...Shooting 10 ppl who are trying to sweat a mob while they are afk cooking dinner, putting kids to bed or watching god knows what on another tab isnt exactly the pvp we want or need.
nor do we want to go spend hundreds of ped to at an oil rig only to pick up 2-4ped of oil if we are lucky... more realistically you spend a few ped to have a few laughs and inevitably die to the exact same 3 ubers that have been killing u for 10+ years.
but this begs the question...
what is pvp in entropia?
People often get this twisted. suggesting pvp is pay to win. however its actually not so simple in reality. for the most part its just actually 'hardcore' pvp.
No rules. Strongest players with the most skills and best gear wins...this makes sense.
What does end game pvp actually look like?
Landgrab pvp: no rules - strongest societies fight for land.. you need the most active high skilled players, who have ped for the best gear. u need good cooperation and you need to be able to hit somebody with a rifle. or at least a rocket launcher. -from what I gather..its essentially king of the hill style pvp event. hold down the area. dont let contenders breach the walls or worse.. hangout inside them too long...
- honestly pretty damn cool.. but obviously the vast majority of colonists are in Societies which are small, open to various levels, or are freelancers
Theres very few societies dedicated to pvp - good luck getting into one.
this is a VERY longterm problem and requires longterm account progression and society goals at this point 0.0
solo pvp (lootable or nonlootable):
same thing. strongest survives and in the worst areas they get to loot your corpse. theres no sheriff around to say otherwise. its desolate and dangerous and you were prewarned enter at your own risk.
-this is also pretty cool. but the same problem exists. no new players. everyone scared of the ubers. and no realistically achievable way to progress to a point in which you can actually compete. at least not within the next couple years. another very longterm goal thing i guess?
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It turns out I have a lot of thoughts on this. and so I wrote an entire book of more of my ramblings,and unwanted opinions,thoughts you didnt ask for and included it below..
The suggested "Low level or Entry" PvP Zones
Currently, there are only seven or 8 notable PvP areas in Entropia that I can think of which are easily accessible to new players or low budget players , and none of them offer meaningful rewards or incentives for participation:
- Space: while this is easily accessible and relatively lowcost. it comes attached with a label. as theres a huge stigma around "pirates" - engaging in this can be gamebreaking in a colonists other endeavers. essentialy robbing others. while i think this is essential for eu - its not a realistic entry pvp zone for a colonist aspiring to find entropian success.
- LA's With sweaters: go kill some mostly afk players and make them upset.... for fun?
- Ashi: More about fighting dinosaurs than players. Even if you engage in PvP, the only real "reward" is maybe 2.5 PED of oil after an hour—if you're lucky. Realistically, most fights end with a noob in underwear wielding a Maze Hammer picking up the oil while others waste ammo.
- Orthos: Overrun by robots. Attacking players here usually means interrupting someone's PvE grind, which isn't enjoyable or rewarding.
- The Docks (Rocktropia): A few PECs of oil every 20 minutes. When a single kill likely costs a PED or more, the math simply doesn’t work. Theres no point. altho it could be a fun event area
- The Hub Proving Grounds: Completely inactive. The only people here are AFK, using auto-use tools to farm friends, noobs or alts for epic PvE mission progress. This is hardly PvP. the hub needs event terminals. this would help
- Hub Arenas: Dead content. If you buy a ticket, you’ll wait weeks for an opponent—who never comes. vendors are empty- hub event terminals. this would help
- Toulan "Rig": Almost never visited. At best, ive found 0.02-0.06 PED per hour, which doesn’t even cover the cost of a single shot.and i seen maybe 3 players there in total overall while spending a week on toulan.... but its a cool place i like it.
Of course there is also non lootable pvp zones where there is quite literally no reward for killing others. maybe good for a bit of fun or practice. This is great, but of course irrelevant to the current topic imo. nobodys going to argus just to hangout and try to kill people for no reason and if they are... idk.. maybe there is, but i digress.
Lets not leave out Event Areas. where one could in theory create or participate in pvp events. However even if I were to create a pvp event with max hp rules or no armour rules and also even no mindforce, vehicles or radar. Theres still nothign stopping someone from simply bringing an uber sized weapon. and As far as im aware there is no way to truelly create a fair and balanced event where you dont have to worry someone is literally going to simply buy their way to first place. Except this Balanced force rule i noticed on an AO fort event. However unless this is new or been changed this isnt available at most event terminals. at least none that ive visited.
The Problem with the Current 'Low Level' PvP
In theory, these areas provide PvP opportunities, but in practice, they are neither rewarding nor designed to foster real competition. Additionally, they aren’t exclusive to lower-level players, meaning even in these "beginner" PvP areas, high-level "ubers" can (and do) dominate, making it an unfair playing field just like any other high end pvp event or area.
and once again. no reward.
= no motivation to progress.
There’s no reason Entropia couldn’t offer more structured PvP events or zones that cater to lower-budget and lower-level players, whether through skill caps, gear restrictions, or tiered PvP ladders. This wouldn’t take away from high-end PvP but would serve as a way to introduce more players to the system, making it more engaging and competitive in the long run.
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Why More Accessible PvP Matters
Currently, PvP in Entropia is almost entirely 'pay-to-win' with the added difficulty of also requiring years of gameplay or an enormous amount of skills. It's not just about years of gametime; it's also about how much PED you can afford to burn, on skills, gear and ammo. As a result, we don’t actually know who the best PvP players are, because the vast majority of potential contenders can’t even afford the entry costs.sure,we can test whos built the strongest accounts or has the best gear. we definately have a good idea of who the most powerful players are.
but whos actually the best at pvp? Hard to say.
Unfortunately, what I feel like I am seeing is a reluctance from high-level players to support anything that could encourage new competition. The argument is essentially that "PvP should only be for high-level players with massive PED reserves and have been playing for over a decade" and it seems more about gatekeeping than maintaining any integrity, balance or real sustainability.
By creating some
fair and balanced events;and making them available to players of varying level and budget, we can foster higher participation and keep players engaged. Players who do well in lower-tier PvP or PvE events may very well be motivated to progress to higher tiers or more risky events, encouraging growth and a fun, enjoyable and most importantly,
sustainable competitive scene.
My Long winded Closing Thoughts: The Roles of Mindark and Players regarding events
While MindArk of course plays a key role in designing the PvP content, I think the responsibility of creating and hosting events should fall largely on the players.
I think we should try to also shift the mindset regarding paid ticket events. while its fantastic to see societies or organizations offering free to join events. I personally would enjoy seeing some more fair cost ticket events with reasonable prizes but
most importantly- honest, fair and balanced competition style events.
To improve PvP events or any events in general, MindArk needs to enable players to host fair and balanced events by providing essential tools like a "Balanced Force" option across all event terminals. or perhaps a max damage rule implementation could be nice this mixed with max hp and no armour rules could work well.