From the Mind of Magi: Competitive Missions Lowdown

Written by: Magi
Edited and Published by: Magi

If yesterday I spent most of my time immersed in Alliance Battles then today I surely was not doing that. Though that is not to say that I stopped playing them out of disgust or something like that - far to the contrary - instead I had to experience the Competitive Missions. After all, they were being touted as the other "main event" of the Preview Event and, truth be told, were very appealing. From what we were told, they seemed to be a mesh of PvE (player versus environment) and PvP (player versus player) - who couldn't be excited about that? I knew I was.

I'll admit it right now: like Alliance Battles, I was very pleased about the Competitive Missions. The two missions I spent a big chunk of time on - Jade Quarry and Fort Aspenwood - were very good but seemed to lack in the PvE department (that is, it felt more like PvP). Though that is not to take away from its fun factor, as I think most people expected them to be closer related to the PvP side (hence being called 'competitive' missions). Despite the fun that was ever prevalent there was a definite set back, very similar to what I stated in my article yesterday: faction imbalance. That is for later, however, and I would like to start with discussing the new competitive missions I had the privilege of experiencing.

Fort Aspenwood

Despite the long wait before I could get into this mission, I found it to be particularly appealing. Being from the side of the Luxxon's, my objective was to lay siege to the Kurzick's before they could complete their weapon. What was particularly neat about this whole scenario is that we had to lead - and guard - a giant tortoise with a cannon lumped on its back. We had to do this because this tortoise was the one who broke down the walls, so in order to stop the Kurzick's from completing its weapon, this turtle had to be protected.

As can be naturally assumed, the role of the attacker was highly reliant on the PvP side. In fact, the only thing I can remember my team doing is killing other opponents - be they PC (player character) or NPC (non-player character). Sometimes, too, the gates would rebuild themselves (due to the efforts of the Kurzick's) but then our trusty tortoise would just blast the [gate] down again (that is, after we had eliminated the NPCs guarding it). The mission inevitably ended - in the cases where the mighty Luxxon's were victorious - when an NPC called Gunther perished, apparently the individual who was in charge of making the weapon.

On the side of the Kurzick's, apparantly, their task was two-fold: to hold off the advance of the Luxxon's and to gather the materials needed to complete the weapon. I can't remember for sure, but I think they had to take rare amber from mines and carry it to another location, probably a depository of sorts. As you can well imagine, this was not the easiest task but surprisingly, at least during the times I participated in these battles, the Kurzick's won more often then they lost.

The one remaining factor that I will mention is this: in comparison to the Jade Quarry mission (which I will discuss next) the one at Fort Aspenwood seemed overly simplistic, especially as far as Luxxon's were concerned. Personally, I would have preferred to have both PvP and PvE elements available to both sides. Regardless, it was a fun experience and I found myself looking not for the weakest opponent, but the one carrying the rare amber.

Jade Quarry

With great reluctance I must admit the following: I did not spend as much time in the Jade Quarry as I would have liked. This is primarily due to the fact that it was very hard to get into this mission. If memory serves me correctly, I had to wait 10 or 15 minutes just to get into the instance on several occasions (I would like to note that this was during the day, not the evening). Despite the inherent flaw that surfaces here (which I will discuss later) it was well worth the wait: it truly was an enjoyable experience.

Like the competitive mission at Fort Aspenwood, the [mission] at Jade Quarry seemed to be highly reliant on the PvP component. That is to say, the point of the mission was to control particular quarry's to allow for the accumulation of resources. Though the catch is once you control the quarry's you had to protect carriers of jade as they went to score more points for your team. Unfortunately, however, most of the time we ended up focusing on each other and not worrying too much about the carriers.

One important point to note about this missions is that it had two notable caps: the first team to score 10 points or hold the most [points] when 15 minutes expires emerged victorious. Much like I noted yesterday when I discussed Alliance Battles, I rather do like this set up. When I'm in competition with other players, I prefer more frequent, frenzy battles which is exactly what this mission felt like. You were always on your toes, alert, waiting to co-ordinate with your team mates in order to win the battle.

Overall, however, I think the mission at Jade Quarry has the best potential to involve both PvE and PvP components. Perhaps it was simply the teams I was on that didn't want to bother with the PvE side too much, but if you can effectively stop the jade carriers (which were essentially NPCs) then that may not only frustrate the other team, but turn the tide in the battle. If this potential turns into reality then it will turn into a very good mesh of PvE and PvP: something that is imperative for these competitive missions to stay well, competitive, instead of turning into PvP fests.

Room for Improvement

Despite how fun these competitive missions were, there certainly is room for improvement that I would like to see before we reach April 28th, 2006. Simply put, it is the faction imbalance.

I won't put too much emphasis on faction imbalance because I discussed it at length yesterday, but it is worthy of mention regardless: ArenaNet needs to work a way around this. I don't know how they intend on working this, but the last thing Factions needs is for the two sides to be incredibly lop-sided. It is a very dismal and empty feeling when you want to experience this new content - whether it is competitive missions or alliance battles - and you're waiting for a long period of time in a "line", so to speak. I will admit, however, that the waiting times during the Preview Event were not bad at all - really, what's 10 or 15 minutes? - but it could turn into that much worse, like it is in World of Warcraft: who wants to wait hours just to experience content?

All of that said, I found during some sparse play time this evening in between edits that the waits were much shorter. Perhaps there is substantially more players on during the evening (North American time)? This would certainly make sense but still, it is frustrating for those who play during the day to have to wait longer periods of time to just experience content.

At the end of day I was largely impressed with how Competitive Missions were playing out. True, I did not get to experience the missions in their entireity - due to the teams I was on, particularly in the Jade Quarry - but at the same time I can recognize how well the PvE and PvP components can mesh when a solid, guild team is put forward. The other thing that we must realize as well is Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry are just the tip of the iceberg: I'm sure we'll see more dynamic, strategy-intensive maps in the release of Factions. Perhaps then that potential will be fully realized and I cannot wait for that.

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