Ok, I'll bite
To me, there is absolutely no doubt where Mythic can improve the game the most with the least amount of resources: *Small* scale RvR. I have been a soloer for many years (and with no intentions of stopping anytime soon), but small scale RvR really needs some direction. Especially for the many players who enjoy casual RvR (red is dead). Most people (developers too?) probably associate soloers with dueling and such, but I would like to present an idea designed to give small scale RvR a more *natural* flow and bring it *closer* to the spirit of the game.
My idea revolves around a simple RvR quest. The quest itself is not very exciting. The reward is not great either (sounds good so far, eh?). The idea behind the quest is to make some very *general* changes to the way players use the frontiers. Im not sure whether to explain the quest first, or the general changes first, but feel free to choose for yourself.
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The Quest:
The theme is to steal resources from the depths of enemy frontiers. These resources (wood and stone) are scattered around in the two innermost zones of each frontier. Wood in one zone, stone in the other. Collect five pieces of wood/stone and you instantly get a small reward. No NPC is involved at all. The only requirement is that you alternate between wood and stone.
Let's say the wood/stone can spawn in 30 different places, but only 10 are up at any given time. This way players run different routes from one quest to the next. Also, to prevent players from competing for the same pick-ups, the wood/stone will not despawn on pick-up (it will despawn on a timer). Instead, each wood/stone is unique and players must collect five *different* pieces. This design allows an unlimited number of realmmates to do the quest together, grouped or not (or simply cross paths without annoying each other).
Players will also be able to complete this quest by defending their own realm's resources. If you kill an invader you will automatically recieve his pieces of wood/stone *plus* one extra piece. The extra piece makes sense because then you always get at least one piece, and besides, it is impossible for the invader to carry five pieces because then his quest is complete.
The trickiest part to this quest is no doubt the reward. I'm thinking a flat gold reward for the quest alone, but with some kind of realmpoint bonus when players encounter enemies during the quest. A proximity reward (to all nearby realmmates) would be great to underline that this is a realm objective. Keep in mind that the quest reward is just meant to be a small sidebonus to encourage roaming. The real goal is to encounter enemies.
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The changes:
1. The first general change is to encourage invasions, thus creating a flow of invaders heading deep into enemy frontiers. Even on a small scale level you should always encourage players to invade. The more inward traffic, the better.
2. The second general change is to create a conflict between realms. This one is complicated to explain because you would think that being from different realms is a conflict in itself, but this is far from always the case. You could easily argue that soloers from different realms have a *shared* interest with each other - To fight each other uninterrupted by anyone else. When you are fighting for a concrete objective of some kind it creates intensity between you and your enemy, but equally important it makes you more open to assistance/interference from realmmates. You dont need relics at stake to achieve this. In this case there is only a simple quest reward at stake. The key is to make invaders' objective conflict with defenders' objective.
3. The third general change is movement. This RvR quest encourages constant movement because it is essential to small scale RvR. When everyone is on the move, the chances of small fights without interference from other players are much greater. This may seem like a contradiction to #2 (above) where cooperation is encouraged, but it is really the best of both worlds. Viewing realmmates as something positive (or neutral at the very least) is fundamental to RvR, but the key to small scale RvR is to disperse the action (as opposed to large scale RvR which builds up action in specific places). Also, movement makes encounters with enemies seem more natural because it can happen anywhere at anytime (in open terrain).
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Final thoughts:
It's easy for developers to influence where soloers and small groups go. We dont need much incentive, and we can bring life where there is none. History has shown that (in small scale RvR) players do not automatically invade "just because", nor do we work together "just because". It all depends on the scenario. Please give us some direction, Mythic. If you can "channel" small scale RvR into the open terrain of the frontiers you will find that it opens a great new opportunity. The opportunity to create new structures and landmarks in places where you know players are often travelling through. Fighting in and around structures (without mob/guard aggro) is great fun, but please, no more bridges
/Zohath
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[Hib] Druid - Blademaster - Bard - Mentalist
