Automatically trigger MOTB:
I think it would be a good idea to have the Master of the Battlefield (MOTB) flags appear near the end of every round automatically, perhaps when 2 minutes are remaining. MOTB is the flags that currently are only triggered when both teams are out of combat for a full minute (I think). It serves to bring the players together to fight and break any stalemate. MOTB would put an end to players camping, where they force the opponents to either come to them to get slaughtered or be stuck with a draw. The problem is that it's difficult to get a whole team of players to stay out of combat to trigger MOTB and force campers out into a fair fight. Making it automatic for each round eliminates the need for that.
No camping:
This isn't siege, so no team should be granted the advantage of camping some tower's easily defensible entrance and forcing the opponents to come. It's okay to camp a spot in the middle of a battle in order to make it hard for the other team to systematically clear the area. They have the option to leave the campers be, and the campers will then be a threat to come out and attack from behind, or just shoot arrows. It's a fair tactic. But when the camping group are the only ones left to be killed, they should be the ones obligated to come out and fight. MOTB does that, providing an impartial battleground for both teams to fight over.
Optional: Add a minute or 2 to rounds:
I'd suggest adding a minute or 2 to the current round timer to keep the automatic MOTB from triggering often (so make rounds 7 or 8 minutes). Then trigger MOTB with at least 2 minutes remaining. 2 minutes should allow both teams to get to the point and really duke it out to end the battle conclusively. If it were triggered with only 1 minute remaining, I think there is potential for one team to get to the point first to start raising their flag and then only have to defend themselves for a few seconds until the round ends with their flag higher. They could potentially just put up their shield and defend for 20 seconds or so. But with 2 minutes, both teams will likely reach the point with well over a minute remaining and the first ones there will likely not be able to just "steal" the win by defending.
Extra round time probably won't be used much at all:
I don't think adding extra time to the rounds will have much effect on their actual length. Rounds generally end well before the current timer runs out. It usually only gets close to a draw on some large maze-like maps where teams chase each other in circles because there are no central paths, or on some very large maps where 2 skirmishing-type battles can take place in different locations of the map with each team winning in one location and having to travel to each other to fight in a final showdown. And in these cases, players want the timer to be extended, so extra time by default isn't a problem here.
The only other time we get close to draws is when a team is camping, especially if they aren't significantly outnumbered, or some horse archer is running around against infantry. So it is possible that the extra time could make the rounds longer here. But I think it's also equally possible that potential campers will realize that they no longer have that "bargaining power" to force their opponents to attack to avoid a draw since the "attackers" can wait and force the campers out with the MOTB that is guaranteed to come. So it's likely the campers will come out once they realize their strategy will eventually fail. And in the case of a horse archer running around versus infantry, there is already rules that the horse archer has to fight in melee if it's a stalemate and they are just delaying.
Thoughts?
