Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Rewind: Zerghammer

This one was originally posted 6/18/08... was I right?

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One concern I have with WAR, is that the tactic of zerging will become too prevalent. Zerging is basically getting a large group of players and going from objective to objective, laying waste to anything in your path. There is nothing wrong with it, but it tends not to be very fun for the other side as there is nothing they can do except ride out the storm.

There is a reason Zerging happens and it is not lack of skill. Simply, it works very well. The mechanics of a MMO, in general, foster this tactic. Why does it work so well?

Healers - In order for a zerg to sustain itself, it needs healers. They are also a major factor in what makes a zerg so effective. If a few healers are present, the battle becomes: DPS vs Healing. If you cannot out DPS their healing, odds are you will not be able to break the zerg.

Going after the healer first can be effective, but if they have a healer healing that healer it becomes difficult. Rushing into the zerg to get the healer will often result in a quick death, even if you get to the healer.

The Map - The layout of the battlefield is often zerg friendly. Objectives are not usually that far away from each other. This allows the zerg to move quickly to objectives which may be under attack.

Objectives - Some Objectives require a group to take. This means it will take time, which allows a zerg to respond, often times rolling over you before you can capture the objective. The tactic of spreading out and attacking where the zerg isn't becomes less effective.

A force with superior numbers and reasonable equipment and skill, will and should win more time than not. That is not in dispute. The problem with a zerg is, it becomes pointless to even fight it. You will just end up feeding renown to your enemy. All you can do is make your own large group or wait until the zerg breaks up, then go recapture everything. The whole battlefield becomes a flipping affair.

Will WAR have these issues?

4 comments:

Yes you were right. One of the reasons I let my subscription lapse. Small group PvP has no place in WAR. :(

Aside from my general belief that PvP and RPGs don't play nicely together, in general PvP in MMOGs is confusing from a player perspective.

We claim we want this massive world with a massive number of players, and if we're doing PvP/RvR we want a massive army against a massive army. Yet the instant that happens we get on our high horses and sneer "pfft... it's just a zergfest in there."

I don't need to (nor would I) pay a monthly fee just for small group PvP. There are literally hundreds of shooters that satisfy both small and large group PvP. For that matter, sports games are small group PvP, no?

As impressive and exhilerating as the Battle for Helm's Deep, etc. are, when you get right down to it they're zergfests. That's what "massively multiplayer PvP" is.

AOE Mezz(stagger) in the backlines! All our healers are down for 10s!

Hehe... Changes are coming Werit. I've got a short chubby one for the reworking of Stun.

@Grimnir,

You're making my mind good to some very unpleasant places, with your reference to "Short Chubby One".

Do you really think it's something you want to bandied around ?

@Werit,

You art trully wise ;)

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