The Reason Why We Love the Albion Online PvP System

Finally defeating a powerful raid boss or executing a flawless dungeon run can be quite enjoyable, but there's just something infinitely more satisfying when you defeat another player. While some online games pay lip service to PvP, Albion Online is making it a central feature. There are a lot of Albion Online features that are fascinating, such as the classless system and that players craft the gear that provide them with their abilities. As any good sandbox mmo does, this game features an almost open world PvP. The devs recently outlined their thought process behind their PvP system, such as the different types of zones and flagging. Let's watch out for ambushes as we examine why we love the Albion Online PvP system.

On the dev blog on the Albion Online PvP system, they state that they wanted PvP to be important in the game, and that they wanted to ease new players into the world of PvP. They point out that getting killed by a Griefer in the first five minutes of your gaming experience is A) not fun and B) not a good game design. That's why they introduced different types of zones in regard to PvP into the game. They originally had two different zones, red and green, but they quickly realized that this was just two extremes on the spectrum. That's why they decided to go to three different zones in regards to PvP.

The current system for the Albion Online PvP system is that there are three different types of zones: green, yellow, and red. The green zones are safe zones where there is no PvP. Yellow zones have PvP, but if the player loses, their only real loss (besides their dignity) is that their gear takes a durability hit. As gear is incredibly important in this mmorpg, this is a decent death penalty for losing. The real action is going to take place in red zones where the stakes are the highest. Full looting is allowed in red zones, so the consequences are losing can be really high, which means that you better bring some friends with you. I have to say that I really like this zone system quite a bit. It allows players to ease their way into PvP. New players aren't immediately thrown into the deep end of the pool to either sink or swim if they decide to start engaging in some PvP. Having a middle ground between no PvP and full-bore PvP with heavy consequences is a sound design.

The other aspect of the Albion Online PvP system that was discussed in the dev blog was flagging. The devs honestly stated that they wrestled with a way to come up with something different than the standard post-attack penalty that most mmo games implement. They felt that such a system is counterproductive as it applies after the fact (i.e. one player is already dead) and that gamers are pretty inventive on circumventing the negative effects of such penalties. This is where the Albion Online flagging feature comes into play.

Whenever a player decides that they want to attack another player in PvP, they have to flag themselves as a "villain/criminal" first. What really ups the ante is that flagging yourself takes up to a full minute to complete, and your character is unable to move while doing so. I find this facet of the Albion Online PvP system simply brilliant, both in design and execution. For one thing, players can see that you're flagged from a good distance, so they can try to avoid you if they wish. A second consideration is that if you come across somebody weaker than yourself, you just can't quickly flag yourself and then pounce on them. They will see you flagging yourself, and the time that it takes for the entire process to complete gives them ample opportunity to run the hell away or call for some backup. This Albion Online flagging system should really cut down on the douche factor that can easily accumulate in PvP-centric games. It gives weaker players some warning, so they can at least attempt to escape. Having a pre-attack penalty is a great move, and players can see how many people are flagged in an area before they decide to try to pass through it.

Another interesting feature of the Albion Online PvP system is that the game will show if a large group of players are travelling close together. If a certain number of players, or more, are running around in a big ganking group, they will be visible on the game's map for all players to see. This should cut down on the zerg factor of a powerful guild just running rampant through a zone. Again, a player is free to try to move through the area if they wish to take their chances. Yet the game does turn this on its head as there is at least one zone where this function is turned off. I think that a lot of interesting fights are going to break out in that zone.

Overall, there are several reasons why we love the Albion Online PvP system outlined by the devs recently. We really like the fact that new players can ease their way into taking part in PvP. The system used for flagging oneself for PvP is just brilliant. What we really love best is that it gives players choices in PvP. Most games are either all or nothing, but Albion Online wields a great deal of flexibility for when players fight one another. There are the various zones that feature different levels of PvP, the flagging system, and that large groups will be easily identifiable (as well as a zone where they are not). I think that the PvP system for Albion Online, as outlined so far, is quite elegant in design and should encourage players to go at one another. Of course, I'll be the guy running away in terror.