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Answers To Questions From The Boards - 2005-10-05 - Outposts Edition
This week, let's talk about Outposts.
The Outposts Explained article raised a lot of questions on the boards, and I've tried to answer as many as I could.
To keep it readable, I've tried to keep my answers short and straight to the point. This way, I was able to include 26 questions - geez, a new record!
Will there be a fame requirement for the guild to take/challenge an outpost? (ie for an outpost in Zorai would need say 50 Zorai guild fame, 25 Kami fame) [Submitted by rushin (EN)]
No, there won't be any fame requirement on the Outposts. There was no need for it in the current version, and it made things more simple - the set of rules is already quite lengthy.
Are the "original" NPC owners of the outposts members of one of the current tribes? [Submitted by sprite (EN)]
No, tribes won't own the outposts at first, but some other NPCs you have already met will... If you want to know more on this subject, you'll have to follow the upcoming events.
If an outpost is occupied by a guild, is the area surrounding it PvP all the time or just during the attack and defense phases of a challenge? [Submitted by rushin (EN)]
What ruleset will the PvP around outposts take? Same as PR GvG or something different? [Submitted by rushin (EN)]
What does it mean? When a conflict starts on an Outpost, everyone who enters the area surrounding the Outpost gets a pop-up asking him what he wants to do; there are three choices available: attacker (not available to members of the defensing guild), defender (not available to members of the attacking guild) and neutral.
Defensers can't attack other defenders, attackers can't heal defenders, and vice versa. The two guilds keep the option to kick anyone from their camp, at any moment.
Given the current problems with healing in the PR where it's not possible to heal out of team, how is healing going to work in these Outpost battles? [Submitted by philu (EN)]
For the same reasons, you don't want to have an invincible healer being able to heal your opponent... So it won't be possible to heal an opponent, but you can heal everyone on your side.
Does the attack battle start immediately after the 24 hours are over or do both guilds have to set the times for their battles during the 24 hours? [Submitted by several players]
Ok, let's do a little schema (please, no comments on my drawing skills ;) )
(1) The attacking guild [A] declares war; [A] has to set the time for the attack phase, somewhere in (4).
(2) The defending guild [B] is informed of the attack; they have all phase (2) to set a time for the defending phase, in (5). 24 hours long.
(2) The defending guild [B] is informed of the attack; they have all phase (2) to set a time for the defending phase, in (5). 24 hours long.
(4) There is a 2 hours attack phase during this period. 24 hours long.
(5) If necessary, there is a 2 hours defending phase during this period.
This differs a bit from the explanation we posted a week ago, as the attacking guild now has to set the time for the attack battle immediately.
Will there be any kind of protection against beginning battles at ungodly times like during the middle of the night, i.e. 3 am? [Submitted by tridman & mikkel (DE)]
No; but nothing prevents you from scheduling the counter-attack at 3 am or even 6 am, if the attackers want to play these kind of games...
However, we'll be monitoring this, to be sure this is played fairly; if necessary, we'll add incentives to schedule decent attack times.
Will there be some kind of delay between overtake attempts from the same guild to prevent exploits to make an OP unattackable by keeping it under constant attack from friends? [Submitted by xenofur (DE)]
Yes; it won't be free to declare war to an Outpost, so this kind of strategy could prove to be a bit costly. And second, the allied guild isn't sure to always be the first one to declare war: at the end of each war, there would be an opportunity for another guild to take over.
The level of an Outpost is dependent on its region - it will follow the same rules as mobs population.Exactly how is the level of the OP determined? (aside from the minimum threshold) [Submitted by mikkel (DE)]
And, as you note it, the level of an Outpost is not the same thing as the threshold used for the rounds - the first influences the level of the squads' leaders and the rewards, while the second sets the score you have to attain to earn the Outpost.
Will it be possible to craft equipment for the squads or is that fixed? [Submitted by xenofur (DE)]No, it won't be possible to craft the gear of the squads - at least at first.
How big will the squads be? Is that fixed or can the players determine a number? [Submitted by mikkel (DE)]There will be 8 guards per squad: 1 leader, 1 healer and 6 others.
Under the assumption that OPs are taken like described in "2." (Ops explained article) only against tribes: Will the tribe try to take it back? [Submitted by mikkel (DE)]
No, at least not at first. The only cases where NPCs will take back control of an Outpost will be when a guild releases an Outpost it owns voluntarily or when the guild disbands.
What do the attackers have to lose? [Submitted by Xolox (DE)]Money. Declaring war won't be free...
Do the attackers have the opportunity to use squads too? [Submitted by Xolox (DE)]No, only during the defense phase.
How many attacks can be made simultaneously? [Submitted by Xolox (DE)]One guild can attack several Outposts at once, but one Outpost can only be attacked by one guild at once.
During Outpost battles, will DP be active? [Submitted by jenbat (FR)]
Currently, the answer is no. However, this is not a definitive answer, as we want to weight the odds carefully here.
If all attackers die, does the battle ends or can they repop and attack indefinitely? [Submitted by noobs (FR)]
They can repop indefinitely. However, since it takes time to repop, to come back to the battle field and to get back to full heal/sap/etc., it is certainly something you want to avoid.
Can several guilds control a same outpost? [Submitted by arsaphes (FR)]No, only one guild can control a given outpost.
During the conflict, the PvP is total on all Atys between the two guilds. What about the respawn points? [Submitted by ashitaka (FR)]
That's a point we'll change - the previous Outpost document stated that Outpost PvP would be global, but to limit grieving, we'll limit Outpost PvP to the area surrounding the Outpost. An update of this document will be posted soon, among with other small changes.
How many Outposts will we be available at the Chapter III launch? [Submitted by tsuko (FR)]
If the attackers get a few levels, does the defense even have a chance? After all, the attackers were able to win PC vs. PC + a few squads worth of NPC's. When the roles are reversed, the defenders, it seems to me, would not have a chance, the battle is already over. [Submitted by andy707 (EN)]
Yes, the defense still has a chance. During the attack battle, the defenders could have underestimated the opponent's strength, and come back with more guild members. You can also seek for additional help from allies...
How much does upkeep for an outpost cost? [Submitted by madnak (EN)]0 dapper.
Well, that's not completely true - it costs you nothing as long as you keep using the default squads. If you want better ones, you'll have to pay! The exact prices haven't been setup yet.
Where the attacking squads come from: the attackers seem to get units to attack with too, what are these and where do they come from? [Submitted by grimjim (EN)]
The squads are made of homin mercenaries, willing to fight for any camp given the proper amount of dappers...
Are these guards (the hired/bought ones) also the ones which patrol outside the camp at normal times? If so it would be possible for a guild who wished to attack to decimate them by pulling agro prior to declaring war and hence deplete the outposts stock of bought NPC defenders. [Submitted by petej (EN)]
The squads will only appear during the battles. There won't be NPCs patrolling the Outposts when there isn't a war.
Point 8 [world GvG]: wouldn't this mean that an attacking force could simply use some sort of kamikaze-strategy? Example: Attackers stand and wait or just run and hide somewhere far from the outpost while one elected homin of their team goes to nearest group of mean aggro-mobs, uses invul and drags them to the camp. If this dont kill the defence Im sure its a pretty good way of weakening them... or even so, if the attacking force would close in while the aggros are in the outpost, but stand far enough away not to get the aggro and then start nuking the defence... I hope they make this forbidden. [Submitted by jinnear (EN)]
Sure, the attackers could use this strategy, but the defenders too. And as the NPCs themselves won't be aggro by mobs, there would still be some work to do...
I take it we can't heal our guards, but will they take splash damage from area of effect attacks on the opposition? [Submitted by boinged (EN)]
True, you won't be able to heal guards, as it would lead to have defenders only healing their NPCs instead of fighting.
On AoE attacks, they won't take splash damage from AoE attacks on the opposition, but will take splash damage from AoE attacks launched *by* the opposition.
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