Bluddwolf's page

I thought the 550 was a fair amount for a DT account that also had 10 months of paid time still available, and was an account with settlemeng leasdership attached to it as well.

I sold it for $400 out of respect to Kenton Stone, and the very quick transaction. I felt I was at least walking away with every penny I put into the game, minus the transaction fee from PayPal. Bottom line, my entire gaming experience with PFO cost me $12 and included almost two years of play time.

The quick sale also deflected the wife aggro because that very night my Kickstarter cost of $580 hit for Conan RPG, and I was able to say... It was only $180. Yeah, my no questions asked limit is about $500, above that and it's a problem unless it's car tires or a new gun.

I'm also glad to have had the opportunity to step away from the game when I did. Even if the game lasts for a while longer, I don't see it comparing well to newer games on the horizon. PFO needs a complete reboot, including a different game engine and a complete wipe. No investor(s) in their right minds would touch this game otherwise.

"Shards of Ymir" v. 1.2

I have made a few revisions, but these are the last until the full rule set is available in June / July.

I have written my first adventure using the Quickstart Rules v. 3.5 and piecing together several other resources. It is available here, for free, and is formatted for Microsoft Word 2013.

"Shards of Ymir" an Adventure for Conan RPG 2D20 system

Has there ever been a company that had the time and money to develop an MMORPG product with both really great non theme park PVE and also balanced and fun PVP?

The answer to this is "No", but there have been a few that came close.

I think part of your problem is in the use of the qualifier and adjective "Really Great". Not only do they fall subject to the "Eye of the Beholder" but even if we accept that it is possible for just one element of a game to be "Really Great", it is virtually impossible for any developer to get multiple aspects of the game to be so.

Non Theme Park PVE is almost always represented by grinding. How could repetitive, risk free, and storyless activities be considered "Really Great"?

On the PVP side, again we have to look at the terms "Balanced" and "Fun". Again, they are very subjective. A developer has in my opinion just one responsibility in developing their game to be "balanced", and that is where they have pre set classes. Classes should be balanced, so as to not favor one class over the other or to avoid the never ending cycle of trying to repair unbalanced classes, and usually creating the problem of FOTM classes.

In all of my experience with MMOs I have only come across two games that I felt came close to getting both PVE and PVP in a decent balance and both were fun. Star Wars Galaxies and Fallen Earth.

I'm nostalgic for Boot Hill.... Boot Hill RPG PDF.

I'm not sure this is the best, but it's the only one I can think of.

Robert E Howard's Conan RPG

Conan Exiles

Age of Conan Unchained

REH's Conan RPG is a new (still in Kickstarter if you purchase through PayPal) PnP RPG, that will also be supported on RollD20.

It is developed by Modiphius, but they have been smart enough to cross promote with Funcom. Funcom already has Age of Conan MMO and is developing a new Open World Survival MMO called Conan Exiles.

Funcom is giving kickstarters of Conan RPG a package on in-game gear for AOC. They will probably do the same for Conan Exiles. Modiphius is creating source books for both AoC and CE.

Both companies have independent contracts with the owner of Robert E Howard's Properties, and so they are working together with the blessings of the IP holder.

I am currently playing Age of Conan, will start a group for Conan RPG and in the summer, I will buy into the beta of Conan Exiles. One IP, multi platform and an IP I've been a fan of for over 35 years. Winning!!

There's no direct public evidence, that he was fired. However, they said he'd be staying interested and involved after stepping back for personal reasons, yet he has not said a thing about the game since or communicated with the player-base.

In recent posts on social media, Ryan still advertises himself as the CEO of GoblinWorks.

The prospect that he is still involved or could return should give or may be giving any new investors pause.

People forget those so called "personal reasons" did not prevent him from sitting on a panel at the time that it was announced he was leaving.

I think he may just be serving a "time out" and told to lurk well behind the scenes so that the game has some chance of recovering the public relations debacle he had created.

He basically dared MMORPG to treat the game as if it was feature and content ready, and when their review was that is was 4.0 Craptastic, he whined that the game could not get a legitimate review unless it was judged on its potential.

"I'm marketing a race car, with a lawn mower engine in it now, but we will someday upgrade it to a Vespa engine".

So to answer the impossible question of the OP.... The answer is "No" the general direction was flawed as soon as it left the blog posts and began to be developed.

The last time the game was actually fun to play was in Alpha 6, which was also the last time it had a decent population to support the game as an MMO.

Now that I have divested myself from the game, I looked back at some of my earliest posts going back over 3 years ago.

Germaine to this discussion, all I can say is.... Damn if they only made the game they described in the blog posts!

The early ideas of the flagging system, were what really sold me on the game. Unfortunately, they never really got the PvP system right, it was never open enough and just far too limiting and without risk or reward.

The funnel of suck was too effective and found in too many aspects of the game.

Just way too many problems with the game, that started with its marketing and continued all the way through to its implementation. Nearly complete failure in its vision, which never appealed to enough people to ever produce a viable product.

If they truly shot for EvE with Swords, it would have had a better chance. But thebgane engine would still have been a major stumbling block. Monetization was also a major mistake, and the play of words as to the stage of the game led to the terrible reviews that the game received.

All of these decisions became the real "funnel of suck".

Hopefully Paizo will be smart enough to undo some of the damage, by first declaring the game is in an Early Stage of Alpha. They should suspend the subscription fee, until major changes have been reached, including and most importantly a whole new game engine. The current engine has no future, it is obsolete and can not compete with games made since 2009.

Is it essentially dead or what? I read an article about the devs firing all but three of their staff and if that isnt a death knell for a game I dont know what is.

What the hell happened O.o

Well, you seem to have already drawn your own conclusion. ... Move on, nothing to see here....

Duffy wrote:

I'm not sure why you highlighted that aspect or how you think it would be the candidate to draw in players that aren't super fond of PvP.

It makes Social PvP more meaningful. The players who are able to articulate a position that gets a significant faction of the server supporting them will have an actual advantage in-game, rather than the advantage always going to the most bloodthirsty / least scrupulous, as seems inevitably the case in most PvP sandboxes where the only thing that limits a player's ability to continue the attack unhindered is their own determination.

Those that left the game because of PvP, would have left even if their attackers were weak and naked, but relentless. They still would have been forced to PvP, any time and any where. There were players who quit, because they heard rumors of other players getting jumped.

Trying to make PvP palatable to strongly PvP adverse players is like trying to convince some one on welfare to vote Republican. Their interest is just not there.

You used to get so upset when I said "This game is not for everyone" and I directed it to a PvP adverse person. There was no way to convince them, and wasting time trying to do so may have slowed advertising efforts on the part of goblin works.

I have never, in any industry, seen such a poorly marketed product. Not just in its target audiance, but also just in the lack of overall advertising.

thenoisyrogue wrote:

This thread was the moment I knew pathfinder online was in trouble:

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2pasw&page=2?Why-this-whole-OnLine-Thing-wo rries-me#86

You really should be talking about this more, Dancey opened with this when he came into the thread:

Ryan Dancey wrote:

@All - I think it's unavoidable that some folks who love Pathfinder tabletop will see Pathfinder Online as a mistake. That's just human nature.

I'd like to emphasize we're all in this together. It's unhelpful to tell people they have bad-wrong concerns, or that they're being repetitive of things others have said, or question their knowledge or their love of the brand.

The best thing you can do is not respond.

You're not going to convince Captain Marsh, and those like him that he's wrong. Can't be done.

But you will create the impression that it's us vs. them. And that's bad for Pathfinder, Pathfinder Online, Goblinworks, and Paizo.

You help us more by saying nothing. Just let it go. These kinds of messages will appear forever. Allow it to simply pass without comment. There's no upside to engagement, and a lot of downside.

RyanD

Looks like Captain Marsh was correct and Ryan was wrong.

Pathfinder Online is tabletop WoW?!

I'm no fan of WoW (only played it for about 6 months when it launched), but WoW is a better game in every aspect, and that includes during its first few months.

It seems overly complicated, which is one of the reasons PFO is failing as well.

The simplest forms of PvP to create, and ithey are on an opt in basis are:

1. Faction based PvP
2. Zone based PvP

The way you entice players to opt is is that you give benefits to those that opt in.

Faction based benefits could be special skills, faction weapons and armor, etc.

Zone based benefits are access to higher tier resources.

No need for complicated reputation system, feud system or even war mechanics. Because it is all on opt in basis, no complaints from those who don't ever want to PvP. For those who want to PvP, they will always have their faction enemies to fight or they can fight over the control of the PvP enabled hexes.

YOU SHOULDA LISTENED TOO LATE TO FIX THAT SHUSHI GRASS NOW

It is obvious, the poor grass was due to the lack of irrigation. The true root cause is waterless rivers.

Wizards of the Coast went the route of handling its IP license over to be used to create a cooperative multiplayer RPG, and Sword Coast Legends might actually be a ROLLD20 killer.

That would probably been a better route for Paizo / Goblin Works to have taken.

I think it is pretty obvious that mistakes were made with nomenclature (alpha, beta, EE, etc); with Minimum Viable Product and ultimately who defines that; and with the business model.

It is time to move on from that and look forward to the next CRITICAL six months of development.

Wow, didn't I call that?

Here's the thing, in my opinion of course... Almost everything has to be on the table, as far as the game is concerned, in order to get a new backer.

The only thing Paizo needs to protect is the IP, that is PFO's only valuable asset.

Even if they have to remove all of the PVP, and just make it a PVE Sandbox, without all of the expensive bells and whistles that go with the typical Theme Park MMO. The only thing they must do is get a backer willing to invest in a whole new game engine. You can't start a new game with an engine that has been obsolete for 6 years.

There is a difference between building a cheaper MMO and building an MMO on the cheap.

I think one of the most interesting things about Pathfinder Online is that it allows players to make their own stories, just as they do in the RPG

But not through any game mechanic specifically designed to support, encourage or enhance role playing. It is left entirely up to the player's imagination and ability to meta game those supports not found in the game.

It would be helpful to have view able character bios (if the player chooses to make them public).

Settlements could have a sign, click and read, to discover what the settlement stands for or an update on its recent news or planned events.

Social clothing, company uniforms,greater color palette for item customization, and social emotes (animated).

I realize that many of these may be in the works, but in general more RP tools are needed.

The 10 things every MMO’s official site should have wrote:

1. Business model explanation
2. Screenshots
3. Clear, unfettered news feeds
4. Basic guides to game mechanics
5. On-site account management
6. Sensibly arranged forums
7. Search tools
8. Moderated use of visual flair
9. Links to useful external resources
10. Download links that aren’t obtrusive

Seems like a useful article or subject pointer.

Everyone of those are found here on Paizo, but not at Goblinworks.com forums.

Although the list does not include, but should, an Email / PM system.

Star Citizen, Life is Feudal, and Crowfall. I might still check it out when it releases though.

I have SC account, but waiting until release. I'm not sure about the real money for ships business model. The game really comes off as P2W to me.

LiF, waiting for the MMO version. I've gotten burnt out re rolling toons every time the owners of the servers decide to wipe.

Crowfall, looks like the true next generation (conceptually) replacement for the theme park MMO. Ryan has said in many interviews that the TP MMO will be replaced by Open World PVP focused Sandbox MMOs. He was likely correct in that belief, unfortunately PFO is not being developed to sufficiently to align with the true meaning of those attributes. It is not nearly PVP focused enough and has too many controls and limitations to be a sandbox (even in its most superficial definition).

The real game I'm looking forward to is, Sword Coast Legends.

I found that SWG died before the NGE, when over 75% of the population became bots just grinding away. A complete loss of player interaction. That's when I left. It had become a bad single player game.

You are correct that that the decline of the game was before NGE, it was actually shortly before LTLP. The damned Holocrons was the problem.

Before the Holocrons, the only way to become a Jedi was to stumble upon it . The first Jedi on Ahazi server was quite content to be the only one, until someone else discovered it. Unfortunately the forum whines were heard by SOE, and they initiated the holocron system.

Then players could just level up a certain class, have the next class revealed, level that class and unlock the Jedi class missions and class.

This lead to the AFK grinding (botting) and power leveling of characters in tow.

Meanwhile certain classes, like Smuggler, were neglected for nearly 2 years (including beta) as they had no "powers" assigned to the Mastery level.

SOE adopted a flavor of the month class system leading up to JTLS as well.

It is good to hear that EL is still growing. Growth is having more players today than you did yesterday, simple perspective.

Whether the game on a macro level is experiencing growth, stagnation or declined doesn't change the micro reality for an individual company or settlement.

Just a thought, for the "Archers", and perhaps the other "squads' as well.

This event was well organized and had approximately three groups to serve a specific role. A very good idea.

"Puller(s)"

"Fighters"

"Archers"

However, target acquisition, even when calling out targets is extremely difficult. The mob name tags are TOO SMALL and the PURPLE color is perhaps the worse choice.

Second, mob behavior is somewhat unpredictable and it then gets matched with unpredictable player behavior. Blob mentality is often what it devolves in and is just about as effective, when you have the numbers that we did (20+).

Suggestions:

1a. Archers stand off to a designated flank of the mob cluster. This should avoid most of the unintentional targeting of allied players (I think I shot one of LifeDragn's ears off).

1b. Alpha Strike! If timed properly any "reds" (which I know were not many) should drop without aggroing the cluster.

Secondary targets for Alpha Strike, the hind-most mob that has been kited.

1c. "Slow Your Role". Being primarily an archer, I have learned in these big groups to slow my combat down. I try to make sure my target is a mob, and I try to target Mobs that are already taking damage.

A weakened mob does just as much damage as one with full health.

2. Large Group Communications.

Everyone in same channel, although for the most part it was orderly, could be organized in this manner.

In some VOIP programs, you can be in one channel and "ghost" or listen to in another. If not, then you can open up two separate clients using multiple tabs or even multiple services (ie. Mumble and Teamspeak.)

Raid Leader Channel:

He / She call the shots, set to mic and listen.

Squad Leaders 1 - 3: Ghost, set to listen

Individual Squad Channels:

Squad Leader: Set to mic and listen
Players 1-5: set to mic and listen

This should cut down on cross chatter and will lead to more precise action (ie. target acquisition).

Overall, I would like to thank TEO for putting together this event.

I get way more then $15 worth of entertainment out of this forum alone.

These forums are free, and I have access to them even at work.

This change in focus has been in the works for a few weeks now. The active members of the Aragonian Council have been running escalations in Aragon's region, and we have been using the Golarion Mumble.

We will be in contact through Mumble with PFU to organize events for or with their students.

We also have a good range of T1 crafting available in Aragon / Marchmont and can supply most needs, given time and resources.

We are rebuilding our ranks along with the shift in focus. Adventurers, Gatherers and Crafters are welcome, as well as players who want to remain PvP focused, but patient enough to wait for more systems to support it.

Aragon is a settlement that is adherent to the principles of the River Freedoms. The Aragonian Council will not limit your actions or freedom in any substantial way. We will not require service beyond common defense. We will not tax your efforts unless maintenance costs require it.

We are hopeful that this new focus will align better with the current game systems, and we may in the future revisit that shift if necessary or advantageous.

What is Pathfinder? it is a game system
What are the River Kingdoms? they are the setting

What aspects of PFO can be directly traced to Pathfinder, and uniquely Pathfinder?

What in PFO can you point to and say? "Yes, this is definitely feeling like I'm playing in the River Kingdoms".

I'm not asking these questions for the position that there are no positive answers. The OP is asking to be convinced before buying. If the Pathfinder IP is important to him, and the setting is appealing, is it possible to point out the traits of the game that are uniquely tied to both game and setting?

I direct these questions to Paizo / Goblin Works as well.

To compare it to other games with strong IPs, please look at Lord of the Rings Online and or Star Wars the Old Republic or Star Trek Online.

Enter any one of those games and ask yourself, does this feel like I am in a world based on those IPs?

In Fallen Earth there was a self-PVP flagging system. For many it became the culture of the game that you flagged up anytime your group formed up. Solo characters were not expected to flag.

The culture was largely based on meta "street cred", since the server really boiled down to faction warfare and sometimes even intra faction disputes (usually within the Outlaw Biker, Travelers and Chota factions).

Those unwilling or caught not flagging when it was expected, were publically ridiculed as cowards. I bore witness to one incident of assassination of a club leader and his girlfriend over such an incident.

This meta system worked and created, in my opinion, the best game community (that fit the setting perfectly) I have ever experienced in an MMO.

If I recall correctly, there was a timer "warning" before someone became PVP active, and one (several minutes) after you disabled PVP flag. You could not log out until the PVP flag had expired.

The "warning" was so other PVP flagged individuals would have some notice that you were joining the fight. The delay in being able to log off, obviously was meant to prevent combat logging.

Respawn had an invulnerability period, and death automatically unflagged you for PVP. If you voluntarily reflagged, it broke your invulnerability.

The only problem with this system was that there was no way to tell if someone was still invulnerable and even though you could hit them, they would take no damage. In big battles you might be attacking someone you could not hurt, taking your attention away from someone you might.

The players fixed this by not having big battles near respawn sites, or by having a "spotter" identify returnees from respawn, so buddies would not target until after timer was over.

I really wish Lee Hammock had just brought the PVP Flagging and Faction system over from Fallen Earth, if not mechanically at least in concept. The same actually goes for FE's crafting system, which was rated in the top 5 of all time.. http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rc85?Congratulations-Lee-Hammock#1

Bluddwolf wrote:

@ Andius,

I will point out, or at least I hope it is true, that it is also a fringe element that wants to make non consensual PvP a rare and "frowned upon" event.

I really wish that were so but the policies this community opposes have me firmly convinced it's greater than 50% of PFO's current player base.

If Crowfall were direct competition to PFO it would be safe to pronounce this game dead already. Where titles like Life is Feudal have a decent edge on PFO, Crowfall is leaps and bounds ahead of it in terms of how sophisticated their operation is, and the experience of the team working for them. Their crowdfunding has also been significantly more successful and the fact they are running the Voxel engine opens up a world of possibilities not accessible to PFO.

The fact that there are almost as many current and former PFO community members using their boards as there are using these boards also could be a major cause for concern.

Still, I think the lack of persistence of campaigns will help PFO out in terms of setting itself apart. But if they focus more on their post KS crowdfunding I could see them bringing in enough money to create a game that will eclipse all other fantasy sandboxes in the same way I don't care about any futuristic / space based title being worked on other than Star Citizen.

Crowfall is not a direct competitor until it goes into Alpha stage 1, which will be in the summer. Alpha stage 2 is scheduled for September, and that is a much more significant number (and is probably double the size of PFO's current player base).

Crowfall has been marketed to the PVP base of Shadowbane, Darkfall and EVE and the crafting base of Star Wars Galaxies. Where this differs from PFO should be obvious, and it is where I think GW has made its major mistake.

Crowfall is marketed to the Open World PVP Sandbox MMO player base. It is not trying to attract the TT community, and so it does not have to "teach" players how to cope with Open World PVP. The Devs are in fact unapologetic about it, and I have seen a moderator or two actually tell forum goers "this is not the game for you, unless....".

Crowfall has been backed by almost every major guild I can think of from its stated lineage.

Albion Online, is also an Open World PVP Sandbox MMO, that is even more "hard core" than Crowfall. Its guild discussion boards are a cesspool of toxic banter, with no language filters to speak of (when a guild name can be "Black C_ _ K" and they justify the name by having a Black Rooster as their logo, you'll understand what I mean).

The game is more of sandbox due to the total lack of a class system. You gain and train skills based on the equipment that you wear or use. You can mix and match however you choose.

The PVP, even though there are a few safe zones, is FFA Full loot and no penalty for PKing.

Its population is smaller than Crowfall's, but its Summer Alpha begins in June, so it will be competition a bit sooner for at least some of PFO's player base.

Ryan may have been right in that the Sandbox MMO is the wave of the future of MMOs. But I think he may have excluded the other factor, MMO players that focus on PVP don't want "safe" or even have the same notions of what is or isn't "toxic". They want risk vs reward full loot, based on both of the games I've mentioned. They don't want their game play dictated by PVP adverse players.

Capitalocracy wrote:

but where there are exceptions, it's not because they're either carebears or murderhobos.

Can I be a murderbear? .

Queue in the music... "Killing Them Softly".

Ironically the game sits at a point where no one is happy. PvE players are quitting unhappy with always being open to attack at any time anywhere even when crafting in a settlement and PvP players are quitting because they are not getting enough excitement.

Bull....

Being open to attack anytime anywhere is a whole lot different then actually being attacked anytime and anywhere.

The later is not happening to any extent beyond it being "rare". You can't point to the current war as being the entirety of the experience from January until now. It has been at most a several day and isolated event.

Players are leaving in droves, or will not resub come May 1, for many more reasons than just the one you cite.

The primary reason is that PFO is a subscription based alpha, and is not in the current state that justifies the $15.00 per month expense.

There is no sense of grandeur in this game, it is soulless and reptetative.

2 hexes next to EL Bonedancer free again. 2 more making progress. Lets see if they are cleared before the Bonedancers have a new leader.

The Aragonian "Sentinels of Echo Wood" are chipping in at driving the Bone Dancer hordes out of our region.

If any want to join in, especially PFU students, these escalations are fairly doable with low experienced characters.

Contact: Tvy Blodvaerd, Taklin Holderheck or Kentin Stone if you wish to join us.

Aragon

So they tell the offending player to come read the forums after warning them? UNC

Aragonian Council

Individual members of listed associations.

Bluddwolf wrote:

Edit: I will now take my leave of this thread, please do not drag me back in with mentions of Aragon, Aragonian Council, UNC or any individual member of listed associations.

*cough*

It's going to take more than that... Doh!

Ranged attack is still rooted, and due to the lag involved with continuing to fire even after the first target is down, leaves the archer / caster vulnerable to additional attackers, being unable to move or attack (even after switching to melee) for an additional round.

This is compounded even greater when fighting critters that have stun lock, ie. Alpha Wolves, Bandit Archers, Goblin Shamans, certain Ogre (forget which ones), etc..

Making PVE content even more difficult and requiring even larger grouping, when the server population is about to decline (end of KS month 4) is a bad idea.

The Everbloom Alliance is friendly to strangers and helpful to all. We welcome visitors and are happy to talk to anyone interested in operating in our area. Generally, we're happy to let folks harvest or join us to fight escalations, but those resources are limited and therefore they need to be properly managed.

Known enemies in EBA Territory will be killed without any questions unless they've arranged for a proper escort first. It should be fairly easy to identify the folks on the forums who are "known enemies" :)

How can the community accept that you speak for the Everbloom Alliance in one post, where in previous posts you explain that Phaeros is not bound by agreements made by said alliance?

Your word, to put it bluntly, does not match your past actions.

Escalations are not limited, except if they are depleted to 0%, and even then they will eventually respawn. Regular resource nodes will respawn fairly quickly a few yards away.

Unquestionably, characters are freer to travel in and around Aragon, than near Phaeros (which is the only settlement you apparently can speak for).

That was a heart, as in I like the post...

Yes I gave the game a try.

Yes I sold my accounts when I decided I had neither the time, money or interest in the game in its current state to give the effort it required to play. The control system for combat is especially problematic and is very, very painful (as in can't move my wrists) after an hour or so of gameplay. Something I don't get in many other games.

No, I haven't completely given up hope that someday PFO might be a game I enjoy playing.

Well then, I apologize for mistaking it for the other meaning.

As for your physical condition, best of luck with that. I can see why even with tab targeting PFO's controls may still cause a good amount of strain.

If you are interested in fantasy RPGs and multiplayer, I would recommend you look into Sword Coast legends.

Rynnik wrote:

Gaskon wrote:

I want the response to "we lost a tower" to be "we take 2 towers back", instead of what's happening now.

How is that appetizing if you want to avoid ever fighting at a tower ever because it isn't fun?

Gatherers have whole lists of unappetizing things they have to do to avoid PVP they don't like.

And people that don't thrill over freestyle PVP get told that this isn't the game for them.

So... suck it up and take the towers back, even if its not fun?

Or ignore the tower wars and have your training capped at 9?

Don't play until more enjoyable PVP systems are implemented?

I'm confused by this. First of all, Golgotha has clearly stated, anyone not in Phaeros should,vacate the area around Phaeros. That seems to me to be fair warning.

Secondly, Golgotha is within its rights to retaliate for attacks upon itself in whatever manner it sees fit. The aggressor does not get to dictate the terms of retaliation.

From the sounds of the response here on the forums, Phaeros bit off more than they can chew, because Golgotha's reprisal is hitting them where it really hurts.

This is evidenced by the fact that in General Chat, apparently, TSV's recruitment messaging does not even acknowledge the war nor warn new comers of their imminent risk in traveling there. Kind of like inviting sheep to the slaughterhouse.

Most of all, what I find odd is the failure to recognize that this whole "war" was caused by resource scarcity and geo-political factors that represent "working as intended" meaningful human interactions though PVP.

This is what the game is supposed to be like.

How can *I* become an untouchable PvE-er?

Don't log in

If your members and leadership abide by a policy of not griefing in the territory of foreign powers

This coming from the camp (Nihimon specifically) who was inquiring what the community would think if he (and party) "blue blocked" a character at a shrine and repreatedly killed him, until his armor and gear was destroyed, would be considered griefing?

I'm certain that if any of the 3rd party members had stated the opposite of the obvious, Nihimon would be employing that tactic. I'm equally sure that if anyone from Golgotha or UNC (particularly me) had even asked the same question, we would have been branded as Griefers, regardless of never having done it.

Remind me how taking a tower does not harm non-combatants?

That is being compared to placing a small holding, to harvest a Monster Hex, which is not only PVE but it is harvesting a completely renewable resource.

Gol Phyllain wrote:

EoX is currently engaged in such an experiment. Since we lost all of our towers we have decided to tank our rep and murder everyone we see in Brighthaven alliance lands.

This is pretty much what I always expected from the Pax/UNC alliance anyway.

That has never been a stated or practiced goal of UNC. Also, Pax and UNC had never had an alliance in the truer sense of the word, simply a NON aggression pact which in-game has never been recognized (again in practice) by several members of Golgotha.

You will not see members of the Aragonian Council in any excursion into the South East, as part of any other settlement's interests.

Aragon will be focusing on stockpiling resources (gathering), Crafting T2 gear, and running escalations (likely with PFU) since they have been open to us joining in.

"Almost all I've ever done is make games and every game that isn't a disaster, is nearly one!"

I think he (Bluddwolf) wanted a murder simulator a game with unconstrained PvP.

Better?

Yes that is more accurate, and I actually have no issue with the concept of safe starter areas, and the Thornguard protection.

Maybe I would say "with less constrained PvP" in light of that detail.

I would love to see the change in the nature of PvP, if GW tested "no threading" for a brief period. That coupled with the ability to reverse engineer (salvage) loot, so that it coukd be repurposed should make both bandits and crafters alike, drool!

@Bludd

Please don't take this as jumping on the pile and please no one else use this as an excuse for jabs, but your most recent postings seem to have gone from hopeful to bitter and contentious (not like your old style). That's probably not...

Please do not fault me for my ride on an emotional roller coaster. I think I've been fairly consistent, with a generally good natured does of sarcasm, cynicism and a few instances of condescension.

The blog on outposts did sour my mood, because I see the very same issues that the WoT system brought.

A bandit steals other people's stuff. There is no incentive for anyone to actually fight for other peoples stuff, when they can more easily harvest their own. They don't even have to transport it, it will be automatically deposited. Even if I wanted to raid an outpost, it can only happen during a very short window and during a predictable time. The defenders will surely be armed to the teeth with threaded gear and empty pockets. So the dynamic is high risk, little or no reward.

FarmVille

Bluddwolf, how did this game hurt you so deeply dude?

Your 4 EVE points are ridiculous and indicate a perspective 100% blinded to anything outside the pontification you seem so dedicated to.

Sell your accounts, recupe your financial investment and go find another game to troll because there is obviously no point talking to you about this one.

Crowfall sounds great. Plenty of room for it in the market as well. Persistence is a big deal for certain player types though and it will draw heavily on the Rust etc crowd but there is MORE then enough niche left over for this game (and others). Crowfall's infringement on PFO's potential player base is minimal at best.

My four points on how PFO is not an EvE Clone, even conceptually, are dead on accurate. I can only assume that you have little of no experience with EVE, or you would know that already.

I truly wish PFO would become more like EVE, in every aspect besides being a Fantasy based game. I hope that over time GW sees the few missteps that they have taken and move forward with a more compelling product.

As you note, I have invested both time and money into PFO. I would rather have a return through actually playing the game that was described in the blogs, than to have my money back. Money is of little consequence, especially after I have already laid it out.

Aragon is shifting its focus to crafting, not an April Fools joke. Discussions about alignment are useless, because there is no alignment system anyway. G

I will admit that writing the "they don't have a clue what a sandbox means" was a bit too harsh. I am just as far from agreement with Ryan's definition of it as he must be with mine. To me, a sandbox has only an outside perimeter, and obviously no internal compartments. Ryan apparently, does not wish to allow us to play within the sandbox without many controls. In my opinion, so many controls, that it is barely a sandbox at all.

My other major disagreement is that EE had been started too soon. There were and still are, too few systems for even what a minimal viable product would be. I have always said, Goblin Works does not define what "MVP" is, but rather the potential consumer would. The consumer will vote with his or her wallet in this case. I believe the low sever population is an indicator, along with the general reception that PFO has received from outsiders.

Finally, I see the basic building block of social identification being that of the company (guild), rather than Ryan's belief that it is the settlement. He can provide no evidence, even within PFO that his belief is true. I will point to two facts to make my point:

First, the largest 3 to 5 settlements are run by multi gaming community guilds (Pax Gaming, COTP, AGC and even UNC). When the map opens up, are we to believe that none of these will look to relocate?

Secondly, companies have been moving from one settlement to another, as a unit. Clearly this is evidence that settlements are viewed as locations and not the basic building block of social structure.

What I don't understand is why Ryan feels the need to fight this particular battle? Unless of course it is just another attempt to limit the way we plan to play with the sand.

for those with curiosity rather than mindless ridicule Created a link for you

Fixed this for you

This is an advantage to multi-game clans over single-game guilds BTW, you can hop into another game with basically the same group of folks. Very refreshing.

PFO in small doses, once per week and after any new version is released.

You are dead on with Multi Game / Platform groups being as better source of interest. It is also a better use of resources. Why pay a monthly cost for forums and VOIP, for just one game?

The UnNamed Company has become the UnNamed Gaming Community, and we have more traffic in our TT channels, and more buzz in our upcoming titles, than if we tied ourselves to just PFO.

Ceding the public square to the most toxic is not an option.

If your voice can be drowned out by one, rare instance, of just one troll, then what voice do you really have?

1. Silently, report the offender. Do not engage in chat, that will only feed him. Record by some means his postings. Then email them to a GM, Dev or customer support.

2. Minimize or close the general chat window for a few minutes, if not fed he will leave.

3. Ignore his comments. Since it is recognized that no filter or moderation will be full proof, the capacity to simply ignore short term instances of this behavior is expected considering this is the internet, and you know what you will sometimes see, hear or get.

As is the case that prompted this thread, the offending person was banned. I honestly don't see what else GW could have done more.

PG-13

13 year olds can report, minimize or ignore as well. Besides, it is not 13 year olds complaining about this, their music, language, tv shows and movies are far worse.

If a parent is concerned about what their child might be exposed to in general chat, SUPERVISE your child's game play.

We are still talking about turning pimples into Everest. Eve is probably the worse example to use because the game's culture has made "don't chat in local" a part of its mantra. So if you go there and feel insulted, you shouldn't have gone there.

This really started in Barrens Chat in my experience and it is often the most entertaining thing going on in most MMOs.