Damn this was a long read....glad I was at work....
Anyhow....being as I wasn't around from about I5 thru I15...(Left due to the redundency of the game back then...badge hunting isn't my thing) I will assume PVP was a "bring what you got" style pre I13. Like most PVP I have ever played certain tweaks are made to specific out of balance powers to make a level of competition between players. A couple come to mind here as PVP stands now that particularly annoy me such as Hibernate on a regen stalker?? Please. A tweak to such a thing would be make it interuptable.
Anyhow, when playing PVP I'm there for the enjoyment of good smack talk and fun among the several people that I am likely playing with because I'm on a team trying to beat a team thats trying to beat us. Everyone brings what they have to the game and some of these people realize that they are going to be primary targets. Support toons are just that...support toons...they stay in the back...try like hell to evade being hit and keep the front line standing. The high damage dealers try to lay down the dps while the containment crew is managing crowd control and get through the opposing teams defenses. Sounds like a strategy ploy to me. All the while everyone is moving as fast as they can or a carefully as needed to obtain the objective. Wait a sec....this is starting to sound like PVE. The true difference though is the intelligence of the foe.
If I am playing a support toon, I don't need you to adjust my powers. Thats what I like to do. Thats why I build these characters. What can I do with this guy? I WANT to see if my empath/ele can keep this team alive. I WANT to see if I can drain the end out of that poor hapless blaster/corrupter that got turned around on the map in the confusion of things. If I don't like what I did....I will go respec/re-enhance my powersets. I want to see if I can keep alive while a scrapper is hammering on me till help shows up (although unlikely but I'm gonna try as hard as I can all the while yelling at my team to get over here). You give me DOZENS of At's, loads of power sets, hundreds of enhancements, inspirations, temp powers, bonuses AND the ability to put these all together to make anything from a 1v1 to 100v100 arena event or 8v8 zone team. I'm creative...I can make all sorts of combinations to try. And if I am playing a toon that has a power that might be a bit much...I'll be glad to tell you. Offer a suggestion on what might help it be a bit more balanced. I'm pretty sure that suggestion wouldn't be alter the def/resistence on an entire player base to compensate for it.
I can't say I'm a fan of what I see here. I just started getting into here to see if it was at least interesting and to a point it is....I enjoy making builds that will stand up against other builds. But then I take my newly formed test toon to a PVP zone....try to find an opponent...when I do...it's "Ready!"....smack slap heal smack slap......gf. Really? Please.
Travel repression....in a zone the size of Atlas? I should be able to barrel after my quarry at the very least the same pace as him/her. Without the delay. If I'm the quarry, cool...I can be back at the safe point before he/she knows I'm gone. So much for the adrenaline rush I was getting about to be sidelined. Nothing exciting to see here folks.....move along to the next person thats gonna bolt to here. The difference here is going to be how I slotted it and do I or another on my team have a slow power? If I'm the one under a slow debuff...where's my emp with cm?
The bigger issue here though is what keeps these players from scattering all over the map? Nothing. There is no reason to stay in the red zone when we can whisk away to the safety of the containment NPC's.
Stick a flag out there. Give us a reason to be on that map with our team trying to keep each other alive. Let the Tank grab said flag THEN travel supress him. Let him try to get back to the objective with it. See if the Team can keep him standing all the while. Better yet....Stick a cookie out there. I'll stay and fight all day for that! A real good chance my whole sg would be up for that.....red and blue sides.
No. Ok. Give us a hill. You fall down it....you don't get up. Last one still standing wins. Load next team.Granted this wouldn't be open zone but. Losers regroup and head back in for another round with another team. If you gotta wait in line for your turn....good...gives you time to sort out where you went wrong and what to adjust. Did I need another set? Should I get my Storm/kin troller instead of my Ill/Rad?
Open Zone? The turret idea is good but seem a tad strong to me for 8v8. But can't seem to manage 16v16 so far. Justice by the way.
For those that want to duel it up...there's an arena...set it up anyway you see fit...It's very flexible like that. Don't come to an all out zone figuring to one on one it when I'm out there with 8 people I've known for years or just met and we slap you on the way by because you must be a sub for the other team. Then yelp about it? Please.
I'd like to revisit this and mostly would like the Devs to revisit this but in any case...Good write up Mac. I still see no red name replies with at least polite "yes we see it" note but they do get the questions every time they appear....so they know people like you are looking at them...Keep it up......
