Warhammer Online: Does RvR Need an Overhaul?
Since I reached Rank 40 a bit over 2 weeks ago, I've basically been doing nothing but RvR. Keep sieges, Battlefield Objectives and so far two Fortress sieges. I did do open RvR while I was working my way to rank 40, however I would say it only made up about 20% of my game time online. Now that I'm doing nothing but RvR, the design flaws are becoming more apparent to me. Lets get to it.
Flip Flopping Keeps
My biggest issue with RvR is that it's setup in a way that Order and Destruction just take turns assulting each others keeps and BOs, flip flopping back and forth. While I do enjoy defending, it seems most players would rather be attacking to get a chance at a loot bag. So the few times I have tried defending, with what's usually a small warband, we get steamrolled. Mythic has taken steps recently to try to make defending more worth while, but from what I've seen so far it doesn't appear to be enough.
Choke Points
The problem with the keeps and fortresses is that they all have impossibly difficult choke points. Usually one staircase leading to the top floor. Now I know from a fortress designers point of view this is the way to be most effective. However if Mythic's going to take that stance, then attackers should be able to fire catapults into the tower to blow it up. It's no where more ridiculous then when doing a fortress siege and you have 50 defenders all stacked up in front of the stairs at the top level. There's absolutely no chance to get through. Those 50 people could stop 200 attackers. Keeps need to be redesigned, there way too small and the choke points are ridiculous.
Zone Locking, Timelimits & Resets
In open RvR, once you have locked all 3 zones, you can then assault the other teams Fortress. My problem with zone locking is it shouldn't reset, not until the other team comes and takes their keep/fortress back. I'm not sure the exact time limit, but once all 3 zones become locked you have 1 or 2 hrs to sack the Fortress, which just seems incredibly stupid to me. I not only don't understand why there is a limit, but I hate the fact that everything resets afterwards if the attackers fail. If Mythic wants epic sieges, just think how epic it would be if your sides Fortress has been sieged for 3 days straight and you are finally able to drive them out. Or if you're on the other side, how exciting it would be if you're there when the fortress finally fell. You wouldn't be sitting there saying "I hope I have enough participation points to get a loot back" no, you would be setting off your fireworks celebrating. I won't go any farther then that cause City Sieges have yet to be implemented.
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My Overhaul The way I think zone locking should work is sorta like a tug-o-war. Lets say everything is neutral and there are 3 zones. Each side should only be able to start out locking the zone nearest their capital city. Once those 2 zones are locked by their respective side, they battle for the middle zone. Once a winner emerges the newly claimed zone is locked for 24 hrs and the winners below zone is locked indefinitely. The winners can then assault the next zone. If they cannot claim it within 24 hrs, nothing is reset, however the middle zone will unlock. If they can claim the 3rd zone, then it becomes locked for 24 hrs and the two below it become locked indefinitely. Now that all 3 zones are locked, the winners would get 24 hrs minimum to sack the fortress. After the 24 hrs, the top most zone will unlock, making the attackers have to defend that zone if they wish to continue the attack on the fortress. If a keep in the top most zone is lost then the fortress siege ends and the below zone also unlocks. Making it now 2 zones that are attackable and giving the defenders a chance to try to swing it back the other way. Did I lose anyone? No!? Good. This scenario slows down RvR battles significantly, eliminating the constant zone and keep flip flopping. Instead it creates an atmosphere where players would feel a greater sense of accomplishment and spend less time worrying about if there going to get a damn loot bag or not. I want it so that each side has to fight tooth and nail to maintain their lands, which is definitely not the case currently. I'm not the type of player that wants to do the same runs over and over again. I want to be working towards a goal that's challenging and right now Warhammer is making me feel that most of my time online is kinda pointless since everything is so easily accomplished. Ok Fortress sieges aren't easy, but only because of server crashes, time limits, and ridiculous choke points. I do think Mytic is taking steps in the right direction in dealing with RvR, so hopefully it only gets better from here on out. |