"Legal" Unauthorized Lot Access

I wouldn't go so far as say its a bug. Rather, poor design.

 

why shouldn't it? It's not blink.

 

Currently the cover mechanics is broken so NPC mages & players can target you through rocks or walls. But that will be fixed - and you can't really teleport to someone you can't see or target because something (like a house) is in the way.

If thieves keep targetting people now in non-PVP POTS by using Nightstep to get into houses then the chances are they will be banned. And Port will eventually fix the Nightstep bug either by implementing true cover mechanics or by sone interim method.

Re: dev comments - I think the shoe is on the other foot. Berek already said this was unintentional behavior on the part of Nightstep. Show us a dev comment or statement that says otherwise.

 

Berek is a forum moderator and a very passionate community manager. I sent a PM concerning current events and the response I got did not indicate to me that the mechanic was bugged or broken - it was much more personal in that he didn't like how some people are playing the game because it's disruptive to others. That in no way says anything about the the use of skill in consensual PVP as being unintended.

I've recently gone high and to the right about people abusing broekn targeting game mechanics for rez kills and PK - and after it was all said and done, I was in the wrong - it was in fact the game that was bugged. This however is about a game mechanic being used masterfully by someone that is doing a great job being a thief. And instead of players figuring out ways to counter - they scream exploit and start maneuvering and lobbying to have the rules changed because reasons. For some it's easier to have the game change to suit a particular play style than step up to the challenge presented, but is that the game everyone wants? I want a sandbox where challenges can spring up and inspire people to think outside the box - player freedom is everything where a sandbox is concerned. Nerfing skills to fix unsavory play styles will only dilute the overall game experience for everyone.

Of course the devs can do whatever they want - it's their game - but are they going to nerf the skill because it's not working as intended or are they nerfing it because people are complaining? There's an important distinction to recognize there - changing the fundamental nature of a teleport skill is a big deal. And if you don't think so, remember this moment when a skill you enjoy using is turned inside out because someone else didn't like it.

 

It's currently clunky game play. Right now PvPers who cherish their flag must unflag so they can safely craft on their own locked lot. Then you need to go flag again afterwards when you never wanted to unflag in the first place. Clunky.

The end result is that I'm getting asked to ban people because folks can't be safe in their own homes in a non-PvP town on a locked lot.

*remember that while crafting you get sucked into the UI and carry things you would never carry in PvP scenarios i.e stacks of silver and gold.

Port needs to **** or get off the pot on this one. You're either safe on your locked lot or your not. If you're safe I don't need to ban anyone. If you're not safe I'll just get rid of people annoying my residents despite how terrible of a solution that is.

Needing to ban people in a non-PvP town is really stupid. I hate doing it but drama = worse than banning in my mind.

 

@Duke Avery , I respect your motivations and we will just agree to disagree with respect to Nightstep.

 

This is the core argument that players use when they find a skill that is easy to use, very difficult to "counter", and often results in the theft or death of other players.

Let me ask you something, what's the counter to Night Step? Before you say things like "go into a basement", remember that one person is pressing a button and the other person has to have a basement, make it to that basement, and then has to be inside that basement before their "counter" is working. That's a pretty expensive counter by the way. Not really something I'd call baked into the design. More or less it's the equivalent to unflagging. Not to mention that there's also the question of why anyone would own a home in a PVP area in the first place if the walls don't work, the locked doors mean nothing, and the use of the home for anything but an open invitation to a death trap party would be unreasonable.

But that's assuming that Night Step was somehow designed to be an instant win button that allows players to not only steal from them while they're inside a locked home, but also casually ignore walls and doors. That assumes that even after the Portalarium community manager told you there was absolutely no mistake that Night Step was bugged, it was originally designed the way you believe it was designed. If you don't like that design, ok I can respect that. But please do not make up your own narrative to support your belief by adding false logic. Please don't assume that just because something works in a particular way today it doesn't need changed for the balance of the game tomorrow. We're in development, that's how this works.

 

You're not asking the right question.

The right question is: What's the counter to someone being behind you when you're flagged for PVP?

The answer is as simple as flagging for PVP - be ready and remain vigilant while flagged.

 

If i flag me pvp i want no safezone, even my own house schould not be 100% safe IF i am flagged pvp.

Question, is there a clarification of what items can be stolen and what not?
Clarification about the circumstances that are restriktive to Stealing?
Any official Statements or is it more of:
" some parts dont work as intended..."
What people do figuring out what is possible should and need to go on the QA Testservers and not on live Servers.

I want only things that can be replaced stealable, no deeds and such.

 

For the sake of argument, let's assume that's a correct methodology for all things PVP. If you're flagged well then anything can happen and people can teleport in out of thin air regardless of what defenses you have. In the case of Night Step, you really have no defenses. There's nothing to block people from teleporting to you, not walls, not locked doors, heck when you think about it that way being in a basement is really an exploit, how dare someone prevent Night Step teleportation!

So what's the impact of this mechanic working this way? Well for starters you're at huge disadvantage anytime you speak with an NPC, attempt to use a crafting table, read a book, or do anything that would take your immediate attention away from your surrounding character. I would argue that this type of playing environment reduces pvp to an arena death match. That it favors people that have no other want in this game than to constantly be aggressive for the sake of being aggressive.

There's absolutely no way that I want to play in a world like that. If I did, I'd just go play an FPS where there's no expectation of relative safety due to defenses, structure, or order. That game genre is built on chaos, and that's what it delivers. But that's not what our game is built on, not even in an open PVP town, at least not my town. My town will have NPC guards, walls that work, doors that lock, and there's an excellent reason for that. Because I want my town to participate in the regional and world economies, I want my residents to be able to have a reasonable expectation of safety. Will they be 100% safe? Never. But they will never be 100% unsafe either. That's far more balanced than what you're talking about. You're talking about a world where the only thing you do in the game is kill whatever moves or whatever doesn't see you first. Be they in a home, be they behind large walls, it doesn't matter, you just find them and kill them. Well that's not very balanced. In fact it's about the most unbalanced thing I've ever heard.

 

First off, you're asking for 100% protection for unreplaceable items. Yet you're saying that if you're flagged you shouldn't be able to be 100% safe. That's a contradiction.

The devs have always said that pledge rewards and add-on store items can not be stolen or looted. However COTO's are the exception and those can be stolen and looted.

 

You're at a huge disadvantage being flagged for PVP while reading a book, interacting with a crafting table or NPC in broad daylight with no stealth active or anything else for that matter! What on earth does that have to do with a teleport skill? Nothing... that's what.

 

You don't see a difference between using a crafting table behind fortified walls and using a crafting table in the middle of an empty field?

I suppose next you'll explain that there should be no difference between high ground and low ground? That there should be no difference between taking cover behind a tree and standing in the open? That strong characters shouldn't do more damage than weaker characters? The sky is not blue, it's just a reflection of light in a person's eye...

The difference between our game and an FPS is that the world matters. Walls have a purpose other than just scenery for people to kill things in.

 

Night Step isn't difficult to counter, you don't have to go to your basement to block it. Go play with the skill and I'm sure you'll figure it out.

 

What I see is that a teleport skill that doesn't teleport isn't a teleport skill. And how nerfing this one skill translates to a fix for a genuinely borked game mechanic makes no sense to me.

What you want is a fix for PVP flagged players while they're interacting with the game in ways that remove their ability to defend against PVP actions.

 

It's bugged. I'll play with it once it's fixed.

 

@Baron Drocis Fondorlatos

Non replacable or items from the store schould always be safe!
Kinkara once told us he stole a Deed.
Big? On this.

Those who flag pvp and go afk or do crafting and read a Book meabwhile...
Well... no comment.
I maybe Sound often against pvp, but as i said i played some hardcore open pvp full loot games and not just for some weeks.

I dont want anymore and i cannot do it anymore because of time to play/ prepare.

Not safe in own house i meant attackable.

 

When the fix the skill it will still teleport. It just won't teleport through walls. You'll need to have clear line of sight. You won't be able to ignore entire structures just because it's convenient.

Opinion: I swear this conversation is making me want to dump all my stats into a thief build so I can show people what a real thief looks like. The best thieves are not people crying about being able to mez their targets and teleport through walls, the best thieves are the ones that know how to keep their mouth shut and you never really know who they are. There are just a lot of items missing without exploits being used.

 

There are deeds from the raffle that can stolen because they were not part of a pledge or from the add-on store.

If you have a deed that has a value of ZERO, I believe those are the ones that can not be stolen. If it has some other value, that can be stolen and you don't want to walk around with it while flagged. Honestly you don't want to walk around with anything you value while flagged for pvp.

I'm not saying that if you're flagged for pvp in your home you're not attackable. I'm saying that if you have locked doors and walls it shouldn't be as easy as having Night Step to get inside the home. There should be a balanced system in place, and this is not balanced.

I also recognize that if you're AFK you're putting yourself at a lot of risk and you should be responsible for that. But if you're crafting you're not AFK, you're just crafting. If you're reading a book you're not AFK, you're just reading a book. People should be allowed to do that in their own freakin homes even if they're flagged for pvp.

Being flagged for pvp does NOT mean that you have signed up for constant abuse, it just means that you have agreed to participate in pvp. If you have a home, or you build walls, that should mean something. It should provide a strong form of protection while those are in use. Otherwise what's the point?

 

This is waaaay off topic but I can confirm Kinkara did steal a house deed. He stole it from me and it was a deed I purchased from a NPC merchant in game; it was not a pledge, bundle, or add-on store item.

Also, pledge COTO and COTO purchased from the add-on store are protected. Anything dropped in game can be looted. Anything purchased from the add-on store is protected... and a hundred other caveats... check the item's value. If its in game value is zero, it's protected. In game valuer greater than zero means it can be looted or stolen.