PvP - New Tournament Format - English

Zatarga

Hello everyone. I had an idea that most will criticize (probably, which is nothing new) but I was thinking back to the previous PvP tournament (actually all of them) that was recently held and I believe that the format is flawed. Now, I do not join events like these, not because of the time (although I am normally sleeping since they seem to be scheduled for 19:00 or 20:00 GMT+0 and I currently live in GMT+8) but because they are rather dull. There is really no challenge, it takes place in a safe area, no real loss if you lose (maybe a dappers entry fee) and the prize is normally the same thing (a Marauder NPC HA set - if memory serves me) which is rather stale. The fancy title and bragging rights truly mean nothing when nothing is truly lost.
I propose the following which may seem extreme and in no particular order but why not:
1. The tournament should only be 1vs1 (no 2vs2 teams) – you are allowed to use heal eggs, stam eggs (say limit to a total of 25 for the entire tournament play of each) and any self-heals/auras that you have available – until you die.
2. The tournament should be held in the area in-between the entrance to Demon’s Lap and the Firebrands Tribe – it should also be held just after a server restart (say 4-hours to allow for Supreme nodes to be dug) – this way, the elements are also at play – really no different than a random encounter between toons on a happy jaunt through Prime Roots anyway.
3. The entry fee could be, let say, 1-to-2 million dappers (easy money for everyone to gamble away) – but the real fun now begins because if this is really going to be a “winner take all” then what should happen is that every loser needs to turn over his/her gear that was used for the event (weapon(s) / armor / jewels) to the CSR/SGM on-site who monitors the event. Then at the end of the tournament, the winner actually wins something of value (literally every piece of gear used by every loser – we need to figure-out a registration/monitoring system for all items but that should not be too difficult) and then there really is a sense of loss – if you want to throw in a squishy yubo, fine but let us make loss and value mean something.
I understand that this may seem or sound extreme but I truly believe that it would be far more enjoyable and entertaining than just fighting at the arena on Silan for an NPC HA set…and since this new breed of toons enjoy running around with an additional 2-to-3 alts attacking diggers, let us try to keep them happy with adventure, because their happiness is all that really matters and after all, they are the future for keeping Atys alive – (smile, pullup a chair and let the criticism fly) and possibly some actual, constructive feedback…

My motto in life is; "Life is simple, unpredictable, and beautiful but always remember that even though something ends, something new begins, so take a deep breath and move on." – Zatarga

P.S., I did not put this in the "Ideas for Ryzom" forums because even though it is a new idea, i seriously doubt that it would ever see the light of day but a fun discussion nonetheless.

If the condition is that I loose my gear if I don't win, then I'm not interested to use any decent equipment, but will use standard-grade armour, jewels and weapons at best (if not even special-made cheap throw-away gear).

Standard equipment is nothing anyone really needs or wants to win several times. I'm not interested at all to bet all my 1st-grade PvP gear I (and my guild mates for me) worked for month for into a fight I probably won't win anyway (yes, I'm realistic, there are more experienced PvP players there and there's much I have to learn in that regard, especially tactics and some skills. I'm looking at e.g. the winners and uprunners of the last tournament - they won for a reason and the finals and semi-finals in the 2 vs. 2 were awesome to watch. The same goes for the PvP fight over the OP on Monday(?) for control over berello gorge border post - kudos to all involved, and especially Les Armes, great fight and fun you gave us there!).

Loosing used equipment discourages anyone new to PvP to start it in the first place: the trained and established players then have a double advantage: they might have better gear and more experience - and then get the gear from those who still learn and train. The reverse would actually be more sensible.

Mind also that fews player have enough storage room to stow-away 10 additional sets of equipment.

Mind further, that the player likely won't need so much additional PvP equipment, and certainly not 10 sets of it. They will most likely have it already.

Mind also that a 1 vs. 1 tournament is the less interesting version as it requires less skill, is more prone to randomness of the winner and IMHO offers less entertainment than a 2 vs. 2 of skilled players.

Thus in essence: I believe your reasoning is flawed. Your rules will discourage most players to even start thinking about PvP. What is so fun in "feeling a sense of loss" over "wow, that was an intense fight. I didn't quite make it, but kudos to the winner - some of those tricks I have to learn"? In the first case you will have discouraged one person and have lost her/him for PvP. In the latter you are guaranteed to have an opponent also in the future who enjoys the fight, too - maybe even if s/he looses every time (be that due to network latency, due to worse gear, less training, less skill - but you still have your fun. Why punish those people when *you* want to boost PvP? I really don't get this thinking where you think that punishment for an action will make people like it more.

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.