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[S.T.A.L.K.E.R]

I will try this one more time since last time everyone started going off topic and doing irrelevant post.

SUGGESTION

Each faction has an NPC at the entrance. The player talks to this NPC and has options to make a match for equal numbers. The player talking to the NPC either adds his teammates through "SAY" or by them tagging the player talking to the NPC. After a team of 3, 5, or 8 is selected, a server message pops out saying "Family has a team of 5 ready for a match." Then some other team from Lawyers for example goes and talks to their NPC. There they see the match Family created and select it. It will then ask for his team members. After selected they both get teleported to some Pre match lobby where they see / shit talk each other xd. During this time, other factions have 2-5 minutes to join for a 3/4/5 way faction fight. After that timer is done they get teleported to some random map (I want random encounter maps, no one has PvP in those yet) and start fighting. Matches should last 5-10 minutes and if timer is done and both teams still fighting, they just get teleported back to faction base. If faction kills all opposing factions, a NPC spawns to teleport them back to base, this way they'll have time to loot their opponents.

WHY

No more swarm bullshit. We'll finally have some nice, respectful PvP. I'm not sure if anyone has noticed (V-Tec never noticed this) but when we fight with equal numbers, they're the most fun. I know I have fun against family because we're pretty much the same numbers. Also this can be a thing for platoons.

"But stalghur, V-tec only outnumbers you by a little" - lol, only what, 5% of the battles we ever had 

"But sralker, this will remove ZC/players from core" - No it will not. People will still have to go out and scavenge for their items. If they want to fight but only get swarmed, this will be a good fallback. Also this is mostly for small squad PvP, similar to squad deathmatch from Battlefield. Of course each faction will have 10+ players and they'll go out to do some ZC with that many.

"Sttaalllhguuuer, what about the factionless?" - Their fault they wanted to be factionless. Not sure how they will work when wipe happens but one thing for sure I know is that being factionless, you shouldn't even play AoP anymore.

I'm not shocked if 100% of V-tec against this suggestion. They won't be able to swarm anymore. This might even attract more players since numbers will be equal. Every server I've played has swarm problems and finally seeing something that enforces equal numbers will probably be a good thing to most FOnline players. Of course these are optional fights but ehh...dunno if devs will do such a thing.

[MARXMAN]

Not another matchmaking system......I would rather patrol the core endlessly than wait for a matchmaker.  Equal PVP is nice and all, but one of the reasons AoP is so fun is the way that battles happen. It's opposing forces playing cat and mouse, or sometimes they stumble right into each other and a very quick panicked enagagement ensues. Sometimes you run into NPCs who take out your sneaker when he's all alone, and then suddenly you're down a man and its a much tougher fight. Not only that, but flanking reinforcements, tactical retreats through zones... Things like what I mentioned above are why I think this is a terrible idea in terms of preserving the wonderful PVP environment we have. What we need to do as others have mentioned, is encourage people to be online, to take zones, to be in the damn core. Not add a matchmaking system that could be just as broken as swarms. I don't think the matchmaker would take gear or level into account, as sometimes a single more experienced better equipped player can take out 2-3 decent ones. I could go on, but I don't think matchmaking is the answer. It's being used in many online games at the moment, and I personally abhor them. Leads to many unbalanced games, despite the devs best intentions.

[S.T.A.L.K.E.R]

Not another matchmaking system......I would rather patrol the core endlessly than wait for a matchmaker. 

You do that. Also this "Matchmaker" should take less than 6 minutes. And you say another matchmaking system, where was the first one?

Rest of what you're talking about is just the bullshit that happens during PVP. People getting swarmed is what made them quit, and I know 10+ players that quit due to constantly being swarmed. I asked them "Why don't you play AoP anymore?" "We just get swarmed, kill 3 guys, 5 more popout" and it's true.

And this is optional. It's not like everyone is gonna be doing this, probably the only ones that are sick of getting swarmed.

[Niamak]

but staulqueur this will be like hinkley and player will cry about it every day and nobody go scavenge in the core anyway.

I think its better to make a new server with this feature because it goes too much against the main focus of AOP. Server like notAion is very succesful with these kind of feature.

I know I have fun against family because we're pretty much the same numbers.

You always go on about equal number fights against family but you never show a video where family win a fight. Kind of sad really. One can only guess they never win or you are lying. The first case doesn't sound "fun".

Most fun I have playing a faction based game is to win against the odds (ex : winning when outnumbered). Everything else is just "follow the swarm".

You would think im against this idea but im not really. As most games I played use some matchmaking.

[lvhoang]

I like stalkers idea. Pvp match up.
But i dont know how easily this could be encoded in the system's game.

[naossano]

Why ranting about the factionless ? They have nothing to do with that feature.

About that matchmaking system, it might be interesting, but not with the current number of player. We are currently 15-30 players at peak time. It wouldn't be wise to remove any of them from the core.

[Anza]

As Niamak said, it would be like hinkley, and that did come against TC as people prefered to go hinkley. So you cannot deny it will have an effect on ZC confrontations, especially when playerbase is low.

However, having definite hours for 5v5 could do imo. Having like a time frame where 5v5 is opened would prevent people not going to ZC anymore, also it will bring the people who want to do 5v5 check the NPC at the same time, making the matchmaking easier ?

Maybe start with twice a week, 1 hour time frame, not in AoP prime time if possible, and look what effect it has on ZC population.

[FrankenStone]

better join the swarm if u cnt kill it

[Count Matthew]

I vote no to any kind of arena.

It goes against the whole ethos of AoP.

Dev events are excluded of course.

[Simms]

Basically quite a sane idea , it just has not a single thing to do with AoP and its content. Pretty sure that TvT in Phoenix won't ever reach its previous peak in the new session, and this kind of suggestion only helps ppl split even further apart.

Since the beginning, all kinds of out-of-town activity on AoP have been hurting its primary gameplay component -- messing around in a set of locations accessible by everyone with anything in mind. Arena matchmaking is a convenient way... to turn more ppl from the actual game.

Danger, AoP RANT below!

Spoiler for Hiden:

I'd say that assignments have eventually turned out to be the same kind of distraction as well -- prior to free rerolls a decent percentage of the playerbase was spending hours in the wild, doing non-stop PvE to grind levels and moneys -- INSTEAD of populating the city, subtracting from the active PvP life on the server. This kind of free, undisturbed progressing sorta kills half of the fun acquired playing on AoP.

If only we had had all that stuff inside The Core -- child-level assignments sending you to do things near your gate location, harder ones to cause rumble in neutral area, the hardest ones making you rustle the enemy's jimmies. That would be mean and add lots of purpose to the current ZC mechanics.

[naossano]

Not just assignements, but rewards, traders, quests, everything should happen in the core.

[Teela]

Ha another perfect solution to a non-existent problem. Of course Cirn could add sth like this with a stroke of his mighty keyboard. But that wouldn't solve anything stalker. Because you would just find something else to cry about.

You can't keep blaming your own mistakes on some mythological VTec swarm. You can't keep blaming your own mistakes on your team being noobs (after which you even manage to cry about a noob recently joining vtec).

Say matchmaking is implemented tomorrow. The first post of the day will be by stalker. Crying about 'tier advantage'*. Because that's what he cried about last time when he couldn't blame his loss on the team or the numbers.


*To those unfamiliar with the term: tier advantage is when tecs take t3 to zc and law doesn't.

[Simms]

*To those unfamiliar with the term: tier advantage is when tecs take t3 to zc and law doesn't.

There are plenty of workarounds for that. For instance FO Requiem has (or had?) an arena with a set of lobby rooms implemented. This ensures equality between teams: the round starts only if the numbers are even, everyone gets in the lobby naked (no pun intended) and each team receives a locker full of stuff in quantities proportional to the number of teammates. So weapons, ammo and medical items are of the same tier for both teams, and the latter two are quite limited. Of course, no spoils of victory besides money rewards can be kept, as everyone is back in the lobby at the round's end.

This system worked well aside from some nasty abuses and griefing -- rounds were won by OP builds, not OP equipment. Given that Requiem perk and stat system was all over the place permanently, it opened up lots of interesting possibilities.

[S.T.A.L.K.E.R]

but staulqueur this will be like hinkley and player will cry about it every day and nobody go scavenge in the core anyway.

As I said, people will still have to go to core and scavenge items, weapons, whatever they need. This will be for next season, would be awesome for current season but ya...

You always go on about equal number fights against family but you never show a video where family win a fight. Kind of sad really. One can only guess they never win or you are lying. The first case doesn't sound "fun".

When's the last time Lawyers vs. V-Tec had a 10 minute + battle? When you kill half our team we're forced to retreat because we're now facing overwhelming odds which happens 80% of the battles we ever had.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Most fun I have playing a faction based game is to win against the odds (ex : winning when outnumbered). Everything else is just "follow the swarm".

Ya...something you never experienced so you just "follow the swarm"

I like stalkers idea. Pvp match up.
But i dont know how easily this could be encoded in the system's game.

Well it might be possible. Just seeing these events Cirn0 and rest of developers set up events with the tickets and what not, it can be :V

About that matchmaking system, it might be interesting, but not with the current number of player. We are currently 15-30 players at peak time. It wouldn't be wise to remove any of them from the core.

Or none at all during peak time. This should be for next season...maybe 2 weeks after start of session so people have to go to core and loot.

As Niamak said, it would be like hinkley, and that did come against TC as people prefered to go hinkley. So you cannot deny it will have an effect on ZC confrontations, especially when playerbase is low.

Well it won't be like hinkley. Hinkley you have to use fake gear so people can go there without worrying about losing gear. However, my suggestion people have to take their own gear so they can fight and risk their gear. Some dude takes sPA and loses it? Well R.I.P his sPA. And this is for next season, player base will skyrocket to 200+ for about a month or 2

However, having definite hours for 5v5 could do imo. Having like a time frame where 5v5 is opened would prevent people not going to ZC anymore, also it will bring the people who want to do 5v5 check the NPC at the same time, making the matchmaking easier ?

Yes, having a certain time where this NPC comes out will be good, but player's timezone will be a problem. Like for me, I want to game at 3 P.M. and some Europeans on but majority of them off cause its like 12 A.M over there.

better join the swarm if u cnt kill it

Smalltimepenis wouldn't allow us to join swarm

Not just assignements, but rewards, traders, quests, everything should happen in the core.

Ya like you know, I gotta go to Hospital to pick up some crate but like ya, V-Tec is like running a 20 man squad right now while BB has 5 max sooo I guess I won't play AoP.

Ha another perfect solution to a non-existent problem. Of course Cirn could add sth like this with a stroke of his mighty keyboard. But that wouldn't solve anything stalker. Because you would just find something else to cry about.

The problem is existent you degenerate. Everyone knows how much V-Tec swarms, even devs do. And for me it will solve the major problem I have with AoP which is being swarmed = No fun at all. Only other thing I "cry" about is how too strong some weapons are (Ripper, solar scorcher, etc.). Meanwhile V-Tec doesn't have to worry about anything with their number advantage almost every battle we had.

You can't keep blaming your own mistakes on some mythological VTec swarm. You can't keep blaming your own mistakes on your team being noobs (after which you even manage to cry about a noob recently joining vtec).

Uhm....I blame no one other than swarm, maybe some noobish actions my team did but other than that, nope.

Say matchmaking is implemented tomorrow. The first post of the day will be by stalker. Crying about 'tier advantage'*. Because that's what he cried about last time when he couldn't blame his loss on the team or the numbers.
*To those unfamiliar with the term: tier advantage is when tecs take t3 to zc and law doesn't.

lol tier advantage? Please go take high tier gear, its possible to win but not win 5 vs 9 while 2 of them have sPA with TPR and Negev. No point taking tier 3 for lawyers when enemies will just overrun us with numbers. I remember a battle where Damage took sPA and TPR while he rushed straight to me, I did 3 hits and he ran but while I was hitting him, 3 other tecs were shooting me while 1 of them was punching me.

There are plenty of workarounds for that. For instance FO Requiem has (or had?) an arena with a set of lobby rooms implemented. This ensures equality between teams: the round starts only if the numbers are even, everyone gets in the lobby naked (no pun intended) and each team receives a locker full of stuff in quantities proportional to the number of teammates. So weapons, ammo and medical items are of the same tier for both teams, and the latter two are quite limited. Of course, no spoils of victory besides money rewards can be kept, as everyone is back in the lobby at the round's end.

This system worked well aside from some nasty abuses and griefing -- rounds were won by OP builds, not OP equipment. Given that Requiem perk and stat system was all over the place permanently, it opened up lots of interesting possibilities.

Nah this will make it like hinkley then. I want it where people HAVE to take their own gear, that way they'll lose it, maybe gain some more gear, or none at all during this fight.


OVERALL : People are complaining that it will remove people from core. It won't exactly remove them unless there's a 30+ team swarming groups of 15 or less.  If ever implemented it should be on during some days, like weekends for instance and a day during the week.

[MARXMAN]

Not another matchmaking system......I would rather patrol the core endlessly than wait for a matchmaker. 

You do that. Also this "Matchmaker" should take less than 6 minutes. And you say another matchmaking system, where was the first one?

Rest of what you're talking about is just the bullshit that happens during PVP. People getting swarmed is what made them quit, and I know 10+ players that quit due to constantly being swarmed. I asked them "Why don't you play AoP anymore?" "We just get swarmed, kill 3 guys, 5 more popout" and it's true.

And this is optional. It's not like everyone is gonna be doing this, probably the only ones that are sick of getting swarmed.

I say "Another matchmaking system" because it seems to be the bandwagon all games are jumping on. As I said, matchmaking is almost never balanced and just tries to create the illusion of it. I bet all those people who quit because they got swarmed are playing one-hex simulator raiding caravans for newbies and waiting on the WM for people to kill. The people who whine and moan about swarms are not the same kind of people I generally like to play with. I've been playing fonline since 2238, and while this is subjective, I think AoP has been the most balanced and fun fonline I've played so far. Some of the best fights have been unequal numbers, and the smaller side feels like champions when they win. I've posted before about how AoP doesn't attract the kind of players in most other Fonlines because they can't cheese/troll their way to victory. While I am all for trying to help the community grow, I don't think a matchmaking system is neccesary. People will just use that instead of ZC. Like others have posted, the core needs to be a hub for activity, not a just a loot dump.

[FrankenStone]

Not just assignements, but rewards, traders, quests, everything should happen in the core.

blyad aop is already arena game . If u didnt noticed that then sorry . Theres 0 stuff to do in the core . Bad dungeon designs no points of interests nuthing . More sad that people do not realise it . Plus from what ive heard devs arent focusing on core as only place with all fancy stuff , worldmap places will come not to say anything about outposts . Which will even push aop more harder into some arena type of game . Nothing bad about arena games at all . It will just get confusing when devs say its not arena and in reality it os somehow , with other content than pvp  they might be right . So we got some ugly hybrid which explains the low playerbase . And stalker has A point about the swarm factor , its even more worse on a server which only offers pvp or really boring nolife pve . I havent seen any arena type game were u play with unequal teamnumbers and blyad stop arguing about skill . One man cant do shit against ten even when his ping is nearly zero and hes da zc legend of legends .So swarm will win and what will rekt players do , I doubt that there will be some living thing with a brain dat likes to be meatshield all day every day . So these people will just leave . Imo this server doesnt has any hope without gpod pve content. We can talk our ass off about other people but one day only the nolifers will be left on this server. Plus hinkley type of game with all coremaps wud be like dream come true . Peace

[Caboose]

Ha another perfect solution to a non-existent problem. Of course Cirn could add sth like this with a stroke of his mighty keyboard. But that wouldn't solve anything stalker. Because you would just find something else to cry about.

You can't keep blaming your own mistakes on some mythological VTec swarm. You can't keep blaming your own mistakes on your team being noobs (after which you even manage to cry about a noob recently joining vtec).

Say matchmaking is implemented tomorrow. The first post of the day will be by stalker. Crying about 'tier advantage'*. Because that's what he cried about last time when he couldn't blame his loss on the team or the numbers.


*To those unfamiliar with the term: tier advantage is when tecs take t3 to zc and law doesn't.

Again, this is why I love Teela.

Stalgeueueeueur with this you fundametally change what we love about AoP. Look at the crux of the problem and change it instead. i.e. why people stay in vtec/join in the first place.

You mention the 10+ minutes fights you have. The one you posted recently is ridiculous - it was as if none of you were actually able to kill their players. You and Courier alwaysd talking about trading damage, but it's only about that if both sides are functioning with the capacity to actually make kills, otherwise you have a team of 7 lose players and the rest of them leave the core. I even notice that Thomas has time to get back to fight, now where is the fun in that?

[S.T.A.L.K.E.R]

You're just jealous caboose that we had fun  Meanwhile you have to calm down ramon from raging 24/7. (From what a little birdy tells me )

@Marxman, this will not remove life from core. There are players that like going out to loot or travel in gangs. But if its the only way they can have fun PvP knowing the enemy is equal numbers, why not have such a thing? And lol "FOnline AoP most balanced" Some things are unbalanced (like swarm :^) ) Also core can't be the only place for activity, after a while it will get too repetitive and boring. Forcing people to go to core for PvP, Looting, other shit is just stupid. There should be outside towns, its Arizona for god sakes. Look at all cities they can add outside of core. They can add cities full of raiders for PvE shit, they can add towns for trading and would be awesome to see players selling their shit like in FOnline 2...just not game breaking the economy. There can be abandoned towns for some higher tier looting with some hard NPCs guarding it, requiring groups of players. Possibilities are endless but forcing players into core to do EVERYTHING is a big fat no from me.

Also pretty much what courier said is my other answer about swarm. I have excellent ping and can't win against 3 vs 10. No matter what you do, they'll win with numbers (players, action points, overall HP, etc.) Pretty much if we had an overall HP system, it will be like 325 + 310 +290  = 925 vs. 325 +310 + 290 + 350 + 312 + 300 + 280 + 270 = 2437

925 vs. 2437
300 Action points vs 800 Action points

Ya its possible to win these battles but you have to be extremely lucky and enemies do a fail mistake but mostly likely results in dead team or running away.

Like one time we saw 4 tecs capping warmart. Lawyers go with 4 man team, we go and contested. We lose a guy since he split across the map and  I open a door, 8+ Vtecs standing there and I just go like "Courier lets fucken bail, more than 6 standing other side of wall" we leave to sewers and see timer with 6+ and caboose on IRC says "you were split stalker, didn't have to run" 

I'm just like,

Spoiler for Hiden:

expected me to go super saiyan or something?

[naossano]

I know at least three other server that use separate locations+WM to spread up the activity. Why would you want to remove the uniqueness of the only one that try to focus things on one big continuous location ? Why not going in other servers if you prefer separate locations ?

The Core is currently boring to death because you encounter no one in it (no friends, no enemies, no neutrals). Someone mentioning the swarm coming at you if you are alone in the core. But it relies on a feature (automatic capture) that will probably disapear next cession, and wouldn't make sense as soon as there is more than 100 players on the servers, who would be capturing all the zone at the same time, just for scavenging, and mask view of actual capture. Then, it would suppose more activities in the core. As said earlier, trading, quests, assignements, random events (see suggestion subsection), more randomness overall, CTF, dungeons, instanced map or random maps, accessible through the core, GM events, legendary creatures, rare or unique items, jobs that take time in a single place, like mining, caravan protection etc.... There would be people coming for PVP, but also all the other people that don't care a single bit about PVP, but would enjoy the life in the core if there was life in the core. (also, there would be less people worried about swarm if there was other things to do than ZC) If after all of that is implemented, you are still bored, maybe it is time for you to change server/game.

Problem is that bringing more life into the core requires more time and more people sweat, while the dev team seems currently understaffed. (didn't you consider asking the other dev to leave the lesser servers and join AOP ?) Otherwise, we would have more changelogs about features than about balancing/stats.

[Caboose]

For once I completely agree with Nao. Don't take the only thing going on in the core away from it. Instead put EVERYTHING in the core to increase core activity.