Lets get ready to rumble! the pvp debate.

[Soulfly]

Fantastic news that Elite is finally getting a remake!
And multi-player has been mentioned, which begs the question.

What kind of pvp game play can we expect ?

Will it the be the harsh kind comparable to eve-online or a more cooperative approach like guild wars 2. Or possibly a completely new way to tackle the multi-play experience?
I am very curious to see what vision David Braben and his team have on this particular subject and of course how do other elite fans envision multi-player in the elite universe.

 

[Riedquat For A Dream]

From all I've read and thought about this over the years, I suspect it will behave similarly to the following:

You play the game as if you were playing on your own. Other players are doing likewise.

Although there may be thousands of players in the Lave System, you will only be connected to a subset of those players. You silently join other players when you hyperspace into a star system. You are not told who is there or where they are, so you may or may not bump into them.

So imagine the upper limit of players in a server was 16 players. This would prevent a ridiculous overpopulation of players in the central systems, and would even out the experience when travelling further out (the further out you go the less players will playing in that system, but the ones that are will be grouped together onto servers). Once you're really out on the edges then you're far less likely to be bumping into people, as you may be the only player in the world in that system at all.

There are obvious questions for such a system (such as how do you get to meet up with friends) but I'm sure there are solutions to them.

 

[Soulfly]

That sounds interesting thanks for your insight. So basically you are divided up in various instances as to make the chance of meeting another human player smaller? What happens once you meet someone will you be able to shoot each other and take each others loot ? Will you lose everything if killed by a human player ? What kind of death penalties could one expect. Will you be able to choose co op mode so you can choose to play with other humans to fight a common npc threat ?
So many questions!

 

[rgmarett]

From the interview with the BBC DB only mentions flying around with your friends - that implies PvE.

No other details have been given yet.

 

[Soulfly]

From the interview with the BBC DB only mentions flying around with your friends - that implies PvE.

No other details have been given yet.

Indeed hence the curiosity!
Co operative multi-player can be fun too.
There is more to pvp of course. Will the economy be dynamic and will people be able to become a tycoon of sorts ? Looking at eve-online which is a hyper capitalistic market, trade wars between people can be fierce to say the least.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Indeed hence the curiosity!

I guess a major decision that will be needed to be taken (regarding PvP) is consensual or non-consensual, and what happens after death (in the multiplayer part of the game)

EVE is non-consensual meaning you can be minding your own business, targeted by someone, and blown apart.

Elite was also non-consensual in that you could enter dangerous regions of space and meet pirates who would delight in trying to blow you up but these were NPCs and you sort of knew in advance this would happen.

Not sure how PvP would be handled in the multi-player portion - guess we will find out over time.

In Elite you died .. end of game .. but how will Elite Dangerous handle this in the multi-player world ? Do you buy insurance (aka EVE with clones), rely upon Escape Pods, and if so what happens if you jettison out a craft and someone (player character) fuel-scoops you up - do you become their slave ?

 

[tvrobyn]

Could anybody tell me what systems the remake would be on? Xbox live would be interesting........

 

[Styggron]

Could anybody tell me what systems the remake would be on? Xbox live would be interesting........

This would be complete speculation. Wait to see if we reach target, see if they get way above target and if they do as David said they would look at the possibility of other platforms but for now..... the only correct answer is "we don't know" but of course one would assume the regular set of consoles would be on the cards.

For me though, Computer only. I want the keyboards with all the functions etc.

 

[Lianachan]

Am I the only person with absolutely no interest whatsoever in the multi-player side of this game?

 

[bullfrog]

No you are not alone in wishing to play single player, its sandpit fun and that is the feel of Elite, so many people will be looking for that IMHO.

From what hints have been dropped I was thinking it sounds more like a friend based system of peer to peer connecting via servers, a bit like some RTS matchmaking.

If that is right then if you have the game and your friends do too, you could matchmake with them to either coop or PvP as you wish, ditto groups of friends or LAN parties could coop or form some teams or maybe a free-for-all PvP, but no uninvited guests.

 

[Jokester]

The way I see it from the titbits in the Kickstarter page is that everyone will be in the same galaxy. Players will simply have the option to play it single player (they can't see other players or their killeable NPCs, and other players can't see the single player and his killeable NPCs in the single players game), invitation only (so in a similar bubble to the single player, but now with multiple players - the "limit it to just your friends" mentioned in the article) or free for all where players can see everyone else that is playing unrestricted.

Players can switch between modes within reason (say at the next jump to a new star system to prevent people "running away" from a battle by merely going single player - this is the seamless, lobbyless transistion between who you decide to play with.

I can't see how you couldn't have PvP if it's an immersive multiplayer, even if it's limited to only frontier worlds. The trick will be how to get people into the same spot of space at the same time to allow PvP to happen.

Not too sure how player kills will be handled though. Financial loss through insurance seems to be a logical result and perhaps having a clone back at your home space station to explain you being alive again or an escape pod (not scoopable) that you need to return to a nearby base, before you could take to a new ship.

 

[Kipper]

For me, Elite should have always been multiplayer - it just couldn't be because the sort of technology needed is only just becoming available.

Another upcoming game springs to mind here - Planetside 2 - they're following up on the only game that's ever tried to make an MMO scale game where you had direct control (by which I mean you fight by fighting, not clicking skillbar buttons). It worked in 2002 just about, but it looks like the internet, PCs and indeed gamers themselves are ready for it to work properly in 2012.

I'd like to basically see a refreshed attempt to model our milky way, lay over the top of it an EVE style sandbox with as much of everything driven by the players as possible - some NPCs might be needed, but players themselves should be able to fill all NPC roles. The major difference would be that with Elite, you have direct control over your ship.

As far as PvP goes - of course. Any 'corporate state' or inner systems should be locked so that people can go about their business in safety and low risk (including from NPCs). More outer systems should introduce PvP away from the planets and bases and even further out should be full on.

If you make it so that everyone can play the same game, but everyone can choose whether or not (and how much) PvP they get involved with then the game will be all the richer for it.

I think death would be easy to handle in this game. Everyone would need to get an escape pod as standard and when you're blown up, you end up floating in space in it where you died. You can fly it like a ship, but it can't be killed or collected and you can use it to jump back to somewhere safe or maybe radio for help (perhaps it can be collected if you consent to it?).

When you blow up, any cargo you had on board has a chance of being lost to space or just being lost in the explosion (maybe depending on circumstances) and can be collected, along with other random metals and scrap by the other player(s), or by yourself if they're not interested and you can get back there before anyone else finds it.

You keep any credits you have since they're automatically in your 'bank'. Everyone should get basic insurance which gets them back in a starter ship, but insurance should be upgradeable to ensure you get a like-for-like ship replacement (you could just buy a whole new ship, but insurance would be cheaper).

Insurance should be available on components you added to the ship to replace them at a lower cost, and you could insure cargo for trading runs so you don't lose out on everything (much as ship captains in history).... Thus allowing you to take a risk for bigger profits or mitigate your losses if you expect trouble.

All seems fairly strightforward to me

 

[atome]

I would really love to see a ballsy open pvp mechanic, the limited pvp info is currently holding me back from pledging. Infact any pvp info would help!

 

[atome]

I really hope we get the opportunity to pvp in this game. It so lends itself to a great expansive universe where you may encounter a pirate or bounty hunter.

 

[Shurdist]

Kipper said
"If you make it so that everyone can play the same game, but everyone can choose whether or not (and how much) PvP they get involved with then the game will be all the richer for it."

Agreed

 

[Jenner]

Sorry, too much necro.

There are better, more current threads for the PvP/PvE discussion.