Incoming wall of text, so get comfy.
I propose a change in the mechanics of signing up to BS. This change would allow players to queue for battlestation from anywhere in the game, excluding raid instances. The reasoning for this is simple, give players the ability to queue from anywhere and you will see a drastic increase in PvP range BS uptime. I would really like a dev response to this, whether it be a reason as to why it cannot happen or why they don't want it to.
Pros and Cons
Pros
-Players no longer have to run to a grid or terminal to access the battlestation room, this is doubly useful for both PvM and PvP players. PvM players no longer have to run all the way to a main city/terminal/grid just to queue, so if they are out farming Pocket bosses or dynas or w/e and someone in the org/on neutnet says 'XX-YY BS range is short of a few people', they no longer have to drop everything they are doing, just to go queue.
-Low level chars can queue from anywhere, removing the need to waste 10 mins running on a very slow char to the terminal. This could revive TL1-3 PvP.
-Is essentially very easy to implement from a technical standpoint.
-A good quality of life change.
-You would return to the place you was before you joined the BS making PvP accessible to everyone.
-Makes sense from a roleplay and story/timeline perspective.
Cons
-Waste of Dev resources. By this I mean the BS PF, that nobody wanted anyway, becomes a wasted asset.
-Possibility of less duel chances, nobody is going to be in a central point, thus nobody can say 'DUELPLSLOLOL!!'.
Technical Implementation
This change could be added with very minimal Developer effort and would be a large boon to the remaining AO community. There are two ways this could be done:
1) An item, purchasable from any store (Device Terminal), that when 'used' opens up the BS join menu, relevant to the players current level.
2) A button on the current GUI/chat command that does the same thing.
Option 2 would be preferable as new players wouldn't need guiding to a shop terminal to buy the item, it would be explained in the upcoming new player experience. "Click this button to join your side in the conflict for the dominion of the orbital battlestations!".
Actual implementation of the idea from a coding standpoint is also incredibly easy. Most of the code is already there in one form or another anyway. I will demonstrate this in Pseudocode:
The ability for the server to handle saved coords is already there thanks to the /stuck command. When a player uses this command, coords are written to the server, this is how terrain glitches were assessed and fixed (back when that happened). The BS screens are also already ingame, the only possible thing that might need 'creating' that isn't already there is the Item/Button which is a couple of hours work, max. The actual mechanic on the other hand would of course be subject to coding/testing/QA.Code:Player Presses Button/Item | V BS Menu for relevant player level shows up. | V Player clicks 'Sign Up' | V When enough players are signed up the 'Invite screen' shows. | V Players presses join, his PF number and Co-oords are saved serverside. | V BS Finishes, server reads the Coords, drops him back where he was, instead of outside of the terminal.
In the case of the Item, it would look something like this:
Story/Continuity PerspectiveCode:Battlestation Warp Beacon NODROP UNIQUE Quality level: SPECIAL Requirements: Use: Level from 1-30 or Level from 31-60 or Level from 61-100 or Level from 101-150 or Level from 151-200 or Level from 201-214 or Level from 215-220 Skill locked on use: Sided Faction (1m) Description: This device will allow you to teleport to the Orbital Battlestations around Rubi-ka to wage war against the enemy faction.
The technology to lock onto a particular target and warp yourself there has been around for a while in both Nano and item form. Engineers, Meta-Physicist, Fixers and to some degree, Nano Technicians, are especially good at doing this. The idea of an item that allows a person is nothing new to the AO universe and isn't exactly ground breaking technology as it is essentially, the current sign-up terminals, but in a smaller and more portable form.
So again, this suggestion would not bend the rules of the AO universe.
In closing
If this was implemented, it would be a huge quality of life boost to the battlestations and to both PvM and PvP players. Yes this idea is a carbon copy of the WoW Battleground signup, but it is adapted to AO and AOs mechanics.
The is no feasible reason, to me anyway, as to why this cannot be done in a short time with very little developer effort as all of the code to make this happen already exists, it just needs moving around. And if you can make a bunch of useless social items in one patch cycle, I'm sure one item which activates a screen already ingame, wouldn't be too hard.
I'm so sure of how easy this is, I'd even code it myself given the opportunity, even with my lacklustre C/C++ knowledge. (hai pls hire me lol)
If anyone has any objections, comments or additions, feel free to say.
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Originally Posted by Lunarsolace
