tl; dr version: Allow portions of the EoTM scoring to be added to WvW scoring to help unify WvW into one game mode and allow people that like alternate maps and the server alliance concepts to still aid their servers.
Just to be clear there are other WvW projects in works so this is exploratory theory crafting to consider for future development unless it’s easier than seems.
Notes:
• This isn’t about whether people like the EoTM map, this can be applied to any map that is introduced and is using the Red/Blue/Green mechanism to populate sides. Please keep dislikes/likes of the map for another thread as well as its mechanics. This thread is looking for feedback from the community if score could be shared and in what circumstances.
• This thread may still have value even if EoTM is added as a standard WvW map as long as the color alliance method is being applied along side the traditional server based system.
• If players do not like EoTM they will already not go there and by that act alone can block points from being passed across on their own. Meaning it will self-govern and only be applied if balanced play is occurring.
• Due to out of balance instances some matches would not score to the larger WvW weekly scores at all. Since it based on a per tick basis partial scores would be used.
• This system does rely on ANet continuing to use the beta concept that servers are allied in matches by combing the most & least populated servers from top to bottom to create alliances, else how servers are assigned to a side would need to be adjusted.
• The purpose of this thread is not to address population balances but whether or not there are options to allow scores to be applied from one side to the other.
• This concept would fit into the existing scoring model or the new time sliced model being discussed in the larger scoring thread.
• This thread is separate to not de-rail the predefined scoring concepts being discussed in the larger scoring thread by ANet.
Previously mentioned issues:
• Server stacking – in this model server stacking can already be addressed based on ANets changes to aligning servers. If the population method used today changes then those same changes would be incorporated into EoTM since the end goal of having the best matchups should remain a key target.
• People will stack for rewards – this is a separate issue that will need to be addressed once more information on reward systems is provided by ANet and what safeguards are installed to prevent people from gaming the system for reward alone. As mentioned by ANet they feel they want to address scoring so that they can add rewards that help make scoring matter more, and if they do so this issue will also occur in standard WvW as well. So it is not an EoTM issue by itself.
• EoTM is karma farm only – there are PvD issues in both standard WvW and EoTM. The difference is in standard WvW when people PvD it adds to their sides PPT where as EoTM it does the same but only for that match. By combining them it now servers the same base purpose. The additional purposes of why an empty structure is captured is moot for the purpose of this discussion, be that a strategically sound reason or someone running a daily achievement.
• EoTM and ABL/EBG use different game mechanics – not sure that is a big issue since they still both have rules that guide how the game is played and thereby scored.
• EoTM and ABL/EBG have differing number of points that can be scored – true but so do ABL and EBG. If this is a major issue then a scaling factor can be applied to adjust the total points being passed from EoTM to the weekly server war-scores.
• EoTM has had organized karma farming in the past – true and some players have fought this. If this continues then the score being shared will be balanced among all three sides and result in close to a zero net gain for any given side since a karma farm requires sides to keep trading objectives back and forth to work anyway.
• My server doesn’t like EoTM and we are limited in our battlefield – odds are then that there are out of balance instances in works and these would not impact your score. Only if a match is balanced will the points be applied. This only is applied when people are out there playing the map. If a map is even just 2 sided, it will not impact weekly score.
• All previous weeks winner are green, they will always win – not sure if that holds true without seeing metrics ANet has, and if it is then we should probably reconsider how R/B/G are assigned each week regardless of this change.
So how would this work:
• In order for scoring to be passed there needs to be a balanced population between all three sides during a given tick. Balanced being defined here as the average number of players per side should be within ‘x’% percentage between the top and bottom populations. Without numbers from ANet or exact queue numbers available I would say ‘x’ would be 10-15% considering a queue size of 100 players each side. This would also include a minimum of 30 players per side before a scoring tick would be valid and there would have had to be at least two consecutive ticks that were considered balanced before the system would start applying the scoring to standard WvW. If all the previous criteria were meet then scoring during a balanced 5 minute tick would be applied to both the EoTM match and the weekly server score. If standard WvW and EoTM are using different tick periods (ie 15 vs 5 minute periods) then the score passed would be 1/3 of the points when passing from EoTM to the weekly WvW score else it would a straight exchange.
• Normal EoTM scoring would appear during play but if at least 60% of the ticks over the 4 hour match were during balanced periods an additional end of match bonus would be passed over based on each side’s final placement. 1st +600 points, 2nd +450, 3rd +300 points.
• All servers associated to a side would gain the bonus’s from their colored side’s performance but would be paid only once considering the current two server linked environment that is in beta today.
• PPK would be included during each 5 minute tick and passed along as well if the scoring tick was in a valid state as stated above.
How to prevent the system from being gamed:
• Limit instance hopping by only allowing people to move instances if the instance being moved to is in balance or the side being moved to is underpopulated and needs numbers to become in balance.
• Ensure new arrivals are passed to instances that need numbers to balance sides.
• Keep the intervals in 5 minute blocks and base the scoring on the population average during that interval. By using an average its doubtful people will be just mass exit every 4 and half minutes to game the score and if they did they may not end up on the same map if balancing rules were applied when returning.
• Current UIs do not show people how many are on a given side, keep that information masked as it is today.
• Whether or not a portion of the score is applied from EoTM to standard WvW should be masked from the EoTM side but may be visible from the standard WvW view. The reason for this is to discouraged people from just trying to imbalance a match to prevent the scoring from being applied if their side is losing.
• Since ticks are in 5 minute intervals if one side is alone on the map until the other two are present for at least 2 straight ticks the score do not count to the weekly score so there is no pre-staging a map without some chance to rebalance the control. And since at least 60% of the time needs to be in balanced play before the end of match is applied there should be more than two hours of balanced play which will not be clear to the user in the match.
Why Now:
• Changes that added Reward tracks and removed XP gain from EoTM altered the environment and further moved it to an environment where fully leveled players are fighting.
• Scoring discussions are occurring and this might be the time to also re-align EoTM into the game mode.
• Removes one of the biggest contentions in the community of is EoTM WvW. Today one of the major reasons people say no is because it does not add to the weekly server scores.
• Allows EoTM to more likely evolve as standard WvW is changed as well since it would be adding to the game mode versus being an addendum.
• Further allows new maps to be tested in an environment where people will care
since outside of the fighting they know they are still aiding a side in the fight. Lot of players will do light beta testing but stop there since they may see that time as lost, where as if it a full production test that affects score they will have more interest and for longer resulting in better tests.
• People in WvW are wondering how many players are in EoTM, this would give them a sense since from within WvW they could see the amount of points earned from EoTM play.
Outside of hate mail about EoTM, thoughts on shared scoring? If you dislike, why outside of disliking a map. Have other ideas on what to consider balanced scoring, please share. Thoughts on how it could be gamed, share as well.
This method could be used to do a month long test of a new map as well, considered it also from that angel please. Appreciate your time.
De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum.