I just sent this to vetex in the patreon chat. I’m putting this on the forums too, why not
ESSAY BEGINS:
I’ve been writing this for quite a while. I’d be really glad if you could take the valuable time out of your day to listen to what I have to say.
Vetex, I know you’re tired of toxic, ignorant PvPers harassing and insulting you and always moronically complaining and doomposting but they’re just being childish. Some people just don’t think about anything else except what they get from others.
I own a 1500 member Minecraft server with custom stuff, I know a bit of game design, and I experience similar hate so I really see myself in the ways you respond to the toxic parts of the community. (like I’ve read and said things on my server almost word for word the same as you it’s kinda weird) I understand how it feels for parts of the community you work so hard to bring enjoyment to to say ‘dead game, dying, doomed, vetex lazy, give more updates retartex’ all the time. But really, the majority understand that you don’t have all the time in the world and we’re all very grateful for the huge amount of work you do put in. I think you’re one of the best game developers on Roblox. But a PvP toggle just isn’t it.
Chapter 1: The downsides of the PvP toggle
- The game is currently balanced and designed with PvP in mind (though I do understand that the game is about PvE mainly) Treasure charts, cargo runs, dark sea, they’ll all become risk-free which will affect the economy. They will also lose tension. The sense of tension and immersion is something that you’ve acknowledged and a lot of people have talked about[1] [2] [3] and it’s something that makes this game really special.
- People won’t turn PvP on when they’re doing anything else but actively trying to fight. Clan servers will just become battlegrounds; infamy fight pits and nobody will do anything else in them. Some people have said that people with 300k renown and people in clans will still have to do other stuff instead of PvPing, but they can also just use alternate files. This creates a meta where your clan file is for fighting only and your other files are clanless and for grinding. While some may find enjoyment in peace, for others, high reward, no risk is just boring, and a PvP toggle would force the most ‘optimal’ playstyle to be high reward, no risk.
- A lot of checkmark voters say that it doesn’t affect PvPers[4] [5] since they can just turn it on and play in servers where others have it turned on, but even if we don’t EVER personally meet a single off-toggler, we’re still greatly affected.
This is because of the wider economy. Off-togglers will trade with PvPers with the loot that they got for free. And the PvP experience will be greatly affected because, as I said in an earlier point, almost no-one will turn it on and do anything other than PvP, so everyone with PvP on would be only there to solely seek out PvP by itself, which is basically like playing a battlegrounds game instead of an MMORPG where you ambush busy people. Therefore, we still have to deal with the negative effects of the PvP toggle whether we like it or not.
Chapter 2: My idea for an alternative
“If a player is playing the game only for the story or progressing a new slot, being attacked by another player is just an annoyance and something they don’t want, and if it becomes too toxic they may even quit the game forever since they can’t play it the way they want.”
- You, vetex
Let’s look at World of Warcraft. It’s another MMORPG that I’m sure you’ve heard of. In it, there’s something called Realms, a feature almost every MMORPG in the world has. They’re different servers with different rules (some have global PvP, some don’t), and a file that you create in one Realm can’t be transferred to another Realm.
See where this is going?
A 2-‘realm’ system should be implemented into Arcane Odyssey upon full release, instead of a toggle.
When you join the game, you’d have a prompt to join either the Peace version of the game or the PvP version of the game. Click on one, and you get put into what the title screen is now, with some indicators depending on which you picked. In the server menu, you’d only see servers that are for the version of the game you picked.
So what’s the difference between these two versions? Well, the Peace version of the game, as the name suggests, would have global PvP turned off completely. It’d only have the Duels system as a way to PvP. Clans wouldn’t be a thing in the Peace version.
In the PvP version, it’s very simple. The game would just be like how it is now. Same rules.
This would make it so that people who want PvP aren’t affected unlike what the PvP toggle would do, and the people who don’t PvP can just play through a nice story undisturbed, which is the goal of the PvP toggle.
I really can’t think of any downsides to this that the PvP toggle doesn’t have. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I truly believe this idea would satisfy everybody, keeping the immersion while letting PvEers play the game the way they want.
Chapter 3: Notes
- Perhaps you have concerns about the two Realms splitting the player base too much, but the idea is for it to be added in place of PvP toggle at full release where the game will have grown a lot so it’s not a problem IMO.
- I think wagering duels are really interesting and I’d like to see the PvP version get it as well (give the functionality to Munera I say)
- If you click through the citations you can see a forum post I made of this idea to gauge the community response. The response was generally positive towards the idea, but negative towards myself as I worded it in a way that was rather emotionally charged. Sorry about that.
- Perhaps a way to transfer files between the two game versions with Robux would be a nice new source of income?
Chapter 4: Conclusion
Vetex, I understand that this game is mainly about PvE and story and that you don’t like catering to PvP players. But you should remember what you were thinking when you first decided on global PvP originally: the immersion, the tension, the freedom. The alternative presented in this document sustains your original vision, while pleasing the PvE community just as much as the toggle would.
Thank you for reading.
Bibliography
- gladiusomega, Discord
- electricboi757, The PVP toggle will ruin the game. Here's my idea for an alternative that will 100% please everybody - #21 by electricboi757
- ShiansiThe24th, The PVP toggle will ruin the game. Here's my idea for an alternative that will 100% please everybody - #64 by ShiansiThe24th
- kiliov_tech, Discord
- lomfan, Discord
tl;dr PvP toggle would be bad for the game, so I suggest a split in the game between PvE and PvP game versions and files made in either version can’t be transferred to the other.
To the other readers of this essay on forums
I know we may have had our disagreements in the past, but let’s look past that. Please forgive me if I ever offended you. I hope you have it in you to look past that, and if you disagree: instead of possibly flaming me in the comments or resorting to ad hominem, (please) address only the content of my essay. In a constructive manner.
Thank you.
