We'd like to introduce the new PvP (player versus player) functionality coming with the December update. We're talking about battlefields!

Battlefields are combat areas located outside the World of Twelve – specifically in the Divine Dimensions, similar to Ecaflipus – where special rules apply. These determine who controls the territory where the Prim that gives access to the Dimension has been activated.

Unlike Ecaflipus, which lets you manually set up balanced PvP fights running from 1v1 to 6v6, these Dimensions will host massive battles, automatically set-up, that you'll be invited to join. Dozens of players from each side will face off on these huge playgrounds, engaging in several fights.

Objectives

Offer massive battles

Introduce territory conquest

Offer optional, non-intrusive PvP

Allow you to level up your characters in PvP and PvE by doing PvP

How It Works



Once Update 1.57 is released, most of the territories will be randomly allocated to one of the five Nations. Only certain special territories will remain neutral, including Astrub.

Every night, the system will choose several territories to be put back in play the following evening, and the other Nations can conquer these by winning them on the battlefield.



The Nation that holds the territory, along with any allied Nation, will then have to defend said territory against the other Nations combined. That means international politics is now something to keep an eye on!

All players with a Nation and the minimum required level (51 to 71, depending on the battlefield) will get optional notifications inviting them to join a battlefield when it starts and as it's in progress. Full information on the battlefield can also be found in a new interface.



To win a battlefield, the overall objective is always simple: your side has to score the most points! Beyond that, there will be different types of battlefields, each with their own way for you to gain points: combat, defending generals, building defenses, capture the flag, and even all of the above. Many gameplay modes are possible!

For December, we decided to offer two initial play modes, which we'll describe in detail in an upcoming devblog. But we're not stopping there: over the course of these updates, we'll try to provide other gameplay modes, in addition to changing or removing the modes players don't like as much as others. Using this new mechanic, we'll also be able to consider featuring new types of in-game events or PvE content down the line.

Besides different modes, battlefields will have different levels. We decided to focus on five major level groups: 51-80, 81-110, 111-140, 141-170 and 171-200. This diversity enables us to offer more elite battlefields as well as battlefields meant for anyone, while at the same time avoiding having too many level groups for you to optimize your characters for.



Rewards



Let's get right into rewards in this first devblog.

When doing battlefields, you'll be rewarded at the end of the battlefield according to how much you participated. The more you help in the fight, the greater your rewards will be.

As you saw with open-world PvP, fights will result in you either gaining or losing Merit, but you'll gain an even bigger amount at the end of the battlefield – up to 1,000 Merit – if you really throw yourself into the fray!

As is now the case, earning Merit allows you to grow your Nation wings, which you'll now be able to display proudly without the constant fear of getting attacked; this I'll come back to later.

But there's more: participating in battlefields can also earn you experience based on your character's actual level, as well as a battle chest.

Battle chests will always contain common PvP resources, but they may also contain rare PvP resources, along with PvP and PvE items allowing you to optimize your character for future battlefields. The biggest chests always contain at least one item, and these go up to Legendary-level rarity!

The little bonus is that these chests can also sometimes contain… another chest, of a random level and rarity. This means you get all the rewards from the first chest, and then a chance to obtain more rewards still.



And because it's impossible to be too generous, you'll also earn Glory Orbs after completing battlefields, the amount of which depends on your participation level and PvP rank. You'll be able to spend these on rewards from machines containing not only most PvP items, but also cosmetic rewards: PvP costumes, the Infuntry Costume, PvP auras and PvP titles.



The Future of Open-World PVP



This is a surprise announcement: we've made the decision to completely disable open-world PvP. We decided to make PvP as immersive and broad as possible, accessible to all players and also entirely optional, removing the intrusive aspect open-world PvP can sometimes have. Please note: when we say "open-world PvP," we're talking about attacks; you'll still be able to engage in duels, whether you're neutral or of a certain Nation.

Similarly, we want to allow all players to become neutral again (Nation-less) if they so desire, while also making sure they can access all activities in the game, apart from NvN-type (Nation versus Nation) PvP.

Conversely, we're introducing a resource protection system that prevents someone from coming up and destroying or stealing resources you've planted. Only your character will be able to interact with a resource you've planted, up to five minutes past maturity; beyond that point, any other player will be able to interact with it.

Finally, we're touching up the Outlaw system by making it more tolerant and adding a way to get rid of this status; we're modifying certain Nation laws to be consistent with all the new changes; and we're updating the Clan Master bonuses and Area bonuses granted by territories.

We hope you like this new feature, and we look forward to receiving any feedback you might have!

Thanks for reading, and until the next devblog!



