Catering to solo players and a bit of a rant......

[mrwooj]

I know there has been a bit of talk about the game being friendly or unfriendly to solo players and very small tribes. I would like to share my 2cents worth..........

I would most probably be playing this game solo or with 2 or 3 other tribe members at most. This poses a few problems. I played Darkfall for over a year and what drove me from there was a couple of things.

1. Getting gang raped by large groups continuously left me unable to play for hours on end whilst my area of the map was being smashed. I work long hours and only get ingame for an hour here and there, so when i do play, i want to be able to spend some quality time doing the things i find enjoyable ingame.

2. Not being able to be competitive due to macroers and elite gamers smashing my ass every time i cross their path.

3. Not being able to terraform, claim my own land and build things when and where i wanted to, yet the elite gamers could have a house of their own.

So.... Xsyon seems to confront a portion of these problems but also, with it comes a new set of problems.

The degenerating skill points system and not being able to be a master of everything in this game is a good idea. It creates balance and no one true build that will beat all others. This is a real good thing.

Being able to claim land even as a solo player is awesome. Being able to make stuff on my own land is awesome. But, here is the problem...................

In Darkfall, it really sucked to spend a pile of time making some awesome armour or weapons etc and then go out hunting and lose it all in 2 minutes to a group of griefers. Yes, i get the whole pvp thing and i love the excitement and tension of risk vs reward that Df offered. I would love to enjoy that here also. But in DF holdings were fought for, won and lost, but they were not designed and constructed by players - they were essentially pre-made. They did not require many hours of building, terraforming, gathering resourses etc. If you lose a holding in DF it really sucks, but it is just another pre-generated load of pixels and you go out and get another one.

There is no point subscribing to this game if you do not want to claim some land and make some sort of personal space within it. That is THE big thing thing this game offers that is unique. The sandbox is why i am here. Now, if i want to be a solo player in Xsyon, what is the point of going to all the effort of building some really cool stuff, if a small group of griefers can defeat my one-player tribe (which of course would inevitably happen) and then become the new owners of all that i made.

Many people left DF due to being griefed, and griefers are everywhere. They will surely be here in Xsyon and they will be looking for an easy victory. The loss to a griefer tribe will be soooooooooooo much more full on in this game.

So, what i want to know is this...........

As a solo player will i be able to claim some land and build on it, knowing that it cannot be taken away in a heartbeat. If i cannot, then what is the point of me playing. i would forever be building and losing, or i would give up on owning land and building, at which point i would surely leave the game.

What i pose is one of two things........

A. Small tribes of say under 5 members being exempt from having their land conquered - the trade off being that they do not get the option to conquer other lands and they can only occupy a smaller territory.

B. Each tribe can claim a main piece of land (like a capitol city) which cannot ever be conquered. When certain conditions are met (examples might be a certain amount of tribe members or a certain amount of buildings constructed) they can then claim another (secondary) piece of land. These secondary territories are up for grabs and can be fought for and fully conquered.

Either of these 2 options present a fair and balanced way for wars to be part of the game without destroying the game for those that will not be viable or do not want to take part in the war systems.

I hope this is seriously looked at and addressed soon, as i really want to be here in this game, and i want the game to suceed. We need a "best of both worlds" option to embrace all the play styles that peoples lives allow them.

Dont make this game become another Darkfall. You are really creating something unique here and i am loving it. Really loving it!

Keep up the good work!

Stinkfist

[aliksteel]

I can't remember where I read it but Jooky has said that the tribe cannot ever be conquered, It's your expansion land claims that will be what can be conquered. After prelude your tribe will be able to be attacked. But what they will be able to do I have no idea.

It's also going to be hard for full looting, Because of the weight restrictions.

[Deacon]

well.....this game was designed with "tribess" in mind...meaning a group of players. The solo benefits were added to satisfy the loner types., which is ok...to a point.

I just hope that some guy doesnt come along solo ...claim land...do whatever , then quit after awhile, or not log in for ages, and yet his spot is always reserved for him, at the expense of restricting choices of new or more active players.

I was under the impression that after prelude, which would be like 6 plus months after launch....even tribe lands would be unsafe, unless you can protect you and yours...ie...open PvP. I also was under the impression tribal areas could be conquered...but now not so sure.

[aliksteel]

@Deacon
Maybe we can get a ruling on this one, Hey Jooky can tribal areas be conquered? or just the expansion land claims?

Thanks

[Kinslayer]

I remember Jooky or Virtus stating at some point, that totems will be able to be captured by an enemy tribe, so you will need to protect your totem. The early stages (first few months) of Prelude will have tribe areas safe from PvP attacks to allow tribes to build up their defenses, after what I thought was 3 or 4 mths, tribe areas will no longer be safe.

I would hate to see eternal safe zones like the OP suggests, all this becomes then are immunity boxes which people will go and hide in, and will never be able to be attacked. Ive played a game where guildhalls were immunity boxes from PvP, and it is an extremely bad scenario. This game is afterall supposed to be open PvP, that doesnt mean little immunity boxes where people can go and hide.

[yoori]

Though it's supposed to be open PvP, it's not focused on PvP and wasn't meant to be, unless I'm wrong. Not everyone has time to play all day. We do have to work some time and if I have an hour to play and want to craft something or just hang out with my tribe, I don't want to be interupted by someone on killingspree. I can accept the risk of being killed outside of safe zone. I know it's hard to belive but some people don't like PvP(I'm not a crafter either just prefer PvE).

If I'm right evil tribes don't have safe zones so you can always choose evil and let people raid your tribe.

Second thing, about capturing totem, I don't know how would that be acomplished. You couldn't just go into tribe and capture it without a fight, which is possible with worldwide community. So how would you guarantee a fair fight? To set up a battle? What would be winning conditions?

Unless we'll be able to set up traps, fortifications and some kind of AI defence systems main tribe lands shouldn't be able to be captured.

I don't mind open PvP but without any restrictions it'll kill the game, in my opinion. It'll turn into one big gankfest and that I don't want to see.