So, at the suggestion of a few people in this thread, I'm throwing together a new topic for the discussion, commentary, and criticism of an idea I threw together last night.
Keep in mind this is only an idea; it has not been designed with system requirements, deep balancing, or play testing in mind. We're just throwing ideas around because A). It's fun, and B). It can actually lead to pretty interesting discussions. Try to keep the "Lulz, it will blowz up ur PC"-type comments to a minimum.
Also, as a forewarning (and I am bold-facing this to grab your attention) to all you TL;DR-type people; yes. It is Too long. Thank you for not reading it. Please keep this detail to yourself.
There. I've covered myself.
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Icecrown Chasm (IC)
15 vs 15 vs an ungodly number of undead.
Objective: Unleash the horrors of Icecrown Chasm upon the opposing faction, turning them all into the undead.
Description:
This battleground pits the Alliance (in blue) against the Horde (in red) in a race to destroy the other team's gateways, allowing the army of the Lich King to engulf and overwhelm their enemies. This is done by using catapults situated on a rise just outside each faction's starting point. Players aim and fire stone projectiles across the chasm, targeting the enemy's gateways (shown as a pair of light blue bars on an incline) in an attempt to be the first to destroy them.
This is not as easy as it sounds, however, as each faction is completely out of ammo on the starting high ground. To gain projectiles for their catapults, they must cross wooden bridges onto the stonework of the Lich King's fortifications and slide down a gentle slope at the north end of the chasm (or if they have a means of falling safely, can walk off any of the edges).
Once in the chasm, the player must locate supply piles (marked with white X's), grab a stone projectile, and race up their ramps, through their gateways, to their catapults. In their way is a constantly respawning army of the Lich King's undead minions, erupting from the ground below almost as quickly as they are slain. Being just-risen, these undead are weak, but in great numbers can drag even the greatest heroes into an early grave. Should they fall victim, players will be transformed into an Undead Butcher, a fast-moving and much more durable version of the average zombie. Beware; if your entire faction becomes zombified, the game ends!
If the player manages to reach the catapults, he can deliver a projectile for others to use, or take control of a catapult himself. From the elevated position, players can fire down into the chasm to clear the way of zombies for their fellow soldiers, at the enemy catapults to disable them temporarily, or at the enemy's gates.
Rules:
The gateways can only be opened by members of their controlling faction; horde can only open the southern gateways, while alliance can only open the northern gateways. These gateways must be manually opened and closed each time by a player (but automatically close after 8 seconds). The gateways can be destroyed by any form of damage; the NPC zombies in the pit will constantly attack it, the opposite faction can attack it directly, or projectiles can be launched at it. A gateway cannot be repaired once damaged so preserving this gateway is essential. A faction cannot damage it's own gateway in any way. The NPC Zombies constantly stream towards the gateways (in actuality, they are drawn to both faction's graveyards). Gateways have a very large amount of health; see below for details on how it's health is damaged).
The stonework bridge is completely open on either side, so ranged classes can fire upon each other and the catapults can cause quite a bit of trouble (but at the cost of a projectile). Pillars spaced at intervals on the bridge allow players to use Line of Sight to avoid being picked off too quickly or to rest. The bridge is a 'safe' way to get down into the chasm, with the small platform and the gentle slope it leads to allowing safe passage down, but prevents climbing back up.
The zombies in the pit are fragile, having about 1000 health, but in great numbers can cause a great deal of damage. Zombies cause less-than-average damage to gateways (the idea being that you don't want them to break the barriers too quickly on their own, but still pose a threat to them).
At random intervals, an Abomination will spawn near the southern-most stockpile. A zone-wide announcement is made when he spawns. When slain, the abomination drops a key that unlocks the North Gate (marked "Gate" on the map). This passage allows players to cross to the other faction's side. This gate cannot be lock picked. The key requires 2 seconds to loot during which the player can be interrupted, and is dropped when the carrier is slain.
Supply Stockpiles need only be clicked once and the player will instantly be given a projectile. The stockpiles do not disappear when looted. Players can only carry a single projectile at a time. Players drop projectiles they were carrying when killed, and players may manually drop projectiles onto specially-marked containers in the middle of each catapult battery, where they will automatically be loaded into catapults for use by other players.
Catapults are treated as vehicles, but are incapable of moving. Players manually adjust the catapults' targets, and can aim anywhere, including the stonework bridges, the chasm, the enemy's gateways, or their catapults. Catapults that have been damaged are temporarily disabled for 10 seconds while invincible NPCs repair it. The damage caused by projectiles is extreme and anyone within the area of effect is pushed outwards (which, needless to say, can be quite dangerous when you're on the bridge). Gateways take the most damage from catapult attacks.
Players killed by other players respawn in the starting cave, while players killed by the undead NPCs or a zombified player are turned into Undead Butchers. Undead Butchers move extremely fast and can be quite lethal, but are still somewhat fragile (their health is a percentage of the player's regular max health). They have several abilities similar to a Death Knight's summoned Corpse, including Leap and Corpse Explosion. One of these abilities is a 3 minute debuff similar to the Lich King pre-release world event; a player needs to be cleaned of this disease or he'll be converted into a zombie. An NPC at the starting area / graveyard can cleanse this effect upon request.
Players who have been zombified are still in control of their actions, but are ignored by zombie NPCs. This means that players in zombie form can still act against the enemy faction. While this seems like a stretch of logic, remember that during the WOTLK Launch Event, players could still act of their own accord. However, a player who has been zombified will take damage from friendly fire.
The game ends when all members of a faction are turned into Undead Butchers.
General Gameplay Concept:
IC forces players down into a deep, nearly inescapable canyon densely populated with low health Zombies that are easily killed, but are in such extreme numbers that they can quickly overwhelm players trying to carry ammo back to their base. While they cause little damage, their numbers make them a serious threat to players.
The basic game runs like this; Players spawn at the large colored dot and must obtain projectiles at the locations marked with X's. They can reach them by dropping off the cliff side (though it is a significant fall, and there are hungry zombies down there), crossing the stonework bridge and sliding down the slopes at the north end, or by passing down through their own gateway (which is tricky because there are zombies trying to get in as you get out).
On the north end of the chasm is a gate; this gate allows horde and alliance to pass through into each other's side. The only other way to get into the opposite faction's high ground is to try to get up the ramps (which would be fairly difficult). This gate can only be opened with a key, which both factions can fight over (though holding the key does not ensure victory.)
The gateways are dangerous to use for entering and exiting, because zombies will inevitably try to get through every time they are opened. To prevent their gateway from taking excessive damage, players must kill all nearby zombies, either by hand or with a catapult shot from above. The cliff side is high enough that players cannot fire arrows or spells down into the chasm from above. The gateways can be fired through and spells pass through it, allowing players to defeat enemies on the other side.
Once in the chasm, players must work together to reach the stockpiles and escape the undead horrors by passing through the gateways. Enemy players and zombies can pass through the gate if it is not quickly closed (thus, why there are two). Once on the high ground, each team must bombard the others' catapults, players below or on the bridge, or gateways.
The game ends when the other team is zombified, which generally occurs if they are careless in the pit, controlling their gates, or if their gates are destroyed and their graveyard (at the starting point) is overrun. With their gateways down, inevitably the remaining players will make their last stand at their starting point as the undead hordes swarm them.
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Thoughts, comments, suggestions, and criticism is welcome. Try to keep it readable though. :