SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »The current population caps are just way too low for healthy three way PvP. If 10 daily PvP players swap to a different faction that is enough to determine which faction is going to win the campaign now. The population caps are just way, way to low now. 80 players/faction is just too low for healthy, competitive PvP.
SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »The current population caps are just way too low for healthy three way PvP. If 10 daily PvP players swap to a different faction that is enough to determine which faction is going to win the campaign now. The population caps are just way, way to low now. 80 players/faction is just too low for healthy, competitive PvP.
This is true. Having a low population cap also makes it harder for unorganized pugs to take on an optimized 12-man ball group, too. Sure, the organized group should demolish, but if the entire faction is stuck in one area, then there aren’t enough to get anything done elsewhere. In addition, the population of AD during Oceanic hours is way down right now. Sunday night we had 2 bar pop trying to defend against both a full pop DC and a full pop EP. AD just doesn’t have the numbers to defend against the full populations of two factions. I ask DC and EP players to think about the health of a campaign and realize that players will quit if this continues.
It could be based on population difference. It would require to re-scale the population bar (3 bars to lets say 10 bars, so what is now a 3 bar population would be a 10 bar population). If one faction "night caps" and other are empty, potential points gained by capturing objectives would be reduced by 2x, 3x, 5x, or 10x, depending on population difference.
The current lack of population for one team or another is an issue being exasperated by a few factors.
One is all the AFK people just standing around until prime time. These naturally bloat the population numbers, and cost actual players a potential low pop bonus. This issue has only gotten more obvious as the population cap has been decreased.
Then there are the scrubs who engage in some truly toxic, and abusive behaviors. These people are also taking up space that could be used by actual people.
Right now on grayhost NA/PC there are some scrubs who've begun to get more and more blatant in their shenanigans. To the point it's very obvious that there's a good deal of score boosting occurring.
Which is a form of cheating and has led to some large mass bans in the past. At least once it got to blatant to ignore.
As an example....
Just the other day on Gray Host. AD was in third, had 2 bars of pop while EP was pop locked, and missing scrolls. DC was in 1st, had EP's scrolls. Oh, and DC also had emperor.
So Naturally there was a group of 'skilled' EP at fare running around in a bot train attacking the ungrouped AD. Outside of Fare more EP on 'good' builds were troll sieging. Each group of EP outnumbered the AD who were at the keep.
They just kept it lit and farmed randoms. Never really making an attempt to hold the keep.
Meanwhile a couple dozen DC were pvdooring AD keeps with an obvious attempt to get a scroll or two. When they turned up at Fare both groups avoided each other. In some cases running through or alongside one another as they chased down various AD..
All of which we've seen a lot of over the last couple of months.
I've also got a couple clips where we catch EP standing around a DC player as they're sieging. The EP then guard the DC as he continues to siege. It's almost always the same handful of names as well.
Sadly posting videos of any of it here will result in someone being punished for 'naming and shaming'. XD
Now, imagine if ZOS was more proactive in dealing with both AFKers, and the scrubs who're trying to pad their scores. It wouldn't fix some of the staleness of cyrodiil But it would remove some of the more toxic elements that tends to drive newer or more casual players away.
UnabashedlyHonest wrote: »The current lack of population for one team or another is an issue being exasperated by a few factors.
One is all the AFK people just standing around until prime time. These naturally bloat the population numbers, and cost actual players a potential low pop bonus. This issue has only gotten more obvious as the population cap has been decreased.
Then there are the scrubs who engage in some truly toxic, and abusive behaviors. These people are also taking up space that could be used by actual people.
Right now on grayhost NA/PC there are some scrubs who've begun to get more and more blatant in their shenanigans. To the point it's very obvious that there's a good deal of score boosting occurring.
Which is a form of cheating and has led to some large mass bans in the past. At least once it got to blatant to ignore.
As an example....
Just the other day on Gray Host. AD was in third, had 2 bars of pop while EP was pop locked, and missing scrolls. DC was in 1st, had EP's scrolls. Oh, and DC also had emperor.
So Naturally there was a group of 'skilled' EP at fare running around in a bot train attacking the ungrouped AD. Outside of Fare more EP on 'good' builds were troll sieging. Each group of EP outnumbered the AD who were at the keep.
They just kept it lit and farmed randoms. Never really making an attempt to hold the keep.
Meanwhile a couple dozen DC were pvdooring AD keeps with an obvious attempt to get a scroll or two. When they turned up at Fare both groups avoided each other. In some cases running through or alongside one another as they chased down various AD..
All of which we've seen a lot of over the last couple of months.
I've also got a couple clips where we catch EP standing around a DC player as they're sieging. The EP then guard the DC as he continues to siege. It's almost always the same handful of names as well.
Sadly posting videos of any of it here will result in someone being punished for 'naming and shaming'. XD
Now, imagine if ZOS was more proactive in dealing with both AFKers, and the scrubs who're trying to pad their scores. It wouldn't fix some of the staleness of cyrodiil But it would remove some of the more toxic elements that tends to drive newer or more casual players away.
I don't feel like you are portraying the logistics of how things play out in Cyrodiil these days accurately at all. Just look at the score to see the proof.
Also nightcapping is an issue. It should be half points gained after midnight and until 06 am.
The actual population caps are higher than 80. I have detected as many as 94 players of 1 alliance at a single keep with the Miat's addon, meaning the true population cap is likley well over 100 per alliance once you account for all the people afk and otherwise memeing around the map.SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »The current population caps are just way too low for healthy three way PvP. If 10 daily PvP players swap to a different faction that is enough to determine which faction is going to win the campaign now. The population caps are just way, way to low now. 80 players/faction is just too low for healthy, competitive PvP.
The actual population caps are higher than 80. I have detected as many as 94 players of 1 alliance at a single keep with the Miat's addon, meaning the true population cap is likley well over 100 per alliance once you account for all the people afk and otherwise memeing around the map.SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »The current population caps are just way too low for healthy three way PvP. If 10 daily PvP players swap to a different faction that is enough to determine which faction is going to win the campaign now. The population caps are just way, way to low now. 80 players/faction is just too low for healthy, competitive PvP.
That stealth detection functionality was removed years ago with an API change from ZOS, and I agree it was indeed cheating back then. But it is indeed accurate. You can test easily by counting the number of player in a small area, say by the gate, the addon number will match.The actual population caps are higher than 80. I have detected as many as 94 players of 1 alliance at a single keep with the Miat's addon, meaning the true population cap is likley well over 100 per alliance once you account for all the people afk and otherwise memeing around the map.SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »The current population caps are just way too low for healthy three way PvP. If 10 daily PvP players swap to a different faction that is enough to determine which faction is going to win the campaign now. The population caps are just way, way to low now. 80 players/faction is just too low for healthy, competitive PvP.
That add on does not work accurately anymore and hasn't for years. It's considered cheating because it used to be able to tell players when people in stealth were around even when they were stealthed.
That stealth detection functionality was removed years ago with an API change from ZOS, and I agree it was indeed cheating back then. But it is indeed accurate. You can test easily by counting the number of player in a small area, say by the gate, the addon number will match.The actual population caps are higher than 80. I have detected as many as 94 players of 1 alliance at a single keep with the Miat's addon, meaning the true population cap is likley well over 100 per alliance once you account for all the people afk and otherwise memeing around the map.SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »The current population caps are just way too low for healthy three way PvP. If 10 daily PvP players swap to a different faction that is enough to determine which faction is going to win the campaign now. The population caps are just way, way to low now. 80 players/faction is just too low for healthy, competitive PvP.
That add on does not work accurately anymore and hasn't for years. It's considered cheating because it used to be able to tell players when people in stealth were around even when they were stealthed.
There was also a funeral in Cryo for a player who passed away IRL not too long ago. Multiple people reported counts of 90+ players far from the chaos of a large keep battle. My group of 12 was online PVPing elsewhere on the map at that time. The cap is far beyond 80.
SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »There was also a funeral in Cryo for a player who passed away IRL not too long ago. Multiple people reported counts of 90+ players far from the chaos of a large keep battle. My group of 12 was online PVPing elsewhere on the map at that time. The cap is far beyond 80.
The population cap is not "far beyond 80". You do realize, of course, that the pop cap used to be around 400 players/faction, and now, even by your calculations, it's still less than 100/faction. So even by your calculations, the pop cap is less than 1/4 of what it used to be, yet performance is not better, it's generally worse.
The take home message is that pop caps have been drastically reduced with no increase in performance, regardless of what the exact population cap may be.
SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »There was also a funeral in Cryo for a player who passed away IRL not too long ago. Multiple people reported counts of 90+ players far from the chaos of a large keep battle. My group of 12 was online PVPing elsewhere on the map at that time. The cap is far beyond 80.
The population cap is not "far beyond 80". You do realize, of course, that the pop cap used to be around 400 players/faction, and now, even by your calculations, it's still less than 100/faction. So even by your calculations, the pop cap is less than 1/4 of what it used to be, yet performance is not better, it's generally worse.
The take home message is that pop caps have been drastically reduced with no increase in performance, regardless of what the exact population cap may be.
ZOS has never publicly stated the population cap. Never.
Not the current one, not the original highest one, not at any point after any of the published and stealth pop reduction changes.
One can make an informed estimate, but stop throwing out numbers as if they are fact.
SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »There was also a funeral in Cryo for a player who passed away IRL not too long ago. Multiple people reported counts of 90+ players far from the chaos of a large keep battle. My group of 12 was online PVPing elsewhere on the map at that time. The cap is far beyond 80.
The population cap is not "far beyond 80". You do realize, of course, that the pop cap used to be around 400 players/faction, and now, even by your calculations, it's still less than 100/faction. So even by your calculations, the pop cap is less than 1/4 of what it used to be, yet performance is not better, it's generally worse.
The take home message is that pop caps have been drastically reduced with no increase in performance, regardless of what the exact population cap may be.
ZOS has never publicly stated the population cap. Never.
Not the current one, not the original highest one, not at any point after any of the published and stealth pop reduction changes.
One can make an informed estimate, but stop throwing out numbers as if they are fact.
This is true. Having a low population cap also makes it harder for unorganized pugs to take on an optimized 12-man ball group, too. Sure, the organized group should demolish, but if the entire faction is stuck in one area, then there aren’t enough to get anything done elsewhere. In addition, the population of AD during Oceanic hours is way down right now. Sunday night we had 2 bar pop trying to defend against both a full pop DC and a full pop EP. AD just doesn’t have the numbers to defend against the full populations of two factions. I ask DC and EP players to think about the health of a campaign and realize that players will quit if this continues.
Flangdoodle wrote: »
This is true. Having a low population cap also makes it harder for unorganized pugs to take on an optimized 12-man ball group, too. Sure, the organized group should demolish, but if the entire faction is stuck in one area, then there aren’t enough to get anything done elsewhere. In addition, the population of AD during Oceanic hours is way down right now. Sunday night we had 2 bar pop trying to defend against both a full pop DC and a full pop EP. AD just doesn’t have the numbers to defend against the full populations of two factions. I ask DC and EP players to think about the health of a campaign and realize that players will quit if this continues.
...and yet somehow AD maintains second place.
a few counterpoints:
1) a couple of years ago AD routinely steamrolled the map during Oceanic Hours, these things wax and wane. The campaign is and always has been decided by the faction with the most nightcappers.
2) Your concern for the other two factions responsibility for the health of the campaign is noted - however the health of the campaign might also be served if you would ask your compatriots to stop stacking 3 plus ball groups at outposts during prime time?
3) you are correct that organized groups routinely defeat unorganized pugs. The solution to that is to organize.
4) If I had a nickel for every time players have threatened to quit, I could set half my money on fire and still have enough to buy ZOS.
acastanza_ESO wrote: »That stealth detection functionality was removed years ago with an API change from ZOS, and I agree it was indeed cheating back then. But it is indeed accurate. You can test easily by counting the number of player in a small area, say by the gate, the addon number will match.The actual population caps are higher than 80. I have detected as many as 94 players of 1 alliance at a single keep with the Miat's addon, meaning the true population cap is likley well over 100 per alliance once you account for all the people afk and otherwise memeing around the map.SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »The current population caps are just way too low for healthy three way PvP. If 10 daily PvP players swap to a different faction that is enough to determine which faction is going to win the campaign now. The population caps are just way, way to low now. 80 players/faction is just too low for healthy, competitive PvP.
That add on does not work accurately anymore and hasn't for years. It's considered cheating because it used to be able to tell players when people in stealth were around even when they were stealthed.
It is accurate for detecting allied players, but the API changes have made its detection of Enemy Players inaccurate, it no longer "sees" an enemy player unless they've done something that registers them in an event that your character receives (like hitting you or a group member with an attack, or them being visible when you pass your reticle directly over them). So like, an entire enemy faction can be at a keep, but if you've only "interacted" with a dozen of them, that dozen is all ticker will show.
Based on what evidence? Earlier I mentioned seeing mid 90s allied players at one keep battle (detected with Miats) and several first hand reports of 90+ AD at an in game funeral recently while my group of 12 was elsewhere PVPing lol. This puts the cap at bare minimum 102 players per faction completely ignoring questers, “solos”, afks, etc.SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »There was also a funeral in Cryo for a player who passed away IRL not too long ago. Multiple people reported counts of 90+ players far from the chaos of a large keep battle. My group of 12 was online PVPing elsewhere on the map at that time. The cap is far beyond 80.
The population cap is not "far beyond 80". You do realize, of course, that the pop cap used to be around 400 players/faction, and now, even by your calculations, it's still less than 100/faction. So even by your calculations, the pop cap is less than 1/4 of what it used to be, yet performance is not better, it's generally worse.
The take home message is that pop caps have been drastically reduced with no increase in performance, regardless of what the exact population cap may be.
Based on what evidence? Earlier I mentioned seeing mid 90s allied players at one keep battle (detected with Miats) and several first hand reports of 90+ AD at an in game funeral recently while my group of 12 was elsewhere PVPing lol. This puts the cap at bare minimum 102 players per faction completely ignoring questers, “solos”, afks, etc.SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »There was also a funeral in Cryo for a player who passed away IRL not too long ago. Multiple people reported counts of 90+ players far from the chaos of a large keep battle. My group of 12 was online PVPing elsewhere on the map at that time. The cap is far beyond 80.
The population cap is not "far beyond 80". You do realize, of course, that the pop cap used to be around 400 players/faction, and now, even by your calculations, it's still less than 100/faction. So even by your calculations, the pop cap is less than 1/4 of what it used to be, yet performance is not better, it's generally worse.
The take home message is that pop caps have been drastically reduced with no increase in performance, regardless of what the exact population cap may be.
IDC what the original cap was, I’m sure you’re right, it used to be way higher.
SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »There was also a funeral in Cryo for a player who passed away IRL not too long ago. Multiple people reported counts of 90+ players far from the chaos of a large keep battle. My group of 12 was online PVPing elsewhere on the map at that time. The cap is far beyond 80.
The population cap is not "far beyond 80". You do realize, of course, that the pop cap used to be around 400 players/faction, and now, even by your calculations, it's still less than 100/faction. So even by your calculations, the pop cap is less than 1/4 of what it used to be, yet performance is not better, it's generally worse.
The take home message is that pop caps have been drastically reduced with no increase in performance, regardless of what the exact population cap may be.
ZOS has never publicly stated the population cap. Never.
Not the current one, not the original highest one, not at any point after any of the published and stealth pop reduction changes.
One can make an informed estimate, but stop throwing out numbers as if they are fact.