Ok so it is here: old school, purely minigame-grown pvp lvl 9. It is also the very first level in my Age of Conan gaming that didn't give me squat. Nada! I have no desire for Bori gear (the stats difference is marginal at best anyway) so there is absolutely no benefit for me for reaching this level. That's some damn good game design!
However I have noticed a MAJOR shift in minigames quality on Fury: much less ass-hats, less complaining, better team work.
I remember how horrified I was when for the first few days on Fury I have seen people going for kills and nothing else. Such is no longer the case.
Overall getting to pvp 9 was suprisingly easy and fast.For the duration of the last 20% I was using pvp xp books and cash-shop pvp pots, but the rest of the level was pretty much unbuffed.
Another thing was how pleasurable and more skill based the pvp has become after the CC changes. Honestly I cannot simply imagine how we could ever have played this game in any other way that with casting time and being able to knock back all the classes.
Even the dreadful SAG 12 vs 12 minigame got improved since its initial launch and it is no longer "rush center + keep that sucker".
It is all good, but sadly there is simply no carrot to be had in this scenario: I will push pvp lvl 10 eventually and it will be pretty much same as getting lvl 9 with no reward waiting for me in the end. Part of the fun in pushing the pvp level progression was getting that sweet, sweet piece of lootie and non-Bori players are deprived of that "completion" feeling that was always associated with dining another pvp level.
And I don't expect Funcom to shower me with purplezz(ororor0r0r0r0z) at every level so I can
overpower any player that hasn't been pvping since 2008, but how hard would it be to allow me to buy new hair style, tattoo, social cloak or a pvp mount (yeah, where are THOSE?). You know: all the fluffy stuff that makes your e-peen all that little bigger.
And last, but not least: the tournament mode. It was supposedly designed as "Premade vs Premade minigames for bragging rights". That "bragging rights" made me go "oh noes!". Yep, that is a key word for "it will suck".
Since patch went live I couldn't get A SINGLE game in the tournament mode. Everytime there is a team signed you can bet its a Bori farmed pvp lvl 10s with pretty much perfect setup when it comes to class composition. In opposite corner we have: you and pvp lvl 3 friends and no tank. Enjoy! The rewards are also the same which says: more work, more preparation, harder fights for.... same reward. Totally makes sense. How come developers can think of "Hardmodes" with epic rewards for those that are willing to put in a little more effort, but the same rule cannot be applied to pvp. Remove hardmore tokens and epic items from Hardmodes and make them "for bragging rights" and see how many Pvers will flood those instances.
Bragging rights my ass!
However I have noticed a MAJOR shift in minigames quality on Fury: much less ass-hats, less complaining, better team work.
I remember how horrified I was when for the first few days on Fury I have seen people going for kills and nothing else. Such is no longer the case.
Overall getting to pvp 9 was suprisingly easy and fast.For the duration of the last 20% I was using pvp xp books and cash-shop pvp pots, but the rest of the level was pretty much unbuffed.
Another thing was how pleasurable and more skill based the pvp has become after the CC changes. Honestly I cannot simply imagine how we could ever have played this game in any other way that with casting time and being able to knock back all the classes.
Even the dreadful SAG 12 vs 12 minigame got improved since its initial launch and it is no longer "rush center + keep that sucker".
It is all good, but sadly there is simply no carrot to be had in this scenario: I will push pvp lvl 10 eventually and it will be pretty much same as getting lvl 9 with no reward waiting for me in the end. Part of the fun in pushing the pvp level progression was getting that sweet, sweet piece of lootie and non-Bori players are deprived of that "completion" feeling that was always associated with dining another pvp level.
And I don't expect Funcom to shower me with purplezz(ororor0r0r0r0z) at every level so I can
overpower any player that hasn't been pvping since 2008, but how hard would it be to allow me to buy new hair style, tattoo, social cloak or a pvp mount (yeah, where are THOSE?). You know: all the fluffy stuff that makes your e-peen all that little bigger.
And last, but not least: the tournament mode. It was supposedly designed as "Premade vs Premade minigames for bragging rights". That "bragging rights" made me go "oh noes!". Yep, that is a key word for "it will suck".
Since patch went live I couldn't get A SINGLE game in the tournament mode. Everytime there is a team signed you can bet its a Bori farmed pvp lvl 10s with pretty much perfect setup when it comes to class composition. In opposite corner we have: you and pvp lvl 3 friends and no tank. Enjoy! The rewards are also the same which says: more work, more preparation, harder fights for.... same reward. Totally makes sense. How come developers can think of "Hardmodes" with epic rewards for those that are willing to put in a little more effort, but the same rule cannot be applied to pvp. Remove hardmore tokens and epic items from Hardmodes and make them "for bragging rights" and see how many Pvers will flood those instances.
Bragging rights my ass!
