Consolidated "how to save Ilum" thread - be constructive please

[DKDArtagnan]

Ok, here's the thing - I love the IDEA of Ilum. I LOVE the idea of a large open zone where PvP is strongly encouraged AND rewarded. I was there at launch, and I was there at 1.1. To call Ilum a disappointment would be an understatement of sizable proportions. But let's forget that.

 

Let's look at the bright side. We've seen improvements to the engine - and we can actually have 8v8 PvP that doesn't break the game - and I have very smooth framerates in all WZs now.

 

Ilum is there already - they have all the assets in place - and the majority of the work involved would be a design challenge, rather than a huge manpower workload.

 

So, how would YOU improve Ilum? Give me your ideas.

 

Personally, I think they need to limit the amount of players first and foremost - because the Hero engine, frankly, sucks big-time for truly large scale PvP. That's just something we have to swallow.

 

So, make it anything from 20v20 to 40v40. Anything beyond that is just plain unrealistic - if you ask me. But I definitely think those numbers are doable. So, create separate instances of that size - so skewed population won't be an issue - and everyone can enjoy the PvP zone.

 

Secondly, the whole concept of "PvP for its own sake is enough" is a myth. It's never enough. Oh, sure, it's fun for a while at first - and it can be a relief to kill people for 30-60 minutes every now and then - but it will never EVER be enough to sustain a healthy and interesting PvP zone.

 

So, they NEED to encourage conflict - and they NEED to reward smart play. They NEED to give people SIGNIFICANT rewards for killing people - but they also need to take into account the variety of factors involved. Having 20 people killing a few shouldn't give a significant reward. That's not meaningful. But if one person kills another on the field - then it should definitely be rewarded in a way that makes the activity worthwhile. Factors involved should be damage done and damage taken. Healing other people should be rewarded - based on similar concept. As in, healing actual damage should be rewarded. TAKING damage should be rewarded. It might sound complex - and it IS complex - because a big load of factors need to be taken into account when designing the system - and you need to track how multiple players interact - and reward them accordingly.

 

Then, and more importantly, we NEED a variety of meaningful objectives that everything from one player to an entire raid can achieve - and again, we need rewards that are enough to motivate players to stay in Ilum.

 

One way is to have goals that "auto-reset" so we avoid the unfortunate situation from the past, where one side takes all the objectives and just ganks everyone who gets near them. Make it so that objectives auto-reset at given random intervals (like between 15-20 minutes randomly, so you can't predict where to be), and have enough of them so it's a problem covering them all and guarding them. Make TAKING an objective give a reward in itself -and don't rely on the stupid daily quests. Real war isn't about a daily quest - and immersion would be helped tremendously by having your actions directly reward you.

 

Now, as for the rewards themselves - I think it should be a combination of commendations for COMPARABLE gear to real Warzones - but that in itself won't be enough. Because there will come a time when most players have the tier of gear they need - and they will simply stop coming to Ilum. So, they need a VERY significant PRESTIGE progression. This means "visual fluff" like new lightsabers or gear appearances. Give people cool stuff for participating - but don't eliminate the desire to do Warzones either. Just make it perpetually interesting to participate in the battle for Ilum - and you won't lack for players there.

 

Also, it's VERY important to log activities for major players. Have a "status screen" interface for the zone - where the accomplishments of all players are listed. Nothing is more motivating for a player than having his name known throughout - and it promotes competitive play in a healthy way - just as long as the you're smart in terms of how you track real accomplishments.

 

Now, what do you guys think? Do YOU have ideas for how to improve Ilum? I think the key is to keep it relatively low-key in terms of the workload involved. I don't see Bioware going all out on the zone at this point - but if enough people demonstrate a desire to remain in the game with a modest effort - they just might do something to save this zone. This zone that STILL has HUGE potential for the game.

[Mrcheezle]

Just buy GW2.

 

Swtor will never have massive open world pvp. The server engines cannot handle it. Hence the removal of an open world pvp campaign for this game. They have no intentions of working on one either. Half the swtor team has alrdy been cannned and the game appears to be in maintanence mode.

 

GW2 on the other hand is the complete opposite and their open world pvp is awesomesauce.

[DKDArtagnan]

No thanks, I've been in all three betas and the game just doesn't appeal to me. I don't agree with the whole no-progression concept - and I think the personal story in GW2 is a complete joke. The dynamic events are nice - but they're not giving players any reason for feeding cows or killing bees. I'd much rather have a story-based reason for that.

 

The PvP? Meh, I don't like the limited arsenal and I'm not into WvW with massive zergs.

 

But this thread was about SWtOR - not other games.

[Dmasterr]

The game engine can not support large amount of players.

 

And the map is too big and to wide spread to be playable with a small number of players.

 

Also the objectives are not important enough to deter ppl from spawn camping.

 

Small but vicious circle.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Dmasterr