but it's not a 250gs character meeting 500gs character in BDO or something.
Immersion and "unique feature & draw" is highly subjective. Open world PvP is something written in the description, it's a concrete feature that draws people in. There isn't much "building a virtual fantasy world" going on either. Player-driven economy is in a very sad state, RP features are lacking, PvE is mediocre at best, lore is meh compared to TESO or WoW, hell we don't even have boats. Lifeskills have very little depth to offer except maybe alchemy and fishing.
All things are subjective to some extent, friend. I'm just saying that the world, the classic MMO 'virtual fantasy world', in which the RPK takes place in, is what pulls eyes to the game. The RPK is part of this bigger system/feature. If all you want is to kill people & loot them, you could just play any number of games that allow you to kill & loot other players, of which there are many (battle-royals come to mind, Rust, Conan Exiles etc.)... So why play MO2 instead? The reason people want to, IMO, is the MMORPG game world based on immersing/realistic sandbox mechanics. The potentiality of having a second life in a brutal dark fantasy setting.
...As for BDO, it isn't a full loot, RPK, 'GvG', PvP MMO, & is P2W death-by-grinding garbage that I don't think any dev in their right mind should be emulating the PvP mechanics of, or really anything aside from maybe the world-design. The two games are pretty much comparing apples to oranges. Let the 'PvE focus' MMO focus on mechanics that promote a perpetually moving goalpost of ilvl creep, grinding & p2w, let games like MO2 focus on creating dynamic sandbox mechanics for players to participate in.
I really think we agree that the player-driven societal end of the game is lacking atm. The way to revitalize it would be by implementing actual in-game mechanics that give the sandbox, including PvP systems, that give needed shape/direction. Otherwise, things are destined to feel 'empty' no matter how many more continents or skills you implement.
Tashka said:
"Newbies" in MO2 are not people who don't have a fully built character, but those who aren't experienced in game, especially in PvP. And the only way to get better at PvP is to go out and PvP. This is why i don't think there is a need to "protect the noob", by doing that, devs doing them a bad favor.
Newbies in MO2 are both people who don't have a fully built character AND are not experienced in the game, especially PvP. A newbie is someone that is new to the game and creating their first character. Let's not mince words, a new player in MO2 has both the disadvantage of a statistically weaker character with worse gear AND the disadvantage of less personal experience. Your assertion that an ACTUAL NEW PLAYER, can just waltz out of haven after a couple evenings and compete
on paper with a full-built character is fantasy. If you're going to succeed, you basically have to join a guild and mooch off them for mats/protection until you finish your build, while honing your pvp skills in duels or the occasional open world PvP where you will be annihilated 90% of the time. This is a social mechanic to be sure, but imo not the most fun possibility. City-wide mechanics would do wonders here. Flesh it out so it's not just a place that you can spam '/guard', but also a place that has meaningful social mechanics in place.
I agree that PvP should be a focus of the game, and 'protecting the noob' is not necessarily the best way forward. What I have instead been arguing for is giving systems that allow noobs to hone their skills, or ideally, even compete on some level in terms of PvP. Give substance to the new player experience, and guide them to PvP. Some kind of city-guild/reputation rework that has safety nets for middling gear etc. would be one way to do something like this. Delineate reds from blues from greys in a way that offers meaningful PvP for each playstyle. As of now they are all just the same RPK system with slightly different timers & respawn locations, and none of them are very fun as the only defining mechanics are ones that impose down-time on the player. Change the mechanics so the game isn't just 'Either go red and KoS everyone but have to res walk further, or be blue & farm rep and watch your MC timer.'
Tashka said:
It seems like it's just & only the full loot PvP anarchy because there isn't much else here. Everyone gets suck into it once the novelty of having a huge empty world to traverse with no fast travel fades away (don't get me wrong, i love the huge empty world and no fast travel). It's like pixel art games. Good pixel art may drive people into a game, but it's the actual "ok so what do i actually do in this game" is what makes them stay or leave. And after some time, there isn't much to do in MO2 except PvP.
I agree, and I'm just saying that mechanics that create an immersive sandbox PvP system, for example, fleshing out social mechanics of cities, city-state guild alliances, artisanal guild/factions that offer crafting progression & work-orders for city-sponsored safety nets, PvP arenas in cities with betting, things of this nature, would be the best way to give more meaning to the main allure of having an immersive 'open world' RPG with RPK. These are the types of mechanics that would make the game great. Now, I'm not saying wardecs, guild territory, & proper alliance systems are not necessary, but they should just be a portion of fleshing out the sandbox mechanics of the game.
I'm not saying 'kill RPK', I'm not saying 'put guards everywhere', or 'make certain areas non-RPK like Haven'. I'm not saying RPK isn't one of the main allures of the game, just that RPKing is not
THE allure, and there are a number of ways you can implement RPK that would be better. I'm saying rework RPK in a more inclusive way that focuses on the societal end of Myrland; create more 'tools' for the sandbox for everyone to participate in. Actual war mechanics would be awesome, for a start. If mechanics that guide the experience aren't implemented, it's impossible to overcome the same drawbacks that hamstrung MO1 or, for example, Darkfall