How can we keep in touch?
We'll have to agree on a server first, see what guilds are going to be playing there and then see what we can agree upon with all the guild masters who are going there. The sooner we can get this framework up and running the better, but at the same time we have to be weary of infiltration so we will definitely have to hold out until the guilds are actually in the game, are actually recruiting, and are actually legit. Otherwise, anyone could just come in now and say "yeah I want to be part of this stuff, sign my guild up" and then we give him access to everything but 3 months from now he's changed his mind and is playing Alliance. Secrecy will have to be a big part, at least for a while.
What server we're going to choose is a different barrel of issues. Definitely a PvP realm with high-population but no streamers. You want the high-population to minimize the chances of the server dying several months in after the tourists quit and everything. Server needs a constant influx of new players in order to survive, and new players are definitely more willing to join high-population servers - which means that high-pop servers will keep getting bigger while small sized servers will keep getting smaller. This has happened before and definitely will happen again.
So let's just see what servers everyone else will be going on, decide on where we'll play based on what criteria, approach several other people and we'll meet on a Discord channel to discuss.
This sounds like a solid plan to me. I can't wait to see those alliance corpses scattered accross stormwind and ironforge!
No doubt that we are going to see such things on retail for World Bosses, PvP ranking, BG premades, War Effort etc. On private servers, it's not only coalitions that you have to look out for but also cross-faction collusion. Those things I hate with a passion, and I had a lot of drama taking one down on Elysium. In this time and age it's easier than ever to get in touch with people of the other faction and "work" something out.
So like how does this work - how could I collude with another faction to 'rig' a WSG game?
Is it as simple as all turning up at the entrance at the same time?
Yes, on one of the private servers I played on I'd sometimes see that groups were running WSG on AB weekend. Weird, right? I have a suspicion they were win trading and of course on AB weekend no one would accidentally get into their game to witness or stop them.
No doubt that we are going to see such things on retail for World Bosses, PvP ranking, BG premades, War Effort etc. On private servers, it's not only coalitions that you have to look out for but also cross-faction collusion. Those things I hate with a passion, and I had a lot of drama taking one down on Elysium. In this time and age it's easier than ever to get in touch with people of the other faction and "work" something out.
So like how does this work - how could I collude with another faction to 'rig' a WSG game?
Is it as simple as all turning up at the entrance at the same time?
Yes, on one of the private servers I played on I'd sometimes see that groups were running WSG on AB weekend. Weird, right? I have a suspicion they were win trading and of course on AB weekend no one would accidentally get into their game to witness or stop them.
That sounds smart. Do you think the introduction of battlemasters will change this at all, at least mechanically?
No doubt that we are going to see such things on retail for World Bosses, PvP ranking, BG premades, War Effort etc. On private servers, it's not only coalitions that you have to look out for but also cross-faction collusion. Those things I hate with a passion, and I had a lot of drama taking one down on Elysium. In this time and age it's easier than ever to get in touch with people of the other faction and "work" something out.
So like how does this work - how could I collude with another faction to 'rig' a WSG game?
Is it as simple as all turning up at the entrance at the same time?
Yes, on one of the private servers I played on I'd sometimes see that groups were running WSG on AB weekend. Weird, right? I have a suspicion they were win trading and of course on AB weekend no one would accidentally get into their game to witness or stop them.
That sounds smart. Do you think the introduction of battlemasters will change this at all, at least mechanically?
That was with Battlemasters, but having proper GMs will prevent it. One person noticed, reports, and BOOM, 20 players with a ban.
EDIT: In case it wasn't clear, this next part isn't directly at Teebling but at the thread in general.
We don't need a blue post for faction collusion. Blizzard already had a rule in Vanilla that faction collusion could fall under. A rule that I know for certain was not enforced in any form on Kronos.
Same faction griefing, harrassment, etc. is directly in the list of what to report, but when I reported this on Kronos (high level char continued to train elites onto my escort quest from a different zone- escort would attack them and die - definitely not part of the quest), I was told that this wasn't against the rules for their server, DESPITE it being in the client's official things to report as against the rules.
Opposite faction collusion is essentially the same as griefing your own faction (preventing them from being able to get devilsaur, R14 etc.), and it was already written inside the original vanilla rules. A new rule does not even need to be added. If people get caught, they are almost certainly getting banned.
It also goes along with why you cannot make characters for both factions on one server. People can try to find ways around that by either buying a second account or making friends with a horde, but it's pretty clear from the original design philosophy: You are supposed to pick a side and stick with it. If you're Horde you don't get to log onto your 60 Alliance rogue to kill someone who made you mad on your Horde character, and you also don't get to call your 60 Alliance friend to do it for you either.
I know that 3 or 4 of the top guilds on the Elysium PvE server - after the migration of the Nostalrius data - got together to work together on world bosses. Again, scouting is a pain in the ass and even hardcore guilds aren't necessarily going to have 30-40 people on at any given time. So once a scout noticed a world boss, a call went out on a mutual Discord. Anyone that was available logged in and made there way there. Of course, there were numerous Warlock alts parked in Azshara and Blasted Lands to summon later comers. A primary raid was formed for the boss and any overfill made a 2nd raid to fend off the opposing faction. Loot was based on the attendance of each guild. Guild A has 12 players show up, guild B has 18 players show up, guild C has 9 players and guild D has 7 players show up. A total of 56 players. Whoever is spearheading the raid (usually a GM or officer from one of the guilds) rolls 1-56, with the first 12 going to A, the next 18 to B, etc. Once it's determined which guild gets the item, that guild figures out who is going to take the item, then the raid leader ML the item to that player. With top guilds, everyone has a pretty good idea of who will benefit the most from any given item, so there's no real argument over who gets what.
That same discord was used to coordinate sharing of DM:N Tributes for pre-raid buffs. The rest of the world buffs, pretty much everyone knew what the other guilds' raid times were, so you knew when they'd be popping their heads.
Sounds like this is basically what you're talking about, except also coordinating WPvP. Frankly, I think that's probably going to kill the whole idea - the top PvE guilds generally aren't heavy into WPvP - there is only so much time and energy you can dump into the game, and if you're pushing for server 1sts, your energy outside of raids is on farming for raids and doing BGs for the PvP upgrades. If you have time beyond that, you're generally tooling around on alts for additional farming or to shore up class shortages within the raids. And if you're talking about more casual guilds, they're unlikely to crack the monopoly on WBs on any sort of regular basis. The top guilds will have better scouting, a faster response time, more reliable summoner alts and better gear, so they're unlikely to fail attempts.
Frankly, I think that's probably going to kill the whole idea
Not exactly if it's optional. I'm still doing those events whether they want to join in or not. A platform like that would just be an ideal place for me to announce it in case any of them want to join in, that's all. It also allows us to have more scouts in the world so if there's an Alliance raid anywhere we can do something about it. But all of it is optional because of what you just explained, yeah.