Guild Wars 2

This is my second time making this recommendation, the first time I was overwhelmingly shot down (this was awhile ago). But after recent ‘attempts’ by ANET to deter WvWvW zerging, which is kinda lame I thought I would revive my rec.

It’s simple: remove battle markers from WvW maps. That’s right, don’t allow players to see where battles are taking place, or what keeps/castles are being sieges. This would dramatically reduce zerg mentality because it would force people to actually utilize scouting and defense. Small groups or guild groups would actually stand a chance at taking towers before being completely zerged. It works great in DAOC and it will work great here. Remove the battle markers.

Next remove the ‘commander’ tags. Refund 100g to everyone who has purchased one. These are just silly and should never have been implemented in the first place. No single other game mechanic influences zerg mentality more then a giant blue diamond that everyone rallies around.

I love WvWvW, but think it could be made better by really going after disrupting the super-uber zerging that takes place.

I should add I support this because it will add a learning curve to WvW. In DAOC there was a learning curve, figuring out where to go, who to follow, if you should run in small or large groups and it was a blast.

There is 0 learning curve in WvW. All you do is follow the blue diamond and spam random skills.

Ok, so let’s see about this.

With no battle markers and no commander icons, where does someone like me, who is not a part of any guild, go in WvW? The answer is nowhere. I would just have to roam around aimlessly, hoping that I meet a big group before I get mercilessly killed.

So yes, while it will eliminate the zergs that consist of random people like myself, it won’t eliminate them completely. After all, pretty much every server with a decent WvW population has guilds running around in groups of 20+ people. They don’t need the commander sign to tell them where their people are, they have guild chat for that.

As for the markers eliminating zerging to an attack, I don’t think so. Just take a look at all the “underhanded” tactics we already see in WvW. After reset you have large groups sitting at supply camps to make sure they don’t get taken/destroyed by the opposition. You also have Mesmers hiding in keeps, ready to port their comrades inside to bypass all the effort. So what’s to say that you wouldn’t have Mesmers sitting around in towers with constant groups of 5-10 people roaming around?

Olba.5376:

Ok, so let’s see about this.

With no battle markers and no commander icons, where does someone like me, who is not a part of any guild, go in WvW? The answer is nowhere. I would just have to roam around aimlessly, hoping that I meet a big group before I get mercilessly killed.

So yes, while it will eliminate the zergs that consist of random people like myself, it won’t eliminate them completely. After all, pretty much every server with a decent WvW population has guilds running around in groups of 20+ people. They don’t need the commander sign to tell them where their people are, they have guild chat for that.

As for the markers eliminating zerging to an attack, I don’t think so. Just take a look at all the “underhanded” tactics we already see in WvW. After reset you have large groups sitting at supply camps to make sure they don’t get taken/destroyed by the opposition. You also have Mesmers hiding in keeps, ready to port their comrades inside to bypass all the effort. So what’s to say that you wouldn’t have Mesmers sitting around in towers with constant groups of 5-10 people roaming around?

Yes, in WvWvW you have a couple options:

You would look for a group (you would actually have to play and rely on others)

You would go solo

You would go with a guild.’

It’s not like I’m saying “remove the chat channel” – you would roam aimlessly if you were too stupid to figure out LFG via chat. “80 Necro looking for grp” or “Where is our zerg currently”…

Again, it worked great, better in DAOC then it does here. There was no giant orange swords and blue diamonds running around the map. You had to actually figure out what to do, I mean there was a learning curve, it wasn’t a skilless, button mashing fest that it currently is. If you were too dumb to ask for help or use chat I guess yes, you would roam around aimlessly, but how is that ANETs problem? It is an MMO…

In DAOC there was always realm zergs, it was just a lot easier to avoid joining them or getting owned by them because you could do stuff without giant swords or white sword appearing. Your reputation actually mattered, and good groups would form based on someones reputation. It was difficult and it was fun.

I think you use a bit of hyperbole in your post. Yes, the tactics you mentioned get used, but I bet mesmers get away with it about 5% of the time, it’s pretty easy to check and clear keeps, if you even put in half the effort to do so.