Discussion around "Outpost Refactoring" - DISCUSSIONS AROUND ONGOING PROJECTS

#50 Added by Tamarea 3 years ago Report | Quote Multilingual

Ryzom Forge meeting - 2021-04-12

Ulukyn (RT) – 20:27 UTC

We've strated the work on the outpost battles refactoring project.
As some may have noticed, four outposts have popped in the Nexus, of four different "levels" (100, 150, 200 and 250).
Their names suggest that they are not "like the others" and will not function in the same way at all. In fact, their ways of working will evolve following the avancement of the refactoring project.
At first, their conquest will be the object of GvE battles (a single guild fighting the NPCs defending the outpost), none of them will be owned by a guild (nor will they host any drill). That in order to test the impact of the projected shortening of the battle duration (from two hours to one) in the best conditions.

Q: During this test period, will the battles still include two phases?
A: No, because these are test outposts. If conquered after one hour of battle, an outpost will be returned immediately to its owners: the defending NPCs (out-of-faction marauders). But, if any battle can be a rewarding challenge, it costs equipment, ammunition, and time for those who fight it. So, the guilds that test will be rewarded for their commitment (to a degree yet to be determined).
We're planning for a guild to launch one attack per week, so hopefully four tests per week (one for each of the outposts) will allow everyone to participate.

Q: Will fighters be tagged and PvP allowed during these test battles?
A: These are outpost battles, so attackers will be OP tagged, yes. But they are also GvE battles in which, in order to not skew the tests, only the attacking guild's PCs will participate, with no allied or enemy PCs, so no PvP fight will be available.

Q: Will the level of NPC defenders be the same for all four outposts?
A: No. As with outposts in other regions, the level of the outpost is determined by the quality of the materials it can produce. The "level" 100 outpost in the Nexus will, as elsewhere, be easier to "conquer" than the level 250 outpost, so a guild will be able to judge its progress in the fight exercise by the level of the outpost it manages to conquer or the threshold it manages to make it reach.

Q: Will the level of each outpost be unchanging?
A: Yes, and once the project is finalized, i.e. once the redesign of the outposts is effective throughout Atys (the tests at the Nexus are indeed just the first ones of a long series), only the nature of the materials produced by any outpost will change between battles, not their quality.

Q: Are there any plans to establish new outposts, for example in the Prime Roots?
A: No. For now, our priority is the completion of the current project: we don't want to slow it down by spreading our efforts.

Q: Given the "PvP area" status of the Nexus, what will prevent anyone from attacking the guild busy testing an outpost battle?
A: Outpost PvP prevents guild PvP by construction, plain and simple.

Q: Does this mean you can quietly drill or hunt for an hour in the Nexus as long as your guild is engaged in an outpost test attack?
A: Basically yes. Relevant comment.

Q (off-topic): When will range weapons be finalized, like 1H weapons were?
A: Since our goal is to finish as many of the current projects as possible in order to have a constant rhythm and an increasingly efficient team, we had to postpone the launch of some others. Thus, the final development of the shooting weapons is not abandoned, far from it. It is just put on hold.
However, if you wish to participate in the working group that is nonetheless reflecting on the subject, you can contact Tamarea privately.

Q (off-topic): Are there any plans to do anything to boost non-outpost PvP to make it more attractive? If not, wouldn't it be possible to have a meeting to discuss this?
A: We'd like to be able to address all the topics, issues and difficulties that players may encounter. But we can't answer all the requests right now, it would be counterproductive.

Edited 2 times | Last edited by Maupas (3 years ago) | Reason: Typos EN

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Tamarea
Ryzom Team Manager
(FR / EN / ES)
tamarea@ryzom.com

#51 Added by Tamarea 3 years ago Report | Quote Multilingual

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Patch - 2021-05-17

The four outposts recently established in the Nexus are activated (opened to homin attack). The characteristics of the battles to be fought for their conquest not only differ significantly from those of the "historical" outposts, but will evolve as the redesign project progresses. Below are those adopted for the first phase of testing:

Mode: Guild vs. NPC (GvE), where only the guild having declared war can participate in the battle (no allied or enemy PCs on the battlefield).
Duration: 55 minutes (11 rounds of 5 minutes).
Declaration: Only one battle per week per guild and per outpost is allowed (so any guild can fight, at best, four battles per week, one on each of the four outposts).
Schedule: a new battle can start at the beginning of each hour for each outpost. A guild wishing to attack must make its declaration within 5 minutes before the start time. For example, a guild wishing to be the attacking guild for the 9pm battle must make its declaration of war at the earliest 8:55 pm, but before 9:00 pm. If several guilds wish to register, only the first one will be retained, the others will have to try again for a next battle.
Victory conditions: the attacking guild must pass the threshold set for it (10 at most) at the outpost it is attacking.
Outcome: A won battle does not give the victorious guild possession of the concerned outpost (the latter is returned within the hour to the NPCs who defended it) but any battle fought closes with the granting of a reward.
Reward: its nature and size are determined by the threshold of the attacked outpost and are displayed as soon as the war is declared. It is automatically awarded to the testing guild at the end of the battle.
The thresholds set for a given guild at the outpost that will be the target of its next test battle and the rewards to be expected for the latter will evolve as follows:
The initial threshold for the four outposts is set at 3.
The higher the threshold, the higher the reward... and the reverse is true.
After a defeat (outpost threshold not exceeded during the battle), the outpost threshold will remain the same for the guild.
After a victory, the offered threshold of the outpost at subsequent battles of the same guild will be increased permanently by one. But if this new threshold is found too difficult to exceed by the guild, the latter can choose to set a lower threshold to the outpost for the next battle.
Example:
A guild attacks for the first time the outpost 250 of the Nexus (whose threshold is then for it set to 3) and wins. From then on, it can choose, for its next test battle, to attack the same outpost with threshold 3 or threshold 4. In the first case, even if the said next battle is victorious, the threshold that will be proposed it for a third battle will be 3. In the second case, the latter threshold will be preset to 5 (if victorious) or 4 (if defeated).

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Tamarea
Ryzom Team Manager
(FR / EN / ES)
tamarea@ryzom.com

#52 Added by Tamarea 3 years ago Report | Quote Multilingual

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Ryzom Forge meeting - 2021-06-24

Can two guilds that don't have enough people in each of them join together into one for the time of an outpost test battle in Nexus?
Yes... For now, because it will not be possible later on, since these test battles are actually part of the development of the future outpost system.
I find the new features tested on the Nexus outposts very refreshing, but is reducing the time of outpost battles still the objective of the refactoring?
Yes. The only thing that remains to be determined is the strength of the defending NPCs, as the number of rounds will be reduced as a result.
In the last few months on Atys, we have seen several battles that go well beyond 10 rounds. Hence my question: by reducing the time of outpost battles, don't we risk impoverishing the strategies?
This debate has already taken place. Out of respect for the group that discussed and argued at length and finally reached an agreement, we will not go back on the decisions made. But there are still many points to be refined and your opinions, feedbacks and suggestions are still very welcome.

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Tamarea
Ryzom Team Manager
(FR / EN / ES)
tamarea@ryzom.com

#53 Added by Tamarea 3 years ago Report | Quote Multilingual

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