Ten Ton Hammer: You say "providing substance to PvP" which indicates to me something is missing. What do you feel PvP in Tabula Rasa is lacking? What would you like to see added or changed ?

Kole: People talk about how they'd like to see PvP battlegrounds or Free For All zones or servers. What their comments illustrate is a lack of mechanics to enable PvP. Currently the system if very formalized with one group having to challenge another. And it can be difficult to find a group or clan leader that's online that will accept that challenge. They want PvP on the fly.

While we can't exactly offer that, you can sign onto our site before logging into TR and see what challenges people have laid against you, you can challenge someone else, or you can see who else is on-line and looking for a fight and then catch up with them in game. Our site also allows clans and groups to compare each others standings, leave challenges for each other, and arrange large battles or even alliances. We have a reporting mechanic implemented so PvPers that use exploits can be flagged and will hopefully be ignored out of the PvP scene.

Wardlaw: I echo Kole's statements, after playing a game for 7 years that was Open FFA PvP… its odd having to "smooze" opposing clan leaders to agree to war. Having to play politics to engage in PvP is why my clan eventually left TR. I love TR PvP and I see great potential in it, which is why I'm so willing to carry on with the LFS Project.

I would love to have an Open FFA PvP Planet or Server. I've read some interesting ideas on how to include Open PvP into the storyline. My favorite would allow players to align themselves with the AFS or one of the off-shoot factions through their "morality" choices in game.

I think our site fills a need to allow more discourse between PvP entities prior to competition. When a group extends a challenge to another group… they enter a stage where both parties propose their desired Rules of Engagement… once both parties agree on the rules, the challenge is accepted and the competition begins.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is this a continuation or expansion of Friday Night Fights? Were either of you involved in that? If so, how did it get started? If not, what if any type of influence has it had on what you are working on?

Kole: We are not the FnF admin's. We contacted Fuzzball over at Planettr.com and he was kind enough to allow us to report their results. Live Fire Sports is now happy to offer an overall ranking of the FnF boxers. Instead of just participating in individual FnF events, players now have the continuing challenge of aiming for the top of the boxer standings. We hope to offer the same approach to other third party PvP events. The Supremacy Circuit, an on ongoing 5-week squad based tournament from Planettr, is already on board.

Wardlaw:We wanted to work with FnF because we felt their event was the perfect opportunity to show how our ladder system works and they had solid match data. We are also helping promote to the FnF Events… so it is definitely a beneficial arrangement for both parties.

We will also be maintaining ranked ladders for Clan PvP, Squad PvP and Duel PvP action, with independent ladders for each server.

Ten Ton Hammer: We know TR's Community Team is usually very involved in player events like this. What type of support are you receiving from them?

Kole: The most important support has just been about getting the word out about the site. We got an announcement out in the Weekend Wrap up and a separate one should be out by the time this is published about Live Fire Sports' first in-house competition, a squad based low level tournament.

I haven't approached the developers about this yet, but I'd love to put together a dev "Dream Team" for winning squads to challenge, similar to FnF's mystery fighters. Maybe I can inspire the art department to give them Olympic style uniforms or sweats.

Ten Ton Hammer: If people want to get involved and participate, what exactly do they need to do?

Kole: Just sign onto the site, register a teams or clans if you have one, and start fighting. The site is setup for each player to PvP as they wish, but it's up to them to start.

If random PvP isn't your cup of tea, keep an eye out for tournaments we will be hosting. We have 1 on 1, squad, and clan based events coming up. The best part is, if you don't have a clan to participate with, we have "casual" clans signed on that anyone can join for the duration of the event.

Anyone else who is running PvP events is welcome to contact us about hosting results.

Ten Ton Hammer: Finally, why the name Live Fire Sports?

Kole: A lot of people take issue with the current PvP system in regard to the game's storyline. They argue that humans shouldn't be fighting humans when they are already fighting a war for the survival of the species. We looked at it a different way. When you no longer die, fighting becomes a sport, live rounds become the equipment of choice and our events are the major leagues.


A special thanks again to Kole and Wardlaw for not only a huge effort in making Tabula Rasa PvP something special but stopping by to talk with us. What do you think about Tabula Rasa's PvP and the Live Fire Sports ideas? Be sure to stop by their site and our forums to let us know.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Tabula Rasa Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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