• Would you be interested in PVP at all?
  YES. I think the basic weapon mechanics of the game present some interesting choices, and the visceral quality of combat would lend itself well to PvP. But, I think PvP would need to go through a bit more filtering before it was "fun" in the same way that PvE is currently. To preface, I did play a few rounds of preview PvP, and although I found it fun, I wouldn't say it was something that would keep me coming back. An eight person FFA slash-fest in a tiny arena is over too quickly to really savor.

 

• What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?
  Neither. I would like to make a few points about how I see this game's PvP functioning as compared to the PvP offerings elsewhere in gaming. I see the ideal objective as something balanced somewhere in the middle between random fun and rigidly regulated competition.
  1. Mario Party is too casual a mode. It is basically run off of a random dice. The choices you make are very limited and not that meaningful in Mario Party compared to the outcome of the match. I would not recommend this approach.
  2. Counter-strike is too hardcore a mode. It viciously punishes those who don't have great aim and a complete knowledge of every map's idiosyncrasies. It quickly turns into a stomp-fest between experienced and inexperienced teams. In a game like Spiral Knights where players may only dabble in PvP occasionally, there is too much of a risk of newbie-crushing becoming endemic and turning off new players to this aspect of the game.
  3. The game I would most like to see emulated for Spiral Knights PvP is Super Smash Bros.. I feel like this game has a good mix of random elements and competitive opportunities. The characters in the game are fairly similar with some balance issues becoming apparent at higher level play, but with items and hazards thrown in there are plenty of opportunities for more powerful characters to die at the hands of an opportunist. In Spiral Knights, I see this as a possible "fun" balance solution: build a set of challenges such as power-ups and environmental hazards to deal with into PvP, such that it is not purely oriented around combat, which usually turns "who has ideal weapon" into the deciding factor. Although the preview build had both hazards and power-ups from what I remember, none of them were really strong enough to impact play. I'm looking for game-changing power-ups.

 

• What is your favorite competitive video game?
  For serious competitive play, I really enjoyed a little game called SubSpace. It was a multi-player asteroids style shooter with bouncy physics and lots of little bullets and bombs flying around. The gameplay was straightforward, yet very deep in terms of the potential for tactics in team combat. There were plenty of powerups but most of them were homogenized for competitive play.

  And this is the other alternative for creating some kind of balanced experienced in Spiral Knights PvP: homogenizing equipment. I would not advocate a total return to "base" equipment types, but I WOULD encourage the idea of a general adjustment for 1 through 5-star defense, damage, and shield duration in PvP such that the values were brought much closer together. This would allow new and established players to compete together in combat on a slightly more even playing field. Giving new and established players a place to play together will help keep PvP active even when the population lulls.

 
Hope some of that is useful. Basically, I'd like a balance between randomization and homogenization. A little of both will be required to balance a game with full gear progression that was not designed with balanced PvP as a top priority.

I look forward to seeing PvP implemented in SK! Here are a few other crazy PvP things I'd like to see, in no particular order:

• Randomized PvP maps
• More unusual power-ups with temporary beneficial effects: Regen, Flaming Shield, etc. (with visuals to show others who to run from)
• Some kind of mixed PvE/PvP mode, either team based with armies of monsters clashing (ala DOTA) or just a spread of enemies to deal with as you fight other knights (ala WoW World PvP).

Does anyone even still play this game?

There's about 2000 people online right now. There even a filled instance or two of non-English Haven. The game seems to be doing quite well at the moment.

1. A new Tier 1 boss dungeon. We've seen that Tier 1 players (there's a lot of them!) could use a goal to work toward that helps bridge the content into Tier 2. This beast-themed dungeon is looking really nice and features a very cool boss that I think Tier 1 players will enjoy.

This is cool, but I'd rather see changes implemented to make it so that running non-boss content was more profitable/worthwhile. Up the crowns, heat, or create more demand for mats from non-boss stuff, imo. Still, this will hopefully improve the new player experience and make T1 feel like less of a time-waster.

2. Auction House refinements. Please continue to give us your feedback on the AH, it is appreciated.

It would be really nice if we could search for specific UVs.

3. PVP! - Would you be interested in PVP at all?

Nope. There are enough PVP games out there that I feel little or no desire to get involved in another one, although I know PVP tends to be big with certain gamer crowds (which may or may not be attracted to MMOs and F2Ps in general...but that's another discussion entirely). I especially don't want PVP in the game if it means that the PVE content will be constantly tweaked/"broken" for the sake of PVP "balance." If you want a good example of what not to do, and an easy way to make players angry, look at how World of Warcraft has handled PVP since the introduction of Arena. If you can implement PVP without affecting PVE, fine, throw it in there so the uberleets can go compare the size of their Fausts. But please don't do it at the (ongoing) expense of PVE. I'd much rather see more PVE content being developed. Furthermore, I'd strongly advise against adding in any sort of gear rewards to PVPing. Keep it even from the get-go, even the gear odds. If players want to duel, have victory against their opponents be its own reward, and have victory be based on skill rather than gear.

- What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?
PVP with objectives (capture the flag, etc) is not innovative or particularly exciting. I think PVP that just focuses on battling/dueling appeals a lot more to the kind of people who want PVP to begin with. On the other hand, more goofy, "casual" pvp can get other people involved who wouldn't be interested in the competitive aspect...but then again, adding more PVE content would likely please them just as much (and the PVE-ers as well).

It would be fun, though I think it would only work well if it was not based on the equipment people already had. Truthfully though, I'd much prefer to have more bosses in this game.

well, PVP did feature fire pots that hit players in beta, and revving was instant free, and um, you either got up there or moved to corner, don't remember.
---
..Bleh, team pvp, not my thing.

B-But.. D: the PVP crown from beta, it is a must.

Tier 1 Boss: YES (But please don't make Ian design the boss; he'll make it so hard the new people will cry for months T_T)

PvP: YES.

I don't need Deathmatch, 4v4, ClanVClan. Just give me ... ... ...

SNIPE HERDING.

It's the only PvP you need.

(Okay, you can implement Clan versus Clan. BUT ONLY IF THE FLAG IS A SNIPE)

If you make CTF, I agree, the flag should be a cute little snipe that we carry around like other pick up objects. Then we bring the other snipe to our base's snipe so they can be friends.

8D

This game does not lend itself for balanced competition, just forget it, leave that to the shooters/RTS, you try to make it competitive people will treat it that way and start QQing about balance. Balancing for PvP with a game not designed for PvP is a gargantuan chore. That and people from overseas would be excluded instantly (I can't imagine 350M/S would lend itself to PvP well). That Brawl event looks like fun, so implementing that regardless looks good if people are interested in some "I'm bored" fun.

- Would you be interested in PVP at all?
Quite so.

- What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?
Casual, Mario Party esque would be sweet.

- What is your favorite competitive video game?
Starcraft 2, En Taro Adun!

I'll respond to the question of what my favorite competitive video game is:

League of Legends
and
Swords and Soldiers

HARDCORE SNIPE HERDING.

Dodge Lord Vanaduke AND the Jelly King while you herd snipes to your team's designated snipe herding area!

Nick, Ian, if you're reading this, FUND IT. PVP SNIPE HERDING.

PVP for this game is a must. This game is made for PVP as it isn't revolved around stats alone but also around skill. I know that i'll be doing it alot, even just for the lolz.

I do wonder how it's gonna work though. Will you win or lose something? How about a bet system?

I'm strongly against PvP that promotes elitism. Spiral Knights has a relatively laid-back and cool community and we could do without the whole PvP dramatics and flames (that many of us players get enough of in other games). If its going to go in, make it enjoyable for everyone regardless of wins or losses.

Otherwise, scrap if it we're going to expect "YOUR GUILD SUX HAHAHA"-esque comments.

Would you be interested in PVP at all?
Yes, I'd be very interested!

What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?
I think that there should be both casual and hardcore, but I understand that this may not be possible. A deathmatch and team deathmatch from 1v1 all the way up to 4v4 would be great. If you decide to have different game modes, such at CTF, there is a lot of room for map creativity. I also see the possibility of weekly and/or monthly tournaments with prizes.

What is your favorite competitive video game?
I would have to say Team Fortress 2. There's a lot of community there for mapmaking and ongoing beta feedback, and makes the game continually interesting. Even if you don't play the game professionally, it's both fun and competitive at the same time. A close second has to be Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, simply because it has many different multiplayer modes and the lightsaber adds a lot of depth to the game.

The best way to handle PvP in my mind is to make combat secondary to the goals of the match in question. When combat does happen, allow for reasonable respawns when you die such that you can get back into the game quickly. We want to ensure that folks are having fun here! Be sure to rank players and guilds (not in a guild? Rank them as "mercenary" or "free agent" etc) in some manner for bragging rights, that would be great fun and provoke a bit of good-natured rivalry.

Have games where parties of four (and allow for preset parties, please!) have to capture flags and bring them back to a home territory or have to capture territories that add up to a total score. Have fun gimmicks like the ability to gather materials and summon monsters in your opponent's base or something like that. Make them unique, make them random and make them fun! Combat should be useful but secondary as I said before. If you want a dueling place that's fine too, but that gets boring after a while.

Ensure that special tokens (spent on special PvP equipment or crowns of course!) are handed out to everyone, winners and losers alike. For each type of game, ensure some sort of mercy rule (ie, if you can capture up to five territories and they are capped right away, end the game after 5 seconds), so that even if there is a team imbalance, folks can move on to the next round, and still get a little something out of the deal.

Incidentally, I see whole new weapon/armor types coming into play here. Given the huge numbers of GF/DA swords out there, we might see more piercing/shadow damage being made and used.

Objective based pvp is key--especially because it will make multiple weapon styles viable.

-Bombs are easy to avoid and no good for outright killing people, but are very good at "zoning" enemies off of objectives, from getting through doorways, ect.

-Guns are good in long, narrow areas--especially ones with little cover.

-Swords are excellent in areas where closing the distance with cover or tight turns is easy.

Make sure that each style has its place and is viable, and please reward teams for being able to adapt with a variety of weapons.

A good example of level design built to accomidate different classes/playstyles can be found in the team fortress 2 commentary, where they talk about creating alternative routes in levels that suit different styles of play. In fact, just look at TF2 in general. About 9 years of design trial and error put into that one a lot of good stuff can be pulled from it.

Would you be interested in PVP at all?

i'm all for the idea of 'fun' PVP seeing as the game is more focused on the clockworks than PVP, but it would be nice if there was something to gain in PVP. Nothing to spectacular that will undermine what the games actually about (The Clockworks)

What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?

The game has enough egos who think they're god, it doesn't need more which hardcore PVP would provoke, Casual is gripping, something for everyone to enjoy, i've honestly never played mario party, but counterstrike with capture the flag, bombing mode, anything that actually requires stratagy not basic broken record slaying, is nice. Working as a team properly and effectively is after all, far more skillful than showing off solo, and it's more fun for everyone!

What is your favorite competitive video game?

I can't say just one XD...Combat Arms Europe, Uncharted 2 Amongst Theives (online), Monster Hunter (all of them)

1. Beast-themed you say? Sounds suspicious, since there is a "Vog Cub" Wolver that is said to have not been seen by users, will we perhaps see it now? And will there be a new token involved?

2. Instant access to AH, CE bidding, Ability to see the time left on an item, Remove 10% Fee or decrease it. Thats the only things it needs.

3. - Would you be interested in PVP at all?

Offcourse! A little curiosity on fighting against players never hurts.

- What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?

I like something casual yet involves strategy, not just spamming attacks hoping you get the enemy before he gets you.

- What is your favorite competitive video game?

I'd say Lost Saga (OGPlanet), I would've enjoyed it, if only it wasn't server restricted to NA and EU. (I can join, but theres a bit of delay)

PvP is one of the things that I've been looking forward to most in Spiral Knights. I am a very competitive PvP'er, having played a lot of games such as World of Warcraft (arena included), League of Legends, and Counterstrike.

As other people have mentioned, object-based game modes such as Capture the Flag, Juggernaut, and Capture the Base would fit very well into this game's combat model, as well as simple Team, and Free-for-All, Deathmatches.

Totally down for the PvP. I'm definitely in the team PvP camp though.

Imagine CTF... a group of knights moves forward for a flag run. After shield-bashing and knockback-ing the opposing team out of the way, the group manages to get a hold of the flag. They about face, and three of the knights group around the flag carrier. Slowly, they crawl back towards their base while shielding in close proximity to defend the carrier. Two members of the opposing team get ahead of the flag group and set bombs in their path. The flag group is forced to stop while the bombs detonate while two other members of the opposing team attack the shielding flag carrier from behind. Noticing this, the flag group reorients to protect the carrier, but it is too late. The entire enemy team converges on the flag carrier and his team as the carrier's shield breaks. The flag group is struck down, and the opposing team advances towards the flag...

Not sure how the image is painted in your head, but that sounds pretty epic to me.

There's a similar game type that appears in Halo (bomb) and S4 League (touchdown). You grab an item and bring it to the enemy base. Very similar to CTF, but it has some interesting nuances. It would be great if you could "pass" the "ball" to fellow teammates. Hell, the ball could totally be a snipe. It's kind of funny.. In S4 League, the ball is a creature called a Fumbi, and they do a dance during halftime... but yeah.

I've always been a fan of PvP game types where you can utilize the environment against your opponents as well. I'm sure this was in the plan already, but being able to move/drop/destroy/redirect objects in the world to help you best your opponent makes for very interesting gameplay.

Also, there are always interesting new play styles that develop when constraints are made. You could have "guns only" or "no shields" game types.

As for the survey...

Would you be interested in PVP at all?

• Yes, yes, and hmm, yes.

What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?

• Huge fan of casual game types that can be taken to a hardcore level. The basics like CTF keep showing up because they are suitable for casual, for-fun gameplay and serious, strategic gameplay.
• I don't think a straight-up hardcore-style PvP would be suitable for Spiral Knights. It just doesn't fit the feel and aesthetic, but the systems behind the game allow more intense players to dive in as well. I think this is the game's biggest strength and should continue to shine in PvP. If you guys have pulled off the tricky balance with the game as a whole, I'm sure you can do it with a new feature.

What is your favorite competitive video game?

• Starcraft. You can either hop into a league match or just run a custom game. On that note... custom maps... hmm... Maybe in v37, right?

The only problem I see with CTF is that if it uses the standard item-holding method, a lone enemy knight with a gun could easily snipe at the flag-bearer and cause him to drop to flag.
Of course this could be prevented by team-mates shielding around the flag-bearer, but I think it would neat if the knight holding the flag was set in a shielding state. This way he could take several hits before dropping the flag (The shield would be stronger depending on the Tier level of the fight). This would also mean the flag-carrying Knight would walk at the same speed as if he was normally shielding. I personally think this would add an interesting gameplay aspect, since it would take the flag-bearer much longer to reach home-base, and therefore, would need to be defended much longer. Then again, this wouldn't be very ideal for large arenas...

Also, if I am remembering correctly from the beta, getting hit by anything would cause you to blink and become invulnerable for a short amount of time (like normal). However, in PVP this made weapons like the cutter and autogun next to useless, since the instant an enemy was hit by the first strike of a weapon, he would become invulnerable to the remaining strikes. I'm not saying invulnerability should be removed for PVP (it keeps people from easily ganging up on someone); rather, I think the invul state shouldn't apply to attacks of the same combo from the same Knight (three slashes from a caliber, an autogun burst, etc.)

And also, I think massive tournaments would be awesome, especially if it was Guild vs Guild.

Just my thoughts on PVP stuff..

- Would you be interested in PVP at all?
Yes! Yes I would!

- What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?
It really depends on the mood I'm in at the time.. I really enjoy playing both.

- What is your favorite competitive video game?

-MechWarrior: Living Legends
-Super Smash Bros Brawl
-Team Fortress 2
-StarCraft 2

And yay for more bosses! :D

- Would you be interested in PVP at all?
Yes when i look for an game i always look for pvp but this game is fairly new and id think it would come out l8ter into the game
- What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?
Ima into both Pvp stypes except i like Casual regular pvp (Death match, Team, Guild vs guild etc)
- What is your favorite competitive video game?
Call of duty/Halo

*IMPORTANT* if u install pvp into the game i think it should have some features like Wager,earn tokens to buy gear only from winning pvp matches that are binded when bought and can not be unbind if u install unbind thingy.

What kind of PVP are you in to, or would be in to with Spiral Knights? Casual or more hardcore? Mario Party or Counterstrike?

For SK I would probably be more into casual PvP. Something along the lines of team item-based frenzy like mario strikers. Or maybe Fat Princess (esp. re: objectives). The game is already designed for groups of people working towards a goal, and though there's a nice rock-paper-scissors element to armor and weapon choices, I'm not sure the battle system really lends itself to deep competitive play.

What is your favorite competitive video game?

Super Smash Bros. Melee / Brawl
Guilty Gear / BlazBlue
Mario Kart

I look forward to seeing the new boss. Keep up the good work!

Bomberman-style PVP?? The unbreakable boxes already prevent damage through them so it is pretty much the same 'single file' bomb except for visuals if you make the map in a similar style.

Just think it would be trés cool.