GvG/PvP Downsides and AOC's Solutions?
Hello, Everyone and welcome to this open discussion. I, ObiWon, your future Tank Extraordinaire have been playing Black Desert Online for the Past 5 years. And, I wanted to open up some discussion about potential downsides and fixes that I am not sure have been addressed or discussed. They may have been talked about already, and there may very well be other discussions about this specific topic with AOC staff giving solutions however, I am not informed about them so I am making this post here.
So, to get started I will be discussing 6 topics particularly, Player/Guild Tracking, Spawn Killing, Negative Chat Dialogue, Guild Domination, Gear Locking, and PvP Skill/Gear Caps. To get started;
Player or even guild tracking can become very disadvantageous, annoying, toxic, problematic, etc. which can deter players from playing. However, tracking a player and their exact location can be useful, fun, and appropriate given the right treatment. Therefore I personally don't believe Guild Tracking at maximum should ever be a feature within this game. Especially since tracking a whole guild doesn't seem viable as it consists of many players who engage in different activities or parts of the map at different times. For example, in BDO you are able to go to a shadowy figure within the tavern in the Town of Velia who for a certain amount of money will unlock the current location of a player on the same server as you. But, if they move from the initial ping it does not follow them. Giving them a chance, however, it does not notify them that they are being tracked.
This allows players to get PK'd during intense grind sessions or lifeskilling when they do not desire to PvP at all. Now We know Ashes has created a system that lets you indicate whether or not you even want to participate in PvP and if you are killed as a PvE player there are penalties for the PvPer. However, some players will make alts or kills regardless of any penalties. And someone may not always be online or have friends to help them. How do we solve those instances? I have heard of a Sheriff system but, no further discussion has been talked about. Can someone getting spawn killed or farmed even type or ask for aid when they are killed? In, BDO, once you die you cannot type or do anything except respawn allowing you to get continuously killed without being able to ask for aid.
Spawn killing in BDO is so prevalent that even players with good gear or skill can overwhelmed because they cannot repsawn at full health unless they have an item called a fairies tear and those can quickly run out. How is this prevented or mitigated to a certain extent?
Negative Chat dialogue is simple and I know that there is already a system in place but, players will find a way to negatively insult someone that goes beyond a profanity filter or racial remarks. Is this being worked on?
Now, I understand that guilds want to be Number 1 and alliances will play a huge role in that. However, in BDO Console the same guilds have been in the Political Power spot since Launch and players have become sick of it and their politics. Even on PC. When one Guild or Alliance rules for too long with too much power and no one can topple them because they recruit all the strongest players it hinders other guilds growth. Now it's up to an individual to join a guild but, when other guilds are unable to surpass or challenge another for control due to all the strongest players being in one guild how can players seek to overcome this? Assuming any and all new strong players automatically go to join the strongest guild only. Hence Guild domination without challenge.
Gear locking is pretty simple. In BDO, gear is enhanced at a chance rate which is terrible and the bane of all BDO players' existence. This is why I love that gear in AOC is found and has rarity not enhancement-based. However, someone is bound to find the gear that becomes meta and players tend to be followers. Is exploration and gear variety really enough to ensure that players don't become gear locked limiting the player base to just one set that everyone wears? Making gear the PVP or PVE standard without change can lead to players seeking one set of gear that becomes too hard to give people a competitive advantage.
And, finally, PvP skill can always change and adapt, however, gear-wise BDO has this problem where one set gear is the standard and once you max it out you are essentially broken. which means even those with higher skill will die regardless of how close their gear may be to max. Full Pen is full Pen and your skill can be mediocre, but you'll win a majority of the time. Will Skill with a character be balanced to the point where someone with worse gear can kill or dominate someone with better gear? Or will someone with better gear always win out? Is PVP going to be gear-based or skill-based? Of course, it's supposed to be both but, hopefully, you see my point.
Let me know what you guys think bad or good and let me know of your concerns about PvP or Guild fights.