Guild Wars 2

Greetings Everyone,
Over the past 2 years I’ve been at the back of the pack and the front of the pack. The playstyles of the servers all in between are vastly different. I know many guilds are looking for new homes and I would like to take some time to explain the climates within various servers as I see it.

Your Focus
First and foremost you need to decide where you as a guild stands. Why do you play WvW? Is it to be part of the best server in GW2? Is it to be the best in your timeslot? Is it to be a part of a community? These are all questions you need to ask and discover the answer to. You can not have success with your team without knowing where you stand and what your after.

The Many Goals of WvW
When you break WvW down to a mechanic there are several things at play.

Server Rankings: Rank each of our servers from 1 to 24 or 27 depending on the region. This metric was placed into game to be the Unicorn that the competitive in nature chase. Without this piece ArenaNet would not be able to ensure the competitive nature of WvW and keep the most competitive players playing.

Points Per Tick: This allows competitive players to gauge how successful they have been in raising their servers overall score. Competitive players will be compelled to drive this higher.

Objectives: Scattered throughout the battlefield these provide players with targets to try to overtake. Some communities focus on taking as many as possible, some focus on holding as many as possible. In the end the mechanic of WvW is centered around taking and holding objectives. Most players will play WvW to do so.

These are the primary elements to WvW. After that you get some of the Meta games including:

GvG & Duels: Guild on Guild Action is quite popular. There are large portions of communities that love to get in on this action and hopefully someday ArenaNet will encourage some structured GvG action.

Karma Farming: This focuses on taking a lot of objectives quickly avoiding the majority of fights in exchange for high turnover in rewards including wEXP, EXP, Gold, Loot, and Karma. This is traditionally a fan favorite of casual communities.

The Fights!: Many guilds play WvW for the fights. The scoreboard plays secondary and they are just looking to find an opponent to fight. I see a whole lot of these types out there that will even forgo the reward if it means they have something to kill.

Psycological Warfare: Some players find a ton of enjoyment in tricking their enemy into doing things they want them to do. This can be a really fun metagame if you’re good at it. There’s nothing like having your opponent open a door for you so you can steal it away from them. Some players prefer PvP over PvE because PvP involves Psychology. It’s more of a sport than just a game.

Complitionists: These players are out for achievements and map completion. You will find them occasionally out there and they are motivated by achievements. Unlike the PPT chasers they chase a different metric being their achievement score.

Now these are just a few of the types of WvW fun you can find out there. What you want to think about is why do you play?

The Matchup Breakdown
Now being Football season I’ll make an analogy for you all about choosing a server by it’s tier.

Tier 1 & 2: The NFL
These are the pinnacle of the competitive WvW servers. They are focused solely on the first few of the Goals above and PPT rules all. These servers typically have the best coverage, the most aggressive guilds, and a very competitive attitude.

Pros:

• Competitive
• 24/7 Coverage
• In the spotlight
• Fast Paced
• Heavy Action

Cons:

• Queues
• Lag / Crashes / Disconnects
• Zerg Focused
• Very Few Small Scale Fights
• Competitive
• High Guild Turnover
• Requires high time commitment and investment

Tier 3 & 4: NCAA
These servers typically are on the rise. They are competitive focused but lack the coverage to be a serious contender in Tier 1 & 2. Typically you see them recruiting from Tier 1 and 2 with promises of future glory.

Pro:

• Focus on Building Community & Numbers
• Passionate WvW Community
• Occasional Small Scale Fights

Cons:

• Lack of Coverage
• Division of Playstyles is usually present
• The Blame Game can cause major problems within the community.

Tier 5 & 6: High School
These servers are future thinking. They are working on planning a foundation that will lead them to higher glory. Usually these servers are in the rebuilding phase of trying to attract the competitive players to their server so that they can begin to make the climb into the higher tiers.

Pros:

• Your guild matters
• Appreciation for efforts
• Tighter knit communities with less ego war
• Lots of Small Scale fights

Cons:

• Lack of coverage
• Blame Game can hurt progress
• Hard to gain new players and guilds

Tier 7 & 8: Recreational Beer League
These servers could care less what the PPT is at the end of the week so long as they had a good time. In my time in WvW I must say some of my funnest nights have been in these tiers. The attitudes are light, by now most of the seriously competitive players have left for other shores and what’s left is the people who just care about sharing some time with friends and having a good laugh.

Pros:

• Light Attitudes
• Good Learning Environment
• Pretty Evenly matched fights
• Great place for casual players
• Your efforts are clearly seen
• Breeds communities focused on fun and friendliness
• Lots of Small Scale fights

Cons

• No coverage
• Little Competitiveness
• Near Impossible to recruit competitive players
• Competitive players tend to get frustrated with lack of drive

In The End
You need to find the type of community you want to be a part of. Whether its an established champion like Blackgate or Jade Query, or an Up And Comer like Isle of Janthir or Northern Shiverpeaks, or you just want to share a pint and a spike with some great people and have a good laugh with folks like Sanctum of Rall and Ferguson’s Crossing. In the end we all play this game for different goals.

Success is a matter of Perspective, not a mechanic. For some being champion is Success, for others making a difference on the battlefield when they can is Success, for others it’s sharing a good laugh with friends. Each of our goals are different and thats what makes this game so beautiful.

We have so many great cultures and lifestyles all blended into these 8 tiers. Whatever your playstyle theres a home waiting for you.

Hey, thanks a bunch for posting this. This post helps a bunch with defining server strengths and weaknesses. The only amendment that I would suggest is to put “small- to mid-scale fights” in the t3/4 pro’s since they don’t have the numbers for zergs. A lot of players tend to enjoy the more intimate feeling of a 15v15 rather than a blobfest.

Again, thanks.

Yeah typically the more further down the rankings the more you get those 2 v 2 / 15 v 15’s. In the lower tiers you can really feel like you made a difference with just a few friends. Heck I see a lot of solo capping going on late night. In T1 you could never dream of pulling some of those tactics off without a zerg landing on your head.

Fog..

By far one of the best categorizations of the state of the game/tiers etc. I have seen. Well done. Some will undoubtedly argue with certain aspects..but this is spot on.

Having been on a server on the bottom that rose to bout the half way point, and then bumped onto that ceiling called “little OCX/SEA coverage”…pretty accurate from my perspective.

Thanks Sergie, I really like the variety that Guild Wars 2 brings to the battlefield. Months ago when we were in T1 our tactics we’re totally different than they are today. I hope everyone gets a chance to experience all of these different styles of play. It’s been quite a journey and I’m happy to say that whatever the tier, there’s fun to be had, battles to be fought, and tactics to deploy. Finding that fit for your community will definitely preserve your enjoyment and keep you playing at the level you enjoy.

If anyone needs a vacation from the grind of the top tiers feel free to snag one of those $19.99 copies of Guild Wars 2 and join us on Sanctum of Rall, the Bora Bora of Guild Wars 2. Sorry shameless plug ;D

I disagree with most of this.

good guide to help players learn a little more about servers, great job on all the work and detail

Foghladha.2506:

The Matchup Breakdown
Now being Football season I’ll make an analogy for you all about choosing a server by it’s tier.

Tier 1 & 2: The NFL
These are the pinnacle of the competitive WvW servers. They are focused solely on the first few of the Goals above and PPT rules all. These servers typically have the best coverage, the most aggressive guilds, and a very competitive attitude.

Pros:

• Competitive
• 24/7 Coverage
• In the spotlight
• Fast Paced
• Heavy Action

Cons:

• Queues
• Lag / Crashes / Disconnects
• Zerg Focused
• Very Few Small Scale Fights
• Competitive
• High Guild Turnover
• Requires high time commitment and investment

Tier 3 & 4: NCAA
These servers typically are on the rise. They are competitive focused but lack the coverage to be a serious contender in Tier 1 & 2. Typically you see them recruiting from Tier 1 and 2 with promises of future glory.

Pro:

• Focus on Building Community & Numbers
• Passionate WvW Community
• Occasional Small Scale Fights

Cons:

• Lack of Coverage
• Division of Playstyles is usually present
• The Blame Game can cause major problems within the community.

Tier 5 & 6: High School
These servers are future thinking. They are working on planning a foundation that will lead them to higher glory. Usually these servers are in the rebuilding phase of trying to attract the competitive players to their server so that they can begin to make the climb into the higher tiers.

Pros:

• Your guild matters
• Appreciation for efforts
• Tighter knit communities with less ego war
• Lots of Small Scale fights

Cons:

• Lack of coverage
• Blame Game can hurt progress
• Hard to gain new players and guilds

Tier 7 & 8: Recreational Beer League
These servers could care less what the PPT is at the end of the week so long as they had a good time. In my time in WvW I must say some of my funnest nights have been in these tiers. The attitudes are light, by now most of the seriously competitive players have left for other shores and what’s left is the people who just care about sharing some time with friends and having a good laugh.

Pros:

• Light Attitudes
• Good Learning Environment
• Pretty Evenly matched fights
• Great place for casual players
• Your efforts are clearly seen
• Breeds communities focused on fun and friendliness
• Lots of Small Scale fights

Cons

• No coverage
• Little Competitiveness
• Near Impossible to recruit competitive players
• Competitive players tend to get frustrated with lack of drive

In The End
You need to find the type of community you want to be a part of. Whether its an established champion like Blackgate or Jade Query, or an Up And Comer like Isle of Janthir or Northern Shiverpeaks, or you just want to share a pint and a spike with some great people and have a good laugh with folks like Sanctum of Rall and Ferguson’s Crossing. In the end we all play this game for different goals.

Success is a matter of Perspective, not a mechanic. For some being champion is Success, for others making a difference on the battlefield when they can is Success, for others it’s sharing a good laugh with friends. Each of our goals are different and thats what makes this game so beautiful.

We have so many great cultures and lifestyles all blended into these 8 tiers. Whatever your playstyle theres a home waiting for you.

Fog while I loved the post I do think it is made of some outdated information.

T1/T2 does not always run a Queue. In fact that’s normally during tournaments, which even low tiers tend to Queue up during.

T1/T2 also has large zerg types fights, however that can be on 1 map, while another is completely flipped by a havoc team of 5-10 people.

T1/T2 also has coverage gaps.

T1/T2 are poorly misunderstood currently due to how they were in the past.

Mishi is correct, also the difference between T1/T2 is quite huge. Lately T2 has been closer to T3 in terms of population and coverage.

Well, T3 minus DB. DB should probably be in T2 and swap with FA. Just my 2 cents anyway.

Maybe, it’s just a lot are going by the past on the tiers, and in all honesty WvW participation isn’t as high as it was. (Due to new servers being opened, plus people having real lives and not wvw’ing 20 hours a day..lol)