The gear isn't really the core problem here.

The decline in PvP mainly comes down to egos. We try our best to make PvP accessible to everyone on this server, and honestly we've done a decent job. The real issue is that some people just can't tolerate losing in any capacity -- it's weird. So you end up in this strange situation where half the people are actively trying to balance teams so everyone can have fun, while others are going full out trying to rack up 30+ kills, ensuring the only person having a good time is themselves.

I don't think dedicated PvP gear sets are the answer. And genuinely, carrying around multiple sets of armor -- one for PvE, one for PvP -- is a shitty playstyle. If you're a PvPer, build your armor around that. You'll find that you can absolutely handle the PvE side of things in your PvP armor anyway.

That said, here's what we've actually done to improve things:

We've overhauled the system with a new Battlefield system. Some highlights:

• No more painful queues -- Join active matches as they go, leave when you want, swap toons freely.
• No longer faction-based -- Play what you want to play, no scrambling to switch sides to balance numbers.
• Multiple queue types -- Solo, duo, trio, quad, and Group 4+. That last one is my personal favorite. It's built for large groups and carries a +-2 number balance, so a group of 6 experienced players can go up against a group of 8 with the advantage of numbers. No more AFKers sitting in as fillers just to avoid a slaughter.
• Forfeit option -- Group leaders can call it if the match is so lopsided there's no point continuing. Nobody has to sit through 15 minutes of getting murdered waiting for it to end.

But systems only go so far.

A great example Rezec brought up recently was the CORPS guys. They were genuinely fun to PvP against -- had a theme, good numbers, real presence. Their problem was ego. They had to win overwhelmingly. That meant going 6v2 instead of balancing teams, farming cloner trips instead of making the fight interesting for both sides. And then insisting Red=Dead even when a server group was trying to form up for Avatar Hard Mode was the nail in the coffin.

If people can take something from that -- not take this stuff overly seriously, remember it's a game, and keep in mind we're all 35+ (with the average probably sitting solidly in the 40-50s) -- then we can actually build a solid PvP community here. But if the ego problem keeps up, people are going to keep walking away from PvP, and that hurts everyone who loves it.

And for what it's worth -- PvP is my favorite part of SWG too. We want to see it thrive.

Ishna, post: 4726, member: 662 wrote:

The gear isn't really the core problem here.

The decline in PvP mainly comes down to egos. We try our best to make PvP accessible to everyone on this server, and honestly we've done a decent job. The real issue is that some people just can't tolerate losing in any capacity -- it's weird. So you end up in this strange situation where half the people are actively trying to balance teams so everyone can have fun, while others are going full out trying to rack up 30+ kills, ensuring the only person having a good time is themselves.

I don't think dedicated PvP gear sets are the answer. And genuinely, carrying around multiple sets of armor -- one for PvE, one for PvP -- is a shitty playstyle. If you're a PvPer, build your armor around that. You'll find that you can absolutely handle the PvE side of things in your PvP armor anyway.

That said, here's what we've actually done to improve things:

We've overhauled the system with a new Battlefield system. Some highlights:

• No more painful queues -- Join active matches as they go, leave when you want, swap toons freely.
• No longer faction-based -- Play what you want to play, no scrambling to switch sides to balance numbers.
• Multiple queue types -- Solo, duo, trio, quad, and Group 4+. That last one is my personal favorite. It's built for large groups and carries a +-2 number balance, so a group of 6 experienced players can go up against a group of 8 with the advantage of numbers. No more AFKers sitting in as fillers just to avoid a slaughter.
• Forfeit option -- Group leaders can call it if the match is so lopsided there's no point continuing. Nobody has to sit through 15 minutes of getting murdered waiting for it to end.

But systems only go so far.

A great example Rezec brought up recently was the CORPS guys. They were genuinely fun to PvP against -- had a theme, good numbers, real presence. Their problem was ego. They had to win overwhelmingly. That meant going 6v2 instead of balancing teams, farming cloner trips instead of making the fight interesting for both sides. And then insisting Red=Dead even when a server group was trying to form up for Avatar Hard Mode was the nail in the coffin.

If people can take something from that -- not take this stuff overly seriously, remember it's a game, and keep in mind we're all 35+ (with the average probably sitting solidly in the 40-50s) -- then we can actually build a solid PvP community here. But if the ego problem keeps up, people are going to keep walking away from PvP, and that hurts everyone who loves it.

And for what it's worth -- PvP is my favorite part of SWG too. We want to see it thrive.

Very well said. I stated in Discord we could use some more content on the vendors that use a currency obtained by PvPing. But that stuff isn’t just for PvP content anyways. I agree 100% it’s an ego thing and when people lose, they don’t have much desire to better themselves. They just cry and bitch and quit instead of changing their tactics and doing PvP for a while or ever again. Once we can figure out that aspect, which honestly there isn’t anything staff can do to change someone’s personality, we’d be set. EV’s combat system is the best of any SWG server in my opinion. People just don’t know how to use it in ways that’s fun in PvP and when they lose they get toxic.