ToH Mass PVP

[mahawirasd]

there has been many threads made about this part of the event, but i feel perhaps we can make this event work for all involved without having to make a new map or a whole page of new scripts. Sure we will still face problems with guild triangles showing up and/or random DCs, errors, w/e - but perhaps we can still work around these issues to make it somewhat more enjoyable for all involved albeit being a wee bit more time-consuming.

Once there was an idea that ToH mass pvp should be for a select group from each side to battle it out rather than have all the peasants participate in a formless melee so that the side with the better skill will turn up victorious.
This idea was shot down (with good reason) because it would adversely penalize the side that actually brought more meat shield/cannon fodder to the equation regardless of their skill level.

Personally, i feel that there is merit on both sides of the argument - ToH mass pvp should, to some extent, value BOTH the amount of people brought along by each side as well as the skill level of the players involved.

So how best should we go about doing this with the tools that we already have?
I propose that instead of a best-of-3, we make ToH Mass PVP a best-of-7. I'm not proposing of doing 7 rounds of our regular melee, but rather in the following composition:
1. Regular all-out melee
2. Regular all-out melee
3. Regular all-out melee
4. Select group of 12 from each side
5. Select group of 12 from each side
6. Select group of 12 from each side
7. Tie breaker: 1v1

Explanations:
- all rounds will be done in the same map (except perhaps the tie breaker if you feel like the 1v1 ToH pvp map is better)
- rounds 4 through 6 will be done by the GM recalling the "DARK1" and "LIGHT1" group which the participants get to establish in 2 minutes after the conclusion of round 3
- the chosen champion for round 7 will be determined by leaving 1 person in the "LIGHT1" and "DARK1" group. The participants will be given 2 minutes to do this after the conclusion of round 6.

Why the setup? Wouldn't this penalize the side with more bodies but less skill/gear/w/e? Why not do the different setups intermittently?
because this way, whoever brought more bodies only need to win rounds 1 through 3 by proving that their numbers do count for something and only 1 of the select 12 round to prove that they do have the requisite skillful 12 to obliterate the other side.
Conversely, if the side with less participants argue that they are "more skillful" or w/e than the other side and that mass pvp is just a brainless activity to prove strength in numbers, they have the whole rounds 4 through 6 to prove their words.

Ok, now for the negative side: more time spent in ToH.
assuming 3 mins fighting time, 2 mins recall+assembly, and 2 mins tactics, thats 7 mins per round. 7 rounds + the 2 mins setup needed for rounds 4 and 7 means 7x7 + 2x2 = 53 mins rather than just 14 mins.
First off, I wholly appreciate the lengths the GM teams have gone through to shorten ToH times - the first few ToHs i went to used to last 8-9 hours even with only 60ish participants compared to 4-5 hours for 80-100 participants nowadays. Nevertheless, spending more time for mass pvp this way would hopefully reduce the amount of butthurt from DCs etc when there is only 2 rounds (3 for a tie breaker) to fight in. Hopefully this way the average person will get to participate in 3 or 4 rounds (assuming they DC half of it) and actually contribute rather than fatal-erroring/freak-dc-ing on 2 rounds and never getting a say in winning that extra 10 points.
If you still get 7 straight DCs in a row, then i can only say: "sorry dude, did my best"...

I understand that this means more work for the GM team, but i do hope you take into consideration how this suggestion might just be the workaround many have been calling for.


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