PhoenixRed
01-05-2009, 08:13 AM
In a population-dependent game like WAR is, the balance of power in terms of sheer numbers is of great importance to its players. While real, actual "war" is rarely ever even (or realistic, considering that rather inconvenient "death" thing), when it comes to virtual war people like to simulate, the enjoyment of the overall experience is of paramount importance. Numbers on the battlefield are a big part of that.
It's no secret that there is currently a skewed population in terms of the factions with regards to WAR. The numbers of Destruction players seem to on some servers overshadow the number of Order players, creating a sort of hopelessness or worse, a kind of apathy towards the general, overall campaign, the crown jewel of WAR's RvR system. With no players wanting to bother with the campaign, or even wanting to meet their opponents on the field of battle for fear of simply getting farmed for renown, the overall game experience for everyone suffers.
It's even gotten to the point where the disparity of Destruction to Order players has created perceptions about whether or not the developers have it in for Order, or somehow sleep with little stuffed toy Destruction avatars and hug them tightly, supposedly protecting them from class balance modifications and nerfs that have been suffered by Order players. I'm not going to offer an opinion one way or another about that particular issue (that's another article for another day) but I will say that the spawning of that perception can in some way be related to Destruction's overall numbers superiority in general.
The cause of this, unfortunately, has to fall on Mythic's shoulders. Whether or not you may think that they are biased towards Destruction, we have to look at some of the key things that have occurred to see that while I personally don't think Mythic loves one faction over the other, the situation as it stands is partially of their creation.
The key problem is an assumption made prior to the game's release. As early as January of 2007, Paul Barnett had this interview with Gamespy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7eoTVu45-4
The key quote is the following:
"once you've seen Chaos, you're going to realize that it's the greatest thing in the entire world. And while I think it will be popular, unfortunately "the herd" is drawn to playing elves and humans. They just are. So what we've actually done, is we've made the "evil" races very sexy, and I think that's actually going to balance the population out. "
The assumption gleaned was that most casual players, or the majority of the playerbase, would go Order, due to traditional trends and statistics from other games. Most folks like to play the good guys, and they like to play familiar-looking fantasy races. The "ugliness" factor of Destruction's races made them, to Mythic's eyes, less appealing.
Another quote from Paul in a Gamespot interview reads:
"Take humans first. Humans are there because even if you make a fantasy game, every person really wants to play a human. I mean after you go to all the trouble of making pixies and dwarves and orcs, people want to play exactly what they are in the real world. I don't know why - it's just the way of things."
Now, let's be honest. Two quotes from one member of the development team, no matter who it is, aren't indicative of an overall direction. But there are other indicators, such as two trailers ending with a favorable direction for Destruction (the Chosen essentially winning against the Warrior Priest and Altdorf's invasion, respectively). Or the Realm War, which skewed itself heavily towards Destruction. Or the restriction of gender for Destruction classes, placing them prominently into the spotlight for pre-release discussion.
All of these things together, combined with a playerbase buying into the overselling of Destruction classes, are responsible for a Destruction-to-Order disparity in population, at least in part. While we as the players don't have access to the hard numbers, it does seem that there is quite a few more Destruction players than there are Order players. To address the problem, since we are post-release, hard incentive may need to be given in order to provide assistance to the overall population imbalance. A good direction was taken with bonuses during server transfers, but this may need to be done on a more persistent basis to create a bit of balance. Providing a way for Destruction players to play Order on different servers, or to transfer between careers might be another direction, although on that is not perfect. ORvR bonuses for the underpopulated, whether that be on an experience or renown level, might be something to look into as well.
The silver lining in this whole affair is that Mythic has succeeded in making Destruction appealing to its community. Now steps must be taken to liven up or make Order exciting as well, whether that be through media, marketing, or tangible benefits. While Mythic can leave the population to be evened out by the players themselves, they are in control of the full knowledge of the overall population and are best equipped to handle what will certainly be more of an issue as more people reach the pinnacle of the RvR system they hold dear.
It's no secret that there is currently a skewed population in terms of the factions with regards to WAR. The numbers of Destruction players seem to on some servers overshadow the number of Order players, creating a sort of hopelessness or worse, a kind of apathy towards the general, overall campaign, the crown jewel of WAR's RvR system. With no players wanting to bother with the campaign, or even wanting to meet their opponents on the field of battle for fear of simply getting farmed for renown, the overall game experience for everyone suffers.
It's even gotten to the point where the disparity of Destruction to Order players has created perceptions about whether or not the developers have it in for Order, or somehow sleep with little stuffed toy Destruction avatars and hug them tightly, supposedly protecting them from class balance modifications and nerfs that have been suffered by Order players. I'm not going to offer an opinion one way or another about that particular issue (that's another article for another day) but I will say that the spawning of that perception can in some way be related to Destruction's overall numbers superiority in general.
The cause of this, unfortunately, has to fall on Mythic's shoulders. Whether or not you may think that they are biased towards Destruction, we have to look at some of the key things that have occurred to see that while I personally don't think Mythic loves one faction over the other, the situation as it stands is partially of their creation.
The key problem is an assumption made prior to the game's release. As early as January of 2007, Paul Barnett had this interview with Gamespy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7eoTVu45-4
The key quote is the following:
"once you've seen Chaos, you're going to realize that it's the greatest thing in the entire world. And while I think it will be popular, unfortunately "the herd" is drawn to playing elves and humans. They just are. So what we've actually done, is we've made the "evil" races very sexy, and I think that's actually going to balance the population out. "
The assumption gleaned was that most casual players, or the majority of the playerbase, would go Order, due to traditional trends and statistics from other games. Most folks like to play the good guys, and they like to play familiar-looking fantasy races. The "ugliness" factor of Destruction's races made them, to Mythic's eyes, less appealing.
Another quote from Paul in a Gamespot interview reads:
"Take humans first. Humans are there because even if you make a fantasy game, every person really wants to play a human. I mean after you go to all the trouble of making pixies and dwarves and orcs, people want to play exactly what they are in the real world. I don't know why - it's just the way of things."
Now, let's be honest. Two quotes from one member of the development team, no matter who it is, aren't indicative of an overall direction. But there are other indicators, such as two trailers ending with a favorable direction for Destruction (the Chosen essentially winning against the Warrior Priest and Altdorf's invasion, respectively). Or the Realm War, which skewed itself heavily towards Destruction. Or the restriction of gender for Destruction classes, placing them prominently into the spotlight for pre-release discussion.
All of these things together, combined with a playerbase buying into the overselling of Destruction classes, are responsible for a Destruction-to-Order disparity in population, at least in part. While we as the players don't have access to the hard numbers, it does seem that there is quite a few more Destruction players than there are Order players. To address the problem, since we are post-release, hard incentive may need to be given in order to provide assistance to the overall population imbalance. A good direction was taken with bonuses during server transfers, but this may need to be done on a more persistent basis to create a bit of balance. Providing a way for Destruction players to play Order on different servers, or to transfer between careers might be another direction, although on that is not perfect. ORvR bonuses for the underpopulated, whether that be on an experience or renown level, might be something to look into as well.
The silver lining in this whole affair is that Mythic has succeeded in making Destruction appealing to its community. Now steps must be taken to liven up or make Order exciting as well, whether that be through media, marketing, or tangible benefits. While Mythic can leave the population to be evened out by the players themselves, they are in control of the full knowledge of the overall population and are best equipped to handle what will certainly be more of an issue as more people reach the pinnacle of the RvR system they hold dear.