What do you think about Buff Servers?

Blud · December 2014

Is this intended for AvA? How can AvA be improved in terms of faction balance?

Robocles · December 2014

Buffs shouldn't count outside of your campaign. And PvP skills shouldn't be useable outside of PvP. Bad game design overall... but, well, it's ESO... we just get used to it.

daemonios · December 2014

Buff servers are a scourge and should be destroyed by any means.

grimsfield · December 2014

they must be destroyed!!!!! They definitely shouldn't extend into PVE and the fact that the winning alliance gets benefits to PVP as well is counter productive to good pvp. It just makes an alliance that is already way stronger than another even stronger.

While I understand its a nice perk, its probably much too strong and it makes the strong stronger, and the weak weaker. It just wasn't very well thought out.

Tonturri · December 2014

Give everyone a base 5% crit. Remove the buff servers and get some competition going. Move the buffs to only boost people while they're in Cyrodiil, and have it so only one faction can have them at a time. For added incentive, make it so that the crit is...say, not influenced by impene? Something like that. PvP having such an influence on PvP is MEH.

Find some other - PvE based - means for those PvE buffs. I think a lot of people would miss them (the spell/weapon damage increase, exp gain increase, health and so on). Perhaps give 'em to whatever faction is at the top of the trials leaderboards? 1st place faction gets 100% of the buffs, 2nd gets 50%, 3rd gets 25%. This bit is only rambling, mind.

Blud · December 2014

Tonturri wrote: »

Move the buffs to only boost people while they're in Cyrodiil, and have it so only one faction can have them at a time.

This also makes the strong stronger in AvA, which works against balance or any kind of underdog buffs.

dharbert · December 2014

It's simple. The buffs should only apply while you are in Cyrodiil. Once you leave Cyrodiil and enter a PvE zone, the buffs go bye-bye.

Tonturri · December 2014

Blud wrote: »

Tonturri wrote: »

Move the buffs to only boost people while they're in Cyrodiil, and have it so only one faction can have them at a time.

This also makes the strong stronger in AvA, which works against balance or any kind of underdog buffs.

Ah, whoops, you're right. Forgot that there was the whole buffs dependent on how many keeps you had. >.> <.< You saw nothing...

Blud · December 2014

I don't really think underdog buffs work anyway.

What people need is motivation to play. It's "fun" when people get rewards. It's a carrot that people want.

Instead of an underdog buff to stats, there could be a boost to xp, ap, or something else that will make people want to come into Cyrodiil for their faction.

You might get a lot of pve people in if there were some mounts you could collect with ap rank or something. They love collecting stuff.

Tonturri · December 2014

You might get a lot of pve people in if there were some mounts you could collect with ap rank or something. They love collecting stuff.

Senche/Spider Daedra mount = My body is ready *flings self into battle*

Blud · December 2014

Tonturri wrote: »

You might get a lot of pve people in if there were some mounts you could collect with ap rank or something. They love collecting stuff.

Senche/Spider Daedra mount = My body is ready *flings self into battle*

I gave you an LOL, but that's actually because I'm laughing, not mocking!

phreatophile · December 2014

^I second that.
And he'll ya on some extravagant but still on the edge of plausible mounts.

MissBizz · December 2014

I can see why they are a bad thing and should not be encouraged...

But I'm a leveling PvE player who does not do trials or anything (VR5).. And I absolutely love the buff.

Jacques Berge · December 2014

I like the buff servers... The only thing they do, is make it so pure PVEers don't have to ever step foot in Cyrodiil. They already fixed it so bonuses from one campaign won'ttranslate into other campaigns. That said, the buffs are nice, but not really a game changer in pvp. 5% dam is nice, but both my spell and wep powers are overcharged... 4-5 points aren't going to get me killed. 250 hp... Nice, but I can fart on you for that much. Crit in pvp is useless agaisnt smart players. So, it sounds like a bunch of pure PVPers getting their panties in a knot because they don't want the PVEers to play with their toys. Also, no "PVP" skills in PVE? Laughable.

Some people forget that others play the game too. I'll agree, the only real incentive to pvp is for the joy of it. I would be all for PVP specific rewards like special mounts or actually good gear. Simply put, the pvp buffs make a bigger impact in PVE, every faction has a buff server, it's fair.

So much QQing... Instead of asking for dad to break your brothers toys, maybe you should ask for some better ones.

badmojo · December 2014

I like them, because they give meaning to overall AvAvA, they tie all the campaigns together. I think currently there is a good amount of servers, each faction potentially has a server they can claim as their 'buff' server, along with Thornblade acting as a 'front lines' so to speak.

The problem in my opinion, is in the players failure to recognize the overall game and act on it. Too many people are writing off the buff servers as a problem for ZOS to fix, rather than actively tackling the problem themselves. It's completely in the communities power to bring war to every server.

They're only buff servers because we allow them to be. ZOS can't fix the players.

Blud · December 2014

badmojo wrote: »

They're only buff servers because we allow them to be. ZOS can't fix the players.

This is exactly the point.

Players will always take the path of least resistance. You can never blame the players for that, because it's what they do. There is no self policing. Never has been, never will be.

It's a flawed game design and players will do whatever is convenient for them. If the current system is not what ZOS intended, or is not what is good for the game and the health of AvA, then it needs to be fixed.

Thornblade is mainly now an EP buff server, as well. I know for a fact that the population of AD participating in TB has dropped off significantly. I'm pretty sure a similar thing is happening to DC.

Players can't be expected to play the way "they are supposed to." This is the responsibility of systems designers at ZOS. It's what we pay them for.

Hypertionb14_ESO · December 2014

its a double edged sword. both sides adversely affect the other..

PvE players generally rely on the minor buffs to do things like trials, mostly for better times and such, and do in fact get good buffs that you cant get anywhere else.. but when PvP actually happens on those servers and those buffs start dissappearing, its extremely demoralizing due to how used to it most PvEers are. in extreme cases where even Emperorship is lost, entire guilds of PvE players who normally tackle extremely hard endgame content will go into their buff in large numbers to get their buffs back. YOu could see this as them actually working for their buffs, but the reality is that most PvEers actually see this as kicking out as @$$holes who stole their buffs..

PvP players in the servers have unique chances for PvP, enemy faction players in organized guilds can easily farm AP in these buff servers because most players there are not PvP players. However People who are part of the faction that normally controll those servers only have those organized guilds to fight, which is really demoralizing at the same time... and because of the fact that any real attempts to even out the sides on those servers are met with extremely stiff resistance by the PvE players, its basically like having your own faction fighting against any attempts to play the game.

PvE players screw over PvP players by constantly enforcing the Buff server rule, and PvP players constantly screw over PvE players by trying to take away the buffs that PvE players all but rely on.

as a result, untill the buffs are removed, Buff servers will exist because the PvE players will fight for the buffs... which arguably they should as you should not expect to do nothing for those buffs... but at the same time as long as those buffs are there and the PvE players want them, they will in fact fight for them untill they dont have too, preventing PvP on certain campains in general.

guybrushtb16_ESO · December 2014

A failed experiment. The intention behind them was to bring pve players into pvp, but instead it killed most of the pvp campaigns.

zaria · December 2014

Blud wrote: »

I don't really think underdog buffs work anyway.

What people need is motivation to play. It's "fun" when people get rewards. It's a carrot that people want.

Instead of an underdog buff to stats, there could be a boost to xp, ap, or something else that will make people want to come into Cyrodiil for their faction.

You might get a lot of pve people in if there were some mounts you could collect with ap rank or something. They love collecting stuff.

As I understand the underdog buff is for an faction who is outnumbered, the other buffs is for holding keeps and scrolls so you could technical have both even if rare.

ThatHappyCat · December 2014

Buff servers must die. There has to be no incentive to maintain them.

timborggrenlarsenb16_ESO · December 2014

Blud wrote: »

Is this intended for AvA? How can AvA be improved in terms of faction balance?

DROP IT!!!

Have you ever played daoc?
Thats one of the things that killed most the game (Buff, and buff bots)
Never GOING TO HAPPEN, or i hope

Amsel_McKay · December 2014

Buff servers will not go away even if they make the "buff go away from PVE", Most people just want the skyshards and quests in the zone without the "fear" of getting killed in PVP.

I know its a shock to some that not everyone likes PVP, my wife for example hates it so much that even with a buff server she wont enter.

jluceyub17_ESO · December 2014

Azura's Star is the main EP buff server. If Thornblade is turning into an EP buff server that just means AD and DC are losing/running away.

I mostly play PvE so I home Azura's for the buffs but I enjoy AD's occasional push to flip Emperor. I think for EP players who prefer PvE but enjoy a foray in PvP once or twice a week the current state of Azura's Star is optimal.

The buffs currently don't transfer into other campaigns so I don't see any PvP reason to kill the buff servers as long as there is still a server or two that provide good action for PvP focused players.

Slurg · December 2014

Buff servers are great for PVE players who want to quest and pick up skyshards in Cyrodiil.

It seems a bit unbalanced that those buffs stay applied in the other PVE zones but I'll take them since they're offered.

I don't see how the buff servers help actual PVP or AVA players really. The system as it is used seems to put those players at a disadvantage overall.

Meaning if you like a good war and you home on a server that isn't your faction's buff server, you don't have the buffs in PVE that others who use the buff servers do. I can see why people in this situation would hate the current structure, even though for me it works out nicely.

Danzy · December 2014

Now let's immagine if there was only 1 campaign , meaning 1 possible buff server, so that will encourage pve'ers to pvp to get their buffs and will make pvp in general more fun and meaningful in my opinion.
But then again this is impossible because LAG OP.

I don't care if buffs work outside cyrodiil or not, they work outside of it now and that gives all 3 factions the advantage.
If they do not work outside of it that means every pve player will have to adapt and switch attributes and gear out and it's gonna be a different meta build for everyone again.

So your point is ?

Aeratus · December 2014

Amsel_McKay wrote: »

Buff servers will not go away even if they make the "buff go away from PVE", Most people just want the skyshards and quests in the zone without the "fear" of getting killed in PVP.

I know its a shock to some that not everyone likes PVP, my wife for example hates it so much that even with a buff server she wont enter.

If you remove the buffs from PVE, I'm pretty sure buffs servers will go away.

The "people just want the skyshards and quests in the zone" are not numerous enough to defend the buff servers. Moreover, the quests can be done all in a few hours, so after that, there is no incentive for them to defend the server.

Mud_Puppy · December 2014

Phase one - Get rid of pvp buffs period. Or make it so they're only active whilst in your home campaign, not in others and null in pve.

Phase two - More ways to be rewarded for feats in pvp besides broken AP ladder.

Phase three - Up the consistancy and well.. overall value of gear rewarded in pvp.

Darkrogue671 · December 2014

Can someone please tell me what the benefit is to have your guild own a keep or a resource other than seeing the name of your guild posted on the map? If that's it, then there's a fantastic opportunity there for guilds to capture and hold keeps and resources, IMO. In addition, I would allow shared ownership on keeps up to 4 guilds per keep to be divided equally. I would love to get a stipend of "X" gold each day I log on plus an assortment of the mats from the resources my guild holds (less mats if my guild held just the keep).

While the whole AP system is great to see where your alliance is positioned in comparison, there isn't any real individual benefit to each and every player in pvp. I actually have a job and that's what I do most of my day so my chance of being emperor is NIL. So I get to look forward to getting some AP, maybe another rank which may or may not unlock a color for me, and get some worthless items to decon. Woot!

Buffs aren't the answer to increase pop. Giving each player that PvPs an actual physical benefit after fighting and acquiring something like a resource and/or a keep I think would.

The only buffs that I could see would benefit unbalanced maps & population are buffs on home keeps that were lost. If EP loses Farragut then they should have a "rally buff" only IN THAT AREA to get it back PROVIDED THAT:

1 - they do not have the highest pop on the server, AND,

2 - they do not have any emp keeps.

Call it "Red Mountain's Fury" buff or whatever, but this can be applied to any of the alliances for the aforementioned criteria above under a different name. Once the home keep is regained the buff is gone since balance has been restored.

On the topic of gift items, upon "promotion" how about I go somewhere in my base keeps to PICK OUT an item that will work for me, instead of getting another item I don't need? I get tons of those filling up my inbox every session as it is!

Reverb · December 2014

I'd like to see buffs "temporarily" taken away outside of the campaign, with no warning like what happened with camps. Just to see what the impact would truly be on buff servers.

Surfinginhawaii · December 2014

I'm so slow that I just learned and utilized these buffs this week, "HELLO!", to self.

Ysne58 · December 2014

I haven't tried a buff server yet. I wanted to see what it's like without those buffs first. I'll be trying with buffs next week and see what the difference feels like. I'm vr4 now.