Normally, I refrain from posting on the forums at all costs because I just don't care enough to comment, and the forums of most all games are the deepest most depressing pits of QQ and absolute nonsense because people online can act however they want. The current situation inside Cyrodiil and the controversy and differing opinions that have spawned from Zeni removing FCs (Forward Camps for those of you living under that rock) is something I do not think can be ignored. This is how I view the situation and will voice my opinion because Zeni will as most Devs do, end up siding with the crowd with the loudest voice in the matter.

Formality aside, Cyrodiil feels alive. The removal of FCs has changed everything. The roads are dangerous, the mass number of players constantly moving around the map and not just death porting everywhere, the gank groups that you actually need to worry about. You can still see glimpses of the old Cyrodiil sieges when the last few precious FCs are spawned in desperation, but for the most part a lot has changed and I think it is for the best. Sieges and assaults on enemy keeps are not mindless zergs throwing themselves at the walls endlessly without fear of death. You need to think, plan, work together towards a common goal, not go front dooring Alessia because you've got that camp on the bridge and he's got your back. Proper defense of your currently owned keeps has become crucial. No more just running along the walls maybe casting some spells or healing springs and just tagging enemies for AP. If you died it was unfortunate but you just revived at the camp and you were back in doing mostly nothing. Now if you want to hold onto your keeps you actually have to use your life wisely! Play smart or die and ride back. Work with your alliance whether or not your grouped, not ignore them because either way you are both reviving at that camp.

I watch zone chat and see actual coordination and thought put into movements. Resources groups are actually formed to take enemy resources consistently because porting is actually something worth taking away. Mile gates are actually utilized and are defended to stop reinforcements instead of ignored because all you needed to do was burn the camp. Positioning for our PvP guilds and raid groups is now something you have to plan for. No more leaving to back cap Warden and saying, "Hold the fort guys, if AD shows up throw down that camp we'll be here instantly." Cyrodiil requires strategy, teamwork, we actually use the terrain now when we never utilized the map before because why would you when where ever you needed to be was only a death port away.

I firmly believe the removal of FCs has breathed new life into Cyrodiil and added a sense of balance by removing the ridiculous idea of death porting. In that however, I fear a new unbalance has been created. Population balances have been something we've all talked about since BETA. And now, without FCs to "easily" defend or attack something, I think we will see it play out even more so. The Faction with the lowest Population online will always be at the biggest disadvantage at that time, but what has allowed the Pact to survive some of the most horrific nights at Arrius was the constant spam of FCs. The argument being made by a lot of players is that we "need" a way to reinforce our keeps without always riding back. I agree with this statement to a certain extent. FCs in their own right were broken, the concept was ruining Cyrodiil but there are other options I think Zeni can explore.

There are talks of this new FC called a "Limited Foward Camp" that will allow only one respawn. I don't think this is a solid idea. No one is going to spend AP to spawn one player, or someone is going to spend AP and spam this one camp for each player death? A lot of players want to see FCs work off of a radius instead of the old mechanic. So, if an FC is inside a keep under siege and a player dies inside that keep, they can respawn at just that camp because they are inside the camp's "radius". This would still remove death porting and allow for easier assaults and defenses of keeps. I don't think its a bad idea but this does nothing for the troll camps to ruin a defense group.

What I think I would like to see for keeps under siege is a reservoir of allowed respawns at a flagged keep. Very similar to how Zeni handles trials. A keep flags, and a number of allowed respawns would appear over the keep and players could continue to respawn at the keep until this reservoir ran out. This number of allowed respawns could them be contributed to or taken away from by differing factors, such as how many of the resources do you own at that keep? Perhaps owning each resource would add to the total pool, and then the level of that resource could affect the number of allowed respawns it contributed. This would add another element to resources and give them even more meaning, this would also make it even more encouraging for assault groups to try and take them before starting siege and defense groups to defend them. To prevent simply death porting back to a flagged keep this mechanic could work off of a radius just like the the FC radius idea. It could be worked into the radius the keeps already work off of with players receiving Defense Ticks. You don't get the Defense Tick if you aren't at the keep, you can't use the reservoir if you aren't at the keep. To those of you who would argue that pugs would just deplete the reservoirs, they did this already to the FCs. We would just need more coordination and teamwork with all of our alliance not just the guilds, and I don't see anything wrong with that.

The way I see it, Cyrodiil is taking a deep breath of new life and she's loving it. We are adapting already to this change and maybe we will never see something replace FCs and if we don't it won't be the end of the world. I think Zeni could work something into reinforcing our keeps without it becoming just like the old FCs. These are my thoughts and opinions on the matter.

-Like a Bulbasir