Presence
A third bar added to each tower keep and supply camp, under Supply and Courtyard Control. It’s being slowly filled up as long as long as there are MORE allies than enemies in the zone that defines the bounds of the structure (Event bounds). If there are less allies than enemies near it, or none at all, presence is being slowly reduced over time.
Presence amount will directly influence the strength of the gates and walls. At 100% presence, the gates will be strongest, for example 125% of the current value, while at 0% presence (a keep that no one visits) the gates will be at 50% durability (for example).
Most importantly, the more objectives your server controls, the longer it will take to fill the presence bar on any of them, and the more people people will be needed for it.
What does it all mean? It introduces the need to MAINTAIN presence in all the structures you own, which will put a high strain on a server that attempts to control the entire map, while making it easier for the smaller server to counterattack. So the dominating server, will have to send some people away from the big zergs to patrol areas already captured and keep them at high presence, or risk small ninja teams to take abandoned keeps with ease.
Example default values (for when all servers control equal land areas):
Presence is filled at 50% when you capture an objective.
Time to fill Presence from 0 to 100%
Supply Camp
2 people can maintain presence at current level without raising or lowering it
6 minutes to fill bar with minimum crew, down to 2 minutes with large force
Tower
5 people needed to maintain stable presence
12 minutes to fill bar, 4 with large force
Keep/Castle
10 people needed for equilibrium
24 minutes to fill bar, 8 with large force
The above numbers do not take into account the number of objectives you control. For example, a server that controls most of the map, might find it takes their entire zerg 3x more time, so 12 minutes, to fill Presence on a tower they just captured. A server with no map control might take a bit over 60 seconds to fill it with a smaller group.
Keep in mind that if even 1 enemy scout comes near your keep with 10 people in it, you will be at 9 effective people after the subtraction so the presence will slowly be reduced, until you get more people in – makes sense, when enemies come near, you should call for more people anyway.
A side effect of the mechanic is a natural simulation of wear and hunger during a siege, a force camping outside of the walls will over time reduce the defensive strength of the keep, making it easier to take after some time – at the risk of reinforcements arriving for the defending side.
The more people the faster presence rises – or falls, but not faster than 2 or 3x the default value (which will be slow, like upgrading), to avoid a big zerg insta-capping presence as it runs past a tower.
A dominating server will have many keeps at low presence, because gamers are quickly bored of doing nothing, like patrolling an empty keep. It doesn’t mean the mechanic itself is boring, it can be used effectively by organized guilds who work out smart routes and swapping mechanics to send players back and forth and keep them near a keep only for a short while while maximizing presence gain. This won’t work for unorganized servers of course.
A weak server that owns only a couple of objectives, will find them easier to hold, and quicker to capture new objectives, with lower numbers.
;TLDR;
The more lands you have, the harder it is to keep them.
Ask the Ancient Rome about it.
(edited by zerospin.8604)