Hux's page

Griefing and sandbox games is an age old dilemma. PVP is an integral part of a sandbox environment, without PVP it takes away a huge chunk of the freedom involved in a sandbox world. However there are some things that will need to be done to curb people from killing anyone they come across.

1. Don't make it very profitable. If there will be loot drops let it be based on a formula via value and character level vs opponenet level.

2. New player areas and Major cities should be protected areas.

3. Aiding and abetting must be discouraged. How often has a 'red' secretly or openly been in cahoots with a blue to grief the other blues?

4. Social repercussions are mandatory.

I am in favor of open world PVP but it has to be designed with these basic precepts and others I am probably unaware of to make it a fulfilling experience for everyone involved.

There are many keys to making games, learned from ancient games like go and chess to modern games like World of Warcraft. There must be balance in the system. Each person needs to feel his character is special and offers something unique in comparison to everyone else and yet for the game to survive for any period of time there must be forged a balance of power between all involved.

Everyone wants to feel like the adventure is there's and theirs alone, (particularly in a sandbox MMO) and yet still needs to be able to fill a role in a larger picture of events that unfold within the world.

Whatever choices you make in design remember this paradox of game design while still allowing the players to have the freedom of choice, without this the game quickly becomes stale.