So this was a write up I did on what I honestly would like to see from Warmode compared to what Warmode actually is. Its a very lengthy write up but I remember expressing all of my dislikes with the system and what I would personally do to make Warmode better as a PvP system.
Rewards are a massive motivator in games like this and I certainly would not want Warmode not to be rewarding to those who actively want to WPvP.
My proposal for improving Warmode as an actual WPvP focused game mode that rewards actively taking part in WPvP would be to do the following.
Remove the flat WQ Bonuses and replace them with rewards based on killing players.
Killing a player would reward a loot bag, honor, and a bit of experience for those not max level.
Each unique account kill of the day provides a greater reward, subsequent kills of that account (regardless of character they are on) provide smaller rewards. Note: This is to prevent kill farming with a friend just hopping onto different toons.EX: Greater loot bags have a chance to contain gear for your character, reputation tokens, Gold, honor tokens, and maybe some other goodies such as profession goods, ect. Lesser loot bags contain a bit of gold and maybe a chance at gear and minor goodies.
Promote WPvP at all levels not just max level!
Bring back level scaling (Which was removed in the 8.0 PTR) in Warmode so that regardless of where you are in game, regardless of what level your opponent is, if you see an enemy player they are a valid target for WPvP content and will provide an actual fight and rewards.
Twinks will always exist no matter what is done but excessively broken items and enchants can always be tuned in the scaling. In general group up with others to take out harder targets, which is entirely possible in scaling as opposed to the current system. No matter the number of Level 40 players you have, a 120 will always effortlessly steamroll them in our current system.
Max level players already have the advantage of having access to more abilities, ability passives, talents, honor talents, ect than low level players so they have an advantage already. A skilled max level player will always have an advantage without the need of purely statistical superiority.
There is no valid argument for max level players to be able to one shot low level players in a PvP environment as opposed to a PvE environment, this is 2019 and the tech exists to create a more enjoyable PvP environment for all. Use it, don’t pander to gankers who can’t stand on their own two feet in actual PvP.
Enemy Player’s Level, Health Numbers, Resource Numbers, ect are hidden or displayed only as percentages. This helps promote the mindset of “an enemy is an enemy” without putting too much emphasis on their level. Even in its current iteration, its far too easy to see someone in the open world and immediately tell how powerful they are just by their Health and can make one unwilling to engage.
Enemy Player Names are replaced with “Soldier of the Alliance/Horde” as to counter toxicity/harassment as well as help paint the idea that all players of the other faction are enemies instead of just going “Man, ‘Gorrak, The Chosen’ is a real camping jerk!”. (Note: You can still report these players through normal means for exploits, ect)
The more active you are in WPvP will also provide you a rank for that season, think the old “Private, Lieutenant, Corporal, ect” system. These are only seen by you and those of the same faction as you on your portrait to show off just how active you are.
Ranks could also be used to access various rewards, higher ranked and more active WPvP players could be able to access things such as mounts, toys, ect. and possibly even a title at the end of the season! Note: You already get gear from Loot Bags with this revamped system so I would hesitate to offer more gear.
Airdrops re-invisioned
Airdrops in their current format do not work well with World of Warcraft’s open world design compared to the Battle Royale games they have been pulled from.
They are extremely random, they are hard to see even when you know that one has dropped somewhere, and all too often enough there will be an Airdrop that no one knows about and you have no way of knowing if there is an unclaimed airdrop in the zone at the moment.
Airdrop’s would be removed and replaced with “Supply Drops”
Supply drops can happen in any location in the game world, not just the new expansion zones, if said zone in question has enough players, on both sides.
10-15 minutes before an Supply Drop happens an announcement will go out zone wide. Mathias Shaw or Nathanos Blightcaller will announce that a friendly -or- hostile Supply Drop is on the way and will mark the location on the map for all players in that zone. This will happen again 5 minutes before the drop and once more when the actual drop happens.
There will also be a visual at the top of player’s screens showing how long until the Supply Drop comes and, once it comes, if its still active and if its been claimed by one side or the other.
This gives everyone in the zone time to make their way towards the supply drop, get word out to other players/friends, ect. well in advance and promotes actively fighting for the supply drop location.
In addition to being marked on the map, a faction colored smoke flare will mark its location visually in the world so you can see exactly where the supply crate will land.
As long as players are near an unclaimed Supply Drop, fighting for it, it will not despawn.(Note: There is no limit on how many may loot it but only those who were in the zone, online, at the time it was claimed can grab the reward. Swapping characters and flying over will not allow you to open the Supply Drop on another toon)
Bounties re-imagined
Bounties are a cool system but could be so much more.
In their current iteration they are an easily abused system in several ways such as killing yourself leaving the area to drop a bounty.
Bounties would no longer be removed when traveling to different areas of the world, logging out, ect.
Once you have a bounty its with you until one of the following is done.
You are killed by an enemy player and drop a bounty bag.
Enough time passes, while online, for your bounty to drop. Time is based on number of player kills (Not killing blows) after acquiring a bounty and does not count down while offline. (Note: There is a top end cap to how high a bounty’s time can reach, its not infinite)
You pay to have your bounty removed. Think games like the Elder Scrolls, you can pay to have your bounty removed if you absolutely need it gone and quick. The amount is based on how large your bounty is. (Note: Just like with time, there is a cap of how high the gold cost can go and should always be “reasonable” based on the average player income as well as alternative ways to pay outside of gold such as War Resources, Marks of Honor, ect.)
When you have an active bounty you can not leave Warmode until it has been cleared in one of the above mentioned ways. You committed to this outlaw life, you deal with it.
Entering instanced content of any kind will pause the decay of your bounty.
Bounties, while in groups, will also be re-adjusted so that if you are rolling around in a death squad its easier for the entire group to have a bounty applied to them. Having a player with a bounty in the group will make it easier for others to get a bounty as long as you are close enough to the acts they commit when they commit them then you are an accomplice. This makes organized kill groups more enticing to actively counter with more of its members being flagged with bounties and thus more rewards. Further rewards could be applied when groups enter raid size territory.
Bounties also grow more rewarding the higher the bounty and will reflect such through the world map. Reaching a high enough bounty will even begin announcing it to members of the opposite faction when you or they enter the zone, drawing attention to the bounty.
Bounty negative effects will remain, such as being unable to fly while you have a bounty active and will grow as your bounty does to the point that neutral Flight Master’s might not feel so safe having you take one of their Gryphons/Wyverns/Whatever in fear if it being “Shot Down” by the other side as well as longer cast times on things like Hearth Stones, Flight Whistles, ect.
What of World Quests though?
People are still going to do WQ’s in Warmode, lets be honest we all want them WQ rewards.
WQ Rewards should be no different in Warmode or outside of Warmode. One option should never be more rewarding than the other, there should not be a reason for a PvE focused player to feel they NEED to be in Warmode to maximize their benefits.
WQ’s should however be re-tooled to take into account PvP happening in the area.EX: When doing the Champions of Azeroth WQ where you are tasked to kill enemies and then use your Heart of Azeroth to absorb the Azerite from them you would be able to get credit from killing and absorbing other players a higher rate than the NPC’s in the area, thus promoting actively killing players at the WQ locations for faster progression through the WQ. Note: Obviously, this can’t be the case for ALL WQ’s, such as ones that ask you to kill a specific named enemy thus would only be applied where it makes sense.
Add PvP focused Weekly WQ’s to raid capital cities in Warmode to kill X number of enemy players and defeat a marked target (Anduin, Sylvanas, ect) , rewarding Conquest, Honor, and Gold but no Reputation. The reward should feel PvP focused and not something a PvE player feels they have to do.
Misc. Improvements to Warmode/Future Suggestions
More PvP focused repeatable activities that reward Conquest on initial turn in each day (Small amount comparable to the first Instanced PvP daily rewards) and Honor targeting different parts of the in game world. (Note: Blizzard, if you want to make the world feel bigger and more active then give players things to do out in the world such as this)
Warmode has a ton of potential but in its current iteration it feels very half hearted. Warmode should absolutely be appealing and rewarding but it’s currently appealing and rewarding to the WRONG crowd for the wrong reasons. Its a PvP mode that is rewarding those actively avoiding PvP under the guise of “Compensation for Inconvenience”.
Warmode needs to be re-evaluated and re-focused on being what it was advertised as, a game mode for those who like WPvP. In its current iteration however its not promoting that at all.
Its a good start and a great foundation as well something that has solved many problems such as friends not playing on the same servers because one wants to PvP and the other does not. I love the potential in the system but it could be so much more.
I do not understand the fear behind going all in on making it an actual WPvP focused mode instead of a more rewarding PvE mode that you can just attack each other in. I am also not saying that WPvP does not happen, it does and its obvious there are groups that actively want to WPvP in it, but they are not who are currently being catered to. They are in a position where they have to create their own fun which, to me, seems a bit like a flaw in this system.
Anyway, these are my thoughts and feedback.
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