[madestmatt]

I have been doing some thinking as to the main reasons for the seeming lack of interest in Ballista and why only a select few people like enough to go to the different lvl caps.

After inviting different in game friends on different occasions the most frequent response i get is "I don't have the equipment for that cap" and this also leads me to believe this is why 60 cap is the most popular (Everyone has their AF)

I think keeping and storing equipment for occasional attendees to ballista is out of the question as they do not value having to keep good equipment for each cap as much as the hardcore Ballista goers, not to mention the cost implication.
And for people like myself that go to different caps with different jobs its gets incredibly difficult to keep the equipment needed simply due to the lack of space in my Mog House and mules mog houses.

The solution I suggest is for SE to provide a basic Armour hiring service at the matches.
for those that cannot afford to keep the armour with those storage NPC's (Who keeps a full set of 5 piece armour in those things anyways?) IMO they are useless.

Basically a player can turn up for a match and talk to the Herald who then can offer them the chance to Rent a full set of "standard" Armour for that cap for a small fee (For example for 30 cap a full set of Studded armour if you are a War, Drk Etc) I say "standard" because it would not be fair to those who do keep their Armour for the matches like the Centurions Armour or Seers Gear which has added stats.

This armour will then appear in their "Temporary Equipment" list similar to the Temporary Items list so it would not require inventory slots, and when the match ends the Equipment simply disappears or is returned to the Herald.

I really feel having this would increase the attendance of Ballista/Brenner Matches all round as people do not want to turn up to Matches with Gimped under level armour but cannot afford to keep decent armour for financial or storage reasons.

Does anyone else feel that this would be a good idea to get more people to come to matches?
If not what reason are you given for people not attending?

[Krummi]

I think this is a good idea too.

Some idea's people present to increase attendance can easily be abused, such as offering skill-ups in the match.

However this idea addresses some entry barriers, rather than dangling new carrots. So I like it!

[Kauna]

It's a nice idea, but a set of basic armor and no accessories isn't going to do much against someone with much better gear, unfortunately.

[Karlamut]

Without thinking about it too seriously I think SE should introduce NPCs with AI to fill up the empty spaces maybe. I would love to knock six different shades of purple out of someone like Wolfgang during a match or something.

[Vauglivan]

Karlamut :
Without thinking about it too seriously I think SE should introduce NPCs with AI to fill up the empty spaces maybe. I would love to knock six different shades of purple out of someone like Wolfgang during a match or something.

Im game for whooping up on King Destin or Prince Trion. or maybe.... *Heart thumpin* having Lion on my team ^^

[Aluvien]

I think that the main reason why people don't join ballista anymore is basically that you can't recieve any serious reward from a match.
As for now, people join Brenner more 'cause, plain and simple, it gives more exp. 300 exp per match, 3 matches in 1 hour, that's a lot. Ballista just gives 300-450 exp for 1 hour long match... and that's not very convenient.

I play Ballista for fun (which often becomes anger when I'm losing lol), I couldn't give a damn about rewards, but I think that no one is gonna join Ballista anymore as long as SE doesn't think of something to make the good ol' Ballista more appealing.

Personally, that's whay I'd make:
1- More EXP and gil rewards after a match.
2- Creating special items or equipment that you can buy only with Ballista points (just like Assault, for example).
3- Creating a more simple ranking system that would show the best players or linkshells overall, and maybe reward the top 3 members with some kind of prize.
4- Give penalties to RNGs switching btw bolts. (lol j/k)

I'd love some rentable armors for different level caps too, that seems like a very good idea for me. :yes

[Kauna]

You're not supposed to play Ballista for rewards. -.-

[Aluvien]

Kauna :
You're not supposed to play Ballista for rewards. -.-

...and in fact no one joins ballista anymore 'cause it's pointless.

[Hyrist]

...and in fact no one joins ballista anymore 'cause it's pointless.

You mean the majority of the players are greedy, self-centered pricks who beleive their is some sort of worth in their didgital gain, and would rather work twards that gain than play a compeditive sport for fun? /shock Oh dear me!!!! What have I been doing these last few years! I thought I was playing a game!(/scarcasim)

The only reason PVP particpation went down was that Multi-Hit wses got nerfed, and melees diddn't like playing on more even terms with the mages. A monk could no lonnger rush in, spam a WS to kill their black mage, and then proceed to rely on its ungodly strenght to kill everyone else.


Battle in pvp now takes work and stragity, and the majority of the players are lazy, thats why FFXI PvP particpation has gone down.

However I have a feeling these new jobs and the combinations they bring will up participation a little, especially after the older jobs get their promiced buffs by SE.

[Aluvien]

Hyrist :

...and in fact no one joins ballista anymore 'cause it's pointless.

You mean the majority of the players are greedy, self-centered pricks who beleive their is some sort of worth in their didgital gain, and would rather work twards that gain than play a compeditive sport for fun?

:yes

I played lots of Ballista even after this so famous multi hit nerf, and people still joined almost all the matches (it usually was a 3vs3 match, but they still joined.)
After Brenner came out, people stopped playing ballista and switched to Brenner. Now that Assault came out, people stopped playing Brenner and switched to that.

I think that in order to make Ballista more appealing, you have to give the players some sort of motivation (no, simple fun is not enough) to make them interested in playing. Any kind of reward... like, for example, conquest points in that area for the winning nation <.< Whatever, really.

[Wodahsoguh]

Hyrist :
The only reason PVP particpation went down was that Multi-Hit wses got nerfed, and melees diddn't like playing on more even terms with the mages. A monk could no lonnger rush in, spam a WS to kill their black mage, and then proceed to rely on its ungodly strenght to kill everyone else.

I can still 1-hit black mages with raging fists. <.< Just not other melees anymore, used to be able to 1-hit almost anyone, now I just save my tp for that little midget black mage trying to hide in the back. Pssst, I seeeeee yooooou.

[madestmatt]

I think the Multi-Hit Nurf has affected numbers to an extent but I also feel people have be come accustomed to it and are just continuing to play. Also numbers did again fall when brenner was released, but, again people have come back to Ballista because Brenner just sucks!

I do agree that people do need an incentive to participate other than just the pure sportsmanship of it, I did like the conquest points idea as a win of a particular nation would add to the conquest points in that area which would add to further benefits when a Nation gains control.

Also having people that come for the reward rather than the sport would make it more fun i think!
All those nubs would be cannon fodder and Easy GB, and besides eventually they would get bored of being killed so much and either have to play with some skill or forfeit the reward and not come at all.

I really would like to see a full Ballista match one day with the full 72 people so whatever gets the people there i am up for it as long as it is fair.

[Delequiox]

This is a good idea OP, something needs to be done about this.

[Wodahsoguh]

Maybe a 10-20k reward (not entry fee) to each member of the winning team might be more incentive to people, and, as Mattlex said, more cannon fodder.

[Delequiox]

seems a bit high, but sounds nice.

[Gonix]

Cannon Fodder as in (Stand there and do nothing so i can get an easy GB and have a one sided match)?

That totally ruins ballista for people, in fact, I think that is why a majority of people on my server stopped coming. There is always a lvl 60 on one team giving free GB, having one sided matches so people just design or warp.

Some incentive would be nice, but not a big one, or we will have 60's newbs running around during no caps making it no fun at all for anyone, unless your lame and like one sided matches.

[Wodahsoguh]

True... maybe a reward based on your kill to death ratio, and how many petra you score?

[madestmatt]

This why I feel they should also introduce some sort of system that sorts teams based on how many chevrons earned or merits (Personally Merits should be banned in all caps other than uncapped imo)

For instance, the team sorting would even out veterans and beginner so you would not have an imbalance of newbs and frequent player which is often the case.

And when I said Cannon fodder I meant it in the sense of people that would come to ballista just for rewards and just run into battle like a fool. If there was a chevron/merit based team sorting system this would not be a problem.
I alos feel that rewards should not be given unless some valid contribution to the match is made by a player meaning they would not be able to afk for the whole match.

There are so many incentives that could be thought of they just need to create fail safes to make sure they are not abused.


God I really should get into game design!

[Kunitetsu]

maybe we could mix sum ideas here, this way everyone is satisfied with wut they want...

ok so lets say this, the score u get is based on sum calculation with number of kills vs deaths vs petras scored, yes?

ok then, based on ur score, when u talk to the herald or marshall, u get 1 of 3 options to choose from

1: XP based on your score
2: CP based on your score
3: BP based on your score

you will get money regardless

CP for conquest, exp for lvling ( make a new calcualtion for it... make the exp worth it) and raise the BP limit off, this way u can accumulate BP and get BP armor for ballista lets say... like 10K BP will get u a set of lvl 30cap armor or sumthin... but it can only be used in ballista...

or make it so that its normal armor with latent stats that are only active when doing ballista ;3

make the availabilty of the armor depndant on ur rank from the previous game, if u got no placement cheveron, ur not gonna beable to get much, but lets say Bronze is like, rank 2 stuff, silver rank 3 and so on....

on aother note with the XP and CP... even combine the 2 so that if u get XP, ur CP will increase like normal when your in an experience PT .... lol ok I'm not editing I'm just gonna go with my ideas....

ok... your ballista score at the end of match = your amount of BP gained
youre exp gained is ... lets say... your ballista score x3 or x5 idk... some simple calcculation...
u get CP via exp gained, u get items based on ur rank and amount of BP u spend....

<.<;; ?

[FactorOfZero]

madestmatt :
This why I feel they should also introduce some sort of system that sorts teams based on how many chevrons earned or merits (Personally Merits should be banned in all caps other than uncapped imo)

For instance, the team sorting would even out veterans and beginner so you would not have an imbalance of newbs and frequent player which is often the case.

And when I said Cannon fodder I meant it in the sense of people that would come to ballista just for rewards and just run into battle like a fool. If there was a chevron/merit based team sorting system this would not be a problem.
I alos feel that rewards should not be given unless some valid contribution to the match is made by a player meaning they would not be able to afk for the whole match.

There are so many incentives that could be thought of they just need to create fail safes to make sure they are not abused.


God I really should get into game design!

I like this idea, but there is just one flaw. If this happened, we would start having fun, and fun is illegal according to SE.