It would have to be instanced like Black Hole instance on Corellia, I think all pvp planets could have instances with strongholds. Hope this clarifies my thoughts.

Firstly, thanks for constructively criticizing my idea. I’m no expert in MMO game creation so I won’t delve too far into your comments regarding programming, but I do believe trying to utilize as many mechanics which are already in game does make the programming easier and faster (as one thing I do know about programming is that most of it is copy => paste => edit). If the programming is really difficult and the idea can only be implemented in an expansion far in the future I would be thrilled. None of the NPC bosses would require 40 players to kill, but should 40 players quickly make it into the instance then there would be some cases of 40 players vs. 1 NPC occurring. It would create lag, but only for a brief time. I’d imagine that the NPC’s would only require 12 players to kill, like most world bosses and easy 16 man ops bosses. Other time sink ideas are welcome but people who want to join the instance would need around 20 minutes to finish their WZ/quest/flashpoint, change character, and/or travel to the instance. I agree lag is a major issue. I’ll start with saying that my idea is just an idea and that no numbers or concepts are set in stone. So if 80 players causes too much lag, limit it to 60 or 40 (though letting 20 of your faction’s players determine who gets a faction wide boost would not be ideal). If you think 40 players will lead to lag then we’ll just have to agree to disagree until someone can get 40 players on Ilum again. Additionally, the issue is on Bioware’s end and hopefully they can fix it someday. I remember not playing WZ’s at launch because they were horribly laggy but Bioware fixed it so there is hope. If WZ's are currently laggy for you I think your are in a small minority as I very rarely hear people complain about lag in WZ's, and this people often end up disconnecting - yeah the people who lag won't do WZ's but I don't hear people complain about it in gen chat either. On my server when everyone was doing their Ilum PvP weekly all the players would gather on a bridge near a republic medical droid. The lag was horrible when everyone was at the bridge, but if the republic was able to overpower the imps and make them slowly retreat the lag would get a lot better. Everyone spacing out really removed a lot of the lag, and this was with ≈80 players (players dying also helped - the kill rate at the bridge was very low). Yeah I can’t force players to space out but anyone who has been part of a big Ilum PvP battle which has not taken place at a small chokepoint knows that people will naturally spread apart. Additionally we can try to think of ways to incentivize players to spread even further apart (I can assure you I will be thinking about simple ways to achieve this so check the OP or the one under it for edits). P.S. I realize that having everyone go after one item does not encourage spreading out, but I think I've got somewhat of a solution to this that I'll post soon Lastly, the 40 players being a great final boss for PvE’ers was meant in light to attempt to get them to see some of the fun of PvP. Thanks for reading the whole or most of my post and thanks again for the constructive criticism.

I agree this could be a problem. The 30 could be adjusted to 20 minutes or less, and note that as more people show up (on both factions) the more people are let in which would lower the time to kill further.

To keep the length of the original post short I’m adding extra unnecessary verbiage here. Detailed Details Since a picture can tell a thousand words let’s start off by looking at what I envision the instance and stronghold area looking like. Link1 Link2 Isn’t Microsoft Paint wonderful? Lag I’m assuming for various reasons, which I could explain if you like, that spreading players out over a large area, low player density, will keep lag at a very reasonable level. Now I know that some of you are already thinking that keeping player density low when all players are supposed to pursue one object is not viable, but I disagree. The first step to lowering player density is to resurrect them at random medical droids surrounding the relic, see the first picture. (more new programming required ) The second step is to increase the kill rate as one gets closer to the relic. This is very easily achieved by adding death pits for players to be pushed into, see the second picture. Unfortunately some classes don’t have knockbacks, but I believe these classes will find a role to fill just as every class has a role to fill in Hutt Ball. These pits make it a very unattractive place for the defenders to mass and forces most of them to position themselves outside of the stronghold. With the current game there will be some lag spikes, but nothing like the sustained lag experienced on Ilum. As I posted earlier, most players’ lag issues (as experienced on Ilum) are on Bioware’s end and hopefully they can fix it. Remember when WZ’s were laggy, Bioware fixed that so it may be possible. Optional Overflow area Let me start with, this is just a thought. If the attacker’s PvE area gets too crowded and laggy then extra attackers joining the instance could be placed behind force fields in other areas. When the attackers finish the PvE content (just a time sink) they can turn off all the force fields to begin PvPing.

End Game World PvP Objective: To provide substantive content for end game PvP’ers with large battles whose outcome affects everyone in the galaxy. I propose that 4 server wide artifacts/relics be introduced to the game. Each relic gives the faction that stores them a faction wide benefit. Relic 1 - +5% experience to all NPC kills Relic 2 - +10% credit boost to warzone rewards Relic 3 - +300 valor to warzone rewards Relic 4 - +30 warzone commendations to warzone rewards The relics can be moved to a stronghold/fortress on any of the PvP worlds by the possessing faction. It would also be acceptable for the faction to split the relics across different worlds. The attackers, the faction that wants to steal the relics, must use the group finder tool to generate an ops group of 25 players to attempt to steal the relic. Once formed it is the group's job to decide which stronghold to attack. How the Stronghold Works To avoid planet overcrowding the strongholds will be located within an instance on the planet, just like the Black Hole area on Corellia. The attacking team has to clear ≈30 minutes worth of NPC’s before being able to reach the relic(s). This provides the defending faction time to gather to defend the relic(s). Once the attackers have cleared the NPC’s the battle can begin. The attackers’ objective is to pick up the relic and get it to one of their strongholds. I image picking up the relic like planting a bomb in Voidstar and holding the relic like possessing a Hutt Ball. The defenders’ objective is to hold off the attackers for 1 hour, starting from when the attackers entered the instance. After an hour stronger (unbeatable) NPC’s will spawn and remain for 24 hours. Note: There will be medical droids for both factions within the instance Details - An instance of the opposite faction can only be entered by ops groups created through the group finder tool - As soon as an instance is entered by an attacking ops a server wide message is sent alerting players which of their bases is being attacked or that they are attacking the other faction - Now numerous players will flock to the location and essentially queue to enter - If there are 25 attackers 28 defenders will be allowed in - As soon as there are 25 defenders 28 attackers will be allowed in - And the numbers can increase to 40 on each side so long as one side does not outnumber the other by more than 3 players. - ≈30 minutes of NPC's means several world bosses/16 man ops bosses with supporting units Rewards (Recommended Reading) • The NPC's will drop high level gear (perhaps a mixture of PvE and PvP items and commendations) • Players can pick up a mission to take part in a stronghold siege or defence. As long as the player is present when the relic is taken out of the instance or when the unbeatable NPC’s spawn they will receive the award if they are on the winning faction. • Alternatively the players on the winning faction could receive a buff that gives them +50% to all WZ rewards for the next 10 WZ’s • To encourage participation it’s possible to give all participants rewards of varying degrees too. Problems/Solutions (Optional Reading) Problem: Server faction imbalances Solution: The queuing system – not allowing one faction to have 3 players more than the other Solution: The unbeatable NPC’s which spawn and last for 24 hours also addresses server faction imbalances particularly if there are low population servers at night. Alternatively attacking ops groups could only be formed during peak hours. Problem: PvE servers Solution: Placing strongholds in instances Problem: People leveling on planets with strongholds being ‘disrupted’ Solution: Placing strongholds in instances. The group finder tool will be in game by this time and allow leveling people to find groups for heroics Problem: General unseen issues when the attackers are moving the relic to their stronghold Solution: The player carrying the relic can only hold it for 30 minutes Problem: One faction holding all the relics for months Solution: Developers can get creative with NPC’s stealing the relics or adjust the attacker to defender ratio Problem: This will make one faction stronger and reward them for it, making them even stronger Solution: Give the team with more relics a 'there's an imbalance in the force' debuff (when in the instance) Problem: Lag Solution: Spreading players out over a large area (the stronghold will have multiple entrances) and hopefully bug fixes Problem: This is too difficult to implement Solution: The only completely new programming that will be required will be the queuing system and the faction wide relic boost, most everything else is in the game in one form or another Problem: Only the attacking team will have an ops Solution: It will be up to the defending players to form (an) ops group(s). Just as Ilum worked Problem: ≈30 minutes worth of NPC’s is a long time for the defenders to wait Solution: More defenders in the instance allows more attackers into the instance as well which would speed up the NPC killing process. Problem: A player likes to level slowly and doesn't want the +5% exp. per kill Solution: Right click the buff to remove it (this might actually create some issues or require new programming to enable people to toggle such buffs) Problem: The new queuing system is too difficult to implement Solution: Give the weaker team's players buffs, like the one in levels 10-49 WZ's Problem: Players who fight for an hour are rewarded just as much as players who fight for 1 minute Solution: Better to have someone show up than not. Maybe the reward system could somehow take time into account. Or medals could be granted like in WZ's. Problem: Bioware missing this suggestion Solution: If you post a comment and share this idea with your friends Other Ramblings (Not compulsory reading) - The 30 minutes worth of NPC’s could be implemented like a complex flashpoint to encourage PvE’ers to participate (though good PvE drops could easily achieve this) - Note to PvE'ers: 40 real life Republic/Empire players would be an awesome final boss fight. - Much later in Patch 5.0.0 a smaller version of this could be introduced. It would allow guilds on the same faction to fight over objects that are to be stored in their guild house/apartment/ship. One would probably end up seeing guild alliances formed to exchange the objects on raid nights. Though the Republic players might end up being boringly democratic and never fight.

Oh, I didn't know about that. Thanks!

It would useful to have a /clear command that clears your general chat of all comments. I would use it a bit in war zones because after a while one sees, snow snow snow snow and I often don't know if the last snow was said recently or 5 minutes ago. It would also be good for clearing people briefly talking about spoilers in general chat, or even just getting rid of the conversation you just had with someone you just placed on your ignore list.