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Larion · 10-22-2008, 05:07 AM

This is one of the problems i have yet to see a proper solution for and the problem is in my opinion the biggest reasons why so many pvp server fail (best example is probably SZ in EQ back then or rather the first real one).

Do any of you see a solution for that?

My take would be to do a power balance. Since you can't lock one side and forbid players to join that side wouldn't it be a solution to have the overall power of a character depend on its sides active population?

I mean, having 2 sides with lets say 30% to 70% ration between the two (this would also be applicable for more factions, but for simplicities sake i will stick with 2 here) is not uncommon on "pvp servers" in any game.
Usually this really hurts the community and it is virtuall impossible to "fix the server", since players tend to want to play on the winning side, or the "cooler side" (wich is probably the reason why on pvp servers the "evil" side is usually higher populated).

If you would now alter the power of the character (dmg/hp/mana) based on the side he is on, you could, through a backdoor control the population and keep pvp alive on servers with population imbalance. Balancing would of course still be an issue, but you would have a tool to actualy control the population.
Or rather an automatism that doesn't require additional resources that keeps servers from "going bad".

10-22-2008, 05:07 AM	#1 (permalink)
Larion Does not post pictures for religious reasons! Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 651 -51 Internets	Population balance in mmos (esp pvp) This is one of the problems i have yet to see a proper solution for and the problem is in my opinion the biggest reasons why so many pvp server fail (best example is probably SZ in EQ back then or rather the first real one). Do any of you see a solution for that? My take would be to do a power balance. Since you can't lock one side and forbid players to join that side wouldn't it be a solution to have the overall power of a character depend on its sides active population? I mean, having 2 sides with lets say 30% to 70% ration between the two (this would also be applicable for more factions, but for simplicities sake i will stick with 2 here) is not uncommon on "pvp servers" in any game. Usually this really hurts the community and it is virtuall impossible to "fix the server", since players tend to want to play on the winning side, or the "cooler side" (wich is probably the reason why on pvp servers the "evil" side is usually higher populated). If you would now alter the power of the character (dmg/hp/mana) based on the side he is on, you could, through a backdoor control the population and keep pvp alive on servers with population imbalance. Balancing would of course still be an issue, but you would have a tool to actualy control the population. Or rather an automatism that doesn't require additional resources that keeps servers from "going bad".