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Should Volendrung return to Ravenwatch?

aetherix8
aetherix8
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When players asked for a new campaign with proc sets disabled, ZOS decided that the best solution would be to add more ‘no’ to the no CP campaign. And so Ravenwatch became no proc and personally I couldn’t be more content.

At the time, players were complaining about all the “cheese”, and Volendrung seemed to frustrate quite a few as well. So it was also removed from Raven. Now, this change does not seem reasonable to me. Despite all the frustration it might be generating I think Volendrung is fun, and I miss it.

Ravenwatch has serious population deficit and the reasons for that are many and varied. I think that bringing Volendrung back could partially address this problem: players complain that no CP gameplay is boring now without procs, so surely a little bit of “cheese” could make things more interesting and maybe attract some players back.
PC EU - V4hn1

Should Volendrung return to Ravenwatch? 50 votes

Give us back the Hammer
28%
DalsinthusInvitationNotFoundWolfkekskarthrag_inakPrax3desWinstonsheadtonyblackfuriouslogIshtarknowsaetherix8SpiritKittenPrimusTiberiusMafiaCat115Tramet 14 votes
Keep this abomination away
56%
vailjohn_ESOqwaurckTheDarkRulerKartalinWald1naVaranamzprxStamickaBenTSGJierdanitKlauthWarthogZabagadTatankoMunkfistAraneae6537Inspiral808Bulton_FrgariondaveyxDeusEJRxtomfant 28 votes
Hammer should return but only with faction lock
8%
acastanza_ESOJames-Waynemr1shoCaperGuy 4 votes
Other
8%
SpacemanSpiff1Bucky_13ACamaroGuysoelslaev 4 votes
  • Bucky_13
    Bucky_13
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    Other
    Keep Volen away but add the proc sets back into Raven.

    That way everyone will know what sets actually work there, which would be a huge improvement over how we have it currently where it's trial and error or googling for some site that might be up to date with the sets. Builds will also overlap more with Battlegrounds so we don't have to have 3 separate setups for CP PvP, no CP PvP & Battlegrounds.

    As someone who plays usually at least once a week in Raven, I don't miss Volen at all. It needs high pop on all 3 sides, otherwise it'll just be used by the strongest faction to dominate the weaker ones even further. I do miss the proc sets there since gearing for Raven is quite dull compared to Grey Host.

    No matter what, it would be nice if something was done to encourage more players to go into Corodiil and PvP.
  • dragonlord500
    dragonlord500
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    lol for a second there I thought you meant ravenwatch castle. I was like what does the vampires there want with this hammer that can level buildings. but then I soon realized you were talking about the pvp server. I can easily see Gwendis having the best fun with the hammer.
    Edited by dragonlord500 on April 8, 2024 11:24AM
    Guild master of Darkness of Sanguinaris. Birthday is December 4th.
  • Varana
    Varana
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    Keep this abomination away
    I seriously doubt that the ***'s absence is the reason for Ravenwatch's decline.

    Instead, if they want to keep the no-proc status, they should
    - define what "no proc" actually means in a way that makes sense
    - use a definition that creates interesting gameplay
    - apply that definition consistently
    - create and curate an official list of what works and what not, or better, make that obvious in the game's UI.
    Edited by Varana on April 8, 2024 12:36PM
  • KlauthWarthog
    KlauthWarthog
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    Keep this abomination away
    Personally, I think Volendrung as a whole was a mistake. It really does not matter which faction picks it up, it ends up becoming a "win more" tool for whatever faction is already dominating at the time.

    Regarding the whole population issue with Ravenwatch, I believe that simply adding an indication to whatever set bonuses are disabled when you are there would alleviate the issue. Show them in red, greyed out, with a strikethrough, whatever. Visible information allows for informed decisions, purposeful obscurity keeps people away.
  • tonyblack
    tonyblack
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    Give us back the Hammer
    Volendrung alone won’t be enough. Add procs and hammer back and this campaign might become enjoyable.
  • SpacemanSpiff1
    SpacemanSpiff1
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    Other
    add volendrung to all overland, trials, dungeons, and arenas.
  • aetherix8
    aetherix8
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    Give us back the Hammer
    Thank you for your insights and participation. At first glance it might appear that the idea of bringing Volen back to Ravenwatch is not backed by many players, but the sample may be too small for the result to be considered accurate.

    It is no surprise that most comments point to one obvious issue: the half-baked no proc change.

    @Bucky_13, @tonyblack

    Personally, I don’t think that rolling the no proc ruleset back is the way to go. Some of us prefer no proc gameplay and don’t particularly like the idea of having this choice taken away. Bad implementation does not mean that the whole idea is wrong.

    @Varana

    I agree with the need for a clear definition of proc / no proc. This would make it easier to complete the list of sets that work in Raven to begin with. With a precise definition it would be simple to indicate the type of set, and doing it via the game UI is the best option indeed – nobody should be forced to craft sets and port to Raven just to discover that they aren’t working, it’s a massive waste of players’ time. This information could be displayed just next to the weight type, for example “Heavy Proc”.

    Coming back to the main topic, perhaps the hammer could help fight the perceived “dullness” of the no proc campaign, as it brings temporary chaos that can help reshape an otherwise stale map.

    @KlauthWarthog

    The outcome you describe is likely, but not necessarily the only one: without alliance lock any player can pick up the hammer, i.e. players might relog to temporarily boost a weaker faction.
    PC EU - V4hn1
  • Kite42
    Kite42
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    If a honking great hammer falls in a zone and there's no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?
  • HowlKimchi
    HowlKimchi
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    I have a more drastic idea for Ravenwatch. Basically, I want it to be a "participate in cyro regardless of your account progress" campaign.
    • Everyone who enters have ~900 cp to play around with (or some number that is deemed good enough)
    • Regular gear is disabled. You can buy curated gear from vendors so you can make your own Ravenwatch build
    • That's it.
    An even playing field cyrodiil, if you will. I bet a lot of people would participate in a cyrodiil campaign with a low barrier to entry like this. They can nerf AP gain or whatever to keep the rewards of this easy-to-access campaign "balanced" if that could cause problems.

    Edited by HowlKimchi on April 9, 2024 10:42AM
    previously @HaruKamui but I outgrew my weeb phase (probably)

    PC/NA - EP - Howl Bragi/Howl Kimchi
  • moderatelyfatman
    moderatelyfatman
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    No Volendrung and no proc sets.
    But increase the population cap to 150 since you don't have the same lag as you do in a proc set campaign.
    Then faction lock it and let Ravenwatch replace Gray Host as the new premier campaign.
  • mzprx
    mzprx
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    Keep this abomination away
    my simple answer is no..

    RW (at least on PC EU) is not what it used to be. blues have (quite possibly) successfully killed it. and i am blue. and used to love RW. you have a dude that needs to show everyone he's the boss followed by a group that is organised and optimised to the extent that they're effectively a ball group and when they get killed they become extremely toxic. for whatever reason. i had to switch from RW to GH to have some fights, RW has been nothing but blues dominating everything since the MYM. reds log in, try to get a resource at their gate keep ('cause everything is blue) only to get swarmed by 20+ blues and log out. two weeks ago i logged in to RW with my red character (to get the lvl 1 for Transmutes) on a Saturday at 6pm, which should be prime time. and for about an hour i was the only red in RW. other reds had logged in but left immediately. you can't fight alone against 20 or more. i do see reds and yellows doing a wee bit better nowadays, but it still isn't enough. yes, it's nice to see the map blue, but when everyone leaves whom is going to be left to fight? RW is in a danger of becoming an empty campaign dominated by a handful of people. well, good luck to them, let's see how long is it going to keep being fun for them. and, again, i am blue..

    and bringing hammer into this is just going to make matters worse. spawning in DC territory it'll just make them stronger. but spawning in EP or AD territory means pretty much the same thing. the above mentioned dude will just come with his "supergroup" and take it. they're not invincible, but EP nor AD can't organise themselves well enough to fight them effectively. so they'll just take it (Volendrung) and scenario 1 comes into effect..

    my only wish is for the reds and yellows to get their act together and start coming to RW more, as i hate proc sets and would love to come back (to RW). but until then i shall see you in GH. blues seem to be the weakest alliance there, so at least there's good fighting to be done..
    EU/NA @Schwifty9 (DC)

    owner of the Imgakin monkey
  • xDeusEJRx
    xDeusEJRx
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    Keep this abomination away
    aetherix8 wrote: »
    Ravenwatch has serious population deficit and the reasons for that are many and varied. I think that bringing Volendrung back could partially address this problem:

    Bringing back Volundrung would cause the opposite of this, actually. When population imbalance exists the top population will end up with volundrung in 9 out of 10 cases and they'll just use it to gate the map more and cause an even worse population issue.

    That's like saying "the population is dying so let's give a super zerg tool to make zerging better" all that will happen is cause the top faction to zerg harder, always get the hammer and continue to oppress the 2nd and 3rd faction.

    Volundrung just encourages faction stacking and it will cause a server with already existing population issues to be worse because of that faction stacking element.
    Solo PvP'er PS5 NA player

    90% of my body is made of Magblade
  • OsUfi
    OsUfi
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    Keep this abomination away
    Proc sets and hammer would just turn Ravenwatch into baby Greyhost. No thank you. Whats the point of having 3 proc campaigns? Keep the hammer and procs out of Ravenwatch so those that want neither have somewhere to go.

    The only improvement they could do is to clarify and refine the no proc set list.
  • aetherix8
    aetherix8
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    Give us back the Hammer
    @mzprx I’m on Raven PC EU as well, and this is indeed the current state of affairs on this server, blue winning every campaign since January, and since well over one month there is this supergroup you mention controlling the map pretty much all the time. Being aware of it, I did wonder whether now is the best time to propose adding Volen to this mess, but I figure that as bad as it is when one faction is dominating to such extent, the hammer won’t make things much worse anyway. I consider this supergroup situation to be a short-term problem, till they get bored or till they are forced to play on other factions because, if this continues, soon there will be only blue players left to fight. Again, there is no faction lock on RW and it is not unheard of players switch factions to even the odds, redraw the map when it becomes stale. In this context Volen could be helpful.

    @xDeusEJRx I agree that Volen encourages faction stacking / zerging which is bad for many reasons like causing lag and the decline of skilful gameplay, but can as well be cool sometimes because it is when we have those epic massive battles that Cyro is designed for. There are plenty of reasons to faction stack and it is happening all the time, whether it is to defeat a ballgroup or to take a scroll that is fiercely defended. Yesterday on RW 3 bars red were all taking Fort Aleswell from 2 bars blue because it was the last emperor keep (mentioned earlier supergroup emperor to dethrone). Perhaps the hammer could be modified, e.g. remaining active for shorter periods of time so the stacking would be more limited.
    PC EU - V4hn1
  • furiouslog
    furiouslog
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    Give us back the Hammer
    Bucky_13 wrote: »
    Keep Volen away but add the proc sets back into Raven.

    That way everyone will know what sets actually work there, which would be a huge improvement over how we have it currently where it's trial and error or googling for some site that might be up to date with the sets. Builds will also overlap more with Battlegrounds so we don't have to have 3 separate setups for CP PvP, no CP PvP & Battlegrounds.

    As someone who plays usually at least once a week in Raven, I don't miss Volen at all. It needs high pop on all 3 sides, otherwise it'll just be used by the strongest faction to dominate the weaker ones even further. I do miss the proc sets there since gearing for Raven is quite dull compared to Grey Host.

    No matter what, it would be nice if something was done to encourage more players to go into Corodiil and PvP.

    I like no-proc, and your issue could be easily resolved by adding an icon to the set tooltips. No-proc is exactly what encourages many people to play Ravenwatch in the first place - most players can easily make or commission a viable build from among the non-proc crafted sets without worrying about big swings from patch to patch. It's also more evenly balanced gameplay.
  • soelslaev
    soelslaev
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    Other
    Varana wrote: »
    make that obvious in the game's UI.

    This is so vital.
  • tonyblack
    tonyblack
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    Give us back the Hammer
    aetherix8 wrote: »
    @Bucky_13, @tonyblack

    Personally, I don’t think that rolling the no proc ruleset back is the way to go. Some of us prefer no proc gameplay and don’t particularly like the idea of having this choice taken away. Bad implementation does not mean that the whole idea is wrong.

    This discussion wouldn’t take place unless Ravenwatch population didn’t have a problem. What Volendrung do is create faction stacked battles at primetime and easy map taking for dominating faction at off hours or dead campaigns like this one. It’s fun to flip maps easier, but in the end hammer wouldn’t change much if anything.

    No matter how ferociously some would deny it no proc is the main reason Ravenwatch (at least on pc eu) changed from being equally popular as Gray host to less popular than Blackreach. No proc doesn’t reduce the lag (low population do) nor does it create more “skillful” combat and variety of classes, most who still play there wear same meta sets and choose better classes. It’s just created additional entry barrier where you have to research what even work here and what doesn’t and then dedicate your crafting resources to create build that would only be useful in one single instance of pvp, which, arguably, has far worse customization and less impactful making it less interesting.

    And then we will have new pvp mod this year which I’m sure won’t have anything to do with no procs as well. I’ll say kill this abomination before it’s too late.
  • gariondavey
    gariondavey
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    Keep this abomination away
    Add more sets to rw.
    Anything that gives buffs or stats - added
    Ex. Olorime, powerful assault, wretched vitality, clever alchemist
    Anything that deals damage or healing - not added
    Ex. Vateshran destro, dark convergence, azureblight, almalexia
    PC NA @gariondavey, BG, IC & Cyrodiil Focused Since October 2017 Stamplar (main), Magplar, Magsorc, Stamsorc, StamDK, MagDK, Stamblade, Magblade, Magden, Stamden
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