Wow, the changes are a lot more comprehensive than I had expected...



I am not sure about the sustainability of factions, I get that folks will join up to get capes and mounts (not so sure they would join for the crafting or quests) but whether/how long they stay engaged with the faction system will depend on how often they need to replace lost capes/mounts, the time sink involved and whether they can profit from selling faction items. The capture the camps and trade runs will probably be a short lived set of activities, unless they are relatively over rewarded compared to other content choices. Factions will move PvP more deeply into everyone's gaming experience, even for folks who only want to PvE and/or gather, even though they don't have to directly participate, they will be more directly confronted due to the accumulation of other changes.



The changes to Yellow zones, reducing their number by 10 zones (converting to red) and addition of siege camps and chests, will make life more difficult for gatherers, those who looking for PvE content and Pvper's looking for a break from PvP. I think even moderately hard core PvPer's really prefer to PvP on their own terms more than they readily admit (i.e. they don't like to be forced into PvP when doing something that is, at that moment, more interesting/rewarding), so I am expecting some general unhappiness with these changes.



Gatherers are in for a rough time once this update goes live... significantly reduced access to T6 resources in Royal (which doesn't sound like it will be matched with the same increase in BZ's), is going to make the progression of lower level and new gatherers much more difficult. The current progression from yellow (T5 resources) to red (T6 resources) zones gives a decent progression from T5 to T6 for gatherers without a commensurate increase in absolute risk, this will be significantly changed with the reduction in yellow zones, increase in yellow zone PvP and the reduction in T6 resources, both overall and within the Royal zones. The progression from T5 to T6 to T7 will now be more difficult for the non-PvPer's and somewhat more difficult for the others, including BZ gatherers. I don't think that gatherers will feel reasonably compensated for the degree of change here, based on the numbers for increasing return rates and increased enchanted resources.



The flow on effect of this into the economy and possibly even into play styles/game experience is likely to be somewhat negative. T6 resources will be scarcer (overall reduction in the number of T6 resource spawns and longer re-spawn time) and this will have a knock on effect into T7 and T8. T6 and above gear is likely to become more expensive, even allowing for an overall increase in available enchanted resources/equipment. This may then flow through to a lowering of the level of gear people play with generally, because replacements will be more difficult to find or afford. I can see this offset by an increase in the availability of enchanted T5 items, but I expect that there will be a rebalance downwards throughout the game into lower level tiers and an overall change in the way wealth within the game accumulates relative to risk/reward.



The changes to return rates and the city bonuses are really only a magnification of what currently exists (for any city there are always at least two resources that are scare now), and this will likely be the first area of the game that settles into a new steady state that accommodates the update. There will be some increase in the availability and use of lower level enchanted resources, but I expect that the other changes will limit the effect this has on economic activity. The economy will move as it does whenever there is inflation and then settle, there isn't enough in the changes to support an economic expansion.



I expect that PvP will be more visible on the Royal continent, but I don't see how this will increase the overall PvP participation, there will still be the same number of players, they will simply have more choices in how/where they PvP and as with most of these types of things, the choices they make will be based on what becomes the most profitable/efficient means of getting whatever they want and I'm not sure the changes will encourage most players to return from the BZ's to an extent that there is a rebalancing of PvP activity across both land masses. For gatherers, there will be more incidents of attempted ganking or getting ganked (non-consensual or forced PvP) while gathering, but again this isn't a new thing, and will likely see the gatherers change their behaviour to avoid, rather than breed a new class of more PvP aggressive gatherers.



I am not sure that over time these changes will revitalise the Royal continent, increase PvP or stimulate the economy all that much and I expect that when the changes settle down, not much will have changed because nothing in this update changes the fundamental progression of the game, it will delay the ability of some to progress, which may not be a great thing in a game that is already a bit of a grind fest.



Still looking forward to seeing this live!



Amadan