And to make it clear, i am talking about Uzgha, Istiniar and the old sea raid from defend the village. And maybe Turin Castle, although people are already overwhelmed with 2 ways that lead bots to the visc, so usually there is barely any time to be bored.
So, and why is that those maps make the server full and the ones that are more open and allow space for every single player when there are 30 of them, empty the server? Exactly, because dtv, EU dtv to be precise, is only a handful of dedicated players that like to play for the reasons you are telling me, the rest is only there to GRIND EXP. That's why noone wants to play the more open maps, although that is the most complained about issue right after the invisible walls.
Istiniar and old sea raid from the defend the village days are a couple of the worst maps now. Istiniar is nothing but a glorified funnel nowadays, and sea raid has invisible walls in all the wrong places. Not to mention sea raid is the ultimate bore fest. It just requires 3 shielders at 2 doorways to block off any and all incoming bots. So up to 6 people out of a 30 person server are now entertained. Woo... hoo...
Also, you complain about how people would exploit just to grind xp on the old dtv, and yet now you see that more than ever before. It is far easier to get fast xp and gold in dtv since the maps are funnels with no bots delaying. Earlier rounds are over in a matter of minutes where you can easily get 15 - 20k (with 40% gen bonus, mind you) off of peasants / bandits since those rounds are over so damn fast. And you truly think that no one wants to play open maps since they can't win on them? Heck, I don't think I could name a single NA player that wouldn't kill for an open map nowadays.
So please don't tell me that there are only those 3 groups of players, you've left out the biggest one that only play it for massive XP and Gold grind. And i didn't make the maps for those, although the small ones i mentioned up there make it seem like it. I wanted to get rid of exploiting first, bring some new ideas to dtv (the gate with winch, ballistae, ladder-assaults, bringing castles into the mode) and to make the rounds more fast-paced, so even on low population you can get at least decent xp and have some fun because bots don't take half an hour to get to you. And so far i like what is happening on EU dtv. I see way more teamplay, people form shieldwalls constantly, meatwalls and pike-walls are a thing now, too. No more "let's leech at v while 2 or 3 guys manage to kill off every single bot on the front with super nice exploits", because if you don't play along and help your team out you can cause a lot of trouble for the guys that do.
And contrary to all the QQ on the forums about the new maps and bots, i get plenty of good feedback on the servers, so i must've done something right. Not to mention that i see 2 full servers on EU side every now and then, which never happened before the update.
For the invincible shielders there will be a solution, just not sure how to do it exactly, but Shik and everyone else that has a say in this will definitely agree on one.
You keep saying that the #1 priority on your end is to remove xp grinders, essentially. Well you see that all the goddamn time now. People that I have NEVER seen in dtv now are coming to visit, killing off the population of other servers (siege in particular). I asked them, since they were all siege regulars, why they weren't in siege, since this mode was now boring as all hell. I wanted to play, bu the server had 0 people while dtv had maybe 20. They replied "this is now far better xp." So then I asked why they would want to sit here, either afking or in a shieldwall for the duration of a round, just to rinse and repeat next round when they could be having fun in siege... and got the same answer "this is better xp than ever before. maybe better than an x5, even." So yeah, good job eliminating the hardcore xp grinders. I had never before encountered them in dtv... but now, all the time. And it is simply killing the dtv server itself (got plenty of tryhards now) and killing siege as well. Heck, for the first time in ages there was a high population in rageball, since it was the only alternative to siege that offers pvp with quick respawns. And the reason rageball was populated and not siege is because it only requires 6 people for multis, hence it is far easier to populate and keep populated.
And since when did dtv become the mode where teamplay was forced upon you? In every mode teamplay is simply encouraged... you won't find it easy to take the flag unless you move in as a group in siege, you won't accomplish much at all trying to solo the entire enemy team in battle, and you will have a hard time running the ball from your goal to the other without passing once in rageball. However, it CAN be done. Teamplay is always encouraged, but being a hero IS possible.. in siege you can ninja cap, in battle you can flank the enemy and ninja their ranged or something (although flanking is arguably teamplay), and in rageball you can boot the ball down the entire field on your own if you are good at kicking. It is always possible to play alone in these modes, but of course teamplay is the most successful. In the new dtv, teamplay is simply a fancy way to say "we are now forcing every shielder in the game to sit in one place and hold RMB while a couple guys behind them attack the guys that they have pulled." You are simply forcing a playstyle, a very boring playstyle for most, at that, upon people. Old dtv had more free-form teamplay. If you wanted to do well, you would organize. "Okay guys, us 10 are gonna charge and do our best to stop them before they get here. Ranged, you sit on that roof and snipe any who get past us, or assist us in any way you can against their ranged. The rest of you guys, camp the V to make sure no ninjas got past us." The addition of commander chat for dtv was a godsend, and really was all you needed to enable more teamplay. It was honestly amazing how well people listened
by their own choice. But no, now it is work together or simply don't make it past peasants. Oh, and by work together, I mean sit around in a shieldwall. You do realize that sitting around in a shieldwall is in no way any less exploiting than sitting on a rooftop, right? The bots get pulled to it, the melee heroes kill them form behind when they don't even fight back, yet everyone is still susceptible to ranged (save for the shielders, most likely). The gameplay in dtv is no different than before. It is all camping. The only thing this new "teamplay" managed to do is eliminate the fun charging that any decent melee could do successfully.
