Flyingconejo
Onikanabo Brigade
Caldari State
1142
   |
Posted - 2015.01.21 18:19:00 -
[1] - Quote
Timers are not the problem. Low PC population is. Juggle with the timers all you want, in the end, it wont change anything, and PC will still be empty save for the 100-150 players that have always been there. There are not enough players to make the current system work. There are not enough players to make any of the proposed changes work.
You have focused so much in making your game hard that forgot to make it fun.
For most players trying to get into PC, they get a very low Fun/Effort ratio.
PC battles are the best thing this game has to offer, but for most new corps, it takes too much time to get good enough so they can start having fun with them, and they give up, never to come back.
Give them an intermediate step where they can train and have fun. FW is not good enough because you can't choose your opponent, so bring back the corp battle system from the open beta, but with 16 vs 16, with both sides knowing who they are going to fight beforehand, and very low stakes beyond the equipment used. That would be fun and help people prepare for PC.
And being in PC should offer something to district owners that would compel them to bother with it instead of playing in the minor, corp battle league.
That's my 2 cents. Anyway, for me PC is broken at its core from the start, so any band aid you try will have very little effect, apart from starting over from zero. If you are not going to do that, you might as well leave it as is. |
Flyingconejo
Onikanabo Brigade
Caldari State
1144
|
Posted - 2015.01.21 20:50:00 -
[2] - Quote
Thor Odinson42 wrote:I'd argue that the current timer mechanics are the number one reason why PC is played by so few. There is no element of surprise.
No need to argue, because I agree. I'm not sure it was the main reason, but it surely was important. The current timer mechanic was designed to allow small groups of players to defend a high number of districts. Just to make sure they did not get burn out, CCP graciously extended the grace period before the battle an extra 24 hours, which made it even easier. Of course, that made 90% of the potential pc players completely irrelevant, so they left.
But what I meant saying that timers don't matter is that I don't think it matters what you do with them now. No timers, window timers or current timers, I don't see that affecting PC population in a positive way. The gap is too big.
Quote: In war a lesser enemy can overcome a stronger opponent if they time their attack right in an advantageous location. We can't really set ambushes in advantageous geological locations, but an element of surprise could and should be implemented.
The details are the problem. People have been hung up on far reaching complexities and it appears we will get stuck with timer mechanics that only favor a Zerg.
English is not my main language, so I apologize if I understood the following wrong.
From what I've read of you the last couple of years, you have always been in favour of removing partially or totally the "grace period" a defending corp has between the attack has been launched and the battle actually happens. I think this is what you refer to with the element of surprise part. So basically, you would be in favour of removing the wait between the attack and the battle, but maintaining the timer. From what I've read in this thread, you probably would agree with a "window timer" option or consider it at least the less bad option, right?
But in the second part, you seem to dislike a system that would allow an attacker to attack multiple districts at the same time by zerging them. But window timers would made zerging much easier for an attacking corp. They would stack 3-4 district at the same hour. And as for removing the "grace period", it would have been a great idea a year ago, but with the current populations, I think it also would allow the attacking corp to zerg easily. After all, they know when they are going to attack, but for the defender...How many corps/alliances are left that can form up a full 16 team within 1 hour? And 2 teams?
I'm afraid that the best system against a "zerg" kind of attack, is actually the current timer system that the game has now. It was actually designed as an anti-zerg mechanic. The moment a system allows for a surprise attack, or to choose even slightly the time for the attack, it opens the door for zerging.
On topic:
PC is broken, and can't be mended. The best you can do is:
Step 1: Bring back the old corp battle system. Tweak it for 16vs16, almost no rewards. An intermediate place to prepare for PC.
Step 2: Districts should give something, so owners have a reason to care about them, and give new corps a reason to move from corp battles to PC. |