First change the merc/roster system so that:
1) You have unlimited mercs but only 50 can be spawned at any one time.
To me a roster is fine as it is currently.
100 merc team it means insta spawn for every dead troop in def, insta spawn for attack side aswell but they need time to move. Also what about xp? heaven for leachers? or hell for good players who will get nothing while sitting in a queue after death on ladders?
2) You can make changes even during the battle to add new players (preferably in game using a kick function and an apply/accept function)
Its pain in ass make 50 man roster for 1 battle, for 3 battles in row its fucking hell and now u suggesting to commanders an even worse fate - roster manage for whole 1-5h battle :P
Then make it so the re-spawn timers are based on:
1) Your deaths
2) The average number of deaths in the battle
So if you have 50% less deaths than the average your re-spawn timer will be 50% of the default time. If you have twice the average deaths you will have a re-spawn time equal to 200% of the default time. Default should probably be 10 seconds.
Also add to that time "Time is a player who plays alive" its mean what u will be spawned in random time all the time. Also in a team with roster of 100 people you have to play at times less than on the team with 50 (in 1h battle 30 min u loosing for waiting). Also big roster will push top players down by list in querry so instead of spawn in 10 sec after death he will spawn (10sec + "Time is a player who plays alive"*(maxmers-50)"
also in siege ranged have much better k/d than meele and vice versa in a field.
Once your re-spawn timer has hit 0 you will be presented with an invitation to join the spawn queue which you must click to accept. If you accept you will join the queue and finally spawn when it is your turn.
100 man roster, iam die, wait "for timer has hit 0" and hurray iam 50 in querry so what next? i can wait from 1 sec to 10 min i go to "slide on the Internet" and will be slaugther while afk
Its hard stay in battle for 1h how long can you sit at a computer most of the time wait their turn?
Finally battle times will need to be directly proportional to the size of the smallest army in the battle or similar
wish u luck to u take castle or town with 100 man in garrison for 10 min"
The above changes combined will mean
1) All battles will be an appropriate length according to the size of the armies involved meaning attacking large garrisons is possible. Whilst a 5 hour battle may sound pretty hardcore for commanders it is no more hardcore than 4 battles in 4 straight days imo.
2) Players can take breaks in battles, arrive late or leave early making them overall more casual for the average player.
3) Commanders have more flexibility in their rosters meaning that it will be easier to maintain a full roster and kick unwanted players
oh really? castle attack... i have 50 archers and 50 meele players guest whom i will have in my army after death on ladder this 50 meele guys? right! 50 archers.
4) Huge garrisons are no longer such a big issue, you just need a big army and a free evening (proper server primetimes will probably be needed to keep huge battles involving more than X troops within reasonable time frames).
5) With enough mercs teams will always have players ready to spawn meaning more tickets can be used in less time, involving more players more frequently for more fun.
6) #5 inadvertently means spawn capping is only really going to be an option in battles where one team performs significantly better than their opponents. Personally I think this is good though because it will leave more room for tactics within field battles instead of the usual charge spawn repeatedly until the defenders can't spawn quick enough to protect it. There will still be an overall time limit to make sure the attackers do attack.
7) It could cause a hell of a lot of drama if mid battle an entire clan switches sides and applies for the enemy. Just imagine the rage :D
8) good players that die less will rejoin the spawn queue quicker than bad players****
9) Afk players won't be there to accept their queue invitation and so won't join it until they return.
****EDIT - this can be enhanced by splitting rosters into melee and ranged so players accepted as ranged will only be compared against the other ranged players in the battle for their re-spawn timer. Since ranged often die less this will prob be needed.
its too difficult and will work only if commander be able to select number of slots for archers, easy exploiteble by adding in that list top 2h players :mrgreen: