Laoviel
@Elvanae: The mechanics of OP battles are very much a part of the existing discontent.
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during which I am a pawn listening to the battle leader (so, most of the time pressing a couple of buttons to heal/nuke).
You appear to be describing issues that better relate to the battle 'tactics' that are currently being utilised at OP wars and your role in said battles rather than the battle 'mechanics' as the issue. In respect of the former, these factors are determined by the player base and you as an individual.
Naturally, battle leaders will seek to use players in the most efficient way and by directing them to the role they are best suited to. In Ryzom battles, I'd say there are probably about 4 main roles but I have added a 5th as I feel it has become a more popular role -
1. Tank - moves away from their heal pod to get close to the enemy heal pod. Requires a lot of upkeep due to this and especially when they are out of radar of their own healers. To be an effective tank you need a dedicated healer, good pvp jools, good gear and a wide variety of melee skills. This rules out new players as tanks in most battles.
2.Nuker - Can be part of the heal pod and can attack enemy tanks that are close enough. However, nukers are pretty inefficient for DPS as most players equip pvp jools so unless you are especially skilled at nuking and have necessary tools like Cheng amps and know how to use them effectively then you will just be draining your stats and soaking up heals.
3.Launcher - by far one of the best DPS in the game and extremely effective in OP wars but it is a difficult skill to level and requires a lot of prep before battle including the multiple levelling of crafting and digging and organising of mount/packers and inventory space. Not very easy for a new player.
4.Healer - anyone can heal and any heals, no matter how small, are useful. There are more advanced forms of healing ofc...
5. Multi-tasker - a player who is able to melee/nuke/heal as required. Multi-master relying on other multi-master-multi-taskers (lol theres a mouthful) who can be self-sufficient. I'd say this is probably more of an end-game role.
The point I am trying to make is that chances are, even if you are a master melee or master nuker you will probably still be best utilised as a healer in an OP war. That's really just how it is... We've all been the noob at the battle healing and most of us have also been multi-masters healing in the heal pod - it really is one of the most effective roles short of being a multi-tasker in a self-sufficient team. So, If you want to change this I can think of two ways:-
1. Train skills. Train pvp. Get better gear. Become a formidable tank or a master launcher... or a pvper who can do all 4 roles!
2. To change the actual mechanics of OP battles, you are then looking at something like... adding objectives to wars that any player can complete such as capture points. However, even with this suggestion, most players will still be best utilised as healers...
Laoviel
I know for sure I am not the only one who isn't happy at all to commit 4 hours of my life,
Regarding the duration of OP wars - 4 hours is too long. So:
1. Remove second phase and have one 2 hour long battle
2. Keep two phases but make the two battles 1 hour long each and create a custom respawn point for each OP to prevent losing out on wiped rounds lost
3.One battle lasting 1 hour with a custom respawn point for each OP
And, to link this back to tactics and player roles, I am struggling to see how reducing OP wars to 1 hour is going to change anything of what I have said above i.e. that most players will be best placed as a healer... or are you saying that 2 hours per battle of spamming heal in a heal pod is boring but one hour isnt?
Laoviel
1. Don't listen entirely to the existing player base. It sounds rude, but the entire point of changing things is to make them more palatable for those who are yet to come. If a change alienates 5 old-timers and makes 30 newcomers stay a long time because they are more interested in the game .. it's a "win" in my book.
I disagree. You can find yourself reaching 'end game' in Ryzom quicker than you think and typically the only reason you continue to play is because of the playerbase as there is not much 'end game' content. I think all the player base should be listened to and I would say probably more to the existing player base because I cant see many new players wanting to stick around in a zombie guild having convos in a zombie uni chat.
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