Wasteland Diaries: Flag up
Filed under: Fallen Earth, PvP, MMOFPS, Wasteland Diaries, Post-Apocalyptic
Since the addition of the open world PvP flag to Fallen Earth, I haven't seen it being used often enough. There are only a handful of players, including me, who stay flagged for PvP 24/7. For a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Fallen Earth is a pretty safe and cozy place for most. The majority of the game takes place in relatively civilized areas where clones can't harm one another. PvP zones are optional, and many players simply avoid them. With the well-guarded towns, sporadic and weak mobs that are always right where you left them, and the resilience of player characters, there isn't a huge element of danger out there.
I know a lot of these issues are being addressed with the combat changes, but today's wasteland isn't too frightening. I drive into PvP zones and almost breathe a sigh of relief, because everyone around me is on an even keel. When I roll into a crowded town, that is when I'm really on my guard. I appear to go about my business normally, but I'm looking over both shoulders. You never know who in the crowd might have it in for you or might just attack you on a whim. Truth be told, it's not so bad. Most people won't pay you any mind. After the cut, I'll take a look at the past month I've spent PvP-flagged and try to explain why I think it's the only way to play.
First of all, dying in Fallen Earth is a minor inconvenience. One of the first things I overcame in FE was my fear of death. It kind of takes a bit of the excitement out of combat when dying isn't a big deal. Not to mention, in most PvE encounters, you have utterly no chance of dying. PvP is a different story and is inherently more dangerous. But dying in FE is still dying in FE, and it's not a major issue. You respawn and take a little bit of wear and tear on your gear. Oh, and you suffer from cloning sickness, which is temporary and really only brutal if you get to tier five. Hint: You have to die a lot to get to tier five. Dying is no big deal, so why not flag for PvP?
Before I go any further into why one should flag, let me explain the mechanics of flagging for world PvP. You type "/pvp" into the chat bar and you are immediately flagged. You can now attack, heal and/or affect anyone else who is flagged. You will also see "(PVP)" after your name. It's as simple as that. A message is broadcast to those nearby in local chat in an effort to make the ninja-flag-and-gank less attractive to our less honorable players. Unless you are paying very close attention to your chat windows, it doesn't help much. And to prevent cloner-camping, you are immune to PvP for three minutes after you die. You can voluntarily remove your immunity if you like. That about covers the mechanics of it. It's a simple but powerful system that doesn't get as much use as it should.
There are some players who absolutely refuse to flag for PvP or even enter a conflict town. It's just not their thing. They don't derive any pleasure from competing against other players. I can respect that. I don't understand it, but to each his own. I myself just don't feel very challenged by the environment in most games, and I prefer to duke it out with other humans, not scripted (or unscripted) mobs. That's what single-player and cooperative games are for. I'm not saying that Fallen Earth is a PvP-centric game, but it's no secret that I wish it were.
Even the roleplaying community uses the world PvP flag. And why not trade in a weak emoted punch in the face for a real punch? Shouldn't mindless violence be portrayed the same way in a roleplay setting as it would be in a competitive PvP setting? Of course it should. The roleplaying community in Fallen Earth has embraced the world PvP flag for its usefulness despite its liabilities. Roleplayers do run the risk of being attacked by miscreants. For example: This past Tuesday night, Mendoza's Marauders attacked a peaceful bike rally south of Haven. It comes with the territory. But if you ask me, danger is fun.
Strolling into town and knowing that anyone around you could attack at any given moment makes the game more edgy and tense. While this might not be everyone's cup of tea, I like it. I want to have a sense of danger in a post-apocalyptic world. I want to be distrustful of everyone I don't know. I want to view strangers as potential enemies and be ready to react to sudden hostilities. I check my surroundings before I check my mail or root around in my sector vault. Unless I'm in a hurry, I check the entire town for hostiles or enemy clan members before I do my business.
I've been flagged for PvP on all four of my clones for over a month now, and I play every day. I think I would have been bored silly by now if it weren't for the world PvP flag, as I've done most everything the game offers. But I wear the PvP flag as a badge of pride and as a invitation to fight me if you so desire. Hell, even my squishy social/crafter is always flagged. If you are wondering how intense FE can be, flag up and find out. You never know what might happen. I can tell you one thing: If you die, you haven't lost anything, so what's the big deal? Until next week, if you see me in the wasteland, flag up and pop me in the head.
Ed Marshall has been playing Fallen Earth since beta and leads the Outsiders clan. Wasteland Diaries is his weekly column that covers all aspects of Fallen Earth: PvE, RP and PvP. To contact Ed, send an email to edward@massively.com, find him on the official forums as Casey Royer, or hunt him down in the wastelands as Nufan, Original, Death Incarnate, and Knuckles Mcsquee.
I know a lot of these issues are being addressed with the combat changes, but today's wasteland isn't too frightening. I drive into PvP zones and almost breathe a sigh of relief, because everyone around me is on an even keel. When I roll into a crowded town, that is when I'm really on my guard. I appear to go about my business normally, but I'm looking over both shoulders. You never know who in the crowd might have it in for you or might just attack you on a whim. Truth be told, it's not so bad. Most people won't pay you any mind. After the cut, I'll take a look at the past month I've spent PvP-flagged and try to explain why I think it's the only way to play.
First of all, dying in Fallen Earth is a minor inconvenience. One of the first things I overcame in FE was my fear of death. It kind of takes a bit of the excitement out of combat when dying isn't a big deal. Not to mention, in most PvE encounters, you have utterly no chance of dying. PvP is a different story and is inherently more dangerous. But dying in FE is still dying in FE, and it's not a major issue. You respawn and take a little bit of wear and tear on your gear. Oh, and you suffer from cloning sickness, which is temporary and really only brutal if you get to tier five. Hint: You have to die a lot to get to tier five. Dying is no big deal, so why not flag for PvP?
Before I go any further into why one should flag, let me explain the mechanics of flagging for world PvP. You type "/pvp" into the chat bar and you are immediately flagged. You can now attack, heal and/or affect anyone else who is flagged. You will also see "(PVP)" after your name. It's as simple as that. A message is broadcast to those nearby in local chat in an effort to make the ninja-flag-and-gank less attractive to our less honorable players. Unless you are paying very close attention to your chat windows, it doesn't help much. And to prevent cloner-camping, you are immune to PvP for three minutes after you die. You can voluntarily remove your immunity if you like. That about covers the mechanics of it. It's a simple but powerful system that doesn't get as much use as it should.
There are some players who absolutely refuse to flag for PvP or even enter a conflict town. It's just not their thing. They don't derive any pleasure from competing against other players. I can respect that. I don't understand it, but to each his own. I myself just don't feel very challenged by the environment in most games, and I prefer to duke it out with other humans, not scripted (or unscripted) mobs. That's what single-player and cooperative games are for. I'm not saying that Fallen Earth is a PvP-centric game, but it's no secret that I wish it were.
Even the roleplaying community uses the world PvP flag. And why not trade in a weak emoted punch in the face for a real punch? Shouldn't mindless violence be portrayed the same way in a roleplay setting as it would be in a competitive PvP setting? Of course it should. The roleplaying community in Fallen Earth has embraced the world PvP flag for its usefulness despite its liabilities. Roleplayers do run the risk of being attacked by miscreants. For example: This past Tuesday night, Mendoza's Marauders attacked a peaceful bike rally south of Haven. It comes with the territory. But if you ask me, danger is fun.
Strolling into town and knowing that anyone around you could attack at any given moment makes the game more edgy and tense. While this might not be everyone's cup of tea, I like it. I want to have a sense of danger in a post-apocalyptic world. I want to be distrustful of everyone I don't know. I want to view strangers as potential enemies and be ready to react to sudden hostilities. I check my surroundings before I check my mail or root around in my sector vault. Unless I'm in a hurry, I check the entire town for hostiles or enemy clan members before I do my business.
I was caught unawares once in Los Alamos while checking my mail. I was killed by two guys, so I called in some backup, then they did too, and it escalated into a big fight in town. That's the great thing about a fight erupting in town: Most players will stop and watch, and some bystanders will even flag up and jump in. Almost every time I've been attacked in a crowded area, it has evolved into a pitched battle that goes a few rounds.
I've been flagged for PvP on all four of my clones for over a month now, and I play every day. I think I would have been bored silly by now if it weren't for the world PvP flag, as I've done most everything the game offers. But I wear the PvP flag as a badge of pride and as a invitation to fight me if you so desire. Hell, even my squishy social/crafter is always flagged. If you are wondering how intense FE can be, flag up and find out. You never know what might happen. I can tell you one thing: If you die, you haven't lost anything, so what's the big deal? Until next week, if you see me in the wasteland, flag up and pop me in the head.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Russell Clarke said on 6:20PM 11-05-2010
Perhaps we should institute a national "Fallen Earth Flag Yer Ass /PvP" day?
Reply
Russell Clarke said on 6:22PM 11-05-2010
Sorry, make that 'international'.
Ed Marshall said on 6:33PM 11-05-2010
Sounds good. I vote for EVERY day.
Russell Clarke said on 6:47PM 11-05-2010
Yeah, but small steps! Get lots of people to realise it's not like their worst fears, and perhaps more people will indeed keep themselves flagged.
Damn, I'd better raise my Dodge.
nightsong66 said on 8:03PM 11-05-2010
i don't play this game, although the setting is definitely my cup of tea ..sadly, my computer suuuucks. It'll play WoW, and well ..not much else tbh. I am actually very surprised to hear that this game doesn't foster a pvp mentality a bit more. Seems really weird that in a post-apocalyptic world, there is so little cut-throat "kill anyone and anything that might benefit me" type of game-play. I would have thought this game was basically a pvp-centric game, just reading about here, and on various other sites. The setting almost demands it, IMO. Hell, even Fallout fosters that sense of "everything out here probably wants to kill me for my water and caps". I couldn't imagine playing this game un-flagged.
I dunno, care bears and nuclear wasteland just don't seem to go together. Props on having a pair.
Reply
vista said on 8:24PM 11-05-2010
This game should be open pvp all the time. Allot more people would play it.
Should I say every one is pvp flagged all the time .
Reply
Russell Clarke said on 10:23PM 11-05-2010
While I play perma-PvP, I respect the fact that some people don't want to do that. Actually until very recently, I had never flagged PvP.
FE has a lot to offer for both types of player.
For example, my shining wit.
UTech said on 6:35AM 11-06-2010
"Trammel".
Yukon Sam said on 8:43PM 11-05-2010
Why would you want somebody to flag who isn't going to put up an epic fight? That sounds, I don't know, kinda candy-asterisk to me. You know, chicken ship. Lily-livered.
Here's a radical notion: why don't we leave PvP to people who enjoy PvP, and leave everybody else out of it? That way everybody can do what they like doing, and the only people who get short-changed are the ones that want to beat up non-PvP players and take their lunch money.
Reply
Russell Clarke said on 10:44PM 11-05-2010
Flagging PvP is not always about going out to beat someone else. I'm still doing PvE missions, and I'm not going looking for other PvPers to attack - quite the opposite in fact - I'm avoiding the buggers. But the fact that I know trouble can roll into town at any minute makes the game a lot more unpredictable for me.
Perhaps I'm candy ass, lily livered, chicken shit, but the fact is, since I have flagged myself for PvP, it has brought a whole new dimension to the game, which, for me doesn't include the usual epeen or aggression. I'm simply making myself vulnerable, and learning that needing to protect myself from death isn't as simple as staying away from spawn locations and instances.
Yukon Sam said on 3:30AM 11-07-2010
Let me clarify; it's not cowardly to flag yourself for PvP. I do that every time I get sick of going around a zone and decide to take a shortcut.
What gets under my skin is the suggestion that everybody should flag for PvP, that the system should be set up exclusively for open-world PvP, or that there's something inherently wrong with not wanting to PvP.
There's nothing wrong with declaring that 24/7 PvP flagging is the right choice for you. Rock on. But nobody gets to decide if its the right choice for me except for me.
Hurbster said on 8:47PM 11-05-2010
Sorry, having to check an entire town for enemies before you do any business and getting gamked while just checking your post does not sound like fun to me.
Reply
Garthim-Master said on 6:43AM 11-06-2010
I just want to say that I would find looking over your shoulder at every moment just that more realistic in a wasteland and extremely fun. I am also surprised Fallen Earth isn't focused on PvP. I tried beta & didn't give it much of a chance. I think if this game had an open world PvP setting I would have joined long ago to check it out.
However, with that said I would also like to say that having a sense of depth to the community without senseless killing would appeal to me more. In this game I could see role-playing as permanently flagged for PvP really interesting in Fallen Earth. Having a system where killing another man has some weight to it would be ideal. I would like to see a world where considering things like whether or not a person has a family for which he is trying to gather resources for as he traverses the wasteland would weigh in on another players conscience. Having a sense of loyalty and integrity but also a sense of desperation & the need for self-preservation would all be taken into account. For instance, you are scouring the Wasteland looking for a certain resource when you come across another person hunting for all of the sane resources in the area...at this point you could discuss striking a deal to share or you could outright roleplay the type to shoot first & ask questions later...but shooting first might have some consequences such as a debuff placed on your character that might affect how town people in various towns deal with you. Like if I build up rep with a bunch of cities you might not know exactly which towns I have gained loyalty with & killing me without reason (attacking me first, unprovoked) could result in NPC's in the town where one player is strongly affiliated could pose serious restrictions & possibly even have towns hating you & developing a "kill on sight" attitude towards the real scoundrels. Of course scoundrels would have their own devious networks on the outskirts. Social networking in a real post-apocalyptic setting would definitely be important for survival so playing a PvP game with some serious thought into the game with more detail then I describe here could be extremely fun & realistic.
I enjoy the unpredictability of another player. Moreso when PvPing other intelligent players that surprise you with tactics that you would not have thought have yourself. We have all had a moment in PvP where we think "that tricky bastard...they are NOT going to get me like that again".
So anyways, I guess my point is...PvP is the only thing that keeps me playing MMO's. I would just like to see more depth in regards to possible consequences. Taking another man's life should take some thought in regards to risk/reward. Mindless PvP is fun for a while but I am still waiting for a system that really represents what the scenario would be really like.
Perhaps I just want a real nuclear bomb to destroy everything so that I can really be faced with a scenario like in these video games. At least if a game did it first then I would be a bit prepared haha.
Dblade said on 5:38PM 11-06-2010
Doesn't seem worth it to me, but I'm only level 15. I can think of a few reasons.
There's the run back from the lifenet station, and that can take longer than you think depending on the area. You also may be forced to tow your horse and even revive it, if it's been killed too by the other player. Meanwhile, PvP flagged players could camp the garage waiting for you. By then your protection is off.
Plus, there's no factional police early on in the game, so you are SOL in town if you get ganked. There's no safety and no way to access services if they choose to deny you if you are always flagged by choice.
I think you like it mostly because not many people do it. If they did, it would be a lot worse.
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