Alliance Specific Bonuses/Skills

tinythinker · September 2014

I was thinking about ways to spice up AvA, and I recalled thinking about how at one point there were gong to be alliance specific methods and goals. I think both sound cool, but, let's start with methods.

Would you like to see something like a racial bonus (or perhaps even an ability) unique to each alliance that works only in Cyrodiil? If so, describe/explain it. Do they fit the general lore in some way?

Perhaps they could scale with very slowly with rank?

Just some very quickly put together examples to get things started (not sure what rank these specific numbers would scale with if that mechanic is used but probably fairly high). I am sure the figures would need to be better adjusted/balanced but this is just off the top of my head:

Blood for the Pact Once per minute an killing an enemy player has a 10% chance of restoring 25% of player's total health.

The Lion's Roar Once per minute when player's health drops below 20% there is 10% chance of creating an irresistible fear effect on nearby enemy players for 5 seconds.

The Eagle Banner Once per minute when magicka or stamina drops below 20% there is a 10% chance of gaining a 500 point damage shield.

Still_Mind · October 2014

That's very nice and all... but pvp balancing is very delicate. People can live with imbalances in class mechanics... but faction mechanics don't need to be different, unless that was the ultimate design - like to have 1 faction focus on brute force and manpower, other on guerilla warfare, etc.

KenjiJU · October 2014

That's already pretty imbalanced.

If you've ever followed the racial skills forum, you'd understand the screaming over a minor percentage bonus. This would be a bad thing.

Now, what might work would be some of these buffs given to the underdog teams to keep the game flowing.

Still_Mind · October 2014

Except that with an account upgrade, you can play any faction with any race, and imagine "weak race strong faction bonus" alliance running with superior racial bonuses.

Besides as far as races go, each faction has at least one default race with strong racials.

Racials may be tweaked, but using faction bonuses to compensate for weaker racial bonuses is opening another huge can of worms and a pandora box of balancing headaches.

tinythinker · October 2014

Just noticed this thread was active again. Thanks for the thoughtful critiques. My suggestions were just off the top of my head examples, not thoughtfully weighed and precisely balanced proposals.

And, just FYI, elsewhere (not sure where?) I developed this idea to suggest that the effect be linked to rare items, for champions of the war*, not everyday items that anyone can loot or something that is just given to volunteers when signing up for the war. What the criteria for earning the gear would be up in the air.

The concept is something akin to racial bonuses or set item bonuses that give a flavor to each Alliance. I figured gear is the easiest way, but others are clearly possible. I'm not sure how the examples given create noticeable imbalance or limit combat style. They seem similar to existing generic bonuses common to the gear people already used. Everyone wants to limit damage, restore health, or have a chance to get away when getting pummeled.

In any case, the effects could be tested on the PTS with a special rules campaign, and trying out ideas like this might get more people to hop on the PTS. Not just my ideas, which may be bad, but any player generated or inspired suggestions that the devs think have potential.

*And no, I don't see this as simply being AP based and rewarding those who can play more, who belong to pro gaming guilds, or who use exploits.