Game modes. It’s a tricky one. From the various s CDIs I’ve read, there was a lot of shoulder shrugging. People want some old gw1 game modes. That’s cool. People (including devs) described the possibility of a MOBA. Again a cool idea.
But that got me thinking about MOBAs, and how games inherit other game modes. I’m not a DOTA player. I do however remember it from its Warcraft III incarnation ten years ago. Back then I spent a lot of time on player created game modes, of which DOTA was only one.
There was another that stood out to me though from those days. I did some research, and remember it roughly as ‘Angel Arena X’, one of several versions of a Warcraft III MOBA-esque arena.
It had some similarities to MOBA games – control of a single character capable of levelling up through player/npc kills. The premise was simple – a player starts off at level 1 in either safe zones A or B (allocated to each team). From there he has access to stat/gear upgrades in exchange for gold/exp acquired by venturing out into the contested PvE zone. By contested, I mean both teams have access to it and are capable of player killing/stealing mobs for exp.
Periodically (say every 2 minutes in a game like ours) contested PvE play is paused and players are ported to an ‘arena’ not too dissimilar from WoW arenas. In this game a player from each team was picked randomly for a 1v1, although of course this idea could be scaled for 3v3 5v5 etc, as well as simultaneous 1v1s if game time was an issue.
Attached at the bottom is a very simple version of the map. Of course the contested area could be as complicated and multifaceted as you’d like, but it is in essence a single area.
I seem to remember a team won by killing a specific mob. It would however be cool to have this as an alternative route to victory such as that found in Legacy of the Foefire, and make it possible to win from the accumulation of XvX victories in the arena. The contested PvE zone is still vital for this as players will only level up there.
Some comps may be stronger in the early game, and so play aggressively during arena interims to prevent the other team progressing. Conversely, I could see glassy teams burning through content in order to maximise their stats versus the inevitably tougher matchups of more sustain orientated teams in the arena.
If arena matchups were scored on a point system (best of 6), the matchup could be as follows..
- 1v1 / 2v2 l 1 point
- 1v1 / 2v2 l 1 point
- 5v5 / 3v3 l 2 points
- 1v1 / 2v2 l 1 point
- 1v1 / 2v2 l 1 point
Where above just shows a couple of different matchup combinations that could be implemented.
There could be a tiebreaker if points were even at the end. For spectating purposes the matchups would need to be sequential, although possibly simultaneous if game duration was an issue (quickmatch option). Games would take longer if matchups were even.
Pros:
- 4v5 teams less of a problem.
- Development of character freezing (pausing)/deathmatch arenas have good applications in other game modes.
- Bridges PvE, WvW and sPvP
- Could make full use of sPvPs streamlined but expansive build customisation
- An original game mode (i.e. not just gw2’s version on DOTA)
Cons:
- Would require substantial development of the contested PvE zone to encourage positional play and ‘plays’, as well as content which more hardcore teams could hone their skills on (i.e. a fair but challenging and expansive ‘flow’ to PvE combat).
- Interface for mid-match progression would need to be worked on, although mechanically a (skills/traits etc) system is readily available from PvE/sPvP update.
- A properly new and original game mode is a development risk that would require substantial player backing.
