Testing out Age of Conan's new PvP system
As we mentioned earlier, the new PvP system (or at least a large part of it) for Age of Conan is currently on the Testlive server, and undergoing rigorous testing. We're particularly impressed by tester Ydiss, who has gone out of his way to provide feedback based on actual play experience rather than speculation and hyperbole. Through testing, some interesting features of the system have come to light, which shatter previous player assumptions and weren't spelled out in the notes.
Many players had assumed killing an Innocent of your own level would result in Murder Points, but it doesn't. The research actually shows that you can gank players of up to two levels below you (and any amount of levels above you) without any penalty other than being temporarily flagged as Criminal. This removes a huge anticipated bar to free PvP.
Being a Criminal gives you a funky crossed-swords icon above your head (see image) and being a Murderer gives you a skull.
On the flip side, there had been an assumption that killing Innocents outside the safe range would result in only one Murder Point; it actually results in at least ten, meaning that Murderer status (100 Murder Points) is far, far easier to earn. Ydiss has also laid out how the PvP XP system currently works.
Although it wasn't explained in the system notes, you don't lose PvP XP when you are killed if your rank is between 1 and 5. Ranks 6 through 10 will lose XP when killed, but not rank; players of ranks 11 and up will lose both XP and rank when killed.
PvP XP amounts have also been clarified. You get 100 XP for a kill (to a maximum of 150 XP for a target 5+ levels above you), divided among the group. You lose 300 XP for a death even if you are grouped. As it stands, the system is being received well, with the exception of the 10 Murder Point penalty for killing an innocent target a mere 3-5 levels below you, which some testers find overly harsh.
[Thanks, Ydiss!]
