Idea for futre 'Level Playing Field' events

First of all, thank you to the devs for all your hard work. I know you guys work independently and volunteer time, and mostly get complaints and negative feedback, so thank you for all your hard work in keeping Phoenix the best DAoC experience!

The Level Playing Field event is great, but by the end of the weekend, most people I've spoken to are just so burnt out of the Tutorial Area that it becomes more of a mindless 'tag everyone you can, die, afk and wait for death xp'. After speaking to some people, what about these ideas for a future event?

Use the battlegrounds used in Phoenix. Disable the pve mobs so the little baby luris and highlanders don't get one-shotted by the BG mobs.

Level Thidranki - Level 1-20, Caledonia - Level 21 - 35, Cathal Valley - level 36 - 49

No mixed realm RvR. This way groups can actually be formed where you know more about group structure and synergy. Also, this way, /autogroup would still be available, but not always wanted. CK takes work the same.

Still have level instanced the same way as the current event. 1-4, 5-10, 11-15 etc. (not sure exact numbers).

I think the main thing is playing one zone for an entire weekend just becomes mind-numbing by the end of it. Anyway, just wanted to throw those ideas out there. Thank you again for all the work you guys put into it!

Sun 9 May 2021 8:53 PM by CowwoC

Current map is probably the best we can get. BG maps are not suited for this, since all would just rush to the keep, especially if its realm vs realm. Mixed realm group is mega fun and actually the best part of the event.

Mon 10 May 2021 9:01 AM by Gohanz

First of all I really enjoy these events so if there are no changes made they're still the best thing on the server IMO,

I also like that you changed a few brackets and tried to balance the end game, but also realized when it didn't work and reverted to give maximum players. I do think there are a few good changes to be made tho:

1. The map is a bit annoying, hilly, LOS issues, texture issues like the towers in town etc. I like that GM's were hot on the chimneys this time round but there are other areas like the boats in the bay near town that has the exact same texture issues. Personally, I would love to see the next one in Stygia as that was used for a previous 5v5 level 50 event, and was a really nice size and terrain.

2. Buff potions: not end/power/heal pots, just basic buffs as all premades will have full buffs and the autogroup is just luck of the draw. There is no real downside to this as buff classes will always still be wanted, firstly because their buffs are still better, but also they come with heals, mezz, disease endo etc. This just gives the autogroups a fighting chance if they don't have a buffer, or only a base buffer.

3. Stealth: now this is of course controversial, but for the whole event Rangers were the most played class and they add nothing to groups (for 99% of the players at least), stealthers are a real nuisance, not just because they add on fights etc. that's to be expected, but they fill all the auto group spots and everyone playing real classes disband for 20 mins before finding a semi-acceptable setup. I would suggest doing 2 things. Firstly, make it so stealth doesn't work in the event, stealthers can still play but they will spec and play for group RvR not just ruin everyone else's group by taking up spots and stealthing on inc. Secondly, offer a separate port for stealthers into a stealther instance where they can fight each other (maybe a cap of 3 in a group as the population would be lower).

4. Tweak rog distribution, small shield on mercs/bms, 1handed hammers on skalds etc. (these do drop but so infrequently that your old one is green before you get a new one) seem to salvage 37 staffs in the time I've had 1 chest piece. not sure if it's fully randomised but it seems to have a heavy leaning towards certain things (like hunter getting 5 bows for very spear/sword).

5. There is no 5 as really it is a well balanced and well thought out event, the buff pots, rogs and maps are minor tweaks to improve it but I do feel that stealthers are a big concern on here, if you look at how often people get an auto group see a stealther and disband it's becoming a big problem.

Thanks for the effort again though