A possible way to fix realm imbalance during off-peak hours

[Telwe]

It seems that during euro nights the realm balance has always been heavily skewed to one realm. Alsius is enjoying their period of domination right now, and once it was Ignis and maybe in the future it will be Syrtis. Right now, during euro days, when there are the most players online, there are very very few invasions. Then when most of the server sleeps, the strong realm wishes as often as they lke with little resistance. The normal active players of the other two realms cannot reasonably defend (cuz we have work and uni and families and stuff).

Now if this is what the game Devs want, then so be it. But I think it can be improved to include everyone during invasions without making people wake up at odd times every night.

My suggestion is:
-relic system stays the same as normal.
-However, once a realm puts relics in power source, the gate vulnerability is delayed to a future time, with regular updates/countdowns discerning as such.
-The time of gate vulnerability is sometime within the next 24 hours, which varies throughout the day.

So if relics are placed at 3 am euro time, and the server announces invasion for 6 pm, all the realms can sort of muster their strength... leading to bigger battles and more competitive fights. Now of course you must be wondering how the 3 am ppl tht placed relics will be able to take part in the invasion THEY started. Quite simply, vary the invasion times throughout the day, either make them random or pick 3 @ 8 hours apart and alternate them. And if they can't make the timed invasion, they can be consoled with the knowledge that they helped their realm by giving them an invasion chance. (It also gives less populated realms that do not have the numbers for gate/gems a goal which they can accomplish and then pass the torch on to their realm mates that log in at different times).

I just dont see the point of playing the game as it is, when I (and most of the server) could play from 6 am to Midnight and have negligible effect on invasions/gems/wishes. Syrtis invaded empty Ignis a few days ago to capture gems, and it was boring as fuck and unfair.

I acknowledge its not a perfect system, but it would stop the mentality of invading empty realms and/or surprising realms while they sleep. This, to me, is more of a cancer to the game than any bug/lag/rng/deathmatch issues or whatever, because invasions and dragon wishes are the ultimate goals of this game.

-Daith (Syrtis/GankForce)

Edit: I wont be responding to trolls/flamers or anyone without something concrete to say.

[Tenel_Ka]

It's an... interesting suggestion. It would prevent invasions from constantly occurring in off-peak time, but I think it would cause some problems as well.

It would be almost impossible to invade the most populated realm, as they'll be warned of invasion attempts against them and should have more numbers to defend than the other realms have to invade. Such a system would eliminate the possibility of having any planned invasions, and although planned invasions are a thing of the past, they would be the most effective way for a weak realm to invade. The system would stop invasions of empty realms, but it would also prevent the weaker realms from taking advantage of a drop in the stronger realm's population.

It also sounds like it would make off-peak time really boring. Invasions would be gone (except for planned invasions) and less people would participate in relic capture and defense because it matters less.

I'd also question the necessity of such a change. The rewards for invading aren't anything substantial. There's WMC and XP - only useful to alts and new players by now - and dragons which drop mediocre armour anyway. I can see how it's disappointing to not be able to defend your realm, but it's not as if anything bad occurs from being invaded.

I do like the idea of more populated invasions, but I feel it could be achieved differently, like scheduling a time each week where a realm's gate is vulnerable.


tl;dr
Would make strong realm impossible to invade
Would make off-peak boring

[pieceofmeat]

Setting a time for a zergfest is more of a risk factor, that would likely be abused heavily by multirealmers and zerg monkies anyway.

Invasions give no real rewards anymore, so i just dont care what happens when im not online.

If anything i think it would be way better to give some boosts for invading on "regular times", making it easier or more rewarding etc.

[Ludwig Von Mises]

The reason the two other realms are more empty is because of multis and their zerging power, and whats even worse then multis monopolizing the game is the gate strength. How do you expect to have nice, fun, long lasting battles at the gate and walls, if your barely able to stay at the gate for more then 10-20 seconds in an attempt to fight them off in vain, and when your outnumbered 1/4 or more?

If you want to see any positive change, you have to first start with the "gate strength" on the supposedly "GREAT WALL".

These reasons combined is why most players have either giving in to easy invasions by joining the multis, don't play the game as much anymore because of this, or have left the game for something better then this bullshit.

[pieceofmeat]

Originally Posted by Ludwig Von Mises

The reason most of the other two realms are more empty is because of multis and their zerging power, and whats even worse then multis monopolizing the game is the gate strength. How do you expect to have nice, fun, long lasting battles at the gate and walls, if your barely able to stay at the gate for more 10-20 seconds in an attempt to fight them off in vain, and when your outnumbered 1/4 or more?

If you want to see any positive change, you have to start first with the "gate strength" on the supposedly "GREAT WALL".

These reasons combined is why most players have either giving in to easy invasions by joining the multis, don't play the game as much anymore because of this, or have left the game for something better then this bullshit.

Somehow i dont think forcing invaders to be even more zergy is the solution either.

It may make that specific invasion more interesting, but likely also a factor that creat more imbalance and multirealming in the long run.

[mind-trick]

so if you live outside the EU or you dont have much spare time, you have to wait to participate in invasions most of the time? would be good for europeans but i wouldnt enjoy that.
and keep in mind that, after the invasion is scheduled, capping a fort would be practically pointless. would be a fun killer. and would also lead to lots of waiting and regrouping etc.
sorry but you cant balance realms like this with any kind of method alike especially not by forcing players

[Telwe]

Originally Posted by mind-trick

so if you live outside the EU or you dont have much spare time, you have to wait to participate in invasions most of the time? would be good for europeans but i wouldnt enjoy that.
and keep in mind that, after the invasion is scheduled, capping a fort would be practically pointless. would be a fun killer. and would also lead to lots of waiting and regrouping etc.
sorry but you cant balance realms like this with any kind of method alike especially not by forcing players

This is still a broad concept and the details are not fleshed out.

In response to your question:
Not necessarily. Maybe the RNG for the invasion time can be skewed so that it reflects the server population. (Inventing numbers here So for maybe every 4 or 5 invasions, 1 will be @ off peak time. I understand its not particularly fair for this few, but right now its extremely unfair for the guys that never invade. Its a "for the greater good" thing.

"keep in mind that, after the invasion is scheduled, capping a fort would be practically pointless. would be a fun killer. and would also lead to lots of waiting and regrouping etc"

No. Lets say Realm A places relics. Invasion is scheduled. Then lets say a realm's forts are protected for a period of time. During that time they can gank or invade the other realm or something. Realm A can go back and retake those forts later and replace relics and schedule a second invasion. I don't see why we can't queue invasions. The fun is still there. Most of the euros of ignis and syrtis log in play knowing there is ~0% of invading alsius during the afternoon, but they still run around and have fun killing. (Also, as a side suggestion, there could be some small bonus for the ppl who successfully place relics. Maybe GC, or mags, or WMC or something. I'm sure ppl could come up with an appropriate reward). I think there can be enough of a system/rewards to make it fun in off peak hours even if you can't immediately invade empty realm.

---------------
@ Tenel-KA
"It would be almost impossible to invade the most populated realm, as they'll be warned of invasion attempts against them and should have more numbers to defend than the other realms have to invade."

I'm not sure. I've seen a few successful invasions against highly populated realms. There was one almost successful one by Alsius on Syrtis maybe 3 weeks ago during peak time, where there were a ton of ppl online. It was a great battle, and something I want to see more of. Personally, I think dragon wishes should be a special achievement, difficultly earned against the full might of the enemy realms.

" The system would stop invasions of empty realms, but it would also prevent the weaker realms from taking advantage of a drop in the stronger realm's population."

Again, I'm not sure about this assumption. Ignis and Syrtis can be incredibly strong in both warriors + conj combo and general zerginess if their big boys are all logged in at once.


"I'd also question the necessity of such a change. The rewards for invading aren't anything substantial. There's WMC and XP - only useful to alts and new players by now - and dragons which drop mediocre armour anyway. I can see how it's disappointing to not be able to defend your realm, but it's not as if anything bad occurs from being invaded. "

To you, Piece of Meat and Ludwig: Where's the realm pride? I always saw wishes as a reward in itself and not done for the wish rewards.


-------------
@Ludwig

I support adjusting great wall strength to help the outnumbered realm. At least until something more concrete is put in place.

[oim]

All limitations of the contents of the game are wrong. It is how it is. Day or night - the zerg rules every RvR game.
How often did we invade another realm close to the invasion-conten-shutting-down time and finally failed BECAUSE OF 5 MINUTES!!!! It sucks. Get more players is the solution.

Since ngd removed the portal amulet invasions are worthless anyway.

And invading empty realms is boring.

[crownapollo]

You're basically suggesting something like the relic lock for invasions, except you want to set the invasions at a random announced time later in the day. Relic locks only made things worse by making the off-hours of the server even more of a wasteland than it was before, and some people only have time to play the game at certain times. Like pieceofmeat said already, a set time for invasions would probably make it more of a zergfest. There isn't realm loyalty like there kind of used to be.

Personally, I don't care that much about invasions anymore, and it isn't the main feature of the game for me. It's a means to an end to get your characters to war master. I'd much rather find a good field fight / hunt or have a good fort fight.

[Telwe]

Thanks for the response. I completely underestimated how little many people care about their realm's success.