Cyrodiil Campaigns

It was said that when you enter Cyrodiil after you gained lvl 10 you will be assigned to "campaings". Players will be grouped into "Cyrodiil Campaing Instances". Now I wonder what that means:

Will you have special objectives, like "hold Chorrol" or "take Bravil"? Or will there be different phases with different aoc for every faction? But will you be able to move freely over the map, or will you have to stick to the sieges and battles? How will the 3 factions PvP work then? Will there ever meet more then 2 factions in a campaign?


Of course it seems naturally that all the factions will meet, but we don´t know for sure, as TESO will have many new concepts and ideas.

And Of course Cyrodiil will be a PvP area so no adventuring there. But will there NPCs or Mobs? It was said that the Imperial troops will support the faction that controlls a keep/city.

And of course this will all work with phasing and instances. It won´t be like the continents of Planetside 2 where you can move freely over the map with everybody who is on the servers can actually be seen there by any other player on the server.

Has anyone related information or sources to share?

I don't see why you couldn't go exploring in Cyrodil. It's already known that there will be crafting materials only obtainable in Cyrodil so at least 50% of my time there will be getting materials. & of course there will be NPCs there, but with mobs it's more just a hope of mine. Would make the game feel like Planetside 2 as in you're running through a wasteland and NOTHING is there. Quite a dull experience if you ask me. However, there will be guards and such helping defend keeps, forts, and stuff like that.

Also, I would expect more of a Warhammer style "campaign" . . it's more dynamic in the sense that people come to the defense of their keep instead of things being all predetermined. Could be wrong, but that's how I'd hope for it to be. I don't see the point in much strategy when the enemy knows you're coming. Sooooo, as far "campaigns" go. . it might just be a general objective which says to do a number of things in a day for your faction. If you do them all then everyone gets some bonus or something. Still, would really hope that they allow players to just do as they will instead of guide them on what to do one by one with quests or "campaigns". . takes away from global strategies & metas.

It is just the developers' name for the phases of Cyrodiil used to control population on the Mega Server in PvP. The only thing I've been able to find is in this article dated March 19th 2013. But it explains pretty thoroughly. Use Ctrl+F and type "camp" to find it really quickly.

http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/03/19/...paul-sage/

(March 28th 2013, 10:24 AM)Kilivin Wrote: It's already known that there will be crafting materials only obtainable in Cyrodil so at least 50% of my time there will be getting materials.

If that´s true, then Cyrodiil for sure isn´t just PvP is there is crafting material to gather. And thank you @Dar Zhal for posting the source ;)

I´ve read about 'campaigns' and thought it was related to the factions in war, but now I know these will be simply phases... like servers in a server.

From what I understand,.... Since we have 1 megaserver and cyrodiil couldn't possibly support all the players, You can think of campaigns as YOUR server when you go to Cyrodiil. You will be in the same campaign as everyone else in your guild. as will the enemy guilds chosen from the other alliances for the same campaign. So when a campaign starts you will always see the same alliance guilds and enemy guilds in that campaign and about the same 2000 people until it ends. So yah its basically the same as a server for Cyrodill. They said they can create as many campaigns as needed. this is very good because it could completely take away the possiblility of ever having to que up to enter that zone. But it still gives you the sense of your lands and you need to protect them when the enemy alliance start to try to take keeps on your side of Cyrodiil. they said campaigns would last months , but even when they reset and the awards are given, the keeps DO NOT and remain claimed by guilds. Which I really like because that promotes the long lasting impact of what you have accomplished and will remain until enemies take action against it.

I guess the experience will be comparable to GW2's WvW, or at least I hope that's how it'll be (but better than WvW of course :) ). There you have a map filled with objectives (Keeps/towers/etc.) to conquer and also crafting nodes and PVE mobs (aside the obvious guards). I assume that Cyrodil will be somewhat like this, with towns, villages, keeps and so on to capture.
But I assume the map will be freely roamable (everything else would kill every strategic aspect or depth the game would offer). Then it would naturally be more hazardous to stray into enemy-controlled areas as you'd be more likely to meet NPCs and players to oppose you.

I'm really curious as to how the megaserver actually works. Will you have a certain shard on which you are every time you log on, like a normal server? Or will you just be dropped wherever there's a spot. If the second thing would be the case, I would be very disappointed, because this would hinder every community-building options. I assume that it will be possible to switch instances to join your friends and guildies, but how does this work in the PVP environment. Coming from GW2, I really love how each server has a tight knit community with various raidleaders that you can attach yourself to.

Now if it were so that you always played on different instances you would not get to know your colleagues and would have a hard time finding a decent and nice group to roll with, if you're not in a big, dedicated guild.

Also, I'm curious how this will work regarding different languages. I'm from Austria and therefore am used to play on a separate German language server. While I'm certainly capable of communicating in English to some extent, I know plenty of people who aren't or are very uncomfortable with it, even if they know the language. How will the mega-server work in that regard. Will there be certain instances with special languages assigned to them?

The mega-server technology is really the thing I'm most hesitant about. I'm really curious as to how that pans out and what effect it will have on the game's community. Because in GW2, being on an international overflow always really sucked and there were often big problems to get in touch with your friends because of this, to me similar sounding, technology.

Agreed with Bell. From everything I've read and seen assumed by others, the PvP in Cyrodiil will be pretty similar to the WvW experience from Guild Wars 2.

@ the OP: The way it worked in Guild Wars 2 was that three servers would be matched up based on performance. Every server has its own map, and then there is the central map (Eternal Borderlands) with the big prize keep, Stone Mist Castle (think of it like the Imperial City). Every castle, keep, supply camp and tower counts for X amount of points, and every X amount of minutes a timer calculates each servers points and then updates who is in the lead.

Keeps can be upgraded with better walls, boiling oil, more guards, cannons, and so on. Personal siege weaponry can also be placed and built for defense / assault.

Upgrades are completed with cash, and supplies - which are delivered by Dolyak (Yaks basically) from supply camps. ESO, I believe, uses Farms and Quarries etc. but with the same mechanic in mind. You defend the caravan to get supply to the castles for the upgrades, or as the attacker you kill the caravan to cut off supplies to the enemy defenders. Small squads of 3-5 people can take undefended camps and easily wreak havoc behind enemy lines.

Finally, there are areas to explore and get achievements, jumping puzzles, NPC mobs, Events (Kill the Champion Grub Worm!), and harvestable materials spread out around the mists (pvp area in gw2). So for all we know, it is quite possible that indeed ESO will use this same set up, as Guild Wars followed a similar set up from DAoC, and Warhammer. And since Matt Firor developed DAoC, it is a safe assumption that the PvP system will be very similar.

Or I could be completely and totally wrong! :D

Here's what you need to know. Campaigns are in fact servers for pvp. So you'll select a server to play on.
http://tamrielfoundry.com/development-faq/#campaigns

Quote: * PvP comprises a major portion of endgame content in TES:O, with a mix of open-world AvA and instanced arenas. No one will be forced to PvP if they do not wish to do so, PvP participation is purely voluntary either by entering a battleground or Cyrodiil.(GI1),(GI10)

* The focal point of PvP in TES:O is the war between the three player factions in the central province of Cyrodiil. This entire province is the stage for endgame PvP, and its geographic map is inspired directly from that used in TES4: Oblivion. The full size of the playable area of Cyrodiil is even (slightly) larger than the landmass portrayed in Oblivion, all Cyrodiil’s major geographic landmarks and points of interest are present and will be immediately recognizable to fans of Oblivion.(GI1),(TF1)

* The three faction system is designed to naturally balance and lend political intrigue to the persistent PvP endgame. If any one faction becomes too powerful, the other two factions naturally tend to work together to turn the tide of battle.(GI1),(GI3)

* Players may begin participating in Cyrodiil from level 10 onwards. Players who are below level 50 recieve “battle-leveling” which enhances their attributes so they may participate and contribute to the alliance war. Battle-leveled players do not recieve the full complement of abilities, perks, or gear that a naturally leveled player would have, therefore a strong incentive to level and optimize your character remains present.(TF1)

* Because of the megaserver technology, Cyrodiil needs to be separated into multiple instances. However, instead of random assignment of players, ZeniMax recognizes the importance of having static PvP communities for the sake of rivalry and investment in the state of the realm war. Therefore, players are assigned (or may select) a “campaign”, which is a permanent parallel version of Cyrodiil’s realm war to which they belong. Campaigns will be named after the major cities in the region.(TF1)

* Campaigns are designed to accomodate approximately 2,000 concurrent players each. The number of active campaigns will be adjusted to compensate for overall server population if necessary.(TG1)

* Guilds can collectively select a Cyrodiil campaign, and players will be able to switch campaigns, however this will impose some meaningful alliance point cost. However, you are prohibited from having characters from different factions in the same campaign.(TF1)

* In order to maintain the PvP focus on the massive realm war in Cyrodiil, ZeniMax has elected to not include any form of structured or instanced PvP at launch. They want players’ focus to be on the alliance war, which is the crowning facet of TESO’s gameplay.(TF1)

(April 6th 2013, 01:24 PM)Barda Wrote: Agreed with Bell. From everything I've read and seen assumed by others, the PvP in Cyrodiil will be pretty similar to the WvW experience from Guild Wars 2.

@ the OP: The way it worked in Guild Wars 2 was that three servers would be matched up based on performance. Every server has its own map, and then there is the central map (Eternal Borderlands) with the big prize keep, Stone Mist Castle (think of it like the Imperial City). Every castle, keep, supply camp and tower counts for X amount of points, and every X amount of minutes a timer calculates each servers points and then updates who is in the lead.

Keeps can be upgraded with better walls, boiling oil, more guards, cannons, and so on. Personal siege weaponry can also be placed and built for defense / assault.

Upgrades are completed with cash, and supplies - which are delivered by Dolyak (Yaks basically) from supply camps. ESO, I believe, uses Farms and Quarries etc. but with the same mechanic in mind. You defend the caravan to get supply to the castles for the upgrades, or as the attacker you kill the caravan to cut off supplies to the enemy defenders. Small squads of 3-5 people can take undefended camps and easily wreak havoc behind enemy lines.

Finally, there are areas to explore and get achievements, jumping puzzles, NPC mobs, Events (Kill the Champion Grub Worm!), and harvestable materials spread out around the mists (pvp area in gw2). So for all we know, it is quite possible that indeed ESO will use this same set up, as Guild Wars followed a similar set up from DAoC, and Warhammer. And since Matt Firor developed DAoC, it is a safe assumption that the PvP system will be very similar.

Or I could be completely and totally wrong! :D

The Cyrodiil set up should be very similar to DAOC and do things the way GW2 should have. Cyrodiil is one giant map. GW2 uses 4 mini maps that aren't connected to the main world, this kinda gives the feel there are 4 mini games and really has no impact on the war. people rarely move to other maps when there is something of importance happeneing. With 1 giant map like DAOC you always know where you are needed and can go there.

Cyrodiil will also work like DAOC in the way that you have homelands, keeps on your side belong to you and it gives the sense " I need to protect what is mine. Since Cyrodiila also actually attachess to each homeworld it pushes further the idea of protecting your lands from the enemy allainces. There are also bottlenecks where the different allainces lands meet, this gives you a place to go to protect your borderlands In GW2 it feels like everything is just up for grabs and nothing really belongs to anyone. Also like I said ablove it does not actually connect to your homeland, the WvWvW is just "some" place you port to. this Is also why I think there was no sense of realm pride and people would server hop a lot.

Just abut everything in Cyrodiil is being taken from DAOC with a few things added like supply camps. the Zone will be huge and have lots of PVE. this will offer everything. Huge sieges, roaming group fights, small group fights, stealth fights and solo. With PVE there, the watch your back feel of doing dungeons and caves, or gathering resources for crafting. Something for every type of player.

yeah folks. think DAoC not GW2.

I hope they get battles right, not too long but not too short, i would hate if all you needed to take down a keep was 5m or so.

(April 8th 2013, 01:11 PM)Ewan Wrote: I hope they get battles right, not too long but not too short, i would hate if all you needed to take down a keep was 5m or so.

From the way they are making it sound the keep should be alot harder to take. Patrolling guards that warn the guild when they are killed just like in DAOC. So if they follow DAOC it should be just right where you have time to get there to defend. A guild holding a keep would also mean alot more. From one of the articles it said that even when the campaign resets the Keeps would not. Only supply camps and towers would reset. They said they wanted keeps to mean something and were always held until the enemies took actions to take them. Now i not sure if it will be this way but i do remember reading it somewhere.

I don't know if anyone mentioned but Cyrodiil was made massive to hold all that PvE and PvP gooieness, so if your favorite flower picking field is guarded by baddies you could just go somewhere else and prance around until they leave. Or do one of the many repeatable quests.

I speculate that these campaigns will last for months, a sprawling battle, constantly filled with players due to the timezones of the mass server

And of course remember that keeps and such won't be the only place for large-scale fights. They may be a major focus for battles, but there's always open world PVP . Two guilds just happen to un into each other on the warpath, or you get a good 15 man team or something from your guild and start ambushing others. That's where the tactical part of tis will come from: the entire area is open and we can use all of it.