About PVP!

[Synapsenpogo]

Feedback about Shambala and why we ( the PVPers ) need more/different PVP-Games/Modes:

First i would like to say, that i can only speak for myself but i know there are a lot of players with similar thoughts about that topic. Also i would like to say again, that i really appreciate The relaunch and all the work that you ALL (Devs+CMs) did put into SWL! I played TSW nearly since launch and it really was an awesome game! I also really like the new "incarnation" even if it isn´t complete yet. I´m very curious how the game will develop in the furture and i am just glad, that the core of TSW will continue with another name.

So: Why more PVP?

The PVP-Community in TSW was very dedicated to the game in its own way. Some people geared up solely for playing PVP, some people created Builds solely for playing PVP, people made friends in PVP, created PVP-Events, forged alliances in PVP, created PVP-Cabals. I for example earned my first purples in PVP (Fusang) and found my very first Cabal in PVP. It was alway something i could do, when i was done with other stuff. It was also something i did the whole day/evening, when i was in the right mood or just didn´t knew what i wanted to do. It´s about variety. The most important points were Teamplay, Tactics and of course the competition itself. These things are the "spice" of PVP.

PVP also was the only thing (besides my cabal of course) what kept me going back to the game after finishing the story content and beeing geared up. It was my personal Endgame and also spiced up my character progression, because i only ran Dungeons/Raids when i really wanted to and not because i had to. Don´t get me wrong, the dungeons in TSW/SWL are truly great but they are just not my favourite kind of Endgame when its just about farming gear.

This all does not happen in Shambala because there are 2 random teams who fight each other mostly in/for about 2 minutes. No tactics, both teams just go behind the wall (or just jump off the edge to make the game end quickly .... no joke!), no direct messages from opponents like "Hey, that was a good fight!" because nobody has the time to type/message. No chance to build up something like a PVP-Community or even make PVP-friends you don´t already know from TSW.

And in my opinion Shambala was only popular in TSW because there were exclusive signets everyone wanted to have with no other source to get em (besides the auction-house). Now Shambala is popular because people need Anima-Shards. That´s all. Most players don´t care if they win or loose, because they just want to have the shards. They don´t play PVP because they want PVP, they play PVP because they want shards/rewards. Thats ok but it is also no fun.

Fusang for example had tactical depth. el dorado also had it. The ED-Matches gave enough time to make a strategy or talk tactics to reach the goal. There were specialized Builds/Gearsets for different purposes like picking relics, defending em or attacking the opponent.

In fusang you could for example besiege or guard a facility and do some additional "text-PVP". You could spend hours there running around searching for fights, making friends or just talk in chat. There were a lot of larger battles around the center-wells wich were just fun. Fusang also was a perfect testing-ground to test builds for PVP.

I was never a huge fan of Stonehenge but even stonehenge was more sophisticated as Shambala and you could turn the tide very quickly if you knew how.

And that is what PVPers would like to have. They want PVP, not a Deathmatch wich ends before you even get the chance to plan tactics, get to know your teammates/opponents or reach a larger scale goal. We want something wich doesn´t end after 2 minutes.

Shambala is ok for in-beetween and playing shambala between quests is really ok. But that´s it. It is just "ok". Nothing you (as a PVPer) are looking forward too and not huge fun.

We want to build a community. We want to enjoy the game like everyone else (in our way). We want tactical depth, we want our personal Endgame/levelling-Spice, we just want to be a real part of the game. Even Roleplayers get the chance to build up their own community because the fitting environment/playground is provided by funcom. PVPers would like to have that too.

[Nistica]

In one of the first devstreams Titlty talked about PvP. Since they were limited by resources and time, they decided to just add Shambala becuase it was the most popular in TSW. I imagine more PvP will be added in the future if the game continues to keep a crowd.

However, I think a few things will happen first before they work on PvP (this is pure speculation on my part):
1) The Published Roadmap which culminates with the Season 2 will get top priority. Delaying or deviating from that could hurt SWL significantly since a great deal of the fan base that are ataying steadfast to the game are doing so becuase of the promise of new content.

2) I don't think combat is competitive PvP ready. There are clear cut weapon combos and skill loadouts that are far superior to others. I believe right now they are still gathering data to work on balancing out the weapons and the skills. For example, Blade is getting its first rework next week. However, I feel since they currently have limited resources, they will target pushing out the Roadmap content first and then look at divirting more resources to PvP.

I do agree with you that more PvP options would be great. In my experience strong PvP and RP communities are what stick around a game for the long term. The retetion of both of these groups should be important.

[Synapsenpogo]

Its also just about knowing that there is more to come, to look forward to. I know the game is not complete yet and i also know the priorities are bound to the roadmap wich is completely fine for me because the game has to be as complete first as possible. But in the Dev-Stream yesterday they said they wanna have more feedback when they finally broke the complete radio-silence on the topic. That´s just what i wanted to do ;-) And i encourage everyone else who is interested in PVP to give feedback here, on reddit or in discord.

[Leogrim]

Originally posted by The Arkady:

I feel your pain, even though you seem to be getting lucky. I have yet to experience a Shambala match balanced enough to go even 2 minutes. Under one, on the other hand...

Already came across one that went longer than 2 minutes. They are rare since the wind hazard really forces clashes around the wall. But what I fell is impossible is the achievement for winning while everything is covered in a snowstorm. Not even getting close to that.

Mayby give us more walls or remove the big wall in favor of multpiple status to open up more possibilities.

[BlackCat]

Either we need the Faction PvP Games to be converted to Color Teams, or we need to get a whole new one.

Shambala is easy because it pairs together randoms and insures a more balanced match.

Fusang could be modified to just have Color Teams, such as Blue, Red, Green instead of the Faction names. It could essentially be Cabalistic skirmishes instead of the Factions in an All-Out War. .
--- Though, this is what drew me to the game in the first place.

But honestly, kind of silly that they've taken away Fusang as it was the most interesting part of the game that players could influence, I thought.