Player vs. Player (PvP) (manual)

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The PvP system is still in early development. The basics are, you go to the arena (in the casino district), register with them to be able to fight other players, and then pick from other registered players to fight against. The winner gains rank and prizes, the losers lose rank. Fighting Basics Right now it's a simplified combat. When you attack, you get to choose between one of three different types of assault: fierce, moderate, and tentative. The defender is played by the computer, but will use player preferences. For every attack, there is a defense, which can also use one of three tactics: block, parry, and dodge. Like the rock-paper-scissors game, different attacks work better or worse against different defenses. Once you have attacked, the computer then counter-attacks on behalf of the player you're fighting against, using the same sets of choices. Both your defense (assuming you're the one who started the fight), and the attack and defense of the account being fought against, are determined by the preferences that have been set in the locker room. By default all accounts start out with a roughly even split between fierce/moderate/tentative attacks, and block/parry/dodge defense, but you can set the percent of times that you perform each action on the locker room page. Gear Only specific pieces of equipment are approved for use in the Arena. (You want to put on a show, but you don't want to really hurt any of the other players, right?) You'll get a white jumpsuit when you register with the arena, but most of the rest of the equipment needs to be purchased at the Arena armory. Gear can improve your offense, your defense, and other factors. Important Note!: PvP does NOT use the equipment that you see on the "wear things" page. PvP assumes that for every fight you take off your normal adventuring gear and put on the outfit you've selected in the locker room. I know this is a little counterintuitive, but the equipment slots are more limited here than in the outside world, so they don't translate well. There is a bonus, though: if someone else attacks you, you'll automatically wear the outfit that you have picked out, so you don't have to worry about changing clothes when you log out or having players wait to catch you without the right gear on. Winning and losing If you win a fight, you'll gain rank. It tends to average around 5 points for a win, but other factors influence this, such as the equipment you wear, the difference in rank between you and your opponent, and the margin of victory. Fight winners will often get a lambda token, which can be used to purchase equipment from the armory. Certain equipment can help you have a chance to earn a bonus token at the end of some fights. There's a difference here between the attacker and the defender. If the attacker wins, they always get a token. If the defender wins, they have only 50% of the normal chance of getting a token. (Mostly because it's possible to be attacked many times more often than you can initiate attacks.) In the next iteration of PvP, there will be other, more "clubby" options, such as attacking to steal items, XP, and possibly chips. I'm also considering a "counting coup" option that would have a separate leaderboard but provide no other benefit. Some other rules There are also some rules about who you can fight against, and how often. Once you've beaten a player twice in one day, you can't attack them again until after rollover. You can only attack players who are "active" in PvP. Players only become active if they first register at the arena, and they renew their active status any time they initiate a PvP fight. Players are removed from active status once 7 days have passed from the last time they participated in PvP. You can't attack yourself. There will be some rank-based restrictions in the future. Right now there's a very mild filter based on rank, but until the system settles down a little I don't want to make it too restrictive.

Notes

• The rock-paper-scissors relationship mentioned is as follows:

• a moderate attack is even with a block, strong against a dodge, and weak to a parry
• a tentative attack even with dodge, strong against a parry, and weak to a block
• a fierce attack is even with a parry, strong against a block, and weak to a dodge

• See also Unbranded Arena, where PvP takes place.
• You can not attack someone whose rank is less than half of yours unless your rank is over 500. If your rank is over 500 you may attack anyone ranked over 300.