As a primary PvE player who dabbles in PvP now and then (I enjoy a good influence push with my fellow company members, for instance), I find myself frequently frustrated by the fact that it feels as though AGS seems to tune most weapons and gear based on feedback from the PvP community.
To be clear, I don’t think this is some kind of PvP toxicity or anything like that. The PvP community is just more vocal. This is simply a group of people advocating for what they want, and if they’re the loudest voice, they’ll get the most attention. PvE players seem to be more likely to make do and find workarounds for PvE activities, so are frequently catered to less.
All the back and forth in the forums regarding the Fire Staff, for instance, is a perfect example. As a Fire Staff user since Alpha, I love the weapon and how it works at a fundamental level. It feels good, it suits my playstyle, and who doesn’t like to burn things? I used the Fire Staff through the early days of “fireball goes through AI enemy and disappears into the ground” until now, and I’ve always made do. I’ve learned how to be good with the weapon in PvE activities no matter what and have adjusted over time to tune my abilities more and more.
This, however, does come at some cost. Changes made to Fire Staff in order to tune its performance in War and OPR have a direct impact on my non-PvP experience, and it can sometimes be a little bit of a bummer. Having to change my playstyle because of an activity I don’t prioritize is frustrating.
There are probably multiple ways to address this, and based on the pre-Brimstone Sands release dev video, the current approach is we’re happy with some things being better in PvE or PvP.
I understand this, but it also lends to a dynamic where a changing PvP meta creates a chaotic PvE meta and vice-versa, and causes evident discontent both among the PvE and PvP communities.
ONE SOLUTION
While the labeling of perks as PVP Only and some small changes to PvP dynamics have helped with some of this, I believe a more robust solution is possible, and so I propose what I’m going to refer to as Gear Mode Switching as a better long-term idea.
The way this would work is, at a fundamental level, quite simple:
- All gear has a PvE and a PvP mode
- These modes are controlled by player’s PvP flag, and change automatically when that state changes
- PvP-only weapon/equipment perks could optionally be swapped with an equivalent PvE-only perk when this mode is switched
- Some gems and craft mods would also have two modes. For instance, Carnelian gems are useless in PvP, so why not give them another threat-related PvP effect, like a slightly-faster point capture (OPR or War) rate that comes with an associated aura, causing that player to be essentially more threatening for their opponents?
After this base system is put in place, adjustments to PvP behaviors and PvE behaviors could be made independently of one another without side effects that disrupt the other mode. Additionally, using this split system, you could then work on introducing this split mechanic to other game aspects as needed, meaning that AI enemies or things in the environment might react differently as well, further tuning the entire world experience to the way that a given player chooses to play.
Anyways, this is just a thought, and hopefully it can, at the very least, spur a discussion about a productive way to help to bridge this PvP/PvE divide.
