An Overview of Cyrodiil PvP

To clear any confusion or misconceptions, this is how Cyrodiil will work according to TamrielFoundry.com.

http://tamrielfoundry.com/development-faq/#campaigns


Campaigns

* PvP comprises a major portion of endgame content in TES:O, with a mix of open-world RvR and instanced arenas. No one will be forced to PvP if they do not wish to do so, PvP participation is purely voluntary either by entering a battleground or Cyrodiil.

* The focal point of PvP in TES:O is the war between the three player factions in the central province of Cyrodiil. This entire province is the stage for endgame PvP, and its geographic map is inspired directly from that used in TES4: Oblivion. The full size of the playable area of Cyrodiil is even (slightly) larger than the landmass portrayed in Oblivion, all Cyrodiil’s major geographic landmarks and points of interest are present and will be immediately recognizable to fans of Oblivion.

* The three faction system is designed to naturally balance and lend political intrigue to the persistent PvP endgame. If any one faction becomes too powerful, the other two factions naturally tend to work together to turn the tide of battle.

* Players may begin participating in Cyrodiil from level 10 onwards. Players who are below level 50 recieve “battle-leveling” which enhances their attributes so they may participate and contribute to the alliance war. Battle-leveled players do not recieve the full complement of abilities, perks, or gear that a naturally leveled player would have, therefore a strong incentive to level and optimize your character remains present.

* Because of the megaserver technology, Cyrodiil needs to be separated into multiple instances. However, instead of random assignment of players, ZeniMax recognizes the importance of having static PvP communities for the sake of rivalry and investment in the state of the realm war. Therefore, players are assigned (or may select) a “campaign”, which is a permanent parallel version of Cyrodiil’s realm war to which they belong. Campaigns will be named after the major cities in the region.

* Guilds can collectively select a Cyrodiil campaign, and players will be able to switch campaigns, however this will impose some meaningful alliance point cost. However, you are prohibited from having characters from different factions in the same campaign.

* In order to maintain the PvP focus on the massive realm war in Cyrodiil, ZeniMax has elected to not include any form of structured or instanced PvP at launch. They want players’ focus to be on the alliance war, which is the crowning facet of TESO’s gameplay.


Objectives

* The control of major keeps throughout Cyrodiil will be the primary objective of the warring factions, but mines, towns, and outposts present smaller objectives for individuals and groups to capture or defend. Any objective held by your team boosts the overall score for your faction. This score grants faction-wide bonuses to all players and determines if any of the three factions is able to take control of the Imperial City. The faction war requires a tactical alliance-wide effort to win. While the main battles will occur on an ever-shifting front line, a number of critical support tasks are available to players who do not want to participate directly in PvP. Setting up siege weapons, reinforcing keeps, and upgrading guards all offer ways to improve your faction’s position in the realm war without engaging in PvP directly.

* The Imperial City is initially held by Molag Bal and his Daedric minions. Accumulating sufficient control points allows your faction to invade the Imperial City and attempt to wrest it from Daedric control. This will be a dramatic and dangerous gameplay sequence for the faction involved, and constitutes one of the major endgame moments of TES:O.

* At launch, the Imperial City itself will be locked, and the campaign victory is achieved simply by controlling a large portion of Cyrodiil’s keeps and cities. After the game’s initial launch, the sieging the Imperial City itself and the armies of Molag Bal which lurk within it will be added to the culmination of each PvP campaign. If the Imperial City is successfully captured, the player with the highest contributions to the war will be crowned emperor for a period of time. This title is primarily for bragging rights rather than special powers, but will also convey some gameplay benefits.

* Elder Scrolls are artifacts of immense power that aid an alliance in the ongoing battle to control Tamriel by conferring bonuses to every member of that alliance. Each alliance has a special stronghold in Cyrodiil where their Elder Scrolls are kept and protected – but enemy alliances can break in and take them if they are not guarded properly. Once access is gained and a Scroll taken, it must be taken back across Cyrodiil and placed in the alliance’s stronghold. Only then are the bonuses of the Scroll bestowed upon all the members of that alliance.

* Siege weaponry will play a vital role in keep warfare, with both offensive and defensive war machines to strengthen a side’s position. Parts of a keep can be destroyed completely, eliminating bottleneck situations. With enough firepower and determination, a group of players can effectively demolish an entire keep by destroying its walls and towers.

* Each faction controls a “home” portion of Cyrodiil, and the cities and towns within your home portion are more valuable than those of your enemies. This makes it important for each faction to defend their homelands, instead of simply cycling control of keeps.

* Natural fortifications and chokepoints are scattered throughout the map. These are not necssarily tied directly to any objective, but provide substantial strategic value for roaming groups. If used properly, the terrain can be used to set up ambushes, or repel a much larger force at a natural bottleneck.

* Guilds can claim control of any objective in Cyrodiil from keeps to small outposts. Control of an objective allows the guild to further upgrade its defenses, and customize the placement and role of NPC guards which defend it. Guild members recieve immediate notification if their objective comes under assault from enemy forces.

* Keeps and smaller objectives are captured by flipping a series of banners which are captured by holding their immediate vicinity. There are no keep lords or other required NPCs which must be killed, this keeps the emphasis on player vs. player combat.

* ZeniMax Online is working on a way to allow players to infiltrate a keep by scaling the walls. The brave (or foolish) can attempt such an assault to catch the enemies unawares.


PvP Mechanics

* Stamina management will be a decisive factor and indicator of player skill, as the ability to conserve stamina to perfectly time interrupts, blocks, and CC breaks can be pivotal in resolving fights.

* There is no separate gear progression for PvE gear and PvP gear. TES:O there will have various tiers of powerful gear, some of which will be acquired through PvE, while other pieces will require PvP participation to earn. In order to obtain the best possible equipment for your character, you will need to complete a mixture of all types of game content. Loot from PvE will be useable in PvP and vice versa.

* Stealth functions are similar in PvP to past games. A stealthed character is invisible to enemies unless they are detected, at which point they are a shaded outline. Stealthed players are fully uncovered when they take damage or attack an enemy. Since every class in TESO has some basic stealth ability, this creates very interesting possibilities for coordinated ambushes and surprise attacks.



Alliance Ranks

* Alliance points accumulate through killing enemies and taking objectives in Cyrodiil. This constitutes an alternate advancement system through which the player can earn Alliance Ranks. There are 23 ranks planned for launch, although this number is subject to change.

* Players will be able to spend Alliance Points on gear and character upgrades. The details of this system are still undergoing development and balancing.


TamrielFoundry.com References (so everything is pretty accurate)

(GI1) Game Informer – June 2012 Cover Article [ARTICLE]
(GI2) Game Informer – The Origins of The Elder Scrolls Online [VIDEO]
(GI3) Game Informer – The Challenge of The Elder Scrolls: An Interview With The Creative Director [VIDEO]
(GI4) Game Informer – Faction Profile: Daggerfall Covenant [ARTICLE]
(GI5) Game Informer – Faction Profile: Aldmeri Dominion [ARTICLE]
(GI6) Game Informer – Faction Profile: Ebonheart Pact [ARTICLE]
(GI7) Game Informer – Creating the Story for the Elder Scrolls Online [VIDEO]
(GI8) Game Informer – Exploring Quests In The Elder Scrolls Online [VIDEO]
(GI9) Game Informer – Why The Elder Scrolls Online Isn’t Using HeroEngine [ARTICLE]
(GI10) Game Informer – The Tactical Combat Of The Elder Scrolls Online [VIDEO 1][VIDEO 2]
(GI11) Game Informer – Special Edition Podcast: The Elder Scrolls Online [ARTICLE]
(ME3) Machinima E3 Live Show – Day 3 [VIDEO]
(G4E3) G4 Elder Scrolls Online E3 Gameplay Demo [VIDEO]
(GSE3) Gamespot E3 2012 Live Show – Day 2 [VIDEO]
(PCG1) PC Gamer – Exclusive Developer Interview [VIDEO]
(TWIT) Elder Scrolls Online Official Twitter [LINK]
(FB1) Elder Scrolls Online Facebook – Introduction to the Lore of Elder Scrolls Online [LINK]
(TF1) Tamriel Foundry – Hands-On With The Elder Scrolls Online [ARTICLE]
(ESO1) The Elder Scrolls Online Official Website [LINK]
(MH1) MMO Hut – Elder Scrolls Online Reveal Interview [VIDEO]

So where do the Elder Scrolls factor into this PvP? It has been said that there will be Elder Scrolls in Cyrodiil that will be much like the Relics were in Dark Age of Camelot and the object there is to steal the enemies Elder Scrolls and get them back to your Elder Scroll keep, at which time your faction would gain a bonus from the stolen Elder Scroll.

I know already exactly how that worked in DAoC but how does it work in The Elder Scrolls Online?

Where I got this from: http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/game-gu...liance-war

and it basically says:

Control Elder Scrolls

Elder Scrolls are artifacts of immense power that aid an alliance in the ongoing battle to control Tamriel by conferring bonuses to every member of that alliance. Each alliance has a special stronghold in Cyrodiil where their Elder Scrolls are kept and protected – but enemy alliances can break in and take them if they are not guarded properly. Once access is gained and a Scroll taken, it must be taken back across Cyrodiil and placed in the alliance’s stronghold. Only then are the bonuses of the Scroll bestowed upon all the members of that alliance.

Capture an Elder Scroll, protect it, and return it to your alliance’s stronghold to wield its power and gain bonuses.

So as you can see, I copied and pasted that from the Zenimax official site for TESO, where does that part fit in with your post?

(January 11th 2013, 04:09 PM)Elember Wrote: So where do the Elder Scrolls factor into this PvP? It has been said that there will be Elder Scrolls in Cyrodiil that will be much like the Relics were in Dark Age of Camelot and the object there is to steal the enemies Elder Scrolls and get them back to your Elder Scroll keep, at which time your faction would gain a bonus from the stolen Elder Scroll.

I know already exactly how that worked in DAoC but how does it work in The Elder Scrolls Online?

Where I got this from: http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/game-gu...liance-war

and it basically says:

Control Elder Scrolls

Elder Scrolls are artifacts of immense power that aid an alliance in the ongoing battle to control Tamriel by conferring bonuses to every member of that alliance. Each alliance has a special stronghold in Cyrodiil where their Elder Scrolls are kept and protected – but enemy alliances can break in and take them if they are not guarded properly. Once access is gained and a Scroll taken, it must be taken back across Cyrodiil and placed in the alliance’s stronghold. Only then are the bonuses of the Scroll bestowed upon all the members of that alliance.

Capture an Elder Scroll, protect it, and return it to your alliance’s stronghold to wield its power and gain bonuses.

So as you can see, I copied and pasted that from the Zenimax official site for TESO, where is that part fit in with your post?

I did the same as you did and copied what I saw on TamrielFoundry.com. So I'm just relaying what TF stated.

I'll add it to the overview though

Also in GW2 they did something just like the scrolls you described, except they were called orbs of power. ANet ended up removing them bc a dominate server would become even more Over Powered with the buffs from controling all three orbs. This would make it very imbalanced and the opposing servers wouldn't stand much of a chance. So I believe that they shouldn't use "scrolls" in Cyrodiil for stat buffs.

They should be used for faction point gain and provide exp buffs, Alliance points buff for each orb and such

Ex:
1 Scroll -(50 points) 5% increased exp buff & 5% increased Alliance Points buff

2 Scroll -(100 points) 10% increased exp buff & 10% increased Alliance Points buff

3 Scroll -(150 points) 15% increased exp buff & 15% increased Alliance Points buff

@Artarius Aetius .. good work mate, that's a very informative and stream line way of indicating the information. Kudos to you for being a fact checker. :)

Anet removed them because they couldnt fix the bugs in WvW that let people glitch threw walls and fly them over the map. Running with the orbs sometimes cause the player holding it to crash and the orb would get stuck in the ground. Glitch was also possible to go threw a wall and take out the Alter and it wouldnt never rebuild so the other team had nowhere to put it if they even got it.

The cover up they used was that it was too powerful though, so believe what you will.

(January 11th 2013, 10:13 PM)Fearum Wrote: Anet removed them because they couldnt fix the bugs in WvW that let people glitch threw walls and fly them over the map. Running with the orbs sometimes cause the player holding it to crash and the orb would get stuck in the ground. Glitch was also possible to go threw a wall and take out the Alter and it wouldnt never rebuild so the other team had nowhere to put it if they even got it.

The cover up they used was that it was too powerful though, so believe what you will.

I don't think the ESO devs will be having a similar problem because the Relics worked just fine in Dark Age of Camelot, and Matt Firor the ESO team lead is the one who designed DAoC Realm vs Realm and the whole thing surrounding the Relics.

While I am somewhat miffed at why they chose Elder Scrolls to represent the buffs because of their very nature of being impossible to read except by a Moth Priest or if you are surrounded by a swarm of Moths as in Skyrim/Dawnguard, I guess I can live with it.

(January 12th 2013, 07:58 AM)Elember Wrote:

(January 11th 2013, 10:13 PM)Fearum Wrote: Anet removed them because they couldnt fix the bugs in WvW that let people glitch threw walls and fly them over the map. Running with the orbs sometimes cause the player holding it to crash and the orb would get stuck in the ground. Glitch was also possible to go threw a wall and take out the Alter and it wouldnt never rebuild so the other team had nowhere to put it if they even got it.

The cover up they used was that it was too powerful though, so believe what you will.

I don't think the ESO devs will be having a similar problem because the Relics worked just fine in Dark Age of Camelot, and Matt Firor the ESO team lead is the one who designed DAoC Realm vs Realm and the whole thing surrounding the Relics.

While I am somewhat miffed at why they chose Elder Scrolls to represent the buffs because of their very nature of being impossible to read except by a Moth Priest or if you are surrounded by a swarm of Moths as in Skyrim/Dawnguard, I guess I can live with it.

There will always be unknown exploits & bugs it just depends on how fast they can fix them.

Bumping this to hopefully end all the confusion and answer any questions about PvP

@Tecca is there any way you can add the abbreviation "PvP" to the end of the title so people can understand that cyrodiil is the PvP zone and there hopefully wont be any new threads asking what PvP is.

Sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

Old information, last time I heard "Battlegrounds" and instanced forms of PvP are OUT.

(February 20th 2013, 04:28 AM)Nehemia Wrote: Old information, last time I heard "Battlegrounds" and instanced forms of PvP are OUT.

There will be Instanced battlegrounds/arenas but they wont be available at launch. They want people to focus on cyrodiil at first and later on they'll implement instanced pvp.

(February 20th 2013, 10:25 AM)Artarius Aetius Wrote:

(February 20th 2013, 04:28 AM)Nehemia Wrote: Old information, last time I heard "Battlegrounds" and instanced forms of PvP are OUT.

There will be Instanced battlegrounds/arenas but they wont be available at launch. They want people to focus on cyrodiil at first and later on they'll implement instanced pvp.

If they do that, that will either a. be waste of time, since Cyrodil will naturally be more fun, and more rewarding. B. there's higher reward gain on instanced PvP, which leads to Cyrodil being empty.

It just wouldn't work.

(February 20th 2013, 11:31 AM)Nehemia Wrote:

(February 20th 2013, 10:25 AM)Artarius Aetius Wrote:

(February 20th 2013, 04:28 AM)Nehemia Wrote: Old information, last time I heard "Battlegrounds" and instanced forms of PvP are OUT.

There will be Instanced battlegrounds/arenas but they wont be available at launch. They want people to focus on cyrodiil at first and later on they'll implement instanced pvp.

If they do that, that will either a. be waste of time, since Cyrodil will naturally be more fun, and more rewarding. B. there's higher reward gain on instanced PvP, which leads to Cyrodil being empty.

It just wouldn't work.

I personally would love to have some smaller arena fights sometimes.

(February 20th 2013, 11:40 AM)Knightmare Wrote:

(February 20th 2013, 11:31 AM)Nehemia Wrote:

(February 20th 2013, 10:25 AM)Artarius Aetius Wrote:

(February 20th 2013, 04:28 AM)Nehemia Wrote: Old information, last time I heard "Battlegrounds" and instanced forms of PvP are OUT.

There will be Instanced battlegrounds/arenas but they wont be available at launch. They want people to focus on cyrodiil at first and later on they'll implement instanced pvp.

If they do that, that will either a. be waste of time, since Cyrodil will naturally be more fun, and more rewarding. B. there's higher reward gain on instanced PvP, which leads to Cyrodil being empty.

It just wouldn't work.

I personally would love to have some smaller arena fights sometimes.

Sometimes, sure. But the scenario is and has been, that people play the form of PvP that provides the most reward. And that would make cyrodil empty, a duel function should suffice.

we actually dont have any indication that they will add battlegorunds.
And i dont realy see the point.
They just detract from the real PvP.