RvR in DaoC has always been a little "illogical." Quick explanation, because of how movement, keeps and geography work in DaoC you have lots of free-roaming small mans, groups and blobs zipping around at Mach 5 on a largely undefined open space. If you were to look at this from a top-down view (or CSR's) you'd see patterns and rates of encounters per minute. Imagine seeing red, green and blue dots flying around the 65k by 65k grid until they collide and annihilate at random. Right now DaoC maps can be like amusement parks without signposts or gates or railings. Sometimes the attendees have fun, sometimes a they might go to buy a bag of popcorn and get run over by a coaster car.
There is a lot of guesswork involved when you're trying to find where to go. With keeps laid out as they are, and especially in NF, there's a very big chance that you'll "roam" the wrong area for the fight you're searching for. Port Berk? Or Surs? or Eras? or run, or boat? You basically flip a coin three times. This is a dilemma that requires third party tools and X-realming to setup fights and is sign of poor game design. This is not much at all like "real" campaigns where supply lines and taking control of strategic points matter: all of this is bundled into an open-ended keep take mini-game that is decidedly not fun for most gamers.
I've brainstormed several features that I think could streamline the game experience for mass RvR players:
1. Roads. While running on roads, you gain a stacking movement speed boost that slowly accelerates up to 15-20% the longer you are moving and out of combat.
This will help those with large enough numbers/confidence to get from Point A to Point B faster, and leave indirect routes more open for smaller scale action. A lot of the other proposed elements would be built on this. Where no roads exist, they could be painted in between markers (like the Stone Markers in Pennine)
2. Supply. Supply should be more limited and directed to a single RvR objective - defending and taking relics. I'd recommend two port lines for each realm, from the Relic Guard keeps to the Nearest Central Zone Keep to the Central Zone Border Keep. You can only port to the most-forward keep in each line. Preferably each keep would have a defined role, and send support/additional guards to Forward Keeps. For example, merchant keeps could act as commodities purchasers and purchase a set amount of crafted goods for a premium, which in turn can be purchased by nearby players or provide economic buffs to the realm or some buffs to guards.
This removes a lot of the guesswork involved in either choosing which keep to attack or which ones to defend, as well as where to go to find mainstream action. Run from border keeps would be the off-road option
3. Realm Armies.
A new Commander of Albion/Hibernia/Midgard NPC would be added to your forward keep in each Realm (including Portal Keeps).
- At stated intervals they will declare a strategic action in /reg and then send out Realm Armies to attack another keep or engage another expedition.
- These forces at minimum would include cavalry, archers, foot-soldiers and siegemasters. Once they reach a keep they will contribute significantly to the sieging realm, e.g. taking down doors with siege and supporting players. They will be fairly powerful and hostile to players but not attack unless attacked first, preferring to defend their siege. Cavalry will chase attacking players but have a short leash and will return if players stray too far from their objectives.
- Armies will also be directed toward other armies along roads and flat land and will contest strategic spots, like aqueducts in Hadrians. Winning these will allow your realm to set up a small encampment with defensive/supportive guards and some supporting NPCs like healers, merchants and rechargers.
- Players can "vote" on how to supply and direct their realm's army by purchasing Attack Route supplies with Gold, BPs, Feathers or Soil/Branches/Snow. The option that collects the most resource wins. Contributions improve gear/training and add more troops like support (speed, shield), healers, mages, scouts and keep infiltrators to the war effort. Cost goes down for underpop realms.
The goal here is to make a clear war effort that plays out in key points on the open field rather than focusing the realm war entirely, and unrealistically, on PvKeep or in long and drawn out keep sieges. The Armies logically would not want to waste valuable time chasing scouts and vanguards (8mans, solos, small men), but will attack one another and help direct and focus RvR war efforts. I'd expect maybe 2-3 major open field fights with Armies facing Armies while players fight each other around them, much like they utilize keep geometry and guards to do the same now. Surviving armies will regroup and move on - this invested effort will help the victorious realm siege or defend while supported by their Armies. Losing ones will be wiped out or call a retreat. Likewise, keeping roads clear, harassing Armies, and engineering supply will be major strategic decisions for realm leaders to decide on and all scales of RvR can participate. Also adds a resource sink to the game.
4. Neutral Zones. Certain factions in the frontiers will have their own objectives for the realm. These would cover mob factions that populate certain RvR corridors around the frontiers, and stronghold areas off the beaten path. For example, Ellyls, Empyreans, Vendos etc.
- Groups and/or soloers can buy buffs/group buffs from emissaries that adjust faction relations. Two tiers, neutrality and aid. Only soloers can purchase aid buff; if attacked by anyone without an aid buff, the entire faction within range will BAF on the attackers and vice versa. Neutrality will buy you passage through the territory as long as you don't brandish weapons or cast offensive spells. Factions will feature helpful NPCs, teleporter and charmable mob camps. If a buff-ee hangs around too long in an area with too many people without these buffs (2fg or more), it will fade and they will have to repurchase. Soloers will be able to contribute to the realm mission in these enclaves by fighting and killing other soloers and trying to win favor of that faction. There will be Commanders/Quartermasters as well that can be bribed with precious Soil/Branches/Snow into reinforcing your main army (cost adjusted by realm pop bonus).
- Hostile factions. These will ebb and flow depending on realm pop, taking up more space to restrict movement for all realms/factions as population dwindles to focus RvR. For example, there would be factions centered around Hinterland Central Zone Keeps (Berkstead, Glenlock, nGed). They will lay siege to nearby keeps and raid nearest Armies and Encampments, but will not be a nuisance to players. Can be killed for resources and experience. These attacks and territorial expansions will be broadcast in region, and shift maybe every hour. At prime time almost all of the maps will be free, but in off-hours they might occupy 10-20% of the corner of a map with low aggro range, short-leash mobs.
In summary, maps in DaoC are imo one of the biggest design flaws of the game. It's been established that not much can be done about the geography, but maybe manipulating NPCs could help:
- Armies would easily bust through MG camps with the help of players. Cost mechanics would favor underpop realms.
- Putting two equalized NPC armies on both sides of an open field fight, where they are focused on each other, will help relative balance but minimize nuisance from being forced to fight NPCs. Simply put, 100 vs 70 is a lot less balanced than 100 + 20 vs. 70 + 20.
- Automates a lot of the tedium in keep fights, e.g. bringing doors down and carting supplies around personally
- Removes a lot of the guesswork and minimizes some "roaming", starting at mass RvR scale. RvR will be more like a military campaign than PVKeep and Agar.io. RvR players will enjoy hitting each other head on, using geography and Armies to their advantage. This will create a lot of knock-on roles for 8v8ers/small man/solos in cutting off retreats, harassing/slowing vanguards, etc - rather than what we have now which is Zergs eating Groups eating Small Groups eating Solos eating Lowbies.
- Dynamically restricts the open battlefield to accommodate player population.
- Provides soft safe zones for solo players and gives depth via factions to maps
- More PvE/RvR hybrid content
There is a lot of guesswork involved when you're trying to find where to go. With keeps laid out as they are, and especially in NF, there's a very big chance that you'll "roam" the wrong area for the fight you're searching for. Port Berk? Or Surs? or Eras? or run, or boat? You basically flip a coin three times. This is a dilemma that requires third party tools and X-realming to setup fights and is sign of poor game design. This is not much at all like "real" campaigns where supply lines and taking control of strategic points matter: all of this is bundled into an open-ended keep take mini-game that is decidedly not fun for most gamers.
I've brainstormed several features that I think could streamline the game experience for mass RvR players:
1. Roads. While running on roads, you gain a stacking movement speed boost that slowly accelerates up to 15-20% the longer you are moving and out of combat.
This will help those with large enough numbers/confidence to get from Point A to Point B faster, and leave indirect routes more open for smaller scale action. A lot of the other proposed elements would be built on this. Where no roads exist, they could be painted in between markers (like the Stone Markers in Pennine)
2. Supply. Supply should be more limited and directed to a single RvR objective - defending and taking relics. I'd recommend two port lines for each realm, from the Relic Guard keeps to the Nearest Central Zone Keep to the Central Zone Border Keep. You can only port to the most-forward keep in each line. Preferably each keep would have a defined role, and send support/additional guards to Forward Keeps. For example, merchant keeps could act as commodities purchasers and purchase a set amount of crafted goods for a premium, which in turn can be purchased by nearby players or provide economic buffs to the realm or some buffs to guards.
This removes a lot of the guesswork involved in either choosing which keep to attack or which ones to defend, as well as where to go to find mainstream action. Run from border keeps would be the off-road option
3. Realm Armies.
A new Commander of Albion/Hibernia/Midgard NPC would be added to your forward keep in each Realm (including Portal Keeps).
- At stated intervals they will declare a strategic action in /reg and then send out Realm Armies to attack another keep or engage another expedition.
- These forces at minimum would include cavalry, archers, foot-soldiers and siegemasters. Once they reach a keep they will contribute significantly to the sieging realm, e.g. taking down doors with siege and supporting players. They will be fairly powerful and hostile to players but not attack unless attacked first, preferring to defend their siege. Cavalry will chase attacking players but have a short leash and will return if players stray too far from their objectives.
- Armies will also be directed toward other armies along roads and flat land and will contest strategic spots, like aqueducts in Hadrians. Winning these will allow your realm to set up a small encampment with defensive/supportive guards and some supporting NPCs like healers, merchants and rechargers.
- Players can "vote" on how to supply and direct their realm's army by purchasing Attack Route supplies with Gold, BPs, Feathers or Soil/Branches/Snow. The option that collects the most resource wins. Contributions improve gear/training and add more troops like support (speed, shield), healers, mages, scouts and keep infiltrators to the war effort. Cost goes down for underpop realms.
The goal here is to make a clear war effort that plays out in key points on the open field rather than focusing the realm war entirely, and unrealistically, on PvKeep or in long and drawn out keep sieges. The Armies logically would not want to waste valuable time chasing scouts and vanguards (8mans, solos, small men), but will attack one another and help direct and focus RvR war efforts. I'd expect maybe 2-3 major open field fights with Armies facing Armies while players fight each other around them, much like they utilize keep geometry and guards to do the same now. Surviving armies will regroup and move on - this invested effort will help the victorious realm siege or defend while supported by their Armies. Losing ones will be wiped out or call a retreat. Likewise, keeping roads clear, harassing Armies, and engineering supply will be major strategic decisions for realm leaders to decide on and all scales of RvR can participate. Also adds a resource sink to the game.
4. Neutral Zones. Certain factions in the frontiers will have their own objectives for the realm. These would cover mob factions that populate certain RvR corridors around the frontiers, and stronghold areas off the beaten path. For example, Ellyls, Empyreans, Vendos etc.
- Groups and/or soloers can buy buffs/group buffs from emissaries that adjust faction relations. Two tiers, neutrality and aid. Only soloers can purchase aid buff; if attacked by anyone without an aid buff, the entire faction within range will BAF on the attackers and vice versa. Neutrality will buy you passage through the territory as long as you don't brandish weapons or cast offensive spells. Factions will feature helpful NPCs, teleporter and charmable mob camps. If a buff-ee hangs around too long in an area with too many people without these buffs (2fg or more), it will fade and they will have to repurchase. Soloers will be able to contribute to the realm mission in these enclaves by fighting and killing other soloers and trying to win favor of that faction. There will be Commanders/Quartermasters as well that can be bribed with precious Soil/Branches/Snow into reinforcing your main army (cost adjusted by realm pop bonus).
- Hostile factions. These will ebb and flow depending on realm pop, taking up more space to restrict movement for all realms/factions as population dwindles to focus RvR. For example, there would be factions centered around Hinterland Central Zone Keeps (Berkstead, Glenlock, nGed). They will lay siege to nearby keeps and raid nearest Armies and Encampments, but will not be a nuisance to players. Can be killed for resources and experience. These attacks and territorial expansions will be broadcast in region, and shift maybe every hour. At prime time almost all of the maps will be free, but in off-hours they might occupy 10-20% of the corner of a map with low aggro range, short-leash mobs.
In summary, maps in DaoC are imo one of the biggest design flaws of the game. It's been established that not much can be done about the geography, but maybe manipulating NPCs could help:
- Armies would easily bust through MG camps with the help of players. Cost mechanics would favor underpop realms.
- Putting two equalized NPC armies on both sides of an open field fight, where they are focused on each other, will help relative balance but minimize nuisance from being forced to fight NPCs. Simply put, 100 vs 70 is a lot less balanced than 100 + 20 vs. 70 + 20.
- Automates a lot of the tedium in keep fights, e.g. bringing doors down and carting supplies around personally
- Removes a lot of the guesswork and minimizes some "roaming", starting at mass RvR scale. RvR will be more like a military campaign than PVKeep and Agar.io. RvR players will enjoy hitting each other head on, using geography and Armies to their advantage. This will create a lot of knock-on roles for 8v8ers/small man/solos in cutting off retreats, harassing/slowing vanguards, etc - rather than what we have now which is Zergs eating Groups eating Small Groups eating Solos eating Lowbies.
- Dynamically restricts the open battlefield to accommodate player population.
- Provides soft safe zones for solo players and gives depth via factions to maps
- More PvE/RvR hybrid content
