Return of Reckoning

Greetings,
I've been playing RoR off and on for a few years now and have seen many different faces of war. Before RoR I played on live from the time it was alpha all the way through it's final days. Many of you know me from leading on the battlefield as Foghladha, Danann, Danaan, Diancecht, or Daghdre.

I've asked about this before and was told the Population isn't there. But i can attest that yes in fact it is there. Any given period of time i've watched the player count fluctuate between 600 and 900 players during most times of the day. Usually 400+ people in tier 4. While i get the reasoning behind bostering up level 16's to 48 for T4 to create larger battles fought in Tier 4. I do think that we've missed an opportunity for new players to learn about sieging objectives.

Tier 2 and 3 were important steps in siege warfare education. They allowed players to get their footing on the battlefield against equal footed foes. In the current state of things you have brand new players entering the battlefield to be facerolled by zergs of rr80+. They don't get the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of combat. They simply have to follow the zerg and hope not to die.

During live I used to rotate characters through T1-3 deleting them every time they capped out so that I could continue to help prepare new player for what awaited them in T4. This simply is not possible here. I have brought countless new players to Return of Reckoning and worked them through T1 into T4 and most have exited stage right as soon as they get there. You can't take finger skater kids and throw them in the hockey ring with some pros and give them some bigger pads and hope they have fun. It's discouraging, disheartening, and confusing. Three things that cause people to leave a game permanently. Simply put they are food for the hungry veterans.

Try this for a month and see how it does.

Tier 1: Level 1-16
Tier 2 & 3: Level 16-35 (As a place new players can learn siege combat)
Tier 4: Level 16-40 (Same setup as now. If a lower level player wants to fight in T4 they can.)

Low population in T2/3 shouldn't matter it's more about giving people time to figure out the game before they have to face off with RR80+. I think given the choice you'd find T2/3 is more populated than you would expect. The game has grown and has a good reputation and with that other version giving free level 40's why not be different. Those of us who are here aren't looking for participation trophies. We know the Journey is what makes the experience fun not the destination. Let people experience War the way it was designed to be experienced.

I think that’s a really good idea. I don’t even want to bother with T2/3 as it stands now. T1 and T4 are fun but that’s it. And it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m asking my old friends to give RoR a go as well. I don’t want them to hit a wall and quit.

I agree. During the years I played WAR tier 2 & 3 RvR was a vital transition before players were ready to be thrust into tier 4.

foghladha wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 7:36 pm
Low population in T2/3 shouldn't matter

But it does matter. t2/3 lakes were empty PvDoor experiences. Players level 16-31 receive a SUBSTANTIAL buff to level 48. So long as you have gear equipped and slotted with talismans as close to your current rank as possible, the bolster will allow you to be competitive against rr80+ players, so long as you're (again) wearing level appropriate gear/jewelry/weapons/talismans and not trying to run around solo.

The tiers were ghost towns. If I were a new player, I would rather be thrown into the deep end than a cemetery.

You learn quick when you're forced to.

It's hard to "learn siege combat" if there's no one to play against.
And aside from t2, due to the fact that there's only one door, t3/t4 are identical except for the maps.
It was an issue when you got **** rewards for those zones, even though they require the same amount of time and effort, but that's been fixed.

peterthepan3 wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:07 pm The tiers were ghost towns. If I were a new player, I would rather be thrown into the deep end than a cemetery.

You learn quick when you're forced to.

Not true. People take the path of least resistance. When they walk into T4 for the first time ever and face off with people who have been playing for years it's discouraging. It's easier to quit and go play something else than grind your way up to be survivable.

We brought 160 players from other games into RoR when we relaunched our WAR chapter, only 46 remain. The rest got to T4 and decided this wasn't the game for them.

Why is everyone so against TRYING something. Are you afraid it might be a different result.

Stating oh back then before RoR was big we tried that and it didn't work doesn't say that it wont work now that RoR is the #1 Warhammer Online server and is gaining mentions all over the gaming press. There's not a week that goes by that I don't find someone completely new to War roaming around T1.

If you don't want to play T2/3 then go play T4. We keep the same bolstering there. But if someone does want to play T2/3 they have the option. Even if its bloody PvDoor. IMO More potential for fun is not a bad thing.

I'm not really a fan of this idea for the simple fact that having T2-T4 merged means that you have a greater variety of battlegrounds when you reach T4. With the system you have outlined T4 players would only have access to 9 zones to fight in, whereas with the current system T4 players have 21 zones in which to do battle.

Variety in where you play helps to delay burnout, ask anyone that is a veteran of some of the endless Kadrin Valley sieges we've had.

foghladha wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:12 pm

peterthepan3 wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:07 pm The tiers were ghost towns. If I were a new player, I would rather be thrown into the deep end than a cemetery.

You learn quick when you're forced to.

Not true. People take the path of least resistance. When they walk into T4 for the first time ever and face off with people who have been playing for years it's discouraging. It's easier to quit and go play something else than grind your way up to be survivable.

We brought 160 players from other games into RoR when we relaunched our WAR chapter, only 46 remain. The rest got to T4 and decided this wasn't the game for them.

Guess it depends on the people you play with. If people are deadset on learning the game and its mechanics, and make friendly with reputable guilds/play with friends who are experienced, you can learn the ropes very quickly. You also have an amazingly powerful bolster buff that is essentially a steroid in the right hands/settings (provided you're using rank-appropriate gear at all times).

I, too, have invited players over from WoW who actually preferred being able to fight with everyone else (even with the gear/rank disadvantages). It gave them a taste of what to expect straight off the bat - without having to spend a lot of time leveling to T4 first. Whereas before, people I invited would leave because of the lack of action in T2/T3 (exacerbated by the fact that scenarios simply weren't popping at a consistent rate).