The Commander Problem

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Mungrul.9358

Mungrul.9358

Having the Commander Compendium available for 100 gold has always been problematic, but now I’m beginning to see the more unsavoury side effects.
As players begin to accumulate more gold, I’m beginning to see people buying the Commander Compendium in order to treat it like some sort of extended, glorified title.
They’re obviously buying it for the attention it gets them, and they’re not doing any actual commanding at all.

I’d like to open up this topic as a sounding board for ways to improve Commanders and how they’re assigned.

With that in mind, let me make a few suggestions:

Commanders should be subject to peer review, with players able to up or downvote them. If a particular Commander receives too many downvotes, they have their Commander status revoked. This is open to all sorts of problems, where people may end up grief-downvoting one Commander in order to promote their own agenda, but something like this is needed. Suggestions on how to minimise the opportunity for griefing are welcome.
Up or downvotes should be applied by simply right-clicking the Commander’s icon on the minimap.

Players should be able to see a Commander’s peer review status so they can tell which Commander they should be following the orders of.

There should be a pool of coloured icons and different icons to choose from, so that different Commanders are more easily differentiated between on the minimap.

Acquisition of the Commander’s Compendium should be changed from 100g. A high amount of Badges of Honor initially strikes me as a good idea.

Of course, another method of acquiring it could be that if a player excels at leadership during normal play, people can give them an upvote and at a certain total, they gain their Commander’s privileges. Again, open to abuse, so some balancing is probably in order.

Any additional thoughts?

Please note that due to restrictions placed on my account, I am only allowed 1 post per hour.
Therefore I may take some time replying to you.

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: xCrusadentx.2784

xCrusadentx.2784

ANET have already announced that they will be refunding all commanders with their 100 gold and will change the way the commander tag is gained. That being the case all these people who are now buying the title are doing so pointlessly… So the laugh is on them!

Link please.

Royal Blood Oath:
We are sworn together by our blood…

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Fixy.6193

Fixy.6193

May be they could simply add an option to hide the commander icon when you right-click on it, this way anyone can simply hide icons they don’t want to see. As a side effect it will help people trying to follow their commander when there’s more than one.
The upvote downvote idea is like you said too much open to griefing or manipulating votes…

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Mungrul.9358

Mungrul.9358

May be they could simply add an option to hide the commander icon when you right-click on it, this way anyone can simply hide icons they don’t want to see. As a side effect it will help people trying to follow their commander when there’s more than one.
The upvote downvote idea is like you said too much open to griefing or manipulating votes…

That’s a really elegant solution; definitely like that!

Please note that due to restrictions placed on my account, I am only allowed 1 post per hour.
Therefore I may take some time replying to you.

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: RedCobra.7693

RedCobra.7693

1 massive issue i have with this

Video makers like dontain would be given a title due to their popularity and not their skill, it would be a worse system than the current one as it would just be a vip celebrity icon…did you not consider that this could happen?

RedCobra – Ranked PVP Druid
Current Season – Platinum (Soloq)
Retired GW2 ESL Tournament Admin

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Truth Eretai.3129

Truth Eretai.3129

Add a Badge of Honor cost to WvW commander tags, and a Gift of Exploration cost to PvE commander tags. Problem solved.

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Chief.5928

Chief.5928

A massive improvement of WvW would also be if they’d increase the size of groups that people can make which are indicated by a different colour. It’s so annoying that ArenaNet sticks with the 5-man standard setup.

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Mad Queen Malafide.7512

Mad Queen Malafide.7512

A terrible idea. I bought my commander title, and I don’t play wvw. But I didn’t buy it for prestige. I bought it, because it is very useful when organizing large guild groups in PVE, for example when doing the guild bounties.

I also bought it because I host community events. The commander tag makes for an excellent and clear mark that players can follow, in order to follow the various events that we host. It has been extremely useful for our last event.

So before some of you go raging about the commander title, please consider that it serves other purposes other than wvw. Not all of us bought it for bragging rights. And allowing other players to vote if someone should keep her commander title is a terrible idea.

“Madness is just another way to view reality”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-On3Ya0_4Y)

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: LHound.8964

LHound.8964

ANET have already announced that they will be refunding all commanders with their 100 gold and will change the way the commander tag is gained. That being the case all these people who are now buying the title are doing so pointlessly… So the laugh is on them!

Can you please post that source? Thanks!

—————— ~~ ~~ —-————-
Charr’s need more Love. All is Vain
—————— ~~ ~~ —-————-

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Mungrul.9358

Mungrul.9358

Malafide:
I know a lot of people have bought it for PvE means; the wonderful Rezzah on Ring of Fire does tireless tours of Southsun, taking everyone around the island on repeat cycles getting them their achievements.
I didn’t say that there was a use for them in PvE, I just stated that the problem is that as gold is becoming more available, more people ARE buying the compendium purely for posing.
As it stands at the moment, and increasingly this WILL be the case in the future, a commander icon on the minimap is no guarantee of that person’s actual ABILITY to command.
I’d like to know that the commander I’m following actually got the status through ability rather than a fat wallet.

The suggestion above for a PvE commander icon purchasable with a Gift of Exploration is actually a good one, especially if it’s kept separate from WvW so it’s not useable there.

I’m aware there are flaws in my initial suggestion, which is why I opened the floor to comment.

Please note that due to restrictions placed on my account, I am only allowed 1 post per hour.
Therefore I may take some time replying to you.

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Mungrul.9358

Mungrul.9358

A friend’s just made a good suggestion for the WvW commander side. Tie it into the WXP system so that you can buy "Ranks"with WvW ability points you earn as you play.
Still have a price on the initial purchase, but at least only those really wanting to command will pursue the higher ranks.

Please note that due to restrictions placed on my account, I am only allowed 1 post per hour.
Therefore I may take some time replying to you.

(edited by Mungrul.9358)

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Dand.8231

Dand.8231

ANET have already announced that they will be refunding all commanders with their 100 gold and will change the way the commander tag is gained. That being the case all these people who are now buying the title are doing so pointlessly… So the laugh is on them!

Screenshot or it didnt happen.

No, seriously, I actually like the idea but it seems a bit too drastic to believe outright.

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Zacchary.6183

Zacchary.6183

/Shadow_Refuge
/res

Commander tags should not be a license to garner attention.

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Stand The Wall.6987

Stand The Wall.6987

When I first started playing I thought it was wierd that the commander title could be bought with gold. I had assumed fantasy extended to the way this rank is gained. My suggestion: keep the commander title the way it is in PvE. For WvW, create an entirely new title or disable until earned. How to earn? Play WvW. Have the current WvW achievement titles like Yakslapper and Ultimate Besieger directly contribute to the commander title. Possibly have a three or so tier commander title, separated by various symbols and/or colors. When people mouse over the title on their map, have a small status popup letting people know what type of commanding will take place. For example skirmishing = defeating reinforcements or raiding = taking camps only. Maybe the commander level will determine what they can do. The most dedicated can take Stonemist and the casual can slay ogres and hylek.
Alright thats it for tonight folks, tune in tomorrow when I will discuss the importance of using protection! The boon.

Team Deathmatch for PvP – Raise the AoE cap for WvW – More unique events for PvE

The Commander Problem

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Posted by: Frostfang.5109

Frostfang.5109

I Think only those that belongs to the commanderr’s squad is te ones who should see him/her (50 ppl?). Another thing would be to make Guild- officers with a similer function for Guild members only.

Some different way of earning the commander tag would also e good. One that is based on experience in some way and not Money. It would anly be able to get at lvl 80 (and not lvl 11 as today). Different colors/symbols of the tags would also be useful in case more that one can be seen at the same time.

Kima & Co