Design Philosophy
I had this thought when commenting on a YouTube video about Ashes, and I thought it was worth sharing here.
I think a large number of MMOs since WoW have had a hard time finding a good balance between pleasing the hard-core and streaming players, and the probably greater number of time-constrained more casual players. Even WoW as it evolved struggled and the forums became a virtual battlefield between the two.
I drew a parallel between MMOs and the world of sport. And this point centers on Game Theory.
A sport like tennis will never please both groups. Here is a game played in an environment that is almost exactly the same, except for cosmetics. And what one player does has a direct impact on how well another player does. If one player hits the ball very hard, it is going to directly detract from the other player, or players in doubles, being able to score points, or even hit the ball.
A sport like golf however, allows the players to compete against each other without their gameplay directly influencing the other. The spoils still go to the winner, but the loser is still able to score freely, and essentially enjoy his game unmolested. And there is an unlimited variety of environments that both can share.
In order to solve this design philosophy problem, Ashes needs to bear in mind creating "Golf" more than "Tennis". It isn't going to be possible to do it entirely. The nature of combat is virtually all tennis. But I am not really talking about the gameplay. I'm talking more about the reward structure.
In New World, cities can be captured by better players. Ownership of a settlement is really the ultimate reward in the game. To let one group of players deny another group of players the major objective of the game, permanently, and leave the other players with zero, is all tennis. For well over half the players of the game, their involvement is totally futile, and because AOE doesn't stack, and battles therefore take place between dogpiles, often irrelevant. The combat may as well be 10v10.
I think Ashes understands this. PvP is merely to test yourself and see how you rank competitively against other players. The main game IS the PvE content, and your amassed wealth and standing in the community a measure of that, PvP should be a lot of fun, and have its rewards, but those rewards should not be taken away from another player, or stop a player from playing the game, in a non-competitive way, because ultimately it will drive players away.
There is one exception to this and that is gambling. If you choose to opt in, then you can risk a certain amount to win a certain amount. Make the risk/reward sufficient then people will opt in. many games, including golf, handicap stronger players as an incentive for weaker players to compete. Again previous MMOs have done this very poorly.
Anyway I think the easiest way to sum up and deal with TLDR; is just to reiterate, more golf, less tennis!
