[Suggestion]War with the Garleans

[Scobill]

I am reposting this idea in the General thread in an attempt to get a little more feedback than it did in the Battle Environments thread. I apologize for the double post but I'd like to see if this idea is well-received or if I should just go back under the rock I came from.

It is a long, reasonably complex post, I'm not adding a brief "tl;dr summery" because frankly I can't express my idea in a short bulleted list.

Okay, I don't post often and I don't troll the forums often and I'm sure campaign has been brought up before, possibly countless times and I apologize if this is a repeat post. Having said that, here we go.

Alrighty, first up, considering how popular both Besieged and Campaign were in XI, I have little doubt that SE will eventually incorporate a similar system in XIV and it's logical to assume that it will involve the Garlean Empire and it's attempt to seize Eorzean lands.

This post is partly about that but primarily detailing an idea I've always wanted to see in an MMO.

As an introduction to my idea, I'll give you my interpretation of what I would like to see in an FFXIV "campaign"-like sustained conflict.

I envision something similar (perhaps totally ripped off) to Rift's system. I've never played Rift, I know little about it but I believe I understand the concept of their world-wide disaster events or whatever they call them. I would like to see a similar feature in XIV. A system that allows for a level of randomness. I picture Garlean airships blackening the sky of a region and dropping off troops in random locations all over a given region and within each region (think La Noscea) there would be "zones" that encompass areas within the region controlling various camps (Bearded Rock for example) and we'd have to fight in contended areas to retain control of said camps.

This is where I envision the Grand Companies coming into play. I don't know whether or not they issue an NPC linkpearl, if they do, great, if not, they should. At the time of an incursion anyone registered with a Grand Company would be alerted to to the invasion via the NPC linkpearl and a 'call to arms' would be raised.

Obviously Aetheryte camps are very important to XIV for numerous reasons that I don't need to go into. So protecting these camps should be a no brainer. Those responding to the 'call to arms' would be issued a free teleport to the region in question and offered to join a region-wide alliance in first order of work; defense.

Now, this is where my idea comes into play. I envision a ranking system based on contribution to both the Grand Companies and the war effort, similar to various other ranking systems in MMOs but with more power being given to the players; one of the things that I'd always wished Campaign had in XI.

Ranking in FFXI really only served to give you access to better equipment and items for campaign which is all well and good but I'd like to see a system where players are rewarded in a fashion that actually has the potential to affect the conflict.

So, I propose the idea of a ranking system that gives additional abilities to players of a certain rank. I have some specific ideas I've come up with that would fit within the lore of XIV as well as not be entirely game breaking. But I'm certainly open to other ideas if this is well-received.

As I've spent the last 9 years in the US Army, I'll be using US Army Officer grade ranks in my examples. - - [To be Cont.]

[Scobill]

[Cont.]

I hate to use Aion's ranking system but I do like how they approached selective ranking in as far as they only allowed a limited number of people to obtain officer ranks. In that vein, I'd like to see FFXIV follow a similar ranking system for this "campaign" system.

Since I don't think a traditional real life command structure would be entirely appropriate for a video game setting, I won't be following an exact army command structure in my examples. (for you military buffs)

The number following the rank indicates how many people at any given time can hold said rank.

Officer Grade
General (1)
Lieutenant General (2)
Colonel (5)
Lieutenant Colonel (10)
Major (30)
Captain (100)
First Lieutenant (200)
Second Lieutenant (300)
-
NCOs - All enlisted ranks can be occupied by any number of people.
SMA (Withheld)
Command Sergeant Major
Sergeant Major
First Sergeant
Master Sergeant
Sergeant First Class
Staff Sergeant
Sergeant
Corporal

Privates
Private First Class
Private

- - - - - - - -

Now, I haven't thought of everything for every officer rank but as you increase in rank you gain access to more "abilities" or perhaps current abilities are augmented and enhanced as rank increases.

I picture officers of various ranks having abilities (available only during "campaign") that will buff those around them, perhaps in a similar manner to Bard in FFXI. Perhaps fighting in close proximity to a Lieutenant Colonel raises the morale of all in his/her vicinity by increasing attack and accuracy. As rank increases these values would rise exponentially both in radius and in potency.

Other ideas could include anything from additional buffs to campaign specific weapon skills or abilities.

Lieutenant Generals in particular commanding a threatening array of abilities both in support of their troops in the field and amassing great strength themselves. Perhaps being able to place pieces of equipment that would regen anyone within it's area of effect, or even having a wide variety of buffs and being able to apply these buffs in a huge radius.

The Commander of the battle* (Ex: General) would have access to all the abilities of the lower ranks as well as the ability to issue orders** to the various parties within the region-wide alliance or the alliance in whole. Both issuing orders (for the commander) and following orders (for the soldiers) would grant a bonus in your war effort standing (campaign points) as well as Grand Company currency. (which I assume would offer a magnitude of equipment, items and abilities)

[* - The Commander would be chosen at the beginning of the siege during the initial sign-up period before the actual siege begins. The highest ranked officer currently signed up would be offered a provisional position as Commander, should they choose to accept the role. If declined it drops to the next highest rank, so on and so on. Should this officer chose to accept the role, they would assume the mantle of Commander until a higher ranked Officer signs up and accepts the position during this initial sign-up period. Once this period has ended (say 5min) the highest ranked officer who has accepted the role is then granted the position of Commander for the duration of the event. Any other officers who sign up after this period will still be able to participate but will not be offered the Commander position regardless of rank.]

[** - Issuing orders would be accomplished by selecting a pre-made order from a drop down list that appears on the map during campaign. This list would include orders such as "Defend Camp Bearded Rock" or "Attack Camp Horizon" , when defending or attacking respectively.

Multipliers would be awarded to the commander and units following the successful completion of the issued order. IE: Camp Bearded Rock was successfully defended.]

At the conclusion of the battle, all abilities used, orders issued, orders followed etc will be taken into account and will offer a multiplier to your war effort standing which ultimately will determine your rank.

Of course Grand Company currency would also receive a multiplier as well.

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In closing, I'd like to say that I'm more than open to ideas and again, I apologize if something like this has been posted before. I don't often get around to viewing the forums.

Thanks to all that read this far and I look forward to seeing any input.