EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

June 28, 2013

Hey there Epic Duelists! First off, I want to thank all of you who wished me or Charfade a Happy Birthday on Twitter or Facebook (for those not in the know, we both leveled up this week). Nightwraith has already posted a step-by-step guide on how to participate in the Dread War (the post right before this), but we'll also be introducing some much needed clarifications in-game to help those who may not check the Forums or Design Notes.

War Clarity

Although participating in the war is actually pretty simple, the intricacies are complex and not thoroughly explained in-game. To address this we will be adding in-game clarifications to make more obvious certain aspects of the War such as how much Influence your alignment is earning per region and globally.

Battle Token Bye-Bye

We didn't have time last week, so we needed to cut this feature. This week we're doing it for real. The following is a quick rundown of what that means for you:

• All players will receive 10 Credits for every remaining Battle Token they had Players will not receive Credits for Tokens spent or contributed in the past
• To offset the loss of the Battle Tokens as a currency, all 1v1 and 2v2 battles will award extra credits (+5 for 1v1 and +10 for 2v2).
• Any player currently in a Faction who has contributed Battle Tokens to that Faction will receive a rare Achievement.  The Achievement will display the total contribution number, meaning every instance of this Achievement will be unique.
• Remaining Token Boost will be converted to Credit Boost
• Missions that reward Tokens will now offer a Credit reward.
• Buyable Achievements will now cost Credits.

War Balance

One major concern for we have for this War feature is one Alignment building an insurmountable lead. To prevent one Alignment from indefinitely dominating, we will be introducing Objective Reinforcements – the longer one side holds an Objective, the more control the other side will receive per win. Reinforcements will decay over time once the Objective has been taken.

Other measures have been take to improve the overall feel of the War and alleviate the “see-saw” effect we witnessed during the War’s first week. The balance adjustments are as follows:

• The Dread Plains Control Array is now worth 5 points, down from 10.
• All other Dread Plains Objectives are now worth 2 points, down from 5.

• All remaining Objectives are now worth 2 points, down from 3.
• Cooldown increased on all Objectives to 20 minutes, up from 15.
• Maximum Control on all Objectives has been increased.
• Once an Objective has been taken, Control over the point is set to 40% of the maximum, up from 20%

More Objectives

To broaden the scope of the War and add more weight to the various regions of Delta V, we will be adding more War Objectives -- Minetower in Wastelands, Archives in Biodome, the Battle Arena in Fortune City (formerly Legion Arena), and the AI core in Overlord Facility. A few more auxiliary War Objectives have also been added for a total of 6.

Achievements

To add incentive to seizing all of these fancy new War Ojectives, we will be introducing evolving regional Achievements. As you gain influence in a particular region (i.e. Fortune City), your Achievement will change in appearance, similar to the War Achievements of the Infernal and Frysteland Wars.

Arbor-gone-don

Since Summer is well underway, we're Spring cleaning by removing many of the seasonal-rare Botanical and Bunny items.  Since there are so many items involved, I will list them here.

• Bunny Bane E
• Bunny Bane P
• Omega Bunny Borg
• Bunny Staff
• Bunny War Staff
• Bunny Energy Axe
• Bunny War Axe
• Electro Bunny Jaws
• Bunny Jaws
• Electro Bunny Bot
• Ballistic Bunny Bot
• Botanical Bike
• Infested Guard M
• Intested Guard F
• Infested Hazard
• Botanical Buster E
• Botanical Buster P
• Dark Botanical Hazard
• Botanical Hazard
• Dark Botanical Nightmare
• Botanical Nightmare
• Dark Botanical Broadsword
• Botanical Broadsword

Still to Come!

The War has just begun! All of the features are coming together, but there are still more yet to be implemented.

Juggernaut

We don’t want to leave Juggernauts, the toughest warriors Delta V has to offer, out of this fight! Soon anyone with a Skull card will be able to access Juggernaut mode from anywhere on the map, allowing full participation in the War.

War Shops

Unlock the latest and greatest arsenals for your Alignment! Soon, we will introduce War Objectives with shops that are only accessible for the Alignment that controls them. Can you keep these rare weapons out of enemy hands?

War Buffs:

Controlling certain War Objectives will allow you to activate influence buffs to help you capture other Objectives. For example, if you capture the turret in the Dread Plains, you can activate a buff that increases your influence earned against the Control Array.

Dynamic Environments

When the Legion or Exile forces claim an area, we want it the entire region to reflect that conquest. We plan to do so with dynamic elements on each map screen that change based on which alignment is controlling a given War Objective. Imagine Exile banners draped over Alydriah’s Spire or Legion soldiers invading the Exile hideout in Old Fortune City. Such changes will go a long way toward making the War an immersive experience as Delta V is transformed into a living, breathing world.

War Missions

Complete tasks for the various War NPCs around Delta V for big rewards. This feature is planned to come with a major overhaul of the existing mission system. We would rather hold onto our missions until the system is designed the way we want it rather than release a bunch of missions we might have to remove or change later.

More

Wow! Isn’t that enough? Stay tuned! This War is just getting started, and we hope you’re enjoying playing it as much as we are making it!

Tags: Cinderella Exiles Legion Dread War