DISCUSSIONS AROUND ONGOING PROJECTS

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...

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?

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.

Years ago (pre-merger) we spoke about making changes to the way OP's and War used to be conducted, not because of any one faction controlling but because we felt that low-level OP needed more value. Mat rotation discussion is nothing new and actually eliminating some were discussed as well. If we can eliminate guilds from receiving Catalyzers (which is how I accomplished all of my masters pre-merger), then we can eliminate useless OP mats and bring some value to owning one.

The time-zone for OP wars will always be an issue regardless of change or not but, 1 phase to settle everything with a 2hr time limit, would be ideal in my opinion. I have taken OP during times when guilds were at work or sleeping because of where I live and that is called - life and then they were taken back from me in the same manner - that is part of life but people fail to realize that this is just a game and not real-life...

With regards to the declaration cost and drill grace-period, here are my thoughts, which once you read, you will think that I am crazy but if you seriously think about it, it does make sense. Lvl 250 OP war declaration cost should increase to 32M dappers, this will make some toons think twice and possibly encourage smaller guilds to merge and create a real sense of balance (or at the very least, a start to). Also, the cost of the drill should increase to 64M dappers for x1 speed and 128M dappers for x2 speed and if the dev-team is feeling generous, give us x4 speed for 512M dappers. I believe that by doing this, guilds will also have to take seriously the value of the OP Mat itself and possibly, as I previously mentioned, create larger guilds because the cost alone will require team-work. The grace period should be at least 90 days from the time the drill is dropped, this way, the guild can enjoy some of the benefits for all the dappers spent.

Parting shot: Life is simple, unpredictable and beautiful but always remember that even though something ends, something new begins, so take a deep breath and move on.

PS, let the criticism begin because most are really good at that and not anything constructive....

don't worry zatagra, there's a special forum post for those right here (unless they're being constructive, then they don't need that other post after all)the low level op's are often not a major desire since the bulk of the game is old vets that translates into no demand for the low level op mats, how long will a homin be able to use a Q50 anything before it's just worthless (even if it's the best for it's Q, it's useless for a multi-master that's far beyond that level.)often the low level op's are almost given away, WaO at one time was in stewertship of no less then 3 op's, all of them more or less unwanted by the rest of the community in terms of ownership, and because after sharing with my faction (as was the pratice for the kami when i was playing daily) the few mats anyone wanted, i would then open it up to the whole server if anyone wanted any, in the end the mat's just stacked up because who needs Q50 and Q100 op mats (the very worst possible ones to boot but meh)

Well, OP or not, change or not; players are not interested into this very slow-paced game in 2019.
Gameplay is slow and boring and the mentality is slow and static (even if very helpfull and welcoming)

With all the free to play game outta here, that do provide content and surf on the modern wave.
One just try the game, realize what Ryzom is and leave ;)

It is certainly not because of 250 taking q50 OP that the game die, and will continue to do so.
Not to mention for 10€ sub i can have better game, so why spend my money here? -> is the real deal.

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At this state of the game, and the actual very low players base, we may be good to put all OP mats 250 and craft q50 to q200 weapons with it.
No waste anyway ;)

Oh.. and btw did you notice, its almost gonna be one year we are waiting the promised change ? :P

Please recognize that this is YOUR point of view and is not representative of the entire population. All of us experience the game depending upon who we interact with when we are on line. But when one's exposure is limited to a group that rarely logs in except under certain instances (Bosshunts / OP Battles), they're not interacting with a large portion of the server population. The people I see every day chatting in Uni and in PMs are clearly not bored, and do not consider the game slow paced. The games viability dictates that their PoV is just as valid as yours..

I've been playing 15 years, I'm not bored.... I maintain my subscription to the game even when I need a break to take care of RL. I try and say hello to any new players I see, ask if they have any questions and listen to the views expressed. I don't play in level 50 areas but I have no desire to take them away from them.

"Remember, grasshopper, it's the journey, not the destination "

If you want to have a bunch of 250 players to run around and bash skulls with, no one is stopping you. My sons played high school sports. But my 12th grader never played against the 9th graders and neither of those played against the 6th graders. Point of information ... it's not fun for the lower classmen as they'd be either riding the bench or, if they got in, would not have an opportunity to impact the outcome.

I don't have a horse in this race. I doubt there's a single GH that doesn't have a store of OP mats that would last months if every OP broke today. Making all OPs 250 ? What's the goal ? ... so every player at an OP battle has a 250 Supreme Vedice Boosted Weapon and Armor set ?

[quote=Fyrosfreddy]
Ryzom is one of very few realtime games I ever played. Guess why...

Yes yes, whatever :)

First, you are preaching a converted (this game good, and it is also a waste in my opinion).

Guys don't feel insulted or anything right, but you need to see what Ryzom is for real, and the reality of the game business and clients expectation in 2019 (modern era).
Where even retro game need to be intouch and is matter to surf on.

That all, it is not against you personally.

Glad you are hooked to this game and its really nice but it lack interest for thousands reasons and it is proved.
If you are retired or under linux, it could be a cheap solution to ease your mind in a (not so)mmo(not so)rpg :P

Until the day we have 500(+) players on the server, it is the reality, and ill be glad this day to backup this comment ;)

The whole current outpost system is a nest egg for pensioners.

Imagine...
* Throw out the entire current outpost implementation.
* Remove all TPs and respawn points from PR.
* Make PR full open GvG, required, not optional.
* Have all outposts in PR available on a first-come first-served basis, simply by whoever constructs buildings there.
* Whoever pays the dappers to construct the outpost building gets the building.
* Building starts at low HP, half full.
* Once the building is regenned to full HP (constructed), it can be upgraded, again using more dappers.
* Anyone can attack to destroy outpost buildings at any time.
* A free-for-all placement of guard buildings and towers by anyone, anywhere, in PR, for a fair amount of dappers, with inventory space for launcher ammo (or for digging).
* All upgraded buildings can spawn a specific amount of decent guard NPCs at a specific rate, NPC type and strength depending on the building type and construction level.
* Buildings can be repeatedly upgraded to higher levels, for higher amounts of dappers, as soon as each construction phase finishes.
* Regular waves of Kitins who may massively take over an entire PR zone.

I had a similar idea that I explained to some people. Everyone was interested by the idea :)
There is a lot to do with outpost to give them real values.