Guild Wars 2

I had a thread a month or so before megaservers came, trying to discuss the very point most of us bring up, putting RPG back into MMORPG. (I would search this subforum for it, but you know, the search feature of this forum is what it is…)

It was bad timing it seems, because back then all i got back from it was people pointing out that “RPG” is not about roleplaying but about character customization and stats and builds.

Ignorance is a bliss…

Either way, there are many games out there who respect a RPlayer. If GW2 won’t anymore, there are more fish in the ocean.

It’s frustrating that ANet created a game with one of the best environments for roleplay… and then seems to have abandoned that very part of the game.

Well over a year after launch and we still can’t even sit in chairs? Really? Other games have solved this problem, even with races that have a wide range in sizes and shapes.

The town clothes debacle… argh. There’s so many better ways they could have handled this. Even just making it act like a fourth class of armor. They had it so close, then wrecked it.

I’d love to see them spend a little time and effort on retaining the very people who stick with a game for a long time, and buy lots of gem items. Give us a feature and content update that focuses on roleplayers. Please. Because there’s a lot of games out there, and I don’t want to lose more of my guild to them than I already have.

I see masses of RPers everytime I step into Rata Sum now.

I don’t know what you guys are crying about. Shouldn’t you be “RPing” instead of bumming around here?

As a non-RPer I really do feel you guys should have a RP flag and have a RP shard. I say this as someone who enjoyed going after the yak parade for months. You guys have your fun, we have ours, I think it’s what is supposed to make Guild Wars 2 a game worth telling people about. I think it’s what makes it so when you buy gems, you feel like a supporter and not a sucker. Hopefully ANet listens to you folks.

Someone explain the Yak Parade to a Pikeneer, RP in WvW has always interested me.

Forst.5863:

Someone explain the Yak Parade to a Pikeneer, RP in WvW has always interested me.

I had to look it up too. What I found made my day.

We Are Yaks

Very simplified…

TC every Thursday would parade around a borderland as yaks, to show support and gratitude for those that escort/defend yaks as they deliver supply to keeps/towers. Skipping some context and history… FA used to try and kill those yaks.

lakdav.3694:

I had a thread a month or so before megaservers came, trying to discuss the very point most of us bring up, putting RPG back into MMORPG. (I would search this subforum for it, but you know, the search feature of this forum is what it is…)

It was bad timing it seems, because back then all i got back from it was people pointing out that “RPG” is not about roleplaying but about character customization and stats and builds.

I can’t help but find it amusing, in a morbid sort of way, how easily most people are fooled. The truth is every game has stats, but that doesn’t even register to most people if it’s not shoved in their face. Hell, Rock and Roll racing for the SNES had gear, stats, customization and build possibilities, but no one in their right mind would call it an RPG, yet it would qualify based on what people have been trained to expect these days. Even first person shooters have stats, if one gun is better than another gun, it’s because it actually has better stats. They’re just not visible, but that’s a matter of UI not a matter of genre. I was having a discussion with a friend the other day, explaining that the new batman games fit into that category. You have stats, you get gear which you can upgrade, and are able to customize your character’s build.

Conversely, by the actual definition of RPG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game ), GW2 wouldn’t qualify as an RPG. It’s an action platformer, with minor third person shooter qualities. Most MMOs fall into a similar category, because whether they like to admit it or not, they all copy previous MMOs.

Simply put, you were right, based on actual facts. The people who were arguing with you were…. well, marks. Every con man knows how to trick a sucker, and that’s what the current MMO market revolves around. Tricking people into thinking a duck is a goat, and then getting them to defend their quacking goat.

To be fair GW2 does fall under the definition of RPG:

‘Several varieties of RPG also exist in electronic media, such as multi-player text-based MUDs and their graphics-based successors, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Role-playing games also include single-player offline role-playing video games in which players control a character or team who undertake quests, and may include capabilities that advance using statistical mechanics. These games often share settings and rules with tabletop RPGs, but emphasize character advancement more than collaborative storytelling.’

I don’t think anyone bought GW2 under the assumption that it would be a strictly Roleplaying game, but I do see areas that need improvement with regards to RP.

I think the whole tangent topic of ‘what does or doesn’t constitute a RPG’ is taking attention away from the fact that there is a large RP player base in this game, despite the fact that GW2 doesn’t seem very inclined to make it easy for them.

Karuna.1357:

I think the whole tangent topic of ‘what does or doesn’t constitute a RPG’ is taking attention away from the fact that there is a large RP player base in this game, despite the fact that GW2 doesn’t seem very inclined to make it easy for them.

Well…. it’s kind of the same issue, really. The RP part has been slowly getting removed from RPGs, and other genres have been plugged into the gaps that were left. It’s a trend in every MMO, really. The RP playerbase has been gradually pushed out of the genre, and is now considered a “niche crowd”, and support is treated as a waste of resources.

RP communities still persist, however as someone on the EQN roundtable put it, that’s not because of the games, but in spite of them. There are millions of roleplayers that would actually like an online roleplaying game, but they know what to expect from MMOs so most avoid them. Whereas if the games weren’t continually making it harder and harder for RPers, and actually reversed that trend, it would draw many many more RPers back into the MMOs.

The problem, however, doesn’t lie with the development studios. It’s the parent companies, such as EA or NCSoft. They don’t care about the product at all, just as long as they get a profit from it. The genre, the quality, the communities are all non-factors. The development studios basically get told “do what we say, or find another job”, and are forced to make sacrifice after sacrifice, and end up with something much different and many times much worse than what they originally wanted. If you look at TOR, the devs from Bioware said there were many nights where they left the office in tears because of what they were forced to leave on the cutting room floor. This isn’t unique to just EA, it’s become a common trend in all MMOs.

Conversely, if you look at indie games, they’re almost the polar opposite. If you ignore the quality of the graphics, and just focus on the meat of the games, they’re much much better. They have to be. However, the problem a lot of indie studios run into is needing to cut corners due to not having enough money to actually develop what they want. If the money were spread around a bit more, or if the parent companies would butt out and let developers have full control, the overall quality of the games would skyrocket. Ironically, higher quality games would lead to more players, which would lead to much more money overall.

Today’s industry is primarily just about the short term profits, and funneling that money into the next short term profit venture. Basically….. exactly how flipping drugs works. There’s no long term. Anything that would promote long term health of a game, such as RP and PvP, gets ignored in favor of the revolving door design.

What’s even more ironic is the wedge that’s been driven between the RP and PvP crowds, when they’re actually fairly similar in a few key regards. They’re both very low maintenance, mainly just needing a good core starting system and only minor future updates. They both stick around for the long term, due to being able to make their own fun and not needing it made for them. They’re also both creative thinkers, instead of rotation spammers and facerollers. As we’ve seen in GW2, support for both the RP crowd and WvW crowd is sorely lacking. sPvP got minor attention, due to the esports delusion, but it’s primarily about the living story, throw away content, and the revolving door dynamic. RPers and PvPers really should be banding together to stand up for long term players, but most are too busy continuing to demonize each other based on myths to do so. Those who actually do both RP and PvP often get it from both sides, because they’re not strictly one or the other. Which just makes the revolving door dynamics even easier to pull off. It’s….. a very sad state of affairs, really.

Hi,

I am not happy with how megaservers are functioning. As RPers, we were assured that we didn’t have to worry, because we’d by-and-large be seeing the same people we’d normally see on our home servers. I do recognize guild tags and such when I log in these days, but the /community/ of RPers seems so desolate now. It’s really disheartening to walk into areas which have always been busy hubs of RP and find nothing. No one. Through effort, I can still communicate with people in my guilds and on my friendslist and coordinate someone to be an ‘anchor’ who can pull all the others to them into the same overflow, but this seems so preposterous to me. Even if I were not an RPer, it seems ridiculous that players have to go through these extra steps to simply meet their friends and do things together.

I’m really disappointed and really disenfranchised.

Please, ArenaNet, do something. I don’t want to leave, I really don’t. I’ve made great friends and have built stories and worlds with other people. I don’t want to lose that, but I feel like you don’t care about me or RPers. Sometimes I wonder why developers seem not to care about RPers when we are a group who truly appreciates and immerses ourselves in the world you’ve built—in your stories, your environments, and all the little details you’ve painstakingly created. And on the whole, we don’t need much! Mostly, we just need areas to congregate and a way to consistently meet up with each other. I am a fan of the pretty clothes, I admit… however, I feel like I can’t roleplay because I am wandering around and I am lost. I really have no clue where I am in relation to my friends, or the other groups of RPers I have encountered in the community since game launch.

Tonight I logged in and went to an area where I have always found RP (Maiden’s Whisper) and found it completely empty. All of the Rurikton courtyard was empty. How can this system be working as intended when I am so obviously not placed with other roleplayers from Tarnished Coast?

The silence on this very valid concern is really worrying and frustrating.

Phantom.8130:

Karuna.1357:

I think the whole tangent topic of ‘what does or doesn’t constitute a RPG’ is taking attention away from the fact that there is a large RP player base in this game, despite the fact that GW2 doesn’t seem very inclined to make it easy for them.

Well…. it’s kind of the same issue, really. The RP part has been slowly getting removed from RPGs, and other genres have been plugged into the gaps that were left. It’s a trend in every MMO, really. The RP playerbase has been gradually pushed out of the genre, and is now considered a “niche crowd”, and support is treated as a waste of resources.

RP communities still persist, however as someone on the EQN roundtable put it, that’s not because of the games, but in spite of them. There are millions of roleplayers that would actually like an online roleplaying game, but they know what to expect from MMOs so most avoid them. Whereas if the games weren’t continually making it harder and harder for RPers, and actually reversed that trend, it would draw many many more RPers back into the MMOs.

The problem, however, doesn’t lie with the development studios. It’s the parent companies, such as EA or NCSoft. They don’t care about the product at all, just as long as they get a profit from it. The genre, the quality, the communities are all non-factors. The development studios basically get told “do what we say, or find another job”, and are forced to make sacrifice after sacrifice, and end up with something much different and many times much worse than what they originally wanted. If you look at TOR, the devs from Bioware said there were many nights where they left the office in tears because of what they were forced to leave on the cutting room floor. This isn’t unique to just EA, it’s become a common trend in all MMOs.

Conversely, if you look at indie games, they’re almost the polar opposite. If you ignore the quality of the graphics, and just focus on the meat of the games, they’re much much better. They have to be. However, the problem a lot of indie studios run into is needing to cut corners due to not having enough money to actually develop what they want. If the money were spread around a bit more, or if the parent companies would butt out and let developers have full control, the overall quality of the games would skyrocket. Ironically, higher quality games would lead to more players, which would lead to much more money overall.

Today’s industry is primarily just about the short term profits, and funneling that money into the next short term profit venture. Basically….. exactly how flipping drugs works. There’s no long term. Anything that would promote long term health of a game, such as RP and PvP, gets ignored in favor of the revolving door design.

What’s even more ironic is the wedge that’s been driven between the RP and PvP crowds, when they’re actually fairly similar in a few key regards. They’re both very low maintenance, mainly just needing a good core starting system and only minor future updates. They both stick around for the long term, due to being able to make their own fun and not needing it made for them. They’re also both creative thinkers, instead of rotation spammers and facerollers. As we’ve seen in GW2, support for both the RP crowd and WvW crowd is sorely lacking. sPvP got minor attention, due to the esports delusion, but it’s primarily about the living story, throw away content, and the revolving door dynamic. RPers and PvPers really should be banding together to stand up for long term players, but most are too busy continuing to demonize each other based on myths to do so. Those who actually do both RP and PvP often get it from both sides, because they’re not strictly one or the other. Which just makes the revolving door dynamics even easier to pull off. It’s….. a very sad state of affairs, really.

Fully agreed!

I haven’t played GW2 in over a week now, just reading through forums, and frankly, at this point, I don’t think I’ll be logging anytime soon…

Really what the game needs is the ability to Choose what part of a mega-server you are secluded to, such as RPers being engaged specifically with rpers, while pvpers would be stuck with pvpers, etc etc.

Like an open forum allowing players to choose their preferred audience, regardless of server, allowing for a bit more old school GW1 style player management.

Meanwhile, still no official answer from Anet in what… 2 weeks now?

Yep, more than that already, I think.

This is truly disheartening. Before the patch announcement, I’d been seriously considering transferring to Tarnished Coast for the RP environment. I haven’t actually gotten much into GW RP yet (nervous and afraid of heckling), but I’d kept hearing how the atmosphere on the RP servers is so much better, and I wanted to be with other people who appreciate the world and the history.

But now it seems like there’s no safe haven for RPers. I don’t want to join an RP guild because I love my current guild and the people in it. I don’t know enough roleplayers to be placed on a map with RP-oriented folks.

I agree with the idea of an RP tag—something that I can turn on when looking for roleplayers (and that would take precidence over other criteria when matching maps) and turn off when I want to do guild events and world events. Something RELIABLE. All of the solutions offered thus far by ArenaNet are hit-and-miss. And that simply does not work for a dedicated RP community.

Still nothing huh? Welp time to keep this issue alive, bump.

There was a response in another thread:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-we-hear-nothing-but-Silence-from-ANet/3980984

Looks like they are busy with the china release. So I wouldnt expect anything until
after that is done.

SilasLews.6790:

This is truly disheartening. Before the patch announcement, I’d been seriously considering transferring to Tarnished Coast for the RP environment. I haven’t actually gotten much into GW RP yet (nervous and afraid of heckling), but I’d kept hearing how the atmosphere on the RP servers is so much better, and I wanted to be with other people who appreciate the world and the history.

But now it seems like there’s no safe haven for RPers. I don’t want to join an RP guild because I love my current guild and the people in it. I don’t know enough roleplayers to be placed on a map with RP-oriented folks.

I agree with the idea of an RP tag—something that I can turn on when looking for roleplayers (and that would take precidence over other criteria when matching maps) and turn off when I want to do guild events and world events. Something RELIABLE. All of the solutions offered thus far by ArenaNet are hit-and-miss. And that simply does not work for a dedicated RP community.

This is a good point. One of the earlier replies from Anet was ’Guild up RPers!" with the idea that if RPers were all in RP guilds then they would have a better chance of being on the same maps together.

However, they totally miss the point that some RPers may not want to be forced to join a guild just so they can play in the type of environment that they prefer, or may want to RP on the side, while being a member of a non-RP guild.

I’m watching some RPers do their thing in the Grove now. I’m not much of an RPer myself anymore, but seeing it in the world is good for immersion. So I hope those of you that are RPing don’t let the megaserver thing or the occasional dummy discourage you.

I don’t participate in role playing in this game myself, but I support those who struggle to have it improved. From my perspective almost all updates seem to support players of the game who are looking to increase numbers in multiple areas (money, levels, achievement points) and very little has gone into making the world more immersive and role play friendly.

I think that’s a shame because when content focused on role playing goes into the game it benefits everyone, even those who do not participate in role playing, by often making more intricate and interesting environments, a more believable world, and a world that interacts with itself creating more immersion overall. In my opinion that creates a better experience.

The Revenant.4970:

I see masses of RPers everytime I step into Rata Sum now.

I don’t know what you guys are crying about. Shouldn’t you be “RPing” instead of bumming around here?

I believe the entire point about ‘crying and bumming around here’ is that they can’t find RP without a lot of difficulty. Go figure.

Asacledhae.2650:

Ashen.2907:

Star Ace.5207:

I honestly think that, given the Megaserver being new, we must have an even stricter policing of players.

Agreed.

With fewer options to avoid trolls, and with a greater chance of being thrown in with them in the first place, in game moderation becomes much more important.

Yes, i tend to i agree with you guys here.. I do believe in second chances though, so this is what i would’ve done :

I would’ve added active GMs staying “hidden” from common view, and appearing whenever a report or block has been submitted, thus evaluating the situation. And then, if a troll is identified, to simply give him a friendly but strict “warning”.

Then, keep said troll under surveillance. The troll does it again? Give the GM the right to actively “kill” the troll’s character, this time without warning. Permanently. Alongside all his assets. No need to ban the account, just strip it clean. That would force the trolls to think twice before harassing someone, as the fear of having to start over from scratch will be there to stay.

Yes, i’m mean.

That would definitely give the RPlayers some air to breathe, or feeling “safe” while enjoying the game. Tonight, my RP group stayed in “Party Chat” in order to avoid trolls, but it was a “one minute solution”, as we were less than usual. Holidays and stuff.

I know what are you going to say to me, it’s farfetched and never going to happen, as active GMs require money, and in order to keep a population like ours in check, (GW2 population in general, that is), would require a lot of them… Still, hope dies last, they say.

This reminded me of the Dhuum banimation. This should be implemented if they make any of your suggested changes. But yea, trolls can be dumb but there are also trolls that are funny. There is a happy medium between being a funny troll and being rude and harassing others. Note the differences, as they do exist. But yes, I believe there should be a fix for those who partake in RPing and the difficulty that the newly implemented mega-servers have makitten possible. I’m not saying I am against the mega-server, cuz I love it, but I can see how others can be affected by this negatively. Whatever happens, good luck to all you RPers.

Oliver.4017:

This reminded me of the Dhuum banimation. This should be implemented if they make any of your suggested changes. But yea, trolls can be dumb but there are also trolls that are funny. There is a happy medium between being a funny troll and being rude and harassing others. Note the differences, as they do exist. But yes, I believe there should be a fix for those who partake in RPing and the difficulty that the newly implemented mega-servers have makitten possible. I’m not saying I am against the mega-server, cuz I love it, but I can see how others can be affected by this negatively. Whatever happens, good luck to all you RPers.

Yeah, that guy crossed my mind many times when i got trolled lately.

And yes. I wouldn’t mind someone approaching me while RPlaying and try to blend in, or create a “comical” pause to what i’m doing. But emote spam, or calling me names, or power spam isn’t exactly something i’m willing to tolerate anymore.

I ain’t against the megaserver either, i just want it to work. Heck, other games i play (not ESO) have megaserver, and we never have issues with it. It prioritizes friends/guild members/Teams, and places you on the same map if possible. If not, you have manual instance selection that allows you to move freely from instance to instance, thus finding your usual friends/familiar faces. That makes RP possible, and if a troll appears? You simply relocate on a different instance. No harm, no foul, and said troll gets reported in the process.

So that’s what i basically suggest for Spirits know how long (Norn, anyone?) : Priority for friends/guilds on the same instance, and manual instance selection. If those two are to be added with the megaserver, i’ll be satisfied (not entirely as our communities have been destroyed, but you know what i mean…)

Aeolus.3615:

Asacledhae.2650:

My major reason for playing an MMO RPG is to be able to get together with my friends, Role Play, and enjoy the game. I usually IC my leveling when i have company. It gives more spice to the whole idea, especially if you have many high level characters.
(…)

RPG was dropped long ago when mmo’s decided to have overflows and static theme park.

Sandbox mmo’s are still young and hard accepted since players nowadays only care about graphics….

Actually, Sandbox MMOs are older than Themepark MMOs, and largely dead.

Forst.5863:

Someone explain the Yak Parade to a Pikeneer, RP in WvW has always interested me.

We have Quaggan runs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAB1GBUDBh8

To those who say that they see more RP going around after the feature patch, and taking this fact as an evidence that it doesnt hurt RP: The point is that you see RP while not looking for it. While RPers are busting out their guts trying to find it in the massive scale that the unofficial dedicated servers provided. The RP you may see nowadays is either between 2-5 people at max, or if its any bigger, you can be certain that organising it took at least 50% of the time of the whole session.

Just like large guilds with their guild events. Except that guilds are a given structure in the game that makes it a bit easier to organise things. Multi-guild RP is pretty much a nightmare/impossible to set up.

Well, cross guild RP is definitely a nightmare to set up. We tried to do so on Sunday in Ebonhawke. The result? 2 of my guildmates were on an instance. Me and 4 more on another. The guys from the other guild were spread in 3. Took us about 45 minutes (may be longer, i didn’t time it) to get together, forming party after party, and party again, facing “Teh world yer attemptin’ ta’ enter iz full, get yer sorry <@#$!?> elsewhere” messages.

Eventually, 2/3 of the people were fed up and left, others left cause they ran out of time (yes, some don’t have a 24/7 opportunity to play a game), so the event got cancelled. Lately it feels a lot easier to go on foot from Europe to Japan, than organize a proper RP event in the game…

Asacledhae.2650:

Lately it feels a lot easier to go on foot from Europe to Japan, than organize a proper RP event in the game…

My feelings exactly. I’m running a guild with a political theme, making us signing treaties around the different areas and between races and tribes, and it’s a real pain to manage to meet the other guilds/people involved.

Hystery.8415:

My feelings exactly. I’m running a guild with a political theme, making us signing treaties around the different areas and between races and tribes, and it’s a real pain to manage to meet the other guilds/people involved.

I really hope all (or most of) our issues will be resolved soon, as my patience is running thin lately considering the silence of the lambs…..er…..you know what i mean…

Haven’t seen any RP events since the Megaserver was implemented. I don’t RP myself, but it was really fun to see them around and doing world events with RP groups.

Ah well, TC, it was fun while it lasted. :\

Well, I thought Meagservers would hurt random RP out in the wild.
But actually they destroy even the most basic and static bar RP.
You stand in the empty Flagon…is it empty or just full on another map?

Asacledhae.2650:

Well, cross guild RP is definitely a nightmare to set up. ..

Just a thought, would creating a guild specifically for the event be an option to work around the limitations? It only costs a few silvers, make everyone member and let them represent Then afterwards you go back to normal.

When current, well-established guilds already have issues trying to get all of their members on the same map instance, I sort of doubt that creating a temporary guild for an RP event would have any better results.

I give my rusty 2 cents to this thread..
Pardon me for my awfull english and be patient.
i read almost all the pages and i find a lot of things right and some disturbing, and are from rp players, so…

pvp vs pve vs rp, is just fried air, but i come from a long experience into UO, and i never loose that mentality…
Being pked sometimes was a more rp experience than every pve in the world.. Cause those pkers a lot of time are simply genious of rp.And i always thinked that Playing as a criminal is the ultimate hard work.. for a roleplayer, so i want pvp into a MMORPG, if well implemented is one of the most rp things, ever…

Casual or not roleplayers vs idiots.. well is an old thing, there’ no mmorpg without idiots, things are more simple for groups, you stay togheter and the idiots abitually go away..
Is not a nice thing that reports for insults have not immediate measures.. (a couple of gm x world would be a nice thing.. and few days of ban is always a nice antidot for idiots)

For alone (like me ) or casual rplayers, well guys if u read…
Simply continue the way u are, don’t give up, do more… involve people around you, and u see someone will play. (more sometimes than u think).
I do Rp everywhere i find interesting.. asking charrs if they vomit ball of fur, or asking to Norms how’s the weather up there, or recit the drunk in tavern,
Or starting to question why the gods make me catch rabbits.. for few coins… when there’s others on that event..
My pg is scared by spiders.. and i’ve got the satisfaction having other players have a lot of fun.. (and risk to die) watching my warrior run here and there.. saying irrepetible things.. about destiny and spiders…
Everything pass into my mind in that moment.. is my way… and i’ve to say by now (i’m into Gw2 from a month) i’ve see people running without listening, a lot of people reply, ( some very funny), someone insulting.. someone asking why i’m rp and so on..
One thing is true, more we are rp less the insult will come, and even who never roleplay maybe could stay at some jocke.. is a start..

Rplayers have not to gettoise themeselves, is a bad thing.. better ignore, or in the baddest situation simply fight back to idiots..
I for example started to fart and burp for a good 5 minutes…to a very annoying one, that call me in a lot of not so nice way, cause i’m doing my show to an Npc…
He learned the lesson.. i think.. and more he say things about rp and me, more i have fun of him, without insulting, simply playing.. the annoying drunk…..
(and i admit have a nice help from other people near there after a bit, a lot of them then saying they not rp but understand the thing)..

For guilds megaservers is technical issue, and a true one ,couldn’t be all into the same istance is a big trouble, as is for the ones that would organise something fun somewhere.. for all the players..
Maybe more than a flag on players , i hope for a flag on places..
So for example we have queensdale (yes i’m a low level) open as have to be, and choose for cities dungeons and so on…

If a rplayers want rp .. could, if a casual rplayers would rp could , and the ones that vomit when see rp could have all the space they want…
Is a matter of how many could a single instance of eg divinity’s reach could support at once…
But with a choose on place, a.net could see how many we are, and if rplayers are so few, will be not a problem “all into an istance”, if we are a lot, well the istance created would have the same kind of players, maybe they could filter for guilds giving them a priority (requested by the guild chief).. to enter all the present members, ito a single istance..
so casual rp could be distribuited into the various rp istances, and guilds won’t have members out..
some could loose those events created by someone? a sub-istance could be created.. for events.. (and that would be a nice touch by a.net)… so who want to go to a players event somwhere into a city could….
I think is a viable solution, not perfect but cause use the mechanism a.net builded, maybe could be done..

Good luck to all and if u see a warrior that run away from spiders saying bad words to them.. for sure it’s me.. loose a bit of time with me freely. levelling could wait..

Any official response yet?

No?

Okay. Just checkin’.

frans.8092:

Just a thought, would creating a guild specifically for the event be an option to work around the limitations? It only costs a few silvers, make everyone member and let them represent Then afterwards you go back to normal.

Sadly, that won’t help either. Skynet treats guilds exactly the same way as your friends : Everyone’s scattered around instances, with the only option to “party” and pray that one instance isn’t full for everyone to join in.

If we were to create a “megaguild” for this reason, it would’ve worked if only Skynet was giving priority to guildmates. A feature promised to be released alongside the kitten thing, but obviously missing. So even with a “megaguild” out there, it’s the same deal.

Unless of course we use guild chat to RP, and keep “ghosting” everything and everyone who can’t join our instance… Then again, if that was the case, then why log into the game and not take RP into a forum chat….

Well, it should do a better job of matching on guilds but I always can get ‘into’ guild missions by hopping to character select and back, or using the Eye of the North portal stone. Party taxiing seems to work as well. All these workarounds shouldn’t be needed though, people join guilds – and servers – for a reason and the megaserver concept destroys those reasons.

This is so depressing.
Thanks Anet.

I’ll admit I got a bit hopeful after the megaserver went live as I was still at least occasionally seeing RP going on around me in a few areas despite the chaos it caused. Have to say now though for at least the past couple weeks I’ve slowly come to realize that I’m no longer on TC, and that TC outside of WvW no longer exists.

No RP out in the world (at least in whatever instanced map I get put in). No RP in the home cities. My once beloved Grove is now a waiting room for hordes of players to stand at the TP or spam spells.

I miss The Grove. I miss TC.

((OOC /cry))

I miss TC, and it wasn’t even my home server. I think what frustrates me the most is the fact that all Anet needs to do is implement one simple change: add a priority ‘roleplaying’ tag (and the ability to select maps would be nice as well, though that might be trickier in terms of coding). That one change would make the RP community alive and healthy again with very little effort on Anet’s part.

Just one small change. And yet, because Anet is busy with other things, the community is instead falling apart. And that’s really, really upsetting.

If you all haven’t seen this you really should.

WoodenPotatoes, one of our most beloved GW2 youtubers uploaded a lengthy response addressing the concerns the RP community have with the megaservers.

Of course it’s far more important that ArenaNet sees this, but for us it’s at least encouraging to know that someone with this amount of exposure has brought further light on the problem.

The talks about RP and megaservers starts at 9:30

QandA Episode 25 – WoodenPotatoes

EDIT: Props to Oblivious33 for sending the original personal message to him that prompted his response.

Asacledhae.2650:

For A-net wanting to shove a bazillion of people on the same instance, simply creating the “illusion” that all the worlds are “full”?

While I don’t think they are trying to create that illusion as much as actually getting players together with other players (sans the RP issues being discussed here), there is another motive here that most players seem to miss. An economic one that is possibly quite large.

How many map instances do you think Anet had running on a 24 hour average before MS? The number would ALWAYS include multiplying by the number of world servers under the old system (51 worlds)

How many map instances do you think are being maintained on average over a 24 hour period with MS in place? It’s possible that it could be 5 to 10 times less (and possibly more). Considering each of those zones likely takes a separate VM (don’t know that to be the case) in a hosted server farm, that could end up being some SIGNIFICANT cost reductions over a monthly billing cycle.

Now I personally feel this change is a HUGE win-win for players and Anet, but I DO see how this may not be the case for the RP community. I know Anet wants to avoid splintering the community any more than necessary, but they are obviously having to maintain some separate server groups based on language, so I’m not sure a separate server set for RPers would be out of the question (I think they would need to evaluate just how MANY players would play on RP servers to justify or discount the idea).

I hope they can resolve the issue with the servers being split up by Megaservers. The dynamic server merging is an awesome part of the system, but the splitting is terrible.

RP would have been boosted by more players in the world… at least the opportunity for spontaneous RP, that is.

ColinJohanson.2394:

To maximize your odds of running into other RP players more often, you’ll want to make sure you’re on the same world (generally TC and Piken are viewed as the RP worlds), and in guilds with other RP members also on that same world. For example, everyone from TC currently will be set to high priority to sort together, same thing goes with people who are all a part of the same guild (so guild up RP folks!)

Yet in practice that doesn’t really even work. When 20 people from my guild map into Brisban Wildlands to do the guild puzzle and half of them get shoved to a different megaserver by default, when we see maybe one other small guild in the area and a dead map chat, there’s a problem with your prioritizing for server/guild membership. It happens on puzzles, rushes, and bounties, the latter being the worst part because taking the time and reforming parties to taxi in on a bounty can result in a failure for the tougher targets.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Asacledhae.2650:

For A-net wanting to shove a bazillion of people on the same instance, simply creating the “illusion” that all the worlds are “full”?

While I don’t think they are trying to create that illusion as much as actually getting players together with other players (sans the RP issues being discussed here), there is another motive here that most players seem to miss. An economic one that is possibly quite large.

How many map instances do you think Anet had running on a 24 hour average before MS? The number would ALWAYS include multiplying by the number of world servers under the old system (51 worlds)

How many map instances do you think are being maintained on average over a 24 hour period with MS in place? It’s possible that it could be 5 to 10 times less (and possibly more). Considering each of those zones likely takes a separate VM (don’t know that to be the case) in a hosted server farm, that could end up being some SIGNIFICANT cost reductions over a monthly billing cycle.

Now I personally feel this change is a HUGE win-win for players and Anet, but I DO see how this may not be the case for the RP community. I know Anet wants to avoid splintering the community any more than necessary, but they are obviously having to maintain some separate server groups based on language, so I’m not sure a separate server set for RPers would be out of the question (I think they would need to evaluate just how MANY players would play on RP servers to justify or discount the idea).

Actually……. they said the Megaserver has nothing to do with the costs, and that the cost difference is negligible.

I think it is time to accept that Anet really doesn’t care. Which annoys me, because this had destroyed one of two things I still play GW2 for.

I just want to know where people are RPing now. I see some in Rata Sum but its often jokey sorta non-serious things, and DR seems to be abandoned except maybe once in a while. Queens Dale, rarely is there anyone in the bar, if anything its only concerned about the train there any more. I just can’t seem to find where everyone went.