free for all open PvP > arena (and other feedback)

Maybe it's because I'm biased towards D2 or DDO (Dungeons and dragons online). I'm not sure where the devs are going with this. IIRC, PvP balancing is not the focus in PoE. Having arena style deathmatch PvP seems to be shifting focus towards balancing for PvP.

First, some observations of arena style PvP

Deathmatch works well in quake, CS, Starcraft, where players are on equal footing, where players slightly disadvantaged can make a comeback to win if opponents made mistakes. Doesn't work well in PoE.

Adding other styles like capture the flag and domination allows more build variety to participate, instead of narrowing players down to just perma-stun, perma-freeze, or other potentially overpowered builds. Styles that depend more on teamwork may increase participants, while deathmatch dissuade players from participating because of lack of gear/build.

Best of 9 is too long. 1:30 is too long. Within the first 30 secs of the first round, players will already know who has better gear and/or better build. Which leads me to the next point:

Adopt D2/DDO style PvP

This is simple to implement. When you click join PvP, you get teleported to the PvP area and it's free for all. You can even have spectating areas so people can enjoy watching others duke it out in the safety of surrounding stands. Leaving the area is solely to the discretion of the players, not sanctioned by rules. The newb doesn't need 5 secs to know he's outmatched by the permastun flicker dude with godly gear. 2 godly players can duke it out to the death following unspoken honour codes, where the leaver is the chicken/self declared loser. Any death simply teles the player back to town.

Lastly, what happened to Cuttthroat PvP? It was fantastic and perfect for PoE. I would be disappointed if there isn't at least a softcore version (don't lose items/lose 1 random item on death) in the open beta.

There will still be Cutthroat leagues. They are popular, and fun.

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Qarl wrote:

There will still be Cutthroat leagues. They are popular, and fun.

Excellent news!

Why must it be one or the other? Why not both. Call the ffa one the Coliseum. There should be many different types of pvp maps to queue for.

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Qarl wrote:

There will still be Cutthroat leagues. They are popular, and fun.

Permanent ones?

I thought of this "best of 9" as well and I dont think its horrible, but you can obviously tell who is going to win within a short time. Still fun though!

One think I thought that would be fairly simple to do (that might switch it up somehow?) Is Create small "maps" that have tons of mobs in them towards the beginning area and no matter which path you choose it funnels you into the main "arena" area. The main arena is always randomized.

This would provide some incentive to bash through mobs fast so you have the advantage of not being walking into the "death trap" (someone already waiting in the open area) for you? The person who gets their first has time to regen HP/mana, pick which locations serve best (around barriers) and also make sure they have all their minions/totems/auras in place.

Heck, you could even throw in a "loot chest" in the middle so there is some additional incentive to get there first. Maybe it doesnt always appear.

This seems like it is still PVP focused but also addresses the solely pvp focus that is currently in PVP. This way it has a component that rewards build effective at killing NPCs as well.



I also would love to see CTF games and other "objective" based games. King of the Hill would be cool too.