Curse

Numa Pompilius · Apr 16, 2006, 09:21 AM // 09:21

OK, I know the borders between luxons and kurzicks shift with the outcome of battles in contested zones.

OK, I know that towns can be "owned" by guilds.

Questions:
1) How does a guild conquer a town? I'm guessing through GvG battles?
2) What does it MEAN? Let's say kurzick guild X holds a town. What advantages does guild X get, what disadvantages do members of other kurzick guilds/factions get, and what disadvantages do members of the Luxons get?
3) If you're an unaffiliated player or a member of a very small and insignificant PvE guild, are you royally screwed by the system, or doesn't the whole area ownership thing matter much to PvE?

Laibeus Lord · Apr 16, 2006, 09:26 AM // 09:26

1 - Im not sure but I think a new option will appear so you can "buy" a town. You need to have the required "Alliance Rank Points" to be able to. A town's current price appears when you click on it via your world map.

2 - Only advantages. New maps, drops, quests are unlock for the town owner. It is said that if an Alliance owns all of the towns, it will unlock an elite set of quests and maps.

3 - You don't have to worry unless you want the special drops.

Additional Info:
* A Guild can not own a town but it is the Alliance that owns a town.
* It is the Alliance that makes an Allegiance to either a Kurzick or a Luxon not the guild.
* A guild not part of an Alliance is automatically an "Alliance on its own", still, it's the Alliance that owns a town and make an Allegiance, not the guild.

^_^

Thallandor · Apr 16, 2006, 09:44 AM // 09:44

^ addition notes, you trade/donate 5000 Faction points for 10 Alliance standing. Alliance standing degrades at 10% per day.

When the Alliance own the town (unsure of assignment by highest standing point per day or by buying option) Elite missions/quest are opened to them along with other things like lower merchant prices, holding parades and access to structures not open to those outside of the alliance ( balcony over looking city etc).

As for not being in the largest Alliance that hold towns, you have to ask yourself the question of comparsion of the current favor system. If you had never had the chance to enter UW/FoW would you consider yourself royally screwed by the system? Now apply that answer either to yourself (unguilded) or your guild since only alliance owning towns have access to Elite missions. (unsure of reward yet but it been confirmed to be worth doing the mission-very good.) But keep in mind that, you will still have access to the town normally and can still play all the PvE missions and quest if you want to apart form the PvP maps here and there.

Jiao Yang · Apr 16, 2006, 11:31 AM // 11:31

Does this mean the Luxons could take control of places like House Zu, if the border line shifts?

Thallandor · Apr 16, 2006, 11:38 AM // 11:38

As far as i remember correctly all towns that can be contest can change sides in faction depending on the borderline adjustment and controlled by alliances of the winning faction. The only exception will be the capitals of each Faction. Anyone please feel free to correct this if i am wrong, thanks.

fallot · Apr 16, 2006, 12:55 PM // 12:55

My answers are based on FPE observations, these may change upon release.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

OK, I know the borders between luxons and kurzicks shift with the outcome of battles in contested zones.

OK, I know that towns can be "owned" by guilds.

Questions:
1) How does a guild conquer a town? I'm guessing through GvG battles?

Towns are arranged in a certain order, with some being higher "ranked" than others. If your alliance has the highest amount of points, you will control the "best" town. The alliance with the second highest number of points will control the next most desirable outpost. Alliance points are gained by trading in Faction with the Luxon or Kurzick (i.e not Balthazar faction). PvE quests have large faction rewards. The only form of PvP that awards such faction is Alliance Battles (12v12) therefore GvG has no bearing on alliance standing. During the FPE, gaining faction through PvE was considerably faster than 12v12, at least for me

2) What does it MEAN? Let's say kurzick guild X holds a town. What advantages does guild X get, what disadvantages do members of other kurzick guilds/factions get, and what disadvantages do members of the Luxons get?

No benefits were available in the FPE, but it has been stated that the controlling alliance gets access to a part of the outpost that other people do not. Additionally, control grants access to "Elite" missions

3) If you're an unaffiliated player or a member of a very small and insignificant PvE guild, are you royally screwed by the system, or doesn't the whole area ownership thing matter much to PvE?

Screwed ? It depends on your opinion. Small PvE and PvP guilds both will probably never control an outpost, which means that they will never have access to a very small percentage of the game. I personally dont think thats very important.

sir lockt · Apr 18, 2006, 11:47 AM // 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thallandor

As far as i remember correctly all towns that can be contest can change sides in faction depending on the borderline adjustment and controlled by alliances of the winning faction. The only exception will be the capitals of each Faction. Anyone please feel free to correct this if i am wrong, thanks.

This is how it was told in several articles about factions: Also: The closer to the capital, the more difficult it gets to conquer the places. For me I am hoping they introduce some massive NPC's to prevent losses close to the capital (like an army of huge turtles...)

It was clearly stated that Anet has put in "tricks" to prevent 1 side owning whole the world. You can put your imagination on it how to prevent that, but I think you can state clearly: capitals cannot be conquered...

Laibeus Lord · Apr 18, 2006, 01:49 PM // 13:49

Ah it's 10% degeneration, thanks for that info ^_^
That was what I was trying to calcute

I think I agree that the Capitals are non-capturable, although can be 'ruled' by an alliance.

Though I heard from others that an Alliance must 'buy' or 'spend' their Alliance Rating to own a town every updates (which during FPE was set to every 3 hours).

TrooBloo · Apr 24, 2006, 04:09 AM // 04:09

This is how it works:

---Town Control---

ALLIANCES with highest alliance rankings control towns, the highest alliance belonging to one side controls the best town (cavalon, zu heltzer), the second highest controls the second closest town.

Alliances controlling a town will be able to host alliance EVENTS, such as summoning that huge dragon thing, gain access to special territory around it (for farming i guess), and participate in elite missions (kind of like gvg, but 12v12 alliance vs alliance)

The territories closer to the capital have better farming grounds so people will try to get into an alliance guild not just for pvp like before, but also for pve and is likely most of these guilds will be maxed out.

---Territory Gain---

Remember those 12v12 fights during FPE? Those random fights determined the area which luxon or kurzick controls
Now, remember that big line down the middle of the map? Everything on the right of the red part is luxon, and left of blue is kurzick
When one side wins a decided number more 12v12 fights every hour the line moves foward for that side
So, if say luxon wins 50 more fights than kurzick in 1 hour, they push the line foward for luxon, and if they win a lot more next hour, they push it forward even more
Every time the line changes, the 12v12 starts on a different map, favoring the losing side
During FPE we only saw 2 maps (Saltspray and Etnaran), though there's probably at least 10, all the way to the capitals

Now, by pushing the territory line, cities that were under enemy control now become under your side's control. Example:

If normally the kurzicks hold St. Anjeka's, but the luxons pushed the line all the way past St. Anjeka's, that city becomes a luxon city, awarded with all the benefits to the next highest ranked LUXON alliance. If kurzick pushes the line back and regains St. Anjeka's, then it becomes theirs again

What does the territory line mean OUTSIDE of cities though?
When someone aligned with one side or have more faction on that side tries to enter enemy territory, they will be confronted by many npc guards that try to kill them, making farming really hard (I tried this in FPE with full henchies, they raped me)

Many enemy cities can only be entered through an npc guard (instead of just walking in like in tyria), and if you're not on their side, the guard wont let you in
Also, if you do not kill additional guards that are guarding the ressurect shrine, you will not respawn if you die, therefore making enemy territory difficult to travel in unless you're in a well trained group

that is all i know ^^

Vilaptca · Apr 24, 2006, 06:28 AM // 06:28

I've took the information you had in that other thread TrooBloo and just pasted it into your post here. We do not need multiple threads on the same topics. Please just edit your post next time if you have more information to add, or repost in the same topic, but do not make a new one. Thats just not necessary.

Thank you,
Vilaptca

TrooBloo · Apr 24, 2006, 06:49 AM // 06:49

Alright

And ya, forgot to add that the capital as well as mission battle outposts (eg fort aspenwood) cannot be captured

Snowman · Apr 24, 2006, 03:25 PM // 15:25

"Screwed ? It depends on your opinion. Small PvE and PvP guilds both will probably never control an outpost, which means that they will never have access to a very small percentage of the game. I personally dont think thats very important."

Bollox!

Of course it will be important and I will be considerably MORE than a "very small percentage" of the game

How many towns and outposts are there?... rather alot I saw during the FPE..

And no doubt these elite missions will be coverd in the new exploration titles as well!...

SpeedyKQ · Apr 24, 2006, 04:40 PM // 16:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrooBloo

When someone aligned with one side or have more faction on that side tries to enter enemy territory, they will be confronted by many npc guards that try to kill them, making farming really hard (I tried this in FPE with full henchies, they raped me)

Did anybody else experience this? I explored the Luxon territory during the FPE with plenty of Kurzick Faction (the Luxon merchants wouldn't talk to me) and I didn't see any extra guards. Maybe because one of the members in my group was a guildie who had more Luxon points?

fallot · Apr 24, 2006, 05:57 PM // 17:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowman

Bollox!

Of course it will be important and I will be considerably MORE than a "very small percentage" of the game

How many towns and outposts are there?... rather alot I saw during the FPE..

And no doubt these elite missions will be coverd in the new exploration titles as well!...

As I said it depends on your opinion. You make a lot of assumptions btw. I find its better not to expect anything and be pleasantly surprised than to be chronically pessimistic.

kryshnysh · Apr 24, 2006, 06:43 PM // 18:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpeedyKQ

Did anybody else experience this? I explored the Luxon territory during the FPE with plenty of Kurzick Faction (the Luxon merchants wouldn't talk to me) and I didn't see any extra guards. Maybe because one of the members in my group was a guildie who had more Luxon points?

I didn't notice guards who would fight you if you had an imbalance of faction on either side. They didn't like me at the rez shrines, and I read somewhere that your faction compared to the line would control whether they would rez you at the shrines and which rez shrines would help you. As a result, I was really careful south of Leviathan Pits (when Seafarer's was Kurzick).

I explored both sides with 0 faction of the side I was in and 10k of the other side. From The Eternal Grove south on the Kurzick side I'm almost positive I had 0 (or near 0) Kurzick to 10k Luxon and before getting into the Gyala Hatchery I had 10k Kurzick and <10k Luxon pretty much whole way around the northern Luxon areas.

There was the Kurzick "honorable battle" and the Luxon "Arena" or whatever they were, but neither were guards actually jumping me. I also got jumped by Luxons in the Kurzick forest even though my faction was 10k Luxon at one point.

Numa, I don't think you're an idiot, I like most of your posts, even if I sometimes disagree.

As for being screwed for being in a small guild. Even if they are heavy PvE content, some people have mentioned that alliances MIGHT be capped at 1000 people and not just 10 guilds.

mqstout · Apr 24, 2006, 09:22 PM // 21:22

The way it works is not yet clear. However there are two possibilities:

-On any particular day, you have a 50% chance of being locked out of the missions specific to that town's owner (if it depends on alliance's faction), or
-On any particular day, you have a 99+% chance of being locked out of the missions specific to that town's owner (if it is owned specifically by an alliance).

All-in-all, it's a lose-lose situation if you can't play every day, aren't member of a hugely active guild which is also member of a hugely active alliance.

Even if it's the better-but-still-bad first choice, you'll still be missing TONS of the game's content because it's the other faction.

MSecorsky · Apr 24, 2006, 10:06 PM // 22:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by mqstout

The way it works is not yet clear. However there are two possibilities:

-On any particular day, you have a 50% chance of being locked out of the missions specific to that town's owner (if it depends on alliance's faction), or
-On any particular day, you have a 99+% chance of being locked out of the missions specific to that town's owner (if it is owned specifically by an alliance).

All-in-all, it's a lose-lose situation if you can't play every day, aren't member of a hugely active guild which is also member of a hugely active alliance.

Even if it's the better-but-still-bad first choice, you'll still be missing TONS of the game's content because it's the other faction.

What mqstout fails to mention is that you can change your faction at any time and experience the other half of the world.

Guardian of the Light · Apr 24, 2006, 10:23 PM // 22:23

Well guys remember that as soon as a alliance gets a town IT ISN'T FOREVER.

You will lose the town if another alliances gets more points in you and you have a chance to gain if your rival allaince takes it first.

The shifting border of luxon on kurzicks puts another wildcard to getting a town. At one point minor allaince might get a town because its faction has conquered a lot of the map so there are a lot of towns for that alliance. Thent eh border shifts and minor allaince will have had fun at their elite mission and someone else will get a turn on kurzick's side.

So Relax ppl.

Zexion · Apr 24, 2006, 10:55 PM // 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

OK, I know the borders between luxons and kurzicks shift with the outcome of battles in contested zones.

OK, I know that towns can be "owned" by guilds.

Questions:
1) How does a guild conquer a town? I'm guessing through GvG battles?
2) What does it MEAN? Let's say kurzick guild X holds a town. What advantages does guild X get, what disadvantages do members of other kurzick guilds/factions get, and what disadvantages do members of the Luxons get?
3) If you're an unaffiliated player or a member of a very small and insignificant PvE guild, are you royally screwed by the system, or doesn't the whole area ownership thing matter much to PvE?

1) First, it looks at which towns your faction controls. Each town has a value. Cavalon is the highest value, along with House Zu Heltzer, I suppose. The less important/good city, the lower ranking. Then it lists the cities the faction controls, with the best city (Cavalon) at the top. Now it looks at alliances in the faction. The one with the highest alliance standing gets the best town, the one with the 2nd best, the 2nd best town, etc. That is what I know from previews, so far.
2) The alliance who holds the town gets special options, such as Elite PvE Missions and parades. AFAIK, the whole faction gains an discount in the town. People from the other faction has to pay more of course. Also, the res shrines closest to a town your faction control, has merchants, etc you can utilize. The res shrines closest to a hostile town are not usable unless you bribe the guards, or simply kill them. This gives you faction with your own faction.
3) If you alliance is small and insignificant, then yes, you most likely won't ever control a town. However, it does not matter if your alliance is PvE or PvP, both are valid ways to get alliance standing, as long as the alliance is strong. And no, it doesn't matter much. Only perks to town control is the parades etc and elite missions. Elite missions are however, something you can live without. No exclusive/special loot. But the area ownership (by faction) matters much. The town ownership (by alliance) is not important.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSecorsky

What mqstout fails to mention is that you can change your faction at any time and experience the other half of the world.

Yes. However it requires 10000 faction with the alliance you are changing to. And that will remove the faction with your old alliance, if you redeem it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mqstout

The way it works is not yet clear. However there are two possibilities:

-On any particular day, you have a 50% chance of being locked out of the missions specific to that town's owner (if it depends on alliance's faction), or
-On any particular day, you have a 99+% chance of being locked out of the missions specific to that town's owner (if it is owned specifically by an alliance).

All-in-all, it's a lose-lose situation if you can't play every day, aren't member of a hugely active guild which is also member of a hugely active alliance.

Even if it's the better-but-still-bad first choice, you'll still be missing TONS of the game's content because it's the other faction.

It is the latter. However, Jeff Strain stated in a podcast, that Elite Missions wasn't anything special. At least not "TONS of the game's content". It is not much different, only unique, and likely challenging, but no uberdrops.

That is what I have gathered from interviews so far. Please listen to ep46-48 on www.vgmfusion.com. There Jeff says that it is not a huge part of the game, the Elite Missions, only a minor bonus to dedicated players. Kinda like epic gear in WoW. No casual player is gonna get the best epic set. You gotta work for it!

_Zexion