Was xp loss in pvp a good idea?

[VanEyck]

Originally Posted by Softcore PK [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

There's no penalty for partaking in pvp, there's a penalty for dying. As there always has been :P

Classic RZ, VZ, and TZ had no pvp experience loss. Am I wrong?

[stormlord]

Remove it. Add a pvp points system instead and post it on the website. Show the top 50/100/etc. Do like EQLive did and show all of hte deahts on the server every day. Allow for us to filter by guild/name/zone/god/etc. That will do the server far, far more good than this badly thought exp loss (upon pvp death).

People who kill somebody close to their level (or above) get more points than peolpe who kill those who're lower level than them. People get their score lowered if they do multiple kills of hte same person.

The only function of the pvp points is to be a scoring system. It offers no other rewards than the fame you get from being on the top 50 or top 100 or top 200 lists. No more reward is needed.

I'm willing to bet that in a server-wide vote most would agree with me.

The time/point-loss people get from dying in PvP is more than enough grief. Additionally, EQ is always punching us in the gut when we fail. Now players are cutting our throats in PvP. Lay off on the masochism.

I do not know my programming all that well IN THIS regard, but my guess is that a output text file can be saved (periodically) by the server and a PHP page can read it. Alternatively (this is outside anything i've done), there might be a way to directly communicate the statistics without having to open/save a file (on the game server). This would mean that any saving can be done elsewhere and the game server can just work in memory.

I don't think there're THAT many deaths per minute though that a little bit of saving overhead cannot be afforded. Then ti's just a matter of a php page loading and parsing for output to the browser. MySQL or something similar may be related. But my expertise in this area is very distant and flaky.

[stormlord]

Another thing to keep in mind is that PvP MMORPGs have ALWAYS had trouble. They're always struggling. This server is slowly losing people, but I doubt that's because of this experience loss. But on the other hand, I spare no time in saying that SOME people DO leave the server because of the experience loss when you die in pvp.

Look at Eve-Online. If PvP really was IN then it would have millions of active players, not 100-200,000. PvP is a hardcore mechanic. Without severe restrictions on how PvP happens in a game, you will cripple your population. WoW, for example, has quite a few restrictions. One of my friends plays it and has only once or twice took part - and has played for several months. That should tell you that it's not PvP that makes WoW good. Because if it were, I'd be hearing stories from my friend about how he was griefed on his way to the land of milk and honey.

[Softcore PK]

If they leave because of the pvp death penalty, why would they play EQ in the first place?

I'm sure with all my pve deaths tallied up, I've eaten over 2 levels worth of exp loss. And the pvp deaths have probably resulted in like 20% of one level or less.