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FLS plans to make ganking & griefing "go away"
DJXeon
Member UncommonPosts: 553
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PvP battles are the most fun part of our game "We’re going to make ganking go away." |
This is the first public admission that FLS see the current red circle PvP mechanics are actively detrimental to Potbs.
The first step to fixing this is changes to PvP battle invites in R1.5
" We don't intend to completely overhaul everything. We want to mitigate risk and reduce or eliminate rewards from 6 level 50's stomping a level 20 player. " DrewC
Comments
It's nice to see they finally realized they can't stay financially secure by catering to the griefer crowd but I fear it might be too late for them. If they had made this post in the first month of the game it might have made a difference but from everything I've heard the population has dwindled too far to save this game.
If FLS stay committed to their longterm plan of development, Pirates of the burning seas will be an eventual success, in the same way that eve started with low populations it will recover.
In reality there is still not much competition for 1720's ship combat game out there yet.
This might make me want to pick up a copy when they start to roll out the anti-ganking PVP rules and methods in whatever patch they plan to put it on. So what's the patching cycle like for Potbs in regards to weeks?
-- Brede
The first step as above will be in the next patch R1.5 going to testbed server in a week with release on general servers a week or two after.
That's all good - but how?
Whatever they do is a double edged sword.
I am a PvPer and I don't like "ganking" - but as a PvPer and a Wargame Strategist in general I am also not 100% against "ganking"...
Just not all the time.
FLS could stop ganking tomorrow - just make all PvP instances 1 v 1! But, then everyone would just say "What's the point?"
I will watch and see...
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
The words sound good so lets see how it translates hehe. That would be one problem dealt with if they manage it. If they add more content and depth to the game so that it occupies time in a fun way and not just with open sea grinding for more cash then it will be a game. So part one is realized now lets see what happens with the rest. Also I want to see how its made a reality because so far what I have seen has not changed much. (ship insurance does not reduce gankage only make it cheaper ..)
Question, are the developers conducting a method of providing what those changes would be and asking for feedback from the community? Or are they going to make the changes, implement them into the server and then ask for feedback? (IE: ATF - After The Fact; already coded, so not much changes from feedback can be applied)
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
It is too late for PotBS - that ship has already sailed. You simply cannot make the changes that game needs in live. I like FLS but they their naivety is going to be their downfall, some of us tried to tell them this was coming in closed beta but the vocal zealots shouted us down.
I would also like to point out the SoE connection - SoE did allot to make the launch and distribution as terrible as possible. Mind you the game had issues unrelated to SoE that might have themselves been serious enough to cause the current criss but coupled with SoEs patching issues, terrible pre order handling, and incompetent distribution it was the final nail in the coffin.
The only thing FLS can do is to lure who they have left into staying with tweaks and goodies and milk what subs they can before it all collapses. Perhaps they have enough cash to go for a while or maybe the SoE pass keeps them afloat - but I doubt it. FLS should have listened to the people warning them that 'no crying in the red circle' and the general gank or be ganked system was not going to fly in live, they should have listened to people telling them that SoE would cost them tons of people and many headaches, they should have listened to us telling them they had way to many launch servers, they should have merged that first month when it was painfully obvious they had to many servers, they should have not listened to all those telling them the shit didn't stink. They didn't - oh well, next project?
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Achiever 60.00%, Socializer 53.00%, Killer 47.00%, Explorer 40.00%
Intel Core i7 Quad, Intel X58 SLi, 6G Corsair XMS DDR3, Intel X-25 SSD, 3 WD Velociraptor SATA SuperTrak SAS EX8650 Array, OCZ 1250W PS, GTX 295, xFi, 32" 1080p LCD
Though not an mmo but online playable, Empire:Total War will have ship-to-ship combat adn the timeline is ideal for anyone seriously looking at that period of war.
Hey AgtSmith! I was wondering where you went to?
I mostly agree (sadly).
But here's the irony... you could make the changes needed I think. Maybe some of the people at FLS now realize (some of) what they need to do. But the changes needed (IMHO) would be very similar to a SWG:NGE type upgrade. A completely new game.
FLS could do this (technically) but they would never get away with it because of the SOE link.
Even if the changes made completely changed the game for the better both FLS and SOE would have their reputations ruined (from the MMORPG player perspective).
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Hey - been around - playing AoC now seeing how that sorts out and some other stuff.
It isn't that PotBS cannot be fixed, it is more the missed chance I think. The SoE thing cost them allot (partnering with SoE) and the bad launch and too many servers cost them and finally the bad game development choices cost. The later can be fixed but coupled with the others it is too far gone I think. Add in the difficulty of core changes in live and you really are up the creek without a paddle.
I wish Rusty and FLS all the best - I really do like them and I think they deserve more success than PotBS will earn them in the end. Chalk it up to learning experience and get ready for the next big idea.
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Achiever 60.00%, Socializer 53.00%, Killer 47.00%, Explorer 40.00%
Intel Core i7 Quad, Intel X58 SLi, 6G Corsair XMS DDR3, Intel X-25 SSD, 3 WD Velociraptor SATA SuperTrak SAS EX8650 Array, OCZ 1250W PS, GTX 295, xFi, 32" 1080p LCD
I've said this a dozen times but I'll say it once more, LOL.
Every change they make is about PVP. Every discussion always revolves around PVP. The reason is simple. There is nothing else this game offers and it does it poorly.
The game is just plain vanilla.
The world is tiny and devoid of any exploration or mystery.
All the classes play basically the same. Skills are similar and combat mechanics are also. Sure the ship combat is fun, no doubt about it. But... That's ALL there is to the game.
The red circles idea was a horrible design idea. The "instances" for combat is essentially what's wrong with the PVP.
All nations are essentially the SAME. There is really NO difference in play style whatsoever. The towns, quests and ships are identical. When you choose a nation to represent, you are merely "choosing" sides. Nothing more.
Flipping a port for 3 days of economic value is NOT a reason to PVP.
The ocean looks like a lake. Nary a wave, storm or anything else to see, as you fly around it like a race driver at Nascar.
Point is... The game is shallow. There's NO meat here. Doesn't mean it isn't fun for awhile but...
It's a ONE TRICK PONY!
This is the reason it has no staying power as an MMO, no matter what they change regarding PVP.
Which is why I have decided not to renew after this month's subscription is over (which should be around the 20th). My mind was made up even before Age of Conan came out (and which I play).
Ganking never personally affected me, except for ships which I had already written off and dedicated to running red circles (my best stuff never ventured in there). But I knew it was killing the game.
But what convinced me to cancel was the complete lack of content outside of PvP, and that the PvP itself is meaningless. Missions are fun for a while, then they turn into more of the same. There is no sense of exploration -- I've found more of it in Sid Meier's game -- and there is no interaction with the world.
I can do with the carbon-copy cities, but put things in there that make them different. And bring in port governance. Otherwise, what's the point of PvP? It is already seen as better to finish last than first because of the measly conquest rewards in comparison to the underdog tools.
There used to be a decent community, but now I'm afraid a major chunk of it has already left -- and not just anybody, but actual pillars of the community, the major players going back to beta. You can feel it in the game, you can see it on the forums. And the numbers are still decreasing. On the game login screen, first Rackham's Pirates went from Moderate to Light, then Roberts's, then Antigua's -- and all this at a time when two "pirate love" patches are coming out. Basically, the situation seems to have returned to what it was before the server mergers, a mere six weeks ago.
I used to write a newspaper for the French faction on Blackbeard and, briefly, Rackham, at a time when all it had was propaganda. Then a month ago I tired of it when the community started going downhill. At our peak there used to be four newspapers on Blackbeard: mine, a British one, a Pirate one, and a tabloid. The tabloid writer left for Age of Conan, the Pirate paper lasted one issue, and the British guy who outlasted me has not been heard from since mid-May. Antigua also had a British newspaper, which went MIA at the end of March. Of what was a thriving community in February/March, even amid underpopulated servers, little to nothing is left today.
Entire guilds leaving, the economy collapsing (the final nail for me), and the community taking sides on the ganking situation. At last the devs have admitted there is a problem, but there is just too much besides that. And all of this will take months to solve, if it can be solved, and if there is still a game left to be solved by then.
Reading the above it's worthwhile remembering this game was released in January this year. It is less than 6 months old.
I was told once that the 'life expectancy' (meaning the retail life expectancy) for a Single Player game is 6 months? After that people are chasing the next new thing on the market?
What really annoys me though is all the Fanbois who have vanished.
They shouted down anyone who dared to question any aspect of the game pre release.
And where are they now? Are they supporting they game and the Devloper with their cash? No.
It's a pity they can't be forced to "put their money where their mouth is"... I mean where there mouth was... I mean their parents money...
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
And now, just before I cancelled today, I noticed the Brits on Blackbeard went from Moderate to Light, too.
So what is left at Moderate? Brits on Antigua, Rackham and Roberts, Pirates on Blackbeard. And that is all.
I fear that time might be running out for FLS.
Although i paid for the game (my mistake for not waiting as i normaly do) i did not pay a single sub, i quit before i was billed due the the lack of devs listening to folks about port battles and pvp.
and now we see what we see, devs trying to backtrack and please those already long gone. to little to late. i can remember the petitions, the conversations with gm's and one dev in which it was pointed out to me in the typed word....."port battles are where we want them to be" and "no crying in the red circle" both i suppose were jokes at the time but i didnt thnk so and now what do we have?
when devs tell folks we cant do this or we cant do that for whatever reason, and then when the game is dying they turn around and finally listen to their subs, what do they expect to happen? i simply cannot see what they are doing helping the heartbeat of this game, i liked the idea (until my first 7 or so port battles and many many gankings in "red circles") . i made many many suggestions on what to do, all dismissed, "we dont have the tech" well what the hell over, what are they doing now?
a world to small, open sea combat not implemented correctly (instances failed) and as many others have posted there were only sides, nothing more. the economy.........nuff said about it. the only thing left for POTBS is to watch it sink slowly.
this is a prime example of devs not listening, thinking they know whats right. when will they ever learn.
for those hanging on, good luck. ***throws a life preserver to the thrashing few left***
can you smell that?!!...............there is nothing quite like it.....................the smell of troll in the morning............i love that smell.