[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to respond to the following comments from Positron about the PvP segment of I13:
"Matt Miller: Issue 13 started off having all sorts of new features tied around PvP, simply because it was a system that we had not put as much attention towards in the past. When we began to play these new systems, the feedback we got was that none of them were any fun. This was really disappointing, since they looked good in design. When we drilled down to exactly why they were not fun, we came to the sobering realization that the lack of fun wasnt the new systems fault, it was PvP as a whole that was limiting. Certain powersets dominated. Certain ATs were impossible to beat. Certain tactics were fun, but only for the person employing them. For everyone else these tactics bordered on frustrating, annoying, and a plethora of other words that are antonyms for fun.
PvP as a whole needed to be fixed. Wed let the current system get into a state where only a small handful of our players actually used it. If we were really going to invest in these new PvP systems, we needed to get the current PvP game to be accepted and used by more than just that handful of players. Floyd Castle Grubb and his team poured over datamines, made a whole slew of changes to the way powers behaved, and even went so far as to pre-tackle sticky issues like many-on-one ganking.
As a player of CoH I am excited to see what my Dominator will bring to the table in PvP after Issue 13 goes live. The playtests have been nothing but fun here in the office, and I hope that the efforts of Castle and his crew can be tried out by people who have been turned off by PvP in the past. I urge everyone who found PvP in CoH to be frustrating and un-fun to come back and check it out in Issue 13. "
First off, unpopular game revamps tend to go wrong mainly with the data-mining that leads to important decisions. This is what I'd like to focus on.
One comment talks about certain builds currently dominating pvp. One of these happens to be the "dominator." How do they dominate? They set their build up to have "perma-dom," in other words other players are put into a never-ending hold state.
Here's where things begin to disconnect in my view. In I13, Positron is looking forward to see how his dominator can compete. Doesn't he realize that this is already one of the most powerful builds?
And what does I13 do with perma-hold? Removes mez protection. One of the reasons that I've always been able to compete with dominators is my mez protection, and that has been removed. I used to try to get in close to a dominator before the holds stacked enough to overwhelm my mez protection. This was fun for BOTH of us. The move in I13 seems badly disconnected from what really needs to be done. In fact it seems to be going in the opposite direction.
Why not give other builds a measure of mez protection to try to allow them to get hits in before the holds take effect? The slower your build, or the more limited your range, the longer your mez protection should last. Highly agile, ranged builds should get some mez protection, so they don't get insta-mezzed and killed, but it should be a small amount because of their high powered ranged attacks.
This modification to the current game would make a huge difference for builds (squishies) that are currently no fun to play in pvp. One of the reasons they aren't fun is that they usually get instantly mezzed and killed.
In the I13 changes, now MORE builds are getting instantly mezzed and killed. Thus it seems that more people are frustrated, including scrappers, who currently don't have this problem because of their mez protection.
Another hard to beat build includes defensive powers like intangible and hide. Simply put, a villain (usually stalker) will attack. If he/she doesn't kill you out right, they will then hit the intangible button, and go to hide, rendering counter-attack impossible.
This has not been addressed in any way in I13. It continues to be a guaranteed hit-and run tactic which some people find frustrating.
Now, let's look at what makes some builds competitive. Tanks are great in pvp because they can take a ton of damage. Their big problem though is that they can't move (builds like stone tanks I mean). What makes them competitive on the mobility aspect of things? TP self. This is the only way they can have any mobility (again thinking stone tanks). I13 is removing this from the game. Certain tank builds will therefore be much less competitive.
Let's talk about some other builds that do well in current pvp. How about the ice/cold corruptor. Very, very good for ranged damage, slows, holds etc. A nice build. In fact this is the most challenging build for me to fight as a regen scrapper. It's the slows and high ranged damage that get me. Is this frustrating though? No. It's very enjoyable. What makes it this way is my ability to teleport myself out of a slow attack TO my attacker and hit him with my Katana. Slow vs. tp self is balanced. I have a good chance to win, but if the corruptor is alert and mobile, my tp self/melee attack will miss him.
Also, web grenades as a melee toon give me a chance to bring down fliers, so thank goodness they have decided to give those back.
I'm very much hoping that the development team will read what I've written above about mez protection, and how to improve instead of removing it. I hope they'll see why their current approach to mez will actually spread frustration around more widely. I'm also hoping they'll take a look at limiting the range of tp self, so it can still be used by stone tanks, and for counter attacks against ranged builds with slow powers, instead of removing tp self altogether. I think limiting the range of tp self, eliminates it as a guaranteed escape strategy, but still allows stone tanks to move, and scrappers to tp themselves TO ranged attackers.
Also, to the development team and decision makers. I apologize for the way I've expressed my frustration at times. I felt that I was losing a lot of invested time and energy, and that my voice was not being heard. I think the frustration is understandable, but I'm not happy with the way it was expressed.
Also, please recognize that current pvpers DO recognize a need for change. We also feel that we know the pvp system extremely well, strengths AND weaknesses. We feel that we have important input. Please don't dismiss this just because we found ways to enjoy the current system. Yes we like it AND we see room for improvement. Please do not see these two things from an either/or perspective.
[/ QUOTE ]
VERY nicely put. Better then my anger based Rant....Be nice if the Devs actually consider your opinion.....I'd be absolutely amazed....but It would be nice. Might wanna add in a solution to gankin the Ios bein useless an the Buffs bein Ganked....I used ta enjoy Team PvPin.....(Including bein the Solo VS a group of Villians) Not even worth doin now. Still....Nice ta hear The PvPers opinions so elequently put. Good Job Jaaax
