Search disclaimer: Ran some searches, didn’t find anything like this suggested yet, strangely enough. (Search terms used: WvW waypoints, waypoints, deployable waypoints, droppable waypoints.)
Basis for the Idea: Currently, WvW is pretty entertaining, but I think everyone might agree that while the movement to and fro areas adds to the element of strategy or tactics used (mainly, if in borderlands, play avoid the zerg, guerrilla war as much as possible, not sure how it pans out in Eternal Battlegrounds), those strategies and tactics aren’t too complex. Generally, someone forms a hit squad and strikes some targets to briefly capture them, but no real hold can be established.
So my idea is this:
Short-lived Deployable Waypoint Blueprints.
Detailing currency and supply cost: The cost, I think, should be around where it’s not too cheap to spam (like any other piece of siege equipment), and not too expensive to be prohibitive to use. Somewhere in the range of, say, 7-9 silver, might be good. The supply cost then, is another issue, and I think it’d be appropriate to fit it around maybe, 30-60 supply, and I’d argue, to go alongside the issue of cost prohibiting use, to keep it in the 3o-40 range, personally.
Detailing Time Limitations: The caveat to all of this is that these may last only a very short time, 45-60 minutes, tops, I think, might be good. You may already be thinking this is a bad idea to begin with, and that even a time limit wouldn’t be enough to prevent abuse, and I’d happen to agree, but knowing the nature of zergs, I realize that if these were merely made destroyable, they’d be down within moments after construction after being located. Considering that, I think it’d be entirely appropriate to make them capable of being countered and destroyed with ballista or catapults (as the players choose), thus adding a new element of strategy to WvW and allowing bottled up worlds to have a means of coming back with intelligent play.
Detailing contestability: Additionally, these waypoints would be incapable of becoming contested, unless fired down upon with siege equipment (further forcing anti-zerg measures and some additional cooperation amongst world members). Also, if this isn’t currently how keep waypoints function, I think that’s okay, as otherwise it would be even more difficult to get a foothold in enemy Borderlands. Deployable waypoints, by their nature though, would be time-limited, capable of destruction, and exposed, meaning they need a little more to make them worth using other than placement anywhere, they need to be a tiny beachhead from which to break your way back into the game.
No longer would the zerg have the overwhelming potency it currently possesses, unless it began to camp, which only opens up new opportunities for the other world or members of the same world they’re trying to root out, to produce new waypoints. That also contributes to forcing the zerg to split apart to ensure they maintain control over their structures.
Contemplating Per Team Deployment Limits: However, that in itself creates another problem, how many could be deployed at once? Per team, I’d say limit it to three, myself. This could be adjusted according to balance decisions, and possibly even on the situation of the team using them (more permitted to the team losing the most, for example, but only up to a certain limit). Right now I’m thinking along these lines: 3 for a winning team and in the Eternal Battlegrounds since I know little to nothing of how it plays. 6 for a middling team, but only in the Borderlands. 9 for a severely struggling team in the Borderlands.
Note: this is not across all Borderlands, just the specific World Borderland, meaning 3-9 deployable waypoints for each Borderland.
Arguably 9 is far more than should be necessary for any team (as well as 6 for that matter), but given that these worlds are losing, it stands to reason they may not exactly have the best players and some may use them in the worst locations imaginable thinking it’s good.
