Guild Wars 2

Background info:

I’m a pretty big fan of Devil May Cry. In DMC, every time you complete a mission, your performance is evaluated and you’re given a letter grade from D (lowest) to S (highest). This grade is based on many things, including the number of monsters you killed, how much damage you took, how fast and “stylish” you were, etc. The higher your rank, the more XP you get for that mission.

Afterwards, I’ve seen similar systems used in many games, ranging from shooters to RPGs. I – and many others, it seems – like them because they reward good play both with a pat on the back and with more practical rewards.

How would a system like this benefit GW2?

Right now, the only thing that matters is that you get through a dungeon. Yes, you lose money by dieing, but other than that running through the place as fast as possible is the best idea. I don’t like that.

A ranking system similar to the one used in DMC would encourage good tactics and clearing trash while discouraging waypoint zerging and skipping trash. At the same time, it wouldn’t affect speed runs at all, because speed running would still get you the same stuff. On the other hand, completing the mission “properly” and exploring the dungeon would also reward you with a higher rank and, as a result, better reward. You’d still have to complete the dungeon, so players wouldn’t be able to farm this system.

Also, players like ranks, medals and achievements. Completing all explorable modes of a dungeon with X rank or better could give an achievement and you could even give players that achieved the best possible rank in all dungeon paths a special reward, like a title or maybe even a unique item. Of course, getting that best rank should be very, very hard.

So, how exactly would this system work?

GW2 isn’t an action game and has a more social focus, so I’d go for something like this:

1) Mobs killed
2) Optional objectives (like Kholer) completed
3) Times downed or dead
4) Final boss killed in less than n seconds

It’s a pretty traditional system, but gives people time to socialize as much as they want outside of the final fight.

Note that, while typically these systems involve huge C-C-COMBO!!! messages and colorful letters, something more subtle could be used in GW2.

So, what would you think if GW2 gave your group a rank based on how “well” you played through a dungeon?

I don’t think this would apply well to GW2

I don’t like speed run and that really kills the fun out of dungeons for me. Speed run is only good for people doing farming money or tokens, but the problem is that it seems pretty much every party nowadays doing speed runs. We need something like you suggested for casual players who simply enjoy playing dungeons.

Yep, the main idea is to make speed runs not the only desirable option, although I do think this sort of thing is fun otherwise, too.

I understand the spirit of what you are suggestions and I approve, however I feel that adding ranking would turn this game into a quick DPS/gear snob fest. Next thing you know people are gonna get kicked because their dps is marginally not as good as the others.

naah not feeling this idea at all, sorry

-Hmm well people with better gear will pull agro and they would be kiting/healing/being downed more than players with lower quality gear and based on that they would do better, i don’t think it would be a good idea.

I like it.

That is, I don’t mind doing speed runs but I play dungeons to play. Often times, I only have a period of time to play the game and when I choose to do dungeons, I’m not looking to get it over with ASAP…because then I have to cut the game off.

That said, an option of some kind to not be ranked on your performance would be good too (or maybe a button at the end that flashes and when you push it will show your score. Because sometimes it’s not your fault what the other teammates do…you might even have ranking completely disabled if not enough of the dungeon was complete.

The metrics for it might be better as averages like rather than grading your DPS, something like the ratio of damage dealt vs received could award some points (you should always be trying to get some damage off while keeping an eye on the mob so you can keep yourself safe). Times downed/dead could be calculated by the total downs/deaths of the party in that, so long as you don’t exceed a quarter of the total amount. But while you could still get the max points if you die a few times, there’d be points for aiding in rallies/revives.

For style, calculate the number of dodges vs the number that actually evade an attack in combat. Could be a stylish counter score for interrupting special boss attacks too.

Basically, reward you for doing the things you’re suppose to be doing in a dungeon but have a mean average so it’s not as closely reliant on the quality of gear but the quality of your performance.

I think the BIGGEST plus to such a system would be seeing a tally of your results at the end. You see that your dodge/evade ration was down and your damage dealt/received score was still bad means you need to work on dodging the big blows properly. If your damage dealt/received is high but the rally/revive score wasn’t good might just mean you could have helped support the team more.

But what are the rewards for such a system? If I were dreaming, I’d want some party-wide buffs and perks while in dungeons that you can use in future runs. Getting rank gives points that you can later cash in for a party-wide magic find bonus. Magic keys that you can use to unlock vendors inside of a dungeon and/or chests to increase the yield of chests while inside that instance. Maybe even a practice mode where the entire dungeon is empty except for the bosses and you get a chance to fight them for no reward (except xp and gold).