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PVP
From Hellgatewiki.com
PvP is something the designers realize that players are interested in, especially as an end game activity, but it's not something the game is being designed around. The main priority for the Hellgate Team is to get the game balanced for single player and cooperative multiplayer battles against the demons, and as that's an enormous job, the task of balancing PvP comes in at a much lower priority. Up to the time of the alpha test in July 2007 there has never been any functioning form of PvP demonstrated in Hellgate: London. It's assumed that the team is working on it privately, but there can't really be any PvP balancing done until the characters, skills, spells, and items are largely finalized, and that enormously complicated process goes on through the beta and into the final game release.
Weapons and skills are being designed to be both satisfying in single player and cooperative modes, and although PvP is something that's still being considered, it's not likely to play any kind of major role, due to weapons balancing issues.
--IGN Preview, April 26, 2005
PvP in Hellgate: London will likely be handled somewhat as it was in Diablo II. It will be enabled, but balances and tweaks to make it competitive will not be completed until after the game's release, and will always take a lower priority than changes to the PvM aspect of the game. The bright spot for dueling fans is that far more of the team will continue working on Hellgate: London post-release, and with their commitment to long term online support, and new features for subscribers, it's almost certain that PvP will be supported and nurtured to a far greater extent than it was in Diablo II.
"Since we are focused on creating a cooperative RPG, we're talking about how much we want to integrate PvP into the game. We definitely want ways for players to be able to compete in the game, rank themselves against other players, and have a way to show off their successes. One thing we've been discussing is creating an arena setting for players to test themselves against each other, but it is important to stress that we're very much in the concept stages on this section of the game. The only thing we're really sure of if that we won't be making this the focus of Hellgate: London."
--Bill Roper, Gamevision Interview, November 18, 2005
Arena Games
Flagship had Arena style PvP on their wish list all during Hellgate: London's development, but it was not confirmed for a long time.
"We're planning the equivalent of combatant arenas at the very least."
--Ivan Sulic, April 2006
Finally, in late 2006, they confirmed that there would be PvP arenas, but said that the details remained to be finalized. Let the speculation begin! We do not know what type of tile set options we'll find, how many players will be supported, if there will be capture the flag and other team games or just dueling in a room, if there will be dueling ladders, etc. More dueling options and features and tile sets is definitely something the team could add in patches and ongoing online content. In fact, it's quite possible arenas won't be in the game in the box at all, but only supported in the (not free) Hellgate: London online destination.
Balance Issues
One thing to keep in mind is the difficulty of balancing PvP in a game like Hellgate: London. This isn't Halo or Quake or Doom; games in which every character is identical, and there are perhaps a dozen types of weapons. Hellgate: London is an RPG; every character has nearly 30 skills to choose from, along with fully-customizable stats, over one hundred different types of weapons, a nearly-infinite variety armor and other equipment to customize themselves with. Figuring out every variable and wrinkle of how characters can and will deal damage to each other is impossible, and only as the dueling continues and equipment and weapon and play strategies are evolved, can the designers make changes and fixes and modifications to try and even out the playing field.
And then just when they get things somewhat balanced, along comes another patch with changes to 50 skills and 20 items, and the whole process has to start over again. There will always be some weapons or skills or tactics that are better than others in PvP in an RPG, so it's foolish for players to expect perfect balance. It's impossible to achieve, with every character so different. Many duelers enjoy this though, since it adds a huge level of item hunting and equipment variety to the contest. When one character skill or weapon seems to be the best, all of the other duelers start looking for ways to counter it with tactics, skills, or equipment. Eventually something is found (or the uber trick is nerfed by the designers) and then another skill or weapon pops up as the best, and players must shift their strategies to deal with it, while still being able to fight successfully against all the other skills and weapons in the game. This makes the PvP in an RPG (potentially) far deeper and more dynamic than it is in simple point and click FPS titles.
