Yep, Bless Unleashed has open world PvP in its Xbox One open beta. Yep, it went about the way you’d expect judging by the pain points addressed in a recent development post. Yep, things are going to be changed to reel it in. We all know the dance steps to this old tune.
In response to high-level players thrashing lower leveled ones (which isn’t PvP, by the way; it’s punching kittens, you kitten punchers), safe zones will be expanding all the way outward in to the Gnoll Wastes. All major cities will also be safe areas and so will Soul Pyres. Finally, those who die in PvP combat won’t suffer from resurrection sickness.
In addition to expanded safe zones, there will also be increased repercussions for those who continue to PK and increase their bad karma, like a visual cue that identifies a player as a particularly dangerous outlaw, restricted access to cities and towns, and even limitations on using Soul Pyres outside of outlaw zones. Of course, there will be ways for these restrictions to be eased, but they will either involve being taken out by players with good karma or via a path to redemption that is “very challenging and costly.”
That’s not to say that all open PvP activity should be quashed; there are still rewards to earn for going down the outlaw path, and there will be a Union system at launch that allows players to band together and unlock rewards for their Union. The intention is for the system to balance itself out, with players forming their own Unions to either roam the world as outlaws or hunt outlaws and police the realm. Which I’m sure will totally work out fine.
