TERA - Should Spawn Camping Be Allowed in BGs

One of the biggest things players fear when it comes to battlegrounds is the concept of spawn-camping. This is when one team dominates the other to the point where they can't even leave their spawn point without being farmed. Some games try to deter players from doing this by adding guards or similar things to the spawn points that are aggressive towards the enemy team and allowing more than one exit into the fighting area, but TERA does not have this benefit. In fact, TERA's spawn zones are set up to where the players inside are actually at a disadvantage. To see what I mean, look at the image below:

What you'll notice here is that there's basically a gated exit. On the other side of the brown platform is a drop-off that leads to the main area of the battleground. So why is this a problem?

When one side is completely destroying the other, it's possible to camp on the outer area there. Now, under normal circumstances the defending team has an advantage, which should be clear since they are all together and camped, while their attackers have to maneuver into range as a group, which rarely happens and generally ends up with a lot of stragglers (and therefore a lot of people being picked off).

Now, the above situation also relies on both sides having equal numbers. When we get into the point of highly imbalanced teams, the problem just compounds. There have been reports of many battlegrounds leaving teams with very different numbers, sometimes being as big of a difference as one team being full and the other only having a few people. In situations like this, a small group can camp the weaker team while holding all the points, and there's really nothing the losing team can do about it.

Now, what we want to look at, with all things considered, is whether or not the spawn camping should be allowed. Some players have asked for it to become a bannable offense (such as "griefing"), while others disagree. In my own opinion, EME should not step in on this in any way. Let's look at why.

There's no protection in place. This is a pretty clear thing to me. The fact that there's nothing that's been done to try and curb the problem points out that it's really not an issue in their eyes. If it were, changing how it all works would be as simple as adding special guards to keep people from camping right outside a team's spawn points.

It's a war. I bring this up in most games when players make complaints about how unfair PvP is. The simple fact is that a war is a war. The battlegrounds in TERA are no different. The goal is to take down your enemies, and (other than exploiting) anything you have to do to achieve that should be allowed.

Matches go faster. This isn't true in every single case, but in the vast majority it is. If one team is in a situation where they are constantly being farmed at the spawn, it is usually a good sign that they are highly outmatched and won't be able to win the fight anyways. As a result, allowing the enemy team (though not voluntarily) to hold all three points and earn kill credit from you speeds up the match so you can take the little rewards you can get and move on to a new match. Considering the matches are PUG's (unless you join premades), you never know who will be on your team and therefore never know what your chances are. You will win some and lose some, it's just part of the game.

For the players that disagree with the spawn-camping being allowed, it would be much better to ask for changes to the system rather than call people out for doing it. In any game that has PvP, players will camp each other if allowed, regardless as to if there are any real benefits to doing so. Sometimes it's fun! But there are also a couple suggestions as to how to curb it by making battleground changes as well.

Add a safe spot around the spawn. While there is kind of one as it is, it's only safe because enemies can't get up on the ledge. There could be a bubble that players need to exit (think of an invisible wall or something) to fight enemies. To further make this efficient, allow players inside the bubble to attack those that are outside. This might be seen as "unfair," but it will keep people from standing right at the bubble to attack those that are spawning as soon as they exit. As a result, it will serve its purpose.

Grant invincibility until players attack or after, say 15 seconds. The timer could be changed, but the basic principle of this is to let players get away from the spawn safely. Since going outside there are multiple areas you could be running towards, it helps create a clear separation among players and therefore significantly decreases the chance of being camped constantly.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while I do see the spawn camping situation as being somewhat problematic, I don't agree with punishing the players. I can see EME making changes to get rid of the "opportunity," but as the system stands right now it really fosters that behavior. Players can't be held accountable for that. As everything is now, the best bet is just to keep pushing forward and trying, with the mentality that if nothing else, at least the match is ending quicker so you can get into the next one!