Gladiator Life: Not just for PvPers

Mattchoo

Hello everyone,

I am interested in discussing ideas around gladiatorial combat progression. This type of event system could add a lot of depth to the game and allow players who only have a short period of time for in-game play on a given day to participate in meaningful progression/participation. Most of the discussions I have read so far focus on PvP in arena style combat. This can be fun and challenging for some players. I believe that PvE players could enjoy this type of system as well. PvE arena players could compete against all manner of NPC monsters/baddies that already populate the world. This PvE arena could double as a training ground of sorts.

Combat Arenas:
A combat arena could be a building a mayor decides to build for his node city. This building could grow in size as the city/node progresses in development, from a small pit surrounded by gamblers to a giant coliseum.

Reputation:
Players could travel from node to node and participate in these events and build their reputation. It could be possible to implement a level of Rep required to participate in larger arenas. This would require that all arenas in nodes would have lesser sized arenas for newer/lower rep players.


Thanks for your time in reading and discussion on this subject.

NiKr

As long as you can't grind top lvl rewards through these arena fights, I'd be down for having this in one of the future expansions.

Sathrago

This is quite literally the way to do large amounts of instanced "dungeons" or "raids" if they were so inclined. The lower group and solo events could be something you can do at all times, but the dungeons and raids would be grand events, with a time and place. Oh yeah im thinking this could be really cool, because what if they set the time up, groups sign up for the event, and they all get instanced when the timer starts (assuming they are in the waiting room). The first group to beat the challenge wins an extra reward, the fastest group wins an extra reward, and the group with the least deaths wins an extra reward.


im just a ramblin here my bad.

Voxtrium

Sounds fun, as long as it follows with nikr said for loot. Otherwise id put a limit on the number of times you can participate a week, maybe once per day. Worthwhile but not absolutely necessary. Add as an expansion later on as well to prevent additional pre release development time.

Alternatively you could make the higher tier stuff much rarer say once a month with no more than 1 event being capable of spawning regardless of the number of buildings, the event location chosen randomly from the metros with active arena buildings to make it a spectacle

Mattchoo

I am not sure of the need for gear awards, though not totally against it, the rewards for participation could just be a $ prize with the additional option of betting some of your own gold on yourself.

Dygz

https://youtu.be/TzD_u7C8NxA?t=545
mark 9:15

LordPax

I think OP's idea is AMAZING. When I played ARK, one of the 'player created' fun behaviors was building an octagon of behemoth gates with platforms, then having ppl dropped in the middle to fight to the death(we would drop different weapons of flying mounts). It was SO fun, added nothing but bragging rights on the server, and we would throw together some measily material rewards.

I would LOVE to see AoC have nodes where towns could add a Gladiator Arena/Coliseum where players have weekly/monthly PvP tournaments. I liken it to the actual movie Gladiator: different towns around the castle would have 'locals' become gladiators, all with the goal of fighting in the ultimate arena - in front of the emperor(for AoC, the King and Queen).

This could have some long term flavor and fun to a server. Imagine going to the other continent, running into a town, and theres someone there who is famous in that little node's area for being the top gladiator for weeks - and youve never heard of them! Or, what if this was a giant fan fare, and like Runescape's duel arena, you could throw tomatoes and food at participants

This idea has SO MUCH potential. Thank you for bringing it up OP.

Ace1234

Absolutely- would be very cool.
Would be awesome if you could wager on matches, physically gather to watch and socialize at events, and also be able to manage within a league where you can recruit competitors and compete against others' teams.

Voeltz

I really want to see them in game. I posted all my ideas for an in depth arena system on one of the dev discussions hoping they would see it and get some inspiration, but some form of it might be in the works already.

I think there are multiple ways to go about it but the best would be a special node building that would need to be constructed or my personal favorite, a POI like Harbors they recently discussed on stream. I like the second better because the arena would be mainly for entertainment and If players had to choose between that and a building more useful, it would be overlooked. As a POI that becomes apart of the node based on location, they're guaranteed to have a presence in the game.

Plus this would limit the amount there are in the world which is actually a good thing because it would end up concentrating more players on each arena and players from other parts of the world would travel there. The goal is to make them busy and eventful. If every node could have an arena it would be too spread out and most of them would be dead, void of players. Having enough people to participate in events and keeping it active is key

Mattchoo

@LordPax hey, no worries man. I appreciate the discussion ideas. I also had a similar thought of the style from Gladiator or Conan with different layouts for pits/arenas.

Also the idea of fans, PC and NPC, watching and cheering or booing depending upon the reputation of the participants would add a great deal of immersion.

I don't think it should be overlooked that this could be used by players to fight monsters/NPCs for fun, profit, and training.