I love ESO but I hate the pvp now. There were some good things about it during certain iterations. For me those good things were that skill (and knowledge) mattered and gear was not that important. A highly skilled player can and could beat a player with better gear. Also, the fights lasted for a while so you could try some things and CC was not out of control during those "good" periods. I don't mind losing so much if I feel like I had chances to try some things and just lost because the other guy played better.
Of course, there is the zerg problem, but to some extent it can be avoided.
The bad things for me were the period of DK-Vamp-Bat-Swarm. Hated that time. It went away and things were alright for a good while (except for the lag, etc.).
But now, I've been away for a while, I come back and find that you can be just about insta-gibbed by some nightblade with this specific set of proc gear that's running rampant now. Seriously, before this era, I was never killed in 2-3 seconds. I've also seen the literally unkillable tank. It's stupid and it breaks pvp. I know I could just go get the required gear, for one of the two basic options, but I don't want to. I don't think pvp should have come to this in ESO.
I hope change is on the horizon.
So anyway, is there a relatively balanced pvp game out there in the mmorpg world?
Comments
what exactly do you mean by balanced? 1vs1? 5vs5? 50vs50? perfect rock/paper/scissors? skill over gear?
the only perfectly balanced scenario are mobas where it's a simetric unchanging map, always even numbers, and everyone starts at 0 and goes from there. ANYTHING else is incredibly hard to "balance" especially when you consider an always escalating levels/skills/gear/enchants/potions/etc etc.
mmorpgs were never much for balance. its all about putting time in for the best available gear so you can stomp everyone else that doesn't have it yet.
as far as coming back to an mmorpg and being two shot by the latest bling gear.....it's pretty standard.
It just that the newest bling gear is really limited to one or two sets out of a lot, so the problem that I think is different is the limiting of choice. Before you could have quite a few viable builds and sets modified by player knowledge/skill, because some were harder to play than others. But now, it's just a couple of really dominant sets/class/play-styles.
It would be cool if there were a few more viable builds, sets, etc.
Sypher:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hsc-RKCp2A&t=486s
Fengrush:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEkbnOSEwrI&t=2033s
At least I can kill anyone no matter what class they have unless they play better then me. Some are a bit easier but which changes depending on the class I play. Of course if they are low in level they better be damn good in WvW to take me down but they can.
WvW can be rather zergy though, go for structured PvP if you want a fair fight without zerging. WvW can still be fun as long as you avoid both friendly and enemy zergs, but running in one takes no skill and is generally boring.
Also, I've heard a lot of good things about B&S.
Anyway, GW2's spvp is probably the most balanced pvp I have played in an mmo (because the gear/levels are equalised and you can easily play any class), the RvR is not very balanced, but its relatively easy to get gear and you can level up and get gear through spvp if you don't like grinding pve.
Also, although not an MMO, I played the For Honor beta, and the classes are extremely balanced compared to any mmo I have played so it might be something to think about (note that I got constant disconnects due to the peer-peer networking it uses, but maybe its ok if you live in the US or Japan).
Its weird that no mmo (except GW2) has introduced a relatively balanced pvp system, its all I have ever wanted to play ever since WAR. Although ESO did have a period where the under-50 campaign was very balanced (just before CP where introduced): that period was the most fun I ever had playing the game.
None have decent 1 v 1 balance. Quite a few if not most are team balanced quite well.
It's hard to gauge though, the progression and 'build' systems MMO's have make it hard to determine from player view what is balanced. Would need data... Combat logs, battleground statistics, everything that outputs a record-able number.
Opinions and hard data are nothing alike.
If you suck at a game, you suck at a game. Own up. This is the most common complaint on pvp balance.
I suck at most MMO pvp, and in some cases really badly. Doesn't mean I cry about it. It's a game.
The person with better gear should win.
These are extreme examples and have always been around this game since it launched. I remember blinky shield sorcs taking the lead and DK's sitting in the middle of 10 dps and not only did they survive but they killed everyone. Not to mention the vampires overpowered as hell. The game has always had a serious overpowered class/build problem.
right - then try PvP in GW2. All armor is the same except for runes. There is PvP amulet and that is all (besides PvP weapons).
The person that is more skilled should - period.
gear based PvP is not balanced.
No thanks,
There is not such thing as balance in PVP unless the players are all using the same characters with the same gear and same skills.
Everything has to be the same to have balance and I would never play a game where everything is the same.
Take a game like Street Fighter. If both use Ryu then that is balance. If one uses Ken and the other uses Ryu balance is gone.
Alcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeBIzLvrY5c
That's all besides my own personal experience and what I hear my guildies say. But you don't have to take our word for it because the "pros" are saying the same things. We've all been here since beta. We've seen the bad vampire-dk-bat spam (as I already said) and this current period is worse than that, probably.
It just seems like ZOS doesn't really care about pve. It's sad because ESO has shown some great potential to be a good pvp game. I like ESO for other things, at least.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey