Guild Wars 2

This was advertised as a PvP oriented game. Yet it seems like there is more catering to the PvE crowd. Why?

I do not care about pve content or pve items. I do however care if the items step into my area of the game and are better and easier to access than the items I can get.

So with that, here is my list of the biggest problems for GW2

1. Cost of exotic armor using karma, is extremely high. PvP should not be about the gear. SPvP has this right.

2. Know your enemy. Half the fun in other mmos is developing adversaries or enemies. Instead we have nameless pvp. Not as fun. Turn on player names in WvW. Or at least make it default on with an option to turn off.

3. The best weapons should always be available to buy with karma and for reasonable amounts. I dont care if you give the same stats and make the skin look plain. I do not want to participate in grinds

4. WvW is EXPENSIVE. Please increase the money that drops in WvW. Or better yet, turn off the need for armor repair in WvW. Pvpers do not want to have to worry about money. If I run around all day doing nothing but WvW i am losing money to repairs, upgrades and schematics.

5. Add in some short term incentives for WvW. Give people a reason to want to join wvw at least once a day. Maybe something like ‘cap 3 towers and 5 camps and 5 killing blows’ and get a daily chest

6. Faster booting of AFK people. Have a clickable inactivity pop up for people who have not moved for 90 seconds

7. Nerf the range of arrow carts by a 100 yards if the AOE nerf is not effective enough. but right now range aoe is hell on melee especially.

8. Add in some WvW only rewards. Things like trinkets, backs etc also as well custom wvw skins, pets etc.

9. Increase Experience rate for wvw. I leveled my lone 80 mostly thru wvw. It takes worlds longer than doing pve and map exploration. I have alot of entire zones that I have never even stepped foot in and never will. I have not done nor will I do a single dungeon. Why? I have ZERO interest in those areas of the game. I play the game to do WvW

10. Outmanned buff needs to be changed. It should affect damage and health as well as wall/door strength and NPCs.

Also it should also come into effect earlier. I can tell you from experience that other servers have had alot more on than one server yet there is no buff. It seems like the buff only appears when the numbers are REALLY screwed up bad. Imo if there are more than 10 people for one server than that is enough to cause imbalance issues really.

11. An announcement that players reported for doing things like wasting resources building rams inside the main keep can be banned. Why should multi account people be allowed to harrass and cheat their way to victory? That needs to stop and the only way it will is if you give them something to fear. Simply make an announcement that any players caught intentionally working against their server will be banned and that there will be zero tolerance of it. That should put an end to it.

12. Better load balancing of population. Lets say a wvw border can only hold 300 players. Now lets say server 1 has 140 people on, server 2 has 100 and 3 has 60. If there is a queue then people from server 1 should have no chance to get in until the queue is gone or the numbers close to equal. But tbh Imo, the server populations should never be allowed to exceed 10 over another.

So the solution? Overflow WvW. Just like overflow LA, just throw people around to WvW servers where there are no queues. This would probably actually help some of the lower tiers or poorly represented to make matches better balanced and closer.

If someone does overflow wvw, give them a bonus to experience and magic find to encourage participation.

Good points. Point 6 already happens I noticed. Though if get put out because I took a glass of water for 95 seconds and I have to wait again 30 minutes to go to EB and crash on load so wait 1h because I wanted a glass of water would seriously kitten me off and I won’t go at all. So 90 seconds is too little imho. Point 5 is also already there and I am not for forcing people with achievements. The fractals are also forced on us.

i dont like the overflow idea at all even if i get annoyed sometimes by queue

there should be rewards !GOOD REWARDS!

the invader armor / weapon i mean dosnt look special or good or something unique at all if i want a good looking GS for my mesmer or good looking rifle for my enginner / armor i am FORCED into doing pve if i want good looking stuff

while on wvwvw you get to spend alot more time getting badges for crappy rewards at high cost

and should be a way to make money also in WvW like killing enemies could give more silver? or turn in badges for some money some people spend Alot of money into upgrade and things

or Higher the % chance to get better drops like rare – exotic from killing people?

You do realise that if they introduce WvWvW exclusive items that alot of people who dont have an interest in it will piggyback to get those items. Which means making it even harder for those sololy interested in WvWvW to get into the map.

As someone who rarely does WvWvW due to the boring nature of it Ill say I dont disagree with most of the things you say. But Id be careful about wishing for items that will force PVE players to go there for cool skins. Look at the ammount of people in there just running round to get map completion and jumping puzzle atm.

Great ideas.

I want to throw a wacky one out there. Sell an item that will store your WvW xp. You can then transfer the item to an other toon and level them up that way. So essentially you can level your alts while playing your main.

Karma in wvw flows in quickly, especially compared to instance and open world pve. The main thing is to be certain you get your daily, which you can do in wvw zones easily.

The Invader’s set is The WvW gear to attain. I think some more options for karma gear would be good for the game, especially some weapons, but I think it’s important that badges of honor be the defining/pinnacle of wvw because they’re exclusive to wvw.

Of all things, I think the list is missing out on the main things that have hindered wvw from being very good and declining since launch. The big problem with wvw is the entire meta has been about bugs hacks and glitches. 100% of the attention from developers has been about removing exploits.

My conclusion about wvwvw is Planetside 2 is just plain better, largely because I don’t suffer culling there. The reason it’s better is that is all that PS2 is about, whereas GW2 is a pve game with great pvp into which they wedged wvw, which is neither. It’s the forgotten minority side of GW2. If you really like wvw type combat, you should play a game where it’s central to the design/development.

Looks like an interesting discussion, for the wrong board.
WuvWuv Board

I know it’s wrong, but I just love rolling over people like the OP in my BiS gear and best buffs. WvW requires PvE grind and lots of it too. For those who can’t stomach it: spvp is thataway →

Great post, I really hope these idea’s get some deserved attention.

A couple I would add would be:-
1) Make tokens a currency like karma (I swear I have left hundreds lying out on the battlefield), by all means keep the ‘loot’ in the lootbags but plz make tokens a currency.

2) Commander Icon should not be a reward for shopping… it should be earned in some way out on the battlefield.

1. As others said Karma in WvW flows quickly, I have almost 200k and I am banking jugs.

2. ANet does not want people to comunicate from opposing factions, they even removed account name showing from report, so I do not think this will happen.

3. Agreed.

4. WvW is expensive because golds have a huge impact on war, upgrading towers has a cost, buying blueprints has a cost: i.e. if each attacker could use a golem any time they attack a tower it would be a disaster, doors would go down so fast none would be able to react in time.

If WvW had a separate currency system, I mean totaly different not a complementary one like badges, I would agree on getting more so those who don’t like to PvE wouldn’t feel at a disadvantage.

5. Would be nice to have some sort of daily with a WvW only reward: blueprints and/or badges.

6. 90s is not enough, I am sure you can understand why I am saying this if you think about it

7. Any profession has a ranged option and attacking a tower is a group effort, you should ask and get support from other profession via boons and water fields/blasts combos.

8. As long as they are aestethic I agree ^^

9. Experience gained in WvW depends on how many objectives you conquer, there are nights where I will gain 2/3 levels or even more and kills experience can be boosted up to +75% afaik, so I don’t realy think it would be necesary to increase it.

10. Agreed, Outmanned is useless in its current application.

11. Zero tolerance against cheaters is allways good

12. I am all up for a better balancing of population, but overflows are not the solution, if someone wants to play on a highly populated (thus advantaged) server then they should just sit in a queue and know that the only way to get instant access to WvW maps is to transfer to the underpopulated server.

13. You missed the biggest worse problem afflicting WvW: Player Culling.

I realy like playing GW2, I enjoy its professions, its combat system, dynamic events, map exploration etc… But culling is ruining WvW more than profession imbalance, more than population imbalance, more than anything else you listed in your topic OP.

“9. Increase Experience rate for wvw. I leveled my lone 80 mostly thru wvw. It takes worlds longer than doing pve and map exploration. I have alot of entire zones that I have never even stepped foot in and never will. I have not done nor will I do a single dungeon. Why? I have ZERO interest in those areas of the game. I play the game to do WvW”

This is where you lost me. When leveling I go into WvW specifically because it can be some of the best xp.

You need to have a commander rolling objectives or AT LEAST get a group doing sentries.

But if you do that the XP is phenomenal so I have no idea where you are getting this opinion from.

It blows me away how they can have created this massive world for exploration and play, yet people disregard it all so that they can trade forts back and forth every hour…to each their own I guess. I suspect, however, that this is why they decided not to make the rewards on par with PvE – they don’t expect you to play only that game mode.

I couldn’t disagree more on the anonymous names thing. One of the only things that makes me ever want to play WvW is the fact that the enemy can’t identify you. People are unnecessarily hostile in PvP. I don’t want to get adversaries or enemies because people online are total kitten. The further I am separated from their inflated egos and insecure, trakittenalking nonsense, the better.

Fletch.4603:

10. Outmanned buff needs to be changed. It should affect damage and health as well as wall/door strength and NPCs.

adding this will force small groups (server with more ppls) to stay near zerg, so no thx

Sil.4560:

It blows me away how they can have created this massive world for exploration and play, yet people disregard it all so that they can trade forts back and forth every hour…to each their own I guess. I suspect, however, that this is why they decided not to make the rewards on par with PvE – they don’t expect you to play only that game mode.

I couldn’t disagree more on the anonymous names thing. One of the only things that makes me ever want to play WvW is the fact that the enemy can’t identify you. People are unnecessarily hostile in PvP. I don’t want to get adversaries or enemies because people online are total kitten. The further I am separated from their inflated egos and insecure, trakittenalking nonsense, the better.

I agree with this, wholeheartedly. I’ve never understood why people say that GW2 is “a PvP game” or “a PvE game.” I believe it’s equal parts of both. Why should players pigeonhole themselves into only one part of the game? There are things to see and enjoy in all aspects of the game.

As for wanting names in WvW: I personally think it’s a terrible idea. As Sil so correctly said, PvP communities are unnecessarily hostile, and adding names to WvW seems to serve no purpose other than facilitating trakittenalk and ill will. Besides, if you want to make enemies, sPvP seems to accommodate that just fine. It is “Player vs. Player”, after all. World vs. World is just that – the servers battling each other. Less about the part, and more about the whole.

In my experience, the perception of WvW varies greatly on how well your world is faring in your current bracket and your zergability — let’s face it, if you roll with a zerg that’s doing a lot of events, you’re going to get A LOT of Karma, Experience, Coin and XP. Is it broken? Hard to say … my advice is only do WvW with big groups and you wont have half the problem listed above.

the most problem i see is with honor badges ( rewards )

invaders armor just … No its alot of time for that armor? the weapons? horrible

Caelib.2497:

In my experience, the perception of WvW varies greatly on how well your world is faring in your current bracket and your zergability — let’s face it, if you roll with a zerg that’s doing a lot of events, you’re going to get A LOT of Karma, Experience, Coin and XP. Is it broken? Hard to say … my advice is only do WvW with big groups and you wont have half the problem listed above.

Exactly, and I personally think it is a problem.

WHen you have an optional game mode that yields great rewards for the winners, but nothing but repair costs for the losers…you are setting it up for failure. Except in the upper tiers where each server is dedicated, most random players will jump in on a losing team, die a few times and realize that there is absolutely NOTHING to encourage them to stay. They can return to the relative safety of PvE where you have to try very very hard to not level up.

How that can be fixed, I have no idea….but I do think it is a problem. Not for me since I’m on a higher Tier server where people will fight come hell or high water, but I imagine on the lower servers it keeps a lot of them from getting people interested in WvW.

1) I’d say make one well affordable karma set, and other more exclusive ones.

2) Eventually I’d want full visibility (if someone has a legendary set of PvP/WvW awesome, the enemy should see at once this is a fearsome enemy… and then see the name and run). However, it means a lot more data; with culling being already the biggest problem, a big no. If at all, make it default=no.

3) same as 1

4) Consider raising loot value. But the real one I’d wish to see is, make siege and upgrades a better investment. Siege shouldn’t de-spawn unless destroyed, and upgrades should be more worthwhile by making it harder to take objectives, in general.

5) Problem with people just hoarding dailies taking spots on the top servers. Monthly incentives help somewhat, though it should focus on WvW objectives, not kills. Bigger issue is that some servers are packed while others are undermanned.

6) Please, don’t make me take a stopwatch to the toilet. Don’t know the current timeframe, about 5-10 mins would seem okay to me. Real wars also have AFKers taking a leak.

7) Disagree. There’s a little issue between melee and ranged in general – I’d say as consideration: increase (melee) survivability, increase ranges, but give an accuracy penalty at longer range. Long range exchanges should be possible, but less effective.

8) Agree, particularly make legendaries that reflect the kind of player you are. Shows your individual accomplishments better than “I did everything needed to have this one”. I’d also like different “legendary tiers”, to show you’re actually super awesome, or super special awesome (last tier is no-life awesome :P).

9) Exp is fairly okay. What I would prefer is having smaller sub-objectives. Say a garrison having four objectives: breach wall 1, breach wall 2, lord’s room, and overall. Thus failed attempts would still reward some xp.

10) Outmanned needs an overhaul imo. See 12 for more. Possibly keep an outmanned buff that adds more NPCs on your side.

11) If a player does this on purpose, report cheating and ban, naturally. Most what I see though is newbs doing so because they don’t know better – it’s up to their veterans and leaders to instruct them. Don’t go banning people for ignorance, obviously.

12a) I think the outmanned buff could be reworked for this purpose. Basically, get a rating for each server on how full it tends to be, and set the xp/loot buff to be the opposite of that. 100% full server average means no buff, 67% full means 33% buff, 30% full average means 70% buff. This would provide incentive for players to go to a relatively empty server (should of course be free etc). Also a consideration: allow players to pick a WvW server apart from their PvE server (so that players don’t need to choose between the two).
12b) Don’t know how the cap works, but if it’s 300 per map, that should be 100 for each team.
12c) A consideration: allow a real WvW and a practice WvW. Practice is an overflow shared among servers, with random teams, slightly lower rewards maybe. This’d allow newbs a place to learn, and guilds a place to practice, without fear of taking a better player’s slot, and would always allow players to bypass queues, if 12a doesn’t solve that.

Added 13: I feel, at least when I play, a major issue is the pace being too high. Even Stonemist can be taken in a matter of minutes with a well coordinated attack. Awesome to do, sure, but kind of ruins the epicness of a battle when you know your work will be undone completely overnight, and likely several times before that. Ideally I’d say, longer distances (allowing more skirmishes in the field). I’d also consider another fortress tier, in which system towers mainly serve as a buffer. And slower sieges, be it by stronger walls, and/or more npc’s.
Especially consider the nightcapping.

Fletch.4603:

4. WvW is EXPENSIVE. Please increase the money that drops in WvW. Or better yet, turn off the need for armor repair in WvW. Pvpers do not want to have to worry about money. If I run around all day doing nothing but WvW i am losing money to repairs, upgrades and schematics.

Removing the need for armor repair in WvWvW may help with the Alt+F4 problem. If players (especially world completion explorers who don’t really want to be there anyway) know they won’t be losing repair money on death, they probably will be more prone to participate and fight to the death and not log out if they get attacked while trying to snag a PoI or Vista.