The problems with the current nodewar system

Currently, there are many problems with the node war system. It introduces many problems for both players and developers due to scale.

- It's very hard to balance around due to the sheer amount of classes, and interactions.

- Lag is very difficult to fix due to the non-instanced nature of the wars, and the massive amount of players per fight.

- Most nodewars eventually devolve into players running it into structures/backdooring. I don't know anyone that actually enjoys running it down into structures.

- The NA guild scene has been heavily struggling with organic, natural fights. They simply don't exist in the current NW and haven't for at least the last 3-4 years.

Enter the Guild League system

Guild league introduced instanced group-based small scale PVP to the game for the first time. Starting off, it was very popular, but a few problems arose that made activity fall off.

The benefits of the Guild League system are the following:

- Matchmaking and skill based fights. Now that the system is properly implemented without resets, guilds are a lot closer to their actual strength levels and fight guilds of a similar strength level.

- The top end bleed. Many guilds that have 10 very good players can actually be competitive. The top-end guilds are no longer unreachable and unbeatable.

- I hate that I have to state this, but this mode is actually about PVP. No PVE hitting flametowers/hwachas/supplys/barricades required.

- Easier to balance around. Guild league offers performance statistics for each class. It's easier to analyze how classes perform, what makes a class good in this system, what doesn't.

- Minimal/non-existent lag.

Like anything else, this also comes with downsides:

- Certain classes like Shai are required. This imo is a balance issue more than anything. If Shai was a valuable class outside of having buffs, the buffs could be moved to a guild skill instead. If a guild runs very heavy evasion, you need a valk for group accuracy buff. If guilds don't have a Shai that can play a particular round, they simply don't queue up because Shai buffs are that big of a deal.

- The queue system is mediocre. 30 minute wait for 5-15 minute fights. I get the point which is to increase the chance of accurate matching, but a better solution is needed.

- The limit of only 1 team of 10 per guild is damaging to the confidence and desire to play for the middle and bottom end of most guilds. To be competitive, many guilds are handpicking players based on class, skill, etc. Players that are playing less desirable classes or lesser skilled players don't get to play as much leading to less enthusiasm across guilds for the content.

- Crashes can be very crippling. E.x. Guild A and Guild B are evenly matched at 740-730 with Guild A slightly in the lead. Guild A Shai crashes, Guild A loses buffs for 2 minutes while the Shai reconnects, and ends up losing the match.

Enter Node League

What if we took the best parts of both systems and smacked them together into a more enjoyable PVP experience?

- On each node, there are instanced locations for PVP on specialized marni servers.

- The cap of each node must be divisible by 10. Guilds/Alliances sign up for a node league fight, and get matched by some Node League ELO system into a round robin group.

- Each guild is required to set up multiple teams of 10, in an AoA style interface.

- The teams all play several matches against each other concurrently.

- Whichever guild wins the most matches out of all of their teams advances to the next round. The winner of the group wins the node.

- Qualifiers for Siege are based on points earned during the round robins.

What happens to Siege?

Matches are set based on points earned and Node League ELO. Highest point guild defends castle, next 3-4 highest point guilds attack castle. If the highest point guild holds castle, they win. If the guild is pushed out of castle, it turns into a FFA between the remaining guilds. Ideally, this should also be instanced.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk