Locking down server transfers and resetting the server statistics would deal with most of the unbalanced matchup issues, I feel. However, there’s still the possibility of getting pushed to your base in a borderland.
I believe that some small groups in the backfield could cause enough of a ruckus to make the campers pull back, taking camps and hitting towers.
A possible solution would be to send small groups out to a number of pre-selected locations, one of which is randomly selected. The list should be about 20 or so spots, so that camping them would be much more difficult. I would probably set the group size to five only, to promote teamwork.
Obviously, this couldn’t be active all the time. A secret set of conditions would be good, something more complicated than your team having no captures in a borderland. It would be awful if the opposing team let you keep one tower to prevent the event from ever triggering. I haven’t given too much thought to specific starting/ending conditions, but I’ll leave that to the professionals to sort out. Possibly limit it to a set number of teleports as well.
Imagine this:
You are pushed back to your base in an opposing borderland. You have just lost the tower outside your door, and the opposing side is setting up their arrow carts. Game over.
Inside the spawn base, you hear a shout of “We’re getting slaughtered out there! Have you gotten this damnedable thing functional yet?” Near the other gates, an asura krewe is tinkering with a malfunctioning Gate. It has fallen over, and is madly sparking pink electricity, with the portal effect flickering on and off. The krewe boss is leaning over a technican, angrily.
“Sorta, boss. The Fixatronic Mistflux Matrix is completely unstable. There’s no ability to lock on to a target. You could end up anywhere!” another asura says, as he hits the gate with a hammer.
The krewe boss grunts. “Any good news?”
“It probably won’t explode.” the hammering asura replies.
To activate the gate, you talk to the Asura. The following conversation takes place.
Asura Technician:
“We could probably send a few small groups through, but it is completely unreliable!”
> There’s a way out? Tell me more. (Continue)
> Call me when it’s ready. (Cancel)
“We could probably send out a group of five to a random spot. But no one would be dumb enough to actually try it”
> My team is ready. (Continue, if you have a full group only)
> I’m much too clever for this amount of risk. (Cancel)
“If your group is standing inside the portal, we can send you out. I have to warn you, though. This is absolutely stupid.”
> Stupid like a fox. Hit the button! (Teleport)
> I have a bad feeling about this. (Cancel)
After hitting the teleport dialogue choice, the krewe leader salutes. “May the Eternal Alchemy guide you” he says, as your group is sent out to the battlefield. You awaken moments later deep in the Skritt cave, ready to rejoin the battle.
Event ending:
Large electric arcs start shooting out of the gate. The asura working on it run backwards, the technician shouting “Whoa, whoa, whoa!”. The gate explodes.
“I thought you said it wasn’t going to explode!” the krewe leader shouts, angrily.
The technician shrugs and simply says “I said ‘probably’”
Thanks for taking the time to read this, if you did. I do believe that this would be a good way to encourage players to play WvW while at a disadvantage, and to restore a bit of the morale crushed by your team having a bad day.