#14 Endgame Part 3 (Sites Gameplay)

Howdy, fellow rangers!

We are happy to see that the part 2 update revolving around the town hall mechanics has been well received so far. Now after the election period which ended last weekend, the town hall seats scaling is completely based on the real numbers calculated from server activity. Previous election periods had still benefited from a seat count head start that we gave all servers when the update went live, resulting in an expanded number of seats which saw a gradual decline up to the current election period.

In the meantime, we were working on Part 3 of the Endgame concept which is centered around the game’s sites (aka buildings) for gaining fame. It is the most complex of our updates because it has a direct impact on gameplay that you're all very familiar with, but should still contain solutions and improvements in line with the goals we've set out as developers. A tricky beast for sure which took us quite a few iterations on various ideas and concepts until we finally reached a point where we feel that we can share something with you. The design concept is still a rather early draft that we want to improve upon based on your feedback. So, let us give you an overview of what is planned so far:

Main Goals:

• Allow smaller clans to be able to get access to buildings’ fame items without the need to be part of a large alliance.
• Improve the gameplay around buildings for both defenders and attackers. A key goal is to make it easier for attackers to be successful.

Concept Summary:
All buildings in all zones will have a daily synchronized 4-hour transfer phase where they are open for takeovers. Successful takeovers will automatically pass on the building to the attacker. There can only be one successful takeover for a given building during the 4-hour transfer phase, which means that if you succeed in the takeover of a building, it will be safe until the next day’s transfer phase. The items produced by the buildings are automatically given to the clan who owns the building by the time that the transfer phase is ending.



Notable changes from the concept:

• Supply packs will cost Clan Dollars instead of Gold Coins.
• Yield will start at a new minimum level once a building is held by a new owner; it can then be upgraded to higher tiers using supply packs. (Yield will not change randomly anymore.)
• Defending and attacking is only possible within a set 4-hour phase each day.
• No manual fame item collection from buildings anymore, instead items are collected automatically once per day.
• Building attack/defense changes
  • If at least one attacker is in the building area it will cause the building to be drained at a fixed rate.
  • If one defender is in the building area the building status will fill up again at a fixed rate which is lower than the draining rate.
  • In the case of multiple clans participating in the same attack, the clan with the most “draining time” gets the building.
  • Attacking a building no longer requires any items to be used.

We tried to keep certain elements as they are on live servers, but adjust important aspects to change how sites/buildings will be approached in the future. This will allow us to bring you the update much earlier than something that completely changes the core system.
We plan to make a Public PTR Test with an open map for fights around buildings as well, so you can join for an early access and feedback round to help us shape the update.

While the above changes apply to both Travel Gates and Claims, it's also planned to have additional and special gameplay for the Claim buildings as a later follow-up update which will play out differently than the fight around Travel Gates.

Let us know what you think about this concept and how you think it will change the gameplay.