If they want many different playstyles in CU they will need 1) to balance zerging rps with 8v8 rps, 2) aoe long duration CC so veteran 8mans can take on newbie zergs, 3) player kills being much more effective progression than keep takes/crafting etc, 4) perma-stealth stealthers that aren't wanted in group RvR and have to solo/stealthzerg to progress(this is important if they want soloing and small group rvr too).
I agree with all of this.
I think you are forgetting one incredibly important thing though.. SPEED CLASSES. The only way a small group can roam the frontier and NOT get steamrolled by the zerg is speed classes and ideally also some AE CC abilities. If everyone has identical movement speed then this option will likely dissappear.
Balancing an 8-roller with a zerg is just a bad idea. I agree with the idea of finding a way to give them speed or get away from the zerg, but an 8 -roller group of players should absolutely not be on equal footing with an equally skilled larger zerg. If you do that, you'll basically just turn 8-roller type gameplay into the flavor-of-the-month that everybody gravitates to. Which is bad, in the end, since you lose that epic feel when there's nothing but independent 8-rollers running in all different directions. There should be a mix of the two, but 8-rollers shouldn't be fed from the high-chair like a baby.
Balancing an 8-roller with a zerg is just a bad idea. I agree with the idea of finding a way to give them speed or get away from the zerg, but an 8 -roller group of players should absolutely not be on equal footing with an equally skilled larger zerg. If you do that, you'll basically just turn 8-roller type gameplay into the flavor-of-the-month that everybody gravitates to. Which is bad, in the end, since you lose that epic feel when there's nothing but independent 8-rollers running in all different directions. There should be a mix of the two, but 8-rollers shouldn't be fed from the high-chair like a baby.
An 8-man group will never be balanced against a zerg. But if they are not given any tools to escape, they will seize to excist, and all that remains will be zergs.
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Balancing an 8-roller with a zerg is just a bad idea. I agree with the idea of finding a way to give them speed or get away from the zerg, but an 8 -roller group of players should absolutely not be on equal footing with an equally skilled larger zerg. If you do that, you'll basically just turn 8-roller type gameplay into the flavor-of-the-month that everybody gravitates to. Which is bad, in the end, since you lose that epic feel when there's nothing but independent 8-rollers running in all different directions. There should be a mix of the two, but 8-rollers shouldn't be fed from the high-chair like a baby.
An 8-man group will never be balanced against a zerg. But if they are not given any tools to escape, they will seize to excist, and all that remains will be zergs.