What does this suggestion change/add/remove:
I'm afraid that in practice the new war system sucks, I'm sorry. As points aren't really held between wars there is little incentive to care about the result of a conflict and so players are switching off. There is also not much point in being online in the quiet hours as only comparatively useless FOBs can be placed, and always in the same few spots.
Without persistent conflict state the system just isn't compelling and people won't keep returning. The new modes are a nice attempt at fresh gameplay, but they mostly mimic other existing games in a way which doesn't play to MRP's strengths. For example if I wanted to play Kill Confirmed, I'd just go and play CoD - MRP's take doesn't offer any improvement on that.
Afghan does suffer from balance issues, and conquest wars are crippled by the lack of persistent capture. Conquests in particular tend to play out similarly as there isn't much starting state variety. Capping Mosque in particular is very difficult, yet NATO can now never hold or fortify it. As a result most players no longer want to bother with it.
I know that a campaign system is in the works, but I don't think anyone expects it to arrive quickly and the server is likely to be dead until it does.
I've therefore compiled some proposals to fold these elements into the old territory system without too much effort... I hope these ideas might spur action. Other suggestions on this theme are appreciated.
General gameplay changes:
- Revert changes to capture status. Territory control persists between wars and is no longer hidden from players.
- FOB placement rule changes reverted. Remove the confusing highlight system.
- FOB construction speed doubled during peacetime/pre-war. This rewards play during those times and reduces the time that needs to be spent, freeing up people for RP.
New War Types:
Keep the new lane opening/closing system, but with persistent capture as before. People like conquest, it feels meaningful and base raids are a major reward for success.
Occurs when one team controls a whole lane. A lane belonging entirely to one side is marked as the target lane. Those that held the lane will be on defense and the others on offense. The point closest to the attackers' base becomes neutral and two "control points" spawn in it. The attackers have 10 minutes to plant and detonate briefcase bombs next to those points. For each destroyed target the war timer is extended by 5 minutes. If both targets are destroyed the territory is capped by the attacking team and new targets spawn on the next territory in the lane (which turns neutral). When time runs out the neutral/target territory is capped by the defenders and they get a victory, otherwise war ends when the attackers capture the whole lane. Spawning on owned territories should be enabled for this mode, bomb timers should also be around 60s with defusing taking 5s.
The point here is to provide a little more direction to Search and Destroy, largely based on BattleField's "Rush" mode. Right now S&D generally plays out as each team planting bombs and ignoring the enemy's, as otherwise it's just a running simulator.
Occurs when at least one territory is neutral. A neutral territory is highlighted. Reskin CTF flags as intelligence laptops and perform a CTF war as usual. Retrieving 'intel' awards capture percentage for the selected neutral territory. Once a territory is capped, a new neutral one is selected or the war ends.
A more RP-friendly approach to CTF with some tangible territory rewards.
Requires a neutral point. A 1000lb bomb is scheduled randomly to detonate on a neutral point(s) in 10-20 minutes. Dog tags will spawn randomly on the point throughout that time. Killing enemies will also spawn tags (as in Kill Confirmed). Each team must collect as many dog tags as possible. After the detonation capture is awarded to whichever team recovered the most tags.
The bomb here is mostly flavour, but provides a bit more urgency and should encourage people to get onto the point due to the ambigulous duration. Spawning tags randomly should prevent the current trend of a team not engaging once they're in the lead.
Can occur if an entire lane is held by a team. The territory in the center of the lane is marked as a target zone for the attacking team. Classic S&D bombs can be planted on that zone, for each that detonates the attacking team is awarded capture % on the last territory in the lane (not the point being bombed). War ends when 10 bombs detonate (full cap) or 10 are defused.
A more restricted S&D mode should make combat a bit more intense. Punishing defusals would help to prevent reckless placement/spammy bombing. Longer plant/defuse times should be applied here. The intention here is to provide a fresh point of attack when a lane has been held for a while.
Conquest war begins as usual, however players drop dog tags when they die which can be picked up by both allies and enemies. Cap rate is significantly faster, but picking up an enemy dog tag within a point takes a chunk out of the capture bar. Could possibly also give a chunk of capture % for collecting an enemy tag.
The idea here is to encourage players to stick together in a unit and collect the tags of their fallen. It should also make territory capture less prone to quiet stretches of doing nothing.
Possible Positives of the suggestion (At least 2):
- Players motivated to play in wars.
- Fresh gameplay exploiting the best of the new features.
- Tangible end-goals for wars.
Possible Negatives of the suggestion:
- Requires dev effort.
- Unclear how this would fit into an eventual campaign system, since the plans aren't public.
- Some players may like the current war system.
Based on the Positives & Negatives, why should this suggestion be accepted:
I can only relay how players I interact with are feeling, and it's not been good. I'm trying to be constructive here in proposing changes that'll resolve the issue, but ultimately it's up to SL to communicate if/when/how things will change. The current, largely meaningless wars shouldn't stay.
I'm afraid that in practice the new war system sucks, I'm sorry. As points aren't really held between wars there is little incentive to care about the result of a conflict and so players are switching off. There is also not much point in being online in the quiet hours as only comparatively useless FOBs can be placed, and always in the same few spots.
Without persistent conflict state the system just isn't compelling and people won't keep returning. The new modes are a nice attempt at fresh gameplay, but they mostly mimic other existing games in a way which doesn't play to MRP's strengths. For example if I wanted to play Kill Confirmed, I'd just go and play CoD - MRP's take doesn't offer any improvement on that.
Afghan does suffer from balance issues, and conquest wars are crippled by the lack of persistent capture. Conquests in particular tend to play out similarly as there isn't much starting state variety. Capping Mosque in particular is very difficult, yet NATO can now never hold or fortify it. As a result most players no longer want to bother with it.
I know that a campaign system is in the works, but I don't think anyone expects it to arrive quickly and the server is likely to be dead until it does.
I've therefore compiled some proposals to fold these elements into the old territory system without too much effort... I hope these ideas might spur action. Other suggestions on this theme are appreciated.
General gameplay changes:
- Revert changes to capture status. Territory control persists between wars and is no longer hidden from players.
- FOB placement rule changes reverted. Remove the confusing highlight system.
- FOB construction speed doubled during peacetime/pre-war. This rewards play during those times and reduces the time that needs to be spent, freeing up people for RP.
New War Types:
- Conquest Classic -
Keep the new lane opening/closing system, but with persistent capture as before. People like conquest, it feels meaningful and base raids are a major reward for success.
- Demolition -
Occurs when one team controls a whole lane. A lane belonging entirely to one side is marked as the target lane. Those that held the lane will be on defense and the others on offense. The point closest to the attackers' base becomes neutral and two "control points" spawn in it. The attackers have 10 minutes to plant and detonate briefcase bombs next to those points. For each destroyed target the war timer is extended by 5 minutes. If both targets are destroyed the territory is capped by the attacking team and new targets spawn on the next territory in the lane (which turns neutral). When time runs out the neutral/target territory is capped by the defenders and they get a victory, otherwise war ends when the attackers capture the whole lane. Spawning on owned territories should be enabled for this mode, bomb timers should also be around 60s with defusing taking 5s.
The point here is to provide a little more direction to Search and Destroy, largely based on BattleField's "Rush" mode. Right now S&D generally plays out as each team planting bombs and ignoring the enemy's, as otherwise it's just a running simulator.
- Information Warfare -
Occurs when at least one territory is neutral. A neutral territory is highlighted. Reskin CTF flags as intelligence laptops and perform a CTF war as usual. Retrieving 'intel' awards capture percentage for the selected neutral territory. Once a territory is capped, a new neutral one is selected or the war ends.
A more RP-friendly approach to CTF with some tangible territory rewards.
- Evacuation -
Requires a neutral point. A 1000lb bomb is scheduled randomly to detonate on a neutral point(s) in 10-20 minutes. Dog tags will spawn randomly on the point throughout that time. Killing enemies will also spawn tags (as in Kill Confirmed). Each team must collect as many dog tags as possible. After the detonation capture is awarded to whichever team recovered the most tags.
The bomb here is mostly flavour, but provides a bit more urgency and should encourage people to get onto the point due to the ambigulous duration. Spawning tags randomly should prevent the current trend of a team not engaging once they're in the lead.
- Sabotage -
Can occur if an entire lane is held by a team. The territory in the center of the lane is marked as a target zone for the attacking team. Classic S&D bombs can be planted on that zone, for each that detonates the attacking team is awarded capture % on the last territory in the lane (not the point being bombed). War ends when 10 bombs detonate (full cap) or 10 are defused.
A more restricted S&D mode should make combat a bit more intense. Punishing defusals would help to prevent reckless placement/spammy bombing. Longer plant/defuse times should be applied here. The intention here is to provide a fresh point of attack when a lane has been held for a while.
- Skirmish -
Conquest war begins as usual, however players drop dog tags when they die which can be picked up by both allies and enemies. Cap rate is significantly faster, but picking up an enemy dog tag within a point takes a chunk out of the capture bar. Could possibly also give a chunk of capture % for collecting an enemy tag.
The idea here is to encourage players to stick together in a unit and collect the tags of their fallen. It should also make territory capture less prone to quiet stretches of doing nothing.
Possible Positives of the suggestion (At least 2):
- Players motivated to play in wars.
- Fresh gameplay exploiting the best of the new features.
- Tangible end-goals for wars.
Possible Negatives of the suggestion:
- Requires dev effort.
- Unclear how this would fit into an eventual campaign system, since the plans aren't public.
- Some players may like the current war system.
Based on the Positives & Negatives, why should this suggestion be accepted:
I can only relay how players I interact with are feeling, and it's not been good. I'm trying to be constructive here in proposing changes that'll resolve the issue, but ultimately it's up to SL to communicate if/when/how things will change. The current, largely meaningless wars shouldn't stay.
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