Let's Talk PvP in ArcheAge Chronicles
Don (Global PM) and Jay Lee (Creative Director) explain channels and PvP in ArcheAge Chronicles: standard channels with no attacks between players, PvP channels switched at a Nui Statue, the Steam Next Fest demo, and PvP ideas still in planning.
Hey everyone,
Don here, Global PM on ArcheAge Chronicles. If you missed my introduction post, feel free to give it a read. I'll be using these posts to share more about how we're building the game and the thinking behind it.
For this first deep dive, we wanted to start with a topic we know a lot of you care about: PvP. I'll admit I'm a little biased here. PvP is one of my personal favorite things to do in an MMO, so I've been looking forward to this one.
Before we get into the fights, though, I need to spend a minute on how players are spread across the world, because it shapes everything about how PvP works in ArcheAge Chronicles.
First, a Quick Look at Channels
When you log into a server in ArcheAge Chronicles, you're not dropped into one giant copy of each zone with every player on that server. Instead, each zone is split into channels. Channels are separate instances of that zone, each with their own group of players.
Right now a typical channel holds about 100 players. Some channels have different caps depending on what they're for, but most zones sit around that number. During our Network Test in September, the servers comfortably handled full channels of players all fighting at once, so for a lot of the open world, that 100 isn't really something we are limited to on the server side limit. It's a design choice. We want the world to feel alive without feeling crowded, and to never feel empty either. That balance is a big part of the MMO experience we're going for in AAC.
We'll keep an eye on it and adjust over time if it makes sense, but right now it's giving us the feel we were aiming for.
You don't pick your channel. The game places you in one. If you're in a party, you stay together as you move between zones, and if you and a friend do end up in different channels, you can hop over to join them.
Some areas are also instanced just for you or your party. That includes dungeons and some of the points of interest you'll stumble into while exploring. We did this so you can take on a boss or work through a story moment without someone else running in and making it easier (or finishing it for you).
Not every channel plays by the same rules, though, and that's where PvP comes in.
To explain the rest, I'm handing things over to someone who has a lot more to do with how it all works than I do.
Meet Jay Lee, Creative Director
Jay has been working on ArcheAge for 14 years. He started on the original ArcheAge in data analysis, moved into game design and development, and eventually became the fourth Lead Game Designer on the project. On ArcheAge Chronicles he's both Creative Director and Lead Game Designer, and he's been involved since the early concept stage.
Jay is one of the people most responsible for what ArcheAge Chronicles feels like to play, and he's been a huge help to me in understanding the thinking behind a lot of the game's systems. I asked him to walk you through PvP in his own words.
Jay, take it away.
PvP Today: Jay Lee
Hi everyone, I'm Jay. 안녕하세요, 기획팀장 이재황입니다.
ArcheAge Chronicles is designed around each player's own experience and immersion in the world, and that shaped how we approached PvP too. Rather than having players constantly running into fights they didn't ask for, we wanted to give you the choice to find and play with others who are looking for the same kind of experience. After all, not everyone wants their adventure interrupted by PvP.
So we built PvP around channels.
Two Kinds of Channels
In standard channels, players can't attack each other at all. If you'd rather quest and explore without worrying about other players, that's where you'll probably spend most of your time.
In PvP channels, everyone else can attack you, except your party and Guild members. Other than that, it's the same zone you'd see in a standard channel, with the same monsters and quests.
To move between the two, visit a Nui Statue. There's a cooldown when switching, so you can't just hop to safety the moment a fight turns against you.
Defeating monsters in a PvP channel also earns you 10 to 15% bonus EXP, since you're taking on some extra risk. Monster kills are only a small part of the EXP you earn out in the open world, so the overall boost is modest, and we're still tweaking the numbers to get the balance right. We'd rather people be in PvP channels because they enjoy it.
Why We Built It This Way
You might notice there isn't a lot of structure here yet. There are no set objectives or scheduled battles. Instead of building a tightly scripted PvP mode first, we wanted to start with a simple framework: a few clear rules about who can fight whom, and a world to do it in. What happens from there is mostly up to you.
We decided that player-driven conflict (who controls a channel, who fights them for it, who teams up with whom) was worth more than anything we could script ourselves. Some of the best stories in the original ArcheAge came from players organizing, competing, and outmaneuvering each other. We want to leave room for that.
What You'll See in the Steam Next Fest Demo
PvP channels are unlocked from the very start of the demo. You don't have to reach a certain point in the story first. Find a Nui Statue, switch over to a PvP channel, and see what happens.
All four classes are playable in the demo, each with two of their weapons, so there's room to try a few different setups against other players.
Here's something we haven't shared before. In the PvP footage you may have seen, the Warrior with the longsword was me, and the Ranger with the hatchets was Producer Ham. One of the most fun parts of those fights was parrying ranged attacks and reflecting them right back. I hope you get to try it for yourselves, and let us know how it goes.
Where We Want PvP to Go
Now for the part I know a lot of you are curious about: what's next.
Before I get into it, please keep in mind that this is where we'd like to go, and things can change. A couple of these are being worked on now, and others are still just ideas we're kicking around. A lot will depend on how you all end up playing the game and what you tell us. We just didn't want to leave you guessing.
Right now you don't get anything for defeating another player. We held off on rewards while we get the basics right. What you will find in the Steam Next Fest demo is a kill log and PvP achievements, so your wins don't go unnoticed. Rankings and trophies will likely come sometime after launch as part of our live updates. It's really about bragging rights. We don't want PvP to turn into an economic race.
Further out, we've been talking a lot about more structured PvP, and most of those conversations end up coming back to trade. Think trade runs through PvP channels, and Guilds fighting to take and hold trade posts. Anyone who played the original ArcheAge remembers how tense a trade run could get, and we'd love to bring some of that into AAC in a way that fits this game. I want to be careful here though. This is early planning and still needs a lot of tweaking, so please don't read it as a promise. It's just where our heads are at.
We'll share more as these ideas take shape. And when we have something to test, we want PvP players involved early.
Thanks for reading. I'll hand it back to Don.
Huge thanks to Jay for taking the time to walk through this. Stay tuned, because you'll be hearing from more of the team in future posts.
PvP is an area where we especially want to build alongside you. So when Steam Next Fest starts, jump into a PvP channel, give it a try, and let us know what you think, good or bad. I'll be reading.
If you haven't yet, wishlist ArcheAge Chronicles on Steam. You can also find us on Discord and X.
See you in Auroria (and maybe in a PvP channel),
Don
Global Project Manager, ArcheAge Chronicles
XLGAMES
Source: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3218230/view/701029225804596164