TESO Needs To Attract The Competitive/Pro Gamers

If TESO is going to rival or even top World of Warcraft, it will need to attract the competitive and professional gamers. The main reason World of Warcraft is still around is because its the best PvP game for competitive & professional gamers.

The key things that make WoW the best game for these pro gamers and a strong favorite for competitive gamers.

• Rated Arenas (2v2,3v3,5v5) pre-made teams consists of players from the same faction
  
• Rated Battlegrounds (instanced pre-made pvp)
  

About every 6 months is a season, teams compete in matches. The winner's rating increased and the losers rating decreases. At the end of each season the top teams for 2v2, 3v3, 5v5 and RBG are rewarded. The top team for each division is given a greater reward such as titles, in-game currency reward, exclusive in-game vanity/cosmetic items, etc.

At the end of each year the best teams are invited to Battle.net Invitational Championship Tournament

Quote:World Championship World of Warcraft Arena Global Finals - Day 3

Ten top Arena teams—two from each global region—are coming to Shanghai to face off for the title of "2012 Global Champion". They’ll be vying for international glory and their share of a prize pool totaling $189,000.
First, there will be a series of best-of-five round robin matches. Then, the top four teams will move on to the double-elimination championship bracket to see which team is worthy of the title of Global Champion, and a championship purse worth over $100,000.
First Place - $105,000
Second Place -$45,000
Third Place - $27,000
Fourth Place -$12,000

They even have an Invitational for Raiding at the Battle.net World Championships. Teams race to complete a raid before the other team to win a cash prize.

Here is a video of the 2011 3v3 Arena Grand Final(best of 5):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf45oASIDe0

It would be great for TESO to have competitive arenas and invitational world championships. Since TESO will have open world PvP (Cyrodiil) they could have a Cyrodiil World Championship with the best 4 guilds(or best players from the faction) from each faction and have them fight in a 2 hour(possibly longer) long match. The winning factions will receive the grand prize.

Competitions like these attract competitive and professional players. These type of players will allow TESO to FLOURISH. TESO can bring in a lot of money from these events also. As you saw in the video tons of people will travel to watch these events.

Please don't give the excuse of "It's not part of Elder Scrolls Lore." They will need to tweak/break some lore if they want to attract competitive/pro gamers and top WoW.
Also please be mature.


From Tamriel Foundry PvP Overview

Quote: * 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. (GI1),(GI11)

* 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. (GI1),(TF1)

* 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. (GI1),(GI3)

* 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. (TF1)

* 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. (TF1)

* 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. (TF1)

* 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. (TF1)

First and foremost goal to accomplish is making a good game. That means good PvE and PvP. Designers are well aware about mixing mmo players and elder scroll players.

The competitiveness is already included in PvP segment and "pro" gamers represent tiny segment that really wont affect the sales and subscriptions in any way. My guess is arena style PvP might be included at later stage but probably not at launch.

While I admire your passion for arena battles, WoW has been successful a long time before they introduced that feature and it has not much to do with the general game success. Its just a bonus content.

I understand what you mean and the reason I'm hoping these type of features are in at launch is because many people are impatient these days. Many PvPers quit SWTOR and never came back due to the fact that they didn't release rated warzones until early summer, even though the game released in December. Since WoW already has many of these features, potential gamers will expect most of these features to already implemented at launch..

I heard some rumors that you won't be able to go to another faction's provinces,ex. You're AD,you won't be able to go in the provinces of EP and DC,that's just bad. I totally don't agree with it. And the PvP area is large enough,but still let's make that you can explore any province you want.

"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."
Source: http://tamrielfoundry.com/development-faq/

Well, while you could technically travel to enemy areas in WoW (e.g. a Troll going to Goldshire), it was still incredibly difficult without a flying mount. Territories were separated by mountains and other geographical obstructions; the passages through these obstructions were riddled with insanely high-leveled mobs. The same goes for towns. I managed to get my lvl 20 Orc Hunter to Goldshire before being ganked by the guards.

Anyway, I only had the Starter Edition, so I only had, like, two PvP arenas available, so I don't know if there were other PvP styles, but I really HATED PvP in WoW. It was just games of Capture the Flag and Domination with bursts of giant fights here and there.

In TESO, you'll be fighting a motherf***ing WAR in PvP -- a war with real battles and siege weapons, God damn it!!

Of course, if you wanted to have competitions using this playing style, I'd be fine with that.

(December 31st 2012, 01:12 AM)Artarius Aetius Wrote: I understand what you mean and the reason I'm hoping these type of features are in at launch is because many people are impatient these days. Many PvPers quit SWTOR and never came back due to the fact that they didn't release rated warzones until early summer, even though the game released in December. Since WoW already has many of these features, potential gamers will expect most of these features to already implemented at launch..

So first off, as the first character to reach Battlemaster on my SWTOR server, I agree with your reasons for PvPers leaving the game early. I know there were other reasons for other players, but for PvPers like me, that's why.

But I'm going to disagree with your idea that fostering Esport competitions is necessary for ESO to be as successful as WoW. Dedicated PvPers make up a small percentage of the playerbase in that game. The vast majority do both PvE and PvP; they raid or whatever and do BGs and Arena for gear. What kept WoW as successful as it has been is the steady stream of PvE content combined with customizable and responsive controls. Way, way more people take competitive raiding seriously than arenas.

Now, would I like to see some arenas or some other structured PvP in ESO? Yes and no....but mostly no, and here's why. While I'm a big proponent of competitive PvP brackets, I know that they take away from the focus on the larger faction conflict. If you don't have to go to Cyrodiil for gear and ranks, then why go there at all? Although I played the crap out of arenas, I know that they homogenized PvP to such a point where it didn't matter if your opponents were Horde or Allies, they're just opponents.

I know it might sound hypocritical to say that I liked arenas there but hate them here. What I'll tell you is that I've played other faction-based PvP games (like DAoC and WAR), and I found that gameplay much more fun, and because I know what structured PvP does to faction identity, I don't want it here.

Nice one Tabby

Btw Oct, for anyone interested in small instanced PvP I think GuildWars2 is much better than WoW anyway, its basicly a game within a game where players meet in equal terms gear-wise and its purely up to player skills and team work to beat opposing team

In TESO, the competitive PvP will be fought in Cyrodiil and the biggest price is to be the Emperor. It can't be pushed into the MOBA style gaming, because a TESO campaign will be a team marathon run compared to the MOBA sprints.

Some hardcore PvPers will find this disappointing, but Zenimax Online has made their choice. In TESO competitive PvP will be the long distance RvR version and this has to be accepted, because the RvR is half of the game. Yet, the best individuals will be rewarded like in no other MMO before.

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(December 31st 2012, 01:39 AM)Ulfgar the Fearless Wrote: I heard some rumors that you won't be able to go to another faction's provinces,ex. You're AD,you won't be able to go in the provinces of EP and DC,that's just bad. I totally don't agree with it. And the PvP area is large enough,but still let's make that you can explore any province you want.

By locking the faction's home areas, high amount of RvR activity in Cyrodiil can be sustained, as the PvP won't spill over from it to the other areas or to instanced PvP.

(December 31st 2012, 06:37 AM)Hentmereb Wrote: Yet, the best individuals will be rewarded like in no other MMO before.

I agree with you Hent, but other games gave some pretty good rewards too. Didn't Tera let you become a king or something and raise taxes? =P

(December 31st 2012, 06:39 AM)Reichmar12 Wrote:

(December 31st 2012, 06:37 AM)Hentmereb Wrote: Yet, the best individuals will be rewarded like in no other MMO before.

I agree with you Hent, but other games gave some pretty good rewards too. Didn't Tera let you become a king or something and raise taxes? =P

A vanarch for each province, who serves three weeks before new elections, and can also open extra vendors, teleport routes etc. They are making changes to this system, though.

Vanarch is elected official, the Emperor earns his or her position through RvR and PvP, so TESO rewards a warrior and in TERA you need to be a good politician after gaining prominence through other means.

(December 31st 2012, 07:46 AM)Hentmereb Wrote:

(December 31st 2012, 06:39 AM)Reichmar12 Wrote:

(December 31st 2012, 06:37 AM)Hentmereb Wrote: Yet, the best individuals will be rewarded like in no other MMO before.

I agree with you Hent, but other games gave some pretty good rewards too. Didn't Tera let you become a king or something and raise taxes? =P

A vanarch for each province, who serves three weeks before new elections, and can also open extra vendors, teleport routes etc. They are making changes to the this system, though.

Vanarch is elected official, the Emperor earns his or her position through RvR and PvP, so TESO rewards a warrior and in TERA you need to be a good politician after gaining prominence through other means.

Ahh, thanks for the clarification.

Yes, if you go over and start to read the Tera forums there are mostly complaints about the Vanarch system saying that the areas they put it in are completely worthless to put the effort in to be elected, so it defeats the entire purpose of even having the system.

Only reason I had some insight into that issue is the other day I started playing Tera in the "discovery" mode. There are a ton of restrictions in this "demo" mode, and its not F2P its a demo and apparently F2P is coming so we will see what happens when that takes place.

Also the biggest complaint about Tera is that they get new content patches in Korea WAY before they come to our area, in fact the latest upcoming update is posted in general and because it was translated from Korean you can see a lot of gramar errors and the like and at the end of it the dev appoligizes for the translation.

I'm sure most of you understand this(I think I'm correct on this). Since Zenimax is going with a mega-server they cant fit every player into one cyrodiil instance. Unless we want extremely long ques. There will have to be multiple instances of cyrodiil. So we'll have about 20+ instances of cyrodiil. The problem I have with this is the fact that my instance may be winning in our instance but in another we are getting spanked. So we truly can't fight for faction pride when the result is different in each instance. We will be fighting for individual/guild pride.

So that's why i want an alternative such as arena's

(December 31st 2012, 11:59 AM)Artarius Aetius Wrote: I'm sure most of you understand this(I think I'm correct on this). Since Zenimax is going with a mega-server they cant fit every player into one cyrodiil instance. Unless we want extremely long ques. There will have to be multiple instances of cyrodiil. So we'll have about 20+ instances of cyrodiil. The problem I have with this is the fact that my instance may be winning in our instance but in another we are getting spanked. So we truly can't fight for faction pride when the result is different in each instance. We will be fighting for individual/guild pride.

In the campaign in which we are, we can. You can't participate in another campaign with characters from the same faction, so if you don't play other factions, the one campaign you are in will be the centre of your game experience in Cyrodiil and the failure or success of your faction inside that campaign will be what will matter to you on the faction level.

Individual pride will come from this:

"The Elder Scrolls Online features leaderboards and achievements. Keep track of your ranking and compare yourself, your alliance, and your guild to that of your friends and enemies."