An alternative to the 5* lock mechanic.

[Kaelang]

Good Afternoon!

I've just been reminiscing about the old school Alterac Valley battles in World of Warcraft, and how even though these could go for days on end without a conclusion, players found real fun within them. I was contemplating why players here find frustration in 'stalemates' of zones and decided to come up with a hybrid alternative to the current 5* mechanic (instant-lock) we have in place.

Naturally, this would require a large development effort, so completely appreciate if the development and/or community don't feel that it's necessary, but there's a Suggestions & Feedback forum for a reason - so here goes nothing.

Back in Alterac Valley times, players from either sides could work together to summon a 'Boss' that would head across the battlefield towards the enemy Lord's to secure victory. It created huge fights in the middle ground from the escorting team, and the opposition trying to kill the boss before it wreaked havoc. I'm sure people who played the OG Alterac Valley remember this fondly.

My suggestion is as follow:

When a realm reaches 5* on the keep, the Lord assembles a small escort of heroes and they move out of the keep towards the Enemy keep. Fighting players en-route and summoning an escort of the realm. The Keep Lord can also attack the doors and break his/her way into the enemy base. Once inside, the Lord heads upstairs and starts to fight with the Enemy keep Lord.

Essentially, this would promote an escort, large scale combat throughout, and a fun alternative to the 'stalemate' mindset that people have. It would mean that even during these stalemated zones, there is still some form of progression to work towards instead of zerg VS zerg.

I appreciate the 5* mechanic is there for this very reason, but this could spruce the idea up and bring a more warfare style approach to the current approach taken.

Thoughts welcome - maybe I'm just trying to relive extra nostalgia.

[Minkua]

i like it in principle (i too and an old school AV player) whats the benefit of killing this 5* lord on a mission? if you kill the lord while on route does the keep he came from drop down a rank or two? would he drop tokens or count as keep defense contribution?

personally id like to see some pretty big benefits for killing the 5* star lord, like a champion buff you get in city sieges given to random players of the defending WB's to lead a counter for e.g as killing a keep lord in open field with multiple Wb's fighting would be very difficult

[Acidic]

I would not remove the 5* for this but it’s would be a cool addition to 4* keep

[Kaelang]

i like it in principle whats the benefit of killing this 5* lord on a mission? if you kill the lord while on route does the keep he came from drop down a rank or two? would he drop tokens or count as keep defence contribution?

My initial thought was that if the assaulting Keep Lord dies, then the keep is left without a Lord for X amount of minutes and is reduced down a star or two.

[Kaelang]

I would not remove the 5* for this but it’s would be a cool addition to 4* keep

This is also a good option, allow for the 5* to bypass the lock in case a true stalemate occurs, but have an alternative at 4* for a 'last push' type of thing?

[Sinisterror]

This sounds fun! Maybe when the escorting is happening, keep doors would all be open and enemy can capture a flag inside the keep ( like mechanic from live) or something better, but if enemy captures the flag while your lord is marching to enemy keep (or the lord dies while marching) you would lose the zone, high risk high reward? Defending your own keep while the lord is summoned and protecting the lord while his marching imo sounds a lot more fun, but then again there is probably a lot of negatives i dont see, i just really want to enjoy the game as much as i can and eternal respect to the devs and im not pretending to understand what it takes to keep WAR going, much love <3