Return of Reckoning

Hello and good day to you all!

I leveled my character probably a year or two ago but went on hiatus due to RL circumstances - I just recently redownloaded the game and have been having a blast in oRvR.

I'd like to share my thoughts on my experiences with the city sieges as I've been able to participate in 3-5 (can't quite remember) since I've come back to play.

As a character who is 40/57, I cannot get into any city siege groups as the requirements are all, at a minimum, 60+ and full vanquisher - I should be able to reach that point relatively soon, so I won't get hung up over that - this leads me to do the pug groups.

From the perspective of a pug group, I cannot find that this is really worth the time and effort. A problem with pugs, is that after losing the first fight or two, a large number of players leave, making it impossible to ever come back from that first loss or two.

Positives:
- I like that they are on a timer, so someone with a hectic schedule like myself can plan around to make sure that I can attend - I have not been able to do a IC city defense yet, though I don't think that should change any of my statements,
- When getting rolled, I can still afk and get some tokens

Negatives:
- Group composition has been extremely bad in my instances - now granted, I can join a premade - but this is from the perspective of a pug
- The rewards from losing are very weak, and you can easily obtain greater rewards (in a much more enjoyable manner) by going back into open RVR, this incentivizes people to leave the instance
- The rewards being only tokens, make it so that there is no real reason to be in the sieges unless you enjoy the content.
- When players leave the instance, they cannot be replaced

I don't really pretend to know the solutions to the issue I've noticed, or if I'm just a scrub who needs to 'git gud' - but I wanted to share my thoughts on the topic. From the top of my scrub head - I can see that being able to replace people who leave the instance, and offering some kind of better reward / lowering rewards from standard oRvR might incentivize me to do this content more.

I'll also give it a try when I get to 60+ rr and might be able to join a premade.

Thanks all.

homie222 wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 12:04 amNegatives:
- Group composition has been extremely bad in my instances - now granted, I can join a premade - but this is from the perspective of a pug
- The rewards from losing are very weak, and you can easily obtain greater rewards (in a much more enjoyable manner) by going back into open RVR, this incentivizes people to leave the instance
- The rewards being only tokens, make it so that there is no real reason to be in the sieges unless you enjoy the content.
- When players leave the instance, they cannot be replaced

Translation: Cities as game content rarely provide any fun for the majority of those who play them.

Back on April 13th of 2020 I published a video detailing why I had reached that conclusion at that particular time, a time in server history during which Cities were worth the effort. The primary response, principally proffered by people who had not even bothered to watch the video, consisted of puerile and adolescent name-calling and personal attack laced with brilliantly reasoned and articulated counter-arguments from the self-anointed server elite along the lines of "I would kick you from the guild and the alliance!" That masterfully crafted and reasoned declaration is still viewable on my Youtube page.

However. Concerning the issues you raised there has been clearly stated official server policy concerning not only the experience of playing in Cities but playing on the server in general, articulated on these very forums in response to these very same concerns as posted on April 2nd of 2020 in a thread discussing "Pug verses Premade city instances". A policy which I can only guess is still in effect today.

From that thread, quote:

"Retention will be what it will be."

He who has an ear, let him hear.

homie222 wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 12:04 amI don't really pretend to know the solutions to the issue I've noticed, or if I'm just a scrub who needs to 'git gud'

The perennial and defining perspective is always 'git gud.'

homie222 wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 12:04 am - but I wanted to share my thoughts on the topic. From the top of my scrub head - I can see that being able to replace people who leave the instance...

Reducing the City Experience down to one per week is potentially the most effective response to such. As with every other alteration introduced to this game, give it time.

homie222 wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 12:04 am
...
- The rewards from losing are very weak, and you can easily obtain greater rewards (in a much more enjoyable manner) by going back into open RVR, this incentivizes people to leave the instance
- The rewards being only tokens, make it so that there is no real reason to be in the sieges unless you enjoy the content.
...

Not Sure about what you see as weak, got ~200 crests in a lost city (to be fair, it was 5* and it wasn't a complete stomp, we were able to kill people, but anyway, not really weak).

What would you prefer as a motivation to enjoy the content if not the fight itself, the crests are the only reason to go there...

i think with the unified currency changes now - the life city format should come back when won with 2 forts and the 24vs24 should stay scheduled