Tom "Evocare" Chilton

[Tuco]

We are receiving several reports from throughout the MMORPG community that Tom "Evocare" Chilton, formerly the Lead Designer for Ultima Online, has already left OSI/Electronic Arts to become a Senior Designer for Blizzard's upcoming MMORPG, World of Warcraft (see WOW Stratics for more details on this game).

As we find out more details about this, we will let you know.

I didn't play much UO myself, but what do you guys think of this Evocare fellow?

[Cryptin]

I read another article about this at WoW vault and this guy is a real hardcore PvP person. I'm curious what will he add to the PvP aspect of WoW if he is hired on the team. I also never played UO.

[Grayson Carlyle]

I don't think Blizzard is looking to alter the PvP system much (dueling, PvP areas, RvR, arenas) so much as getting it balanced just right, and fun.

I'd even be for item loss/stealing in RvR since it's something that will be generally avoidable. You want to go nuts, suicidal, killing rampage... Romp your orc ass over to Lordaeron and see what you can tear apart. If not, go for the that ancient revenant with the crown of ages to up your chars power that bit more.

It's all about choice. Choice is good.

[Jait]

He will have little to no impact on the core gameplay. The Design phase is long, long over. His impact if any is for PvP and future expansion content.

Assuming it's true.

[EnigmaticParadigm]

Only real "PvP" I've had was in DAoC. It was by far the most fun portion of the game, however my big gripe was the fact that you couldn't see whom you were ganking while doing RvR. You would just run up to whomever from the opposing realm and kill or be killed, but you couldn't see their "name" above their character.

Will that be like this in WoW? Personally, I'd like to know whom I'm stealing a nice piece of loot from (if that is an option in WoW) or vice versa in case a good dose of revenge is needed.

Any ideas?

[Zevus]

Originally posted by EnigmaticParadigm
Only real "PvP" I've had was in DAoC. It was by far the most fun portion of the game, however my big gripe was the fact that you couldn't see whom you were ganking while doing RvR. You would just run up to whomever from the opposing realm and kill or be killed, but you couldn't see their "name" above their character.

Will that be like this in WoW? Personally, I'd like to know whom I'm stealing a nice piece of loot from (if that is an option in WoW) or vice versa in case a good dose of revenge is needed.

Any ideas?

The no names thing was goofy, but the main reason I didn't like DAoC'S PvP is because I'd kill someone, then 5 minutes later I'd have to kill them again and then not even get a "reward" for it. It was either that or camping someone's corpse for 10 mins. Unsure if this was changed later on but that's how it was for the first 2-3 months of the game. No penalty for dying. Snooze.

[Ukerric]

Originally posted by Zevus
The no names thing was goofy

More than goofy, as you could clearly see the name of the opponent in your battlespam.

[softwillow]

my big gripe was the fact that you couldn't see whom you were ganking while doing RvR. You would just run up to whomever from the opposing realm and kill or be killed, but you couldn't see their "name" above their character

Not knowing initially who you were attacking stopped players from targetting the same person repeatedly, for whatever reason. Constantly targetting and beating the same person over and over would lead to alot of frustration, especially when you know that the person always beats you. Not having names made the combat more exciting because you wouldn't know if the player behind the character was easy pickings or not.

If WoW allows for tells between factions, they shouldn't show the name of the person you are fighting. Given that so many young loudmouth bnet players are going to try and play, I would hate to get a /tell after dying like, "LoL! I ownz y00! Hahaha, u sux!", similarly, if I beat a bnet player "OMFG!!! You ganked me you %$*#@! If it was fare Id own u. loozer!!!!" or similar conversations.

Let the Horde hate the Alliance and vice versa. Let them fight all the time, but let me enjoy my victory or learn from my defeats without having to hear that the other player is actually a 12 year old who has no social skills.

[Lenardo]

no stealing from players allowed if i remember correctly in wow.

[Awanka]

Originally posted by Zevus
The no names thing was goofy, but the main reason I didn't like DAoC'S PvP is because I'd kill someone, then 5 minutes later I'd have to kill them again and then not even get a "reward" for it. It was either that or camping someone's corpse for 10 mins. Unsure if this was changed later on but that's how it was for the first 2-3 months of the game. No penalty for dying. Snooze.

This is exactly the thing that most bothered me about DAOC. You'd kill someone and 10 minutes later the jackass would be back out fighting. There was no logistics or strategy involved, just a shitty scrubfest. This is why I'm a big fan of lock-outs like the kind they have in the trials in Gates of Discord. They should go a bit further with it. Every time you die in a PvP zone you're locked out for 24 hours. In fact, I'd love it if they locked you out of the game for 24 hours every time you die.

[Krauz]

yeah, i'm sure you'd be thrilled about being locked out for 24 hours, fun times for all.

[Ukerric]

A game that tells people "you cannot play" is a game people won't play, period.

[Iannis]

daoc has a 1-8 minute "lockout". Which is usually more like 8-15

Looks good on paper, maybe you'd think, but it's a real detriment to the fun of the game. You would think it rewards good play and punishes bad play. It doesn't, not in a pvp setting. The punishment for losing is quite simply having lost.

The names thing is a little goofy, but to be honest.. there was a stage way back where you could see the enemies name above his head, and that was even goofier.

Hopefully WoW will do the "Orc Marauder" thing instead of playernames, and will disallow tells between horde/alliance, even going so far as to not allow 1 account to have characters in both teams (on the same server).

Or else wow pvp is gonna be pretty fagged up. Sorta like EQ pvp is.

[James]

Originally posted by Ukerric
A game that tells people "you cannot play" is a game people won't play, period.

Worked for EverQuest.

[Jimmee]

similarly, if I beat a bnet player "OMFG!!! You ganked me you %$*#@! If it was fare Id own u. loozer!!!!" or similar conversations

Smacktalk is perhaps the single most important element of pvp, remove it at your peril!