Idea to allow players of all levels PVP together
By
abraxas,
Posted on: 2004-12-07 19:20 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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I'm gonna have to agree on this.
If I take out My level 46 kat/reg and am tooling around randomly and some random character level 10 decides to try to PK Me I shouldn't have to start sweating bullets all of a sudden.
I mean - think about it this way. You start off fighting in AP - you don't start off fighting in IP.
What kind of ROLE PLAYING sense would it make - to those of you who are using that arguement - that I can go to AP and stomp skulls and hellions all day long but a younger character can't go to IP and stomp Nemesis and high level CoT - and yet they can, somehow, destroy Me?
What? I mean - I should have a MASSIVE advantage over them. Period.
And there are some people talking about skill and whatnot. Yes I have some degree of skill - but this game is not a twitch environment. So there's only so much "skill" you can have.
I mean - if a level 10 blaster decides to take on a level 50 scrapper...well using the suggested scenerio if the level 50 toon has to run - which is straight up silly anyway - then the blaster has range on the scrapper.
I mean... Seriously now... Should Mr. Superhero - who just started in the "business" and runs around with a towel around his neck - be able to decimate Superman? I think not.
Just my thoughts.
*...FTB...*
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And your last comment is what make me think your clueless. Do you really think that 40th level toons beating 10th level toons easily is a reward for playing an RPG?
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In PvP situations I've been in before, the higher level PvPer (generally) enjoyed ganking the lower levels as much as they could. Partly for the loot they could do the lower player out of, and partly because they were sadistic bullies who wouldn't stand a chance in a "fair" fight. So, for some, they would consider that a reward.
My thoughts on PvP(other than its stupid), would be to SK the lower level hero to the higher level hero. Keep all the Enhancements the same. Now, the lower level might only have 2 or 3 powers, and get ganked by the level 50 with 20 powers. But, if the level 50 were to somehow lose, then he'd really deserve it. I'd also restrict the teams to no more than 8, just like normal PvE.
No need to make relative adjustments to damage or anything.
Another solution could be to restrict PvP to with in a few levels (4 or so either way). This way, the higher level would still have his accuracy bonuses, the lower level would stil have his penalties, but they could still hit each other. Unless, of course, the higher level used Targeting Drone, Aim, and a sniper attack. 
There I was between a rock and a hard place. Then I thought, "What am I doing on this side of the rock?"
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And your last comment is what make me think your clueless. Do you really think that 40th level toons beating 10th level toons easily is a reward for playing an RPG?
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In PvP situations I've been in before, the higher level PvPer (generally) enjoyed ganking the lower levels as much as they could. Partly for the loot they could do the lower player out of, and partly because they were sadistic bullies who wouldn't stand a chance in a "fair" fight. So, for some, they would consider that a reward.
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That was my point even though it did not translate well, any 40th level toon that thinks beating a 10th level toon easely is fair/fun or what ever is a ganker/greifer
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The problem with scaling damage up or down based on target level is that you're basically denying the higher level player the just reward he's earned for leveling his character. If a level 10 shooting at a level 40 does 40th level damage, what's the point? They should not be on a equal footing. The 40th level player has presumably worked hard to earn his extra hp and his larger damage, so it is unfair to strip that from him. Scaling up the level 10's damage to the level 40's equivalent does just that.
PvP needs to be fun and something that doesn't get abusive. However, that doesn't mean a 1 on 1 fight has to be fair. If I decide to pick fistfight with a grizzly bear, well, I expect to lose. You can even give me a knife and I'll still expect to lose. That's just common sense. A level 10 should know that picking a fight with a level 40 is suicide. It should be common sense. At the same time the system needs checks and balances so the level 40 isn't deliberately hunting level 10's just so he can gank them.
There ARE things that can be done -- both to reduce ganking (I'm not promising it will ever completely go away) and allow a broader level range in PvP combat. Lower levels should have a chance to attack and defend themselves, even if it is hard. As we implement them we're going to test them internally and the ideas that survive that test will then move on to various stages of beta testing.
So at this point I won't say just what our plans are (because I like to test things first), but I just figured I'd shake the web here.
Lord Recluse
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wow, finally someone agrees with me, and it happens to be a dev.
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When damage is scaled up or down similar to the way the monster code works, a small group of level 10 players can easily kill a level 50 player. For me, role playing means that there should be a small part of common sense somewhere, and damage scaling on this, um, scale, makes none. Second, if you imagine being the level 50 player, you might just feel a bit cheated and wonder why you cared about leveling up at all, as was already pointed out. I know I would.
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Hey everyone needs to stop being elites, being 30 levels higher than someone else does not make you special...
It means nothing more than that you have had more time to play the game. I have a 45th level tanker now and two 40th level scrapers along with 5 other lower alts, the tanker plus at least one scrapper will be 50th before CoV goes live and I dont mind lower level players being scaled to my level. Having High level toons does not make me special or anyone else for that matter.
If you want a large PvP community then you will have to level the playing field, higher level toons should not be all that, it won't be fun.
Playing PvE allot should not give you any advantage when you start playing PvP So I say make level meaningless you will have more players to PvP with and since its consensual you can decline PvP against a lower level toon if you want and thats cool too.
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PvP needs to be fun and something that doesn't get abusive. However, that doesn't mean a 1 on 1 fight has to be fair. If I decide to pick fistfight with a grizzly bear, well, I expect to lose. You can even give me a knife and I'll still expect to lose. That's just common sense. A level 10 should know that picking a fight with a level 40 is suicide. It should be common sense. At the same time the system needs checks and balances so the level 40 isn't deliberately hunting level 10's just so he can gank them.
There ARE things that can be done -- both to reduce ganking (I'm not promising it will ever completely go away) and allow a broader level range in PvP combat. Lower levels should have a chance to attack and defend themselves, even if it is hard. As we implement them we're going to test them internally and the ideas that survive that test will then move on to various stages of beta testing.
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Couldn't you just make it so that a lvl 40 can't attack a lvl 10? ie. give a maximum lvl difference that a player can initiate an attack. Or at least the option for it if someone for some reason wanted to leave themselves open to being taken out by someone far above them.
Why not instead of sidekick, you exemplared? The high level toon still has his slots, which gives a severe advantage...but you lose the extra powers and you have the same hp at that lvl. Much better than Sk'ing up and giving powers and slots to the high toon. Also, since its consensual....one would be inclined to do that anyways....
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Couldn't you just make it so that a lvl 40 can't attack a lvl 10? ie. give a maximum lvl difference that a player can initiate an attack.
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Better yet, introduce a penalty (maybe some influence or the CoV-Equivalent) for deliberatly picking on targets that are no real challenge.
Like, "What will the other villains say ?" - if this one guy is just picking on things way below his own power, he just can't be the biggest, baddest, meanest villain on the block ... he must be a weakling (or else he'd fight something of his own size) -> lose influence, since in the eyes of the population, he's making a fool of himself.
"In PvP situations I've been in before, the higher level PvPer (generally) enjoyed ganking the lower levels as much as they could."
You know the good thing about being in a social game? You don't play alone. Let's say there is a lvl 40 picking on lvl 10s. What can the 10s do? Well, they can get a vast horde of low leveled people together to do battle against this super powerful supervillain; you see that in comic books often. Or...they can call for more powerful heroes to come. When I played Shadowbane I was one of the people who hunted PKers. Someone picked on lower leveled people and I'd be off on his trail. I wasn't the only one either, there were a number of 'Protectors' out there; even a guild. It's a funny thing, but Griefer PKers don't realy like being PKed. They prefer the easy kill so they can boast about it. Actualy, I see unrestrained and unmodified-level PvP in CoH as being a good thing; it'd give the game more of a comic book feel. I mean, c'mon folks! We're playing heroes, right? What's more heroic then helping out 'the little man' in his time of need? And for that matter, whats more villainous then beating up on a weaker hero? Villains being evil and all. Of course, the innitial 'smackdown' might not be fun for the lower leveled hero, but just think of it in a Roleplay state of mind...the fresh faced youngster watching his 'hero' battle the nasty supervillain who has terrorised the streets for to long, and even getting his own small blows in on occasion, helping to vanquish the threat.
Something else to think about, levels aren't a sign of how long you've played, but instead of the skill and abilities your character has learned. For instance, let's take 2 people and toss them in a boxing ring. One is a begining karate student. The other is Chuck Norris. Now, can that beginner beat Norris? Well, sure. If he gets very VERY lucky. But he'd have a better chance of hitting the Lotto a hundred times in a row. Fact is, he probably won't lay a finger on Norris. In this example, Norris is the lvl 40 and the student is the lvl 10. Norris has learned, over the years, how to read his opponents body language, how to mask his own body language, how to move, feint, the best spots to hit to cuase a variety of effects, etc. The whitebelt has learned how to fall properly. Maybe. Now, if we use the scaling lvl model many people are promoting then a lifetime of training is negated instantly. Sure, Norris would know more moves, but that whitebelt can still hit him. That makes no sence. Even less sence then using a real life example for a game <G>. I know some people are worried about 'fairness'. Personaly, I don't see where fairness comes into a game. Conflict is what makes a game fun; conflict with the NPCs, and soon conflict with other people.
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Lets just try and relate what you said above to the current PvE we have now. What does a 10th level hero do when he sees a 40th level mob? Runs like Heck. What will that 10th level hero do if that 40th level mob then chases him down and kills him over and over and over again. That's right, Lord Recluse he quits the game forever...
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Sorry, but this statement just struck me as rather dumb. Not saying you are.. but come on. The DEV's have more commen sense then to open "random PVP" where level 50's can come and pulverize Altas park. Give them a little faith in that at least. Its not gonna turn into Ultima Online where the moment you step foor outside police bots POOF your dead.
There's been a lot of talk about PvP being zone/Arena based. Right now its going into the Arena stage, I think the better Idea is zone based - I think a "Hazzard zone" would be a great Idea for it but level base them. I dont think it should be something that restricts higher levels from entering or participating but I do think that ALL PVP should remain consentual - thus, You have to AGREE to enter combat with this other person. You see a level 50 wanting to PvP in atlas - say no, stick your tongue out and go "neener neener neener!"
"...You have to AGREE to enter combat with this other person."
So, in otherwords a /duel PvP concept where we are NOT playing a Heroes/Villains Roleplay game, but instead playing an arena game? I find the concept of that type of game to be depressing. I much prefer the idea of whole, large zones where people can actualy roleplay heroes and villains and go at it. If some lvl 40 dweeb wants to be a jerk and 'grief' low level people, then the rest of the NON dweebs band together and beat him till he stops. There will always be complete morons in any gaming community; you can't avoid that. But from what I've seen of the CoH community (at least on Virtue anyways) we have a mature player base. Now, I have no problem with there being penalties for a high level person taking down low level people, but a system where before every fight you have to click "accept" "deny"? <shudder>
How about a variation on the scaling idea. The scale is based completely on what your opponent cons. No scaling applied in the red-to-green range, but you do scale if the level difference is more than 3. If someone cons grey to you, you do a fixed percentage of damage whether they're 3 levels below you or 30 below.
An example...
I'm a level 40 blaster. I have an attack that does some amount of damage, equal to 10% of a white-con level 40 scrapper's HP. So against a blue-con 39 Scrapper, I do maybe 12% of their HP (I hit for a little more, they have a few less HP total). Against a green-con 38, I do 15%. And against a grey-con 37 I can remove 20% of their HP with this attack.
The scaling then kicks in. Against a grey-con level 36 scrapper, my attack still does 20% of their total HP. Same for against a grey-con level 10 - which may look like much less damage being dealt, but not from the level 10's perspective.
Besides, you shouldn't be fighting purples or greys anyhow, so who would care about scaling once you're in that range?
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So, in otherwords a /duel PvP concept where we are NOT playing a Heroes/Villains Roleplay game, but instead playing an arena game? I find the concept of that type of game to be depressing. I much prefer the idea of whole, large zones where people can actualy roleplay heroes and villains and go at it. [ QUOTE ]
Agreement can also consist of simply entering a certain zone. Just like in DAoC, where entering the Frontiers, a Battleground or DF constitutes agreement to having your character ganked by well-practiced optimized 8-man gank squads.
Agreement does not mean that you have to click a button.
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"...You have to AGREE to enter combat with this other person."
So, in otherwords a /duel PvP concept where we are NOT playing a Heroes/Villains Roleplay game, but instead playing an arena game? I find the concept of that type of game to be depressing. I much prefer the idea of whole, large zones where people can actualy roleplay heroes and villains and go at it. If some lvl 40 dweeb wants to be a jerk and 'grief' low level people, then the rest of the NON dweebs band together and beat him till he stops. There will always be complete morons in any gaming community; you can't avoid that. But from what I've seen of the CoH community (at least on Virtue anyways) we have a mature player base. Now, I have no problem with there being penalties for a high level person taking down low level people, but a system where before every fight you have to click "accept" "deny"? <shudder>
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It could be the same as in entering a zone, in entering a "PVP Hazzard Zone" you have auto consented to allow and engage in combat. I like the zone idea better then I like "arena/accept gump popping up" type of a thing. How those would work, I dunno. I dont like the whole "The Hallows PVP" names - Im sure better names would come up, but still when you enter that area you have to be a certain level, and a gump comes up that tells you it IS a pvp and you CAN be killed, you agree by simply entering. Perhaps even restricted leveling it, Only levels 8 - 16, if your 17 you get a message "Go fight someone your own size!". Who knows. I also like the idea of penalties if you PvP anyone ___ levels below you.
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i agree a level 50 should totally lay the smack down on a level 20 one on one. but the level 20 should at least have a chance of hitting the level 50 - don't artificially eliminate a lower levels chance of hitting by using in game controls to modify accuracy/damage vs higher levels. and on the reverse, dont let high levels automatically get accuracy/damage bonuses vs lower levels.
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First, allow me to say that I'm not knocking your idea. All ideas need to be explored and thought out.
But by the above bout of reasoning, are you saying that a Lvl 20 Player should be able to also take on, let's say, a Lvl 50 Malta?
Not gonna happen, for a couple of reasons:
1) Where's the challenge to the Level 20? Why should he bother to run missions if all that happens if he challenges something 30 levels higher than him and is auto-boosted to be on equal footing. Someting that's Lvl 50 be it player, villain, or mob, has worked hard to get there. I'm sorry but the level 20 should be an instant grease spot to be wiped off the Lvl 50s footgear.
2) The fun. What fun is it if you're the Lvl 20 and you *know* that if you challenge someone higher than you, you'll be auto-boosted? Me, I'd be bored. If you plan to be a villain, you need to be a sneaky b**tard in your plans to...dominate the world/build a really cool herotrap/etc. etc. You're not always going to be battling good guys.
Anyway, I'm rambling. It was an interesting idea.
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When damage is scaled up or down similar to the way the monster code works, a small group of level 10 players can easily kill a level 50 player.
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And a smaller group of level 50 players can more easily kill you. Honestly, people make levels and leveling the be-all, end-all and then complain that others are preoccupied with leveling and not playing for fun.
In the comics and real life there are no levels, just less powerful, equally powerful, and more powerful.
Someone brought up the idea of hazzard zone type pvp areas. Now what if they took this idea and made these pvp zones level restricted. Like say a level 50 enters a level 10 pvp zone. He suddenly receives the exemplar effect and is fighting at level 10. All powers and slots he got past level 10 are unavailable. This would make a fair compromise if they have level zones for each 5 or 10 levels. On the other hand a level 10 hero could enter the higher level zone if he or she has a sidekick mentor. This could work I think.
My only participation in this mode of PvP is likely to be hanging around on the sidelines, Phase Shifted, offering color commentary, so my suggestion is to make it as entertaining for bystanders as possible. Lots of big "Critical!" flashies. Possibly cheerleaders.
It's one thing to go around with a high-level char in, say, the Hollows, supporting the low-levels who are in over their head against evil, quite another when they're getting ganked by a player villain who's just going to flee in terror from an actual challenge. Low-levels shouldn't have to sacrifice themselves in PvP with no hope whatsoever of victory just so the rest of us can feel heroic beating down their murderers.
@Mindshadow
Do you have a point, or are you just an idiot? I played shadowbane. It sucked. Pure consensual pvp with scaling is about as stupid an idea as I have seen. I can't imagine the developers being so stupid as to do this.
Wow...
If real bad guys were this logical and reasonable, we'd be in a lot of trouble.
~Missi
http://tinyurl.com/yhy333s
Miss Informed in 2016! She can't be worse than all those other guys!
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Pure consensual pvp with scaling is about as stupid an idea as I have seen. I can't imagine the developers being so stupid as to do this.
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Well from what we've been told about their design philosophy, the "pure consentual" part is already a definite feature. I think those of us posting ideas to this thread are concerned that in a purely consentual PvP environment, battles that are essentially predetermined by player level are not battles that are fun or worth playing. And if one side or the other consistently runs from PvP, the same way you run from any mob that cons six levels above you, the PvP community might end up barren, with the majority of players opting for PvE play only.
But I'm sensing a distinct difference in gameplay preferences in this thread. There are some of us, myself included, who have no interest in PvP play if there isn't at least a chance that we could win any conflict we agree to. Meanwhile, there are others who sound like they have little interest in PvP play if there is any chance that they might lose. I feel that the higher level character already has a ton of advantages over the lower level one, without needing to make them as squishy as a hellion to a level 40 hero. And think about how much fun it really is to try and fight something that cons 7 or more levels above you: "Miss, miss, miss, miss, hit for six damage, miss, miss, miss..."
As far as the narrative elements of PVP go? This is not Chuck Norris vs. Dojo Jimmy Junior. This is superhero vs. supervillian. At level 4, you are still a superhero(villian). I see the level restrictions on content as a design device that permits the developers to pace how PvE content is revealed more than an end all be all measure of power in the narrative of the Paragon Universe.
Personally, I would hate to see PvP in this game replicate the adolescent thug culture of PK gankers vs zealous PK hunters, while the casual gamers get stuck on the sidelines with their brown bag lunches again. Most weeks, I have about ten to fifteen hours maximum for my playtime. I'd like to be able to participate in PvP as well. I'd like a PvP system that leaves me saying, even when I get beaten, "wow, that was a fun battle!" But if I find myself pulling my hair out, cursing the game mechanics, and feeling the majority of PvP opportunities have predetermined outcomes, I most likely won't want to play against other players.
I know the devs most likely can't please all corners of their player base with every feature. But I just hope they continue to be as inclusive of us casual players as they have been up until now. (And no, my feelings aren't hurt that I'm still a ways off from getting to play a Kheldian.)
Lord Recluse's post makes sense. Scaling is idiotic. As for consensual, if you enter a pvp zone, you are agreeing to be pkd. If you don't want to take the chance, don't enter. But if you have a lvl 5-9 pvp zone, you cant have lvl 50s pking the lvl 5s. They could enter, and watch, but not attack the lower levels without the consent of the lower levels. But if you're a lvl 6 and enter, a lvl 7 could sneak up behind you and attack you without any notice and without any consent.
Wow, I didn't realize my thread got so big. Crazy. :P I see two issues being talked about here: Balancing players of different levels fighting one another, and the actual setting of PVP (number of players, place, etc).
While I think that all ideas should be explored, I personally think that damage scaling (and level scaling outside of sidekicking) isn't a very good idea. While scaling a high level person's damage down but not a low level person's damage up might be technically feasable and workable, it still entirely eliminates the purpose of levels just as much as scaling a low level person's damage up does... If that makes sense, hehe. I feel levels should not be the primary factor in winning, but they should be a factor.
The idea is to make lower level players competitive, but not equal. If they're competitive, they can experience PVP for themselves without that "I have no chance" feeling, and even be encouraged to level themselves to be even better. Literally making everyone equal in level would mean the only fun and fair battles would be the ones where each team has the same number of players, and that's no fun, many battles just don't turn out like that, and it would make solo PVP impossible. The wide range of damage numbers popping up everywhere during battle would also just be silly looking. It would also have many high level players feeling like they wasted their time, and people would not feel as encouraged to level.
I probably should've clarified myself earlier. Actually, AlodarnUK said it exactly right:
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The target is considered "even level" relative to your attacks.
So, a level 10 attacking a level 40 would have the same chance to hit as if he was hitting a level 10, and do the damage he would normally do against a level 10 (which the 40th would laugh at, but get enough 10ths attacking him and it should eventually worry him)
Conversely the 40th attacking a 10th will still wipe the floor with him, damage wise, but if that 10th level had defence buffs (SR scrapper with bubbles - for example) then the chance to hit him would get "floored" rather than getting jacked because of level.
If I was a 10th against a 40th, 1 on 1, I expect to get pasted, but if enough of us gang up on him, I want at least a *chance* that we can pull him down, granted some of us are going to be worm food, but I expect that.
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Mind you, this is -not- scaling. But why was he so ignored? This is effecting calculations only. This is making everyone have the -same- base chance to hit one another without enhancements or powers involved, say 60% or whatever it would be (OR rather make only very small modifications to that hit chance based on level differences). Higher levels would still have an advantage in accuracy thanks to more and better enhancements, but a group of level 30s could probably conjure up enough defense to stand against a single level 50 who doesn't have a good attack power without a lot of extra accuracy in it. An example would be that a level 30 tanker may not have the 80% smashing/lethal resistance that a higher level tanker has, but their 50% would still be very useful to their survival.
The trick then, though, would be killing that level 50, because damage would also work this way. Against all enemies in PVP you'd always be doing the same damage you do, for instance, to an orange minion (again, level difference could also make very small modifications to this if you wanted). My level 32 defender could do, say, 160 or so damage to an orange mob. A level 20 opponent in PVP would definitely feel that, but it wouldn't kill them. Similarly, they could do, say, 100 or so damage back to me, or however much damage they'd normally do to an orange mob. Yes, it's true - it'd take a heck of a lot of level 10s to take on a level 40, but even a single level 10 would still be able to effectively fight, heal, do controllery things, buff their friends, and not just be missing and utterly useless, even without being sidekicked. If you were sidekicked, I'd personally just make it so you'd have the health of a high level, but your damage and enhancements and all that would still be treated as your actual lower level. If you did the damage of a high level when sidekicked in PVP, you introduce all the same problems of scaling and discouraging people to level - It's great in PVE but in PVP with calcuation modifications, the low level players are already useful. Without the calculation modifications, obviously, sidekicking would act like normal, and I have a feeling the devs will probably just leave it like it is and people will just sidekick to PVP together.
As a side note, I think if it worked this way, accuracy and defense enhancements would have to be brought down a bit for purposes of PVP - I know I can make myself pretty much invulnerable to an orange con mob already through accuracy debuffs alone. It should take a smart team to accomplish that in PVP. Other modifications like that would have to be made I think, I just can't think of everything. Anyway, I'm hoping that way, all battles would be fun, regardless of setting or number of players. A low level player wouldn't have that "I have no chance" feeling, and a high level player would still have to keep on his toes. A smart low level team of 3 CAN win against a poorly-organized, high level group of 5.
Anyway, the second issue is the setting for PVP. I have a feeling that their arena system to just play organized matches (if I'm understanding that right) entirely removes the need for any scaling or calculation modifications, and I'm guessing that's what they'd do ultimately anyway, BUT it would still work fine with it. Actually I'm very glad they have an arena, that'd be my personal preference of PVP. ^.^ But open PVP zones and other ideas would be fun too. The idea to even out the calculations is mainly for that PVP-zone thing, where it's not consentual, to help 1 vs 1 where you can't sidekick, and just make a range of levels viable in PVP.. Otherwise a PVP zone would have to be restricted to 2 or 3 level differences, and even then people would feel obligated to get themselves up to that highest level before entering.
I think that kind of system would be a lot of fun though. Disagree/agree?
~Tyroie
Look at it this way....
Lets use our level 44 Blaster named "Bob". Bob is arrogant, mean spirited, and thinks he can beat anyone out there. To prove this piont, Bob has taken upon himself to pick on little lower level characters, just to prove that he is better than them. Bob will also put on his "Freinds" list the names of those special players, that whenever he see's them on, he will hunt them down, and destroy them, over and over again. Why ? Because Bob is a bad man, and that is his way of having fun.
Now, enter "Sally". Sally is a level 3 Blaster. She just wants to play, and have fun. Sally has seen her freind, Carla become the torment of Bob's anger, and she is tired of this. Since she has no way of stopping Bob, she quits the game, and so does Carla.
But......if you allow Sally, to be able to hit Bob, then doess that make it a better fight ? In this instance it seems so.
But lets take a look at it another way. What if Sally decides to create 5 characters, all level 2's, and so does Carla. That way, Bob can never tell who he is angry with this day, and he cannot keep adding dozens and dozens of people to his freinds list, just to pick on them over, and over again. Sally will come on with a new character, and so will Carla. Bob will not know who it is, and thus Bob will die, since Sally and Carla will go after Bob, over and over again.
What I am trying to get at, is that you cannot make it so a level 2 will have any chance to hit a level 44. That level 44, whatever vice he has with the world, has earned his right at that level. If this was the case, then I would just create a character, every two days, to go with 12 of my freinds on Team Speak, to hunt down any level 40's that are just hanging around. And thus, those level 40's will be upset that a "Noob" would even think of starting a fight with them, and hunt us down. But I would come back with a different character, and start all over again.
You earn your right at leveling, you get stronger, faster, and more powerful. That is the advantage of leveling up. Not to become the target of a level 2's gusto of "David and Golioth". If that level 2 cannot hit the level 44.......well, then dont pick a fight with them. If the level 44 starts to hunt down level 2's.....then petition against that level 44. I am pretty sure after a few petitions, the higher level characters, if they are smart, will stop picking on lewer level characters, because they think it is "Fun".
When damage is scaled up or down similar to the way the monster code works, a small group of level 10 players can easily kill a level 50 player. For me, role playing means that there should be a small part of common sense somewhere, and damage scaling on this, um, scale, makes none. Second, if you imagine being the level 50 player, you might just feel a bit cheated and wonder why you cared about leveling up at all, as was already pointed out. I know I would.
If you want the archnemesis relationship, it might suffice to have a system where your level can be adjusted if both parties agree. In general, however, I would much prefer the damage to be unscaled. For a limited number of zones where attacks can take place, the following solution sounds very nice to me and prevents easy griefing: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...view=collapsed