First off, this is slightly less of a suggestion and more of an observation and an opinion on what needs to be looked at to fix a day 1 issue with the game. I cannot speak for live post-toa as I never played past that point. But since this server is based around 1.65, my opinion is based on that.
Since the beginning of DAoC, it has been said many times, through mythic, players, freeshards and the like, that all playstyles are welcome. This includes solo, duo, trio, smallman etc. However, through the years, while some improvements have been made towards that playstyle, it has always been minor in comparison to the changes made towards 8man groups and zerg RvR mentality without much regard on how it affects the smaller groups and solo play. And most of the solo changes were geared towards stealthers VS visible and vice versa. One of DAoC's main attractiveness is the variety of classes and the uniqueness of each class. They all bring something different. Balancing those classes is a never ending task because one change will always affect even more. It's akin to treating a symptom with a pill, and taking another pill to treat the side effects of the first pill and so on and so forth. DAoC will never be balanced. It thrives on creating unfair situations and players being opportunistic enough to take advantage of those situations. Balance comes in the form of degree, such as an ability in a certain situation being completely unfair (like 1-2 players killing a zerg in a keep fight with TWF for example). And one of these things that is completely unbalanced has never been addressed. Grouping.
The problem with DAoC is that, especially for a solo visible, their is no benefit to it. Or to the realm. Grouping will always be superior. This IS to be expected. However, the degree in which grouping is superior is where balance has failed. Because nothing has been done to balance that. This problem was never addressed by Mythic because the agenda and end game goal was always pushed towards grouping. It is an MMORPG after all right? But not everyone who plays an MMORPG wants to group. Some prefer to be the loner type, but still want to contribute. As well the aging playerbase has had a larger shift in mentality, where as a much larger percentage of the population prefers to solo than when the game was in its hayday. I personally prefer to solo, but i love the idea of fighting many different players and classes. But the only semi viable solo class is either a stealther or a speed class. And even then, most solo fights simply get adds. Which is perfectly fine. Its what RvR is about. But the idea that DAoC accepts all playstyles while completely punishing anything below an 8man is a bit conflicting.
Grouping should always be superior to soloing. But the flaw in DAoC's design is that grouping was made too powerful against smaller numbers. Grouping should have the advantage of having support, utility, and synergy against your enemies. In DAoC, it has been maximized against smaller numbers in flat damage output. This is where DAoC failed. It took the concept of creating "unfair and opportunistic" situations and molded it into the meta. Phoenix has exacerbated that issue with the 8man roam train rolling over soloers for virtually free rps. Every engagement should have some element of risk to it. But 8v1? None. And what needs to be done will probably not be in the "spirit" of the game to address it.
Now before i start I'm not saying this is what needs to be done. Or that it's even a good idea. But it's an example of how things need to change to keep the game viable for more playstyles than just an 8man group.
Having a radius based damage reduction based on the number of enemies, vs the number of friendly realm mates, divided by group size and the number of groups for each realm in the area. With a higher concentration of both having a much lower effect on the disparity. Having it as a passive ability given to everyone and giving it a name (Honor of the Gods for example) would work too. This could even be more inclusive to seperate certain classes that have range vs pure melee. Such as if the radius is 2000 units, it will be far less effective if you have a friendly armsman at 2000 units away to reduce your bonus rather than a caster/scout because of their range disparity.
Example 1
Radius 2000 units- no friendlies in the area
8v1
(maximum effect due to disparity)
Damage taken reduced by 90%
Damage dealt increased by 240%
Example 2
Radius 2000 units- Realm 1: two 8 mans and 4 soloers vs Realm 2: 1 8man and a duo group
20 v 10
Realm 1
Damage 20*10 / 16 * 1.4 = 18% increase in damage for soloers
Reduction 20-10 * 1.4- 14% damage reduction
Realm 2
20*10 / 8 *2.0 = 50% damage increase for duo group
20-10 * 2 = 20% damage reduction
Honestly the math is just some random equations built around those specific scenarios. It's merely an example of what im trying to convey. This is what I mean by out of the box. Something that doesnt necessarily line up with how DAoC works, but it's needed to fix a glaring issue with the game design. I'm sure someone out there might be far more capable of coming up with a different solution to the problem i'm attempting to point out. And thats what my post is intended, is to try and conceptualize a solution of the ongoing issue with how RvR works in the game while trying to keep class uniqueness, playstyles, and balance in alignment. Obviously a flat good-for-everyone damage increase/ reduction would take serious time to implement correctly. Cant have a solo PBAOE necro run into an 8man and decimate them by hitting PBAOE for 1000 damage a pop. Obviously. But even looking at it and acknowledging that their is some truth to it is a great first step in a willingness to address it.
Doing this would have large impacts. For one, an 8man isnt neccessairly going to roll a soloer. With a large incoming damage reduction and damage output, they could survive much longer, and hit much harder. Proving a real threat, possibly even killing 1-2 members of the group if they were not careful. It also increases the TTK which makes them more vulnerable to another 8man coming along and attacking them. This would help alleviate the "train roll free rp" mentality of 8man groups versus soloers. If you increase solo activity, you also increase pocket fights within the realm and create an ongoing fight. Adding would not be frowned upon, as the person added on would have an increased survivability. 1v1 would be unaffected and adding a 1v1 would lose its stigma.
I hope someday maybe solo vs everyone will be something on the hotplate in the future for a real look at what a lot of people want out of the game and maybe, just maybe, one day we may actually say to a newbie "go solo if you want, its great fun and perfectly viable".
Thanks
Since the beginning of DAoC, it has been said many times, through mythic, players, freeshards and the like, that all playstyles are welcome. This includes solo, duo, trio, smallman etc. However, through the years, while some improvements have been made towards that playstyle, it has always been minor in comparison to the changes made towards 8man groups and zerg RvR mentality without much regard on how it affects the smaller groups and solo play. And most of the solo changes were geared towards stealthers VS visible and vice versa. One of DAoC's main attractiveness is the variety of classes and the uniqueness of each class. They all bring something different. Balancing those classes is a never ending task because one change will always affect even more. It's akin to treating a symptom with a pill, and taking another pill to treat the side effects of the first pill and so on and so forth. DAoC will never be balanced. It thrives on creating unfair situations and players being opportunistic enough to take advantage of those situations. Balance comes in the form of degree, such as an ability in a certain situation being completely unfair (like 1-2 players killing a zerg in a keep fight with TWF for example). And one of these things that is completely unbalanced has never been addressed. Grouping.
The problem with DAoC is that, especially for a solo visible, their is no benefit to it. Or to the realm. Grouping will always be superior. This IS to be expected. However, the degree in which grouping is superior is where balance has failed. Because nothing has been done to balance that. This problem was never addressed by Mythic because the agenda and end game goal was always pushed towards grouping. It is an MMORPG after all right? But not everyone who plays an MMORPG wants to group. Some prefer to be the loner type, but still want to contribute. As well the aging playerbase has had a larger shift in mentality, where as a much larger percentage of the population prefers to solo than when the game was in its hayday. I personally prefer to solo, but i love the idea of fighting many different players and classes. But the only semi viable solo class is either a stealther or a speed class. And even then, most solo fights simply get adds. Which is perfectly fine. Its what RvR is about. But the idea that DAoC accepts all playstyles while completely punishing anything below an 8man is a bit conflicting.
Grouping should always be superior to soloing. But the flaw in DAoC's design is that grouping was made too powerful against smaller numbers. Grouping should have the advantage of having support, utility, and synergy against your enemies. In DAoC, it has been maximized against smaller numbers in flat damage output. This is where DAoC failed. It took the concept of creating "unfair and opportunistic" situations and molded it into the meta. Phoenix has exacerbated that issue with the 8man roam train rolling over soloers for virtually free rps. Every engagement should have some element of risk to it. But 8v1? None. And what needs to be done will probably not be in the "spirit" of the game to address it.
Now before i start I'm not saying this is what needs to be done. Or that it's even a good idea. But it's an example of how things need to change to keep the game viable for more playstyles than just an 8man group.
Having a radius based damage reduction based on the number of enemies, vs the number of friendly realm mates, divided by group size and the number of groups for each realm in the area. With a higher concentration of both having a much lower effect on the disparity. Having it as a passive ability given to everyone and giving it a name (Honor of the Gods for example) would work too. This could even be more inclusive to seperate certain classes that have range vs pure melee. Such as if the radius is 2000 units, it will be far less effective if you have a friendly armsman at 2000 units away to reduce your bonus rather than a caster/scout because of their range disparity.
Example 1
Radius 2000 units- no friendlies in the area
8v1
(maximum effect due to disparity)
Damage taken reduced by 90%
Damage dealt increased by 240%
Example 2
Radius 2000 units- Realm 1: two 8 mans and 4 soloers vs Realm 2: 1 8man and a duo group
20 v 10
Realm 1
Damage 20*10 / 16 * 1.4 = 18% increase in damage for soloers
Reduction 20-10 * 1.4- 14% damage reduction
Realm 2
20*10 / 8 *2.0 = 50% damage increase for duo group
20-10 * 2 = 20% damage reduction
Honestly the math is just some random equations built around those specific scenarios. It's merely an example of what im trying to convey. This is what I mean by out of the box. Something that doesnt necessarily line up with how DAoC works, but it's needed to fix a glaring issue with the game design. I'm sure someone out there might be far more capable of coming up with a different solution to the problem i'm attempting to point out. And thats what my post is intended, is to try and conceptualize a solution of the ongoing issue with how RvR works in the game while trying to keep class uniqueness, playstyles, and balance in alignment. Obviously a flat good-for-everyone damage increase/ reduction would take serious time to implement correctly. Cant have a solo PBAOE necro run into an 8man and decimate them by hitting PBAOE for 1000 damage a pop. Obviously. But even looking at it and acknowledging that their is some truth to it is a great first step in a willingness to address it.
Doing this would have large impacts. For one, an 8man isnt neccessairly going to roll a soloer. With a large incoming damage reduction and damage output, they could survive much longer, and hit much harder. Proving a real threat, possibly even killing 1-2 members of the group if they were not careful. It also increases the TTK which makes them more vulnerable to another 8man coming along and attacking them. This would help alleviate the "train roll free rp" mentality of 8man groups versus soloers. If you increase solo activity, you also increase pocket fights within the realm and create an ongoing fight. Adding would not be frowned upon, as the person added on would have an increased survivability. 1v1 would be unaffected and adding a 1v1 would lose its stigma.
I hope someday maybe solo vs everyone will be something on the hotplate in the future for a real look at what a lot of people want out of the game and maybe, just maybe, one day we may actually say to a newbie "go solo if you want, its great fun and perfectly viable".
Thanks