How often does this happen?
You zone into a WoW BG and the first message you see is:
"Just let them win. It's faster Honor."
Or this:
"Everyone report Lolimafk as AFK!"
You check the Map and Lolimafk, and several other players, are still in the cave, even though AV started 5 minutes ago. The battle ends with your General being defeated and you look at the Map. Lolimafk, and several others, are still in the cave.
WAR is being touted as the next best thing in PvP/RvR, but already some people are not happy with its apparent bias towards team work. Combat in WAR is slower than in WoW. In WOW a Rogue pops out of Stealth, Ambushing you or Stunlocking you, and for several seconds you can do nothing, then you die. That doesn't happen in WAR. Combat lasts a lot longer (or appears to). Players cannot tie up an opponent and prevent them from not just moving but fighting back, until death do us part. In WAR, Combat lasts long enough that other players have a chance to react. Friends (& foes) have a chance to help out with Heals or damaging attacks of their own. Players in WAR need to work together if they want to succeed. In one on one encounters, you might take down your opponent, but just because you got the drop on him doesn't necessarily mean you'll be victorious.
What does this mean for WoW?
It means the people who enjoy PvP/RvR but who enjoy playing as a group are going to love WAR, meanwhile Lolimafk and his buddies are still AFKing in the caves in AV. The players who used to be out in the fields trying to win while cursing Lol under their breath? They're playing WAR. And the players with less Lols & AFKers on their team, they're more likely to win, because they're more likely to play as a team.
How can Blizzard encourage people to play as a Team?
By changing the way their BG rewards system works, by doing something that would be very unpopular, but it would only be unpopular with Lolimafk and a handful of other players.
Get rid of Honor. You don't need it. Or at least get rid of it as a PvP currency. The only PvP currency should be PvP Badges won from the BGs. And speaking of winning them...you need to win to win them.
Fuck the losers. Fuck the AFKers. If you don't play the BGs properly, if you just sit in the cave thinking you can AFK Honor Farm all evening, you've got another think coming.
Think you can just let your team lose because it's "faster honor". THERE IS NO HONOR!
If you want those really cool PvP Epics then you've got to work for them. There is no second place prize. Second place is just the first loser.
You can't AFK in the cave any more because it won't get you any Honor. Your Team won't win without your help, either, and if your Team doesn't win you won't get any Badges. If you're off by yourself doing your own thing (whether that's AFK or Fishing), you're not playing as part of the team, and if you're not part of the team, you've just decreased your team's chances of winning, which means you're less likely to get the Badges you need.
Would this work? I think it would. Would it be popular? I know it wouldn't. And that's why Blizzard won't do it.
But unless someone has a better idea, it's the best idea I know of to get rid of the AFK Honor Farmers and promote teamwork in the BGs. Sure, the AFK Honor Farmers will become AFK Badge Farmers, but Badges will take a lot longer to earn when your team keeps losing because you were AFK instead of helping out.
And finally, make the AFK Reporting system actually do something. Does anyone still believe reporting someone AFK works?
Change the AFK reporting system so if enough people report Lolimafk as AFK during a BG, it gives him an AFK debuff similar to the already existing /AFK Coward Debuff. You're an AFK Farmer, so no joining a BG queue for 15 minutes. And if Lol receives this AFK debuff enough times in a 24 hour period, it prevents him from signing up for any BG for 24 hours. And at the end of the week if Lol has received sufficient AFK debuffs, he cannot join any BG for 7 days, on any of his characters.
As I said, not popular. But AFK Honor Farmers aren't popular either, so what does it matter? We're not trying to make friends, we're trying to solve a problem, and the people who aren't likely to be happy with this solution are probably part of the problem. And if we get rid of them, we've solved the problem.
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4 comments:
shocking abuse of authority! I like it :D
AFK honor farmers used to drive me insane on the Alliance server I was unfortunate enough to be a part of. When my warrior went fury, I spent a shit ton of time trying to get badges/honor only to run into the same situation you mention in your post. By the end, I never wanted to set foot in a BG again, and I never did.
If WAR ditches the whole BG thing, and it sounds like they are for the most part, then PVP should be fun, and engaging. I like the fact that fights last much longer in WAR because no one should die without being able to fight back.
My hope is that WAR will be fun for the players who don't suffer from ADD and miserable to the WOW BG fanbois. That way, the fanbois will whine up a storm, then go back to WOW where they can AFK farm, leaving the WAR players to real PVP.
Hi, found my way to your blog from Danelle's. It's funny that this is the post on top. I just left BG's and they make me weary. There's got to be a better way. I like your plan. :)
I think there's a couple of issues here, and most of them are unfixable by their very nature.
First of all, there will always be people who play the system. This is why you might be working all hours of the day but bring in less than a low income single mother with 7 kids.
Anything that anyone can come up with will have some flaw that will be exploited - it's human nature.
Secondly, people don't like losing. Winning is fine, getting a silver or a bronze is fine, but getting nothing is not fine. And if you suspect you may not get anything, why put in for it? Why put in that effort, even if it will help the team - if you get nothing back. I remember when Alliance boycotted whole days of AV because the gain had shifted immeasureably to the Horde.
Imagine playing AV and constantly losing. And gaining nothing for it. How long would you play before complaining that its not fair?
So clearly, people must be rewarded for doing something - however little - even if you lose. A sort of booby prize, if you will.
Here's what I would do. Killing players give no points. Winning overall gives a mark. Completing a quest inside the BG gives a mark. Quests could be:
Kill the General.
Free the Slaves.
Defend the Outpost.
Winning might entail doing all of the above things.
Not doing anything, not being in a team that does something - gives no marks.
Completing one task might still give a mark, even though you lose.
I hate PvPing by the way, so I rarely do it. I hate not only losing, but having no chance to possibly win in the first place. And I don't really know why I should care about PvPing in a completely resettable scenario where nothing happens and no one suffers/gains in any appreciable way beyond the overall win/lose system.
You can't not award anything for losing especially since the Horde racials are more pvp oriented. It is a distinct advantage. The reason they have these racials is because in open world pvp there are less of them than Alliance. You can't give one side an advantage and then not give the losing side anything in return for trying - no one would even play anymore.
In real life you don't always get things for losing - but that is life. This is a video game that you PAY for to have fun. You can't quit life when it stinks (debatable haha) but you can sure as hell quite a game.
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