But to be good Open World / WPvP should have two main things:
- Content, to bring players together or to give individual players reasons to be in the Open World
- Give players ability to progress doing / participating in this content, ability to work towards items/transmog/mounts.
So far, War Mode has sandbox tools for players to create their own content - solo/group roaming, weekly PvP quest, Bounty hunting, camping and counter camping, raids... And it's very good. In 8.1 we'll get more Open World content, and it's great (but never enough :D ).
Many of ideas in first 3 posts I like and would love to have in-game.
I think current War Mode and WPvP are very lacking in terms of rewards/progress.
I don't think that rewards/incentives like current 10% is a way to make War Mode better or good at all. Simply because it's a drop in an ocean for anyone who likes War Mode, and it's almost meaningless. And this types of rewards push in War Mode players who don't like it, and since reward is so small and meaningless - they don't have any reasons to like it.
I would love to have more transmog/mount rewards that are specific to WPvP.
But most important, I think, is to rework PvP rewards system, like:
- Conquest points should be a currency. Maybe with a weekly cap.
- Vendor for Conquest points, in addition to current weekly bar/chest
- (as an example) 500 conquest point is equal 1 item of 355 ilvl, and there is also an upgrade token for same 500 points. Vendor sells 355 items for 500 points
- Make this vendor sell higher ilvl items, for 1500 point = 370, 3000 points = 385 (as an example). But actual items, not RNG boxes.
- For Rated players - just cut down prices. So gladiator prices for example would be 500 points for 385 item, etc.
- Add flags, mounts, etc to this vendor
Expand current airdrops/bounty conquest rewards:
- Bounty and Airdrops should reward conquest more than once per day. Similar to BGs/Arenas - first of the day is 35/50, next are 15-10.
- Also for Airdrops. Scale amount of conquest points from Airdrop with amount of players of opposite faction killed in its vicinity. So if I found airdrop and there is no one, I get minimum conquest, but if there is a fight - winner gets additional conquest from chest for each killed enemy.
Currently a lot of players logging of (or at least teleport to capital) when they got bounty on them. With changes like - If you're bounty (maybe ONLY in party of no more than 5):
- you get 1 CP for each killing blow as DPS/Tank
- you get 1 CP for each kill if Healer spec
Giving CP to bounty more incentives to stay. Also more bounties = more targets = more content. Also it would give healers more incentives to join.
And main point of this - Rewards in War Mode should be for PvP, and not for PvE world quests. 10% Bonus is ok, but it attracts too many players who can't find a reason to give WPvP a solid try, because they cannot progress with it and 10% is meaningless.
As an example - if someone is not into PvP:
- when they wipe on a Boss in the raid they don't have a feeling of "complete waste of time", because they are trying to progress not only in terms of "yeah we did it", but also to get rewards and progress with their character.
- when same person "wipes" again and again on a flight point to a group/raid of opposing faction, and for 10%... it feels bad.
- and there is no incentive for person like this to search for a group, put effort.. it's only 10%...
So there is almost 0 incentive to give War Mode a solid try, and open all of WPvP goodness for themselves, for many players.
On the other hand - at the start of the expansion, with rewards from Rated PvP - a LOT of PvE players jumped to Arenas, and what is more important - many of them stayed. Similar situation with Hippo mount.
Plus, if whole rewards are from PvP - PvE players (at least reasonable ones) have zero problems with PvPer getting their items from PvP-activities.
With all that - that's why I think that reworked in this way rewards system from PvP would benefit all Players and the game as a whole.