Hey guys,
Here’s one last update on the April update before we go live on Monday. Today, I’m giving you a look at the inner workings of the new PvP scoring system and ladder and the revamped handicap system.
PvP Scoring and Ladder
One of the most common complaints about the current PvP scoring system is the negative scores that seem to occur even when you’re doing really well in the game. So first things first, the negative scores are GONE!
The basics of the new system go like this: If you kill a player the same rank as yourself, you score 6 points. You get more points for killing higher ranked players and fewer points for killing lower ranked players. It’s possible to score zero points if you’re farming noobs, but you don’t lose points for dying. The formula is based on the PvP rank table with Rooks at level 1 and Most Wanted at level 11.
With the elimination of negative scores, we’ve also removed the cap on PvP scores. On update day, the PvP ladder will be wiped clean with everyone starting at zero. We’ll run a one-month PvP Ladder Tournament and at the end of the month, the top players on the leaderboard will win a mix of real-world cash prizes and in-game prizes. When the month is up, we’ll wipe the boards clean and start a new chase for the top rankings.
Revamped Handicap System
Where before we determined a player’s handicap based on their PvP score, we have now added a new system, the Power Rating that determines how powerful players are in relation to each other. The Power Rating is based on the character’s level, their kill/death ratio, the items they have equipped and their equipped abilities. The total score is displayed by a star on the paper doll. Each item’s Power Rating is displayed in the pop-up tooltip, allowing players to mix and match their weapons, boosts and abilities to compete in a variety of matches.
In the instance selection screen, you’ll still see the difficulty column, but now the difficulty is based on the Power Rating of the player who started the instance rather than their PvP rank.
Handicaps also will be applied to a wider range of attributes than they currently are, including stamina regen rate, recoil and accuracy.
We’re also working on a profile feature that will allow players to have multiple builds of each character that can be tailored for PvE or PvP versus higher or lower Power players. This feature will be coming in a future update.
Post update we will continue to tune these systems for best performance.
--KevinB