“There’s less rage at them, because they didn’t end your fun.”
Oh, it’s a challenge to describe Evercore Heroes.
The name doesn’t tell you very much.
Evercore Heroes
Here’s where I’d start.
You jump into a team of four heroes, all working through a sort of raid area.
Clear a wave and you’re back out there leveling and questing.
Complete enough waves and you take on the boss.
Here’s the thing, though.
You’re alone, but you’re not alone.
Spooky action at a distance!
Your team of four are competing against three other teams of four, but indirectly.
you might’t suddenly turn up in my world and lamp my healer.
Instead, I see your team in my world as little balls of light moving around the ground.
What are you up to, and how do I compare?
And that’s where it gets simple again.
And after half an hour, one team wins.
That’s competitive PvE, then, and the League of Legends lineage is hopefully pretty clear.
But what about the Puyo Tetris bit?
Every player has their own well and faces their own blocks.
I can’t roam around in your well and drop specific pieces to mess things up for you.
you’ve got the option to do this in Evercore.
Some of them allow me to send stuff into other teams' worlds, as it were.
Except it’s not junk Puyo.
Like all new teams, Vela has a sort of mission statement.
“Creating core games that combine the mastery of esports and the power of positive social dynamics.”
Three parts to that: core games?
In one sense, this is straightforward.
By separating rival teams into their own dimensions it means a load of griefing simply can’t happen.
you might’t grief me through the Spider-verse!
(I think the team just focused on yetis because it sounds more amusing.)
To put it another way, there is a balance to be struck here.
And now you could specifically see which team sent you that awful yeti.
And you do it five more times and feel worse and worse and worse.
But there’s less rage at them, because they didn’t end your fun."
It’s a nice answer, I reckon.
Some are available in the in-match shop, randomly selected from a large pool.
Others are scattered about the place, there for the taking.
Crucially, every team gets the same shards in the shop or scattered around.
Hit harder and hit faster?
Transform gold to a stat boost?
I can imagine really screwing my team over by accident while I go on a sugar-rush shard hunt.
It’s imagining a new way to play competitively without allowing for such easy, direct griefing.
It’s born of an idealised memory of what it is to play these games.
“We’ve been really into raids in MMOs and there’s something really special about memories.
All my best gaming memories from games are with other people.”
“Joining the games Discord will increase your chances to be selected for this weekends exclusive playtest.”
