1) Upkeep is basically useless now, considering how easy it is to make 400 - 500k off the marketplace with a single heirloom point, and I know a number of people who wanted to get into this mod but can't stand the number of full plate tin cans that they need to face down at level 1. So yes, upkeep is indeed an issue in the sense that it's pretty much completely unneeded now. It just gives newer players difficulty trying to keep good gear until level 31.
2) A higher level cap would be neat, but they would need to add initiative to go past level, say, 33 (retiring at level 33 = adkfajweklgjaklwjhkasdjg) aside from going "HAVE MORE HEIRLOOM POINTS".
3) Team balance is pretty fucking weird, I'm not going to lie. More often than not I see completely useless, ineffective, horrible team switches that usually just stack one thing or another on one team, leaving the other to get massacred (hence the title "auto-stacker").
1) - upkeep could be brought back to life by removing marketplace and adding the
"loompoint reassign option". It would allow to reassign your loompoints (something like loom respec). It would have cooldown of like 3 weeks or something so people don't spam with stupid items. It is strange that before you make something masterkworked, it usually gets nerfed and nobody wants it anymore (you neither), so loompoint reassigning could repair the nerf&looms like the famous one with Mighty Long Voulge etc. Also people would be able to try different classes without the risk of disliking it and having the previous items gone.
It's hard to try some classes where loompoints mean a lot like cav, archer, crossbowman, not to mention horse archer...
The thing is that it would have to be done "like a ninja" so people don't buy a lot of shit just to get more loompoints later. Or would require total Loom&Gold-wipe and new loompoints and gold could be handed out with the formula like loompoints=ur_gen-1 and gold=(gen-1)*30k,
(those forumlas are just quick calculations and I haven't been thinking much about them so it could turn into strange thing. Maybe adding gold-cap to the gold that player would receive would be good idea
]2) - I guess that it would be enough if current level 31 was replaced with 33 so you would need these 8,735,843exp to get to level 33 and the levels 29, 30, 31, 32 could be grouped a bit more so leveling from lvl 32-33 would be like 2mln exp not 4mln and retire at new 33 wouldn't be rewarded more than current retire at level 31. According to this, players with currently level 33 would be level 35 in new system. It's just about placing more stops on the way. Example:
|
old (current) system V
x y z 28 29 30 31 32
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
28 29 30 31 32 33 34
new system ^
3) Team Balance of 40 vs 40 isn't easy man... it can be completely random. I remember 1 example when Chase was in the winning team and scored like 15 kills and 0 deaths in first two rounds. Then he got switched and in next 2 rounds he scored 1 kill and 2 deaths so the losing team was still losing and balance didn't change anything.
On the other hand, sometimes it's completely different. Sometimes 1 team is winning for 3 rounds and then other team keeps winning for 3 rounds in the row and in the end of the map it's 3-3. It happens quite often to be honest.
Anyway, removing banner balance or making class>clan balance might not help either. There are loads of shitty cav that can be all dismounted by 1 good cav in the opposite team or 10 weak archers that could be replaced with 1 bagge in the other team.
player=/=player => 10players=//=10players. It's quality of players and backstabbing/teamwork/gangbang that win rounds.
Bannerbalance at least allows you to play with your friends and then when you are losing/winning, it's not that important anymore. (To be honest teambalance wouldn't be so important if the multi system didn't require you to win to develop your character. Leveling at x1 is nothing when compared to lvling at x5)
YES THIS IS A LONG-ASS POST