Geor
Gear wise however.. I think its totally fine for people to bring their own gear.
At the 2020 Atys Tournament everyone was given the same gear and it wasnt fun because everyone had the same weakness armor and jool wise.
It wasnt even a melee battle most times. In the grand final (2020 Tournament) between Nightviper and myself, I ran at him with an axe and he just threw 2 double 250/250 shockwaves at me like a softball and took me down in seconds. (smart move by him.) but he only did that because everyone had the same holes in their jools.
With poeple bringing their own gear however you get the different jools (DLP, DFL etc) you also get different armor protections (slash peirce smash) and overall a better 'combat' between players.
I absolutely agree. It only took me a few seconds of looking at the equipment we were issued and I knew that Shock would win the tournament. PvP in Ryzom takes place off the battlefield for the most part. Replacing that preparation with crappy gear has no value.
I've been seeing discussions around the format for ages, I've had them myself. Just let people do what they want. Consumable gone except for ammo and the rest should be allowed.
What needs to change is the chatter around "but no one has anything to lose". But in PvP everyone has something to lose. The fun and the victory. Therefore, the attitude should change, not the punishment for a lost battle or the price for victory.
By far the most players I've brought into PvP didn't want that. Because they didn't want to be laughed at or generally disrespected. Or because they thought they couldn't. Or because they didn't want beef (not the player). Why was that? Because that's what you could observe, at all times.
So you better think about what you can do so that there are more participants, no matter what their skill level is. If the 10 skilled PvP players don't like it, take 20 beginners who have fun with it. Educate. Train. Wonder.
The format brings variety and not salvation.