An Opportunity for Color and Explanatory text in PVP Zones (Long)

[mechahamham]

After completing The Pilgrim's introductory arc in Ouroboros, I often head over to Bloody Bay to finish defeating 200 Shivans to complete my 'Man/Woman in Black' badge. There are several other PVE badges available there, and 5 merits for getting all the explores.

 

I've been playing a Pyro/Cold controller this evening, and was struck by how very different her powers felt under the PVP ruleset. Of course that's just something you accept going into a PVP zone for any reason.

 

It occurred that, so far as I know, there's no in-game text explaining that ruleset or the reasons behind it. You do get a pop-up upon zoning in stating:

 

Quote

You are now entering a PvP area. This is a hero vs. villain zone. Hero and villain players can attack each other.

If you happen to click on the 'i', in a blue bubble next to 'Shiva Strike' in your Nav bar, you get some lovely color text explaining the story behind the zone:
 

Quote

 

Shiva was a massive asteroid that was headed directly toward Earth. A NASA scientist named it 'Shiva,' after the Hindu 'Destroyer of Worlds.' The meteor broke up over 20 years ago--some say thanks to a top-secret multinational project that cost five heroes their lives--but its remains struck the earth just a few weeks ago.

Bloody Bay bore the brunt of the 'Shiva Strike,' and Arachnos callously abandoned it. This gave Freedom Corps an excuse to move in. 

The Shiva meteor fragments are demonstrating remarkable properties, including spawning alien horrors and causing the dead to rise, and both Arachnos and Freedom Corps want samples. To get those samples, you need to visit your base and get an Ore Extractor from the scientist there. You can use the Ore Extractor on the six meteors--numbered one through six in Hindi.

When you have ore from all six asteroids, take them to a Firebase and knock out its automated defenses. You can then process your six shards into a 'sample'. Take the sample to your base and your scientist will reward you with a special power available only here in Bloody Bay.

Be warned! While fighting for the Shiva Strike, you'll find the other side may try to stop you -- heroes and villains can battle each other, in addition to the Shivans and other foes.

Should you defeat a foe you or a teammate be take any ore or sample he's collected!

 

That's brilliant. I love it. I want more in-game novels to read. I would literally re-read this guy...

 

 

... if it's 394 pages were somehow converted to in-game text. (Getting the rights do to that would probably be nigh-impossible unless it just happened to somehow get lumped in with the rights HC obtained to run a server. My guess is that the publisher still has at least a partial claim.)

 

I love the text of the history items in the Midnighter's club. I love history plaques. I love tutorial texts when they're available. I love the villain dossiers that were being published by Paragon devs before the shutdown. I want those all to be readable in-game.

 

I also love it when the authors or developers communicate with you in-game. Explaining the rules or the ideas behind the rules is always welcome, at least as far as I'm concerned. A good example of this are the Reconnaissance Officers in hazard zones that give you a rundown of what to expect in the zone, and level ranges of enemies.

 

So, in addition to the contacts that already exist in PVP zones, let's add contacts or history items that further explain the zone. A Combat Officer in each of the entry fortresses could give you a rundown on the PVP rulesets for powers. Include text like, "Many of your powers will function slightly differently in this zone. Some powers require line of sight to activate against an enemy player or NPC."

 

Also include something like a Historical Informant who will provide OOC commentary on the zone, based on things we've learned from the story bible or conversations with the HC or Paragon developers.

 

"Bloody Bay was originally planned to be a free-for-all PVP zone by Cryptic developers. The strange radiation emitted by the meteors would cause the player to lose trust in others, including players from their own faction, allowing infighting. Based on player feedback and playtesting, the zone ruleset was changed to allow only faction vs. faction combat. Warburg instead was developed as a free-for-all PVP zone."

 

Break the Kayfabe. We've been playing this game since 2004. It's fun to be in character, but it's also fun to peek behind the curtains from time to time

 

Difficulty: Easy. We've already got history plaques and the various informant NPCs. We know that relatively large amounts of text can be displayed from the Midnighter's history items. (Displaying 394 pages of an E-book might pose some problems.)

 

The most difficult part of this would be sourcing the text. A lot of it would come from homecoming.wiki or the story bible. Players could provide the rest, if a certain HC dev didn't want to write it their self. I'll even personally volunteer to do writing for it. (I think I've already volunteered to do writing in the volunteer thread. I may be misremembering, however.)

 

The Exploration tip missions were brilliant and added a LOT to the game. I feel like adding more information like this could only make the game better. Put the explanatory NPCs in the PVP zones. Put those dossiers I mentioned in Fort Trident. Yoink that novel and quietly put it in the Steel Canyon University library for players to read. (It's a REALLY good superhero story. Do read it if you haven't already.)

[Greycat]

On 9/25/2025 at 5:58 PM, mechahamham said:

I've been playing a Pyro/Cold controller this evening, and was struck by how very different her powers felt under the PVP ruleset. Of course that's just something you accept going into a PVP zone for any reason.

 

It occurred that, so far as I know, there's no in-game text explaining that ruleset or the reasons behind it. You do get a pop-up upon zoning in stating:

 

 

Thing is, there's no "lore" for the in-game changes to powers in PVP zones, and the zones themselves are different enough there's no overarching "reason" really possible. About the only thing you could get is a popup saying "your powers are different here thanks to an attempt at PVP balance." 

 

I'm not *against* lore, mind you, but some things are just mechanical/"meta." It'd be like having a popup explaining why you use controls to move around.