Imho this whole autoupgrade system needs to get thrown out. With the current playstyle of WvWvW, structures are not being defended because no one has invested anything into them which is implementing the mindset of “oh we’ll just take it back when they leave.” This system and playstyle is just pushing more people to k-train and avoid fights. And servers who have no off-hour coverage, come back to their stuff being fortified which is absolutely horrendous.
A new system needs to be added. A system which requires not a person but a guild/guilds to invest some kind of currency into upgrading structures. It doesnt necessarily have to be gold…it could even be a mixture of things….But it has to be a fair amount so if that structure was being attacked, the investing guild/guilds would stop attacking whatever they were attacking and come back to defend said structure. Also keeps would oblivously require more currency to upgrade than towers or camps.
In this new system, rewards for defenders should be increased. Right now the rewards for defending anything is complete kitten. If you are able to hold off the attackers past the 3 minute mark, the defending guilds should receive a reward as well as each individual defender. With this kind of system, even if the defenders are heavily outnumbered and they know they are going to lose said structure, they will do everything they possibly can to hold out as long as possible and fight to the death. Maybe you can even have some special “Spartan” reward which you can only get if you are a dead defender in the Lords circle when the structure is capped. This would encourage players again to fight to the death rather than run away when the structure is being capped.
But also in this new system, rewards for attackers should also be increased. When capping a structure, the attacking guilds as well as each individual attacker should be rewarded. You can even have something like the longer it takes for you to capture a structure, the better reward it will be. And if Commander A with his 23 pugs have been attacking a structure for 20 minutes, and then Commander B comes with his 30 pugs to help take the structure within the next 10 minutes…then Commander A with his 23 pugs should receive a better reward than Commander B with his pugs.
Servers that finish first, second and third at the end of the week rewards should be better as well. However, the first place server’s rewards should not be too exquisite in order to prevent bandwagon of certain servers in tiers so that they win each week. The server with the best Kill/death ratio at the end of the week should also receive it’s own reward.
I know this system has obvious loopholes (like just having a couple of people in your guild tap a keep for 30 mins before 40 of you show up to take it in 5 mins) but all of them can be phased out over time after weeks and weeks of testing. But basically a new system needs to be implemented to better reward attackers and defenders and also requires guild/guilds to invest in upgrading structures.
If any of you have more ideas to bring a positive change that will produce more fights in wvw, please leave them in this thread so the devs can have a read.