Jeronan

Lee Hammock's original vision of the game was a PVE only sandbox game. That's why PVP features were literally barebones at launch. Since there was a vocal minority in the beta that wanted PVP in the game, so they added a PVP toggle and a few scrapyard zones in Plateau that flagged you for PVP when you entered, where people could hide behind scrap and shoot at each other. Which is what is shown in that 2009 youtube video. Unfortunately Lee Hammock left in early 2010 and not much of his vision got executed anymore, since the new director had an urgent need to suddenly put his own stamp on the game, alienating the community who bought the game, paid the monthly sub to support what Lee Hammock envisioned for the game and got fed up with Icarus new direction that started adding more and more PVP features (like Faction PVP and Blood Sports), while leaving a ton of issues and bugs in the PVE part of the game untouched. We were still waiting for better clan features. We were still waiting for improved NPC AI. We were still waiting for Endgame content. Etc. Etc. So after Lee Hammock left and the sudden shift in focus, there was literally an exodus of people leaving the game. Hence, Icarus got into financial trouble due to dropping sub numbers and had to sell out to Gamers First. Who turned it into a F2P Pay2Win game with loot boxes. That was the moment I left and gave up on the game. What I at least hope for Little Orbit to do, if they manage to relaunch the game on a new engine, to at least remove the Pay 2 Win aspects out of the game, like those horrible loot boxes and create a better monetization model around cosmetics only and just one F2P option and one Subscription option. I am fine with that F2P get lower crafting and gathering speeds and have some chat restrictions and that when you subscribe get the normal craft and gathering speeds and some cash shop currency each month. I happily pay for a sub each month, as long as they remove Pay 2 Win and loot boxes from the game and manage to fix some of the issues.

PS. And that last picture you posted. You are a perfect example why this game would actually be much better off without any PVP! There would be no need for anti-cheat! No drama! No toxic atmosphere in game! No PVE vs PVP fights on the forum and in the game. Etc.

All it had was a PVP toggle for people that wanted it and a few PVP flagged scrapyards which were hardly used. It didn't had any unique resources (just more concentrated as incentive) that could only be gotten from there (or there would have been hell on forums if it were the case). It was just there for the people that wanted some PVP and that's it. They really didn't put much effort in it and was buggy like hell, like in beginning people couldn't turn off the PVP toggle when accidently entering the area (wasn't really marked well) and log out of the game. I have been in and out of those scrapyards so many times during that time, harvesting resources without any PVP action. Often people just came in there to harvest themselves. The first two years after launch were pure PVE focused, with fixing most pressing issues in the game, adding the Clan system so people could actually form clans in the game. Adding the Tier2 and Tier3 zones, beyond Plateau. After that they started working on the Factions system and implementing that, which was again PVE only at start. The only way to gain faction reputation was killing other factions NPC's in the beginning. It was quite a hefty grind (still ingrained in my brain lol). Then after that they started working on player housing and revamping the starter areas to help new players settle in better. Then, when all that was done, the game still bleed subscribers due to Icarus having trouble stabilizing the game, fixing issues, still lack of endgame (Icarus unfortunately had no clue how to make interesting group content in form with dungeons, lairs, etc. If Icarus had one weak point it was that sadly). The NPC AI was also not really impressive and still isn't. So as last resort they starting revamping the starter zones again, this time a lot of stuff was revamped within the Plateau zone, with more quests, more fleshed out NPC factions, etc. and adding the Blood Sports instanced PVP stuff. While the small group of diehard PVP people were happy with it, a lot of people weren't and quit the game. Since they felt Icarus had the wrong priorities, especially after Lee Hammock left in 2010. Suddenly focusing on Blood Sports PVP, instead of continue to fix the game, performance issues, lack of endgame, etc. There were a few dedicated PVP clans that tried hard to get any PVP action going between eachother, declaring war on eachother (in Roleplaying sense), but they were in minority. Due to the horrible imbalance in game with armor and weapons, there was too much griefing going on, with low lifes exploiting, hacking, etc. It's one of the reasons I never toggled myself for PVP anymore, never bothered and avoided it like the plague.....like many others. -------------------------------------- Now...don't get me wrong. There is PVP in this game and it has it's place and obviously there are people that enjoy it (if fixed and with proper anti-cheat) even I might try it from time to time. But the core of the game is the open skill system with a very strong focus on crafting, the ability to make everything yourself in the game. The vast majority of players enjoy this aspect of the game and always have. Together with it's unique Post Apocalyptic setting, it's what makes this game fantastic! As long as the new server with revamped game keeps that core experience intact, keeps the Faction system the way it is, so PVE players can still progress as is, etc. Then I have absolutely no problem with PVP being in the game as well. You have the PVP flagged scrapyards, the Faction PVP enabled areas (Capture the Fort), etc. All which can be a lot of PVP fun (especially the Faction forts) when Blue Orbit manages to get cheating and hacking under control! I don't even mind that there is an imbalance with armor and weapons, it's how its suppose to be in this game, since it's an MMORPG! Without this imbalance the core gameplay would fall apart ( crafting, progress, desire to get higher tier recipes for better armor and weapons, etc). In the end, all I wanted to do is put the record straight and put the history of the game in perspective! Under Lee Hammock, the game direction was very much PVE focused. Most PVP stuff was added after he left. Which really hurt the future of the game and made a lot of people quit (including me).

When Factions released long ago, vast majority of it was PVE focused. You could grind to max. Faction reputation through quests and killing other faction's NPC's and so unlock new recipes and items via Faction vendors. I don't think this ever changed. PVP stuff was added a later date and I never liked them much due to the horrible imbalance with armor and weapons. I did the instanced PVP stuff now and then, but didn't like that much either. I really loved the PVE side of things in this game and enjoyed it for many years, including the grind for Faction reputation lol. People that keep saying to others they haven't been here long enough and don't know the game was always PVP focused. That is simply an outright lie and an insult to the history of this game, just because you have a PVP agenda. I have been with this game since the Friend & Family alpha, so I have been with the game since the start and seen it all evolve over the years. The game started out as pure PVE focused game and even the first release of Factions was PVE. Most of the PVP systems were added much later, including Clan PVP and Faction PVP. merged Also to give people a little history lesson about Fallen Earth. The friend & Family Alpha started back in 2008, with a closed Beta in 2009 and official release in September 2009. Gamers First didn't take over the game until 2011. Since some very specific people with PVP agenda like to keep bringing up that they played this game since 2011...well, you missed almost 3 great first years of the game under Icarus, when population was at it's peak and a lot of stuff was happening with the game. Just saying,