All these topics can be summarized by the fact that low scale PvP is very clunky and frustrating. I think the reason for this ultimately is that people have a number of options to become "invincible" or "semi-invincible" to avoid defeat:
- Overpowered/unbalanced gems - Having sets of really high level gems, plus the fact that they're currently unbalanced especially in relation to gems that are put into weapons. Some characters are totally immune to damage of certain types.
- Healing potions - These potions can be used indefinitely, immediately upon the previous healing potion wearing off.
- Unlimited movement - This allows for a lot of kiting and indefinite running away.
During the great battle (close to one year anniversary!) these issues weren't a problem because both sides had enough people to damage down anyone despite these problems. But that's not the norm. It's usually a single criminal or small groups or hit and run attacks so these problems become very noticeable. I think all three of these things have to be addressed and not just one or two. And the fixes would need to be sensible to not break other aspects of the game (PvE).
I think the following would be fair, depending on how difficult they are to implement:
Unbalanced Gems
Based on what others have been saying, there are known problems with gem balancing, so this may be a non-issue at some point.
- Properly balance weapon gems in relation to armor gems.
- Lower weapon disadvantages against armor types a little more.
Potions
- Shorten the duration of "buff" potions.
- Implement a system of diminishing returns on healing potions used within a certain period of time.
That would look something like this:
Potion 1: 100% Effect
Potion 2 (if used within 5 minutes of the first potion): 75% Effect
Potion 3 (if used within 5 minutes of the first potion): 50% Effect
Potion 4 (if used within 5 minutes of the first potion): 25% Effect
Potion 5 (if used within 5 minutes of the first potion): 10% Effect
And it would stay at 10% effectiveness until you lower the amount of healing potions you use in any five minute window. This would still allow for players to mitigate burst PvE damage while lowering chugging in PvP.
I think that'd be the best option, but another would be to have a built in failure percentage (~20%) on every healing potion used, meaning someone can be burst down in PvP if they're falling behind and their potion fails. But I don't know if that'd fix the problem. The failure would make the potion 10% effective which would be weak while stopping them from using another potion until the duration of the 10% potion is over.
Infinite Running
Characters can run across the map indefinitely with basically no restraint. This is a major advantage especially for high agility characters. They can run/kite forever while potion chugging or regen-ing naturally through constitution.
See discussion:
http://illarion.org/community/forums/vi ... 94&t=40991
personal favourite: slowing movement down relative to (PvP?)damage taken & given
Would be ok, but is there any feasible way to differentiate PvP damage vs non-PvP damage in the client?
Disable potions ..when a character is targeting or targeted by another character.
This could lead to trolling .. people targeting others just to slow them, etc.
Disable potions ...while a character is affected by a potion.
The full duration of warrior potions? Seems too extensive. If the buff potions duration is reduced requiring smarter timing, or if this effect only kicks in for healing potions, this would be a decent option.