Guild Wars 2

I’ll separate this into 3 parts – sPvP, WvW, PvE, since all three of them are disappointing. If A.net really want to make this game be fun, good and attractive, then you will definitely have to redesign all these 3 game aspects. I for each theme, i’ll first describe, what I do not like, then what is the concept problem and then, what are my direct suggestions to fix concept, so I’d like discussed game content.

First suggestion, which is common for both, PvP and PvE – change, or modify your level designer team. Get people who had experience playing at least Lineage2 and WoW. These two games has really stuff to learn from them.
If you don’t understand, why do people play Lineage2 for years, and why did WoW arena & battlegrounds(AV, WSG, AB oldschool battlegrounds, of course) had success – you won’t be able to make good neither WvW, nor sPvP.

sPvP redesign suggestion:
sPvP maps are too complicated and team size unbalanced with map size. That is what i do not like in sPvP.
At the pvp, players should fight other players, not the terrain. Watch and find differences between sPvP and Arenas & Battlegrounds at WoW. Differences are that arenas’n’BG’s are very simple in level design way, while they also suggest players a lot of “out of sight” spots. They are easy to learn, they are really “battlegrounds” not “battle labyrinths”.
Also, they are designed for appropriate player amount. Current maps in sPvP should have at least 15 man per team, i’d say, and tournament sPvP makes you to play 5 man at map, which should be played with 15. I hadn’t seen any real pvp while played tournaments. Sad.

I don’t ask you to copy arenas and battlegrounds, but this stuff in the wow is something what is played for years, because its good and you must take best from it, in order to do something better.
Redesign battlegrounds, remove details and labyrinths, PvP there is main, not artworks, or terrain, or capturing points. It should be about being able to “PvP good”, not “keep yourkitten on the capture point and survive”

WvW:
You should redesign it completely. First of all, WvW should be somehow motivating to win.
For example, some big and tasty PvE world bosses could be unlocked only when your server collects some wvw point amount, and, for example, this point amount resets monthly, so you really have more motivation, than getting “+10% something”.

Second is same as it was at sPvP – map is too complicated, at least most of it should be battleground, not battle in the Alps. Study from Lineage2 castles. Study from WoW oldschool alterac valley.

Players should play war there, not “Siege the gates” game.
Level designers should read some history books describing fortifications – keeps, castles etc, to understand where and what for they were built. When I’m playing at WvW, I can clearly see, that level designers did not understand fortification mechanics.

I’ll just give some ideas here, that your level designers are missing -

• Fortifications shouldn’t give you victory points. Fortifications are for protecting key locations and supply spots, which could give you victory points. Points for victory should be collected via things, which for this war is started – resources, or some magical artifacts, or just % of terrain controlled,

• Fortifications should be constructed in the places, where no other fortification weapons could reach them. They should give you strategically map advantage. All terrain around the fortification should be either impossible to walk, either it should be plain, easy for targeting terrain.

• Game shouldn’t be about sieging the keeps 24/7 – it’s fun only when its uncommon. This is why fortifications should have better protection, sieging it should be a grand event, which would take couple days, and, therefore, fortifications would be recaptured during two week period only few times, even if they are in the key positions. In contrast, currently fortifications are being recaptured like 10 times per 24h, I suppose. Can you imagine this in real? It’s nonsense!

• Instead of now, when it looks like “oh, we are losing, lets retreat to that tower”, the game should push armies to have big face-to-face field combats, where is no nearby fortifications for retreat. Fight or die.

What would I suggest you to do, to make WvW better:

• Maps are redesigned, main part in the maps should be more or less flat. Maybe rivers, but not huge useless lakes. Remove vast of idiotic Alps.

• Fortifications do not give you any points. Points are being collected only trough controlling terrain %(which is the land separated from enemy with your armies and fortifications) and resources.

• NPC functions and powers are improved for using them during non prime time.

• All fortifications are removed from the map. Guilds can build their own fortifications on locations they want, same as it happens with arrow cart construction, but requiring vast more time and resources.
• Complete construction could take few days, while some of fortification functions could be used while construction is in progress. No two fortifications nearby. It could like “next fortification no closer, than 3x trebuchet range for tower, 4x for keep and 5x for castle”.
• Fortifications are way harder to capture, destroying gates and walls should take vast more time, hours or days, but repairing them also should be very hard, especially, when under attack.
• Collecting points from WvW should unlock something very tasty for players, as I suggested – unlock grand pve world event for server.
PvE:
Just make it Epic, Challenging and hard. We want raids, wipes, and realy hard to complete events. I think your over spammed about casualty of PvE already, so I won’t repeat write a lot here.

I understand, that there is low chances, to see these changes, just because “$%^&” already “happened”, but I hope this will help to make some improvements, also I hope to see other player replies here!

“sPvP redesign suggestion:
sPvP maps are too complicated and team size unbalanced with map size. That is what i do not like in sPvP.”

“Second is same as it was at sPvP – map is too complicated, at least most of it should be battleground, not battle in the Alps. Study from Lineage2 castles. Study from WoW oldschool alterac valley.”

Are…. you…. kidding????
Sorry but, dude…………… You need to learn how to play theses maps.
I can agree with some points you have made about WvWvW, I think it will change a lot once we get week battles not 24h (it will change soon) but say the maps are complicated its ridiculous, at least for me.
The map is just fine, we actually have to THINK not just “go there”, the team size is ok too, and, again, you need to THINK where to go and when. Theres just 3 spvp maps and you are saying its complicated? lol
Well, I know its your opinions and I respect it, but I’m giving mine too.

I do not think GW2 have to learn with lineage2 nor WoW in pvp, pve maybe for sure it already learned A LOT, but pvp no way. I think its way the opposite.

Just to add, no raids. There no reason to endless boring and ridiculous raids like in WoW,

Just to add 2 You can “pvp good” I got lot of 1 vs 1 and 1vs 2 and I won and lost so many times in spvp. By the way they said they would see if people want duels, for example, and then if yes they maybe could implement, but for me capture points + fight is way better than just fight each other.

Just to add 3, some of the ideas about WvWvW map change will just make the zerg party happens more often, if you make the map easier to walk/moviment through it will turn into a noob battle ground zerg party with respawn and die, respawn and die for ages without a sense. Wich already happens some times.

I know how to play these maps, mate, but I dont like this way – I call it “Player vs Terrain” because it makes you more problems than players do.
I am able to play good and win myself by using over9000 out-of-line-of-sights, but I don’t like it, i really think pvp should have something more connected with face-to-face combat.

When I say wvw map is complicated, i mean some ridiculous alps, useless lake in center of the map, over9000 fortifications on small land square.. there is simply left no space to have good, fair face-to-face combat. There is simply no 10.000 square yards of plain field for good battleground army-vs-army. You either defend keep, either siege it. Because they take all the space.

And about learning from WoW and L2 – these game were played by generations of gamers just because their PvP levels are very good designed, GW2 does not yet. That’s why anet has to learn and take solutions from there. Because, some things are classics and you just can’t make them better. Its like Ohm’s law in physics – you have to take it as it is.

Fulcrum.2897:

I know how to play these maps, mate, but I dont like this way – I call it “Player vs Terrain” because it makes you more problems than players do.
I am able to play good and win myself by using over9000 out-of-line-of-sights, but I don’t like it, i really think pvp should have something more connected with face-to-face combat.

When I say wvw map is complicated, i mean some ridiculous alps, useless lake in center of the map, over9000 fortifications on small land square.. there is simply left no space to have good, fair face-to-face combat. There is simply no 10.000 square yards of plain field for good battleground army-vs-army. You either defend keep, either siege it. Because they take all the space.

And about learning from WoW and L2 – these game were played by generations of gamers just because their PvP levels are very good designed, GW2 does not yet. That’s why anet has to learn and take solutions from there. Because, some things are classics and you just can’t make them better. Its like Ohm’s law in physics – you have to take it as it is.

haha XD Good.
I know want you mean now, I think the solution would be to implement a new kind of pvp, more turned to face-to-face I would love to see more too. The problem is: Lot of people just love it the way it is now, me for example. Better then any pvp I ever played.
I do not agree with “can’t make them better”, it already made it. lol The game was played for generations because there wasnt nothing better to do years ago, and they kept you by useless grind for armors to be “something” against your beloved foe, put that with “I want to be better than the other guy”and you have years of subscriptions.

Fulcrum, of course in real world making forts and other stuff you accused WvWvW of would be stupid.

But it is a GAME. People should HAVE FUN in it. What is the fun of standing near the sieged castle fearing of their fire, with hardly any option of attacking them and this all not for 30 minues, but for 2 days?

Who would play it?

WvWvW isnt about the balanced, nice pvp where players just fight each other. If you want such- play gw1 for example.
In gw2 you must THINK, you have to PLAN, to make organised strategies. That’s the real fun, sir!

Seraskus, if castle does not gives points for victory itself, you do not have to stand and fear nearby – you just avoid castles. As it should be. Castles should be epic. They should be sieged only if there is no other options to advance further.

And you really dont have to think and plan a alot here – you just have to analyze, what is the server prime time, enter with 20man per map right after 90% of prime time players go to sleep, and recapture all map. And you will win. Easy

Wraith, i cant imagine, how you are able to enjoy tournament spvp/spvp if you had played seriously arenas in wow. At all if you had played wow BG’s. I dont talk about wow equipment grinding etc, im speaking only about level design – how terrain and mechanics of battleground are made.
Same, I cant imagine, how you are able to enjoy wvw if you had really played L2 sieges seriously (not speaking about equip grinding, again).

I suppose, you probably just didnt played these games when they were on top of their popularity(for me at least), till about year 2007.

Fulcrum.2897:

And you really dont have to think and plan a alot here – you just have to analyze, what is the server prime time, enter with 20man per map right after 90% of prime time players go to sleep, and recapture all map. And you will win. Easy

This is a international game and server choices are kinda random. I never tested it. lol Does it work?

IMO the only thing that needs changing is PvE.

I’m fine with the PvP and WvW.

But after I’ve hit 80, I’ve actually dropped my activity tenfold. I just see no fun in logging on anymore. I mean I PvP occasionally and will go WvW with my guild, but I personally like PvE in games and Anet’s idea of “end-game starting at level 1” has really made me want to have never gotten 80.

Wow, this was just painful to read, and that comes from someone who’s been wanting Guild Wars 2 to take more lessons from other MMO’s before it. There is a limit to what they should learn and what they should shun away from. WoW’s battlegrounds are utter crap. I hated them, there was nothing good in design about them. I have yet to play sPvP but I’ve seen footage of it and from what I can see the levels look a lot better than WoW’s battlegrounds ever did.

People came to WoW for the PvE mostly, the only reason they did so for the PvP was not for the battlegrounds, it was because of the excellent feeling of control you had over your character.