Make Base Raids PVE

We all know PvP Base Raids aren't coming back. Even the most basic aspects of PvP are unlikely to be fixed or reworked for a very long time because of the "Pandora's Box" it would open, and the PvP community is too small to make such an effort worth it.

It's a real shame in the case of Supergroup bases because the infrastructure is all there. The devs went to the trouble of designing an entire stable of unique defensive items with their own crafting system and even badges to unlock the more powerful versions. They work too, (as evidenced by the most entertaining bug ever).

And yet it's all vestigial. Like a tailbone. You can go through the immense trouble of obtaining a badge that allows you to craft an expensive decoration that costs both control and energy.

So make base raids PVE.

Allow bases to be flagged for invasion by NPC mobs. Should a Supergroup decide to flag their base in this way, there would be a small chance for an invasion to occur when there is at least one member online who is not in an instance. A countdown will begin, lets say three minutes, after which the invasion starts. Mob sizes would scale to the number of players inside the base with a small modifier applied for plot size so even an adept solo player could succeed with adequate defenses. Difficulty could be set beforehand along with the flag itself by a member with sufficient privileges.

Team level and alignment would determine the kinds of mobs eligible to invade you. Higher difficulty could see the inclusion of signature EBs and even AVs leading the charge onto your home turf. Imagine having your base breached by Arachnos forces with Captain Mako or even Lord Recluse at the head! They would attempt to knock out key base items with victory determined by a set number of objectives. Separate contingents of enemies would gun specifically for control units, power generators, resurrectors, etc.

Fending them off or defeating all invaders grants you experience/influence/prestige/merits or a unique temporary power or reward, along with immunity from invasion for perhaps 36 hours. Failing to do so could see the loss of prestige, stored items, or your Item of Power...

Yes, Items of Power. Allow them to be obtained from the Cathedral of Pain as they were meant to be. Acquiring one would then flag your base for invasion without the option to turn it off and also set a higher minimum difficulty. Having more than one would increase this minimum difficulty and perhaps even the frequency of invasions.

New craftable/unlockable items could be included such as...
-Advanced Warning System: Increase the duration of the invasion timer
-Door Alarm: Alert players to the presence of enemies in rooms in which it is placed, ie "Enemies have breached the control room!"

This system would allow base raids to be entirely optional and entirely free of the burden of PvP. The most highly equipped bases could even try their luck relying on base defenses alone to win the day should they wish to. Oh, and anything destroyed during a raid would regenerate after its completion - no questions asked. I'd recommend a button that starts the raid so players have the option of scheduling them ahead of time, or just experiencing it at their leisure.

That's my two cents

Base Raids aren't dead because PvP is dead, they're dead because pathing was broken to allow people to be creative with their bases.

I love the idea and dream about such a thing often; then people remind me of the realities on the execution side and the whole thing turns sour. But keep dreaming, you aren't alone.

Not to change the subject but to give you an idea on the results side: Be responsible for like a dozen new supergroup emblems (including a blank one) and your praises will be sung in the streets (by me at least).

I suggested something like this in the past:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=287638


Aside from the misunderstandings it is a decent idea.

I'm gonna toss my own ideas in here, sorry if it seems rude. Though the OP idea could still fit quite well with what I'm thinking...

Knowing that if they made any major changes to bases it'd need a complete overhaul, it opens up the door to make sweeping changes. However, it also means that any changes made will need to be worth it, since the devs aren't about to commit a ton of resources to something only 1 or 2% of the game's population will actually use. So there needs to be a bit of a balance.

Personally if I were to try to put Base raids back in (either PvP or PvE, but ideally make it so you could do either/both), I'd split the base system into two halves. You'd have the "social" area, which would largely be like the current bases with all the areas to hang out, utility items, and general base items. You'd be able to decorate them however you want, and could probably remove even more of the restrictions (ie not needing the 1x1 doors between rooms, since you wouldn't need to have clean areas for enemy players to spawn in). Energy and Control items would still be here, since those rooms can be fun to decorate and can be visually interesting.

The second half of the base would be an underground "secure" area, which you could access by an elevator/teleporter/door/whatever that you place in your main area. You don't get as much freedom to decorate here... you can only place items in set locations in rooms, though you can still decide what items go in which rooms and what kind of themes you want. This way it'll be impossible for people to mess up pathing or use placement glitches to their advantage. Each room would have a connection to the main base's control/power, which allows that room to function. If a room's connection is destroyed during a base raid, that room (but just that room) shuts down and all the items in it stop working. Or something like that.


The purpose of this would be to make it so that the devs could easily balance base raids (both for PvE and PvP) without needing to worry about the glitchiness the old bases had. In addition, if I remember correctly one of the problems with old PvP base raids is that they put a terrible strain on the server... making a "clean" area with barely any items in it for the raids would probably help with that a lot. (Well, of course there'd be some decoration to make the rooms interesting, and there would be the defense items and such... but we're still talking couple dozen items versus several hundred).