Hellsfury
10-27-2008, 03:19 PM
They need to fix this mechanic. There is a reason I haven't seen a single banner being used by it's guild in a serious way during either Open RvR or Scenario's.
Players are insecure and act as if the Banner is a liability to them. They don't want to be constantly committing 2 Gold in a fight if they are unsure if they're not just throwing money away. "The System" just leaves players feeling insecure and paranoid once that standard in on the ground. That is completely the opposite of what the Banner is supposed to do. Guilds should want to have their banners out and in game as much as possible, and yet... ZERO is the number I have encountered so far in the first 3 tiers. Maybe in T4 with veteran guilds that have unlocked some better tactics and buffs to make it worthwhile, but seriously... that banner should populate all Tiers, not just end game.
BUGS:
I encountered 2 bugs that make me gamble every time I plant a Standard in PVP. 1) If the banner is on the ground when a Scenario Ends, the Banner is Lost. 2) There are times when the Banner can not be picked up (Lag?) even though no Enemies are around and I'm taking no Damage.
I've lost 3 banner because of Bugs. 6 Gold - A Keeps Worth for an Hour. So, right there, who wants to play roulette with the Guilds Symbol ?
ISSUES:
Standard Bearer Abilities:
SLAM - Plant The Standard on the Ground. Pretty straight forward.... crank the one armed bandit and pray you didn't just toss 2 Gold away. This Skill should have an AOE Knockdown or some other meager benefit other then just planting the Standard.
SHIELD - Makes the Standard Bearer nearly immune to all attacks for 15 seconds on a 2 minute cool down timer.
KNOCKDOWN - AOE Knockdown on a 2 minute cooldown. This should actually be combined with SLAM and then a new ability created in it's place.
As a Standard Bearer you Sacrifice all your more useful abilities for these 3 limp ones while carrying the Banner. This means that if your group has a Standard Bearer, you reduce a 6 man party into a 5 man party with a few meager buffs. I'm hoping that the Standard provides much greater buffs and abilities in the future... because so far they do not equal the abilities lost by the player who carriers it.
The SHIELD and KNOCKDOWN are on a 2 minute cooldown which seems extremely excessive considering neither ability is all that potent and several classes have the same abilities on much shorter timers. Hell, my Iron Breaker has an AOE Repel/Snare on a 10 second timer which I feel blows these out of the water. I understand that you don't want the Standard Bearer to be invincible or unattackable, but he's pretty naked while carrying it and a giant magnet for attention. Plus, he's otherwise not contributing anything to the group... so cut him some slack so he can do his job of "inspiring" his group to fight.
So,
In order to benefit from having a Standard on the field, the Standard Bearer has to become accustomed to planting the Standard to fight and then picking it up again on the go. Plant/Fight/Pickup and repeat, over and over again. This brings me to my current Pet Peeve about the Mechanic.
PICKING UP THE FLAG.
In order for the Guild members to benefit from the Banner's Buffs, the banner has to be in battle. The range on the Buff's is rather short so the banner has to be close behind or there is no point. Which is fine by me, it's the way it should be. However, once that Banner hits the ground in combat, it's committed (2 Gold) because even if no Bugs pop-up, there is no certainty that I will be able to pick it up again. It's a Gamble.
Grab Timer - They decreased the timer for grabbing the flag which was nice, but it needs to be shorter. I understand that enemy players or even non-Bearer players should have some kind of timer, but the Standard Bearer should be allowed to retrieve his own standard with little or no delay so that he can keep up and move with the rolling tide of battle. Open RvR (where the standard should be seen most often) is very fluid and only static if you are standing on the wall of a keep. Having carried a Standard through Mount Gunbad PVE... the constant "fetching" and running ahead to keep the Standard in play would be impossible and impractical in PVP the way it is now.
Disrupting Grab - It's takes 3-4 seconds to pick up my own Standard. In battle it is easy to hit me with anything and reset that timer preventing me from picking up my Banner. I'm ok with that as if enemy are in melee range, they should be able to challenge me and force me to fight. However, it doesn't take much to disrupt me if I allow the enemy to mob me. This is why the "short timer" isn't short enough. Once I have the banner, I've disarmed myself anyways and it takes another 10-12 seconds to stow the banner so I can fight again.
Cursed Carrier - This is hands down the one thing, if I only get 1, that should change in the mechanic. Casting any kind of Damage over Time ability on the Carrier should never prevent him from picking up his own Standard. A meager little life drain of a few points disables a player from picking up his Standard. Since these DoT's can be cast from long range and can last 20 or more seconds that, to be blunt, is bullshit. Burst Damage and Physical Damage should disrupt a player attempting to pick up a Standard but completely disabling him shouldn't be so simple as clicking a button.
Capture a Standard - I am Paranoid of losing a Standard because some enemy player uncloaks and clicks on it from 10 feet. In the end, it should be somewhat difficult and a deliberate action that captures a Standard to make it meaningful and not just a haphazard or casual matter of circumstance. I think you should have to kill or remove the Standard Bearer if he's next to it at the very least. It should take time and not be practical if there is combat raging around it. I think you should have to Pick it up and then Stow it just like a Standard Bearer has to do in order to remove it from play. That would at least afford enough grace for the owning Guild to have a chance at stopping a "NINJA" from capping their standard while they are busy fighting the enemy around it.
/WALL-o-TEXT
Players are insecure and act as if the Banner is a liability to them. They don't want to be constantly committing 2 Gold in a fight if they are unsure if they're not just throwing money away. "The System" just leaves players feeling insecure and paranoid once that standard in on the ground. That is completely the opposite of what the Banner is supposed to do. Guilds should want to have their banners out and in game as much as possible, and yet... ZERO is the number I have encountered so far in the first 3 tiers. Maybe in T4 with veteran guilds that have unlocked some better tactics and buffs to make it worthwhile, but seriously... that banner should populate all Tiers, not just end game.
BUGS:
I encountered 2 bugs that make me gamble every time I plant a Standard in PVP. 1) If the banner is on the ground when a Scenario Ends, the Banner is Lost. 2) There are times when the Banner can not be picked up (Lag?) even though no Enemies are around and I'm taking no Damage.
I've lost 3 banner because of Bugs. 6 Gold - A Keeps Worth for an Hour. So, right there, who wants to play roulette with the Guilds Symbol ?
ISSUES:
Standard Bearer Abilities:
SLAM - Plant The Standard on the Ground. Pretty straight forward.... crank the one armed bandit and pray you didn't just toss 2 Gold away. This Skill should have an AOE Knockdown or some other meager benefit other then just planting the Standard.
SHIELD - Makes the Standard Bearer nearly immune to all attacks for 15 seconds on a 2 minute cool down timer.
KNOCKDOWN - AOE Knockdown on a 2 minute cooldown. This should actually be combined with SLAM and then a new ability created in it's place.
As a Standard Bearer you Sacrifice all your more useful abilities for these 3 limp ones while carrying the Banner. This means that if your group has a Standard Bearer, you reduce a 6 man party into a 5 man party with a few meager buffs. I'm hoping that the Standard provides much greater buffs and abilities in the future... because so far they do not equal the abilities lost by the player who carriers it.
The SHIELD and KNOCKDOWN are on a 2 minute cooldown which seems extremely excessive considering neither ability is all that potent and several classes have the same abilities on much shorter timers. Hell, my Iron Breaker has an AOE Repel/Snare on a 10 second timer which I feel blows these out of the water. I understand that you don't want the Standard Bearer to be invincible or unattackable, but he's pretty naked while carrying it and a giant magnet for attention. Plus, he's otherwise not contributing anything to the group... so cut him some slack so he can do his job of "inspiring" his group to fight.
So,
In order to benefit from having a Standard on the field, the Standard Bearer has to become accustomed to planting the Standard to fight and then picking it up again on the go. Plant/Fight/Pickup and repeat, over and over again. This brings me to my current Pet Peeve about the Mechanic.
PICKING UP THE FLAG.
In order for the Guild members to benefit from the Banner's Buffs, the banner has to be in battle. The range on the Buff's is rather short so the banner has to be close behind or there is no point. Which is fine by me, it's the way it should be. However, once that Banner hits the ground in combat, it's committed (2 Gold) because even if no Bugs pop-up, there is no certainty that I will be able to pick it up again. It's a Gamble.
Grab Timer - They decreased the timer for grabbing the flag which was nice, but it needs to be shorter. I understand that enemy players or even non-Bearer players should have some kind of timer, but the Standard Bearer should be allowed to retrieve his own standard with little or no delay so that he can keep up and move with the rolling tide of battle. Open RvR (where the standard should be seen most often) is very fluid and only static if you are standing on the wall of a keep. Having carried a Standard through Mount Gunbad PVE... the constant "fetching" and running ahead to keep the Standard in play would be impossible and impractical in PVP the way it is now.
Disrupting Grab - It's takes 3-4 seconds to pick up my own Standard. In battle it is easy to hit me with anything and reset that timer preventing me from picking up my Banner. I'm ok with that as if enemy are in melee range, they should be able to challenge me and force me to fight. However, it doesn't take much to disrupt me if I allow the enemy to mob me. This is why the "short timer" isn't short enough. Once I have the banner, I've disarmed myself anyways and it takes another 10-12 seconds to stow the banner so I can fight again.
Cursed Carrier - This is hands down the one thing, if I only get 1, that should change in the mechanic. Casting any kind of Damage over Time ability on the Carrier should never prevent him from picking up his own Standard. A meager little life drain of a few points disables a player from picking up his Standard. Since these DoT's can be cast from long range and can last 20 or more seconds that, to be blunt, is bullshit. Burst Damage and Physical Damage should disrupt a player attempting to pick up a Standard but completely disabling him shouldn't be so simple as clicking a button.
Capture a Standard - I am Paranoid of losing a Standard because some enemy player uncloaks and clicks on it from 10 feet. In the end, it should be somewhat difficult and a deliberate action that captures a Standard to make it meaningful and not just a haphazard or casual matter of circumstance. I think you should have to kill or remove the Standard Bearer if he's next to it at the very least. It should take time and not be practical if there is combat raging around it. I think you should have to Pick it up and then Stow it just like a Standard Bearer has to do in order to remove it from play. That would at least afford enough grace for the owning Guild to have a chance at stopping a "NINJA" from capping their standard while they are busy fighting the enemy around it.
/WALL-o-TEXT