If you have Twitter, *please* ask Dylan Jobe to check out this thread: @DylanJobe
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Let's get LBI's attention! 
EvilChamp wrote:Note: I've mentioned some of this stuff in another thread, but I've since updated and added a few other issues.
I love zones. It's all I play. To date, I've played more than 45+ hours of just zones. As much as I love the concept, it has some bad things that just flat out make no sense.
A few days ago, I was in a zones match and I captured 10 zones. I had something like 18 kills, too. It was a 32 player match and I finished in the middle of the pack in terms of score. The top player, who had about 26 kills, had only captured 3 zones. This made me scratch my head.
The biggest problem facing this mode of gameplay is players are not encouraged to capture, defend zones. Capture a lvl 3 zone - get 100 EXP. Capture a lvl 1 - get 100 EXP. The challenge + reward in the former isn't in line with the amount of EXP you receive. Taking a lvl 3 zone to lvl 1 is a game changer; more people rush lvl 1 zones, spawn area for enemy is smaller, too. My solution: Award players EXP as they bring down enemy zones. I.E., 50 EXP for bring lvl 3 to lvl 2, another 50 EXP for bringing lvl 2 to lvl 1 and 100 EXP for capturing the whole thing. Keep in mind, you get 75 EXP for just blowing up a structure.
Another glaring issue: You do not get EXP for leveling your zone area. This makes no sense. When a game begins, everyone rushes to a zone, captures it and then moves on to the next target. A good teammate, however, will stay behind and level the zone to lvl 3. Yet he isn't rewarded for his efforts even though he his helping his team in a huge way; it's now harder for enemy to capture the lvl 3 zone and your team gets more points (a lot more).
The third issue: Why are players not awarded points for defending zones? I'm not talking huge EXP boosts, but add 25 EXP to any player that kills an enemy in the "capture zone" area. By doing this, you would be encouraging people to A) level the zone to level 3 and B) kill anyone that tries to take it away.
My final issue with zones: Hosting a game and getting it started is next to impossible. Unless you have a few friends that are ready to jump in, getting a zones game started is insanely tedious. Matches end so fast because there are only a handful of people and that means it's very easy for an enemy to capture all zones on map. I don't have a solution for this, and maybe it's just something we have to deal with. However, I do think the lack of zone games available (when compared to the number of CTF and TDM games) has a lot to do with this.
In the end, I feel there are a lot of things players do to win that don't show up on the stat screen when playing a round of zones. I also feel that many players look at zones as another TDM, and play accordingly. If these changes were implemented, then I think more people would capture, defend zones rather than having a TDM with different spawn points.
As an avid zones player I appreciate this post.
I truly think, as I have suggested in the past, you should get 25xp or 50xp for each level you bring up/take down a zone. This would add a total of 150xp or 300 xp earned for the zone
I'm the guy who makes that 10 map, all layouts, 20 min, 10,000 point zones server called "ZONES- 32 Player" and my room usually takes about 45 minutes to get going well. I have some advice to help you:
1) Make it start with just 2 people so you can at least play ranked for a bit while waiting
2) TAKE IT EASY ON PEOPLE! The first few games and few people that enter, let them kill you, let them win a few games, let them cap the zones. Just be the bigger person and let them have fun at your expense. This keeps them in the room long enough to get it to a level of players that sustains itself, THEN pummel everyone 
EDIT: I forgot to tell you there IS a bonus for killing people in the capture area, i've seen it pop up with 100 extra XP for kills in there...sometimes it does not show thouhg.
