Are you planning to run a PvP Event?

Last week's Tip of the Week, Player-Run Events Part 1, highlighted some tips on doing Player-Run Events in EverQuest. This week's builds on the guide by highlighting PvP Events.



Player versus Player Battles (PvP)

PvP battles are events that put players against other players. Some common examples of these types of events are the Best of the Best, Capture the Flag events or other types of tournaments.

PvP Battles can be pretty thrilling to participate in and exciting to watch. There's always the mysterious eliminate of what tactic opponents will use, what buffs they have, what special abilities or items they make unleash.

When running PvP events, there is a lot to consider. How many people will be involved? Is it open PvP or will there be sides and if so, how many sides? What are the rules? What preparations plans are needed? What will the theme of the event be? Where will the battle take place?

Planning, Announcing, and Reporting PvP Events

Many of the elements described in Player-Run Events part 1 apply to PvP Events as well; including planning, announcing and reporting your events. Be sure to review Part 1 before getting your event started.


Locations for PvP Battles

Cities:
Most city zones have an arena located in them that can be used for fighting; however, they are not ideal for larger battles or battles that may have participants with restricted factions.

The Arena:
The Arena is the most common zone to use for PvP Battles. It has a large open space for massive fighting. Surrounding the fighting area are a few layers for spectator to watch the battles.

On the outskirts of the coliseum area, there's another that isn't a PvP area but it does have an open space surrounding the whole area and is ideal for running a Race-type event.

    Amenities:

    • Soulbinder

    • Plane of Knowledge Portal

    • Connection to Lake Rathe

Zek Server:
On Zek, the PvP server, most zones are PvP capable but there are still a few zones where PvP is not permitted.

/duel Command:
With the /duel command you can elect to battle in most zones on the regular servers. Just remember to bind nearby if you aren't able to easily get back to where you need to be.


Types of PvP Events

There are three main types of PvP Events – Tournaments, Open Battles and Invasions.

Tournaments:
Tournaments are the most common type of PvP events. In these events, entrants are paired off and fight to either incapacitation or, in some of the less civilized parts of the world, death. Generally, tournaments bring in anywhere from ten to thirty entrants.

You'll need to decide what sort of pairings you will have. Will it be One on One? Two vs. two? Sentient being vs. pet? Group vs. group? Guild vs. Guild? Class vs. Class? Or something else. Each has its own pros and cons, but for the most part all are organized the same way.

    Duels - Duels are generally events that don't involve many participants. There Duels can be done in a PvP area or through use of the /duel command. The /duel command would be handy for doing duels in abnormal places. Once one player sends a duel request and the other accepts, the fighting begins. Be sure the combatants know whether the fight is to the death or just to incapacitation.

    Single Elimination - In this type of tournament, each entrant (single or team) is paired against another, usually by random selection. In the first round, everyone fights. The losers are out while the winners proceed to round two. At each fight, someone is eliminated until you have a victor. Nice and simple, this is definitely a "King of the Hill" type of tournament where one mistake means you're out.

    If you have an uneven number of entrants, one gets a "bye." That means they fight no one in that round, and are marked as having a win. In some tournaments, whoever is fighting the "dreaded bye" can have a practice match against a judge or another entrant for fun, but there will be no result. No one should have more than one bye match per tournament.

    You can also decide to have a "wild card" slot instead of a bye. To do this you take the players who have been eliminated and assign them a number. Then you roll a chance cube. The winner of the roll gets to re-enter the contest and fight the player who would have otherwise gotten a free win against the bye. Sometimes this second chance can make a big difference in the outcome of the event.

    Double Elimination - In this type of tournament, everyone is allowed two losses before they are eliminated. These tournaments require a bit more organization on the part of the event planners, but since everyone is guaranteed two fights, it can draw more people. Two losses also means this type of tournament can run a bit long, so you might want to consider two fighting areas so you can run fights simultaneously.

    Once again, every entrant is paired up against another (or the bye) in the first round. Upon finishing their fight, everyone is marked as having won or lost (use your notepad CTRL + N to keep track). Everyone advances to round two. When you move into future rounds, you should pair off entrants who have the same number of losses. From here, anyone who racks up a second loss is out of the tournament. As before, continue until a winner is chosen.

Open Battles:
An Open Battle is an event that anyone can attack anyone and usually the last one standing wins. There is usually still some form of sign up process involved, rules that apply, and rewards for the winners.

Free-for-All:
Free for all battles are generally just a massive battle where anyone can join in for the fun. Usually there aren't any rewards for Free-for-All battles.

Invasions:
With invasions, someplace gets invaded by NPCs or an actor character recruits adventurers to invade somewhere. Adventurers defeating the invaders are asked to protect people or places. This type is generally not done for player-run events except on the PvP server.

A common way to run an invasion event for a PvP server is to designate an area as a home for 2 sides (or more) and have each side defend their area while attacking their enemy. City invasions can fall into this form. One side defends, and another side protects. These are generally more difficult to set up because of faction related issues; however, they are still done on occasion.

Selecting Participants

When planning an event, it's important to have a sign up process. This can be done via a forum thread, website based sign up sheet, or through emails. Be sure to let everyone how many people participants will be permitted and keep them aware of how many slots are remaining.

Referees

It's a good idea to designate someone as a referee for the battles. Make sure each of the participants know who the referee is. If something goes wrong or something strange occurs the referee will make the final call.

Be sure to give each of the referees the same set of guidelines. Also, it's a good idea to set up a referee channel if multiple referees are needed.

Starting the Event

At the start of the event, the host will generally let everyone know the rules, who the referees are, and how the event will be handled. Let everyone know where they need to stand for the event and when their turn will occur. Allow time for everyone to ask questions so that there is no confusion about the event.

Sample Rules

  • There is to be no combat or offensive spell casting prior to the event starting.

  • Competitors will be dispelled and stripped of buffs prior to combat and any pets up must be killed until the event starts.

  • After being dispelled prior to combat, competitors may buff themselves or summon a pet as they choose during a one minute special "buffing period" before each match.

  • Levitation is/is not permitted.

  • Mounts are/are not permitted.

  • Invisibility is/is not permitted.

  • Spectators must remain outside the fighting area during the event.

  • Competitors must remain in the PvP area of the arena at all times.

There are many more aspects involved with running regular and PvP events but this guide should help you get started.

To provide additional tips, visit the EverQuest Official Forums to join the discussion on Player-Run Events