View Full Forums : Beta server for PvP changes


Elvi
06-11-2004, 12:52 AM
EQ is opening a Beta server for those who play (or have played) on Zek servers, for the new changes they are testing out.

So, if you have a character on a PvP server and you are currently playing, you will see the in-game message.

But if you previously played on a PvP server, and have a character still on the server, you might want to check out the following link:

http://eqforums.station.sony.com/eq/board/message?board.id=testing&message.id=2179&no_redir=true

Bah, Ill just cut and paste the message:
__________________________________________________ ___________
"June 9, 2004

The following is an initial break down for the PvP changes that will be on the PvP beta server as soon as it is up. We’ll continue to add updates to this thread as we make updates to the server. If you’re interested in playing in the beta and have a character on one of the Zek servers you can use the /beta command in game to add your character to the copy queue. The /beta command will be disabled Friday at 11 PM PST, so please /beta as soon as possible if you wish to participate.

We’ll also have a second thread containing known issues that we’ll continue to update through out the beta process.

- Melee attacks have a 50% increased range. This does not effect thrown weapons or archery.
- All safe zones have been removed save Shadowrest and the Bazaar.
- The maximum damage any one spell can do is now capped at 40% of the target’s total hit points, down from 75%.
- Archery damage has been increased to 80% of its base damage in PvP, up from 66%.
- Being stunned while on a horse will now cause the horse to disappear. This only applies to spells cast by other players.
- Lowered player melee mitigation, effectively lowering Armor Class by 20%.
- This will increase the damage potential of melee weapons in PvP. Originally the targets full armor class was considered.
- Player spells now have a separate duration field for PvP. Individual spells will continue to be tuned during beta.
- Player spells now have a PvP specific resist mod. Individual spells will continue to be adjusted during beta. Spell lines with resist mods differing from their normal adjusts initially include:
Movement Rate
Root
Enthrall
Mana Drain
- Ranged weapons are no longer restricted by the Z axis, allowing greater freedom of use on varied terrain.
- Snare will now properly slow mounts. The mount will still be faster then normal running while snared, but will considerably decrease their movement rate.
- Spells now have a minimum chance of landing of 5%, up from 2%.
- Water will no longer cause you to be immune to people outside of water and vice versa.
- “Hill ghosting” should be reduced.
- Zoning with low health will no longer set your hit points equal to the amount of +HP gear you are wearing.
- Players killed in PvP combat will now spawn in Shadowrest with full equipment. A naked corpse will remain in the location they died for 3 hours.
- Players who are killed in PvP combat will respawn with special resurrection effects on them. The duration of these effects is variable dependant on how frequently they die.
- Summon Corpse Potions are now usable by any class/race.
- A system to score PvP kills has been implemented. For more information see below.

Scoring System

The new scoring system will award points to any player who kills another player. If the player is grouped the points will be split between the group. The points awarded will be based on three things:

1. Level of the killer

2. Scoring Modifier
a. Level Difference
b. Infamy Difference
c. Vitality score

3. Time since the victim has last been killed by the same player.

1. Level of the killer
Each kill has a base point cost determined by the level of the killer. All subsequent modifiers apply to this base number.

2. Scoring modifier
The scoring modifier is based on three things. Each of these factors results in a score that is then applied in whole to the point value of the kill.

a. Level Difference
For each level the killer is above or below the victim, the scoring modifier increase by one point. If you kill some one who is higher level then you, you’ll gain more points then you will for a lower level character. You will also subtract points from your modifier for killing a player lower level then you.

Higher level characters are more powerful, and should be worth more points. A victim must be at least level 20 to awards points.

b. Infamy Difference
Each time you kill another player, points are added to your infamy pool. At certain thresholds a player will gain an infamy level. When a player is killed, the infamy levels are compared and the killer gains a scoring modifier point for each infamy level his victim is above him. He can also lose scoring modifier points for killing someone who is of lower infamy. Infamy will gradually deteriorate while the player is online.

Players who regularly PvP are generally of higher skill level then those that do not. This encourages players to kill other players who are of more equivalent skill.

c. Vitality
When a player is killed their vitality is set to –10. For each 5 minutes they are alive, they will gain back two points of vitality. This vitality total is added directly to the scoring modifier.

A player who dies very frequently is worth less points then one who stays alive longer.

Example:

Frizznik kills Rytan. Frizznik is level 60, while Rytan is level 62 for a level difference of 2. Frizznik has an infamy level of 5, while Rytan has an infamy level of 2, which results in infamy difference of –3. Rytan has not recently been killed, so his vitality is 0. Level Difference + Infamy Difference + Vitality = Scoring Point Modifier or 2 + (-3) + 0.

Each scoring modifier point adds or subtracts 5% to the base score. Normally Frizznik would gain 100 points for killing Rytan, but because of the scoring point modifier he will gain 95 points instead.

3. Time since the killer has killed the same victim
Players that repeatedly kill the same player will see a steep decrease in the amount of points a player is worth. They will gain half the points for the kill they normally would for each time they kill that player in a 24 hour period. After the score has dropped below 1 point, they will begin to lose points for killing the same player.

Leader Board

The leader board tracks the players with the most total PvP. A number of other useful statistics will be available in the leader board.

Point Rewards

Players will be able to redeem their points for equipment via a Lost Dungeons of Norrath style adventure merchant interface. These rewards will span from level 20 on up to 65 and include some pieces that are of elemental quality and possibly beyond.

A player’s point total is capped based on their level. They cannot gain more points once they hit that cap, although they can gain more infamy. There will be a number of consumable PvP items that will be focused on PvP combat, and will only function against other players.

Message Edited by Kytherea on 06-10-2004 05:18 PM"
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It ought to be fun having copied characters from all the zeks all on one server testing out PvP. We need to create a guild for each Zek server and go at it.

edit - Hope you don't mind that I fixed the formatting a bit. Was driving me crazy. =) Chen

Elvi
06-11-2004, 12:54 AM
OH!!, by the way, in-game they say they are only accepting applicants until the 11th. Thats tomorrow btw.

So if you want in, you better hurry up.

Edit: Heh, says it in the message above too. : P

Uuldiin
06-12-2004, 04:21 AM
some good stuff, some retarded stuff... least there DOING something tho /cough points to sig

Fenmarel the Banisher
06-13-2004, 12:04 AM
You have to wonder what SOE is thinking here waisting valuable developement resources on PvP. The vast majority of players of EQ play on PvE servers. EQ has always been billed primarily as a PvE game. In the end you could have perfectly balance PvP and still not fix EQ. SOE needs to do themselves a favor and, pull the plug on this. They need to focus on the PvE issues that are more important to the long term health of the game.

Elvi
06-13-2004, 02:21 AM
Fenmarel,

We havent had any changes to PvP in over 2 years. I knew I shouldnt have posted this here, because usually only negative things are said here nowdays. Oh well. I hope some people got some positive use of this message.

We on the PvP servers are very thankful that EQ is trying to make their game better.

I do believe they just had a forum for everyone, and everyone had their input. I believe they are serious about not only PvP, but their entire game, as is evidenced by all this activity. Personally, I hope they can improve your server, as well as my server that I play on. I dont think those things are mutually exclusive.

Fenmarel the Banisher
06-13-2004, 05:03 AM
Give that there is a finite amount of development rescources at SOE I do think that there are more important issues that can be addressed then PvP. If you feel that is negative then so be it. In my opinion the best way to improve the game for ALL servers is to focus on the PvE issues that have been neglected for 5 years. Everquest is an old game. As new competition comes on the market they cannot afford to ignore these issues. I'm affraid that to focus any attention on anything other than this they will not survive. I doubt that people on PvP servers spend more then 25% of their time in PvP. The rest of their time is spent PvE just like the rest of us bluebies. If you really think about it there is no better way to Help Improve PvP Servers then to fix PvE first.

Firemynd
06-13-2004, 06:51 AM
Seems to me, SOE's sudden interest in retuning PvP is one small part of a larger plan to win back and retain players being lured away by other games. I don't think anyone would criticize SOE about this, if EQ's stability issues weren't chasing away players who want to play but can't.

Apologists are quick to remind us how there are different teams of developers working on various aspects of the game, and how 'special projects' like this don't detract any resources from the process of fixing bugs. Players who experience 2-3 crashes in a typical session, or who cannot log on at all, are not going to accept such rationalization.

When wildfires are sweeping towards a city, the local fire department doesn't shrug it off as 'too big for their team' and accept losses as inevitable... they call in help from surrounding areas until the threat is contained. The neighboring town's fire department doesn't say "Sorry, we're on another team and we have our own activities planned"... no, they send whatever help they possibly can.

If SOE can't break out of its departmentalized box long enough to make EQ stable again, there won't be enough players left to populate a special-rules server.

~Firemynd

Elvi
06-13-2004, 03:22 PM
The sky has been falling since August 1999 when I first started playing on EQ overall PvE at the high end game. Nothing they do ever satisfies the doomsayers. But they continue to make efforts to keep the game at the leading edge.

I support what they are doing now.

MadroneDorf
06-13-2004, 03:49 PM
The amount of PvP players probably isnt too different then amount of some of the less popular class's on all servers, obviously since only a few people play those class's, it would be much more beneficial for the game to focus on those class's