In this article, we examine various aspects of Player versus Player (PvP) content in Elder Scrolls Online (ESO), and why compared to many other games it is so hard to get into.
Too Much Diversity in Skills and Gear
One of ESO's strengths as a NON-PvP game is the diversity of power fantasies and play styles it can support. Not everything will be numerically the best, but the possible combinations of skills and play-changing equipment sets are staggering. And realistically, it is impossible to make every class "balanced" against each other because of that potential.
In Player versus Environment (PvE), the job of the developers is easier because when designing combat, on one side they have enemies that are fully under their control. In a dungeon instance, they control the map, enemy placement, enemy numbers, and enemy statistics. That forms the baseline for the gameplay experience.
The player side of that equation is essentially unknowable because of the potential possible builds. But they can monitor how people are performing against an encounter, and from there they can look at specific over-performing skills and gear and tweak that to balance things out.
So basically in PvE one side of the encounter-balance equation (monsters) is entirely knowable. This allows adjustments on just the other side (player options), and makes things manageable. Players can have fun with builds -- as is intended -- while still having fun in the game.
In PvP, both sides of the encounter-balance equation are players. This means both sides are essentially unknowable. And the wide variety of skills and play-changing equipment sets means that players can target specific effects and make extreme builds. This effect is multiplied by the potential participants in a PvP scenario -- up to four in Battlegrounds, potentially over a dozen or more in open-world PvP areas such as Cyrodiil.
Because the range is basically too wide and reliant on combinations, any attempt to specifically change skills or gear will have too much of a ripple effect on all other uses of the skill or gear where they are not over-performing.
And changes to PvP result in changes to PvE where it wasn't an issue at all because the encounter objectives there are different and enemy strengths are controllable. This further destabilizes the game overall, outside of PvP.
Further, because some of these combinations and team-ups can seem invincible in their effectiveness, this creates two additional problems: Stalemating and cheating.
When another team has a similar setup, it's not uncommon to then have a stalemate where neither side can defeat the other -- and some builds are designed to create that stalemate by simply surviving anything thrown at them so they can accomplish other objectives than killing other players (e.g., in Battlegrounds where the score is decided by objectives rather than straight kills).
Also, it becomes too easy for cheaters to hide their cheats and simply claim they are using an over-performing but legitimate build. It's not easy to tell the difference, and that actually doesn't matter -- when even legitimate play can perform like cheating, something is very wrong.
In other games, PvP has a much smaller range of potential. This creates a more competitive environment where skilled players can have superior performance without invincibility, and all players can contribute to some degree. And cheats are more clearly visible.
PvE Skills and Gear in PvP
Allowing PvE skills and gear in PvP is clearly already a non-starter as the developers have to introduce "Battle Spirit" -- a global adjustment for PvP. It includes massive adjustments such as "reduce damage taken by 50%". Clearly PvE mechanics are not designed for an inappropriate for PvP. This further complicates any changes to skills and gear targeted at PvP performance when those changes will affect PvE as well.
Reliance on an exploit to be competitive
- Too much diversity in skills and gear
- PvE Skills and Gear in PvP
- Reliance on an exploit to be competitive
- No Management of bugs, cheats, and exploits
Too Much Diversity in Skills and Gear
One of ESO's strengths as a NON-PvP game is the diversity of power fantasies and play styles it can support. Not everything will be numerically the best, but the possible combinations of skills and play-changing equipment sets are staggering. And realistically, it is impossible to make every class "balanced" against each other because of that potential.
In Player versus Environment (PvE), the job of the developers is easier because when designing combat, on one side they have enemies that are fully under their control. In a dungeon instance, they control the map, enemy placement, enemy numbers, and enemy statistics. That forms the baseline for the gameplay experience.
The player side of that equation is essentially unknowable because of the potential possible builds. But they can monitor how people are performing against an encounter, and from there they can look at specific over-performing skills and gear and tweak that to balance things out.
So basically in PvE one side of the encounter-balance equation (monsters) is entirely knowable. This allows adjustments on just the other side (player options), and makes things manageable. Players can have fun with builds -- as is intended -- while still having fun in the game.
In PvP, both sides of the encounter-balance equation are players. This means both sides are essentially unknowable. And the wide variety of skills and play-changing equipment sets means that players can target specific effects and make extreme builds. This effect is multiplied by the potential participants in a PvP scenario -- up to four in Battlegrounds, potentially over a dozen or more in open-world PvP areas such as Cyrodiil.
Because the range is basically too wide and reliant on combinations, any attempt to specifically change skills or gear will have too much of a ripple effect on all other uses of the skill or gear where they are not over-performing.
And changes to PvP result in changes to PvE where it wasn't an issue at all because the encounter objectives there are different and enemy strengths are controllable. This further destabilizes the game overall, outside of PvP.
Further, because some of these combinations and team-ups can seem invincible in their effectiveness, this creates two additional problems: Stalemating and cheating.
When another team has a similar setup, it's not uncommon to then have a stalemate where neither side can defeat the other -- and some builds are designed to create that stalemate by simply surviving anything thrown at them so they can accomplish other objectives than killing other players (e.g., in Battlegrounds where the score is decided by objectives rather than straight kills).
Also, it becomes too easy for cheaters to hide their cheats and simply claim they are using an over-performing but legitimate build. It's not easy to tell the difference, and that actually doesn't matter -- when even legitimate play can perform like cheating, something is very wrong.
In other games, PvP has a much smaller range of potential. This creates a more competitive environment where skilled players can have superior performance without invincibility, and all players can contribute to some degree. And cheats are more clearly visible.
PvE Skills and Gear in PvP
Allowing PvE skills and gear in PvP is clearly already a non-starter as the developers have to introduce "Battle Spirit" -- a global adjustment for PvP. It includes massive adjustments such as "reduce damage taken by 50%". Clearly PvE mechanics are not designed for an inappropriate for PvP. This further complicates any changes to skills and gear targeted at PvP performance when those changes will affect PvE as well.
Reliance on an exploit to be competitive
Combat in ESO currently allows an exploit of unintended animation cancelling. Players discovered this but the developers strangely allowed this. And because it is unintuitive (cancelling an animation so fast that often none of it is visible to the opponent), newer players are bewildered when so many people are seemingly "cheating" by making multiple attacks in the time they can make one. Then they go to the forums and discover that it is an exploit that is allowed to be used.
So to be competitive in PvP, players need to use an exploit, one they didn't need anywhere else in the game (PvE).
Exploiting game systems to remove competitiveness
Mainly this concerns under-50 Battlegrounds where players who are basically not maximum level compete in instanced matches.
What really happens is established players who have a max level (level 50) character will erase that character and start over. They save all their gear so the new character will always have top-tier maximum enchantment level gear. They go to the Crown Store (cash shop) to buy unlocked skill lines and skill points so without even having to play the new character they can get the best and most powerful skills.
Basically, twinking. They don't want to advance in PvP, they just want to win against newbies who have no idea what is going on.
No Management of Bugs, Cheats, and Exploits
Bugs, cheats, and other suspicious situations affect gameplay and are not addressed by the developers, who don't even comment to say they are looking into it. Even outright exploits of the game mechanics to farm rewards are not addressed. Examples:
- The possibility that some players can destabilize the server and cause an opposing faction to be disconnected from the game.
- Players can inadvertently hold on to an objective item and instantaneously travel to a destination with it, whereas in normally they would need to walk it over.
- A cheater brazenly swimming in and out of terrain with a PvP objective item, immune to anything the opposing faction can do.
- "AP Boosting" -- a type of win-trading where friends play the opposing faction to help other friends get scores and currency rewards (Alliance Points, or "AP") -- not addressed by the developers.
Comments
Post a Comment