Albion Online's Zoning And Flagging Systems Detailed

Albion Online's Closed Beta may be ongoing, but that isn't going to stop regular developer updates. In the latest blog entry from Sandbox Interactive's CEO, Stefan Wiezorek, the game's PvP zoning and flagging systems are detailed. At the very beginning of the entry, Wiezorek explains that PvP is important to the Albion Online experience, but also that the team needed to find a way to ease players into it slowly. At first, there were simply green zones, where PvP was not allowed, and red zones, where PvP was allowed. They then added a post-attack penalty system for PvP, but ultimately felt that it was impossible to balance.

Now, there is a "pre-attack penalty" that became the basis of the game's flagging system. You can only attack players if you flag yourself for PvP beforehand. The flagging process takes about one minute and, while it is happening, you cannot move. This made the process of flagging for PvP and actually engaging in PvP more tactical. Wiezorek explains that once, while playing with a group of about 20 people, they ran into a three-person group. Several players stepped aside and flagged for PvP in secret while the rest followed along and kept an eye on them.

Once the flagging system was in place, a new "yellow zone" was added to the zoning system. In a yellow zone, full loot is disabled, but you lose durability on all items. This became the midway point between harsh PvP penalties and no PvP penalties that would ease players into PvP.

For more information, check out the original blog post.