With some hours played on the new task system, bugs and crashes aside, the new system was interesting, but yet it seems like a treasure hunt adventure park for kids, and has zero connection with the origins of DAOC. Its an even more messy version of the previous task system, making people more "desperate" and scattered to try achieve the goals.
Carry ball from A to B. Go find enough squares and put them into square hole. Run there and then go there. Then wait for free RP's. Rince repeat.
This is not how the game is supposed to be played, and frankly within a week or two, everyone will be fed up with the same static rotations, even with random minors added along the way. Its too "messy", taking too much responsibillity away from the players - it is like you expect players not to be able to do things on their own, but the truth is, you give players no reason to do things on their own... Here is what you SHOULD do...
New keep and relic system
A new system revamping how the keeps work, and how defense and siege function.
- The keep value it self should be increased, both bonuses it gives and bounty it produces in defense or overtake. This should first of all be heavy amount of feathers, to already initially give incentive to go raid or defend, instead of perhaps spending 3 hours in an epic dungeon, because you need new crafted potions ... WIth this said, a keep take should not be "easy" to just do, and the effects they carry with them for holding, should be massive. RP bonus for each keep, XP bonus for each keep, craft bonus, pve dmg/effectiveness and so forth...
- To make a defense more likely from a logistic point of view, teleportation to keeps should be allowed, as long as the outer door is not down. For players who are defending their own realms keeps, there should be random spawn points added around the keep, that could be used when the outer door is down. This would make it easier to uphold balance in defense, regroup and counter attacks. If the defense was worth 2.000 feathers, a pve xp bonus, small RP bonus and/or something similar, with the possibility to port in, im sure the amount of epic keep takes and defenses would sky rocket. To make sure that it wont just be a lord rush, the doors should not close in the first 5-10 minutes after a succesful take.
- Relic value should be heavily increased. You must reinstate the original bonuses in one way or another, and give an even larger feather AND bounty point reward on take/defense. Porting to the inside of the relic should be possible, right until the inner door is down.
- Relic defense vs larger force. Lets say that 200 mids are rolling the hib keeps one by one. A smaller defense of perhaps 100 hibs are trying hard, some close fights, but in vain. The mid zerg now grows to around 300 since the relic raid is announced. All required keeps are in the mids possession, and they set course for the relics. The 100 hibs have ported in to the relics ready to defend, but we all know how this would end over time. What should be changed here, is an equalizer of damage bonus depending on numbers. These should absolutely not be over the top, but lets say its a 2% bonus damage/healing/castspeed/attackspeed, for each 10% outnumbered f.x. Also there should be the possibility for the defenders, to launch "counter attacks" with PVE guards. This would require some work and thought to implement, but imagine a bg defend leader, being able to summon 20 guards right when inner doors go down, with the underpop bonuses and then calling the counter attack, with port merchants that could teleport entire groups to different locations in the relic, to sandwich attackers, overwhelm heal spamming etc - it could give 100 well prepared defenders a proper chance vs. an unorganized 300 man zerg.
Revamp task system
The old task system wasn't bad, but the fact that it lead everyone to the same area, was bad. Instead of every realm getting the same, single task, create more tasks for each realm, with different priorities. F.x if your realm doesnt hold all its keeps, this should be a prioritized task, with a high bonus. Yet smaller tasks around the frontiers should be more plentyful. Why not implement f.x towers with doors around the frontiers, that could grant port bonus or other minor bonuses, and at the same time result in small sieges/skirmishes with purpose? Instead of spending a few hours in a TG raid, or keep take, it should also be possible to do personal bounty task for "Shards" that require 5 shards to get an orb that could buy you any feather item. It could f.x be "Kill enemy infiltrator in Snowdonia" or likewise, giving players incentive to go actively hunt in the enemies frontiers, and at the same time add some personal tasks that gives the other side incentive to go defend in these areas, f.x a flat 2 hour rp bonus that sticks when you kill 2 invaders in Snowdonia, or Forest sauvage, or Pennine.... What a way to prepare for the nights RvR right, and at the same time get solo/small man action all around the frontiers.
These are just some loose ideas about how to make the siege and task part of Phoenix work better, and more in line with the origins of the game. I have been on 3 relic raids. One of them had one single green con defender. The others litterally no defenders. Last night we sieged 4 keeps in primetime, without one single defense. There was a realm rank 1 afk in the courtyard of one of the keeps.
For as long as you insist on old frontiers, we need keeps and relics to play a bigger role surely. And to make the balance and meta in gameplay more fluid and responsive, teleportation to keeps ( towers ) is needed aswell. We dont need a "themepark" rotation task system. We need real daoc siege and incentive. It would benefit all player types.
Carry ball from A to B. Go find enough squares and put them into square hole. Run there and then go there. Then wait for free RP's. Rince repeat.
This is not how the game is supposed to be played, and frankly within a week or two, everyone will be fed up with the same static rotations, even with random minors added along the way. Its too "messy", taking too much responsibillity away from the players - it is like you expect players not to be able to do things on their own, but the truth is, you give players no reason to do things on their own... Here is what you SHOULD do...
New keep and relic system
A new system revamping how the keeps work, and how defense and siege function.
- The keep value it self should be increased, both bonuses it gives and bounty it produces in defense or overtake. This should first of all be heavy amount of feathers, to already initially give incentive to go raid or defend, instead of perhaps spending 3 hours in an epic dungeon, because you need new crafted potions ... WIth this said, a keep take should not be "easy" to just do, and the effects they carry with them for holding, should be massive. RP bonus for each keep, XP bonus for each keep, craft bonus, pve dmg/effectiveness and so forth...
- To make a defense more likely from a logistic point of view, teleportation to keeps should be allowed, as long as the outer door is not down. For players who are defending their own realms keeps, there should be random spawn points added around the keep, that could be used when the outer door is down. This would make it easier to uphold balance in defense, regroup and counter attacks. If the defense was worth 2.000 feathers, a pve xp bonus, small RP bonus and/or something similar, with the possibility to port in, im sure the amount of epic keep takes and defenses would sky rocket. To make sure that it wont just be a lord rush, the doors should not close in the first 5-10 minutes after a succesful take.
- Relic value should be heavily increased. You must reinstate the original bonuses in one way or another, and give an even larger feather AND bounty point reward on take/defense. Porting to the inside of the relic should be possible, right until the inner door is down.
- Relic defense vs larger force. Lets say that 200 mids are rolling the hib keeps one by one. A smaller defense of perhaps 100 hibs are trying hard, some close fights, but in vain. The mid zerg now grows to around 300 since the relic raid is announced. All required keeps are in the mids possession, and they set course for the relics. The 100 hibs have ported in to the relics ready to defend, but we all know how this would end over time. What should be changed here, is an equalizer of damage bonus depending on numbers. These should absolutely not be over the top, but lets say its a 2% bonus damage/healing/castspeed/attackspeed, for each 10% outnumbered f.x. Also there should be the possibility for the defenders, to launch "counter attacks" with PVE guards. This would require some work and thought to implement, but imagine a bg defend leader, being able to summon 20 guards right when inner doors go down, with the underpop bonuses and then calling the counter attack, with port merchants that could teleport entire groups to different locations in the relic, to sandwich attackers, overwhelm heal spamming etc - it could give 100 well prepared defenders a proper chance vs. an unorganized 300 man zerg.
Revamp task system
The old task system wasn't bad, but the fact that it lead everyone to the same area, was bad. Instead of every realm getting the same, single task, create more tasks for each realm, with different priorities. F.x if your realm doesnt hold all its keeps, this should be a prioritized task, with a high bonus. Yet smaller tasks around the frontiers should be more plentyful. Why not implement f.x towers with doors around the frontiers, that could grant port bonus or other minor bonuses, and at the same time result in small sieges/skirmishes with purpose? Instead of spending a few hours in a TG raid, or keep take, it should also be possible to do personal bounty task for "Shards" that require 5 shards to get an orb that could buy you any feather item. It could f.x be "Kill enemy infiltrator in Snowdonia" or likewise, giving players incentive to go actively hunt in the enemies frontiers, and at the same time add some personal tasks that gives the other side incentive to go defend in these areas, f.x a flat 2 hour rp bonus that sticks when you kill 2 invaders in Snowdonia, or Forest sauvage, or Pennine.... What a way to prepare for the nights RvR right, and at the same time get solo/small man action all around the frontiers.
These are just some loose ideas about how to make the siege and task part of Phoenix work better, and more in line with the origins of the game. I have been on 3 relic raids. One of them had one single green con defender. The others litterally no defenders. Last night we sieged 4 keeps in primetime, without one single defense. There was a realm rank 1 afk in the courtyard of one of the keeps.
For as long as you insist on old frontiers, we need keeps and relics to play a bigger role surely. And to make the balance and meta in gameplay more fluid and responsive, teleportation to keeps ( towers ) is needed aswell. We dont need a "themepark" rotation task system. We need real daoc siege and incentive. It would benefit all player types.
. I plan to be back soon!