Guild Wars 2

Gist of The Matter:

Dear ArenaNet,

Please clarify/make the following:

• Commander Tag: Knows what they are doing, and expects others to.
• Mentor Tag: Knows what they are doing, and expects others not to.
• Trainee Commander Tag: Has a vague idea/knows nothing but needs to learn, and is willing to run with anyone for anything.
• Mustering Banner: Found an event, want people for it. Can be replaced by:
• All living world events visible on the map: Not just the mini-map, if and when we are close. Then, when anyone sees anyone tagged up, or even without waiting for anyone to tag up, they can go there directly.

The Long Story:

Finally got my commander tag a couple of months ago, after draining my bank.

Embarrassed and excited at the same time, I tag up in WvW.
Oooh, the thrill!

Tagged down in 3 sec, before anyone else saw me on the map. Heebiejeebies, that was close! What if they follow and I fail them?

Then, at an event I need help with in PvE open world, I tag up. People come round, and start to follow.

FINALLY. Something better than the Noob tag – oops, Mentor tag of PvE.

The event ends, and people hang about, expectantly.

As if I know what I am doing.

I announce that this is it, and tag down. The moment of hesitation before they disperse signals disappointment. I feel bad for them.

The Mentor tag was issued in good faith that people will use it to lead those who do not know the way.

When the Mentor tag first came out, I looked up to it. The apple of teachers.
It made me want one. It would make it easier to help new players, no?

Then when I found it is easily obtainable, and used by anyone who WANTS, not GIVES help, it lost its meaning and value as a MENTOR indicator.

Only once or twice have I seen a Mentor who declared themselves and behaved as such. Very good experiences.

What noob commanders like me use it for is to gather everyone, knowledgeable or not, to do an event.

When I tag up using an actual commander tag, things get more serious, until the players notice the tiny event I am tagging for, but stay anyway since they are there now.

In bigger events, I use the Commander Tag as a Gathering/Mustering banner.

If I find anyone in the group who knows the ropes, I hand them the reins wholeheartedly, but often find they refuse to tag up, or are simply unable to afford the tag. Twice I’ve run meta events with the lieutenant actually doing the commanding. I told the group as much. I was only the flag-bearer.

A Commander tag is too heavy for me to carry without the knowledge it needs.

Please create a new tag solely for gathering people at an event. Let it be the shape of a flag or banner icon on the map when anyone opens it.

OR let the orange live event icons/arrows/circles be visible on the main map of the area, not just on the mini map.

When people see a commander tag or mentor tag in an event area when they open the world map, they can easily get the hint and go straight to it, without further expectations.

Also, please make a Trainee or Newbie Commander tag. I will raise it without qualms. People don’t listen when I announce myself as a noob comm. I need an L-plate. It’s the Learner driving plate, a square they attach to your car when you first get your licence in Britain.

People don’t read in-game. They look.

Then they complain when things don’t work, and I ask if they read my mapchat message declaring myself a noob comm of a noob squad.

They skip answering this.

Please make it visually clear when one is a Commander-in-Training (NOT Mentor) vs a full-fledged one vs a Mentor vs a People Gatherer (this latter solvable by making live/ openable events visible on the big region/world map).

Again, many many thanks for this big, beautiful, boundless Tyria!

At risk of copyright issues, I would like to nickname the Newbie Commander/Trainee Commander tag, ‘The Jon Snow Tag’.

I think you’re massively overthinking it, and making a lot of assumptions about what other people are thinking and expecting which may not be true, or are only true for some of those people.

Personally I think each person is responsible for deciding whether they want to follow a commander or mentor or not, and for getting the info they need to make that decision.

If I see a tag I think about what they’re doing (or ask in map chat if I’m not sure – if it’s an area I don’t normally see commanders for example) and then decide if I want to join in with that or not. That way I’m not disappointed by rushing blinding towards a tag assuming it’s something amazing only to find it’s a regular event.

Bad or inexperienced commanders leading events or in WvW are harder to identify, you may have to run with them for a while before it becomes clear they don’t know what they’re doing, but that’s the risk you take when you don’t have an established group, it’s the same with PUGs for dungeons. But I’d much, much rather have a commander who says they’re inexperienced and open to suggestions, or another person leading while they keep the tag up. In my experience those actually tend to be some of the best groups.

I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a commander who is just acting as a marker and having someone else in the squad actually giving instructions. I’ve done Silverwastes that way quite a few times and it works well. Especially because it allows the commander to be right in the thick of it where you need to make some effort to stay alive and the ‘instructor’ can be out of the way in a corner somewhere typing things out. So you have the marker in the right place and clearly written instructions instead of a compromise on both.

When I use my mentor tag (can’t afford a commander tag) I always say in map chat what’s happening and why I’ve tagged up. I’ve only had one occasion when someone complained that I wasn’t doing what they expected. That was when I was using the tag to mark the location of one of the ley line events when they were new. I actually had briefly explained how the event works in map chat, but the person complaining that I wasn’t “a real mentor” told me they keep both map and say chat off at all times so I’m not really sure what they expected.

Agreed, with much thanks!

I shall stick to declaring my intention as I always do, in mapchat and on LFG.

Thanks for the idea of the instructor standing apart typing while the rest are in the thick of it. A very good one!

Blue is considered the “default” color because it was the original, so putting any other color tends to suggest “I am here, follow at your own risk” a bit more.

ArchonWing.9480:

Blue is considered the “default” color because it was the original, so putting any other color tends to suggest “I am here, follow at your own risk” a bit more.

I don’t read anything into the color choice other than maybe the person prefers green or yellow. Some WvW communities tried to get people to use different colors to mean different types of squads (grape for karma trains, of course), but any system that depends on players owning (and knowing how to use) a decoder ring is bound to evolve past the point of recognition.

tl;dr if you’re commanding, then command. Lead people where you want them to go, explain things (or not) so they are more likely to do the things that lead to success.

Personally, I never use a tag to ‘lead’. I find it more effective to offer hints and suggestions.