Hello, everyone!
Good day to people who knows me, and nice to meet you to everyone who doesn't. I'm Aina, and I'm here to propose the enabling of Battleground (BG) game mode as part of the PvP aspect of MuhRO. I've talked about this in the PvP Discord before, but I feel like creating a clear suggestion on the forums would make it easier for everyone to weigh in on their opinion on the specifics of BG. Special thanks to @Meer, @balance, @kleohakis, and my guildmates from Potato Salad, for the suggestions and advice!
Firstly, before diving into the system, I'd like to go through the basics:
What is Battleground (BG)?
BG is a PvP game mode where anyone (provided they fulfill the requirements) can join, regardless of their experience, gears, or affiliation to guilds. In classic BG, players will be randomly divided into two groups: Blue Guild and Red Guild. The basic rules and settings of BG will be the same as TE WoE, except that dual clienting will be strictly forbidden.
Reasons for Enabling BG
As I have typed on the PvP Discord before, there are a few reasons why enabling BG will be very beneficial for the players and server in general. I will break down the reasons below:
1. From the server's standpoint, BG could serve as additional content for players who have reached "endgame" in PvM.
I think everyone who has played the server for a while now would realize that there's really not much contents you can enjoy once you hit endgame in PvM. When you have all the gears and no content to use it for, it really reduces your motivation to log in to the game and play - I think many of us have felt this. The only other content to grind for would probably be Bloody Branch party, but even that gets old, no?
BG could be one of the answer for this issue: unlike TE WoE, BG happens at certain time slots each day, every day. Unlike PvM, in BG, where you fight against other players, there's always something to theory craft and think about: how to counter certain classes, how to increase your damage, how to move and swap gears effectively, et cetera. As long as there are people playing, PvP - in this case, BG - will never be a "dead" content.
2. BG could be a "gateway" for people to start playing PvP.
Not entirely unrelated to the first point, BG is very friendly in terms of entrance requirement. You just have to fulfill the minimum class requirement (which I will also explain below), and there's no pressure to minmax gears if you don't really have the funds/willingness to minmax. Not to mention, players don't need to be part of a guild to join; so it's perfect if you're only starting out and isn't sure if PvP is your thing - it's basically a trial session where anyone can join, regardless of class and gears.
3. As of right now, BG is the only way to practice TE WoE.
Without BG, you will only get two hours per week to play: no place to practice gameplay and strategies, or to test out your newly theory crafted gears and builds. You... kind of just attend WoE and hope you're not missing anything or making critical mistakes in calculations.
4. BG is the way PvP Communities grow.
Through BG, you will be forced to play in a team with people whom you might not know before, or even your rivals in WoE. It's a place where newbies and veterans mingle, ask questions, theory craft together, and sometimes even partake in small bouts of trashtalk; but, ultimately, it's a place to foster community for PvP players, a place to build the meta to be way more enjoyable than it currently is.
So, now, what kind of game modes are there in BG?
As far as I know, each RO server has their own modes for BG, with some simpler modes existing in almost every server. I will now list the game modes I've played and enjoyed before, with some tagged as a must-have (of course, in my humble opinion).
1. Krieger von Midgard (KvM)
KvM is a fairly straightforward game mode: it is, quite literally, a kill or be killed game mode. In my opinion, this is a must-have game mode.
- Players will be divided into two guilds.
- One guild will spawn at the top left corner of the map, while the other at the bottom right corner of the map.
- Everyone is free to move around and kill each other in the map
- The winning objective is to wipe the entire enemy team, or have the most number of survivors by the end of the round.
- A KvM round can last up to 3-5 minutes, depending on the server settings.
2. Flavius
Another one of the classic BG game modes. Also a must-have.
- Players will be divided into two guilds.
- Each guild will have a "crystal" on their home ground. This crystal will be protected by two guardians (monsters, usually Bow Guardian and Sword Guardian monsters) that the opposing team must defeat before they can hit the enemy's crystal.
- Upon destroying the enemy's crystal, the guild gains one point. The guild that obtains two points first, wins.
- Skills cannot be used on crystals. Crystals are plant protocol with set amount of HP.
3. Capture the Flag (CtF)
CtF is also a simplistic, easy to understand game mode. I think this is also a must-have.
- Players will be divided into two guilds.
- The objective of the game is to steal your enemy's "flag" and bring it to your home ground.
- The player who brings the flag with them will not be able to use skills or items (they can only walk, and is susceptible to any debuffs).
- If the flag bearer is dead, the flag automatically goes back to the original owner's home ground.
- The winning objective is to successfully steal the opposing guild's flag, and to deliver it to your home ground.
4. Triple Inferno
The exact same as KvM, but with three guilds instead of two. However, in Triple Inferno, instead of permanently dying until the end of the round, you can respawn and join the battle again. The winning objective is to have the most kills by the end of the round.
5. Conquest
Conquest is basically a one-on-one WoE. Players will be divided into attacking guild and defending guild. Just like WoE, the objective is quite straightforward: the attacking team must break the Emperium to win, while the defending team must successfully defend the Emperium until the end of the round to win.
How do you join BG?
The easiest system is to use the command @joinbg - players will be randomly assigned into either one of the two guilds right after, and warped into the game.
Additionally, the requirements to join BG will be the same as TE WoE:
- Level 99/70 of any class
- Expanded classes allowed to join are: Ninja, Star Gladiator, Soul Linker, Super Novice, and Gunslinger
Additional rules
- No dual clienting inside BG
- No AFKing (mitigating AFKers could be done in various ways; such as autokicking idle players and report system)
- No win trading
- No MvP Cards
Rewards, and everything else
I will refrain from talking about rewards and things like that in this thread as to not convolute the conversation. I believe they are another big discussion on their own, but as a baseline, Bravery Badges are (usually) the currency you get from BG, and you will be able to trade badges with various rewards, ranging from consumables, gears, to costumes.
Closing
I think that's all I can say for now, and I really look forward to everyone's (including admins!) response. Let's have a good game together!
Warmest regards.
