How much of an impact can a single player have? How skill based with the PvP be?

ArchivedUser

Just wondering, when we hear about open world PvP, and large scale PvP, how much of this will be down to personal skill? Will it be sufficient to make a name for oneself? 

ArchivedUser

That would depend if they go gear focus or skill focus.
If gear serves no function....then there is no real incentive for crafters to make gear.
If skill serves no function....then you might as well go AFK and leave your character on autopilot.
Typically skill takes 2nd place to enable crafters to drive the economy....and the cash shop.

They have stated multiple times though, that the name of the game is to enable players to have a unique identity with a unique build.
If such builds are relatively under-powered or unrequired, then they are as good as worthless and might as well be deleted from the game.
So that means balance is required...like it or not.

I am hoping they will have uniquely tuned combat builds that will require uniquely tuned gear.
This seems to be the goal judging from the existing class/build statements.
That enables a full demand for uniquely tuned crafters and a 'viable' niche for everyone.
Tailor made with varying levels of rarity for build, craft and material appears to solve this enigma.

ArchivedUser

solo players, will have impact but it will be less than a group, They have stated multiple times they want to bring back community, and difficulty. This doesnt mean you wont be able to do anything just means you will have more incentive's to be grouped, Through Siege's, Dungeons, Raids, PVP, and Events.

You can play solo, it will be harder, and wont get most of the games experience that way doing so but it is possible.

PVP depending on systems will be interesting........ They have already stated that they arent planning on balancing for 1 v 1 they plan to balance around group v group. There are arena's 1 v 1 etc. But once again most of your PVP will be larger scale, through sieges and caravan escorts. 

Its possible to stand out, as a solo player but it will be highly unlikely. So chances of making a name for yourself as a lone solo PVPer is low, maybe if your ganking everyone etc, you might get on a few kill lists. But standing out will be for really good groups, and guilds are more likely to overshadow solo players.

ArchivedUser

Ah, thanks for your thoughts, guys. Though I feel I may have worded my question badly. 
I didn't mean to ask whether solo players would be able to compare with guilds. I meant, even in the context of large scale PvP, would it be skill based enough for a single person to be noticeably valuable? For instance, will I ever be able to say: "I've heard about X and I would really want them on my side." Or do you think the individual will get lost in the crowd?
(as in individual skill, of course I recognise that organisation and planning for groups of people is its own kind of skill.)

Do you think this would be the case? Do you think this should / should not be the case? 

ArchivedUser

gundel said:

solo players, will have impact but it will be less than a group, They have stated multiple times they want to bring back community, and difficulty. This doesnt mean you wont be able to do anything just means you will have more incentive's to be grouped, Through Siege's, Dungeons, Raids, PVP, and Events.

You can play solo, it will be harder, and wont get most of the games experience that way doing so but it is possible.

PVP depending on systems will be interesting........ They have already stated that they arent planning on balancing for 1 v 1 they plan to balance around group v group. There are arena's 1 v 1 etc. But once again most of your PVP will be larger scale, through sieges and caravan escorts. 

Its possible to stand out, as a solo player but it will be highly unlikely. So chances of making a name for yourself as a lone solo PVPer is low, maybe if your ganking everyone etc, you might get on a few kill lists. But standing out will be for really good groups, and guilds are more likely to overshadow solo players.

I'm not sure why there was a conflation turning a question about the impact of a single player into a comment on playing solo.
The context indicates the question is about the impact of one player's contribution on PvP battles - even when participating as part of a group.
During a siege, will individuals be able to make a name for themselves or will it just be the name of the guild that everyone remembers?

ArchivedUser

I think there are all kinds of ways for player characters to make a name for themselves that don't only rely on combat prowess.
In Wizard101, everyone knew me because I was basically the Charles Darwin of pet breeding.

In Ashes, if I were a Summoner who wanted to be infamous, I would make sure I wore easily recognizable clothing and always show up at sieges summoning a unique looking Golem. And I would strive to form a Summoners guild/coven that works together to Summon a collective Golem.
That way, not only would my guild/coven have a server-wide reputation, but people would be able to pick me out of that group based on the uniqueness of my attire, possibly the uniqueness of my race and gender as well as the uniqueness of the spell effects I use... in addition to the types of minions I Summon.
I would also post clips of my participation (and the participation of my coven) on YouTube and Twitter.

If you are exceptional at what you do, people will know who you are.

ArchivedUser

The real truth that no one will tell you (specially not Intrepid fans) is that we simply don't know yet if combat will end up well designed.

Game is 2 years away from being completed and combat is far from finished right now. Will it end up good or no, time will tell. That's the only truth, wait and see.

ArchivedUser

Gothix said:

The real truth that no one will tell you (specially not Intrepid fans) is that we simply don't know yet if combat will end up well designed.

Game is 2 years away from being completed and combat is far from finished right now. Will it end up good or no, time will tell. That's the only truth, wait and see.

Ah, yes, of course. As somebody who is new to the community, I still haven't fully pinned down on what we do / do not know and what can be inferred from that. Thanks!  

ArchivedUser

Dygz said:

I think there are all kinds of ways for player characters to make a name for themselves that don't only rely on combat prowess.
In Wizard101, everyone knew me because I was basically the Charles Darwin of pet breeding.

In Ashes, if I were a Summoner who wanted to be infamous, I would make sure I wore easily recognizable clothing and always show up at sieges summoning a unique looking Golem. And I would strive to form a Summoners guild/coven that works together to Summon a collective Golem.
That way, not only would my guild/coven have a server-wide reputation, but people would be able to pick me out of that group based on the uniqueness of my attire, possibly the uniqueness of my race and gender as well as the uniqueness of the spell effects I use... in addition to the types of minions I Summon.
I would also post clips of my participation (and the participation of my coven) on YouTube and Twitter.

If you are exceptional at what you do, people will know who you are.

I love everything about what you just said. 

ArchivedUser

I think, its possible to stand out from the crowd, if the combat becomes flushed out that way. The issue with Large scale battles, people dont usually stand out individually in that type of environment because its just that large scale battles, People are focused on other things during that time. 

That doesnt mean you "cant" just means you are more likely to get lost in the mob of players. But yes PVP videos/ showing your skill etc may gain you the fame you seek. But in the context of the question, more than likely in larger scale pvp you will be overshadowed unless you perform way above and beyond others. People remember moments etc so if you have an epic moment outplaying players you may get recognized.  

ArchivedUser

Eh, not to get too philosophical or go into depth: one person can change the world.

ArchivedUser

There are a lot of variables, but I believe that like in life, it is possible but it will be incredibly challenging and a lot of work.

ArchivedUser

Xombie said:

There are a lot of variables, but I believe that like in life, it is possible but it will be incredibly challenging and a lot of work.

+1

ArchivedUser

I think above and beyond summed it up ^^^
As long as the environment enables the weird, the wonderful and the unexpected to take place (alongside player impact/unique identity); you will have breathtaking and awe inspiring moments for people to discuss and remember.
Such occasions single players out from the crowd.

ArchivedUser

I think, like most great games, people have a different opinion on what "standing out" means. I can't speak for the game designers intent, but in my experience (and I've had quite a bit during my 15-20 years of mmo's), there's always ways to "shine" as solo players, even in massive PvP settings. An example here could be a great dominanser in Vanilla Rift, he could pretty much control groups of 40-50 players if played right(for a short period of time). 

That said, most MMO gamers are now pretty much grear/good gamers, and shining above average is tough in most games. So if that is your ambition, prepare to spend some time learning mechanics. :-) 

ArchivedUser

As solo player it is very difficult to get famous in combat in a massive MMO where battles that will cause most impact will be sieges. Sieges will be about team play and organisation, and not about solo players, because no matter how skilled you are, you can not beat a large group of players by yourself (if you could there would be something seriously wrong with class balance).

In combat, as solo player, you can shine in arena (if there will be ranking system) and you can get known in 1 vs 1 battles across the world, but for this you will have to spend a LOT of time fighting, and be very good. Corruption mechanics will make it difficult for you to just go around the world killing people, so arena is your only option to shine in combat solo (and only IF there will be ranking system).


As solo player you can also set yourself apart in non combat activities, however, many players here will push crafting, fishing etc. So it will be hard to set yourself apart there, unless you are struck with amazing luck of finding some unique recipes, in which case you will get known, not because you are amazing crafter (crafting takes no playing skill, it just requires you to collect recipes, and level up your profession) but because you were fortunate enough to get unique recipes.

So basically to set yourself apart, and get some recognition as solo player, the only option I see is by ranking arena system (if there will be one). Crafting and similar non combat activities never required any skills, they just required collecting recipes and stuff like that.

Besides arena, one might be able to set himself apart as bounty hunter, if corruption system worked differently. However, personally I will not consider that any success because corrupted players lose stats, and it is not difficult to beat someone who has half your amount of stats because he is corrupted. So I see bounty hunter system as complete fail in AoC.

So only ranked arena remains.

ArchivedUser

Ventis said:

Just wondering, when we hear about open world PvP, and large scale PvP, how much of this will be down to personal skill? Will it be sufficient to make a name for oneself? 

I hope the PvP will be more about skill than gear. Gear should matter of course, but not overpowered way. Skills always means more when less players are involved to a fight and in huge mass battles invidual skill does not matter so much. Although it depends type of skills. Leadership, organization and team work are skills too, just different than invidual combat skills and those can be more important in larger battle. However if battles are tight then usually invidual skills will turn the fight even in larger battles. So i guess its always about skills, more or less depending of the situation.