Megaserver Idea: BG's

[JunoReactor1985]

I know this has been brought up again and again across multiple threads and a lot of the veteran groups of players have been avidly against the idea of bringing a solid pvp option to DDO. But with the announcement of a mega-server the idea of a full-fledged and completely fleshed out battlegrounds system replete with a group que system I feel is ideal for the future of this game and the growth of new players influx to the overall meta of this game. It would add a huge layer to unique builds having the ability to do Capture the Flag, or team dm and team objectives with a kind of honor system with titles, cosmetics etc. I sincerely believe it would work very well if it were a system that incorporates a standard power level irregardless of gear and reincarnate passives. There could be 1-3 of these from levels 1-10 another 1-3 for levels 10-20 and again another 1-3 for 20-30 and an endgame version with progression. The endgame version could include guilds competing for a specific dungeon/raid unlock - once a guild wins they lock in for 24 hours and have access to a special dungeon/raid that offers gear specific to this kind of event ie: pvp, and has possibility for unique cosmetic rewards. The game engine in this game has always kind of spoke out to me, as being pvp ready - it plays primarily as a third person action game, even has a targeting reticle like such.

As a person that comes back to this game again and again for the character building aspect of the game I feel that what is missing here is a proper pvp thing, it doesn't have to be grandiose it doesn't have to be Warhammer or DAoC in scale, but it can be done small, 3v3, 5vs5, and even small ddo raid size vs. Something that really makes the already meaty character progression even more a blast to test and build towards. One of the biggest reasons the other MMO's retain player-base overtime is due to a dedicated community to exactly this kind of gameplay. For example in the reincarnate alt-a-holics of this game, you have players that love to build an infinite progression track of alts that level cycle 1-20 consistently. That same player base may enjoy the same 1-20 + reincarnate with a pvp option at level 10, 15, and 20 or what is popular in many online games that include a full fledged battlegrounds area is that "twinking" scene. In which players can build up to a certain level, cease level exp and build characters particularly for that hard cap of battleground tier.

As this game grows and recedes I really feel the long-term retention of its player-base will come when a similar system to the aforementioned system is implemented, and this would especially bring old players and new players fresh into the game on a DDO "Mega-server".

Thoughts, additions or resistance to the idea much welcomed, would love to hear from others in the community about the topic!

[Gniewomir]

But with the announcement of a mega-server

Huh? As far as i know they're "announcing" megaserver for at least 3 years and they're "considering" server merge for at least 6 years and so far every single time they're asked about it they say: there's some work to be done first, but they literally never said they already did anything or started doing anything. Is there any new info i do not know about?

PS: pvp in ddo? Prepare yourself for forum hatred deluge, no matter how good/bad your idea is.

[SirValentine]

As this game grows and recedes I really feel the long-term retention of its player-base will come when a similar system to the aforementioned system is implemented, and this would especially bring old players and new players fresh into the game on a DDO "Mega-server".

PvP might or might not bring in new players, and may or may not bring retention of those new players, but it will not bring back or retain the previous and existing player-base who by and large (with a few exceptions in the minority) have little interest in PvP.

But actually I rather doubt some some half-donkeyed PvP "improvement" will manage to make DDO attractive enough in the longer term to PvPers versus dedicated-to-and-designed-for-PvP games. It'll mostly annoy and drive off the kind of PvE players who have been the backbone of DDO for 15 years.

I suggest if you want PvP, you'd best be served by going to an actual PvP game. DDO isn't designed for it, and the massive makeover that would be needed to try to turn DDO into a PvP game is likely beyond SSG's resources, and would greatly annoy the current player-base.

[LordTigerDawn]

People keep bringing this us, but it already exists. Its called Khyber and is the best server of them all. Just move your Character over to Khyber and join the rest of us in being on the MegaServer.

The only reason you have not moved to the Best Server, Khyber, is it is not free. So all they have to do is make Character Transfers to Khyber only, the Best MegaServer, free for a week.

Khyber forever!!!

[Josielynn]

Won't it just make the lag worse if they throw us all together?

[droid327]

The game just isnt balanced to handle PvP in any kind of structured way like that. You'd have some classes/builds absolutely dominating, others would be worthless, and then people would inevitably start complaining and clamoring for classes to be adjusted for PvP.

How fun do you think it'd be just getting AOE one-shot by Alchs and Sorcs or picked off by a Furyshotter?

Also, the kind of players that PvP attracts arent the kind that stay in one game long-term. You said yourself you've been in and out of this game many times before. They get bored and move on to the next new PvP attraction. Or at least enough of their friends do that they follow along, because PvP falls apart without a robust active base of PvP players.