Current Ilum is a failed concept for many reasons. Pointless and unrewarding zerging, faction imbalance and poor performance are just the pinnacle.

 

But alas, we can fix some of those issues by tuning Ilum into one of the most popular and addictive PvP games.

 

The idea is simple,

 

we take the Ilum map as it currently is and make a few simple modifications turning it essentially into an MMO version of DotA.

 

 

The great thing is, the map already has most of the necessary ingredients present. They just need to be moved accordingly or incorporated properly.

 

Here's the basic gist of it:

 

1. Each base is home to a massive planetary shield generator that needs to be destroyed by the opposing team. (Like the Battle of Hoth).

 

2. There are 3 main attack-lanes between the two bases. On on the left, one straight through the middle, and one on the far right.

 

3. Every ~5 minutes or so, a transporter will drop off 1 Walker in each respective lane. That Walker will then commence to traverse the lane towards the enemy base, attacking any viable target along the way (namingly the "armored turrets").

 

4. These Walkers have two sets of weapons. One main gun, used against stationary positions like the aforementioned Shield-Generators and armored turrets, as well as a light anti-infantry weapon to shoot at nearby enemy players. This weapon should have a fairly short range and not deal too much damage while still being effective enough at fending off small groups of lone attackers.

 

5. Players can damage these walkers by firing RPGs at them, just like currently. These RPGs can be purchased for 500 credits a piece in each main base. Cast time should be slightly lower however (~5-6 seconds) while a Walker should be able to take about ~10 hits.

 

6. In the center of the map we have 3 big AA guns, just like in the battle of Alderaan. One covering each respective lane. Seizing control of that AA gun will increase the respawn time of that lane's Walker by ~2 minutes.

 

7. About half way between the center and each base in each lane, there is an intermediate stationary armored turret that is highly lethal to players (not instant gibs, but ~2 shot kills maybe). This armored turrent can only be damaged by RPGs or the Walkers main guns.

 

8. The idea is to have the Walkers take out these armored defensive positions while the players protect the Walker from incoming RPG attacks. Players can also assist the Walker with firing RPGs at the armored turret while the Walker tanks the turrents damage.

 

9. Once these intermediate potions are destroyed, the Walker will commence his Assault towards the enemy base.

 

10. Once destroyed, there is no way to repair destroyed emplacements.

 

11. The shield generator is protected by 2 aforementioned armored turrets.

 

12. Once those are destroyed, the shield generator will be open to attack.

 

13. Once destroyed and planetary bombardment will commence thus ending the game.

 

14. Victors will be rewarded appropriately. A cooldown period of 1-2 hours is initiated until the map resets and starts over.

 

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For this to succeed, Bioware would need to:

 

-Give Walkers a good walking animation

-Program a reliable attack-AI (Walkers shouldn't stray off their pre-determined paths, but should follow a logical attack-priority)

-Move AA guns into the right position

-Make terrain alterations to channel the 3 attack-lanes.

-Add a PvP vendor selling RPGs.

-Program "arrival" timers for each lane.

-Make all of this not lag.

 

 

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What it would fix:

 

1. Create multiple hot-spots, thus improving performance and less zerg-fests.

2. It would add real objectives and an achievable end to Ilum.

3. It would hopefully be as addicting as real DoTA.

4. No more lag-spikes when quests-objectives change hands.

5. A battle similar to the Battle of Hoth, featured in "The Empire Strikes back".

6. A real alternative to farming Warzones.

7. Could actually be fun.

 

What it would not address:

 

1. Population imbalances. Sure, you could cap the zone at 30v30 or 50v50 but fixing population imbalances isn't what this post or concept is about.

 

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How I hope it plays out:

 

Well I'm sure most of you are familiar with DotA. But essentially I picture 2 bigger zergs surrounding each factions most "progressed" Walker, each trying to protect theirs, while taking out the other.

 

Then there will be minor PvP groups fighting over control of the 3 main guns in the middle, since they provide a significant benefit to whomever controls them.

 

Then you might have smaller packets of stealthers and other sneaky people who bypass the armored turrets in hope of getting some cheap-shots off at the enemy Walker while nobody's watching.

 

Other than that, it's basically a tug-of-war between two factions fighting for superiority.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Dee-Jay

-Reserved- Edited January 30, 2012 by Dee-Jay

DoTA!! Could I have Strygwyr?

 

 

Ok, seriously that would be more awesome than I can believe they could pull off. There needs to be a dynamic, moving component to the map. Guildwars does it, WoW has a bit of it I believe, as well as LoTRO (albeit in a flawed manner that leads to stare-offs like Central Ilum).

Edited January 30, 2012 by Belecfaron

tip learned from riot game forums.... BUMP!

bump!!!

bump!!!!

I can see it now.

 

*group of Imperials at bottom lane get ganked by group of Republics from middle lane*

 

"*** MID?!?! WHY U NO CALL MISS/MIA??"

 

 

 

But seriously, this sounds like a great idea on paper. Can Bioware actually implement this correctly? I highly doubt it.

bump...

Considering how broken Ilum is, it's worth a shot.

bump!!!

Considering how broken Ilum is, it's worth a shot.

 

I think the beauty of the suggestion is that most of the ingredients are already there. They just need to animate and shift around some stuff.

I think the beauty of the suggestion is that most of the ingredients are already there. They just need to animate and shift around some stuff.

 

.... bump?

Twitch MIA.

I was thinking the same thing about DOTA but honestly TL:DR.

still i agree with the title.

somebody hire this man. I didnt read it all, but DotA is the way to go.

 

The problem with illum is that its TOO open.

 

WZ is great, because it's fast action with clear objectives.

Ilum is like:

1. Where are the enemy? Cant find any...Ok lets all go home

OR

2. Too many enemies, lets disband for now.

OR.

3. Forget it just farm boxes

 

 

Cant we have a huge WZ on ilum that can involve many ppl?

 

I think his idea is great, 1 ops group per lane, 3 lanes

 

and give a HUGE significant pvp advantage to the controller.

The problem with this is that already I hear left and right about people calling this game too linear. Adding in something like this would only be well-accepted if it had some amount of freedom to it, or if people had access to some decent form of open-world PvP.

Sounds like a superb idea. I'd vote for it!

Yeah sounds pretty great. A couple of things though. Make the RPG unique so you can't stock up on them. You would either have to walk back and forth to the vendor or you know... bring friends...

 

As mentioned before, cap it so you can have let's say only 25% more players of Faction A than Faction B. If there are only 20 Reps, you can only have 25 Imps and anyone else trying to get in is ported to the outside of PvP area.

 

Lastly, and that is actually the hardest part because it will require modifications to the map, make it so Ilum is not that open. Have the lanes be clearly defined and switching between them should only be possible at certain locations. Otherwise, you will see too much of lane hopping.

Damn, the forums move fast. Bumping because I'd rather have 5 pages of bumps and people reading a good thread than QQing and ************ at each other because class X is OP or Faction Y is imbalanced. This is actually a good thread people! Read it!

It's a good idea, but I can't say it's going to make me want to go to Ilum and get run over by sith stampede.

 

One thing I would like to see is if the Walkers are going to be targetting infantry I would like them to have to be >30M away. This basically forces the team attacking the walker to get close instead of holding their line and just grappling people into the herd.

I agree. The range of the walkers should be much bigger than the standard range for spellcasters.

I agree. The range of the walkers should be much bigger than the standard range for spellcasters.

 

Well RPGs would be the only way to damage the Walkers, so the guns need to have a range >= the RPGs.

 

But it's nice some people here are as enthusiastic about the idea as I am.

They -definitely- need to make Ilum more corridored. It's so open atm you can just sail past any enemies. Making it into ice trenches and tunnels would encourage players to run into one another.

wow, great idea. but i doubt they will update ilum any time soon

please dont bring your moba crap into the mmo/genre space.

 

 

/thread