the current system of the spvp genre, particularly for pickup queueing, is abyssmal. It encourages selfish practices like point farming over teamwork, and rewards cowardice over skill. I am near rank 30, and have played several classes to a high skill level, including warrior, ranger, mesmer, and thief, and i would like to give my explanation and good changes that can be made.
The crux of the problem remains still in that winning does not give much glory. Though it was increased not too long ago, it still pales in comparison to what one would get if one simpl farmed. Certain classes like thieves, with high mobility can easily get 200-300, even 400 glory, just point capping and occasionally fighting.
so what happens when there’s players who are solely point capping in PUG spvp? They essentially hoard the points to themselves, as teammates who arrive at the spot are often too late to also get the cap. The worst part though, is that the fighting force is down an extra person. This means the ones fighting, are taking the abuse, and getting less points. There would be better consolation if, winning gave more gratification, thus capping would be more useful, but the pitiful amount it gives leaves those fighting bereft of everything. Essentially they are the whipping boys, while the point cappers get all the reward.
The next issue is the system of downing, and finishing. Finishing someone in this game is incredibly difficult when it is 2v1, or 3v1. This is a good thing in many ways, but with the current point system, it suppresses individual player skill. It is the pinnacle of player performance to be able to take on multiple foes at once, that is a hallmark of a truly great player. GW2 should also reward that. Unfortunately what happens most of the time is, in a 2v1, or 3v1, situation, a skilled player may down an enemy ,but cannot finish, and is left with nothing.
Suggestion change: reward players for downing an opponent, maybe not as much as other things, possibly 2 points, and maybe put a cap of 6 points on an enemy in a certain amount of time to prevent abuse, but at least it’s something.
This brings me to the next subject: zerging. With both winning not giving much glory, and 2v1ing and 3v1ing not very rewarding, it is highly encouraged to zerg. Zerging, or swarming with other teammates, is bad for the game for several reasons: it does not encourage objective finishing, it rewards the zergers, while makes the nonzergers absolutely miserable, (while many of the nonzergers are legitimately trying to take objectives). This, reinforces even more, the selfish point cappers, who can escape the zerg pack, let them cap, then come back and cap again for even more points. For classes with less mobility and less escapes, they are simply dead if caught by a zerg swarm, discouraging them from trying to be objective minded.
To remphasize, the big fix would be to increase winning a match’s reward. A great amount of glory reward would suppress alot of these behaviors. If winning gave 100 or more glory, i guarantee you much of the selfish behavior would dissipate. Or decrease the amount of glory for all the other actions, while increasing winning.
The next suggestion is to create other formats. Everyone hates cowardly teammates, like the ones i talked about before, who don’t contribute much to battle, while hogging the points for themselves. Team deathmatch would resolve this, forcing all to fight, no more BS, just fighting.
and lastly, my final suggestion, is to create more maps, should funding and manpower allow.