Guild Wars 2

There are numerous things that can be done to World vs World to improve the quality of game play for everyone who regularly visits, zergs and small teams both. I’ll try to keep these ideas as organized as possible. Please keep any negative comments to yourselves as this post is meant for the people developing Guild Wars 2 to hopefully jump start some brainstorming.

Commander Tags

Players need to learn that the Commander tag isn’t solely for zerg/PuG leading. As such the squad system needs some improvements to make it a more viable tool for guild use.

A GUI, or “Raid UI”, would be the biggest help. Having to type in /squadinfo to see everything is a serious problem and it won’t show you who is alive, dead, or even within 150ft of you.

Having the ability to create group leaders within your squad would also help. They should have a blue four pointed star above their head visible to only the group they are in. Group leaders would be appointed by the Commander and would have the ability to view the supply count. (Edit: Group leaders should only see the supply count in their group, not the squad as a whole.)

Last on my list for this is to make every single squad member show up as a neon yellow dot on the minimap for other squad members. The color choice is to mimic squad chat so don’t cry. This way group members can still see their groups but don’t lose sight of the warband (squad).

Small Team Improvements

The biggest issue with small team play is coming across a vastly greater force, whether it be numbers or skill. Generally a team of 10 players coming across a zerg of 30+ stand little change of winning without some advantage. These advantages come in the form of terrain, buildings, and siege weapons. Unfortunately, sometimes you have none of these options or they are not enough to turn the tide.

Simply put, the smaller your group than the bigger the reward you should all receive. If you throw in the various ideas I’ll outline below than larger groups will still receive plenty of extra bonuses for their hard work out there. To encourage smaller groups and the use of a variety of tactics it is imperative to give players more encouragement.

Bunker Building

This is a blanket title for an array of portable fortifications. Why, when we have offensive siege, do we not have defensive? We already have traps which can be placed so this seems like the next logical step.

Spike Trap

This is a trap similar to the current two which gets placed in a rectangle and triggers when stepped on. I have no opinion on whether it should be visible or hidden until triggered.

There is no cap, like with AoEs, for how many enemies are effected and should cause cripple and bleeding.

Barricade/Wall

This is one of the fortifications I believe should have a rank up system. You can place/build better fortifications by ranking up, no superior system involving the forge.

This would allow groups in supply camps and open fields to create a real defensible position. Barricades can be jumped over if done right, though it should become harder, along with debuffs or even being impossible as the skill is ranked up. This fortification would be destructible.

Explosive Barricades

To counter the idea of rushing into barricades and using DPS to simply deal with it there should also be decoy barricades. These decoys could contain various things such as explosives or poison gas that gets triggered on enemy contact.

Deadfall Trap

This trap would be placed only on elevated positions, such as walls and cliffs, and could be either manually or automatically triggered and would work similar to oil. The benefit is being able to place it in a variety of spots, and there are many great places for it.

It would drop various sized rocks onto it’s intended targets as they pass under and should stun them or deal knock back.

Claymore Mines

The point is to add an explosive trap that can be controlled. The explosive would be a controlled blast that gets pointed in a specific direction and would cause bleeding and a knock back to any player hit. The explosive, when ranked up, could be invisible to enemies thus allowing for proper ambushing along roads and choke points.

Better WvW Incentives

First, don’t take the title the wrong way. I love World vs World and only want to see it evolve into an even better way of spending my time. I do have eyes though and I see many people complaining there is not enough out there yet.

I believe adding in some of the mentioned defense siege would help with this incentive but more should be done.

Defensive Players

This is the biggest issue. Players don’t defend towers and keeps since they get bored and don’t get anything out of it. Yes, we can’t all be selfless and in the virtual world where you are unknown it’s easy to say “I’m not doing that, let someone else.” and just wander of to catch the zerg.

I believe a system needs to be added to recognize when a player has:

A) Been in a tower/keep for an extended period of time
B) Has been building multiple siege weapons
C) Has dealt large sums of damage to players who have attacked said tower/keep
D) Has been running supply to said tower/keep

A

Since the game already keeps track of you being inactive it should be relatively easy to configure a cloned version of that system to monitor gamers who are watching towers and keeps, thus rewarding them for their effort.

This would need some unique tweaking to ensure certain people don’t abuse it for easy xp.

B

A good way to spot check A’s system would be to add a variable that’s looking for active defense work. Dropping siege weapons all over a tower or keep is a great way to say “OK, this player is doing their part out there.”

C

First, I know that repelling enemy invaders already happens as an event. The problem is you’ll have zergs show up to these places you’ve fortified and they’ll just leave until they think defenders have moved on or gotten relaxed.

I believe a system should be piggy backed onto the current repel enemy attackers event to give bonus rewards based solely on the damage you do to the enemy force. We build arrow carts to push the enemy back and I believe the people sitting around waiting to use them should see a boost in their reward.

D

Another possible piggy back for the A system would be to recognize those of us who regularly run supplies from local camps to finish building. I’m well aware that players already get rewards for repairing and building siege but maybe a bonus for multiple trips would help boost enthusiasm for not raiding keep supplies.

Offensive Players

This is the section of World vs World with little need of change. I mean, what can you add to make people more interested in killing bad guys and taking their forts? Well, here’s my take on what could be added:

A) The ability to steal supplies from an enemy outpost
B) Elemental susceptibility for buildings
C) New siege weapons
D) Morale buffs

A

Time and time again you will break into a keep, the PuGs have exhausted your nearest supply camps, and you still have another door/possible heavy fighting ahead. Oh look, the keep you broke into has full supplies and it’s staring you in the face. How would someone handle this in reality? Steal it.

When your supplies sit in a depot in plain view of anyone it makes sense there should be a system for stealing some. My idea for limiting how much can be stolen comes in two parts.

First, since a keep has two sets of walls with depots behind both I propose a keep stores half in the outer section and half behind the inner walls.

Second, this should be ranked up using WvW ability points and have a debuff attached to stop you from stealing every ounce of supplies in a matter of seconds. Becoming more proficient would of course decrease the debuff timer on you.

B

Elemental damage should have the chance of dealing extra damage or even creating elemental hazards to defenders. When you attack a wooden tower with fireballs for example, there should be a chance of you starting a fire or at least dealing some extra damage. Fire beats wood right?

This would encourage defenders to work towards upgrading towers and keeps to make them less vulnerable. It could also create unique situations for classes like the Elementalist were splashing water spells would be needed to douse flames.

C

Building upon the idea behind B it would be prudent to add new siege weapons for these changes.

The first would be a flamethrower. It would be similar to an arrow cart but instead of being a long range anti-crowd weapon it would be a short range one. This weapon would be able to shoot fire a short distance, within 900 range, at groups of enemies to set them alight and deal condition damage. It could also be used to set fire to wooden structures. I realize the flame ram has a similar ability but it’s not effective compared to this idea.

Catapults could do for an upgrade as well. I have rarely found myself using grape shot and I have a better, historically accurate, solution. Fire pots! A catapult could launch fire pots over tower walls or into crowds for devastating effects and would bring some diversity to how people use them.

There are plenty of options here so don’t feel limited to my top two.

D

I believe Commanders should receive a couple “Morale Skills” to help buff their squad. It could be generic buffs like +5% vitality to more specific ones like -5% damage from guards.

It could be added as a small bar, like the pet bar, and should have considerable time on the cooldowns as these should be saved for the right moment to turn the tide of battle. Many battles have been won by simply reigniting the morale in troops, I feel the principle is the same here.

More to come?

All in all I think these changes could bring a lot of unique flavors to World vs World and make players really consider exactly what their characters are spending ability points in, making a more diverse setup within warbands of who does what.

I can’t think of anything else at the moment but I feel this is a great start for what I’m suggest to improve World vs World.

Thanks for your time,
Meri Shadows

P.S. I’ll take my thank you gift in the form of a Hot Pink Moa Mount if you choose to use these ideas. Just re-work the art on the Flying Broom item as I’m not worried about it being polished animation, so long as I can ride it into battle.

I had another idea to throw out there…

In another game I had hopes for the forts had portcullis doors in the walls that not only allowed friendly players to sneak back in when surrounded but it creates new strategies for attacking a keep or tower. The attacking force would have to not only watch the doors for a possible flank but cover it to keep more people out.

On top of that I believe thieves should have the ability, a max ranked WvW ability, to pick the lock on the door and sneak in. It would be a personal unlock so one thief can’t open it for a group of thieves, only her/himself.

This would increase pressure on defenders since it’s relatively easy to place siege far enough back that attackers can’t hit it without using a catapult.

A perfect example of a keep that could take advantage of this idea is Hills. The west wall along the cliff could greatly benefit from having a “hidden” door. It could also be approached by placing these doors around corners or various locations in the walls that players wouldn’t necessarily check for.

EDIT: I thought about this and rather than make it a Thief only ability it should be one of the morale buffs for a commander I mentioned above. Commanders could unlock a new ability in the WvW panel which, when max ranked, could let a commander send thieves “over the wall” to disrupt defenses.

Just a thought.

I want to add to this ;

- Supplies I pick up from camp should also allow me to drop off in Towers or Keeps .

- Aoe cap should be taken out , anyone inside the red circle should get punished .

- How about some new maps with different architecture , for example desert with African or middle eastern influences or forest with asian architecture .

- Controlling zergs , environment should be deadly maybe doing battle in the zephyr airships or islands . Maybe put more cliffs and ledges , these will break up mindless groups fast .

I don’t know if I’d agree with being able to drop supplies in a tower or keep. My reasoning for this is players will no longer care about dolyaks and will weaken the overall strategy of World vs World. Maybe players should be able to donate 10 supply to a location and get a 30min cooldown preventing them from doing it again? The dolyaks need to remain a key factor to gameplay out there.

AoE cap I 100% agree with. No one should be exempt from the damage.

I agree with a variety of maps. I get they want balance but it’s been a year now and I think we’re all capable of handling 4 unique maps.

Yes! I think removing the AoE cap would help with dealing bigger blows to zergs as well as having more unforgiving terrain.

Thank you for your input!

Raine Akrune.8416:

In another game I had hopes for the forts had portcullis doors in the walls that not only allowed friendly players to sneak back in when surrounded but it creates new strategies for attacking a keep or tower. The attacking force would have to not only watch the doors for a possible flank but cover it to keep more people out.

I thought of a very good example for this. The cliff base beneath Hills has some overhangs in it. A hidden trapdoor/ladder inside is the perfect way to sneak out and in to resupply or attack. Things like that should be upgradeable from the siege master in any keep/tower.

I realize it’s a very long post and some of you are not interested in a wall of text but I feel the ball was dropped when we were promised more small team incentives. I believe some of these changes would go a long way into making World vs World a more unique experience.

I’d love to get more ideas from players interested in seeing more content added to WvW so we have a more unique gaming experience out there. The only rule is to be positive! =)

Could have really used the supply stealing idea last night. Lol

Please +1 if you like these ideas/would like to see them added to the game

We still need more out in World vs World. While the recent update has certainly changes some aspects of game play out there I feel it’s merely a bandaid.

Please help bring some of these ideas to light by +1’ing the original post. Thank you!

-support the guilds: we need gvg areas. also how about guilds are allowed to build watch towers or something on the map to protect the keeps or just something that makes every active guild in wvw matter.guildhalls?even trap areas constructed by guilds. i would love to construct defensive stuff like that. it makes each map different and certain things harder to cap. also would support outmanned servers, by giving us time to react to that 60 man zerg.

-the terrain in the ruins looks awesome and something like that would be great around keeps. make gates harder to reach. the carver cap point near lake tower feels way more like a tower than actual lake…..making terrain more difficult, breaks up zergs. zergs have to pass choke points, so the defenders can actually givem a hard time even if outnumbered.
allow us to build stuff around the keeps. blockages that slow megablobs down.
remember the traps in the eb jp?thats what would be epic in keeps and at certain choke points.
no more pvdooring, more trying to actually get the keep step by step. give 10 people a chance to defend. and yes for havoc teams it will be way harder to ninja something, but it would make it way more fun.
also for attacker how about underground tunnels to bypass one part of a big keep…just stuff like this would make wvw an epic experience.

btw: place the keep lord of smc on the top of the castle not the bottom…it makes like no sense to have him waiting on the groundfloor where as the actual throne room looks like its the one on the top floor…

That’s what I forgot to add! I 100% agree it makes no sense that the SM lord is on the bottom floor.

I’m really enjoying the terrain changes made to the ruins as well and it’s been fun having small team fights. The game needs more choke points out there if ANet won’t address the PUGs being lazy and just training behind a commander.

Maybe they can encourage more small team play by giving bonuses in wvw exp to winning evenly matched fights rather than 5v30.

actuallly if u look closely at the ruins..that would make an epic castle with an epic arena attached to it. woah a castle with multiple floors and a lot of narrow passages where u could place traps like in eb jp. and then turn the arena ruin into an actual ruin…..wow that would be epic.

epic castle that is hard to take plus a gvg arena!

oh and btw i heard they moved the keeplord to the bottom, because people would kill him by arrowcart through the floor….well they dont the just fix the floor then?

Selan, fixing the floor would make to much sense. Lol

It would be cool if the new ruins area was something like one giant ruined castle. Multiple floors, simple jumping puzzles, traps, it would be crazy.

I believe two major things should take place to create a more entertaining and unique experience in World vs World at this point.

1) Create 2 (or 3) new unique maps for the server borderlands. I, and many others, understand your attempts to balance the game by giving each server the same opportunities but it’s boring. There need’s to be more out there so we use different strategies and tactics on each outing. With this current setup it doesn’t matter where you go as everything is the same in regards to terrain and building placement.

2) Ditch the ruins. sPvP is the weakest point of Guild Wars 2 and after introducing it into World vs World it should be even more obvious. The only fun one happens to be the watch tower you can punt people off to their dooms. Seeing little asurans fly off there is quite entertaining. Beyond that though the bloodlust device is only hurting the gameplay mechanics. You receive no rewards for standing in a sPvP objective and if your server can’t manage to field enough people you’ll just be fighting against a zerg with +150 to their stats.

Does that mean not everyone likes it? No. Does that make it a bad decision? No. You guys tested the waters but all I’ve seen is negative feedback and I personally don’t find it engaging at all. I would prefer to see the quaggan nodes returned as they at least encourage players to interact, even if just for a reward.

I think a lot of these ideas would be great to implement. Heres a bump for ya

Why thank you!

Considering the collaborations ArenaNet is attempting I figured now was the best time to bump this. There are plenty of good ideas to pick from or use as a starting point for brainstorming. Please continue to regularly update WvW!

Agree with a lot. It’s a shame there are so many suggestions in here, sometimes even repeat that may or not may be seen. I like all your ideas and wish that thieves had the ability to scale walls primarily for scouting and infiltration. Take me back to DAoC days.

My primary suggestion is Body Collision. If you want to help break up zerg vs zerg then add body collision to help increase the amount of smaller teams broken up and strategically hitting locations separately. Make combat tactical instead of 20+ guys swarming everything hitting auto attack (all you can do with this input lag) or aoe condition bombing things.