person Shooters such as Call of Duty, these badges will pop up on screen for a multitude of reasons. Each badge has a specific name relating to the accomplishment (i.e. guardian badge). You get them for things like absorbing 10k damage with guard without dying, reaching 100k damage overall, defending three objectives, etc.
• When you earn a badge in a Warzone, the reason you earned one is printed in the chatbox. We were told that you will also see the reason you earned them on the scoreboard in later builds.
• Characters on badge streaks are promoted to every player though text announcements and a general voiceover announcement (i.e. "An ally is unbeatable!"). This lets allies know who is doing well and opponents know who they should target or avoid.

Summary:

I'm driven to PvP, and many of my MMO memories hinge around PvP experiences. I know that the audience here is more PvE than PvP, but I think the early indications are that TOR is making an effort to appeal to different styles of play. Personally I've always felt that Arena's were an e-peen measuring contest and were unfriendly to new players, so I'm glad we are not seeing those at launch and are instead seeing a focus on scenario's, and the open world style PvP which are generally more friendly to folks who have a casual interest in PvP. I'll eagerly await information on any RvR objectives, but that seems to be the last piece in the PvP puzzle for me.



Video of the week: Warzones