Preface: I've had this idea for a while, but never took the time to make a post on the forums. I understand that the removal of the PVP zone has been contentious among solo players AND I also understand that the staff is probably tired of hearing complaints. However, this is not a complaint and hopefully it will be viewed as constructive feedback/suggestion. Also, I solo 95 percent of the time and as a visible solo player I've noticed a downward trend over the last few months (again not complaining, just pointing out an observation.) I tried to keep the suggestion as succinct as possible based on functionality I've noticed written into the game already.
The Problem: Solo/Small Man game-play is becoming increasingly marginalized and difficult to find fair fights as a visible player without being overrun by large numbers, or waiting long periods of time between fights. Ie. Camping a low traffic area. Secondary issue is a lack of objectives for a solo/sm to accomplish.
Philosophy: As someone who enjoys playing solo or in a duo I spend 95 percent of my time in NF in that configuration (as a visible character). Even though I enjoyed the PVP zone I do believe philosophically that the action should be kept in NF for the long term health of the server. However, I also believe that the diminishing solo/sm action needs to be addressed for the health of the server as well. It’s also worth mentioning that I do not think there is a one size fits all solution to the problem. It’ll never be a ‘perfect fix’, but maybe a new idea could be enjoyable and worthwhile.
Solution: I’m going to attempt to provide what I think would be the best solution to provide content and incentive's for solo/sm play in NF while also addressing potential flaws/problems with the idea.
Objective Based Incentive: Designate a single rotating zone in NF (similar to the task zone) with an objective to kill or complete. For the purpose of this example let’s say it’s a single guard to kill. These guards would spawn around the zone and could only be killed by a solo/sm. There are already coding checks being used in the game (solo/sm teleporters) that utilize this type of verification. If player X has been solo for 10 minutes then they are able to complete the objective. I think that the concept of the objective is more important than what it is, or what the payoff might be at this point.
Zone Configuration: The benefit to having a zone that is part of NF is that it keeps traffic in NF. This creates new routes for people to get to the zone (looking for action along docks/bridges) AND it doesn’t break-up the rvr population (Stygia). Another important factor is that it needs to be opposite the task zone. Obviously if it were within the task zone it would be a nightmare and defeat the purpose of the zone in the first place. Rotating opposite the task zone obviously does not prevent groups or larger small man’s from looking for solo players in that zone. HOWEVER, this already happens in the task zone and there are more incentives for groups in a task zone. There would be no objective for a group in this new zone.
Finally, it would be incredibly important to ensure that the objective in this zone randomly spawns. If the objective was static (like the flags) then it could easily be camped. However, by the objectives randomly spawning around the zone it would force people to explore and potentially have organic interactions that way.
Anti-Camping Benefit: As a solo visible player I find most of my fights by ‘camping’ high traffic areas. Although a new task zone would create new traffic routes to monitor for players (as mentioned bridges and docks) I still like the notion of organically coming across another player much better. Ie. Personally I would prefer roaming even with horse speed to locate an objective
Sense of Accomplishment: When a group, or BG takes a tower or keep it benefits the entire realm. At this point there isn’t a way for a solo player to really complete a mission to benefit the war effort. I don’t know what the payoff should be, or how this objective could make a larger scale impact. The difficulty in that is it would need to be balanced to not be too impactful given the scale of this objective.
TLDR: A new zone in NF that would contain an objective for only solo/sm players to accomplish. The zone would rotate opposite the task zone and the objective would be randomly dispersed within the zone. The benefit would be new traffic routes to the zone AND providing an objective for solo players. Additional benefit is that it keeps all rvr/pvp within NF. Constructive feedback is welcome
The Problem: Solo/Small Man game-play is becoming increasingly marginalized and difficult to find fair fights as a visible player without being overrun by large numbers, or waiting long periods of time between fights. Ie. Camping a low traffic area. Secondary issue is a lack of objectives for a solo/sm to accomplish.
Philosophy: As someone who enjoys playing solo or in a duo I spend 95 percent of my time in NF in that configuration (as a visible character). Even though I enjoyed the PVP zone I do believe philosophically that the action should be kept in NF for the long term health of the server. However, I also believe that the diminishing solo/sm action needs to be addressed for the health of the server as well. It’s also worth mentioning that I do not think there is a one size fits all solution to the problem. It’ll never be a ‘perfect fix’, but maybe a new idea could be enjoyable and worthwhile.
Solution: I’m going to attempt to provide what I think would be the best solution to provide content and incentive's for solo/sm play in NF while also addressing potential flaws/problems with the idea.
Objective Based Incentive: Designate a single rotating zone in NF (similar to the task zone) with an objective to kill or complete. For the purpose of this example let’s say it’s a single guard to kill. These guards would spawn around the zone and could only be killed by a solo/sm. There are already coding checks being used in the game (solo/sm teleporters) that utilize this type of verification. If player X has been solo for 10 minutes then they are able to complete the objective. I think that the concept of the objective is more important than what it is, or what the payoff might be at this point.
Zone Configuration: The benefit to having a zone that is part of NF is that it keeps traffic in NF. This creates new routes for people to get to the zone (looking for action along docks/bridges) AND it doesn’t break-up the rvr population (Stygia). Another important factor is that it needs to be opposite the task zone. Obviously if it were within the task zone it would be a nightmare and defeat the purpose of the zone in the first place. Rotating opposite the task zone obviously does not prevent groups or larger small man’s from looking for solo players in that zone. HOWEVER, this already happens in the task zone and there are more incentives for groups in a task zone. There would be no objective for a group in this new zone.
Finally, it would be incredibly important to ensure that the objective in this zone randomly spawns. If the objective was static (like the flags) then it could easily be camped. However, by the objectives randomly spawning around the zone it would force people to explore and potentially have organic interactions that way.
Anti-Camping Benefit: As a solo visible player I find most of my fights by ‘camping’ high traffic areas. Although a new task zone would create new traffic routes to monitor for players (as mentioned bridges and docks) I still like the notion of organically coming across another player much better. Ie. Personally I would prefer roaming even with horse speed to locate an objective
Sense of Accomplishment: When a group, or BG takes a tower or keep it benefits the entire realm. At this point there isn’t a way for a solo player to really complete a mission to benefit the war effort. I don’t know what the payoff should be, or how this objective could make a larger scale impact. The difficulty in that is it would need to be balanced to not be too impactful given the scale of this objective.
TLDR: A new zone in NF that would contain an objective for only solo/sm players to accomplish. The zone would rotate opposite the task zone and the objective would be randomly dispersed within the zone. The benefit would be new traffic routes to the zone AND providing an objective for solo players. Additional benefit is that it keeps all rvr/pvp within NF. Constructive feedback is welcome