Champions

Jeremy Saunders

So we are finishing a few other things, but I am slowly coming back around to Champions.

I want to make it a bit cooler, just not sure how.

Right now Champions get:

1. Double XP
2. Shouts
3. No XP loss on death (not too big a deal now)

For these benefits they are open PK.

Possible additions:

1. Somehow incorporate 1v1 battles into it. Maybe the two champions are pulled to a special arena.
2. The top basher and PKer win something for their sect/cult.
3. Give the monthly bashing and PK winners a prize, the reset the rankings.
   

Not really sure what I want to do, aside from the fact that I want to make it more appealing to more people.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Labil

My problem with bashing prizes is that they can be easily hoarded by a) someone with a good bashing profession b) someone with LOTS of free time c) both.

Ahkan

Monthly bashing contests aren't very fun. Like Labil said, it doesn't come down to skill, it comes down to how long you're willing to sit in front of your computer.

One on One is a rough game right now. It's rock, paper, scissors. Some classes are bosses at 1v1, the rest of them a mediocre at best. I mean, who wants to compete against a flickdancer 1v1 for anything? Some classes actually punish you for longer fights, like Assassin/Renegade/Predator. Lastly, you can't forget time bomb bard. Fights last however long it takes to build up resonance (that you can't avoid) for insta kantae. It's just not fun.

Jeremy Saunders

It is a monthly bashing contest where you have to be a champion and open to free PK. When you are killed, your score starts again at 0.

However, point taken.

Labil

So I will game it playing at a time zone away from the main PKers.

Khizan

Pulling them into a 1v1 arena will just tank participation even more. It's no fun to be part of a world PvP system when the end result is that somebody artifacted like Juran/Risca/Justus/etc can just haul you into a 1v1 arena and drop the hammer on you.

The monthly bashing contest is problematic, imo, because it pushes people into turtling and hiding. When I get a solid lead, I'm not going to go participate in shardfalls and such, because I'm not going to want to risk my placing on the vagaries of team combat.

Bathan

When it comes to rewarding individuals for being atop the PvE and PvP rankings, I'd like to see something akin to the Lei Shin treasure room from Isle of Thunder. Basically, take the top individual from each column, place them in a unique chamber (that no one else has access to) where-in they fight waves of progressively harder NPCs, and progressively more difficult NPC fights (geared towards PvP stuff, as opposed to PvE) and, based on how far they get, off the individuals prizes ranging from: gold, unique mini-pets, unique mounts, monthlong cosmetic artifacts (something like a phantasmic diadem), a qhonors, a small shout on the main site, whatever. That would appeal to most people and might be worth the inherent difficulty.

Beyond that, I feel like it might be worthwhile just to flesh out some IC background behind the Champion thing. Something like, 'Champions carry with them an infinitesimal sliver of godlike power, allowing them to shout across the land.' It seems cheesy, but something like that would encourage people to do it just for the RP purposes. Maybe allow Champions to have in-room message that changes based on the number of NPC/Player kills they manage.

Champion with zero kills:

Bathan is here, a faint shimmer of power radiating from him.

Champion with 2000 NPC kills, 20 player kills:

Bathan is here, radiating a palpable aura of incredible strength.

I'm just spitballing here, but I feel like most of the ideas hit up your major demographics of everyone that enjoys bashing, fighting and RPing, and all the cross sections between.

EDIT: Also, I realize it got voted down before, but Veil really needs to be disabled by being a Champion. It could be something as simple as 'By being courageous enough to take on this incredible power, you reveal yourself to all in the land seeking out the strongest individuals.' I really feel like the community's in enough of an upswing where, most reasonable people will be like, 'sure, this damages the Champion mechanic and should go the way of the Dodo bird.'

If you want to be sneaky and fly under the radar, you should not be tampering with the power of the Creator or the Leechtree, et cetera.

Labil

Veil should be disabled in a couple situations, like Capture the Flag.

Mathiaus

I miss the old snarling black balls and demonic rifts. That was probably the best bashing and most fun I had. If you did that again with some kind of contest I'd love you forever.

As for champion, I'd like to see more special abilities added than buffs and arena combat, but I'm terrible at thinking up stuff like that.

Josiph

A few ideas. 

Champion Points:

-People who are champions can earn champion points for killing other champions, and lose champion points for dying to another champion. These points would get reset 1-4 times a month. (With testing determine this value).

-Points are only gained if the champion was the only person attacking the enemy champion. If he had help gaining the kill, no points would be distributed. 

-Players can "Request champion duel target", and if accepted would teleport the two champions to a 1v1 arena where they could fight. (To the death). This arena would be visible to the public similar to the other coliseums with "es", and a global message spits out when two champions enter a champion duel. I personally think this would be a neat idea because when I was a newbie I always thought global messages were really neat, like when people hit Tekal in Aetolia, etc... I think any novice would be intrigued by a global message "Two champions have clashed in mortal combat!" or something. Cool bit of flavor. 

-You would also be able to "gank" champions who are by themselves or maybe with another person if you are brave, and try to kill them on the main land for points as well. As previously stated though, I think a champion killed by a group would still lose a point, or a half point, but you wouldn't be able to go farm points on enemy champions in groups of 5. The only exception to this would be if it were 2v2 champions or 3v3 champions, but I'm not sure how difficult that kind of check would be to code in. I think it would also be interesting to allow for 2v2s and 3v3s in the "champion duel" arena as well. 

  

-At the end of the reset period, add cool cosmetic items to win. Example: Top Champion points get an honors line and a sweet mount which they keep until the next person wins. Honors line could be either one that stays or one that rotates around such as "Is currently the most powerful champion" although obviously something less lame than that. 

Champion Hunt Points:

-Same effect as above. You earn hunt points by bashing. This number is multiplied by .75 if you are slain by another champion. 

-Add into this Bathan's idea above with the people getting teleported to unique rooms to defend hordes of mobs. Run this as an event that champions can join several times a week. Again I think a neat global message signifying one has begun plus a way for people to watch the statistics would be another way to keep people interested in the things that the "top level" players are doing. 

-Not only do you earn good exp from the difficult mobs coming out, plus hunt points, but if you last the longest, you get X amount of points, if you last second longest X/2 -->X/3-->X/4 etc... Everyone who participates earns bonus Hunt Points at the end of it, based on how long you lasted. 

Just some thoughts.  

Ahkan

You know.

What if you released a champion only bashing area where

Option A-Had a special currency to turn in for neat rewards

Option B-Had enhanced gold and/or experience.

The moment you enter this hunting ground you are fair game making it a high risk, high reward bashing area. I'd even drop unique npc encounters in here that drop artifacts. Two of them would be open to the public and open to ruination by other champions. The third boss, would be on the epic scale. It would probably be the hardest encounter in the game and be the only instanced NPC in the game. With XP loss removed, it would really motivate people to pick up a free x2 xp bonus AND super awesome mobs at no cost. It'll be a nice 'gap filler' between shard falls when....

Sweet-pk-xp gets champion and goes to bash.

Flavor-of-the-month enters the area to kill sweet-xp.
Sweet-xp's friends kill flavor-of-the-month.

Flavor-of-the-month calls Baskin Robbins for flavors 2-8.

Oh snap, we got a brawl on our hands.

Selthis

Just gonna repost this here:

Make guard deaths strip champion status.

Josiph

Hahahaha.  That sounds like a pretty cool idea to me Ahkan. I've been saying recently there should be some really tough bashing area that takes multiple aspects bashing it to be able to handle it.

I think that would be a neat way to incorporate both bashing and PK together in an area like that.