An Open-World PvP Zone or Two

[Nalien]

Thinking about it, they could always work Hamlet Defense into PvP;

-Give each Grand Company an area which is important because of plot. This area should be separate from the rest of the world, but not instanced (talk to a NPC to arrive there).
-Have a safe period where the NPCs in the area builds up its defenses through Desciples of Land and Hand trading in items. This would allow the addition of more troops or defenses based on the amount traded in.
-Every 2 hours one of the 3 areas becomes a PvP battlefield (First; Adders (attackers) verse Maelstrom (defenders). Second; Maelstrom verse Flames. Third; Flames verse Adders).
-If the attackers are successful, the Vendor back at the Company location has new wares (perhaps a new source of Potash/etc.? Nothing that would force PvEers into involvement). If the defenders are unsuccessful, they lose that vendor until they succeed in an attack.

You could even slap the original PvE version in there as well, and have it drop Allied Seals. It could just use the same zones during their down time, and play more like Besieged than whatever we got in 1.x...

[Elim]

As much as I love frontlines, PvP on this game is broken. I understand that it's because ARR is still in it's "baby PvP stage", just learning how to function. So naturally balance isn't great yet. Right now you can do one of the most cheapest tactics possible in PvP: chain-stunning people to death. All the modern MMO's I've played have had this, then removed it because it's wildly disliked and cheap. I have a feeling that this tactic will be here for a couple years because there is no hardcore PvP player base to QQ about it constantly and because of how slow PvP content comes out.

Anyway...@ the OP:

I'd like some OW PvP. We don't need no silly capture the flag as an excuse to try to kill each other.

[Chambers]

Do want. A duel option would be nice too.

[Gilraen]

As long as it's a place you opt in (read: OPTIONAL) to & doesn't provide exclusive bonuses you can't find elsewhere pve'ing or that aren't pvp-specific

Then I don't get your request. You already have this in Wolves' Den and Frontlines. There's no way anyone not wanting to PvP could ever get in there. The only reason to have open world PvP is to draw in PvE players, but if that's the only way you can draw them in then they were never going to PvP to begin with. You have your exclusive PvP zones, what's the problem?

[Nalien]

You have your exclusive PvP zones, what's the problem?

It's locked away in an instance bubble? Winning has absolutely no affect whatsoever outside that match?

My number one issue with Frontlines is that you don't go there so your Grand Company can win. You go there so you can win and work towards those achievements. You go there so you can get the EXP/Wolf Marks. This is why people don't even get why we have a Grand Company requirement for it; SE isn't doing anything with the concept. They could, for example, at least have it so you bring back points to your server when you win (1 point for 3rd, 2 for 2nd, 3 for 1st), and they tally them up at the end of the week in an Final Fantasy XI Conquest style thing, but they don't even do that. Frontlines is just locked away in its own little bubble, as a lifeless, albeit fun, theme park ride.

The benefit of a true open world PvP event is the rivalry it brings. A sense of competition that they some how even managed to drain from Frontlines. What we currently have is "Everyone is a winner!" content, even in Frontlines. Everyone gets a participation trophy in the form of the rewards. Would be nice to have some content where the aim is to knock <insert rival Grand Company> off its number one spot.

Except, this wouldn't be lore friendly. Frontline has its own lore, and is even VOICE ACTED to said lore by the Immortal Flames, etc. The main reason why Frontlines exists is that it's funded. Otherwise the GCs wouldn't bother and hand it over to

Crystal Braves

Frontlines wasn't lore friendly either, until they wrote the lore for it.

[Gilraen]

This is the heart of the problem I have with PvP and those that want it the most, the desire for a loser. You can't be happy you won, you absolutely have to rub it in that you won by making it one-sided. To the victor goes the spoils, to the loser the ground. Any other result somehow invalidates your victory, no matter how well or by how much of a margin you won. I think Square did a great job to make the PvP inviting for all by having everyone win at least something. It's the only reason I like the PvP we have, I don't feel like I'm just tossing myself against a wall. Nothing about this invalidates a win, though. You still won. Then there's the other thing Square did right. Everyone in PvP is nameless. This was another sticking point among the PvP crowd, they wanted to see names. There's only one reason to want that, to rub it in directly to those you beat. Seriously, there's no genuine merits to open world PvP that I can see.

[Nalien]

Wanting victory/defeat to mean something =/= wanting to rub it in.

Competition is not a bad thing. Competition is a motivator. Motivators keep people trying. Keep people playing.

A closed off theme park ride where the status quo is restored after every ride has no competition. The only motivation to win in Frontlines is a purely selfish one; We need to win so I can get that mount. We need to win so I can get those achievements. We need to win so I can get Rank 40 and all the vanity gear faster. All of which are finite; eventually people get them. I would much rather see; We need to win so Maelstrom/Twin Adder/Immortal Flames comes out on top. That is a competition that never ends. It is sandbox-like content that keeps people coming back time after time.

[Teryaani]

Wanting victory/defeat to mean something =/= wanting to rub it in.

Competition is not a bad thing. Competition is a motivator. Motivators keep people trying. Keep people playing.

Except that wPVP inevitably turns into a grief fest. Look deeper at the community that wants open pvp and you'll find some griefers. Do I think that all or most wPVP players are griefers? No. But enough are to make the whole idea unpalatable.

The lengths that SE would have to go to to make an open world zone - isolate it, warn players before entry, increased reporting for exploits/harassment, ensure that resources that are available there are also available elsewhere, and put it somewhere that people can't accidentally stumble through; make it a pain in the rear. And they would have to go to those lengths to get a goodly number of PVE players, myself included, to not unsub if they implemented it.


Also, frontlines is competition. Maybe not one you like, but it's there and it has rewards that people want. wPVP likely wouldn't be offering anything new in the reward category.

Now dueling in an arena area? Cool. I'd love to see that actually. I wouldn't do it, but I think that would be a cool feature. Just not the duel spam that happened in WoW.

[Gralna]

Wanting victory/defeat to mean something =/= wanting to rub it in.

A closed off theme park ride where the status quo is restored after every ride has no competition. The only motivation to win in Frontlines is a purely selfish one; We need to win so I can get that mount. We need to win so I can get those achievements. We need to win so I can get Rank 40 and all the vanity gear faster. All of which are finite; eventually people get them. I would much rather see; We need to win so Maelstrom/Twin Adder/Immortal Flames comes out on top. That is a competition that never ends. It is sandbox-like content that keeps people coming back time after time.

If they were going to add a system where one GC gets a bonus over the others, most likely they'd just copy/paste what they did with XI and make it so whatever GC has done more FATEs/Leves/etc in that zone, gets a bonus while in that zone.

[Teryaani]

sorry, but we can invent lore that makes sense for Frontlines, we can do it for friendly GC competition inside an arena. Bragging rights people.

It is a valid argument as the lore for frontlines makes no sense. It was wedged in a half-arsed way. It only makes sense if you're trying, desperately, to justify a battleground between factions. Nothing against frontlines mind you, but lore is a perfectly valid complaint.