Guild Wars 2

Here’s an idea for Guild Halls / GvG / Housing that I’m not sure I’ve exactly seen before. Here comes a long post (usually the only kind I do).

Let’s have an island or some area that is basically a very large zone, like the size of a WvW map. A guild could own their own version of this zone and it has several designated locations where a “kingdom” could be built. The map would be divided up into several regions and your guild can build on the one they choose (on a side note, I think a guild-voting feature should be added).

Your guild settles into its preferred region and then has a huge variety of things they can do. Some limits of course to avoid abuse/exploits, but in general, the goal is to have a whole lot of freedom.

I’d like to see a whole new set of blueprints you can acquire for different buildings, or parts of buildings (maybe have a whole new “architect” crafting profession rather than just a vendor). Make it so you can place buildings, walls, etc wherever you want. You’d need to gather supply to build, same as WvW, and of course teamwork gets stuff done faster. There wouldn’t be just x-number of generic pre-made Halls to choose from like GW1, but instead every guild would have its own spin on it. Building it in the way they think would be coolest and most defensible.

Beyond that, within the kingdom, each member of the guild could have his/her own plot of land to build what they want. This can all be just a peaceful land if you wish, but your guild can also flag your kingdom for GvG where you can queue up various matches .. 5v5, 10v10, 20vs20, etc. So this isn’t just for big guilds. Various options, big and small. I imagine the smaller ones would be more popular as it would be easier to come up with the people.

But when the match starts, you are matched up against guilds that settled into one of the other regions in their version. So the general geography is consistent, but the enemies, their location and layout will change. To top it off, when the match starts, you don’t know which region the enemy lives in so you have to go find out where they are and what kind of setup they built. Maybe there could be matches vs multiple opponents, like a 5-guild FFA. Hey, why not? This would also be a great chance to bring back Guild Alliances. How about 2 guilds vs 2 guilds?

This could be so much more dynamic and varied than GvG in GW1, and on top of that, it would have a lot more personal investment because it’s something you designed and built yourselves, both as a guild, and individually. I was also thinking that any damage your buildings receive in the battle might be persistent and would have to be repaired during or after the fight. I’m not sure that would add much “fun” to it, but it could prompt design changes, like if the same spot keeps getting destroyed, maybe some tweaks could be in order as long as you’re rebuilding anyway.

Maybe some sort of Guild Airships (or naval ships) could also be added to the equation. Things you can pilot while others mount the guns. I’ve had the ships idea for a really long time but it’s been re-inspired after seeing a bunch of Archeage videos recently. The ships could be used as a possible way into the enemy kingdoms, bypassing the need for siege weapons. Though they’d be highly vulnerable to defensive weapons (tell me you wouldn’t like to drop an airship with a treb).

There should also be some sort of prestige for the guilds who most often win. And I’m not talking about some ranking on a website, but something very apparent for the world to see IN-GAME. Not just for #1 in a tournament, but maybe just in general, the more wins your guild earns, the more prestigious they are in the world. And not for a week or season, but permanent or at least long term (maybe reset once a year or every 6 months at least). I wouldn’t want to see anything directly game-affecting for the prestige, but maybe have a section in every major city where it prominently displays the 5-10 top-performing guilds (name, tag, and banner) with their current stats.

Many of us are always interested in more guild-oriented things to do, more reasons to even have a guild. This, I think, would be a HUGE one.

you are describing ArcheAge essentially- Northern Continent

Will not happen cuz a-net doesn’t care and wants to be the “hipster” MMO

I haven’t seen GvG / castle sieging for Archeage, but I’ve seen the ship stuff and found it very impressive. There are too many “old school” things about that game for my liking though ..the questing, skill bars, levels / gear making a huge difference. But I am interested in trying it out when it releases or is in open beta (and I’m more interested in Everquest Next ..someday). But what I’d REALLY like to see for the foreseeable future is for GW2 to come out with some amazing features like that. Permanent highly customizable property ..both personal and guild. And guild ships you can actually use ..that would be such an incredible plus.

WvW is cool and all, but it doesn’t really have that personal investment. No matter what happens there, nobody sees it or cares outside in the rest of the world. As far as I’ve seen guilds don’t care as much anymore about claiming a castle because it will just be taken from you the moment you turn your back, and the whole thing gets reset on Friday anyway.

The only real rewards are in capturing, not defending, so everyone just moves on to the next capture. We’re not invested in the castles because we didn’t design / build them, and we don’t get to keep them very long anyway even if we want to. We have nothing at all to do with them except being brief visitors. There’s nothing that’s actually ours, nothing customized to our tastes.

WvW is fun in a “basketball back and forth” kind of way but why can’t we have something with more depth and meaning? I know Anet is “working on a couple of big projects” or whatever. That’s great, but I do NOT appreciate the secrecy. I want to know if they are, or are not, in fact working on anything at all like this. I don’t care if it’s not done and won’t be for another year. I don’t expect perfection or for things to be ready right this instant, but I would like to know what FEATURES (not story) they are working on and if any kind of progress has been made.

Imagine how many threads could stop being made (like this one) if they would publish an official list of what non-story-spoiling projects they are working on, and a very brief description of their progress. I’d gladly shut up about Halls and Housing if I knew they were definitely working on it and had some vague idea of what their vision for it is.

But since they like their secrets, I guess we have to keep reminding them of what of what we hope they’re working on. ArenaNet devs, please feel free to chime in. Seriously, please do.

I’d like to see ANert just give us Guild Halls and GvG like we had in GW. Doesn’t even have to be 8v8, can be 5v5 if they want. Oh and some type of PvP like Heroes Ascent would be nice also.

It has already been 2 years and since then not a peep or whisper about Housing/Guild Halls/GvG. it’ll probably never happen anytime soon.

Think small incremental updates with GW2, not big fantasies.
Its after all already a 2 year old mmo.

Indeed the old GW1 features were nice, but that’s kind of a minimum standard we should expect. That might be aiming low though for 2014-2015. They “could” take things so much further, largely using concepts already in the game (like blueprints and supply).

Kartel.2561:

Here’s an idea for Guild Halls / GvG / Housing that I’m not sure I’ve exactly seen before. Here comes a long post (usually the only kind I do).

Let’s have an island or some area that is basically a very large zone, like the size of a WvW map. A guild could own their own version of this zone and it has several designated locations where a “kingdom” could be built. The map would be divided up into several regions and your guild can build on the one they choose (on a side note, I think a guild-voting feature should be added).

Your guild settles into its preferred region and then has a huge variety of things they can do. Some limits of course to avoid abuse/exploits, but in general, the goal is to have a whole lot of freedom.

I’d like to see a whole new set of blueprints you can acquire for different buildings, or parts of buildings (maybe have a whole new “architect” crafting profession rather than just a vendor). Make it so you can place buildings, walls, etc wherever you want. You’d need to gather supply to build, same as WvW, and of course teamwork gets stuff done faster. There wouldn’t be just x-number of generic pre-made Halls to choose from like GW1, but instead every guild would have its own spin on it. Building it in the way they think would be coolest and most defensible.

Beyond that, within the kingdom, each member of the guild could have his/her own plot of land to build what they want. This can all be just a peaceful land if you wish, but your guild can also flag your kingdom for GvG where you can queue up various matches .. 5v5, 10v10, 20vs20, etc. So this isn’t just for big guilds. Various options, big and small. I imagine the smaller ones would be more popular as it would be easier to come up with the people.

But when the match starts, you are matched up against guilds that settled into one of the other regions in their version. So the general geography is consistent, but the enemies, their location and layout will change. To top it off, when the match starts, you don’t know which region the enemy lives in so you have to go find out where they are and what kind of setup they built. Maybe there could be matches vs multiple opponents, like a 5-guild FFA. Hey, why not? This would also be a great chance to bring back Guild Alliances. How about 2 guilds vs 2 guilds?

This could be so much more dynamic and varied than GvG in GW1, and on top of that, it would have a lot more personal investment because it’s something you designed and built yourselves, both as a guild, and individually. I was also thinking that any damage your buildings receive in the battle might be persistent and would have to be repaired during or after the fight. I’m not sure that would add much “fun” to it, but it could prompt design changes, like if the same spot keeps getting destroyed, maybe some tweaks could be in order as long as you’re rebuilding anyway.

Maybe some sort of Guild Airships (or naval ships) could also be added to the equation. Things you can pilot while others mount the guns. I’ve had the ships idea for a really long time but it’s been re-inspired after seeing a bunch of Archeage videos recently. The ships could be used as a possible way into the enemy kingdoms, bypassing the need for siege weapons. Though they’d be highly vulnerable to defensive weapons (tell me you wouldn’t like to drop an airship with a treb).

There should also be some sort of prestige for the guilds who most often win. And I’m not talking about some ranking on a website, but something very apparent for the world to see IN-GAME. Not just for #1 in a tournament, but maybe just in general, the more wins your guild earns, the more prestigious they are in the world. And not for a week or season, but permanent or at least long term (maybe reset once a year or every 6 months at least). I wouldn’t want to see anything directly game-affecting for the prestige, but maybe have a section in every major city where it prominently displays the 5-10 top-performing guilds (name, tag, and banner) with their current stats.

Many of us are always interested in more guild-oriented things to do, more reasons to even have a guild. This, I think, would be a HUGE one.

Arena Net listen up!

Please hire this person. Everything about your post is awesome.

Agree 100% This would be amazing.

I like your idea pal, this could very well be something that anet has as a pet project, however, i dont think we would see it for at least a year even if they are working on something like this now. But still its great to get these ideas out there and heard!

what you want is great
- but the this is a Themepark MMO- what you are describing is a Sandbox or in the case of AA a Sandpark.

Those two things are very different- you cannot have persistent player driven content in a Themepark game- at least I have never seen it.

I have also not seen any sign that Anet has any interest in adding such content- or even sandbox lite content like fishing- housing or whatever

which is why I play AA- it feels very much more alive when the world around you is player driven

Morrigan.2809:

what you want is great
- but the this is a Themepark MMO- what you are describing is a Sandbox or in the case of AA a Sandpark.

Those two things are very different- you cannot have persistent player driven content in a Themepark game- at least I have never seen it.

I have also not seen any sign that Anet has any interest in adding such content- or even sandbox lite content like fishing- housing or whatever

which is why I play AA- it feels very much more alive when the world around you is player driven

What would this have to do with GW2 being a theme park? It would be just as “off to the side” as WvW and spvp. Put it in the Mists for all I care (though I do favor something I can look at on the normal map). It doesn’t need to have any more story involvement than those other things.

Kartel.2561:

Morrigan.2809:

what you want is great
- but the this is a Themepark MMO- what you are describing is a Sandbox or in the case of AA a Sandpark.

Those two things are very different- you cannot have persistent player driven content in a Themepark game- at least I have never seen it.

I have also not seen any sign that Anet has any interest in adding such content- or even sandbox lite content like fishing- housing or whatever

which is why I play AA- it feels very much more alive when the world around you is player driven

What would this have to do with GW2 being a theme park? It would be just as “off to the side” as WvW and spvp. Put it in the Mists for all I care (though I do favor something I can look at on the normal map). It doesn’t need to have any more story involvement than those other things.

then I misunderstood your OP- from what you were describing it sounded like a persistent environment in the world- you said large map or island- I was thinking a place like South Sun from that.

still it is sandbox content- wvwvw is as boring as it is because it is still a themepark.

if you attack another guild you want to burn their castle and burn their fields- if you could claim it permanently and charge the peasants taxes, so much the better.
that is Sandbox

I cannot see Anet doing content like that- it would be awesome, just don’t think they would do it.
In the mists or where ever.
All their content is designed to funnel you a long a path- which is fine for a themepark game because you want to keep the players together

Morrigan.2809:

Kartel.2561:

Morrigan.2809:

what you want is great
- but the this is a Themepark MMO- what you are describing is a Sandbox or in the case of AA a Sandpark.

Those two things are very different- you cannot have persistent player driven content in a Themepark game- at least I have never seen it.

I have also not seen any sign that Anet has any interest in adding such content- or even sandbox lite content like fishing- housing or whatever

which is why I play AA- it feels very much more alive when the world around you is player driven

What would this have to do with GW2 being a theme park? It would be just as “off to the side” as WvW and spvp. Put it in the Mists for all I care (though I do favor something I can look at on the normal map). It doesn’t need to have any more story involvement than those other things.

then I misunderstood your OP- from what you were describing it sounded like a persistent environment in the world- you said large map or island- I was thinking a place like South Sun from that.

still it is sandbox content- wvwvw is as boring as it is because it is still a themepark.

if you attack another guild you want to burn their castle and burn their fields- if you could claim it permanently and charge the peasants taxes, so much the better.
that is Sandbox

I cannot see Anet doing content like that- it would be awesome, just don’t think they would do it.
In the mists or where ever.
All their content is designed to funnel you a long a path- which is fine for a themepark game because you want to keep the players together

Maybe they could sell add-ons for the buildings like furniture, paintings, etc on the gem store. Isn’t that where all roads lead? Come up with new cool content for us so they can sell us overpriced toys to go with it.

And you were right as far as the island like southsun, except I was thinking much bigger and private to your guild. You go there and it takes you to your guild’s version of the zone. Maybe there could be a browser option to be able to check out other guild kingdoms that they’ve made public. Maybe a voting /rating feature too. Remember this doesn’t have to just be for GvG matches.

Have 5-10 areas on the map where your guild can make a claim, and build from there. Castle, houses, etc, however and wherever you like within the claimed area. But no other kingdom claims would be on the map until you queue for GvG and it takes you to an instance where the enemy guild has one of the different claim locations and a matching number of players.

Maybe with an alliance system, the zone can automatically merge yours and your ally’s map so you can be together when not in GvG.

Kartel.2561:

Morrigan.2809:

Kartel.2561:

Morrigan.2809:

what you want is great
- but the this is a Themepark MMO- what you are describing is a Sandbox or in the case of AA a Sandpark.

Those two things are very different- you cannot have persistent player driven content in a Themepark game- at least I have never seen it.

I have also not seen any sign that Anet has any interest in adding such content- or even sandbox lite content like fishing- housing or whatever

which is why I play AA- it feels very much more alive when the world around you is player driven

What would this have to do with GW2 being a theme park? It would be just as “off to the side” as WvW and spvp. Put it in the Mists for all I care (though I do favor something I can look at on the normal map). It doesn’t need to have any more story involvement than those other things.

then I misunderstood your OP- from what you were describing it sounded like a persistent environment in the world- you said large map or island- I was thinking a place like South Sun from that.

still it is sandbox content- wvwvw is as boring as it is because it is still a themepark.

if you attack another guild you want to burn their castle and burn their fields- if you could claim it permanently and charge the peasants taxes, so much the better.
that is Sandbox

I cannot see Anet doing content like that- it would be awesome, just don’t think they would do it.
In the mists or where ever.
All their content is designed to funnel you a long a path- which is fine for a themepark game because you want to keep the players together

Maybe they could sell add-ons for the buildings like furniture, paintings, etc on the gem store. Isn’t that where all roads lead? Come up with new cool content for us so they can sell us overpriced toys to go with it.

And you were right as far as the island like southsun, except I was thinking much bigger and private to your guild. You go there and it takes you to your guild’s version of the zone. Maybe there could be a browser option to be able to check out other guild kingdoms that they’ve made public. Maybe a voting /rating feature too. Remember this doesn’t have to just be for GvG matches.

Have 5-10 areas on the map where your guild can make a claim, and build from there. Castle, houses, etc, however and wherever you like within the claimed area. But no other kingdom claims would be on the map until you queue for GvG and it takes you to an instance where the enemy guild has one of the different claim locations and a matching number of players.

Maybe with an alliance system, the zone can automatically merge yours and your ally’s map so you can be together when not in GvG.

Which is basically what Archeage online is all about.

Azrael.4960:

Kartel.2561:

Morrigan.2809:

Kartel.2561:

Morrigan.2809:

what you want is great
- but the this is a Themepark MMO- what you are describing is a Sandbox or in the case of AA a Sandpark.

Those two things are very different- you cannot have persistent player driven content in a Themepark game- at least I have never seen it.

I have also not seen any sign that Anet has any interest in adding such content- or even sandbox lite content like fishing- housing or whatever

which is why I play AA- it feels very much more alive when the world around you is player driven

What would this have to do with GW2 being a theme park? It would be just as “off to the side” as WvW and spvp. Put it in the Mists for all I care (though I do favor something I can look at on the normal map). It doesn’t need to have any more story involvement than those other things.

then I misunderstood your OP- from what you were describing it sounded like a persistent environment in the world- you said large map or island- I was thinking a place like South Sun from that.

still it is sandbox content- wvwvw is as boring as it is because it is still a themepark.

if you attack another guild you want to burn their castle and burn their fields- if you could claim it permanently and charge the peasants taxes, so much the better.
that is Sandbox

I cannot see Anet doing content like that- it would be awesome, just don’t think they would do it.
In the mists or where ever.
All their content is designed to funnel you a long a path- which is fine for a themepark game because you want to keep the players together

Maybe they could sell add-ons for the buildings like furniture, paintings, etc on the gem store. Isn’t that where all roads lead? Come up with new cool content for us so they can sell us overpriced toys to go with it.

And you were right as far as the island like southsun, except I was thinking much bigger and private to your guild. You go there and it takes you to your guild’s version of the zone. Maybe there could be a browser option to be able to check out other guild kingdoms that they’ve made public. Maybe a voting /rating feature too. Remember this doesn’t have to just be for GvG matches.

Have 5-10 areas on the map where your guild can make a claim, and build from there. Castle, houses, etc, however and wherever you like within the claimed area. But no other kingdom claims would be on the map until you queue for GvG and it takes you to an instance where the enemy guild has one of the different claim locations and a matching number of players.

Maybe with an alliance system, the zone can automatically merge yours and your ally’s map so you can be together when not in GvG.

Which is basically what Archeage online is all about.

ArcheAge is a step backwards if you look at the combat system.
Apart from that it has everything GW2 should already had from the start.

Azrael.4960:

Kartel.2561:

Morrigan.2809:

Kartel.2561:

Morrigan.2809:

what you want is great
- but the this is a Themepark MMO- what you are describing is a Sandbox or in the case of AA a Sandpark.

Those two things are very different- you cannot have persistent player driven content in a Themepark game- at least I have never seen it.

I have also not seen any sign that Anet has any interest in adding such content- or even sandbox lite content like fishing- housing or whatever

which is why I play AA- it feels very much more alive when the world around you is player driven

What would this have to do with GW2 being a theme park? It would be just as “off to the side” as WvW and spvp. Put it in the Mists for all I care (though I do favor something I can look at on the normal map). It doesn’t need to have any more story involvement than those other things.

then I misunderstood your OP- from what you were describing it sounded like a persistent environment in the world- you said large map or island- I was thinking a place like South Sun from that.

still it is sandbox content- wvwvw is as boring as it is because it is still a themepark.

if you attack another guild you want to burn their castle and burn their fields- if you could claim it permanently and charge the peasants taxes, so much the better.
that is Sandbox

I cannot see Anet doing content like that- it would be awesome, just don’t think they would do it.
In the mists or where ever.
All their content is designed to funnel you a long a path- which is fine for a themepark game because you want to keep the players together

Maybe they could sell add-ons for the buildings like furniture, paintings, etc on the gem store. Isn’t that where all roads lead? Come up with new cool content for us so they can sell us overpriced toys to go with it.

And you were right as far as the island like southsun, except I was thinking much bigger and private to your guild. You go there and it takes you to your guild’s version of the zone. Maybe there could be a browser option to be able to check out other guild kingdoms that they’ve made public. Maybe a voting /rating feature too. Remember this doesn’t have to just be for GvG matches.

Have 5-10 areas on the map where your guild can make a claim, and build from there. Castle, houses, etc, however and wherever you like within the claimed area. But no other kingdom claims would be on the map until you queue for GvG and it takes you to an instance where the enemy guild has one of the different claim locations and a matching number of players.

Maybe with an alliance system, the zone can automatically merge yours and your ally’s map so you can be together when not in GvG.

Which is basically what Archeage online is all about.

except he is talking of instances/ private maps- North Continent is not instanced, nor is anything else apart from a couple of dungeons.
as for furniture and paintings and all that you craft it or buy it from someone else who did

No idea what AA sells in the store either since it is not up in the alpha..
but yes – he sounds like he wants to play AA

@Xerion.8014- yes I prefer GW2 combat- but then I am still trying to wrap my head around combat in AA- no dodge takes getting used to.

Morrigan.2809:

@Xerion.8014- yes I prefer GW2 combat- but then I am still trying to wrap my head around combat in AA- no dodge takes getting used to.

AA looks promising, have played the Alpha a bit, waiting for the beta to start.
Going to be a heavy task to adjust to the old combat system in AA and keep being used to GW2 combat system since i will be playing both.

Anyway, i’m going incredibly off topic. And i apoligize for that.

Much love!

“Ideas for Guild Halls / Housing” … have some. That’d be an excellent start.