Culling is fine in PvE, but a serious issue in WvWvW which I know Anet is working to solve.
In addition to these fixes in the works, I was wondering if the severe “stacking” players do in WvW has any impact on the culling issue. If the “Zerg” was forced to spread out more, would it alleviate some of the issues, since more people would be farther away? At the very least, the range would mitigate some of the “surprise damage” that a ball of players casting AOE at another ball of players casting AOE can dish out.
What I’m suggesting is a debuff for being in too close a proximity to more than 5 player (or some other number). The debuff could be called “pressed” or “shoulder to shoulder”. It would force groups to spread out a bit, the range doesn’t have to be too large. This would reflect the way large melee battles played out in human history. You never want to be all bunched up.
This would have the added benefit of making the zerg of a keep a harder prospect, since at some point, the group would be required to bunch up to go through a chokepoint, which is exactly the point of a chokepoint for outnumbered defenders.
I think it would also be interesting since it would encourage a large group of people to travel in more of a formation, like armies on the march, which deploy in order. The debuff doesn’t have to be severe, maybe its a speed and damage vulnerability buff, or maybe it’s a debuff that causes fumble or slow skill recharge.