3.2 PvP: Feast Game Mode Discussion Thread.

[Februs]

Snip.

I don't see this as a problem so much as an inevitability. It's the nature of the game. At any given time, new players in fresh gear will be outranked by seasoned players who have had time to gear up. That's the same for PvE as well as PvP. The new player will always be disadvantaged when compared to an old player, but that disadvantage is temporary.

Firstly, the advantages provided by Morale are not "incredible" so much as marginal. Even pre-2.4, comparative item level PvE sets stood toe to toe with PvP equipped players. Having morale did not stack the match so heavily in their favour that it guaranteed a victory. It provided a slight edge, emphasis on slight. The only players who really felt the pinch were players who were vastly under-leveled for the content, but those players felt that pinch regardless because they were also outclassed by high end PvE players. That hasn't changed. A player who is geared at 150 is going to be crushed by a player at 220, and it makes next to no difference if that 220 player has Morale or not.

To be perfectly honest, under-leveled players shouldn't even be queuing up for PvP in the first place. It's end-game content, and you should be geared accordingly. No one expects to go into Alexander Savage at the bare minimum required item level and have an equally smooth ride as a player who is 20 levels above. Why should we expect any different for PvP? Further, no one is twisting new player's arms to queue up for ranked matches (which are the only ones I believe should apply morale). You don't throw a kitten in with lions and expect it to survive. New players should be starting in the kiddy corner where no one cares about stats and just run around having fun. If they want to step into the ring with the more serious competitors, then they have no right to complain about stat bonus and being out-geared.

Further, it really doesn't take long for a player to gear up to a competitive level. You might need 191 wins/381 losses for a full PvP set, but you don't need a full PvP set to be competitive. Currently, it only takes an item level of 190 to sync to the base PvP stat caps for most jobs (with some mix and matching). As it happens, Alexander Gordias hands out item level 190 gear like candy. Then there's the tome gear, which we have two complete sets of. On top of that, we also have the Void Arc gear. There is no shortage of gear for new players to take advantage of before they so much as do a single run of PvP, and it all puts them at a competitive stat level. There's also the possibility that you'll be paired with other players who have that morale bonus already, given that ranked matches use random parties.

I do understand where you're coming from, and you're being very considerate to new players, but the bottom line is that there is no way that SE should ever be making balancing adjustments at the bottom end of the scale in a game mode that is, by design, supposed to be competitive. This is especially the case when the problem is temporary, and it really wouldn't make a difference regardless of what SE did to try and fix it. This is a statistic based game, and an under-geared player is an under-geared player. When they step into the ring with someone who stands above them, there's only one probable outcome. Morale really doesn't change that. It only gives a means for top end players to maximize their potential when facing off against one another.