The Contender System is an expansion and rebranding of the former Predator System, designed to provide more consistent and competitive direct engagements in RvR. The defining feature of Contender is that players who join the system are given an enemy to hunt.
Eligibility
- Contender is available to any group size, from solo players to larger groups.
- Group strength is determined by the relative strength of group members.
- Players who are currently part of a Battlegroup (BG) cannot participate in Contender.
- Contender targets are limited to the player's current region.
How It Works
Players can opt into Contender using:
/contenderOnce participating, the system identifies valid enemy targets based on the relative strength of the opposing groups. This is a group agnostic calculation. For example:
- A strong 3-player group vs. a weak 5-player group might produce a valid Contender matchup.
- A strong 3-player group vs. an average 8-player group would likely produce an invalid Contender matchup.
When a viable match is identified, Contenders are given information about their assigned target and directed toward them, encouraging direct player-versus-player engagement. At the same time, your force will be serving as the target for another enemy force. With enough Contenders participating, this creates a continuous chain of opposing hunters:
Force A → hunts Force B → hunts Force C → hunts Force D → hunts Force A
This creates a self-sustaining cycle of PvP action in which participating groups are not simply waiting for enemies to appear, but are given a specific enemy to find and pursue that will culminate in competitive skirmishes across similar zones.
This allows group size to vary while still maintaining a reasonable expectation of competitive combat.
Region-Specific Matching
Contender is region-specific and only considers viable enemy forces within the player's current region. The system does not track or assign targets in other regions.
If no viable Contender targets are currently available in the player's region, the system will inform the player that a viable matchup could potentially be found in another region.
Design Goal
Contender is intended to improve the quality, consistency, and reliability of RvR action by connecting players who actively want direct PvP with opponents of comparable combat strength.
Rather than assuming that equal group sizes produce equal fights, Contender evaluates the actual relative strength of the participating players, allowing different group compositions and sizes to produce legitimate matchups while filtering out engagements that are overwhelmingly one-sided.
The system inherits the core functionality of the former Predator system while expanding it to support all group sizes.