xylena_lazarow wrote: »It didn't feel like a stalemate to me, I could tell I was making progress. Half my damage that match was Thrive + Talons and attached effects. Green didn't have enough damage. Not judging players just performances, we had:There's nothing more fun than a stalemate.
Red: 2 strong DD, 1 strong healer, 5 mid to low
Green: 2 strong healer, 1 strong DD, 5 mid to low
So despite it being a low scoring attrition match, the nature of 8v8 allowed us opportunities to pressure the main healers enough to break the balls apart and kill isolated players, so it felt fun and evenly matched to me.
xylena_lazarow wrote: »I hated 3-sided but I'd love FFA, which would work much better for mindless brawling (not a bad thing) as I think a lot of us really miss the endless Memorial Brawl in Old IC. But as I'm sure you've noticed, when you throw the mindless brawlers in with the objective players in a 3-sided team game where strats matter, you get a lot of toxicity.DaniimalsSF wrote: »3rd partied action is the absolute best. Nothing worse than two mini ball groups standing still spamming heals and shields. ZOS please add a 16 player free for all deathmatch queue, no team mates to save you.
Green should've been able to take advantage of the tunnel vision, but lacked the damage to punish it. It didn't seem like a deliberate strat but it ended up not as bad as it looked, isolating the 55k hp Warden pro healer from their allies to prevent ball grouping helped us to close out kills. Red had issues earlier in the match when green balled up.It seemed like the warden-chasing around the pillar went on for too long.
Yeah if there's enough players for 4 queues then surely we can improve on the formats. I miss the DM queue.DaniimalsSF wrote: »The first move is definitely separating deathmatch and objective modes.
Because doing this in Team vs Team would only create a grueling stalemate (or close to it), after which the participants would promptly uninstall.Why don't you just swap the players into different teams in Team vs Team if you think it's that simple?
This was a lot harder to do in a 3-sided fight. If a team started retreating and the other two gave chase, they would be forced into the same space, thus becoming vulnerable to an ult dump AND to each other. The fear of being caught in a sandwich was a powerful deterrent. I suppose it depends on your build and other factors, but I would say that, to me, the best move was always to focus experienced PVPers and help my teammates retreat. I remember that doing this amidst the chaos was sure to create all kinds of opportunities.What you also miss out on is that the easier targets will still get farmed as more experienced PvPers know to only attack each other if it's the objective or helps you win the game - rest of the time you're better off just almost instantly killing the people in PvE builds with 20k health rather than letting them parse on you.
As explained above, a fight between two and three teams is completely different.This is no different whether you have two, three, four or fifteen teams - it's common game sense. The only difference is that you're more likely to get 3rd partied the more teams there are and this can be either by RNG or simply people disrespecting/disliking you. Either case is a result of bad and unfun game design.
The fundamental errors could be fixed, but considering that our beloved zenimax won't even move the 8v8 solo queue to the top of the queue list, I think I should start managing my expectations. Perhaps, at first, the most enlightened request to be made would be the replacement of the least populated queue option with 4v4v4 DM Solos Only. Which one do you think it is? 8v8 Group, 4v4 Group, or 4v4 Solo?Also, three-teams BGs got sidelined because almost no one played them and there is no way to fix fundamental errors. You shouldn't be able to queue into a battleground and get into a 1-4v8 situation because people in opponent teams don't like you and finally get their chance to outnumber you.
Fun Battlegrounds Chapter 3: Dear diary, here we go again... waited 20 seconds for a fun match (Solo 8v8 PC/EU)https://youtu.be/XGejhJCGxD0?si=qiBdUNMV7RUoVwmF
Thumbless_Bot wrote: »As we can see above, some folks like 2 teams and some like 3. What percentage of people like which more is debatable. I guess. The sentiment i am hearing from real players is decidedly slanted against the 2 team format. However, Zos will (did) certainly claim a win with two teams even if it is not because it is in their interest to do so because of the time and money invested in it and because they probably like getting a consistent paycheck / want to keep their jobs.
After the paint has dried, they should really bring back both formats, full stop.
If 10% play 2 teams and 90% play 3 teams, or vice versa, so be it. I would rather play less of the game i want to play than be stuck playing something i dislike. Somehow, I don't think this would happen.
If they fully reverted to just three teams that would be a mistake and, well, flat out wrong. As would sticking with two teams. Also, if they did revert to just 3 teams, I wouldn't tell those that liked two teams to go play another game... or go duel... that's dismissive, condescending and wrong.
Everyone should be able to PLAY THE WAY THEY WANT.
Considering how ESO's combat is, this is how two-teams BGs play out:@Decimus I have a video for you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Fl4DaDzFc
Are you really going to say that the players who want this combat can't have even a single one of the FOUR queue options available right now?
Thumbless_Bot wrote: »Some objectivity is warranted here.
Objective facts:
It takes more skill to survive against two opponents than it does one, all else being equal. This is simple logic and any arguments to the contrary defy the simplest of logical analysis and critical thinking skills. A conclusive statement can be made from this that three teams takes more skill because you are all always outnumbered, but i wont make that statement here.
Thumbless_Bot wrote: »More people quit 2 team bgs than did 3 team. Why is anyone's guess, but I do not think anyone would argue that this is not the case on PS5 or on PCNA, where i still play (different name on ps5).
Thumbless_Bot wrote: »Balance:
We can objectively say that each person in each team, whether it is 4v4v4 or 4v4 or 8v8 is up against the exact same obstacle and has, in theory, the same tools at their disposal.
In 4v4 you have three teammates and four people trying to kill you, or whatever.
In 4v4v4 you have three teammates and 8 people trying to kill you, or whatever.
Everyone has the exact same odds. This is objectively balanced and there is no fact can dispute this.
Not going to get into the whole personal preferences argument, but just correcting some "facts" thrown around:Thumbless_Bot wrote: »Some objectivity is warranted here.
Objective facts:
It takes more skill to survive against two opponents than it does one, all else being equal. This is simple logic and any arguments to the contrary defy the simplest of logical analysis and critical thinking skills. A conclusive statement can be made from this that three teams takes more skill because you are all always outnumbered, but i wont make that statement here.
You can be outnumbered in team vs team battlegrounds as well, the difference is that when this happens you're not leaving your team fighting the 3rd team outnumbered, i.e. inting the battleground - in fact you're making sure your team is the one outnumbering the opponents wherever they're fighting.
Whether you're outnumbered or outnumbering more in 3-way BGs is a coinflip of whether you're in the weakest team (the one that gets farmed by the other two) or not.
It's either more difficult to survive than in team vs team, or significantly easier to survive (but also harder to get the killing blows).Thumbless_Bot wrote: »More people quit 2 team bgs than did 3 team. Why is anyone's guess, but I do not think anyone would argue that this is not the case on PS5 or on PCNA, where i still play (different name on ps5).
This is your personal observation, not an "objective fact". Over the 7 years I played them, I have seen entire teams leave 3-way battlegrounds multiple times up to the point where the BG is completely empty apart from your team and everyone gets kicked for inactivity.Thumbless_Bot wrote: »Balance:
We can objectively say that each person in each team, whether it is 4v4v4 or 4v4 or 8v8 is up against the exact same obstacle and has, in theory, the same tools at their disposal.
In 4v4 you have three teammates and four people trying to kill you, or whatever.
In 4v4v4 you have three teammates and 8 people trying to kill you, or whatever.
Everyone has the exact same odds. This is objectively balanced and there is no fact can dispute this.
No, you cannot say that... because "player aggro" doesn't distribute evenly - you cannot be hitting two targets at the same time with your single target spammable or execute. Who is going to be focused the most is always the squishiest and easiest targets... and if you happen to be in the team full of them, you are in fact fighting 4(being generous here)v8 and the other teams are fighting 8v4 since they are ignoring each other i.e. not doing damage to each other with those single target spammables and executes.
Even in the case where teams are more or less balanced (good luck with that) player composition wise, you'll have uneven amount of damage taken by each team... if Team A & B land even 60% of their damage on Team C, that's already a huge disadvantage for Team C.
So no, as a matter of fact not every team is up against the same obstacle, because for one of the teams there's usually two of them rather than one.
Now you might like this kind of "balance", but please don't confuse it for facts - that's all.
Here's how 3-sided BGs played out for me:Considering how ESO's combat is, this is how two-teams BGs play out
xylena_lazarow wrote: »Here's how 3-sided BGs played out for me:Considering how ESO's combat is, this is how two-teams BGs play out
"hey stop bullying the cp140 guy on the 3rd place team and get on the objective so we can win"
"no screw you im here to PvP not roleplay"
For the next 15 minutes, forget playing the objective, I can't even deathmatch against real players without getting "enemy stole the kill" or outright 6v1'd because my teammates refuse to do anything but bully the weakest player(s) on the field, and any attempts to reason with my own team from that point is met with words I can't type here on the forums.
This toxic problem is 100% solved by moving to the 2-sided format.
Fun Battlegrounds Chapter 8: Waiting 2 minutes 27 seconds for a fun match! (Solo 8v8 PC/EU)https://youtu.be/iq-B58ts_CE?si=T6MESudnjHdc_Xtc
I'm a proponent of replacing one of the 4 queues with 4v4v4 solo casual, even if I'm not into 3-sided BGs myself. If they can't make the 4v4 solo competitive function properly, replace that one, because it's in currently in horrendous shape. The 8v8 solo casual is the best thing they've added to PvP in a long time and should be the top of the queue list.Thumbless_Bot wrote: »This is a really awesome sentiment coming from a really awesome player. Zos, you have die-hard players on both sides of this issue... whatever will you do...
Fun Battlegrounds Chapter 8: Waiting 2 minutes 27 seconds for a fun match! (Solo 8v8 PC/EU)https://youtu.be/iq-B58ts_CE?si=T6MESudnjHdc_Xtc
So I went to Youtube and watched some of the videos in your Bg's playlist. Looks like you've spent a lot of time in battlegrounds over the years and have put together some impressive builds. Of the 47 vidoes in your bg playlist seven of them are in the new two team format and the rest are three team (I skimmed them, I'm at work and cant watch 15 hours of Youtube so if I got something wrong I apologize). Far as I can tell you took a two year break from posting bg vids and only started posting again with the format change. Did the two team format inspire you to get back into ESO? Or to start posting to YT again? That's great. Since you've seen fit to share your new two team bg vids with us I thought I'd go check them out and read the comments. All 10 of them. I was interested in gauging how your audience felt about the format change but unfortunately there were no comments pertaining to format preference. My favorite comments were the ones that asked "what game is this?" but the one guy who asked if it was WoW was pretty funny. I am glad to see the game being promoted in a positive light, I'm gonna have to take a closer look at your vids and see if theres a warden build in there...been thinking of making one you see.
In regards to your post on page nine of this thread, the poll you cited showing format preference, could you post a link to that please? I'd be interested in seeing that post/vid/poll in context, if you don't mind.
And lastly, a genuine question. You've been a vocal advocate for two team bg's in this thread and several others. You've given some clear and concise breakdowns of gameplay and how, in your opinion, two team gameplay is superior to that of three team. Maybe you're even right, I don't know, I'm not a bg guru. What I do know is, subjectively, you like two team and I like three team. I want you to be able to play the way you want. Why don't you want us to be able to play the way we want? We want everybody to get what they're asking for. You seem dead set against the return of three team. Why is that? And before you cite population/participation as the reason, that the population wont support that many queues please note that this thread has been viewed 13.8K times. That's a lot of views for a subject nobody's interested in, for a part of the game nobody plays. So if participation is there, why don't you want everyone to be able to play the way they want?
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/672867/cyrodiil-champions-live-test-community-q-a/p1Q. Will these Cyrodiil tests, whether they go well or poorly, have any implications for other PvP content such as Imperial City or Battlegrounds? – ParalyzerT9
A. In terms of the test, the team working on Cyrodiil Champions is the same team that would be working on other PVP content, so their focus is on the test for the time being. Anything beyond that, we need to see how the test goes.
Stealing the kill from 4 other people with a dizzying swing was a pretty baller move. It's a shame it ended up costing the lives of his teammates. Both teams made the mistake of not staying together and protecting each other, especially this early in the match. This should have been the ''feeling each other out'' stage. Not ideal, but part of what made BGs so unpredictable, chaotic and fun for everyone involved.Thanks, that's a great video to showcase all the problems of 3-way BGs:
20 seconds in, the person recording the video steals a kill from the green team (who do all the damage to the target while he's chilling in the background), after which green team (and a random purple) just 5v2 and delete his team mates whom he was with while he's... running after the random purple.
Unpredictable and chaotic. There was no telling what would happen next.After this he gets to 2v1 a green who chased him after that team fight. Not judging, it is a deathmatch and I assume he's trying to win. Directly after this he and his team try (and fail) to 4v1 a purple.
Unpredictable and chaotic. There was no telling what would happen next.After this a team fight where his team is focused by both enemy teams, and this sets the pace of the match: weakest team to be farmed... he's well on his way to a negative KDR (and I'd assume extremely frustrating) battleground with his team trailing by more than 10 kills as something happens: a person in his team rage quits. Wow, what a sign of a fun battleground... right?
Unpredictable and chaotic. There was no telling what would happen next.Replacement arrives and turns out to be a competent player, it's time to steal kills and focus down the purples who now become the weakest team!
I would love to be on the purple team. I would protect my teammates, focus the warden on orange and the templar on green. They would have to focus me, especially in this situation. All three of us would remember this match fondly. Hopefully, our teammates would too.End of the BG, after 10 minutes of killstealing... a tie, and instead of their team it's purple who has a miserable time due to matchmaking and being focused by 8 people.
BG regulars understand that it is nearly impossible to finish off someone who wants to be chased, they (usually) don't fall for any batting eyelashes. Not that I'm doubting your loveliness, mind you. Three-teams BGs were played by staying together, avoiding the sandwich, and focusing the targets by order of squishiness (usually). If you think that these are ''problems'' and ''ball group style gameplay'' then I can see why you don't want them back. But I also see the beauty in 4 solo players working together to accomplish these things. I wish that you could too.Now, team mates do split in team vs team BGs as well and outnumbered fights happen... but the difference is that while you're being outnumbered in team vs team, your team is outnumbering the rest of the opponents. That is balance: you can buy your team kills and objectives by just being a good player and surviving outnumbered.
If you do this in 3-way BGs, not only are you outnumbered, but so is your team - splitting into two groups just turns your fight into two 2v4s instead of one 2v4 and team being able to 6v4 meanwhile for example. This forces a ball group style gameplay on people, which is the last thing battlegrounds need. Fundamental problem, glad it's gone.
A healing petsorc with enough damage to successfully execute people with mage's wrath would have some major flaws in the build. They just don't have the skill slots for it. Anyway, in a 3-sided fight it is important to not fully commit if you don't know what the third team is doing. Some light skirmishing is fine though, feeling each other out generates ultimate , but if both teams are always on the lookout for the third one (as they are supposed to be), I don't see what the problem is.Now I understand a lot of people enjoy this less skill-oriented gameplay of sitting behind (possibly healing) meat shields and stealing kills with things like mage's wrath or jbeam... I would highly recommend these people to try Cyrodiil, which has exactly that type of 3-way PvP content.
That, or just practicing and improving... almost every BG can be fun, even without third partying - just takes a bit more effort
Fun Battlegrounds Chapter 8: Waiting 2 minutes 27 seconds for a fun match! (Solo 8v8 PC/EU)https://youtu.be/iq-B58ts_CE?si=T6MESudnjHdc_Xtc
So I went to Youtube and watched some of the videos in your Bg's playlist. Looks like you've spent a lot of time in battlegrounds over the years and have put together some impressive builds. Of the 47 vidoes in your bg playlist seven of them are in the new two team format and the rest are three team (I skimmed them, I'm at work and cant watch 15 hours of Youtube so if I got something wrong I apologize). Far as I can tell you took a two year break from posting bg vids and only started posting again with the format change. Did the two team format inspire you to get back into ESO? Or to start posting to YT again? That's great. Since you've seen fit to share your new two team bg vids with us I thought I'd go check them out and read the comments. All 10 of them. I was interested in gauging how your audience felt about the format change but unfortunately there were no comments pertaining to format preference. My favorite comments were the ones that asked "what game is this?" but the one guy who asked if it was WoW was pretty funny. I am glad to see the game being promoted in a positive light, I'm gonna have to take a closer look at your vids and see if theres a warden build in there...been thinking of making one you see.
In regards to your post on page nine of this thread, the poll you cited showing format preference, could you post a link to that please? I'd be interested in seeing that post/vid/poll in context, if you don't mind.
And lastly, a genuine question. You've been a vocal advocate for two team bg's in this thread and several others. You've given some clear and concise breakdowns of gameplay and how, in your opinion, two team gameplay is superior to that of three team. Maybe you're even right, I don't know, I'm not a bg guru. What I do know is, subjectively, you like two team and I like three team. I want you to be able to play the way you want. Why don't you want us to be able to play the way we want? We want everybody to get what they're asking for. You seem dead set against the return of three team. Why is that? And before you cite population/participation as the reason, that the population wont support that many queues please note that this thread has been viewed 13.8K times. That's a lot of views for a subject nobody's interested in, for a part of the game nobody plays. So if participation is there, why don't you want everyone to be able to play the way they want?
I'm not really that active on Youtube as I've been mostly focusing on Twitch these past 5 or so years... I might do some multistreaming on both platforms in the future though as they've somewhat recently relaxed the Twitch terms of service in that regard.
That's really the main reasoning behind not posting too many videos over the last few years, but of course it's much easier to get good videos in the new format compared to previous one.
My builds I usually put up on my website and keep up to date there - not sure how the forum rules are on linking websites, but you can find a link to it in description of my videos - got my magden & melee/ranged stamden builds there (melee stamden is featured in BG video #44).
Regarding your other question, it's mostly about the limited development resources and how they're spent. You might have noticed that there is very little BG or balance changes in the upcoming Update 45 - this is because they have very limited resources and those are all spent on working on the upcoming Cyrodiil changes. This is from the recent Q&A posted on the forums:https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/672867/cyrodiil-champions-live-test-community-q-a/p1Q. Will these Cyrodiil tests, whether they go well or poorly, have any implications for other PvP content such as Imperial City or Battlegrounds? – ParalyzerT9
A. In terms of the test, the team working on Cyrodiil Champions is the same team that would be working on other PVP content, so their focus is on the test for the time being. Anything beyond that, we need to see how the test goes.
In other words, if we want them to keep meaningfully supporting and improving the existing battlegrounds, first of all we have to pray these Cyrodiil tests are over soon... and secondly they cannot introduce different battlegrounds (even if they were already developed) because these battlegrounds will require maintenance, updated rewards, improvements based on feedback... and most importantly: player base. Spending the very limited development time and resources into reintroducing something that's just going to be ridiculously long queues is development time and resources taken away from the team vs team battlegrounds, which do need a lot of changes, additions and improvements (they're also far from perfect).
This thread has been viewed a lot because it's on the front page of the forums... as a result of being bumped up by some random "Destruction of Battlegrounds" video being posted the moment the thread dips into the second or third page. And it's being bumped up right now by me posting this reply, but this is how public spaces work... if you're not there, other people will fill the void with their own agenda.
I do wish everyone could have a fun game mode for themselves, but there's a cost to everything. Towards the end of the 3-way BG era there were very few people left playing battlegrounds - I know this first hand from playing daily on the most populated megaserver. They decided to change the format and there's now a bigger player base... if they keep building on that maybe the player base might be big enough eventually to support new (or returning) game modes, but right now I think it'd just take away from the existing one both in player base & development resources without providing anything new due to the aforementioned population issues and queue times.