(If you do not feel like reading it scroll down and I explain a bit later on.)
After I received a PM telling me that it was an interesting idea and suggesting I work on it I decided to try and take on the task.IMO the best solution would be to even the playing field...
For my server I've been writing several scripts that store the players inventory levels exp and stats etc. so that I can make players have entirely different stats etc in other worlds I create.
I vote the official server should use a similar system to have some event map.
This map is not active unless a player or GM tells an npc they wish to host an event.
GMs equip their caps and the NPC will do nothing wait until they say the event is over and then execute some evacuation script or something that warps all characters in the map back to the world.
Users who wish to enter the event map have to wait until an event is on.
They must pay a small fee to the npc and then they may enter.
All their levels etc are stored and they emerge a clean character into a preparation room.
In here they have a certain number of points to spend on stats, levels and equipment etc.
Once they have spent all their points they tell an npc in there they are ready and they get warped to the arena.
(Unless of course the event needs everyone to enter at the same time in which case it would wait until everyone in the preparation has said they are ready)
The user who hosts the event can set a gp amount required to be paid to join the event or spectate the event etc which would help them pay for the hosting.
If the person who called the event is not a gm they can talk to an npc in the arena and pay for things to happen...
stuff like Spawning monsters, candor-like survival game, pvp survival game, pvp or the ability to drop items (Drop Party) (Maybe they can buy items to drop too?) all costing a bit of gp.
They also call when the event is over.
Users can talk to the npc and leave at any time they like but cannot enter the preparation room or arena until the event is called over.
To prevent users from having an empty event running forever they have to pay for every 5 minutes spent in the arena.
That is my concept and it shouldn't take too much to do and if any of the devs are interested in it going through I would be glad to make it.
Other than that I see no way to make sure everyone is equal in events and until a solution is made it seems these class advantages etc will continue to annoy people and ruin the game a bit.
This is an extract from a PM I sent back:
Those are some of my ideas on a possible story.Yeah, I had it on my server before I lost it and I was working on remaking it.
The idea for my server was the player could warp through dimensions and whenever they did that only certain things could travel with them.
Maybe some story ideas for something like my suggestion could be the player enters some sort of 'dream realm'.
I could make some sort of dark mage npc who has the ability to warp players to the area for his own entertainment. Another idea is to work around my original plot I had for my server. Maybe the player talks to an npc who for a price can break them through a barrier and take them to another dimension but they cannot take their inventories etc with them. On my server I was using this because I was making multiple dimensions that players could visit and level etc in until they 'conquered' the dimension when they finished a quest or beat a boss or something which enabled them to travel somewhere else.
Another idea I had for story is to say that the npc they pay to get to the dimension wont allow any gear or anything to be taken to their realm because they want to even the battle because it amuses them to see players competing with one another.
My main idea for this is it is some sort of 'event arena' sort of like candor.
The player talks to a dark and mysterious npc in a sort of cloak or something who has the ability to take the player to this Arena.
I'm not exactly sure how to design the arena yet but I'd like to make some sort of dark mysterious place like a floating structure of some kind over a void of nothing.
This is the arena.
There are a few areas for spectating around the arena, I'd like to use a sort of Colosseum-like setup for the arena only have something like a void in between the spectators area and the center of the arena.
To travel to the arena players must pay an amount of gp to the dark mysterious npc.
The npc takes the players to a room on the interior of the arena, a preparation room, maybe under where the spectators sit.
Players then talk to the npc and decide what sort of event they are going to have and pay for it.
One player pays to host the event like in candor.
The event lasts 5 minutes for every [etc] gp payed.
I suggest there is a maximum amount of time it can last, maybe an hour, to prevent people from paying a lot and doing nothing.
Now that they have payed they have up to [etc] minutes to setup their event.
Once the player has payed they can set an amount of gp to join or spectate the event but setting a gp collection will also cost them some gp, maybe 10 times the price they allocate to join the event? Maybe the spectators only have to pay half or under the amount of gp as it is to join to prevent ridiculous charges.
They can chose not to set any costs.
Now, for the next part... the npc is in this preparation room.
Players can access the preparation room for a set amount of gp to the npc like paying for the ferry to candor.
All their levels are stored and their items are stored etc.
In here they can ask the npc to let them join the event (as long as it hasn't started yet), spectate the event or go back to the normal world.
When they join the event if the event involves combat (either PvP or MvP) they get a set amount of 'points'.
If they join the event then they have to quit it to leave.
They can spent these points on gaining levels, increasing stats or getting armour etc.
This makes a balanced playing field with still room for strategy.
When the player starts the arena all players participating are teleported to the arena and the npc 'moves' to the arena and can be talked to to spawn monsters or purchase items etc depending on the selected event. When players die in the arena they respawn in the preparation room where they can ask to spectate or leave.
Now they may select from a few options.
They can make the npc announce their event (includes the price however) for a bit of gp.
They can enable pvp for their event for a price.
They can have a drop party for free but if they select this they may buy things to drop from the npc before and during the arena.
They can host trivia, setting questions and answers and supplying items to win. Maybe a cost could be put on it per question.
They cannot themselves participate in the trivia.
Once the arena starts the NPC starts asking the questions.
The players type into the npc what they think the answer is. Once they have told the npc their answer they are locked out until everyone has answered. This continues until someone gets it. Whoever gets it first is given the item supplied for the question by the host.
They can have a spawn party.
The host can pay the npc to spawn specific mobs. Each mob has a set price per mob and the player selects how many they want to spawn.
They can have a monster raid.
Like candor this raid continues until only one player is left standing.
They can have a pvp raid.
This raid continues until only one player is left standing.
Maybe later more events can be thought of.
Once the event is over- either the player says it is finished, or the event times out, all people in the arena are warped to the preparation room where they can host another event or leave.
Please feel free to add or take away from the plan I made.
I'll wait for a bit of feedback before I start working on anything.
I'm open to any ideas or changes etc.
I plan to, if it gets a positive attitude and people want it to be made, work on it myself.
I am able to script something like this, however it will take me a while.
So, what does everyone think?
Thanks for reading