Feedback Friday - 22nd February 2008

The PvP Development Team has come across a lot of good feedback from players on the community forums regarding PvP and improvements they’d like to see. I just wanted to give a quick update to let players know that we are listening and we’re currently hard at work on a number of changes and additions to further refine the PvP experience. Our team currently focuses its time on two areas of PvP:

• Expanding and refining current systems that are in place
• Adding new gameplay opportunities that tie into the core PvP gameplay

We all feel that there are a lot of opportunities for enhancing PvP with the core systems that are already in place. I wanted to take this opportunity to provide a sneak peek at some of the changes we have in the pipeline as well as what the long term plans are for the PvP team. As is the case with such a large aspect of the game, many of these are in various stages of development and are still being refined as we balance these systems with one another. Here are some of the things in development:

• Clan Improvements: We are looking at ways to further promote participation in clans and improve the current functionality for members. Things to expect with future updates include:


o Clan Joining Revamp – The current clan system has a global timer that works independent of the type of clan you’re involved with. The 7 day limitation imposed on players once they leave a clan will still apply to PvP clans; however, PvE clans will have this timer removed. While players will still be limited to one PvP clan per account that their characters can join, players will no longer be restricted to one PvE clan per account and will be able to participate in different one for each character (provided the character is not in any clan).

o Clan Leader Departure – Right now clan leaders are able to remain logged indefinitely while their clan remains leaderless. This will change with the addition of an inactivity period that is applied to clans. Leaders that don’t log in after a set time will have leadership of the clan transferred to the next senior officer.

o Clan Rosters – Players will be able to tell when other members of their clan last logged out. Additionally, we’ll be adding the ability to search through other clans to get a better idea of who you’re at war with (as well as who you would want to initiate a Wargame with).

o Clan Participation Bonuses – We’re looking to provide benefits for players participating in clans, even if the clan is not PvP based. Look for incentives to participate including passive buffs the leader can apply (and wager in PvP contracts, detailed below).

• Combat Improvements: In addition to clan improvements, we’ll be working with some of the other teams to improve the overall combat experience when participating in PvP:


o Ability Balancing – Refinements to existing classes and abilities is well underway by the combat group. You’ll begin to see abilities refined to be more applicable in combat with other players.

o Wargame Conflicts with PvE – We know of some of the restrictions currently in place when players in and out of a Wargame try to work together in PvE and we’ll be improving this to still allow this style of play to occur without interfering with active wargames. (One such example is not being able to heal a squad mate due to them having an active Wargame that you are not a participant in).

o Logout Timer – It can be frustrating to have a player in your sights, dwindling them down to their last sliver of health, only to see them log out instantly. We will be changing this with the implementation of a logout timer that will prevent players from abusing this tactic. Players will need to wait for the timer to expire before successful log out.

o Safety Zones – Safety zones are the means of respawning in our game and getting yourself back in shape. Once you die, you’ll be able to select a designated safety zone on the map to respawn at. You won’t be susceptible to attacks from opposing players so you’ll have some breathing room to get your equipment back in shape, restock on ammunition, and get your next fix of EMP bombs for your next encounter.

o PvP Contracts – Our current Wargame system will be expanded to what we’ve labeled as contracts. This will apply for player to player, squad based, and clan wargames. Contracts will allow you to set a number of rules that are currently not available in Wargame creation. This will include win state conditions (such as kill point totals), Length of Time, Map restrictions, Level restrictions and Wagering (items, credits, and clan buffs).

• Additional PvP Elements: While those are some of the refinements to existing systems that will be implemented, we will also be adding new features to the game:


o Clan Controlled CPs – Control Points are one area of the game that we feel a lot of players have a blast. Clans will be able to lay claim to specific Control Points in the game, earning bonuses while in possession of them. Competing clans will be able to challenge them for claim at ownership so don’t expect to hold onto it without a fight.

o Clan Alliances – Clans will be able to form alliances with other clans and inherit opposing clans they are at war with.

o Mail System – While not directly related to PvP, a Mail System will be coming online to help support the addition of PvP Contracts. Players will be able to receive rewards from wargames that have been won and see results of wargames they have participated.

o Clan Recruitment UI – Clans will have more exposure for recruitment by way of our Clan Recruitment UI. This UI will allow clans to opt in and post brief information about their clan, key aspects the clan most focuses on (such as training low level players), display their clan roster and provide a way for players to easily contact the Clan Leader and Officers.

These are some of the features the PvP team is currently focusing on. We feel that these additions will help improve the PvP experience and make it exciting and rewarding for existing and new players to participate in. As always, we’ll continue to monitor community forums for PvP experiences and encourage those involved to provide feedback via our Feedback Form.