09-06-2016, 11:46 PM
Ah yes, I suppose I am taking too much for granted that people will just know what I'm talking about.
In Cohorts players control characters and military units. The can group them into stacks and move them about the board. A stack can do a number of things, but the most common activities it will do are a) perform a quest and b) attack something (a village, a tower, a city, another stack, etc.)
Quests and Adventures are the way that characters and military units gain experience (and level up) and they are what moves the game's story along. When players engage other players in PvP combat, there is no XP gained but they can weaken their opposition and/or prevent them from completing quests and/or adventures.
The game map is divided up into hexes (provinces). Provinces are grouped into Baronies, which are grouped into Territories, which are grouped into Kingdoms. For the most part, provinces and baronies are the most functional level of map detail. In many cases, a player must travel to a particular province or barony to complete a quest. This is where the PvE and PvP components come in. If you have to travel outside of a PvE barony, you are available to be attacked.
Risk can be mitigated in a number of ways. Players can use either characters or agents to spy on areas of the map to determine if there are enemies about. They can move about with allied stacks, which produces strength in numbers (allies will automatically come to the aid of stacks under attack as long as they are in the same barony). Alternatively, the player can just make sure he's the baddest in the neighborhood so that nobody bothers them.
I've spent a great deal of time/effort to try and mitigate the potential for players to game the system. Over the years, I've seen lots of creative ways to bend the rules as needed. I've tried to take into account as many of these tactics as possible, but I'm sure players will find a way to improve their lot. If they do, I will decide if the method is a valid tactic or not. If it's valid, then there is no issue. If it's invalid and I can't fix it, games will have house rules to ban the tactic - or the tactic will be made public so that everyone that wants to use it can.
One of the things that I've seen over the years is that some player only want to play PvP. Other players only want to play PvE. Others, like myself, are happy to work in either realm. In a game like Cohorts, being able to play either style does a few things. First, it lets people play the style they most enjoy. Second, it allows players to join late into game and they can have some time to get their ducks in a row before they venture off into the big bad world. With top equipment, a new position can very quickly move up through the ranks and become a significant force in the game. I think that's an important aspect if a game that may last up to 3 years is going to still have players right up until the last turn.
In Cohorts players control characters and military units. The can group them into stacks and move them about the board. A stack can do a number of things, but the most common activities it will do are a) perform a quest and b) attack something (a village, a tower, a city, another stack, etc.)
Quests and Adventures are the way that characters and military units gain experience (and level up) and they are what moves the game's story along. When players engage other players in PvP combat, there is no XP gained but they can weaken their opposition and/or prevent them from completing quests and/or adventures.
The game map is divided up into hexes (provinces). Provinces are grouped into Baronies, which are grouped into Territories, which are grouped into Kingdoms. For the most part, provinces and baronies are the most functional level of map detail. In many cases, a player must travel to a particular province or barony to complete a quest. This is where the PvE and PvP components come in. If you have to travel outside of a PvE barony, you are available to be attacked.
Risk can be mitigated in a number of ways. Players can use either characters or agents to spy on areas of the map to determine if there are enemies about. They can move about with allied stacks, which produces strength in numbers (allies will automatically come to the aid of stacks under attack as long as they are in the same barony). Alternatively, the player can just make sure he's the baddest in the neighborhood so that nobody bothers them.
I've spent a great deal of time/effort to try and mitigate the potential for players to game the system. Over the years, I've seen lots of creative ways to bend the rules as needed. I've tried to take into account as many of these tactics as possible, but I'm sure players will find a way to improve their lot. If they do, I will decide if the method is a valid tactic or not. If it's valid, then there is no issue. If it's invalid and I can't fix it, games will have house rules to ban the tactic - or the tactic will be made public so that everyone that wants to use it can.
One of the things that I've seen over the years is that some player only want to play PvP. Other players only want to play PvE. Others, like myself, are happy to work in either realm. In a game like Cohorts, being able to play either style does a few things. First, it lets people play the style they most enjoy. Second, it allows players to join late into game and they can have some time to get their ducks in a row before they venture off into the big bad world. With top equipment, a new position can very quickly move up through the ranks and become a significant force in the game. I think that's an important aspect if a game that may last up to 3 years is going to still have players right up until the last turn.