Regnum Alliances

[wizardOfIgnis]

Would formalized alliances between realms be a good idea? And why/why not?

We will soon have an update that hopefully balances classes. But realm balance/population issues remain. Many times there's nothing much to do because we're too few online in Ignis Horus. Other times we are more online, but still outnumbered by both Syrtis and Alsius and kicked out only minutes after we take a fort. And of course, sometimes far and between Ignis has the advantage.

I'd like to see more dynamics in realm balance, so that you're not doomed to frustration or switching realms/servers in case you find you joined a less fortunate realm.

So here's a thought: Regnum Alliances

The aim is to have the possibility to frequently shift the balance of power between realms. An alliance would only be possible when the imbalance reaches a given threshold, and it would only be temporary.


One way of implementing this could be (this is just a sketch, of course):

Alliances are handled in periods of 7 days.

Say we have an active population distribution of 60% + 60% against 100% (the less populated realms against the dominating realm).

For 4 days players who have at least 1 active lvl 45+ character in one of the 2 less populated realms have the option to vote "Yes" or "No" to an alliance with the other realm. 1 vote per account. During this time war rages on as usual between all three realms.

When the voting period ends, if the majority of votes in both realms fell on "Yes" a temporary alliance between the two is formed that lasts 3 days.

If not ”Yes” then nothing special happens until after 3 more days have passed - all 3 realms are still at war.

After a total of 7 days a new round of voting begins in the 2 currently less populated realms.

An alliance between 2 realms gives them the means to coordinate efforts in war:
* Characters from allied realms can not attack each other.
* Guards and fort doors let allies pass (but the realm gate doesn't).
* General chat works between those realms.
* War banners are visible between the two.

...and possibly:
* Beneficial spells like heals/buffs work on allies.
* Parties can consist of members from the two realms.


Possible benefits:
* Less frustration from playing in a less populated realm.
* More action in general.
* More invasions - more players will have the chance to experience all facets of RO (after almost 1 year of playing i haven't seen an Ignean invasion from start to finish).
* More players stay in the game/in their realm because of all the above.
* Another dimension to enhance (?) gameplay: diplomacy (how do you handle gems after a successful joint invasion?).

Problems:
* How do you handle the case where 1 realm is the underdog and the 2 others are more equal in strength?
* Possible abuse: vote for alliance and then ask your not so active friends to play during the weekend. Though it doesn't really matter – the point is that an overly dominant realm should be the underdog for a period of time.

NOTE: The dominant realm would still be dominant during at least 4 of the 7 days in the above scheme. The difference would be that players in the less populated realms would also be able to take part more in invasions and fun battles more regularly (IF they can/want to get an alliance going for 3 days - which isn't all that certain).