Griefers/back cappers on Siege

[Reepacheep]

The current siege flag system means attackers win a large majority of siege matches by cheesing the flag mechanics. There are always a few attackers who bypass all defenses/defenders and capture all the back flags and destroy all the defenses in the back lines, which is almost impossible to counter with the uncoordinated nature of teams in public matches. 1 or 2 guys can completely hamstring the entire defending team this way, which happens in almost every single siege match. Sure sabotage and sneaky tactics might be "realistic" but they make for an extremely lopsided and unfun meta within the game.

What I propose:

Require flags to be captured in order from outer walls, to inner walls, to the final flag. Usually flags A-D are on the outer walls, so require them to be captured first (not necessarily in order from A-D though). Once outer flags are captured, E and F become available to attackers. Once those are captured, G becomes available for the final stand.

I think this would go a long way in balancing out siege mode and lead to more fun for both attackers and defenders. I'd be curious to hear thoughts from both the devs and community.

 

[Sigaretovic]

Good idea. Whats more is that sometimes as a defender you spawn in places where its pretty difficult to get deeper inside the castle without breaking obstacles meant to slow down attackers instead of defenders.

Siege is not thought out well at the moment.

 

[Goyyyio]

Good idea. Whats more is that sometimes as a defender you spawn in places where its pretty difficult to get deeper inside the castle without breaking obstacles meant to slow down attackers instead of defenders.

Siege is not thought out well at the moment.

Definetly this. The obstacles bother me more as a defender than as an attacker lol. New flag got captured and you have to go back? Hell no, destroy your own obstacles or recieve 60 fall damage lol owned

 

[hoonii]

That idea was suggested numerous times and got declined by the devs numerous times.

 

[Danny5]

Yes we all agree to this, but sadly, devs don't seem to want to add this. In terms of balancing, current system is one sided, but this method would work having specific flags to be locked while the others that are closer to be unlocked should work better.

 

[Younes]

It's funny because in warband if the flag went down it was instant lose, but here even though it's less sudden, it somehow manages to be more annoying than in warband.

 

[jon01]

Here are some thoughts by the community.

2020:

https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/multiplayer-siege-overhaul.428912/

2021:

https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/siege-improvement-ideas.444050/

 

[Sjako Febracci]

If attackers don't try to take E and F flag early on Ayzar Stronghold it's basically over for them. I have seen I think <10 matches where attackers won with only E, F and G flag left.
For defenders it's pretty **** that's true, because with some bad luck every defender still spawns outside the castle and needs to walk 100 miles to get inside to their own flags, jsut because the gate towards E is closed

 

[MP_Erik]

It's funny because in warband if the flag went down it was instant lose, but here even though it's less sudden, it somehow manages to be more annoying than in warband.

I think a big differnce is that defenders in Warband didn't have the risk of loosing good spawn positions if by loosing forward flags. Getting pushed back from good defending positions was a thing but on the other hand the way for the attackers would automatically become longer the closer they got to the flag, creating some kind of auto balance.

In BL defenders initially spawn in positions where they won't naturally come past the main flag, enabling back capping, and when forward flags are lost then you risk being pushed to spawn positions that make things even worse.

And then there's defender spawn positions that are way too good, but that's a story for another time.

 

[Hans 77]

If attackers don't try to take E and F flag early on Ayzar Stronghold it's basically over for them. I have seen I think <10 matches where attackers won with only E, F and G flag left.
For defenders it's pretty **** that's true, because with some bad luck every defender still spawns outside the castle and needs to walk 100 miles to get inside to their own flags, jsut because the gate towards E is closed

100% true. If the attackers on Ayzar Stronghold don't resort to backcapping cheese then they get absolutely stonewalled when only E, F, and G flags are left. This is due to wildly improper spawn placement where the attackers are spawned 45+ seconds out from the nearest flag while defenders are conveniently spawned practically right on top of their flags -like Calradian paratroopers.

Thus, I think the backcapping seen on Ayzar isn't so much trolling or griefing as much as it is players adapting to poor spawn placement/map design.

Domogtul Castle can see a lot of backcapping too -for similar reasons as Ayzar. The map is very skewed in favor of defenders, and without any backcapping the attackers usually lose -most times without even managing to take a single flag.

There certainly are those who back cap and grief on purpose, but in instances like those mentioned above it's likely that backcapping is simply a response to poor map design.