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Major Flaw in present version of PvP

AuthorMessage
Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
There are a few major flaws in the present version of PvP.

1) Non-combantants can walk into the battle area, and block views, and generally make a nuisance of themselves.

2) Because of the way teams are chosen, there will be a lot of shuffling, as one team tries to get the power advantage over the other before the fight even begins. In one example, one player had Bonnie as his first mate, leading you to believe he was a weak character, so my friend and I, who were both level 25, thought that having him join the level 50 we were going up against (we knew he was high because he had El Toro as a first mate) would be a fairly even match. Only to find he had tricked us and was ALSO level 50. Both of us jumped out before the fight even began, thus wasting our time. There needs to be some system where the level of the combatants is easy to know, and before you can join a team, if it would obviously unbalance the play, all players are warned, to determine if they want that player to join, or something similar.

Bosun
Aug 21, 2009
358
Max DeGroot on Dec 3, 2012 wrote:
There are a few major flaws in the present version of PvP.

1) Non-combantants can walk into the battle area, and block views, and generally make a nuisance of themselves.

2) Because of the way teams are chosen, there will be a lot of shuffling, as one team tries to get the power advantage over the other before the fight even begins. In one example, one player had Bonnie as his first mate, leading you to believe he was a weak character, so my friend and I, who were both level 25, thought that having him join the level 50 we were going up against (we knew he was high because he had El Toro as a first mate) would be a fairly even match. Only to find he had tricked us and was ALSO level 50. Both of us jumped out before the fight even began, thus wasting our time. There needs to be some system where the level of the combatants is easy to know, and before you can join a team, if it would obviously unbalance the play, all players are warned, to determine if they want that player to join, or something similar.
I have a couple level 50 characters that are very strong. Bonnie is typically my first or second companion. Just because you don't think much of her doesn't mean the rest of us don't.

Lieutenant
Jan 29, 2010
161
If this is the case, it seems like P101 PvP will be similar to W101 PvP. The match is open to anyone at any level, unless specific level parameters are set in advance. I don't think there is a way to set parameters in P101 Pvp yet. Of course this is just the beginning of the PvP system in P101, so there may be lots of changes to come.

Community Leader
seasnake on Dec 3, 2012 wrote:
I have a couple level 50 characters that are very strong. Bonnie is typically my first or second companion. Just because you don't think much of her doesn't mean the rest of us don't.
Hehe, for once I agree with Seasnake.
I dont recommend evaluating how far anyone has progressed by what companions they choose, other than knowing when they were obtained. Bonnie Anne (Burstfire2 / DoubleTap2) is one of my best companions on all my high level pirates. She often cuts down 3+ enemy mobs on a single round.

However you are talking about PVP. If its the point to know what your up against so you can pick your team this sounds useful, but sounds like it would cause quite a bit of frustration, people shuffling their selections constantly to the last second, changign their crews at the last second.
It should probably designed for each to simply select their best squad on a personal basis.

Dr Zeppers (aka Silent Sam Stern)
Piratey parodies I like to make.
I be a crazy pirate for goodness sake!
Artist & Admin of Skull Island TV
Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
You're both missing the point.

The point is, in Wizard101 it is very easy to see the level of your opponent, before you decide to team with them, or battle against them. In Pirate 101, you could have two teams of two each already decided, and a fifth could jump onto a cygil uninvited. Then everyone jumps off, because of this uninvited guest.

There needs to be some method of determining the teams BEFORE you jump onto the cygil.

Lieutenant
Jan 29, 2010
161
Max DeGroot on Dec 3, 2012 wrote:
You're both missing the point.

The point is, in Wizard101 it is very easy to see the level of your opponent, before you decide to team with them, or battle against them. In Pirate 101, you could have two teams of two each already decided, and a fifth could jump onto a cygil uninvited. Then everyone jumps off, because of this uninvited guest.

There needs to be some method of determining the teams BEFORE you jump onto the cygil.
It sounds more like you are talking about lopsided teams. Like Blue Team has 2 players and Red Team has 2 players and then a third and/or forth player jumps onto the Blue Team leaving the Red Team short 1 or 2 players. Is that what you meant? If that is your thought process, then I tend to agree -- there needs to be a way to prevent lopsided battles out of the starting gate.

P.S. I will keep playing small battles to find any issues with the play action.

Developer
Direct from the patch notes:
The new Practice PVP system only showcases battleboard combat and currently does not feature a ladder, matchmaking, awards, or the introduction of "PvP Only" / "No PvP" flags for player gear.

You can consider all of those "major flaws in the present version" but rest assured, we're aware. We want to get any unexpected kinks in the basics of combat out of the way first. So keep that feedback coming.

In the short term, you'll need to use chat to arrange balanced teams.

It also helps to just use your manners and play nice. If a lower level player joins your combat, let the lowest level player on your own team seek him out. Don't pounce on him just because he's easy prey.

Don't be a Ratbeard.

Gunner's Mate
Dec 16, 2009
212
To find out a pirates level simply click on the character you wish to view and look at their characteristics sheet. It will show their level, key statistics and gear. In this way you can be aware of what you are going against.

Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
"Don't be a Ratbeard."



Thanks for the clarification. To expand on the previous scenario, my friend and I had lined up against the level 50, when the fourth came in. We all jumped off, because of the uninvited guest, and spent several minutes trying to get a grouping that made everyone happy, the new guest being the one who jumped off when it was not to their liking, liking it only when he was paired with the other level 50.

In other words, this new guest only wanted to pummel smaller opponents, not have a fair fight. Since my friend and I don't like entering fights we KNOW we are going to lose, we jumped out.

In other words, the uninvited guest was being a Ratbeard.

Captain
May 02, 2009
525
One other flaw is that the board for the 4v4 battle arenas is not to scale with the room. On the board it looks like the entire room is a battle field but acctually only most of the room is a battle feild.

Captain
May 13, 2011
564
just because bonnie anne is the firstmate then that player is estimated weak? wow, people are so blind sometimes. what if that anne was a sniper?

Ensign
May 16, 2011
4
Indeed i am glad to finally have the pvp arena since i had been waiting from the start of Pirate101 but:

There indeed should be a way to set up level ranges

There needs to be more than one battle per arena( a bunch of high lvls fighting takes forever)

Ensign
Oct 18, 2012
12
I don"t think you can tell what there level is by there companion. I"m a level 19 and have my first companion that I got as my firstmate. ( You can"t say that a person is a low or high level by there firstmate)

I do agree that thee should be a way of knowing the level of the players before you join. I think it would be better and there"d not be as much fighting. If you"re there and there is a battle all ready going on you can get piece of paper and right don there levels and make a way of knowing which one they are.

You can also do what others said about figuring out by chatting. Just say your level and make it even you might ant to make sure it is even before it starts counting down.

There are many other ways but they could all start a problem but if we find the one that works best then it will be great. If we don"t fight and find a way then it would be that much better for pvp and pirate101.

Captain
May 13, 2011
564
Ratbeard on Dec 4, 2012 wrote:
Direct from the patch notes:
The new Practice PVP system only showcases battleboard combat and currently does not feature a ladder, matchmaking, awards, or the introduction of "PvP Only" / "No PvP" flags for player gear.

You can consider all of those "major flaws in the present version" but rest assured, we're aware. We want to get any unexpected kinks in the basics of combat out of the way first. So keep that feedback coming.

In the short term, you'll need to use chat to arrange balanced teams.

It also helps to just use your manners and play nice. If a lower level player joins your combat, let the lowest level player on your own team seek him out. Don't pounce on him just because he's easy prey.

Don't be a Ratbeard.
easier said than done. some people have menu chat so we cant talk to them. i was with 2 low lvls and since i was a lot stronger than them, they always wanted to team up with me so they could win so there was a lot of changing places until it was 2 on 1 with me on the 2. plus, isnt it getting tiring with people always literally in your face while pvping? we need a fence that comes when a match finished and an option to disable fleeing. im sick of people getting all coward and flees leaving me alone

Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
Another flaw:

I went into the PvP player area with a powerful player, and there were three others in the building.

I did not care if all three of the others went up against me. I was bored.

So, I got on a cygil.

And the other three joined me on the same cygil.

Obviously, with nobody else in the room, no battle was going to take place.

I think players are unclear of the idea of PvP. The idea is not to win, it is to fight.

Ensign
Sep 21, 2012
10
Max DeGroot on Dec 3, 2012 wrote:
There are a few major flaws in the present version of PvP.

1) Non-combantants can walk into the battle area, and block views, and generally make a nuisance of themselves.

2) Because of the way teams are chosen, there will be a lot of shuffling, as one team tries to get the power advantage over the other before the fight even begins. In one example, one player had Bonnie as his first mate, leading you to believe he was a weak character, so my friend and I, who were both level 25, thought that having him join the level 50 we were going up against (we knew he was high because he had El Toro as a first mate) would be a fairly even match. Only to find he had tricked us and was ALSO level 50. Both of us jumped out before the fight even began, thus wasting our time. There needs to be some system where the level of the combatants is easy to know, and before you can join a team, if it would obviously unbalance the play, all players are warned, to determine if they want that player to join, or something similar.
i would like to point out you should have been able to notice Bonnie Anne had been upgraded. she changes quite a bit when you are at that level