Otherwise, this game will not last long. If the game doesn't allow casual players to be successful and have fun then they will leave. Then all that will be left is hardcore gamers. Then the hardcore players will leave because they say the servers are too empty.
Its a death spiral that happened to DAoC when trials of atlantis released and allowed the hardcore gamers to gain too big of an advantage over casual players. Though to be fair some of the imbalances were already there before trials of atlantis.
I do think that Camelot Unchained is on the right track with the philosophy of horizontal progression. Hopefully that will mean small incremental power gains for players that don't unbalance the game.
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If I only have two hours a day to play, and every time I log in I lose massively to someone who has a huge gear advantage, then I'll just leave.
It's the reason I don't PVP in SWTOR anymore. I took a job that kept me on the road for most of a year, came back to the game and found out that they had released all new PVP sets, and the hardcore players all had them, and my PVP set was so out of date, that no matter how good I was I got spanked in every confrontation... and believe me, I was a fantastic Jedi Shadow in PVP. So eventually, I moved on and let them have their gear disparity based PVP game to themselves.
That's the reason why these two styles of gameplay are so hard to combine in one game, and to be honest, i'm not sure if there's even need for that. Let the character builders and player killers both have the game that suits best for their taste.
I hate the idea of introducing gear as content, introduce actual content not extra gear/levels/power. If you need rewards for this new content, make them cosmetic and exclusive to those who can clear it. It will be worth it do difficult content if you are able to walk around in the most bad-ass looking outfit and mount.
So yeah, as long as a casual player can catch up to the people who rush. I think it's fine.
Looking forward to: Crowfall / Lost Ark / Black Desert Mobile
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I heard its supposed to be a more hardcore PVP game than DAOC was. The game will be niche at best.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
When it come to PvP, players should be far more balanced, perhaps not even having different sets of powers and abilities, but ones designed for PvP.
Indeed, I know its a big ask, but what about trinity style combat MMO with core inner PvE lands but surrounded by Badlands where it changes to action combat and level does not matter? The only way to solve the issues we have raised is to effectively have two games in one MMO. But then GW 1 did try to do just that.
If maintaining some sort of advantage for veterans is desired, level & skill caps at reasonable points can work which was true of DAOC at first, until they fell prey to the expansion demons in TOA.
The solution CCP came up with in EVE of putting level caps on skills with small gaps between them was terrific for me, especially as skill training was continually always on so no longer was I automatically a second class citizen to those who could play 8 hours a day.
It also permitted me to catch up to those who started years before me on a ship by ship or activity any activity basis, not leaving me hopelessly disadvantaged.
This system took time of course, but any player could get to a very competitive level with the most senior vets within 6 months to a year, too long for some I realize, but for a casual player like me it was the ideal system.
I haven't played seriously in almost two years, yet were I to go back, I would not be any less competitive from a character perspective than when I left, nor is anyone who has double my skill points really any better.
In fact, because I seriously trained 3 characters for many years and 3 others to fill in some gaps, there is almost no ship hull style I cant fly with all level 5 skills except a few super capitals which I never felt the need for. (Which does not mean I can fight all roles and hulls equally well, that's where practice and skill factor in)
Still some open areas, never devoted time to industry, but after that and supers there isn't much else I still can't do.
The system is actually one of the more brilliant out there with one big downside, players who feel the need to "work" for their skill progression, especially those who do so basically from putting more time in game often loath losing their advantage over the more casual gamer.
But this is where player skill comes in, if you put in more time you generally are more skilled at fighting your ship hulls of choice, most PVPer even with far less skills can easily destroy me in a one on one, fair fight.
But of course, if I'm ever in a fair fight, I've done something terribly wrong.
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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Camelot Unchained BETTER appeal to people who just want to play a good game. Doing so doesn't mean systems have to get "dumbed down" or oversimplified though.
I'm really starting to understand that many in the MMORPG player base are typically folks who want to be "good" by how many excessive hours they can dump into having the client on, not how good they are at actually playing aspects of the game.
The whole "casuals shouldn't be good unless they time sink more than me or started at the same time as me" thing is part of the reason the genre is in hospice. It's always been weird watching folks go on negatively about "casuals" especially when it isn't pertaining to coordinated raiding, competitive combat, or other aspects that require practice, understanding and muscle memory.
Don't be like that, it will hurt the health of the game you claim to love in the long run.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I agree that time/equipment < Skill in a PvP game, and arguably in a PvE game. Individual skill should be important, and the ability to work as a team should be king.
Daoc still has servers running today. In my mind that indicates they did something right.
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If substantially below average players aren't able to do anything other than die a lot, that's not fun. If they're able to accomplish things, have fun, and be on the winning side in some sense a substantial fraction of the time in spite of dying twice as often as they kill someone else, that's fine.