Are PvP Zone Bases A Good Or Bad Thing?

What do people think of this?

I'm relatively new to PvP zones but have frequented them quite a bit in recent weeks and found them both fun, frustrating and annoying. I guess a lot of it depends on who else is in the zone.

One thing that has been a little annoying for me though is the actual bases in there. I would expect the PvP to take place in the centre of the zone but have found this to rarely be the case. Whenever I've entered the zone, it seems that one side or the other is always camping out at their base.

This means the team who are away from their base are a t a huge disadvantage as travelling to the fighting makes it more difficult to coordinate as people die and arrive at different times.

The team at their base have no such problems as they can just sit near the base and provoke the villains into attacking and getting extra damage from the cannons or just wait until they can see enough other members of their side and attack en masse.

Whenever I've had to go to the other side and fight in or around their base I've found it very frustrating as it has not been about just being good at PvP but also being aware of the defences, given the other side a huge advantage. Mobs may be a pain but at least both players have to worry about those!

Yesterday, I actually had a great time in Sirens though as the entire battle was taking place somewhere in the centre meaning that both teams were strung out from travelling back from hospitsal with a real ebb and flow as one group of heroes arrived at the battle and tipped the odds, then a group of villains arrived back from hospital and tipped the battle and so on.

With the base hospitals all having 'doors' to enter/exit why not just have the contacts/insp vendors in the relevant hospital and make the doors only allow those from the correct game to enter and do away with all the defences? You then get a safe point for everyone to regroup and the battles are then about PvP skill rather than being closer to your defences and able to run whenever you want.

On a seperate note, those who were in Sirens yesterday, good fight fellas. Almost no ganking, none of the bad broadcast chat and a fun battle. Felt sorry for Gravitress, Flam Strike and Storm Dragon who seemed to be the prime hero targets and was alittle surprised my Ice/Ice Corruptor wasn't targeted a bit more by the heroes

Was also fun to be chased by JackieBoy/Krusty, my VG's PvP expert, and have his level 39 scrapper just fail to take me down before I ran several times ina row, only for me to come back and get a hold on him before tearing him apart with my lvl 23 ice/ice Corruptor in what was probably my first real taste of a PvP zone

imo the zones are a great training area to learn about PvP and enhance your skills, I spent hours there with my empath before eventually taking him to the arena. However imo they are just a training ground and once u achieve a certain level they become rather too easy and repetitive. Imo go there to train, then head over to the arena for the real PvP

altho RV looks like it cud prove to be more challenging so i'm looking forward to that

Zone PvP is very different to Arena PvP, Arena is a lot more tactical, Zone is a lot more fluid, at least in my opinion.

I agree with your base camping thing though, I much prefer fighting in the water (Sirens) or at the beach (Warburg).

The issue with the latter is that it's very near the Hero base, so some people are tempted to just jump back a few hundred yards when they get attacked, which is kinda lame.

The thing I really hate about Zone PvP is that both sides have a habit of immediately falling back to the base if they're faced with a good team, at least on Defiant. Especially villains, as they're less likely to pool experience and set up a team to work together.

Droning isn't fun, and it isn't clever. Stop hiding behind them, if you get taken down, so be it. PvP is meant to be fun, if I'm killed by a good team or a clever tactic, all the better!

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Droning isn't fun, and it isn't clever. Stop hiding behind them

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Its far more fun AND clever then leaping into a group of heroes outnumbering you 2 to 1. Sounds like you just want people to get out there hospital so you can gank them.

Anywho, I think there has to be some sort of defences, safe zone or combination of both. Otherwise your opponents outnumbering you 2 to 1 would simply stand at the sharkhead/steel canyon exit and murder you as you respawn. I'd just have people appear blue until the exit they hospital and leave everything else the same.

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Droning isn't fun, and it isn't clever. Stop hiding behind them

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Its far more fun AND clever then leaping into a group of heroes outnumbering you 2 to 1. Sounds like you just want people to get out there hospital so you can gank them.


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u can't be serious right? *sigh* its attitudes like yours that ruins zonal PvP for many people

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Droning isn't fun, and it isn't clever. Stop hiding behind them

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Its far more fun AND clever then leaping into a group of heroes outnumbering you 2 to 1. Sounds like you just want people to get out there hospital so you can gank them.


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u can't be serious right? *sigh* its attitudes like yours that ruins zonal PvP for many people

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I wonder are we really talking about teleporting to drones here or merely regrouping at the base.. I can't fault the regrouping part really, if the enemies outnumber you 12-1 then I don't really see the point in just running forward to be massacred.

teleporting to drones, however, is lame.

Meh.

If 'base camping' (lol) is occurring, then give me a shout. Gather everyone there is, get a few temp powers from the merchant.

If you don't have the temp store, then grab a few to hang with so you can win a few fights on the hotspots. If they're staying in one area they won't notice you, unless they're tracking bounty.

If you think it's bad in Siren's have a look at the Web entrance! Straight flight from the hero's safe zone, blatently obvious spot ideal for any team to just wait for someone to come back up from below and slaughter them. Is this a deliberate design?

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Zone PvP is very different to Arena PvP, Arena is a lot more tactical, Zone is a lot more fluid, at least in my opinion.

I agree with your base camping thing though, I much prefer fighting in the water (Sirens) or at the beach (Warburg).

The issue with the latter is that it's very near the Hero base, so some people are tempted to just jump back a few hundred yards when they get attacked, which is kinda lame.

The thing I really hate about Zone PvP is that both sides have a habit of immediately falling back to the base if they're faced with a good team, at least on Defiant. Especially villains, as they're less likely to pool experience and set up a team to work together.

Droning isn't fun, and it isn't clever. Stop hiding behind them, if you get taken down, so be it. PvP is meant to be fun, if I'm killed by a good team or a clever tactic, all the better!

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1: Withdrawing to a stronghold is a perfectly acceptable action if out manned/out gunned in pvp.

2: I am more than happy to jump into groups of villains and get gang killed, but then I have a warped sense of humour :P
But even I get bored of it and will wait in the base for a few mins, till the combats have moved locale and the villains spread out a bit.

3: Drones...Dont get within range of them then.

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I like the presence of bases, they introduce a safe staging area where characters can enter the zone, with less chance of being killed by gangs of heroes/villains waiting by the doors.

The only real problem with the bases is that the zones are TOO SMALL to support them and pvp.
The zones seem designed to force players to encounter each other as quickly as possible, and prevent players from using what little area there is.

This is really obvious in sirens call, where the presence of "bots" and small design of the zone, force the players to use a limited part of the zone.

I'd like bigger zones with possibly more bunkers for teams to fight from, rather than using the bases.

The hospital in Siren's Call makes a great war-room - you've got to have somewhere in the zone where you don't have to keep moving or keeping a look-out for the enemy.

My comment about falling back to the base was aimed at the players that go straight into the safe zone as soon as they get hit. I've seen it far too much in Warburg.

@MarquandDance: Excuse me? No, I'm not talking about 'ganking' and I'm sick and tired of complaints about heroes 'ganking' villains. Heroes team, at least my SG teams. What I'm saying is that even if you're outnumbered, have a go. Fighting back and winning against a bigger mob is great fun and a rush. When one side predominately outnumbers the other, which happens often in Sirens, that's when I leave the zone. It's no fun when it's an almost guaranteed victory.

@Hammerfall: Droning with TP Foe sucks, majorly. I'm also referring to the tactic of pulling back to the drones with the specific intention of getting your oponent drone'd. You don't lose anything by dying and it's a PvP zone, so, personally, I'd rather go down fighting instead of running back.

If a Mastermind used their thugs/minions as human shields against the drones, do you think that'd give enough time for a Stalker to get inside the compound and wack any opponent who was there? Or are the drones too quick?

My view is that drones and base defences should not be in the PvP zones. A 'safe' zone can easily be created by the 'door's leading out of the hospital or just by coding in some sort of 'no entry' area where you can't be damaged.

for me, it is the large amount of defences around the current area that pose no risk to players from one side and allow them to get what I would call cheap kills.

Coming out and engaging the enemy then running is a tactic and the skill comes in chasing them down when they break, beefore they can flee to safety. If they escape, fair play. If you kill them, fair play.

What I don't like is the fact you can have gained the upper handand have them on the run then be torn apart by defences that pose no risk your opponent while they suddenly turn round and kill you.

Safe zone = Yes.
Clear advantage zone for one side over the other = No

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When one side predominately outnumbers the other, which happens often in Sirens, that's when I leave the zone. It's no fun when it's an almost guaranteed victory.

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A guaranteed loss isnt fun either, this is why I dont charge out my base with my lvl 20ish MM or Stalker yelling "Leroy Jenkins!!"

Good thing. Its looks good, and is therefor fine.

I like the fact that PvE interferes. Its gives a more complete feel IMO.

It'd just be nice if the bases, or at least the drones in the bases, would suppress teleporting or perhaps even ANY combat.. then they might actually be safezones, rather than just zones. As for base-camping, i've seen it in equal proportions from both sides. Fighting a team who is outside of your base is very comfortable, given the tiny downtime between respawning and getting back into the fight. The problem there is also that you really do have a limited ability to surprise your opponents, as they nearly always see you coming (even if you try to slip around the side). Not everyone enjoys being forced to fight right outside of their base, and few people enjoy being in an area dominated by NPCs who are hostile only to the attackers. Sometimes its the only choice. Occasionally the main body of your enemy will retreat to their base and pretty much stay there, sometimes half of you will be respawning when the enemy got impatient and decided to gather up outside your wall hoping for some stray, single teammates to pick off on their way back to the main fight.

In the end, if you're too close to the drones, and there isnt enough breathing space, you're going to get droned. Especially if you outnumber the base-occupying forces 3:1. I've personally taken to only droning people when we have little other option (and are bored of fighting 2 steps outside the base), or when people constantly TP us from within the supposed safezone.

In the end, it is PVP. If it doesnt get you debt, and doesnt ruin the fun, I really dont see what there is to complain about. If people are repeatedly teledroning you, and there is no real reason for it, then thats lame. Outside of that, its not really any more lame than AS, BU+aim+sniper, containment, or any other viable weapon.

Though, it does make me think. The range of TP Foe and Wormhole is pretty long. Even if you are trying to carefully keep your distance from the base, its still possible to be droned. Or if someone is really trying too hard, chain-TP-to-drone. If they wont suppress attacks/forced teleports across the safezone border, then couldnt they do some kind of range-nerf, so that only people who are REALLY looking for trouble get it?