ESO Disabling proc sets until Q3 - Why it's overdue and not enough

ZOS confirms "disabling proc sets has breathed new life into PvP gameplay and has made fights more enjoyable and fun. To that end, we’ll be leaving proc sets disabled until Update 31 launches in Q3". 

Basically ZOS has finally clued in what pencil-and-paper gamers playing face-to-face with friends knew literally decades ago: That min-maxing to exploit mechanic possibilities ultimately ruins the game for everyone.

Disabling proc sets is simply a blanket way to take away some of the tools used by minmaxers for extreme build results. Without the same GM oversight and veto available at a face-to-face game around the table with friends, this is all ZOS can really do and obviously it ruins the fun for everyone.

Instead of simply leaving proc sets disabled until Q3, the next two steps should be:

1. Move all PvP into BattleGrounds AND implement a proper system of Leagues
2. End open world PvP in Cyrodiil because it cannot have a league system
3. End exploits in Cyrodiil -- Change Cyrodiil into PvE and limit AP to quest rewards

(1) Move all PvP into BattleGrounds AND implement a proper system of Leagues

The framework for Leagues by monitoring win:loss ratios suggested for SWTOR can be used in ESO. Right now you have newcomers who haven't had a chance to get gear getting matched up with established players who can easily farm whatever sets they want and upgrade it to gold. That's like matching high school football teams against NFL teams. Ridiculous.

Basically, Leagues MUST NOT be matched with other Leagues. This way, as minmaxers drift upward with wins into their own League, they are ultimately matched only against other minmaxers and players who specifically build to handle them. This is basically the same solution that was discovered decades ago by pencil-and-paper gamers: If you want to minmax and still have fun, play in a separate gaming groups where the Gamemaster is allowing minmaxing.

Trying clumsy blanket nerfs like disabling proc sets is actually the WRONG way to address the issue (but it is an easier band-aid to slap on than to code a proper League system) because it attacks someone's play paradigm. They are simply going to adjust their play paradigm to whatever remains available, and this can result in yet another round of nerfs. Instead, Leagues organically separate players by their play paradigm so they play each other.

Once proper Leagues are set up, min-maxers can have their style of fun with the sets and ZOS doesn't have to target-nerf anything for anyone, especially when it would affect players who are not using specific builds. Example: The nerf to healing for Cyrodiil was to combat too-tanky builds that were "unkillable". But this nerf also affected players who were not using those builds and who were not encountering those builds. It hit everyone and had only a marginal effect on the tanky builds.

All Cyrodiil gameplay experiences can be translated into Battleground maps -- obviously with larger team sizes, moderated by performance considerations. And by making them Battlegrounds,

• There are no longer long rides through empty landscape just to get to a fight late and miss all the action
• It's easier to spot win trading, cheating, and exploiting
• Numbers can be controlled for a more competitive experience, unlike open world PvP

(2) End open world PvP in Cyrodiil because it cannot have a league system

Without segregation by Leagues, simply reallowing proc sets back into Cyrodiil would just be reverting progress toward a PvP that players are telling ZOS they enjoy more. So why not Leagues for Cyrodiil too? If each League actually had enough of a population, maybe, since the lower Leagues (presumably with a higher population) would probably experience Cyrodiil in a way much closer to how the developers intended -- which is to drop in with whatever power fantasy / character concept you wanted, instead of being pressured to play only "what is viable in pvp".

However for Leagues to work properly, players need to be sorted into Leagues first and that is not really possible in Cyrodiil where players cannot be reliably evaluated because they encounter all sorts of situations such as differently sized groups.

Moreover, the mechanism that sorts players into Leagues must work in tandem in both areas or one could be used to exploit League placement in the other -- and obviously we are not going to force players to play Battlegrounds just to get sorted into a League for Cyrodiil (even if we did, how many Battlegrounds and how frequently, in order to get a good sample for a league rating?). Finally, the top Leagues might not have enough of a population to warrant their own Cyrodiil. And fewer players would also mean a higher likelihood of win-trading on top of AP Boosting.

So either continue clumsy nerfs (like disabling proc sets in Cyrodiil) or simply change Cyrodiil into PvE. Certainly they could keep nerfing -- they haven't even addressed the issue of "infinite resources" which they already said is not intended -- but this would steadily remove more and more identity from combat. And no matter what, minmaxers will find mechanics exploits triggering more nerfs.

All Cyrodiil scenarios such as resource capture and keep capture can be translated into a Battleground map to retain the flavour of fighting in Cyrodiil, minus the long rides to get to the action. Larger teams would of course have to be allowed (game performance permitting), but since Cyrodiil players already group up for Cyrodiil, they can make similarly larger teams for Cyrodiil-themed Battlegrounds.

(3) End exploits in Cyrodiil -- Change Cyrodiil into PvE and limit AP to quest rewards

Since as early as 2014, Cyrodiil has been systematically exploited by players who basically want rewards without actually having to do any PvP at all. Now exploiters charge real money for it -- they even brazenly use Google Adsense to advertise their services where they play your account and use AP Boosting techniques and win trading to crown you Emperor for the achievement and perks.

It is obvious that Cyrodiil has never been remotely managed properly. Now that they are apparently looking at it, they might as well do an overhaul to remove the exploits. Once Battlegrounds have been set up with Cyrodiil themes, open world PvP can be shut down. And probably there will be immediate performance gains since there won't be any need to constantly check the map status and update AP counts.