Although the general attitude toward PvP on Star Trek Online is bad, I do appreciate all the content you have added so far and the time you have spent on the fixing the various problems that needed fixing and were necessary to make the cam at balanced and fun.
I've had this idea on my head regarding PvP and how it could be improved further to help it perhaps become the best PvP of any MMO game today.
My idea is:
What if we were able to toggle PvP in sector space (a bit like in DC Universe but with a few tweaks).
Have it so that in sector space, if someone is in "PvP mode", he can be challenged by a member of the opposing faction, allowing no more than 2 to challenge said player at one time, for obvious reasons. Instead of creating a "challenge match" though, on an arena map we all know and are bored of, it would make it very unique if the match happened in the nearest system on that sector. That way the scenario is always different, not on some boring old arena map we all know, one match could be on a system with a few planets, the other could be in a massive asteroid field that would challenge the piloting skills of even the best escort pilots to maintain weapons fire on the target, or it could happen in a nebula that disrupts shields or targeting systems (which would give cruisers the advantage since they have higher hull), this would create advantages or disadvantages for different ships.
The match would be immediate and there is no accepting or refusing (after all, if you didn't want to be pushed into a challenge then you can turn PvP mode off before going to multi-faction sectors). However, to keep true to Star Trek and common sense, you do get a choice to send out a distress call, to a friend on your friend list who is online or just a general distress call to someone in the sector. When the player receives the distress call he can accept or refuse, and the call will go to another player who is in the sector, if he refuses. The one who accepts, will automatically head to the system where the distress call is.
Obviously though, in the time it takes for help to arrive the player being attacked could've been destroyed, after all there are players out there that'll instavape a ship in less than 3 seconds. So to give the player being attacked a chance to survive, you could create a gap in distance, as there would be if the ships dropped out of warp, (if you disable full impulse during the match and create a distance of say: 30km) then it'd give the player being attacked a chance to reach either some obstacles in space to even the match, a chance for help to arrive and warp within 15km of his ship before he is attacked or to increase the chance of help arriving within time to help. Perhaps give the player a modest defence boost to make the match a bit more survivable until help arrives (obviously the defence boost would end once help arrives).
When help for the player being attacked arrives the attackers have the choice to call another friend or player in the same sector to assist them in their attack, he'd arrive in the same way the "help" arrived and only one would be able to join. Then the players being attacked could then call another player to assist, once the other attacker arrives, to help them defend and so on and so on until you either have a 5v5 or a 10v10. You could even call for help from the defending player's fleet. This call would go out to all online fleet members regardless of wether they're in free roam "PvP mode" or not, this way you'd be making fleets more active as well as creating amazing, exhilarating pvp matches and drawing in new players to PvP because they'll know that they won't be alone, the purpose for them being there is to assist and work together to fight off a Klingon or Federation player attack, it could also bring fleet members closer together. It would be very important to make sure that it happens in different systems and sectors so that you can use the variety of different maps that already exist in the game, to create a different environment that players have to adapt to, especially if you introduce asteroid fields that move perhaps or nebulas that have an effect on ships systems. This would make the match more about wit and intelligence rather than sheer brute force (this is what would make it exciting).
Perhaps it'd also be good if players that are in missions in multi-faction sectors and have "PvP mode" on could also be attacked by allowing players of the opposing faction to scan systems within the sector to see if there's anyone available for attack (with the previous rules applying of course). The attacker would be able to enter the system with the player he is attacking receiving a message from his first officer saying that a KDF/FED ship has entered the system and is on an intercept course. It'd make it even more amazing if said player was in a ground mission and the attacker would have to beam into the area within a certain range of the player to mount an attack on the ground. Again, with it happening in different systems, there would be constant challenge of adapting to new environments that can even the match and change whichever side holds the advantage from one moment to the next.
The rewards for this could be based on the length of the players survival from the moment the attackers open fire or by other means, it would be nice for high quality gear to be a reward for the winner. If there was an idea for creating a PvP reputation with PvP specific gear this could be a good way to create the means for getting the marks for progressing in such reputation.
If the rewards are good for both parties then more people will be drawn to pvp and it'd lead to more money being spent in the game by players.
This is just an idea that I think would keep the PvP players happy for years to come as there would be a constant change in battle scenarios that would make the match very exciting, it'd take a long time for people to get bored and it'd increase sector space exploration too. I think cryptic could really make money from this idea since people interested in trying this out would motivated to spend more time and money in the game and perhaps purchase more ships that would allow them to put up more of a fight without overpowering the opponent.
Too hard to implement, been suggested before like a million times, and generally speaking the devs don't reply to, read, or comment on pvp suggestions.
When it comes to PvP, the dev's copy and paste stuff like ''Shuttles PvP'' and ''Cross Factions PvP'' then called it a ''Update'' while in reality it's not.
They really have done nothing new for PvP over the years... no new maps, no leaderboards, no new games modes, no PvP Battlezones, no Systems PvP, no anything... they either too ignorant or too Anti-PvP to do anything for it.
While ur suggestions are nice, along with many others posted suggestions before, the lead STO Dev's will continue to ignore anything that would make PvP better, i wish that's not the case but it is.
PWE's F2P master plan is to attract casual PvE players with cool toys under the guise of selling overpowered, broken, "I-win", power-creep toys to the PvP'rs.
It appears to be innocent from the PvE standpoint but for the PvP'rs it becomes the latest arms race, must-have, exploit of the month.
It's underhanded, unethical, game-breaking and hypocritical but PWE does it anyway because they know there's an entire world of saps who want the easy kill and are willing to PAY for it.
As long as PWE is making money from people who are willing to pay-to-win, they have NO incentive to change anything. And, humans being the way they are, this isn't going to change anytime soon.
The only way to have a good PvP system in this game, now or in the future, is for the players themselves to take control of it; reject pay-to-win, reject staking exploits, reject the power creep, and to have matches that actually depend on team-play.
Thank you guys for reading, I know it was a lot and I appreciate it.
It's a shame it won't happen because PvP has been needing improvement for years now.
Comments
They really have done nothing new for PvP over the years... no new maps, no leaderboards, no new games modes, no PvP Battlezones, no Systems PvP, no anything... they either too ignorant or too Anti-PvP to do anything for it.
While ur suggestions are nice, along with many others posted suggestions before, the lead STO Dev's will continue to ignore anything that would make PvP better, i wish that's not the case but it is.
devs never read pvp forums....
Won't ever happen.
PWE's F2P master plan is to attract casual PvE players with cool toys under the guise of selling overpowered, broken, "I-win", power-creep toys to the PvP'rs.
It appears to be innocent from the PvE standpoint but for the PvP'rs it becomes the latest arms race, must-have, exploit of the month.
It's underhanded, unethical, game-breaking and hypocritical but PWE does it anyway because they know there's an entire world of saps who want the easy kill and are willing to PAY for it.
Lockbox Doffs ...
Lockbox Traits ...
Lockbox Ships ...
As long as PWE is making money from people who are willing to pay-to-win, they have NO incentive to change anything. And, humans being the way they are, this isn't going to change anytime soon.
The only way to have a good PvP system in this game, now or in the future, is for the players themselves to take control of it; reject pay-to-win, reject staking exploits, reject the power creep, and to have matches that actually depend on team-play.
It's a shame it won't happen because PvP has been needing improvement for years now.