A lot of people may have noticed I've been swapping gears a lot lately. Less map game and more roleplay. A lot of folks may have also noticed I've been pushing the concepts of Skirmishes in the form of raids recently. This is just a continuation of that swap of gears.
See, here's the thing. When I ran the Republic I realized people got sucked into the map game, like I've mentioned before. I did, too. I've come to realize that the most fun I've had with writing PvP is during two instances: Non-invasion threads or pure PvP invasions. Yes, I know, looks like I kind of contradicted myself there, right? Not really.
Yes, I've had fun in invasions. Just not the ones where we have rules A, B, C, D, E, E1, E2, Fa, Fb, Fc, and so on. Yes, invasions in real life are won by armies and tactics and supply lines. But we often forget something really important. Star Wars is originally, in concept, a movie. Movies are another form of stories, literature, and legends. Our ancestors sat in caves and gazed at the shadows cast by the firelight, seeing shapes and telling stories about them. Now, we sit in a dark movie theater and watch as a light projects images on a screen to tell us a story.
We forget that those stories may have great armies and great battles, but even in history are those victories attributed to those armies? Do we say that the Roman Legions crossed the Rhine or do we remember Caesar crossing the Rhine? Does history recall the Confederates marching north into the Northern US, or do we remember Robert E. Lee marching his men there to Gettysburg?
We're so caught up in the minutia that we forget that while soldiers win wars, warriors win battles.
Each invasion is but a battle to make up a war. Folks focus so much on the grand battle that they forget that there are warriors fighting just as much as soldiers. During battles sometimes the entire effort may hinge on one man or woman. A single shot. A sole action. These actions are the foundations for legends.
Legends, in time, make our movies.
Yes, the battle of Coruscant in Star Wars was a massive fight between millions of men and thousands of ships, but what do we remember of it? What did the movie show us?
A pair of Jedi Knights fighting their way to a single objective in an attempt to change the tide of battle.
Do I think every invasion should be a series of PvP fights off in the distance? A clash of blades alone in a jungle? A fist fight in the tundra? A battle to the death in some war-torn cityscape? No.
Warriors clash amid armies, which is why many deem the NPCs to be background noise. This is where I think PvP belongs. One side seeks to take a planet by attacking a stronghold, the other seeks to defend it. All things hinge on that fortress. The armies and soldiers and ships grind to take it, but the fight itself is determined by the warriors among them. The Jedi, the Sith, the Mandalorians, the Smugglers, the Fighters, and many more.
Each thread is but another scene in a movie, each battle is but a scene of a war. Wars are won through tactics and military might, but each scene is won through the skill and drive of warriors. Each fight builds the legends and each legend rises upon the actions of that warrior.
Do I think some invasions should be fought with armies and tactics and logistics? Of course. Some people legitimately enjoy that type of fighting. I simply thing that most should be done as I have explained: let the warriors decide the fate of the battle as the fighting rages around them.
As for the raids and skirmishes, it's quite simple. Many people enjoy a no strings attached deal with fighting. Whether because it's less pressure or because it's more story or both, some people just do. A loss simply means more development for their character, not the removal of a planet from their faction's sphere of influence. A victory means the same thing. Win or lose, neither side truly... loses anything. At all.
Sure, they earn some bragging rights and maybe some restricted material from the factory, but that's all. There's no loss of a planet, no lurking feud as one side steamrolls the other in invasion after invasion. No lasting, lingering effects other than a good story.
Sure, the raids may seem annoying. Yes, they come around randomly, or will in time. But look at them this way: They're a chance to roleplay. They're a chance to enjoy a bit of PvP without the loss of a planet or the loss of face or anything. It's free RP and, from what I've seen, folks enjoy it more than building and breaking empires on the map. Less drama, less headache, and more fun.
This is where I've seen people have fun. This is where I've had fun. This is what I look to bring to the board. Win or lose, it's all a story. A story we build thread by thread, word by word. Why not have fun with it?
See, here's the thing. When I ran the Republic I realized people got sucked into the map game, like I've mentioned before. I did, too. I've come to realize that the most fun I've had with writing PvP is during two instances: Non-invasion threads or pure PvP invasions. Yes, I know, looks like I kind of contradicted myself there, right? Not really.
Yes, I've had fun in invasions. Just not the ones where we have rules A, B, C, D, E, E1, E2, Fa, Fb, Fc, and so on. Yes, invasions in real life are won by armies and tactics and supply lines. But we often forget something really important. Star Wars is originally, in concept, a movie. Movies are another form of stories, literature, and legends. Our ancestors sat in caves and gazed at the shadows cast by the firelight, seeing shapes and telling stories about them. Now, we sit in a dark movie theater and watch as a light projects images on a screen to tell us a story.
We forget that those stories may have great armies and great battles, but even in history are those victories attributed to those armies? Do we say that the Roman Legions crossed the Rhine or do we remember Caesar crossing the Rhine? Does history recall the Confederates marching north into the Northern US, or do we remember Robert E. Lee marching his men there to Gettysburg?
We're so caught up in the minutia that we forget that while soldiers win wars, warriors win battles.
Each invasion is but a battle to make up a war. Folks focus so much on the grand battle that they forget that there are warriors fighting just as much as soldiers. During battles sometimes the entire effort may hinge on one man or woman. A single shot. A sole action. These actions are the foundations for legends.
Legends, in time, make our movies.
Yes, the battle of Coruscant in Star Wars was a massive fight between millions of men and thousands of ships, but what do we remember of it? What did the movie show us?
A pair of Jedi Knights fighting their way to a single objective in an attempt to change the tide of battle.
Do I think every invasion should be a series of PvP fights off in the distance? A clash of blades alone in a jungle? A fist fight in the tundra? A battle to the death in some war-torn cityscape? No.
Warriors clash amid armies, which is why many deem the NPCs to be background noise. This is where I think PvP belongs. One side seeks to take a planet by attacking a stronghold, the other seeks to defend it. All things hinge on that fortress. The armies and soldiers and ships grind to take it, but the fight itself is determined by the warriors among them. The Jedi, the Sith, the Mandalorians, the Smugglers, the Fighters, and many more.
Each thread is but another scene in a movie, each battle is but a scene of a war. Wars are won through tactics and military might, but each scene is won through the skill and drive of warriors. Each fight builds the legends and each legend rises upon the actions of that warrior.
Do I think some invasions should be fought with armies and tactics and logistics? Of course. Some people legitimately enjoy that type of fighting. I simply thing that most should be done as I have explained: let the warriors decide the fate of the battle as the fighting rages around them.
As for the raids and skirmishes, it's quite simple. Many people enjoy a no strings attached deal with fighting. Whether because it's less pressure or because it's more story or both, some people just do. A loss simply means more development for their character, not the removal of a planet from their faction's sphere of influence. A victory means the same thing. Win or lose, neither side truly... loses anything. At all.
Sure, they earn some bragging rights and maybe some restricted material from the factory, but that's all. There's no loss of a planet, no lurking feud as one side steamrolls the other in invasion after invasion. No lasting, lingering effects other than a good story.
Sure, the raids may seem annoying. Yes, they come around randomly, or will in time. But look at them this way: They're a chance to roleplay. They're a chance to enjoy a bit of PvP without the loss of a planet or the loss of face or anything. It's free RP and, from what I've seen, folks enjoy it more than building and breaking empires on the map. Less drama, less headache, and more fun.
This is where I've seen people have fun. This is where I've had fun. This is what I look to bring to the board. Win or lose, it's all a story. A story we build thread by thread, word by word. Why not have fun with it?
