Originally Posted by arredondo
Fallacy #1 "The game will be unfortunately split into two sides with UAX"
Truth: The game is already HALF split (unfortunately). PvE CAN IGNORE PvP AT THEIR LEISURE! They are NOT forced to endure PvP competitive play mechanics if they do not want. The biggest confusion lies on that single ignored point alone from the anti-UAX types in these forums. The 'RPG' of CORPG is completely accommodated. Those who yearn for the thrill of adventure have this game in the palms of their hands. But.....
Those who yearn for the thrill of legitimate competition have got to endure PvE play mechanics whether they want to or not. To play a purely skillful game, fully outfitted with options for BOTH sides to strategize from with no influence from league bias you have to put in HUNDREDS of PvE play mechanics.
"You jumped through 10,000 hoops? The league is pleased. Here's a few elites and a top tier weapon)"
You want a truly equal system you claim GW is? Then you need to go full UAX, or full forced-PvP elements in PvE. Pick one or the other, but don't be hypocritical by ignoring ONE mode has full freedom while the other one is attached to a PvE ball and chain. Here's your balance if you "upgraded" PvE:
"You won 500 PvP matches? The league is pleased. You may talk to the henchies and enter Yak's Bend now."
I don't want EITHER side screwed over by unnatural shoehorning of the other's play mechanics. Please stop pretending the current state of Guild Wars is an oasis of balanced perfection between two play styles. If it was so perfect, why do they constantly gut out PvE mechanics in PvP almost every week?
Fallacy #2: You just want a Counterstrike fantasy game. Why don't you get off your lazy butt and earn your stuff.
Truth: YES we want PvP to be equal with all options open at the start like Counter Strike. Like Starcraft. Like Air Hockey. Like Checkers. Like Tennis. Like Battleship. Like Hops-scotch. Like Football. Like Marco Polo. Like Curling. Like Hot Dog Aerials. Like Ping Pong. Like Volleyball. Like Kick Ball. Like Old Maid. Like Gin Rummy. Like Poker. Like Street Fighter. Like Hide-and-Go Seek. Like Lawn Bowling...
... to get to the point, like every legitimate cometitive activity where your skillful play is king and the "league rules" don't limit your potential before a match begins! Thousands upon thousands of activities match up competitiors every day for the last few hundred years or so. WHY don't they go these same arguments? Because it is common sense that you DON'T put in anti-competitive, imbalancing play mechanics in a serious competitive activity.
"Earning" stuff from the league just so you can compete with the exact same set of full options as your opponent is WONDERFUL PvE. It is HORRIBLE competition. Forcing 100 must win PvP matches on a happy adventurer trying to access a new area is HORRIBLE PvE, but it is WONDERFUL PvP. The goal of PvE is to struggle through a steady set of challenges and exploration quests so that you can "earn" the tangible rewards at the end. That is the goal of PvE, but it is not the goal of competition.
Competition rewards one when he/she is able to go head up with an opponent completely un-aided or un-hindered by the powers-that-be, and come away victorious. The gear options you strive so hard for in PvE? Well, in all the activities I named above, starting with the same gear options as your opponent is a pre-requisite! It isn't even given a passing thought! How is a competition legitimate when the "league" influences the outcome before it starts?
"Hey Bobby, the baseball league office says you haven't hit the requisite 50 home runs yet this season. Go get your pink whiffle bat because you're up next to hit."
"Cynthia, c'mere for a sec. The league appreciate the 100 hours you've put into your poker matches. In another 150 hours, they'll let you draw three cards to go up against your opponents' five. Wear a smile on your face when it happens honey, because you've earned it."
I swear, it's as if some people have never seriously competed in anything in their lives to see how they ignore these truths. You may LIKE this system as it is, regardless of how much it goes against the grain of real skillful competition, but at least ackowledge it for what it is.
Yes, PvE is all warm and cuddly, bringing the community together. It's full of co-op opportunities, friends to be made, dances to be synched, colors to mix-n-match, items to unlock. Honestly, I enjoyed it all until I finished it. But forcing its play mechanics on PvP when the same is NOT done for PvE, is pure imbalance for one, and it is anti-competition for another. I don't want them to screw around both modes, so the true balance is...
-PvE continues to proceed relatively unmolested by forced PvP play mechanics
-PvP finally is able to proceed completely unmolested by forced PvE play mechanics
- Fans of both? Play both! Go back and forth as you wish... want to play unlocking games, PvE is there for you. Want to help legitimately beat down a human team to a pulp? We want a purely skillful PvP to be there for you, just as in every other serious competitive activity.
Anything less but UAX, such as doing something sane like cutting the Faction Point costs of gear down a full 90%, is still an offense to pure skillful play, but at least its yet another improvement on what should never have been a problem.
Fallacy #3 "If they implement full UAX and let them have it all from the start, why whatever will that mean to our dear PvE??
Truth: Lol, it's almost as if the slave driver is complaining because he no longer has his helpless minion to keep his thumb on. Again, in PvE you have all the freedom in the world to play pure PvE, or a lil' PvP... whatever. Why must your satisfaction of what is already a VERY full and uninterrupted experience in PvE play mechanics be diminished because of your desire to prevent other "less fortunate" gamers from having an equally full PvP experience with THEIR play mechanics? In no game that has both a solo/co-op and a seriously competitive PvP mode does anyone care if full UAX is available from the start. It's a given that the "system" doesn't help or hinder your opponet with initial gear access!
Still, since PvE is, as I said above, all about the "end prize" as the goal of long and comitted play, then of course you deserve significant rewards for your struggles, but not interference with PvP. The needs of each mode is too important to screw around with. With that in mind, let's ask Arena.net to remove PvP-related rewards from PvE altogether. In its place, put in so much pure PvE rewards, that people won't even think twice about this debate again.
Make people WANT to PvE four-six times if that's what they want. Have them meet with the gods of their professions up in their natural habitat for special, mystical magical solo adventures. Have the end prize for beating it with every character class so special, that they walk through towns instantly recognized as being all that and a bag of chips.
Maybe after meeting all the gods in the clouds, underworld, woods, etc... you can have an epic Boss fight with each of them as they descend to a less immortal state so you can have a chance. Each one is a different challenge, not just simply more brawls.
- Have a moral test of good and evil to defeat (or join with) Grenth. Your morbid curiosity can explore a playground of options you oversee human "lemmings" in a town going about their day, unaware of your helpful (or sadist) influence on their lives being saved by your grace, or allowed to demise in unfortunate deaths caused by your reluctance to interfere with Grenth's actions (each final result having an appropriate reward / punishment to your character).
- Go through a challenge of bringing together musical harmony, full of earthy visuals and colors with Melandru. Purely artistic and free flowing with no specific goal.
- With a specially powerful ethereal weapon in hand, have a classic mega-Boss battle against a 100-foot Balthasar AFTER you first defeat one of each type of unique enemy in the game.
- You try to please Dwayna by entertaining a group of poor children with your elaborate illusion magic tricks, not unlike Gandalf's firework show in LotR, butdone on a more personal level. Master your crescendo of tricks, overall timing, unique artistry, elaborate "combo" effects, and the all-important big finish, etc. to get the best response.
- With infinite energy as temporarily granted, the top, bottom, left and right side of one's screen each has an elemental skill bar for each element, slotted with four elemental skills. In 1st person view that takes place for four stages in floating through four different regions of Tyria (lava, montains, air, and sea), you must use the skills to defeat the forms of a constantly evolving Lyssa. Do you fight fire with fire? Or is Water skills appropriate for her current plan of attack? The confrontation is full of fast thinking adjustments and counter-adjustments on both sides.
And after you "impresss" all of the gods with your abilities you personally get favor and are returned to a special Pre-Ascalon where everything is just as beautiful as before. Additionally, you are only there with others who've ascended above ascension and earned their way there. Besides having your own special area, you receive a free gift from the gods once a week that you can show off in towns (new exclusive emotes? New dance animations? Etc.
A ton of work that's easier said than done? Yeah, but you get the idea. There is no reason to saddle PvP with a PvE rewards system, particularly when those connections interfere with the main purpose of each on the own. Pure PvE people can definitely be pampered to their satisfaction with more PvP content, forgetting about wanting to force PvP to go through something it's not best suited for. Again, I liked PvE when I cmpleted it. But once I fully moved on, I've been discouraged by the time and effort it takes to do what's basic common sense in any competitive activity other than Guld Wars.
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