Tard the Paladin
Grandmaster
Shane has mentioned several times that factions has been revamped 2-3 times and still not active so why try to beat a dead horse. My feeling is that the changes were a step in the right direction so why stop there? I'd say incentivize factions. It would help prevent the PvP'ers from taking off now that reds are getting nerfed to oblivion. I'd like to see more items on the faction vendors, more faction crafting options, more PvM incentives for factioners, etc. I think it would help bring more PvP action and at the same time make PvM more interesting. Allow me to illustrate how this would be beneficial.
So the reasoning behind nerfing reds is that newer players are getting slammed in dungeons. For the sake of argument let us assume that is true and we'll just ignore the many flaws in the original reasoning. Nerfing reds will help out the new players. That can be a good thing. However, let's not decimate the risk/reward for veteran players because that will make the game very boring. Diablo has better graphics if we want to farm mindlessly. PvP needs to be a factor in risk/reward for experienced players in my opinion. Incentivizing factions can accomplish this. If you want better loot, better equipment, unique rares, etc then faction incentives could be a great thing. The experienced players will risk going faction to get the better drops and PvP will still keep things interesting. New players that aren't ready to compete for resources will be unaffected meanwhile veterans will have competition.
Faction incentives can save the noobs and retain veteran PvP'ers. A win/win in my book. I think that there must be a firm stand on the part of admins though. There will no doubt be players that will want the faction goodies but don't want to PvP. However, I think that veterans that are willing to work together and accept risks should see better rewards than casual gamers who still have a lot of content (meta pets, talismans, etc).
The incentives should be real and not just more items on silver vendors. Doubling SS drops, chance at relics, rares, etc would really tempt people to go factions. However, those rewards should come with equal risk - ie no house hiding or recalling in combat. If you get attacked you aren't gating out, you've got to run or fight.
The faction incentives on mob drops (silver, items, rares) will keep shit interesting. Factioners that only want to raid PvM'ers aren't going to see the cool stuff unless they also farm. Factioners that only want to farm will have to stay on their toes because a rival factioner might want to farm their spot. That's a balance that I believe was missing in red/blue diplomacy.
So the reasoning behind nerfing reds is that newer players are getting slammed in dungeons. For the sake of argument let us assume that is true and we'll just ignore the many flaws in the original reasoning. Nerfing reds will help out the new players. That can be a good thing. However, let's not decimate the risk/reward for veteran players because that will make the game very boring. Diablo has better graphics if we want to farm mindlessly. PvP needs to be a factor in risk/reward for experienced players in my opinion. Incentivizing factions can accomplish this. If you want better loot, better equipment, unique rares, etc then faction incentives could be a great thing. The experienced players will risk going faction to get the better drops and PvP will still keep things interesting. New players that aren't ready to compete for resources will be unaffected meanwhile veterans will have competition.
Faction incentives can save the noobs and retain veteran PvP'ers. A win/win in my book. I think that there must be a firm stand on the part of admins though. There will no doubt be players that will want the faction goodies but don't want to PvP. However, I think that veterans that are willing to work together and accept risks should see better rewards than casual gamers who still have a lot of content (meta pets, talismans, etc).
The incentives should be real and not just more items on silver vendors. Doubling SS drops, chance at relics, rares, etc would really tempt people to go factions. However, those rewards should come with equal risk - ie no house hiding or recalling in combat. If you get attacked you aren't gating out, you've got to run or fight.
The faction incentives on mob drops (silver, items, rares) will keep shit interesting. Factioners that only want to raid PvM'ers aren't going to see the cool stuff unless they also farm. Factioners that only want to farm will have to stay on their toes because a rival factioner might want to farm their spot. That's a balance that I believe was missing in red/blue diplomacy.
