Rather long winded PvP Suggestion
So this thread here is to take a second a talk about pvp in depth. I haven't seen anything from BB that lets us know remotely how pvp is going to look or feel. Are they taking ideas? Are they exploring pvp as a legitimate update? Yes, I've read the forums and I've scoured the search function for different posts mentioning pvp but I really haven't found anything worth while in regards to BB's standpoint on the issue. So first off lets say this, if any of you BB's would like to dive in and tell us a little more about it or give us an update on what looks like future planning for pvp by all means let us know. I'm sure the rest of the community that does love this game will agree, we don't need exact dates to be happy just rough ball park. I think the only thing I found resembling that is end of the year this year. I can't remember if it was a BB post or just someones best guess. That out of the way the rest of this post will probably be a long winded with ideas of how I hope pvp looks when it arrives.
First, I'd like to see pvp as an optional choice to those who wish or don't wish to participate in. I see that our buildings have a status bar and we can “repair” our buildings and I can't say I like that. I do not want some guild of blood drinking, meat eating, ravage beasts trolling through my island and tearing things apart when I've worked so hard to get it as efficient as it is now. I don't believe I want the ability for them to come and clear my storehouses out of all my goods either. I would say I'm an “average pvper”. I like it in moderation. So leave our home islands out of this (again my view).
All the above being said, lets set a preface of what would work as pvp. To do this I'm gonna use a system we already have in place, adventures. You can choose from 3 different types of adventures in my opinion and those are small, medium, and large. Now for pvp, lets create a pyramid of small, medium, and large islands. (Numbers would need to be worked better according to active accounts on BB's part but none the less lets say one that looks like this)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...vptriangle.png
Now seeing that, lets talk why. Why should it be broken down like this and what would be the point. Well if you're higher level you know that there are certain resources you cant get a hold of on a regular basis without doing adventures or getting small amounts of the said resources through explorers bringing it back. Granite, saltpetre, exotic logs, and titanium ore are these resources I am talking about. Each of those islands will have these resources on it. You can build a granite mason to work the granite nodes, cutters for exotic logs, mines for titanium ore etc etc. You can only build these buildings if you control the island. Each tier of on that pyramid represents an island that will have more nodes or whatever but it will have a moderate amount of more materials ore more of a certain kind but the top of the pyramid would be the best of the small islands. Bottom are the common pvp islands and they would be on the weak side of resources. They may contain some marble deposits and some regular resources along side of just a couple of those premium resources instead of a healthy amount.
The above covers the rewards and perks to pvp. It also leaves room for improvement or future ideas to be implemented...maybe a new resource? Whatever it may be its something to be built onto leaving room for expansion.
Now wait, if you do that then only the large guilds will take over those islands and hog it all for themselves. Yes that's probably how things will work in the end. There's strength in numbers and that's a fact of life but lets try to hamper that from being the case. Lets say small islands house 3 – 5 members of a guild. They take control and then you have an island that 3-5 of you tend to and work just like you work your own islands. It basically turns into extra real estate for some members to use with a touch of premium resources. Limiting the island to a small amount of players makes it more vulnerable to a number of the same amount of players if they can match troops to come in and take over.
Some example numbers could be small pvp islands 3-5 guild members. Mediums islands could be 20-30 members. Large islands can be 40-60 members. Numbers can always be adjusted but to get an idea, 40-60 players running one island would be pretty cramped I imagine. That would take quite a bit of real estate and make for a really large island so feel free to adjust.
That brings up the next topic. Whats to stop the guilds from taking it over and stacking camps in every free square of the island so you cant take it over ever its just impossible. Well that's where we limit how many camps can be “installed” on the island. We can set limits say 5 camps per sector, 20 camps per island...whatever. Its up to the controlling group to decide how they would like to set up their defenses and what kind of camps they would be. I see towers are options and that makes for a more interesting twist in battle and gives the controllers the upper hand. They will need it because they will be fending off who knows how many groups trying to take their island. Also, those troops come from the population! Meaning they can't adventure as much as they use to, or they have to build more nobles on their island to hold more cap. We want these islands to change hands. That's what pvp is all about is constant change. That's why we want to have less islands than what would be needed for everyone to have their own little pvp island...it must happen and pvp must be a struggle constantly. Another thing to look at would be how many groups will we allow to attack a single island? Can we limit it to a couple groups or only one group in a given time frame?
Now that we've discussed some of these issues we have a platform. So a few little details would be, in order to harvest those rare resources that's more buildings that need to be implemented. We don't want HUGE costs since we want islands to change hands and we don't want 5 hour build times for these buildings. None the less, they should cost something. It shouldn't be something someone easily walks into and thinks “hey this is easy”. It should cater to the well established players as they are the ones that will probably handle pvp. Right now this is a casual game with no need to check in but every other day but pvp you would want to be here probably nightly if not more to make sure your island is still controlled and in one piece. These resources will be stored in storehouses on the island and if the island gets taken out from under you and you haven't transported these goods home...you're SoL and the attackers get the loot. The island becomes theirs to build up and do what they will with. These storehouses could be indestructible buildings that change hands with the island when it happens.
That leaves a new building for the home islands. A port somewhere on the side that will shuttle goods to and from the pvp island. The travel time issue may want to get handled before this one comes to play as well. 15 minutes to 30 minutes is fair but you get smacked by the bug and its an hour there and an hour home you cant transport your goods as fast and that would be an annoyance. Each lvl of our new buildings the “port” would allow you to carry more resources. It would be a large building to upgrade similar to the prov house or the barracks or hell maybe even more.
So from here let your imagination go. If you took all the time to read this lengthy post then kudos to you, I hope you enjoyed my ideas.