Glad to see I'm not the only one that finds guarding a node to be boring.

It really does suck (even if you win) if you end up guarding a node that sees no action for an entire match. Sure, you could abandon it and enter the fray but to me winning is everything and I don't want to be the reason we lose a node.

Along those lines I think an objective based Warzone can be realized WITHOUT the need for fighting on a node or guarding objectives the entire time. It could be thought of more or less as a "race" between the two teams. Basically you'd have a string of objectives that need to be captured/sabotaged/interacted with in some way in sequence with the first team to complete them all being the victor. Deciding how many members of the team focus on disrupting the other team and how many try to progress in your objectives would likely lead to some interesting strategies.

As far as the map goes I think it would be a nice place to tie-in to GSF. Your objectives could be getting pilots into their fighters, sabotaging enemy ships/supply stores, activating/repairing orbital defenses, and other things of that nature.

Also as a way to keep it fresher for a longer period of time (if this is feasible) create a rather large pool of potential objectives and perhaps a bit of variance into the map itself so while not being a true "randomly generated new warzone every time" there could perhaps be a handful of different combinations of objectives you could get dealt.

Along the same lines I can also think of Belsavis where there is a race to a recoverable piece of rakata tech. Basically it would be like a vault both teams were trying to crack faster than the other to reach the objective first yet you have the option of dedicating some of your forces to delay the opposition rather than going for pure speed progression.

Please point me to a WZ right now that does not require proper team play to win. Even Arenas require good team work.

Never said WZs don't require team play to win.

But there are plenty of 8v8 maps out there where solo queuers who know how to play an objective and work with a team are gods because they are the only ones doing so. Amazing, how easily a smart healer or DPS impacts a WZ where 14 out of the 16 are bads.

None of these WZs, however, give the objective of team work. Team work is only a means to complete the objective, and the state of bads we have here is a combination of the unwilling, the arrogant, and the ones who understand the objective but not how to work as a team towards that objective.

And you're a fool if you think one and two are the more prevalent, just because you hear them louder than you do the silent bad.

You will never convert casuals to competitive players through a game-mode. The only way a casual becomes competitive is when they decide they want to be.

Course, and a game mode that emphasizes team work as the objective itself further promotes the idea of that conversion better than anything else currently in game. Simply because, again, it actually doesn't cater to the casuals like arenas did in objective, yet completely opposite in actual gameplay mechanics.

You seem to have this notion that if presented with a challenge, the majority will rise to the occasion to complete said challenge. That is where you are so very wrong and naive. Bads do not take personal responsibility for their gameplay; it is always the other guy that is OP and needs nerfing.

 

The bolded shows exactly how naive you are. The objective in Arena is to kill the other team. It could not be any more straight forward than that. Yet the stupidly overwhelming majority finds that to be an incredibly difficult concept to comprehend. And very few bads have risen to the occasion in Solo, which does require a higher skill level. They blame OP classes, queue-syncing, etc. It is never their own fault that they lost.

No, I don't believe the majority will "rise up to any challenge". I believe the majority is more ignorant than unresponsive/unwilling, as only the loud minority basically says, "Screw you, I do what I want." in any side of the argument.

Make the objective "team work", quality of pugs will improve because people will play in a game mode that naturally forces them to learn how to work with others and reward them with failure if they don't. Arenas failed at this notion because the objective was still "death match". So that's what people try to do: kill the enemy team, without defending their own.

Your even proved it yourself with your analysis in bold, only stating the objective is to kill the enemy team. So guess what happens when you play against a team that knows how to kill an enemy AND knows how to defend their own?

You get the current setup, where pugs wander around in ignorance and create a terrible PvP environment because failed game designs and a community who refuse to take responsibility because they can actually still make viable points in excuses. Unlike a 4v4 VIP scenario, people can still find comfort and solace in running solo in 8v8s no problem, even so in the mess that is PvP arenas.

'Teamwork' is not an objective.

^ This.

^ This.

You remember when that quarterback one that superbowl all by himself?

Me neither.

You remember when that quarterback one that superbowl all by himself?

 

Me neither.

wasn't that the Broncos strategy for this years superbowl? It would explain a lot

You remember when that quarterback one that superbowl all by himself?

 

Me neither.

Is the objective in NFL football 'teamwork'? No.

Teamwork is a means to accomplish the objective. Even in this VIP game mode, 'teamwork' is the means to win the game (via protecting your VIP and killing the enemy's VIP).

So again, 'teamwork' is not an objective.

You remember when that quarterback one that superbowl all by himself?

 

Me neither.

What a horrible analogy.

You remember when that quarterback one that superbowl all by himself?

 

Me neither.

.....Do you even know what you're talking about?

Would it be too frustrating to not have control over who the VIP was or would it balance out in PUG vs Premade?

There is a significant amount of hard CC where we as players are not able to control our characters on screen. We deal with it and then move on... Usually from a spawn point. I really see little difference in this case.

Would the majority of players feel excited they were selected as the VIP or angry/upset?

This is entirely up to you and your Dev team. Is VIP status a fun thing to be in game, or is it like wearing a Kick-Me sign? The answer to your question lies within your Dev team and anyone testing the content.

Would people /stuck because they don't want to be the VIP or otherwise leave?

Again, this depends on how you guys implement it. Regarding /stuck or /afk, when people see they are obviously fighting against a premade and there is no hope in winning, they are much more inclined to leave than stay. If they were VIP, it is not set in stone that your team is going to lose, so I would like to think they are more inclined to stay.

Would the team pick the VIP based on AC and HP?

Speaking from being in an Arena, the team I am with generally types a basic plan in /ops and attempts to stick with it. The "Plan" usually involves discussing which enemy to target first and then try and burn down quickly. The UI showing the enemy team is perfect to mimic for VIP. It shows just enough information to make a calculated choice without showing too much. This choice made by the team I am on usually involves killing the squishiest target or highest priority target. I see VIP being no different. That is... assuming VIP doesn't modify the character. If VIP changes any stats or abilities usable by the VIP character, well, I really have no idea as to how people will react. To my knowledge, the only thing that changes characters like this currently in the game is, in fact, Bolster.

What info could we show about each character so the team can make an informed decision on who they want to target?

Mimicking the current Arena Frames is a good start. If VIP changes anything on the character, those changes need to be shown in a tooltip so that anyone making a choice for their vote can make an informed choice.

I would like to add another idea. People have been asking for re-skins of current maps to keep things fresh instead of a full fledged new map. Perhaps instead of a re-skin, add in different mechanics to the same warzones. I can see the same current lineup of maps being queued from, but add in differing mechanics for a percentage of the maps. Say... 20% of matches will have a VIP to protect, 20% of matches will have "____________", and 60% of matches will be normal. This adds more flavor and depth to your already decent maps', keeps things fresh so people are less bored, and the mechanic of random mechanics being added to matches will help set your game apart in the MMO market.

Note: the added mechanics to these same maps will obviously adjust the winning conditions accordingly. I don't have any ideas regarding that.

This is entirely up to you and your Dev team. Is VIP status a fun thing to be in game, or is it like wearing a Kick-Me sign? The answer to your question lies within your Dev team and anyone testing the content.

Maybe in order to make VIP something fun to do, the character selected as VIP has their abilities and gear switched out to a specific set, with fun to use abilities that are standardized? There might still be a difference with the player's experience level, but that would always be an issue. Maybe make them a special assault soldier who gets a huge rocket launcher to shoot at people and has to destroy something at the end of the escort?

How about a simple Pub v Imp slaughter? FFA GSF style.

 

Heck why not reuse what was already in the game and make an instanced illum?

 

In a controlled environment that scenario has potential.

 

You eliminate the population imbalance issue by zoning in teams, get a more stable environment performance wise (I would imagine) and the fact reward is gated by final success in the scenario kill/objective trading is no longer an issue.

I made a World PvP event suggestion like this ages ago in the "Suggestion Box"

Instead of Illum it would be a section of existing D. Kass or Couruscant map about the size of the gree event. Instanced into groups the servers can handle.

Themed "Invasion!" it's basically a free for all Faction vs Faction, or maybe a "Control-the-base" objective. Fleet would have occasional Alerts that the home planet is under attack and all hands need to report to the shuttle Bay to report to the front (but no real obligation).

You could even group various skill levels to various locations, noobs upto 20 fight in the spaceport. While 55s fight it the Senate halls.

I think it would be cool to see a bunch of sith advance on the galactic Senate. The map is already on our hard drives but we never get to go there.

It's not a full warzones suggestion but it can be applied to most warzones:

Player triggered traps.

I don't know if anybody else played DF2: Jedi Knight multi-player but some of the maps had control panels a player could trigger to set off traps that filled an area with thermal detonators, blaster fire or triggered a fan that blew players off catwalks to their deaths.

I think high powered player triggered traps would be fun and add another strategy level to warzones.

Maybe in order to make VIP something fun to do, the character selected as VIP has their abilities and gear switched out to a specific set, with fun to use abilities that are standardized? There might still be a difference with the player's experience level, but that would always be an issue. Maybe make them a special assault soldier who gets a huge rocket launcher to shoot at people and has to destroy something at the end of the escort?

VIP-only abilities is a very interesting idea indeed.

Basic Concept: Attack/Defense escort mission.

Setting: On Hoth powerful technology, once thought lost, has been recently excavated from the ice. Having caught wind of the discovery both the Republic and Empire go into full scale battle in order to acquire the devices. One faction has secured the Mc Guffin... I mean tech and are making a daring run to move them to an extraction point while the enemy is still fully engaged.

An escort team has been put together to protect the automated tankers, as they move through a battlefield. However the opposing forces are still active in the area and have descended on the extraction point to stop the acquisition of the technology while their air support closes in.

How it Works: It's basically an attack/defense mission with an escort slant. Two rounds broken into three potential stages, similar to Voidstar

Defender Role- Their objective is to make sure the tankers carrying the tech makes it to the shuttles. So they have two tasks, defend the the shuttle launch zone and escort the tankers.

Attacker Role- Pretty simple here, either destroy tankers until reinforcements arrive, or destroy the shuttles directly.

Tankers- Relatively slow vehicles that spawn from 6 numbered points on the far east and west edge of the map and follow a predetermined route. Some paths are more winding, can intersect with other paths, and possibly underground. Multiple tankers can spawn from the same point at a time. Tankers are destroyed by being with in 5 meters of it and using a specialized weapon. The more weapons used the faster the tanker is destroyed using a Novare-type capping mechanic. Damage to the tanker is retained, so you can damage it for 90% at one point, then later in it's route take out the last 10%.

The tanker routes are represented at all times as dashed lines on the map and mini-map, and when a tanker appears it's path becomes solid as well the tanker itself being represented by a dot. Defenders will be notified at which point(s) tankers will spawn just before it appears. When a tanker reaches the Extraction Zone it's instantly loaded into the shuttle.

Extraction Zone- At the far south of the map. Defenders spawn from an elevator in the center that opens at a predetermined interval. The shuttle is at the far end of the zone. Attackers can destroy the ships by planting a bomb, that can then be defused by Defenders. The time to plant should be relatively short with a long timer timer for the explosion. Only 1 bomb can be planted at a time.

Attackers can spawn from one of three points at the north edge of the map. Each Attacker is on his/her own 30 second rez timer.

Each round Defenders have to secure 3 separate extractions or stages. The first extraction has 4 ships and each subsequent extraction subtracts one ship, tankers spawn more frequently each round as well. If the Defenders can secure 5 tankers with at least 1 ship in the extraction zone, the round moves to the next stage. If Attackers are able to prevent the Defenders from completing all 3 stages by the end of the round, an air strike appears and they win. Attackers can snatch a quick victory by destroying all ships in the extraction zone during any stage.

At end of the first round teams switch roles. Winner is determined by which ever team got the most extractions. If teams got the same amount then which ever team did it the shortest amount of time. If neither team got an extraction winner is determined by which team destroyed the most tankers.

Basically the map tries to equally emphasize battle for the tankers and the extraction zone. This will prevent AFK guarding as it will most likely be getting pressured by Attackers, especially as less ships are available in the zone. Since the tankers are incredibly vulnerable, Defenders can't just all sit the extraction zone or they won't progress to another stage. Attackers can't just zerg the extraction zone, as the tankers will be rolling in and pushing the stages. It would also take a incredibly overwhelming force as they would basically be fighting on an enemy spawn point.

The reduction of ships and the increase spawn time for tankers as stages progress allows for comebacks for both Attackers and Defenders.

I would like to urge Bioware to consider to never again create maps where you are forced to keep someone AFK. Guardian a nod, a door, a hut in Novare... Any kind of guarding means you've effectively condemned someone to "AFK", you're rewarding not participating and thats a horrible experience. As soon as you have a stealth on the team they are expected to guard or else they will get flamed.

This. But it's not a death knell for nodes. Just make the person there be able to interact with the rest of the fighting somehow. Traps, gunfire, being able to see what else is going on, something more then stand there and call when attacked. If the node were a gun someone could mount and use to effect targets strategically it would be a vast QoL for people banished to the position.

A moving King of the Hill is a game type we have talked about. We like the idea but one concern is that it might end up just being a moving dogpile where the whole team is fighting the entire enemy team, making the whole experience a cluster on one point. What do yall think?

 

Good luck with the cooking Rasen!

Easy enough to fix. Have more then one hill. 2 is fair, 4 or 6 more interesting. Smaller fights more options for turnovers. Just make sure the people on the hill can interact in some way or the moving hills come close to each other often.

Hey there,

The DEVS might have seen this post already, but ill do a repost here since they are asking for ideas for new wz's:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=721257

It's a suggestion topic for Warzone Ideas. Very good ideas in there, check it out

No shortage of ideas, now to just have to find someone with the resources to implement them.

We have no plans for that.

Basic Concept: Balmorran Takeover - Linear Symmetric 5-Control Point

Setting: The Empire is laying siege to a Republic walker factory on Balmorra from a site containing their own walker factory. In between these two locations is a somewhat linear (though not simple), effectively symmetrical battlefield containing 5 control points: the center is a supply depot containing ore refineries, as well as the means of delivering those refined metals to each side's factory. The next two control points in either direction are control centers for each side's Anti-Aircraft emplacements, and the final control point in either direction is each side's Factory and Shield Generator. While the shield generators are up, there are very few routes to the final control point that will capture the factory, and it is easily defensible.

How it Works: Unlike other game modes, control points do not need to be "clicked" for a capture -- if you are familiar with Team Fortress 2's style of capture, it works like that: whoever is standing on a control point (uncloaked) earns progress towards capturing that control point, unless an enemy is standing on top of it, in which case capture progress is blocked entirely. More allies standing on the point will earn capture progress faster, up to a maximum of 4 players (doesn't have to be 4x as fast, just noticeably faster). If the enemy is repelled, capture progress is slowly reverted until the current owner of the control point regains full control. Once control of a point is attained, all control points behind the currently captured point are LOCKED and cannot be captured until the adjacent control point switches hands. This means that whoever has the center control point cannot lose their Anti-Aircraft defenses, but if nobody holds the center control point, both sides' AA batteries are protected. Additionally, the more points a team holds, the closer they spawn to the enemy base.

The ultimate goal of the game is to hold all 5 control points simultaneously, and that goal can be helped along by holding more control points than the other team for a long enough time. Each factory is currently constructing a heavy walker (think AT-AT style heavy walker), but is short on supplies, and progress on this walker's construction can only be moved along by holding the central control point. Should one team hold the center control point for a long enough time, the walker will be COMPLETE, will launch from the factory, and will start slowly, ominously marching its way towards the other team's base. Should it come in range of enemy players, it will open fire and become a deadly force multiplier.

Attacking the walker directly is futile; that armor is too strong for blasters. In order to destroy the walker, the other team must successfully call in an AIRSTRIKE against it (similar to how Ilum walkers get destroyed by rocket launchers). Wondering how you can call an airstrike on a deadly walker? Its guns are forward-facing and mounted on its head, so it can only fire at things in a large cone in front of it. In addition, it takes a few seconds for it to start firing at a player, so LoS cover can be used against it, and players will be visually made aware that the walker is targeting them if they walk into its field of fire. Flank it, and you can click it to start progress on calling an airstrike. You must remain uninterrupted until the airstrike finishes "casting".

You cannot call in an airstrike while the walker is near an enemy AA emplacement, so it will not be vulnerable until it reaches the center control point, unless you somehow manage to capture the center and the opposing AA turret just as the walker was leaving the factory, in which case it will be wide open (but it will keep on walking toward the enemy base if ignored). If an airstrike is successfully called in, Bombers will fly in and rain death upon the walker and anything nearby, potentially killing players and giving the bombing team an opening for a counterattack. HOWEVER! If the team controlling the walker captures the opposing team's AA defenses, their fighters will begin flying sorties over the battlefield, gaining AIR SUPERIORITY. No more airstrikes can be called in until your fighters arrive to turn the tide, and until then, you must hold out against an all-out assault by the other team. Friendly fighters will always arrive before the enemy walker gets in range of the shield generator, but if no airstrikes are successfully called before the walker does get in range, it will destroy that team's shield generator, opening a gigantic hole in their defenses which will allow the attacking team to easily overrun them. This hole, once opened, can never be repaired, but if the team currently on the ropes manages to retake their AA defenses at any time, the factory will be locked to capture once again, and the center control point will once again be available for capture. The moment any side holds all 5 control points, the game is over.

While it should be possible to capture all 5 without the aid of a walker, it should not be easy. To ensure that teams don't assign people solely to sitting at a point to defend it, the center control point should take quite a while to capture unless multiple people are standing on it. Both teams will be alerted very loudly when any of the control points are being captured, and each team must spawn behind their most recently captured control point (so that when their players die, they must walk past the point in order to return to the battlefield). Additionally, each point after the center control point captures faster than the last, and the final control point, comparatively, captures in the blink of an eye. This ensures that if 4 players are already in the middle of capturing the opposing AA batteries, 4 stealthers on the other team can't suddenly jump on the center control point and ruin their plans, but if those 4 stealthers did manage to reach the center while the rest of their team stalls the attackers, they would reverse the momentum. In this way, nobody has to sit the game out for the good of the team, and there are many points where if the defenders hold on for just a little bit longer, they can reverse the flow of the battle and take the upper hand.

This idea was inspired by, you guessed it, 5CP maps from Team Fortress 2 (like Granary), but with a Star Wars twist -- specifically, the Battle of Hoth from Empire Strikes Back. Tell me what you think!

Some probably have proposed this, but I don't have the time to read through all the pages at work

Also, english is not my native langauge so please excuse any weird and non-sense making phrases.

First off all, I think this is a great move by BW and the developers and a great chance for us.

My idea would be something like a Rakghoul Apocalypse:

1 player starts off as a Rakghoul. His goal is to kill the 7 other not infected players.

Now you might say :" Great idea you nublet ! You just condemned that poor guy into a life full of faceplants!! WTG!!!"

That's why he will have help. An ever growing army of rakghoul NPC's will help him achieve this goal. The longer the fight goes on the more waves and harder mobs come will spawn and to his help.

If one of the 7 Players dies, he respawns as a rakghoul too and will fight the remaining not infected players.

The fight is over if either all players have become rakhgouls or managed to survive 15 minutes without being defeated.

Beware: at least one non infected Player has to stand in the main fighting area or the rakghouls will overrun that place and will win!

This mechanic is intended to prevent the non-infected players to run away so they don't die.

To make things easier for the Non-Rakghoul Players manable turrets that do increased damage can be used at a certain point between fights. Those turrets can of course be destroyed and have a cooldown.

My 2nd proposal would be a Domination variant:

Placed on tatooine and or on Illum/Hoth each faction has their home base from which they start and then proceed to capture certain crucial respawn points on the map.

For example a Jawa speeder, a hydro farm, a sarlacc pit etc...

With every point a faction manages to capture more reinforcements in the form of NPC's will spawn.

Ever faction starts off with for example 100 NPC reinforcements.

The more respawn points a faction captures the faster these reinforcements will spawn and more respawns will be available. For example 50 per point. If a faction loses a point it also loses the reinforcements.

Losing and regaining a point after the first Initial capture will not result in more troops. The already available troops will just respawn faster.

The game is over if one side either captured all the points including the enemy base (no need to channel anything = just standing inside that area will capture it as lonsg as there is no player of the enemy faction there.) or has killed every player including the reinforcements.

When a player dies he can choose where to respawn.

Also add speeders, star fighters and walkers that can be manned by players. A respawn point cannot be taken inside a vehicle or flyer but they can be used to shoot at other players. Rocket launchers and turrets can be used to shoot down the fighters and vehicles.

Feel free to flame away

So....Alex, after a week of listening, how long before we see action by Bioware? How soon will you address the players on what your final plan is given these suggestions? Or will this be another one of those polls like "Which planet do you wanna see next" that fades into obscurity?

ques Jeopardy! Music