The Real Problem

[Fiveskin]

We all have great ideas about fixing RvR play but none of them addresses the real problem: population. We just don't have enough of a player base to institute fresh changes like xrealm lockouts or new zone flip mechanics. It would be cool if the devs could post some numbers/graphs that illustrate our numbers issue. We need new blood.

[Scottx125]

We don't need an illustration of the numbers. The population "issue" is well known and won't go away. Ever. You're playing a dead MMO on what is essentially a private server. The most we EVER had, was around 2.8k during the first lazypeon wave. And that was a brief blip. The servers pop has always been around 1k max peak most years. You're not going to "fix" that issue. Especially with the limited dev resources.

Also, nobody who knows what they're talking about is recommending xrealm lockouts because frankly it's a bad idea (coming from an order prider). The low population prohibits any long term Xrealm lockout. As I've mentioned in many threads. Xrealming isn't the issue. Xrealming for easy keep takes and riding the zerg is.

The only practical way to avoid that is to prevent zerging being as strong as it is. And the only way to do that is to make zergs less effective either by 1, altering the meta or 2, making players that blob up weaker or making outnumbered players stronger.

[Fey]

Imo if you rank a toon to 80 you should be exempt from realm lockout. At that point you're sufficiently invested in the server. You deserve the right to play the game as you see fit. I expect most people that have an 80 toon to be mature enough to not blatantly cross-realm to the detriment of the game. Perhaps that is naive.

I'm personally amazed at the fight you can get even with ~200 people logged on. There's plenty of sub-40's out there pugging as well. The game feels pretty active to me.

[Fey]

Somehow you need to incentivize folks to put aside their sweaty BIS 85 and play their 40/53 alt. I don't know how you do that, but that would make the new player experience bearable.

Again maybe if you get a toon to rank 80, you get a 5% renown rank bonus. PuG nite on Thursday before the weekend scenario. There are creative ways to get people to log back on.

[Scottx125]

I expect most people that have an 80 toon to be mature enough to not blatantly cross-realm to the detriment of the game. Perhaps that is naive.

Very...

[TrainInVain]

IMO its the lack of people that will lead PUGs. When I started playing, and for about 6 months after I started, there was rarely a a time when someone wouldn't step up. Now even during Euro hours you might not see a PUG on either side for a few hours.

[inoeth]

did anyone say rampage?

[Sulorie]

IMO its the lack of people that will lead PUGs. When I started playing, and for about 6 months after I started, there was rarely a a time when someone wouldn't step up. Now even during Euro hours you might not see a PUG on either side for a few hours.

The leader hardly get any help with organizing the warbands. Quite difficult to give directions and at the same time tell players to use guard or buff their group - basically tell them to play their class. Those leaders burn out over time when herding the sheep. Often not all understand the orders, as we have multiple languages now and not all understand English or even pay attention to chat or join disc.

[Rotgut]

IMO its the lack of people that will lead PUGs. When I started playing, and for about 6 months after I started, there was rarely a a time when someone wouldn't step up. Now even during Euro hours you might not see a PUG on either side for a few hours.

I started leading PUGs exactly because of that reason.

Led it every night on low peak hours for 2 weeks. What i found was this:

Issue number 1 is population. On weekdays we'll either have trouble filling a 2/2/2 or finding people to fight against, but when the stars align we'll have an amazing time. Can't name people cuz its against the forum rules but shoutout to Destro pug leaders, its always a pleasure fighting yall, win or lose.

Issue number 2, that happened 4 times while i was leading, is a specific group of players that will log in with 8-10 rr80+ to farm pugs at a keep defense. A zone will be pretty balanced but then they'll wait until a keep is about to be sieged to log in to farm the little scraps of renown they get from killing lowbies.

I don't think they should be banned, cuz to be fair i've seen them do same thing against real opposition and while they had AAO, but Devs could ASK them to not do that. We know who they are. Its very little reward for them and its detrimental to the server, don't see why the devs couldn't have a talk to them to try to start stacking small, positive actions for the health of the server.

At some point, the leaders of the community that have invested so much on this game should take responsibility to at least not hurt its continuity.

[Fiveskin]

I agree pop drop is not an easy situation to fix but are we allowed to like scour the internets for friends who may enjoy the last great pvp game?