Bases ideas for AQ & AW (some whippersnappers may not remember bases)

Regal_Panther

So, I occasionally think of the ongoing challenges of playing AQ/AW but needing to work, study, sleep and/or deal with life while others are playing and vice versa. Delays due to those & timezone differences as we play with worldwide friends have solutions.

AW isn't too bad because lanes are clustered, but AQ often bottlenecks at the section-bosses (aka mini-bosses). How about doing some of the following?

AQ
1. Buddy System: I can tag a "Buddy" in my BG and they can accept or decline.
2. If they accept, we can cover for each other. This can look different ways.
3. Whoever joins first can trigger the other's preselected 3 champ squad to join
4. Whoever finishes their Line in the section can swap places with their offline buddy and use their energy to run their line for them OR
5. Whoever finishes their line can control their offline Buddy's champs to run their line (in this case, if the Buddy comes online, they can request back control at the end of the current fight, it isn't interrupted because you're not in their account)
6. Another possibility with both cases is that Officers can assign buddies including appointing themselves or others when 5 or more have completed a section and are waiting on the remaining 5 or less
7. All squads can be managed via Bases using the selections made on the AQ/AWA/AWD champions screen

Which brings us to AW
1. The 5 AWD selections used in the last War or adjusted beforehand will all appear in Bases and unless adjusted can be auto-joined to AW placement phases
2. This is map tier specific, so it is blank if going up or down a tier for the first time (officers would be prompted to request placements in first time maps)
3. Players can check a box to allow Officers to swap their map defaulted 5 with others in their AWD preselected pool (up to 20 identified) and to have them auto-joined to assigned nodes 6 hrs before placement phase ends (to allow shuffling if needed)
4. In Bases the current tier AWD map, one
above and one below are accessible and adjustable
5. Duplicate defenders are allowed but highlighted yellow, tapping on them brings up the remaining 15 in the player's pool (of those 15 any that would duplicate the 45 of the other 9 in the group also highlight yellow - tapping on them shows the player(s) with that same defender in case you want to switch the other instead)
6. Just as defenders are still usuable during placement phase, they can be placed even if currently in a Story/Event Quest and only become unavailable after AWA begins (hence needing to check off authorization to be auto-joined)

Now we'd have
1. Less AQ delays
2. Less AWD placement chasing
3. Less AWD reshuffling needed
4. Built in tools for seeing duplicate defenders
5. Built in access to change duplicates
6. The coming of Bases

Bonus: Bases aside, have an option for some or all AQ squads to skip past a mini-boss (penalties include obvious points losses, and maybe a section node stays on that makes the next defender(s) or just the boss harder, or the Buddy has to be left behind until that section Boss is defeated i.e. only 5 can skip forward)

Maltyo9

Your suggestion of the buddy system would essentially be Kabam saying that piloting accounts is acceptable and would no longer violate ToS, and that would open a whole can of worms that I don't even want to think about...

Regal_Panther

Maltyo9 said:

Your suggestion of the buddy system would essentially be Kabam saying that piloting accounts is acceptable and would no longer violate ToS, and that would open a whole can of worms that I don't even want to think about...

Completely agree. It's why I posed the version that allows you to swap places. My squad of 3 would have to complete my path, then switch locations with my buddy further behind. In which case I'd be risking my own champs, playing my own champs, responsible for more fights, etc.

I just didn't want to completely not pose the option of building in access to the Buddy's 3 champs (without access to their account - more pie in the sky, but showing a higher level of collaboration without account sharing) - while that is technically piloting, sometimes we have to look at the life cycle of that game mode and question what has been taboo in the past.

In the non-piloting sense, I believe the way to go is the swap places option to stay away from the murkiness of even seeming like piloting.

Although a compromise could be a "community pool of champs" completely non-account specific that allows progress but reduces individual performance points.

Regal_Panther

I guess the better question to the community is, how would one tweak this to make sure it isn't a shift against their intended terms of service and play?

I figure making the entire AQ squads out of community champs could remove the association with anyone's account and then we are all playing from a composite pool with 2 Buddies assigned to 6 champs which make 2 squads helps create the layer of separation that may be needed.

Shadowstrike

You want to put my Champs in somebody else's hand to run them when I'm not playing?

That's piloting = automatic TOS violation!

Not only that but just because they're on the same team, does not mean their team player and you could easily have somebody who could be sabotaging your teams ability to get the job done but throwing your matches!

No no no, just no.

BuggyDClown

I would say , in buddy system which should be exclusive to only Aq, person should not have ability to play others champ rather can make their buddy to move from one tile to another . It means he/she can use the energy only at certain times at certain limits but can't play or control champs.
This can be restricted to only officers exclusive tool.
May not the best idea but seems some time saving or can ease out a tough situation sometimes.
Anyway,I just hope the fix game first properly