Campaigns need time zone lockouts

Thistlegoat · June 2014

This will (probably) be moot once the reduced number of campaigns comes into effect, but I think there's still an interesting point here to consider.
It might well have been a positive thing if campaigns had been assigned a range of "peak" times to accommodate different time zones and schedules, with some game mechanic to encourage players to play during that time. A system like that might have helped to make the campaigns more fun, spread the population around more evenly, and helped players who consistently play at certain times connect with each other.

Or, of course, it might not have worked at all. Again, though, a concept worth thinking about, imho.

As for the specific mechanic used to do it, I have no clue or suggestions off the top of my head as to what might have been effective. Completely disabling capturing of campaign objectives during the off hours might be a little overboard, but when I don't have another idea it's not really my place to criticize the one that has been offered! Maybe instead of just thinking about ways to discourage off-hours play in such a scenario, it'd be interesting to talk about ways to actively encourage peak-hours play, as a thought experiment if nothing else. Carrots can be at least as useful as sticks.

Animus0724 · June 2014

skwornub18_ESO wrote: »

Animus0724 wrote: »

This idea is completely stupid, not only is it selfish and ignorant to think such a solution would be fair, it completely disregards the opinions of those who play on oceanic time zones. Also those in oceania don't go uncontested, they fight others in their time zone.

No, just don't, this idea is stupid.

Nice assuming there bud. I never said make all campaigns only available on a specific timezone. I am asking to make them match the timezones they would normally expect the majority of the population to play.

LOL so many people pretending to argue for PVP when in actuality they are asking to play when PVP is least likely on the campaign server. Methinks many have a hidden agenda here.

We'll then you might want to be more clear about the idea you are trying to get across because as it stands, it seems you hate aussies.

Also your awkward wording in your posts makes me not take anything you say seriously.

SBR_QuorTek · June 2014

It doesn't really matter as it is... personally would be having fun getting back the lost stuff... and maybe even a purpose to some of those quests being a little closer.

r_rupe_ESO · June 2014

The solution is to make keeps harder to take. Make it so a guild can upgrade them to the point where it takes an hour or more to do one keep. Until that happens or they reduce the number of campaigns to 1 so that there are people on all day and night you will always have nightcappers imo.

Dekkameron · June 2014

Ridiculous OP and you should feel bad for even posting it :P

Reminds me of when i used to play SWG back in ye olden days, there was a popular sport of "5 AM Base busting and turret popping" Small teams would attack an enemy factions bases blowing up any turrets and blowing up the base if it was vulnerable as it would be undefended.
Peeps moaned about it then after a while started doing it themselves! Then suddenly at 5am massive fights started breaking out at peeps bases and much fun was had by all.

Avidus · June 2014

Yeah, going with the popular opinion here.
No way will your idea work. At all. Ever.

I am an oceanic player, however I have shift work which changes constantly.
So in order for me to PvP under your idea, assuming there were multiple campaigns with lockout times.

I would need to play in 2 different time zone campaigns..

And as for saying 'objective lockouts'
Great, so there is a slim chance I would get to do anything useful for my alliance in PvP.

Sorry buddy, your idea ain't gonna cut it.

TheGrandAlliance · June 2014

...I thought of this problem before and the solution thereof is to reduce the points that non-peak hours award. In other words have points scaled with population (so that peak time's points more valuable then offpeak).

Nightcapping problems solved.

Skwor · June 2014

Dekkameron wrote: »

Ridiculous OP and you should feel bad for even posting it :P

Reminds me of when i used to play SWG back in ye olden days, there was a popular sport of "5 AM Base busting and turret popping" Small teams would attack an enemy factions bases blowing up any turrets and blowing up the base if it was vulnerable as it would be undefended.
Peeps moaned about it then after a while started doing it themselves! Then suddenly at 5am massive fights started breaking out at peeps bases and much fun was had by all.

Are you seriously using SWG as an example of why my suggestion is silly? A game that no longer exists is the model you quote for what we should do here? LMAO. I think SWG is not the best example given the game is DEAD and I prefer to stay away from any SWG practices. I remember the game and NGE, sorry but you are the one being silly using that example.

Perhaps your example is one of the reasons SWG is dead hmmm?

I don't care what fixes it I just think we need something to stop "nightcapping." Hoping people will just start campaigning at different hours instead of sleeping is not a fix it is a dodge intended to maintain the status of avoiding PVP when taking campaign objectives.

Skwor · June 2014

Avidus wrote: »

Yeah, going with the popular opinion here.
No way will your idea work. At all. Ever.

I am an oceanic player, however I have shift work which changes constantly.
So in order for me to PvP under your idea, assuming there were multiple campaigns with lockout times.

I would need to play in 2 different time zone campaigns..

And as for saying 'objective lockouts'
Great, so there is a slim chance I would get to do anything useful for my alliance in PvP.

Sorry buddy, your idea ain't gonna cut it.

Except what you describe is no longer PVP, so go play PVE then. You are not doing anything PVP when you are only killing NPCs for campaign objectives during off hours.

Why is avoiding PVP so important?

shunex · June 2014

this would have to be one of the most ridiculous threads ive seen.

Dekkameron · June 2014

skwornub18_ESO wrote: »

Dekkameron wrote: »

Ridiculous OP and you should feel bad for even posting it :P

Reminds me of when i used to play SWG back in ye olden days, there was a popular sport of "5 AM Base busting and turret popping" Small teams would attack an enemy factions bases blowing up any turrets and blowing up the base if it was vulnerable as it would be undefended.
Peeps moaned about it then after a while started doing it themselves! Then suddenly at 5am massive fights started breaking out at peeps bases and much fun was had by all.

Are you seriously using SWG as an example of why my suggestion is silly? A game that no longer exists is the model you quote for what we should do here? LMAO. I think SWG is not the best example given the game is DEAD and I prefer to stay away from any SWG practices. I remember the game and NGE, sorry but you are the one being silly using that example.

Perhaps your example is one of the reasons SWG is dead hmmm?

I'm not using it as an example really, just reminded me of peeps doing dastardly things whilst the enemy is asleep that's all.

No need to do a full page rant about your apparent dislike of Star wars Galaxies.

Sunrock · June 2014

skwornub18_ESO wrote: »

Please hear this out. I am not trying to carebare anything. Campaigns are about factions fighting it out but that is being subverted. For example on wabba every evening there are those epic battles but then often when everyone is asleep, in the time zone the majority of players compete a non north American time zone group runs uncontested through the map and wipes out all of the other 2 factions gains. This is hardly a balanced scenario.

The continual uncontested destruction of other factions efforts because a group has chosen to use their 12 hour shifted timezone play hours as a specific advantage and run uncontested through the campaign really needs to be put to an end.

The two suggestions I have are either place a lockout on when the campaign sieges and scrolls can be fought over to align with the typical time zones a campaign would fought or the less desirable option, just lock those timezones out that are so skewed.

Welcome to MMOs. As you may have notice the game world continue to go on even after you have logged out. This is how MMOs work.

Now is this fair? Yes it is. What you suggest is not fair however even though you might think so. But here is way it's fair. Every one does not live in the same time zone, have the same work hours, or even live remotely the same life. So it's only fair that every one should be able to play when ever they feel like it even if it's 4 am to 9 am. Now how is it unfair to lock PvP camapins. Because on every server there is enough players to theoretically challenge each other. Just because you can't play between X and Y hours does not mean that others can not from your faction. So you just have to rely that others take up the relay baton when you log out. Even if ESO only allow PvP campaigns to be open when you're online does not guarantee any faction balance what so ever. The faction balance might even be more even during 3 am to 6 am then during prime time.

This is up to the player community to handle. If you really have problems maybe you should recruit some EU players if it's really that important to you that you own every scroll and keep 24/7 for the entire campaign. However I dought that you will have any one to fight then as most will just jump to an other if they never have a chance to take them back.

PS: Here is a fact for you. In MMO PvP the most successful faction is the one that is best organized not the one that has the best skilled player.

Skwor · June 2014

Sunrock wrote: »

...

Welcome to MMOs. As you may have notice the game world continue to go on even after you have logged out. This is how MMOs work.

Now is this fair? Yes it is. What you suggest is not fair however even though you might think so. But here is way it's fair. Every one does not live in the same time zone, have the same work hours, or even live remotely the same life. So it's only fair that every one should be able to play when ever they feel like it even if it's 4 am to 9 am. Now how is it unfair to lock PvP camapins. Because on every server there is enough players to theoretically challenge each other. Just because you can't play between X and Y hours does not mean that others can not from your faction. So you just have to rely that others take up the relay baton when you log out. Even if ESO only allow PvP campaigns to be open when you're online does not guarantee any faction balance what so ever. The faction balance might even be more even during 3 am to 6 am then during prime time.

This is up to the player community to handle. If you really have problems maybe you should recruit some EU players if it's really that important to you that you own every scroll and keep 24/7 for the entire campaign. However I dought that you will have any one to fight then as most will just jump to an other if they never have a chance to take them back.

Oh please. I know better than most how MMO's work. I opened EQ1 and literally have 15+ years of continuous MMO play across numerous games. I started one of the first servers in MD for Quake.. so ya I get PVP and FIRST PERSON (yes I know this isn't an FPS game) I know very well the 24/7 aspect of them.

Nightcapping is effectively the same as ***-blocking rare spawn progression mobs so a guild cannot get access to end zone content, MMO's have removed that failed mechanic and the current practice of avoiding PVP in a campaign when taking objectives also needs corrected.

I also am intelligent enough to see when someone is gaming the concept, something you apparently chose to ignore. PVP campaigns are just that, PVP, they are not about people playing during off hours and taking objectives uncontested IE.. NO PVP. You are willfully ignoring the essence of my post to the point where you are nothing more than a sophist, if all you can do is add a L2P / L2 recruit post suggesting that all is solved by just staying awake all night and recruiting from other campaigns' off hour players then you are just wasting everyone's time.

Skwor · June 2014

shunex wrote: »

this would have to be one of the most ridiculous threads ive seen.

So I take it you want to avoid the PVP part of campaigns as opposed to making it more PVP, that Sir is even more ridiculous.

What I am proposing is anything that does just that, makes campaigns more PVP and less midnight routing of NPC's. Strange definition many have of PVP, seems to some PVP means not having to face another player $:\$

Sunrock · June 2014

skwornub18_ESO wrote: »

Sunrock wrote: »

...

Welcome to MMOs. As you may have notice the game world continue to go on even after you have logged out. This is how MMOs work.

Now is this fair? Yes it is. What you suggest is not fair however even though you might think so. But here is way it's fair. Every one does not live in the same time zone, have the same work hours, or even live remotely the same life. So it's only fair that every one should be able to play when ever they feel like it even if it's 4 am to 9 am. Now how is it unfair to lock PvP camapins. Because on every server there is enough players to theoretically challenge each other. Just because you can't play between X and Y hours does not mean that others can not from your faction. So you just have to rely that others take up the relay baton when you log out. Even if ESO only allow PvP campaigns to be open when you're online does not guarantee any faction balance what so ever. The faction balance might even be more even during 3 am to 6 am then during prime time.

This is up to the player community to handle. If you really have problems maybe you should recruit some EU players if it's really that important to you that you own every scroll and keep 24/7 for the entire campaign. However I dought that you will have any one to fight then as most will just jump to an other if they never have a chance to take them back.

Oh please. I know better than most how MMO's work. I opened EQ1 and literally have 15+ years of continuous MMO play across numerous games. I started one of the first servers in MD for Quake.. so ya I get PVP and FIRST PERSON (yes I know this isn't an FPS game) I know very well the 24/7 aspect of them.

Nightcapping is effectively the same as ***-blocking rare spawn progression mobs so a guild cannot get access to end zone content, MMO's have removed that failed mechanic and the current practice of avoiding PVP in a campaign when taking objectives also needs corrected.

I also am intelligent enough to see when someone is gaming the concept, something you apparently chose to ignore. PVP campaigns are just that, PVP, they are not about people playing during off hours and taking objectives uncontested IE.. NO PVP. You are willfully ignoring the essence of my post to the point where you are nothing more than a sophist, if all you can do is add a L2P / L2 recruit post suggesting that all is solved by just staying awake all night and recruiting from other campaigns' off hour players then you are just wasting everyone's time.

Well then you have as mush experience as me then. So what are you QQ'ing about start organize and stop behave like a noob. Worked for me in allot of other MMOs before. So if I can do it you can too.

InvictoNZ · June 2014

I like this idea, I however work 40 hours a week and play in Oceanic timezone, so it would suit me.

Players could take this action themselves. Instead of recruiting more US players, recruit an Oceanic/SEA guild, to guard against the "night cappers".