Dev Diary : August 2017

[Halhammer]

It is then up to the community to discuss the proposal for 2 weeks and, if it is really that terrible, you can be sure it will be declined in the end.

And therein lies the problem, as far as I'm concerned. You can't have a democratic vote or discussion on balance issues, if a majority of people supports a shitty proposal by whatever 'arguments' have been made - it still remains a shitty proposal.

Also, I'm not so sure about the 'if it's bad it's gonna be declined' part here.

Anyway, enough derailing, movin on...

That's why we have balance moderation. It is not a democratic vote. There are rules for debunking the proposal, so if you have 1000 players saying "Yes!!! but I have no arguments!!" they will be warned/banned from the BFD. And if one guy says "No! And here is why!" (and he actually makes a LOT of sense), you can be sure we will go with NO.

Grulo, I'm well aware of that, that's why I said whatever arguments.

It basically comes down to that one guy judging an argument to be valid or not. IMO, Morf's idea of a testing balance team would be best, if not at least get a team - as in, more than 1 - on moderating the balance forums.

[Buran]

2wargrimnir:
Whatever you write, you make this game for people who spend part of their lives here. You and we are two sides of the same coin whether you like it personally or not. If you did this project only for yourself, then there would be a couple of dozen people on the server and the input would be only by the pass. IMHO, the people whose lives you manage, have the right to expect a dialogue with you in exchange for their responsibility!

[Wam]

Mmmm interesting post

Spoiler:

Some concerns... solo players having more of a impact on campaign? When I played live, and when i've played this, the game was built around guilds, 6 man's at the minimum but usually warbands (Guild, Alliance or Pug)

The best impact a solo person can already do, well a good soloer can already take a BO, can take supply, can scout enemy movements that is pretty big impact for just one guy if they are co-ordinated.

At the moment we have had some 6 man's (that complain about zerg but have no problem ganking 6 vs 1 outside warcamps like a boss over and over) most of them(not all) have zero impact on the campaign because they don't play it to win, they play it to farm solo pugs only. I think 6 man's at the moment if they have the right mentality and attitude can impact the campaign quite alot, but i've seen how salty and misguided some of these pro's are for trying to flame bigger guilds that actually play the campaign and have a impact on pushing it forward.

I think a problem with the server is the fragmentation, on both realms... with so many small guilds without any real leadership (by that I mean active making events and leading warbands like Ocara/GDY do most the time on destro) these small guilds rely on pug herders way too much, realm heros who have to deal with alot of salt to make something half functional for little reward.

Bigger stronger guilds, or bigger stronger alliances make for a healthier competitive game IMO. Or atleast more active pug herders on both sides.

My next concern is fight avoidance... this is a very real thing, it happens more than I like... I know it happens to my guild and I know it happens to Phalanx, if we hit a zone (it doesnt even have to be full warband or optimal setup) we always see people from the other side log off, switch to t3 (to pvdoor empty zones) or switch sides to destro, or change raid days. I know fight avoidance is hard for you guys to control as overlords because it is player mentality and people are always look for the easiest path (path of least resistance sad but true in game based on fighting)... with multiple active zones I think this problem will become worse and we will have to go hunting even more (which im fine with btw even if it becomes more logistical issues... time and money wasted respecing)

With spreading the action across tiers, and the recent dip in activity in T4 (was healthier 2 months ago, less dead zones, many warbands to kill in eu primetime) I don't think it would be a good combination. I know its summer, I know with some changes and if patcher/dungeons get implemented that should bring back some players to check out atleast whenever that happens.

Server activity, we need more player made events (like T3 last night was fun because bitterstone said they was going to be there, other people was naturally there, CNTK went there... I brought a few guys there and lead a little too)

keep up the good work in general (its pretty good considering its free and hobby)

[Darosh]

Spoiler:

My next concern is fight avoidance... this is a very real thing, it happens more than I like... I know it happens to my guild and I know it happens to Phalanx, if we hit a zone (it doesnt even have to be full warband or optimal setup) we always see people from the other side log off, switch to t3 (to pvdoor empty zones) or switch sides to destro, or change raid days. I know fight avoidance is hard for you guys to control as overlords because it is player mentality and people are always look for the easiest path (path of least resistance sad but true in game based on fighting)... with multiple active zones I think this problem will become worse and we will have to go hunting even more (which im fine with btw even if it becomes more logistical issues... time and money wasted respecing)

^ this, so very much. To have the very same people that bitch about the few guilds that stick through even the hardest days, just fairweather it all up and swap to the other realm to join in on the - now, by virtue of numbers at last - farm of those that they were bitching about earlier is what slowly but steadily kills the server. The level of 'toxicity' and the way it is spread - 'cultivated' even - is beyond good and evil.

To stay on topic: Is there any progress made or mechanics planned yet to tackle crossrealming, by chance? If so, how high would that be on your priority list?

[Dreadspectre]

Spoiler:

My next concern is fight avoidance... this is a very real thing, it happens more than I like... I know it happens to my guild and I know it happens to Phalanx, if we hit a zone (it doesnt even have to be full warband or optimal setup) we always see people from the other side log off, switch to t3 (to pvdoor empty zones) or switch sides to destro, or change raid days. I know fight avoidance is hard for you guys to control as overlords because it is player mentality and people are always look for the easiest path (path of least resistance sad but true in game based on fighting)... with multiple active zones I think this problem will become worse and we will have to go hunting even more (which im fine with btw even if it becomes more logistical issues... time and money wasted respecing)

^ this, so very much. To have the very same people that bitch about the few guilds that stick through even the hardest days, just fairweather it all up and swap to the other realm to join in on the - now, by virtue of numbers at last - farm of those that they were bitching about earlier is what slowly but steadily kills the server. The level of 'toxicity' and the way it is spread - 'cultivated' even - is beyond good and evil.

To stay on topic: Is there any progress made or mechanics planned yet to tackle crossrealming, by chance? If so, how high would that be on your priority list?

How would we even stop it? Like...if you're Destro toon got flagged for RvR you have a 10 minute cooldown timer before you can log onto an Order toon?

That's the only way I can think of that would work without being too oppressive to just playing Order and Destro toons.

[Darosh]

How would we even stop it? Like...if you're Destro toon got flagged for RvR you have a 10 minute cooldown timer before you can log onto an Order toon?

That's the only way I can think of that would work without being too oppressive to just playing Order and Destro toons.

Lockout isn't feasible, a cut in returns would be ~ I'd be okay with people logging off entirely, rather than contributing to the imbalance that leads to people logging off for good and staying away from this mess.

[Buran]

2Wam:
As I already wrote: "No pains, no gains". Way nerf varband here is wrong, because the well-coordinated team will always win bad-coordinated. Especially if the spec of the players is not sharpened for certain tasks and if the players do not play their roles well. For example, tanks running far from the guarded, the heals in dd spec, the directory dd in warband. And like a cherry on the cake - players entering the warband that would be alone to carry resources.

But this is the problem of community to teach them. To make them play better. Funny, but it's in the interests of casual players. Yes, little guilds should compare to big aliances with voice coordination. But the do not want to do it. It will be as long as it is not profitable to be without a guild or to unite in an alliance. Organized in those alliances players, with leaders of the WB's in time of RvR, are much less use crossrealming.

[Yaliskah]

Spoiler:

My next concern is fight avoidance... this is a very real thing, it happens more than I like... I know it happens to my guild and I know it happens to Phalanx, if we hit a zone (it doesnt even have to be full warband or optimal setup) we always see people from the other side log off, switch to t3 (to pvdoor empty zones) or switch sides to destro, or change raid days. I know fight avoidance is hard for you guys to control as overlords because it is player mentality and people are always look for the easiest path (path of least resistance sad but true in game based on fighting)... with multiple active zones I think this problem will become worse and we will have to go hunting even more (which im fine with btw even if it becomes more logistical issues... time and money wasted respecing)

^ this, so very much. To have the very same people that bitch about the few guilds that stick through even the hardest days, just fairweather it all up and swap to the other realm to join in on the - now, by virtue of numbers at last - farm of those that they were bitching about earlier is what slowly but steadily kills the server. The level of 'toxicity' and the way it is spread - 'cultivated' even - is beyond good and evil.

To stay on topic: Is there any progress made or mechanics planned yet to tackle crossrealming, by chance? If so, how high would that be on your priority list?

How would we even stop it? Like...if you're Destro toon got flagged for RvR you have a 10 minute cooldown timer before you can log onto an Order toon?

That's the only way I can think of that would work without being too oppressive to just playing Order and Destro toons.

If we could actually just do this, it would be already done since years . We can't for obvious reasons ( free game, free acount for exemple). So we really need the patcher to work in this direction. But waiting this patcher, i think the futur roll loot system will be a step in the right direction to limit Xrealm .

[Darosh]

If we could actually just do this, it would be already done since years . We can't for obvious reasons ( free game, free acount for exemple). So we really need the patcher to work in this direction. But waiting this patcher, i think the futur roll loot system will be a step in the right direction to limit Xrealm .

I am aware of this, I didn't mean to hassle you - it'd just been interesting to see an abstract or alike, featuring what you guys <could> imagine to potentially flesh out; e.g. whether you tend towards a lockout, or a workaround via ingame mechanic. The overhaul of the loot system will undoubtly change things for better, yes.

I am looking foward to the future development regardless, thank you very much for the effort - patience aswell - you folks pour into this project. <3

[Acidic]

Thanks for the update, looks like good things coming our way.