So, Henge of Denravi has seen the spectrum of greatness. From the start where we had hackers and skilled guilds running the server, leaving the majority of players unable to join WvW, dropping us soundly on the top of the server ranks. Dungeons could be entered in no time, since groups were constantly forming. Overflow was the norm in every zone (of course, that has been affected by people moving through out the world, as well).
Now, bots roam the server like its a server made for bots where people sometimes play. The population is small, and it can take hours to get a group together if you have some specific dungeon you want to do. And is talking about WvW even worth it? We’re set on cruise down the ranks, now. Guilds that left HoD now focus it down; we are also the target of hackers and pranksters, not to mention “spies”. Those who still play WvW do it for the monthly kills, and the majority don’t care to enter WvW at all. We have a few good leaders, but they really are few, and we make about 1 decent attack a day. Very few bother going to any of the borderlands other than our own.
Beyond that, I’m told that HoD has a reputation for being jerks. I’m surprised, because the server population isn’t anything like it was. Is it the leftovers that are considered jerks, or is it those that left that left the jerk label with HoD? One way or the other, how has it retained that reputation through all the changes? Is someone doing something notably jerky?
I’ve joined fun guild. We’ve got some solid players, and I feel like I benefit from being in the guild. Now, the guild is discussing changing servers. After all, the population is lower than other servers, so recruiting is decreasingly effective. WvW is a “monthly kill” grind. Dungeon groups can get together, but it can be difficult during less busy hours.
So, to the point, I believe that HoD would benefit from a server wide discussion forum, where people could make plans to keep our server strong. It may be too little too late at this point, and I believe my guild WILL leave HoD, and I’ll go with them. They aren’t the first by a very long shot, and I’m aware of other guilds having similar discussions.
Other ideas that might benefit weakening servers:
1) Complete LFG interface (similar to the trading post in quality). This way players could queu for dungeon groups while completing different content, then, when the group is ready, they go. This way, nobody would have to spam in lions arch to get a group going, or wait outside the dungeon for other people to have the same idea. Furthermore, this would decrease the majority of non gold-seller spam in LA, allowing for improved discussions outside of the forums.
2) Ban the bots
3) Give benefits to small servers, so people will transfer to them. Something like, the bottom 5 population servers get a gold bonus. The worst gets a 2.5% gold bonus, the 2nd lowest 2% gold bonus, then 1.5%, 1%, and 0.5%. Notice that I’m saying “something like”.
Thoughts?