PvP/Ballista

As the community team seems to be paying more attention to the smaller forums than Gen Disc... I would like to call your attention to a thread about PvP:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...ll=1#post99942

There are some really good ideas here that should be seriously considered, I'll summarize a few of them

-More incentives to participate
---including adjusting EXP rewards to be in line with the recent EXP adjustments, and
---possible item rewards, such as equipment which only works in ballista (to not have impact on PvE) or is otherwise helpful to someone who participates in ballista.

-Consider altering the schedule, to be based in earth time, or to eliminate low level caps that go unplayed to allow the more popular ones to occur more often.

-Balance adjustments for newer abilities/spells/etc

PRETTY PLEASE check with the devs on this! It's a topic that has gone ignored for far too long.

^ This. There's a lot of potential here I believe if SE just put forth a little bit of effort. Ballista itself is fun, but it's outdated and there's simply no incentives.

Some quick fixes that would breathe some life back into it:

An updated schedule. Get rid of or at least reduce low level caps, or even separate them from the much more popular 60/uncap matches.

New zones for both official matches and diorama, like Fort Karugo-Narugo, Nyzul Isle, or even home cities.

Atma and Cruor infused matches. This could make for a lot of fun.

Colosseum Type Matches. Can do anywhere from 1v1 up to 18v18 in quicker, small enclosed areas, maybe in the Colosseum, Throne Room, or Empyreal Paradox.

Incentives. These can be popular without being necessary, game breaking, or effecting PvE. Exp and Cruor is the most obvious one. Ballista specific augmentable gear is another. Let us design our own powerhouse sets for use in ballista only. Another option is to create specially awarded trophy gears which could also be augmentable with uses (like a teleport to all 3 cities or movement speed in all 3 cities). Perhaps even a small system for designing your own award gear's actual graphics. People like to look shiny and unique. Use your trophies to add an augment or update another aspect of the look to your ballista trophy gear (think the evolith gear that failed). By properly designing this award system to take into account player's successes while not dropping the ball for those not as skilled, the system could essentially allow people to create armor that shows off their ballista trophies or just simply look pretty.

I understand the issues with balance, but I think the effort in upkeeping this would be minimal if the Dev team just listens to the community and watches for anything polarizing popping up in uncapped or atma matches.

Here's a suggestion:

Add a new "Queue for PvP" button to the main menu, so that players can start looking for a PvP match from absolutely anywhere in the game world, instead of having to be right next to a specific NPC to enter a match. It would be as easy to use as looking for a party.

Also, get rid of those stupid pages and books. They're not needed, and only make it a pain to get into a match.

Also, add a special "Duel" button to the battle menu, allowing players to challenge each other to quick 1-vs-1 PvP matches in any zone where regular PvE battles can normally be fought.