Amoenotep wrote:the arena of pvp is the entire server though. since relics were put in players seem to think thats the only thing your supposed to fight over. cross factional lvling is where you start seeing that no one cares who's doing what or what faction they are because the goal is lvls not faction dominance.
Faction dominance is a good (but shallow) motivating tool for getting people to level more toons and farm the best gear, but I think the net effect is to stifle good PvP opportunities.
Recruiting large numbers of newbies is the quickest way to achieve faction dominance. TCNC had overwhelming numbers, including a lot of newbies, in the last relic event and won it fairly easily. MASL stepped up its recruiting after that event, enlisting some players in the MASL guilds who I would not have wanted in my own guilds, and they achieved dominance for awhile. Recently AORK seems to be pouncing on new players and recruiting them into the fold before they get a chance to explore other factions and decide which play styles and personalities suit them best. AORK controls the relics most of the time now.
We end up with a lack of balance most of the time, which doesn't promote good PvP. I made a monk solo runner just because 1 vs. 3+ running is my only real option for PvP much of the time. It's exciting and fun, but it's not the same strategic challenge as a well-balanced team battle. If factions attacked each other aggressively and didn't level cross-faction the lack of balance would likely get much worse.
Certain times of day and days of the week seem to favor different factions. There are more AORK players active when it's daytime in Australia. TCNC gets more active on weekends and during the morning hours in the US. Numbers are small, but PvP is an option when enough of the Furies are online and get motivated. MASL activity picks up in the evening (European and Eastern US time) and there are usually some good battles between MASL and AORK then.
On the whole I think players have matured and it's a healthier server than it was when I started playing a couple years ago (and compared to the descriptions of what it was like in the old days). I don't really know how alliances and behaviors would shift if my suggestions were adopted:
-Players encouraged to build and play in all factions to gain a broader experience of the game, allow for balanced PvP at almost any time and create a better sense of community
-Competitive rivalries among private (invitation-only) clubs of veterans would substitute for the current factional rivalries.
-No permanent factional alliances
Level Based PvP among Factional Rivals:
-Shadow Legion vs. Northern Coalition
-Mystral Ascendancy vs. The Circle
-Ancient Ones vs. Last Alliance vs. Ragnar's Kin
-Bonus XP for PKs against rival factions.
-Additional quests raiding or defending against rival factions.
-Low XP cost for crafting level 30 gear and crafting advancement so that your crafters aren't always ECL 0 and don't stop leveling at 30.
-New players in particular should craft to get level appropriate gear and explore the different factions.
-One crafting trade in each faction. Encourage players to build playable crafting toons in all factions:
I think balance promotes more and better PvP. I think flexibility in choosing factions makes the game more interesting and fun. I think PvP mixed into the leveling process is a good thing if it has a clearly defined role that doesn't create animosity between players.
I'd like to believe that veterans would be motivated by challenge and log toons in the factions that needed more help in a battle, resulting in more balanced PvP. Many of the less skilled players might be more inclined to log toons on the dominant side so that they can be on the winning side more often. Again, I don't know how alliances and behaviors would change.
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