Guild Wars 2

my guildmate recently bought a custom arena, and we have been pvp’ing ever since without the interruption/rudeness of the elite pvp’er because we’re all pretty noobs among ourselves….

it’s costly, but it is fun….

Tman.6349:

How anybody that’s spent any amount of time in PvE can say that the PvP community is rude/toxic is completely beyond me and so bass ackwards I can’t even tell if it’s satire or not….

Lfg zerker only
Lfg lvl 80 only
Lfg experienced only
Lfg no noobs
Lfg no rangers
Lfg must show gear
Lfg heavies only
Lfg warriors and mesmers only
Lfg noobs will be kicked
Lfg 10,000+ APs only
Lfg ‘all of the above’ O.o

This is completely flawed logic tbh. I’ve done almost everything PvE has to offer, leveling and gearing 8 80s with a 9th slot for messing around, and I love it for the most part. There’s not really much that demands any skill though outside of dungeons, so I find myself doing those or FotM mostly. To pretend like PvE is just filled to the brim with stand-up, awesome, helpful people and that PvP is filled with a bunch of hateful trolls who threaten “to find where you live IRL and brutalize you” is completely rediculous and fallacious. I mean do you really believe what your saying. I’ve played since launch and have done more than my share of PvE content and am also rank40 in PvP and I’ve never seen so many elitist tools ever than trying to find a pug for a dungeon run. Apart from a bit of good natured trash talking, people in PvP are easy going BECAUSE they’re NOT playing for rewards which is the problem with the elitist/jerk part of the PvE community. People in PvP are there because they enjoy it, not because they’re grinding for some digital reward and fell the need to be rude for the sake of ‘maximum efficiency’ and shaving 2 mins off of a dungeon run. Granted there are occasional bad apples in PvP who take it way to serious and flame the chat or whatever, you will never be ostercized, ridiculed, or kicked from a group because of your profession/build/rank/etc. Most of these claims are completely unfounded and probably come from people who’ve never even qued a single match but hyperbole is always good for self justification I guess huh. I do agree though I’d be more likely to spend more time there if there were new/more game modes.

Here’s the thing:

I can avoid the jerks in PvE by simply not grouping with them.

In sPvP, every hot join and tourney is full of chest thumping grub lickers. You ignore one and two more show up. It’s the nature of competition, it brings out the worst in people.

I know there are people that treat PvE like its a competition. The speed runners, the heavy only groupees, the achievement braggarts, etc. These people aren’t in competition with the environment, they are in competition with other players. They are essentially PvPers who choose to compete through PvE.

Tman.6349:

How anybody that’s spent any amount of time in PvE can say that the PvP community is rude/toxic is completely beyond me and so bass ackwards I can’t even tell if it’s satire or not….

Lfg zerker only
Lfg lvl 80 only
Lfg experienced only
Lfg no noobs
Lfg no rangers
Lfg must show gear
Lfg heavies only
Lfg warriors and mesmers only
Lfg noobs will be kicked
Lfg 10,000+ APs only
Lfg ‘all of the above’ O.o

This is completely flawed logic tbh. I’ve done almost everything PvE has to offer, leveling and gearing 8 80s with a 9th slot for messing around, and I love it for the most part. There’s not really much that demands any skill though outside of dungeons, so I find myself doing those or FotM mostly. To pretend like PvE is just filled to the brim with stand-up, awesome, helpful people and that PvP is filled with a bunch of hateful trolls who threaten “to find where you live IRL and brutalize you” is completely rediculous and fallacious. I mean do you really believe what your saying. I’ve played since launch and have done more than my share of PvE content and am also rank40 in PvP and I’ve never seen so many elitist tools ever than trying to find a pug for a dungeon run. Apart from a bit of good natured trash talking, people in PvP are easy going BECAUSE they’re NOT playing for rewards which is the problem with the elitist/jerk part of the PvE community. People in PvP are there because they enjoy it, not because they’re grinding for some digital reward and fell the need to be rude for the sake of ‘maximum efficiency’ and shaving 2 mins off of a dungeon run. Granted there are occasional bad apples in PvP who take it way to serious and flame the chat or whatever, you will never be ostercized, ridiculed, or kicked from a group because of your profession/build/rank/etc. Most of these claims are completely unfounded and probably come from people who’ve never even qued a single match but hyperbole is always good for self justification I guess huh. I do agree though I’d be more likely to spend more time there if there were new/more game modes.

In one post you succeeded in calling people: stupid, liars, elitist, skill-less, rude, toxic, tools, jerks, hyperbolous (not a word…I know), and arrogant. Congrats!

Way to talk people into trying spvp.

I used to play it quite a bit on release but then anet started to release new armor combos and runes that never got added to spvp and thus slowly started to feel limited to me compared to pve/wvw.

Why not sPvP?

1. My PvE gear is gone.
I look like newplayer123 whenever I enter sPvP. So you are saying I have to make the skins both in PvE and PvP? No, I am not putting in more effort to earn gear that I already earned in PvE. I dont even have a clue on how to craft Draconic Armor in PvP, let alone pretty PvE cosmetics like Light of Dwayna or Foefire’s Essence as PvP gear. GW1 had one thing right, your PvE character could jump right into PvP with their Chaos Gloves, Obsidian Armor and Envoy Sword on. Maybe PvP now gives good money, but it involves me having to “not look like my PvE-version” while fighting other players.

2. The stats are awful.
The stat combinations are so disgustingly limited. Go tell a glass cannon PvE player that PvP Zerker gear must have Vitality on it, I can assure you that they will not want even try to step in PvP because “i no can run my full glass cannon”. You take Rock, Paper, or Scissors. You cannot sharpen your Scissors to bypass the child-safety standard, paint a smiley face on your Rock or even draw an angry face on your Paper because that would be intimidating and break the Balance of the game.

3. Lack of formats.
Playing GW2 PvP is like playing GW1 Alliance Battles while solo capping. Alliance Battle in GW1 was already a dead format that took a good 1hour queue to get in(because nobody played it) unless on Zaishen-day. People did not even want to play it even after the rewards were tripled. Where is RA death matches? Where is HA King of the Hill? Where is FA Gunther? Where is JQ Purple Hauler Turtle? Where is my GvG Flagrunner?

4. Nerfed skills and runes in PvP Shenanigans.
These skills and runes are so OP that they have to be nerfed in sPvP format. We are already using those “supposedly OP imba broken skills and runes” in WvW to kill each other and we are all fine with that. Double standards much? Do you know how many people actually will not enter sPvP because of those shenanigans? Take a look at every borderlands and find the gvg or 1v1 players at the bottom-most ruin. Why do you think they are doing 1v1 in WvW instead of sPvP?

Essence Snow.3194:

Going to be honest and stereotype….

People don’t PvP b/c of Pvpers. They are usually the most toxic group of players to be found in this genre and thus most avoid them best they can, which involves not PvPing.

Exactly. I’m 52, and have no interest in toxic smack talk and don’t want to deal with childish brats. When I want to PvP, I’ll do a bit of WvW.

I used to play alot of competitive PvP in other games. Gamer culture, though, chased me away.

Kill cannon….in one post you proved you’re a troll by putting words in my mouth…I didn’t say I single one of those things and you also are making the assumption that I’m trying to recruit PvPers which is equally inaccurate…I really don’t care what you or anyone else does tbh, but it’s not the “GW2 ghetto” where you might get shanked like people are making it out to be either…

Way to make people see the definition of ‘tool’ and for the hyperbole to make it that much clearer lol O.o don’t be so indignant

This question is quite invalid, asking people why they never PvP? How would they know if they have not gave it a real try? I am an active PvPer, and would like to clear up some misconceptions that some of you seem to have.

1. “I am not rewarded for PvPing!”

~Actually, you are! As of the Decenber 10th patch SoloQ wins award you with 20s and TeamQ will award you with 30s, in addition to that you will get 300-350 glory which can be traded for wintersday presents, if sold on the TP, you will be making about a gold every 2 games!

2.“The PvP community is toxic! Just filled with awful people!”

~Yes, there are some people who are very rude, and not good sportsmen, but that is not everyone! I have met many awesome people doing Team Q that I chat with very often, and PvPers can be just as helpful as PvErs, people will teach you, give you builds and be willing to answer almost any of your questions!

3.“There is only 1 game mode, that is very boring”

~Currently, yes, there is only 1 gamemode and that is conquest, BUT arenanet has stated that there will be NEW GAME MODES added at the start of this year.

4.“My character looks so bad in PvP”

~In the next living story update ( think the next o_O) they will be re-vamping the PvP rewards! And there will be no difference in Pvp and PvE skins! So you can have that cool arah armor look while pwning noobs.

If any of you are interested in PvP, we would love to have you!
There are just a few things that you should do before jumping to SoloQ!

1. Find a build that is currently in the meta (these can be found on every classes sub-forum)
2. Try out the build in a 5v5 hotjoin
3. Make sure to know all of the classes roles, and certain sayings.

Not doing these things is what brings out the worst in PvPers and I think that is what some of you are experiencing.
To put in in PvE terms, just jumping to pvp with a random build is like running a level 50 fractal as a cleric bearbow ranger, with 0 AR. It makes the community seem toxic, when its really not.

Qaelyn.7612:

So, to those of you who don’t participate in sPvP: what are the major reasons why?

I simply don’t like PvP game play, no matter the game. Yes, I may enjoy it for a few minutes from rare time to time in other games, but by and large I dislike it. Maybe even detest it. It stresses me out.

those who say only pvp players trash talk are in denial and obviously don’t pvp much. ever kill a champion in queensdale? i can tell you the upstanding citizens of queensdale aren’t gonna whisper you their congratulations. the flames and the death threats that ensue are hilarious. ever get into a dungeon group with that annoying elitist zerker warrior? you can hear the nyah after everything he says and you can perfectly imagine in your head his nasally voice.

meanwhile in pvp, standard chat is as follows: discuss plan in the beginning, silence for the rest of the match. occasionally someone will die and call the other person op and it’s HILARIOUS. madtyping occurs on both sides but to say it only or mostly happens in pvp is just false. actually it’s quite the opposite.

Thanks for all the replies, very interesting to read. In particular, some answers (and some quantities of answers) I wasn’t expecting.

Please keep it clean so it doesn’t get locked, there’s some good feedback here. (And yes, moving it to the PvP forum would be contrary to the whole point of the thread.)

Yes, the Queensdale area is annoying because of the jerks in the champ train. However, 98% of the PvE game is not Queensdale, and I play away from the rudeness of the champ train. Easy and fun.

I cannot get away from PvP jerks in PvP.

There is only 1 game type and that is CTP, its very static and bunkers are predominant in hotjoin making it extremely stale.

I feel bad for all of you people who have run into harassment and toxic people in the game. I’ve had an encounter or two in Lion’s Arch, but that’s the gathering point for everyone so you’re bound to find a few bumholes in there.
I’ve PvP’ed, run in champ trains, joined dungeon run groups, and done all that stuff. Nobody’s ever been mean to me, or to anyone that I’ve seen.
There’s a dude in WvW who calls everybody noobs in mapchat, but he’s harmless and actually pretty funny. Idk, guess I’ve been lucky.

Nomin.5901:

This question is quite invalid, asking people why they never PvP? How would they know if they have not gave it a real try? I am an active PvPer, and would like to clear up some misconceptions that some of you seem to have.

1. “I am not rewarded for PvPing!”

~Actually, you are! As of the Decenber 10th patch SoloQ wins award you with 20s and TeamQ will award you with 30s, in addition to that you will get 300-350 glory which can be traded for wintersday presents, if sold on the TP, you will be making about a gold every 2 games!

2.“The PvP community is toxic! Just filled with awful people!”

~Yes, there are some people who are very rude, and not good sportsmen, but that is not everyone! I have met many awesome people doing Team Q that I chat with very often, and PvPers can be just as helpful as PvErs, people will teach you, give you builds and be willing to answer almost any of your questions!

3.“There is only 1 game mode, that is very boring”

~Currently, yes, there is only 1 gamemode and that is conquest, BUT arenanet has stated that there will be NEW GAME MODES added at the start of this year.

4.“My character looks so bad in PvP”

~In the next living story update ( think the next o_O) they will be re-vamping the PvP rewards! And there will be no difference in Pvp and PvE skins! So you can have that cool arah armor look while pwning noobs.

If any of you are interested in PvP, we would love to have you!
There are just a few things that you should do before jumping to SoloQ!

1. Find a build that is currently in the meta (these can be found on every classes sub-forum)
2. Try out the build in a 5v5 hotjoin
3. Make sure to know all of the classes roles, and certain sayings.

Not doing these things is what brings out the worst in PvPers and I think that is what some of you are experiencing.
To put in in PvE terms, just jumping to pvp with a random build is like running a level 50 fractal as a cleric bearbow ranger, with 0 AR. It makes the community seem toxic, when its really not.

I feel bad for you in that more than 99% of people who look at this thread will completely ignore your post and just pretend that whatever delusions they have about the current state of PvP are real.

I do think that the addition of gold rewards for each match is a good addition. ArenaNet actually plans on removing glory entirely in the near future to further bring PvP in line with everything else.

I personally haven’t run into too many toxic people. There are those who go AFK and turn matches into 4v5s though. There’s often the blame crappy teammates at the end too but not much during the games themselves.

There is only one game mode but actually each map has different features that mix things up. In Spirit Watch, there’s an orb which you can take to any one of the three capture points. It’s a unique take on standard capture the flag.

Yes, ArenaNet did say they wanted to allow PvE skins to make their way into PvP. You’ll start seeing a lot of warriors with Twilight very soon.

Because I don’t have to “beat another player up” to feel like I’m somebody.

Edit: Addition of another perhaps more legitimate reason in some people’s eyes. To wit:

Nomin.5901:

1. Find a build that is currently in the meta (these can be found on every classes sub-forum)
2. Try out the build in a 5v5 hotjoin
3. Make sure to know all of the classes roles, and certain sayings.

This right here. Why should I have to grind up to a FoTM build? Why can’t I just play the way I am and be effective? Because minmaxers, that’s why. Once gear becomes irrelevant, I might think about any kind of PvP. Once I can buy that one copper piece sword from a vendor and go into PvP and be just as effective as everyone else….I might think about it.
In other words, remove all the aspects of PvP that make people spout the “LOL N00B” drivel. Level the playing field so someone that just started the game can be on equal footing as someone that’s played for the entire time the game has been released.

I play a lot of pvp but my complains are:
1. very bad class balance
2. lack of game modes

Poor balance.

Not particularly fond of the specifics of this game mode.

I’m not a fan of MMO PvP in general.

The screen is too cluttered and combat is too hard to follow. I’d much rather play an FPS or MOBA.

I don’t play PVP at all because my internet is like a bag of male genitalia.

zeromius.1604:

Nomin.5901:

This question is quite invalid, asking people why they never PvP? How would they know if they have not gave it a real try? I am an active PvPer, and would like to clear up some misconceptions that some of you seem to have.

1. “I am not rewarded for PvPing!”

~Actually, you are! As of the Decenber 10th patch SoloQ wins award you with 20s and TeamQ will award you with 30s, in addition to that you will get 300-350 glory which can be traded for wintersday presents, if sold on the TP, you will be making about a gold every 2 games!

2.“The PvP community is toxic! Just filled with awful people!”

~Yes, there are some people who are very rude, and not good sportsmen, but that is not everyone! I have met many awesome people doing Team Q that I chat with very often, and PvPers can be just as helpful as PvErs, people will teach you, give you builds and be willing to answer almost any of your questions!

3.“There is only 1 game mode, that is very boring”

~Currently, yes, there is only 1 gamemode and that is conquest, BUT arenanet has stated that there will be NEW GAME MODES added at the start of this year.

4.“My character looks so bad in PvP”

~In the next living story update ( think the next o_O) they will be re-vamping the PvP rewards! And there will be no difference in Pvp and PvE skins! So you can have that cool arah armor look while pwning noobs.

If any of you are interested in PvP, we would love to have you!
There are just a few things that you should do before jumping to SoloQ!

1. Find a build that is currently in the meta (these can be found on every classes sub-forum)
2. Try out the build in a 5v5 hotjoin
3. Make sure to know all of the classes roles, and certain sayings.

Not doing these things is what brings out the worst in PvPers and I think that is what some of you are experiencing.
To put in in PvE terms, just jumping to pvp with a random build is like running a level 50 fractal as a cleric bearbow ranger, with 0 AR. It makes the community seem toxic, when its really not.

I feel bad for you in that more than 99% of people who look at this thread will completely ignore your post and just pretend that whatever delusions they have about the current state of PvP are real.

I do think that the addition of gold rewards for each match is a good addition. ArenaNet actually plans on removing glory entirely in the near future to further bring PvP in line with everything else.

I personally haven’t run into too many toxic people. There are those who go AFK and turn matches into 4v5s though. There’s often the blame crappy teammates at the end too but not much during the games themselves.

There is only one game mode but actually each map has different features that mix things up. In Spirit Watch, there’s an orb which you can take to any one of the three capture points. It’s a unique take on standard capture the flag.

Yes, ArenaNet did say they wanted to allow PvE skins to make their way into PvP. You’ll start seeing a lot of warriors with Twilight very soon.

I applaud the guy for his sincerity but read his final paragraph.

He basically says ‘We will welcome you if you play a meta build, practice 5v5 heavily, and don’t suck’

That pretty much sums up every complaint about sPvP in one sentence.

It is a strange turn of events that has led me to not playing sPVP. When I first got the game, I spent two months straight doing only sPVP, and I loved it. But, as always… things change.

The first thing that happened, I guess, was that I got bored of sPVP. Playing on the same maps, fighting the same builds, looking at the same red and blue character sprites, playing the same builds… a big problem was that I couldn’t get any better. Not sure if it is low graphics settings, my bad eyes, latency, or my slow reaction time, but that whole “seeing tells and reacting” stuff didn’t happen with me. To this day, in a PVP scenario I can’t see what my opponents are doing. Most of my dodging is just guessing. For more than a month straight.

I do have to agree that the same game mode gets stagnant after awhile. Then, something else happened: I played PVE. Now, after playing PVE and coming back to PVP, I found that all my PVE builds couldn’t be translated over. Whereas in PVE build diversity was so much greater, in PVP builds are extremely limited in stat allocation. Because of this, sPVP felt more constricting.

Then, my favorite build was nerfed: Engineer turret control. It was hit by bugs, and then it was nerfed, and then some of those bugs were fixed, then other aspects were nerfed. When the turrets became super bugged and much more useless, I sort of said to myself “well, I just won’t do sPVP until they fix the bugs”. That was so long ago I forgot when I said it, exactly. This distanced me from sPVP even more.

The changes to Solo Q and Team Q changed the scenery. Personally, I was a fan of the anonymous and consequence-less fighting that was hot join. I still do, actually, since builds and circumstances are unpredictable and laid back. But with so much focus on team bouts and tournaments now, a lot of the better players have left hotjoin, and if I want to PVP with them again I have to socialize more, and I’ll just end up getting yelled at by some kid half my age who doesn’t understand the meaning of “control freak”.

All in all, once I got bored of sPVP and left, there hasn’t been anything to really bring me back. None of the changes to balance have been appealing to me, everyone just runs cookie cutter builds and strategies now (which I can only blame them so much, what with almost no stat diversity), the community appears to be getting more and more hostile, I can’t improve due to biological limitations, and there are no new modes. Hell, the best thing that happened to sPVP in a long time, IMO, was Skyhammer, and that was universally panned for some reason.

1 – Not being able to use hard-earned PvE/WvW characters cosmetics. You look just weird with your random earned PvP stuff, and nobody like that. May be create an option to allow / not allow WvW stuff in Personal Arena ?

2 – Repetitive Game mode – less impact that WvW on your server / guild if any – GvG is missing here.

To summarize the suggestion : Creation of a GvG mode, with an option to allow WvW stuff/food inside your Guild Hall matches.

I am a huge fan of competitive games of all types, but I just don’t think it’s a good competitive game so I don’t play sPvP. First and foremost, it’s just boring. There’s not as much depth as something like a DotA2, Counter Strike, or fighter (take your pick: SF, KOF, Skullgirls, Persona, etc). And it’s not as easy to jump into/jump out of like games like World of Tanks, Planetside 2, or Battlefield/Call of Duty. It sits in this weird area in the middle of that “casual/hardcore” spectrum and it just ultimately feels void of any proper substance.

It doesn’t help that the community can be kinda kittenty, there aren’t any real goals to work towards, class balance has been a major issue since launch, there’s only one game mode and a handful of bad maps, it’s needlessly chaotic at times (the only special effect they didn’t add was a magical kitchen sink), there are even fewer viable pvp builds than there are pve builds, and it takes ages for any meaningful change to come along leading to disgruntled players getting fed up and quitting in between patches.

I don’t PvP because I don’t know enough about the different classes, builds and set ups to be able to offer anything to a team. I would like to learn, and I don’t mind being the one who always comes last to do so (I play MP on several FPS games and I suck at that, but it can be really fun). However, there isn’t any place where it seems to can go to practise or just learn what your build does and why it does it and how it can be effective against any other build. I know you have the practise NPCs in HotM, but it’s hardly the same as maybe teaming up with others against an AI team or something.

Generally, I’d say yes, you could just hop in and start playing and who cares if you suck a bit? But I do honestly find that the majority (and I stress, this isn’t everyone) of people aren’t all that welcoming to people who are just learning the rules. It’s sort of a “if you can’t keep up, don’t bother trying” kind of atmosphere, which doesn’t encourage me to stick around if I just want to have a few fun games with other people. Yes, you can ignore it, but it’s difficult sometimes, and it’s less than pleasant.

If there were a mode where people with only X number of hours could join or something, maybe that might be more conducive to less experienced players, though I’m not sure how that could really be monitored, as if you changed your class you’d still be a bit of a beginner again but couldn’t go back to that area.

MercyKilling.8519:

Because I don’t have to “beat another player up” to feel like I’m somebody.

Edit: Addition of another perhaps more legitimate reason in some people’s eyes. To wit:

Nomin.5901:

1. Find a build that is currently in the meta (these can be found on every classes sub-forum)
2. Try out the build in a 5v5 hotjoin
3. Make sure to know all of the classes roles, and certain sayings.

This right here. Why should I have to grind up to a FoTM build? Why can’t I just play the way I am and be effective? Because minmaxers, that’s why. Once gear becomes irrelevant, I might think about any kind of PvP. Once I can buy that one copper piece sword from a vendor and go into PvP and be just as effective as everyone else….I might think about it.
In other words, remove all the aspects of PvP that make people spout the “LOL N00B” drivel. Level the playing field so someone that just started the game can be on equal footing as someone that’s played for the entire time the game has been released.

The irony of this statement is absolutely incredible and a great source of humor for anyone that does PvP. The only thing you REALLY said here is that you have a blind discontent for something that you obviously haven’t tried and are completely clueless about. Allow me to enlighten you please.

There is no “grinding up to a FotM build” in PvP for starters. He was only using that situation as an anology that PvP is COMPLETELY different from the rest of the game and the combat is at a much higher skill level. So trying to just ‘wing it’ is only gonna end in frustration and as such you should take just a bit of time to prepare and familiarize yourself with the gameplay, the mechanics,and the verbiage associated with PvP as not doing so would be similar to jumping into the midst of a high level Fractal ie. sure death and a sour taste in your mouth.

So now that that’s put back into context, let’s move on to the “LOL NOOB” gear that you fervently detest. In fact, we’ll just combine that with the “1 copper sword” that nobody should have to pay for to be competitive as well as the “irrelevant gear” that shouldn’t be needed AND the “level playing field” that EVERYONE DESERVES no matter what their experience level is, veteran and ‘just installed the game’ alike.

EVERYTHING needed to create a workable build for PvP is FREE to EVERYONE the second they enter the PvP lobby. This includes ALL of your stats in their various combinations, ALL of the runes needed for your armor, and ALL of the sigils needed for your weapons. All of it FOR FREE from the moment you step into the Heart of the Mists. Not only are all the statistical items free but so are your armor and weapons as well. All of them for free, as many as you want. So free gear is nice right? What’s even better is not only is all of the gear free from the start, but also EVERY slot-skill (heals, utilities, and elites minus ‘racial skills’) for your profession is UNLOCKED for FREE right off the bat. “Alright, free gear and access to all my skills sounds nice, but I’m not level 80 yet so my traits aren’t going to be as good as other players.” Well I’m glad you brought that up, because not only is all of the gear free as well as having access to all of your professions skills, but your also scaled to level 80 AND have all of your trait tiers and all 70 of your trait points to spend as you please with FREE trait resets indefinitely as many times as you want to reset them.

continued

MercyKilling.8519:

Edit: Addition of another perhaps more legitimate reason in some people’s eyes

1. Find a build that is currently in the meta (these can be found on every classes sub-forum)
2. Try out the build in a 5v5 hotjoin
3. Make sure to know all of the classes roles, and certain sayings.

This right here. Why should I have to grind up to a FoTM build? Why can’t I just play the way I am and be effective? Because minmaxers, that’s why. Once gear becomes irrelevant, I might think about any kind of PvP. Once I can buy that one copper piece sword from a vendor and go into PvP and be just as effective as everyone else….I might think about it.
In other words, remove all the aspects of PvP that make people spout the “LOL N00B” drivel. Level the playing field so someone that just started the game can be on equal footing as someone that’s played for the entire time the game has been released.

Basic gear in pvp is 100% free. You don’t have to grind anything but skins and finishers.

I don’t pvp. I don’t like it. BUT I will totally do it anyway if the rewards are good enough. I know they recently updated the rewards but before it was like, so if I do pvp I get rewarded by looking better when I’m doing pvp? Thanks but no thanks.

Because when i do and beat some one i get flamed and told nasty things, especially when i survive 2-3 people for long enough time for my team to win/get ahead, people are total kittens in PvP that’s why i rarely do it.

continued

“So you mean everything I need to make a build is free from the start? All the gear is free as well as having all my skills unlocked, AND I can build my traits however I want, as many times as I want, and ALL of it is FREE from the moment anyone enters the PvP lobby? That sounds pretty incredible!”

YES, that is exactly what I mean! Everything you need to get a build going is unlocked for free from the start. And because everything is free, it is all disposable, meaning if you don’t’t like your build, you can scrap it all and try something else at no cost to you.

“Well free is always nice and I do like to experiment with different things to see if I can make my build a little bit better. I wanted to try a different set of stats with this build that I made and there’s this set of runes and sigils that I think might be a little bit better. The main thing that ever stopped me was they were kind of expensive and I didn’t want to waste a bunch of gold for something that I’m not sure if it would be an improvement or not. I guess it is pretty cool that I can test them before I spend all that money just to make sure.”

Yes it is…very cool!

“Well that all sounds great, but I’ve worked really hard to get the stuff for my current build and to get my traits and skills set how I think they should work. The problem is, I don’t want to start messing around with a bunch of new stuff and forget how I have things setup and I think it would be a REAL pain to always have to change gear around and redo all my traits and skills every time I want to go to the Mists to try something new.”

I know right! That WOULD be a real pain in the butt, I agree. Another REALLY cool thing about the Mists though, is that it saves your ENTIRE PvP build on a completely separately template from your PvE/WvW build. They don’t affect each other AT ALL and they load separately when you go back and forth from the Mists to PvE, and you can go there as soon as you create your character.

“So you’re telling me that I can create a new character and then immediately go to The Heart of the Mists and check out ALL of my character’s traits and skills? I was thinking, because everything is free there and the game saves whatever I dream up in PvP on a separate template…couldn’t I just go there as soon as I create a character and mess around till I find a build that I like and then just leave it saved on the PvP template? I was wondering because I just thought of how AWESOME it would be to create a build that I like for my new character and then be able to to USE THE PvP BUILD TEMPLATE AS A ‘GUIDE’ that I can always come back to as I level up. I REALLY think that would be a good way to make sure I’m heading in the right direction with my gear, skills, and traits as I level up in PvE. That way I could always be at my maximum potential as I level up. It might also help me save quite a bit of money because I would know what kind of stats I need when I get a bunch of loot while I’m working towards level 80. Wow!! I bet I could even get some of the gear for my level 80 build as I go along! That way, when I finally get my character to max level, I would already have most of the stuff I need and I wouldn’t have to worry about farming a bunch of gold all of a sudden just to equip my new level 80 character like I’ve heard a few of my friends had to do. They told me it kinda sucked to have to come up with all of that gold and they even wasted quite a bit because they weren’t even sure what kind of gear and upgrades that they needed to buy. I think it could save me a lot of money and time if I would already know what I want and need for my character later on. Plus I think it would be cool to have something to look forward to and work towards as I level up that way I would have a better sense of my character progressing as I play through the game!”

Yep, I know! There are some really cool aspects/rewards of getting into PvP plus those PvE mobs aren’t very smart and you can really hone your skills and learn a lot about your profession in PvP.

“Wow man! Thank you so much! I didn’t know any of that and I never really have liked PvP in most games so I never would have found out unless you told me. This is going to make leveling my character so much more fun and probably save me a lot of money too! Thanks for the heads up…I guess PvP isn’t so bad afterall!”

No problem…I’m glad I could help!

“Oh, I forgot to tell you…you’re really smart and probably pretty handsome too!”

I know

I play SPvP, but rarely. It isn’t really interesting because it doesn’t involve killing players through skill but mostly through having the right builds. Most people use faceroll builds, and it’s really really boring to fight them. Apart from that point cap is just lame.

Have to add though, it’s fun playing it with friends. But I’m probs going to wait for the 2nd pvp patch and see if it makes PvP wrth doing more.

I tried sPvP, but eventually just didn’t like it.
Maybe it is because I don’t PvP, maybe the rewards weren’t worth it, I’m not sure.

Ironically enough I love Snowball Mayhem and Aspect Arena in small doses.
I guess it is because the games are structured differently from sPvP or the rewards better served me.

I tried sPvP in the beginning. Even had a few of my guildies go with me.

The biggest problem I had at the time was actually getting on the same team as my guildies. The entire sPvP animal was like RA (random arenas) in GW1. In other words, you queue, you get thrown into a match with a team you have never met, and you fight the other side. Sometimes that other side is the people you were originally trying to group with.

I haven’t played since. I’m just not into solo PvP.

@ someone who sPvP’s all the time: Is that the way it still works? I haven’t been there in months.

Sytherek.7689:

Essence Snow.3194:

Going to be honest and stereotype….

People don’t PvP b/c of Pvpers. They are usually the most toxic group of players to be found in this genre and thus most avoid them best they can, which involves not PvPing.

Exactly. I’m 52, and have no interest in toxic smack talk and don’t want to deal with childish brats. When I want to PvP, I’ll do a bit of WvW.

I used to play alot of competitive PvP in other games. Gamer culture, though, chased me away.

“No interest in smack talk”….“don’t want to deal with childish brats” O.o
Lol you’re silly

Because it is deathly boring, plus I am no good at quick thinking and coordination due to Aspergers.

Raging at the screen doesn’t interest me.

As someone who really enjoys PvP content, I just am not that interested in sPvP. For me the issue is it seems to isolated from the rest of the game, it is almost like its a completely separate game all together. I understand why they did it but it just does really interest me due to the way it was setup.

Because I don’t feel like sPvP offers enough opportunities for old age and treachery to beat youth and reflexes .

I played SWtOR PvP fairly competitively, but there were goals other than ‘kill the other guys’. Goals that allowed me to out-plan my enemies. Goals that rewarded discipline over bloodlust. Goals that allowed me to die like a chump to three hostile players… but in doing so have lured them so far out of position chasing me that my teammates rolled the map objectives near unopposed.

Nike.2631:

…there were goals other than ‘kill the other guys’. Goals that allowed me to out-plan my enemies. Goals that rewarded discipline over bloodlust. Goals that allowed me to die like a chump to three hostile players… but in doing so have lured them so far out of position chasing me that my teammates rolled the map objectives near unopposed.

sounds like gw2 pvp. especially the last sentence.

A few builds always seem to dominate and you can either play those or feel underpowered.

I’ve bad experiences with PvP communities. Also none of the things I worked hard for in PvE can be taken to PvP.

Junkpile.7439:

Because there isn’t any fun casual game mode that would be little bit like www, but in smaller map and matches would last like 20 min.

This too. One form of PvP I did enjoy was Fort Aspenwood (and to a lesser extend Jade Quarry) in GW1.

It was a lot like a miniature WvW match. You have a small (about 10 people) random group on each side, aided by NPCs. One side defending a fort, the other trying to break in and kill an NPC in the center. The defenders win if the timer runs out before the attackers succeed (and they could speed it up slightly if they were doing well).

I like it because the relatively large teams and random groupings make it more friendly to casual players. Whilst one person definitely can make a difference it’s extremely rare for anyone to be able to point fingers and say ‘that guy cost us the match’ so there’s plenty of opportunity to learn without screwing it up for everyone else or giving yourself a bad name. Likewise if you do have a new or bad player or two on your team it’s possible for everyone else to compensate and it won’t have much of an effect.

I also like that there were also no real consequences for losing (or winning). The winning side got a few more faction points to spend than the losers but that was about it, so it was more something fun to do when you had time than a serious competition.

Also, fairly importantly, even though the basic idea and method was the same each time the relatively large map and number of players meant that it was rare for two matches to play out the same way. There were many different tactics that could be used. Sometimes the attackers would rely on the NPC siege turtles and their whole strategy was to defend them and speed them up, sometimes they didn’t use them at all and you’d have small groups of players breaking in alone. Sometimes the defenders would rely on healing and protecting their NPCs, sometimes they’d spike down their opponents to send them back to the spawn point. And so on. The variety of possible tactics and the random nature of the match-ups meant you never knew what you were going to get.

MercyKilling.8519:

Because I don’t have to “beat another player up” to feel like I’m somebody.

Edit: Addition of another perhaps more legitimate reason in some people’s eyes. To wit:

Nomin.5901:

1. Find a build that is currently in the meta (these can be found on every classes sub-forum)
2. Try out the build in a 5v5 hotjoin
3. Make sure to know all of the classes roles, and certain sayings.

This right here. Why should I have to grind up to a FoTM build? Why can’t I just play the way I am and be effective? Because minmaxers, that’s why. Once gear becomes irrelevant, I might think about any kind of PvP. Once I can buy that one copper piece sword from a vendor and go into PvP and be just as effective as everyone else….I might think about it.
In other words, remove all the aspects of PvP that make people spout the “LOL N00B” drivel. Level the playing field so someone that just started the game can be on equal footing as someone that’s played for the entire time the game has been released.

Even without playing PvP I know you’ve misunderstood something here. Have you never heard anyone suggesting that PvE players who want to try a new class or build go to the Heart of the Mists to try them out because you’re automatically level 80 with full exotics and can switch everything around freely?

Everyone, even a brand new player on their very first character, is level 80 with all their skills and traits unlocked and full exotics in PvP. (And ascended gear doesn’t exist for PvP so that’s not an issue.) The default builds you’re assigned are probably terrible but you can change it freely to whatever build you want to use.

Having said that new players won’t be able to compete with experienced players, but that’s because they won’t know what a good build is, what their skills do or how to use them to best effect. They’ll be able to skip a lot of the learning curve by copying a currently popular build and reading/watching guides on how to use it. But then they’ll be limited to using that build in the way they’ve been shown. As soon as something unexpected happens they’ll be stuck. But at least they can start practicing and learning right away, they don’t need to level up and buy gear first.

Qaelyn.7612:

Quick background on me. Started playing in October, did mostly PvE, then discovered WvW. Loved the concept but had no experience with player-player combat and I’d panic every time enemies got near. So I decided to spend some time in PvP over the last two months to get more comfortable with fighting other players, and have learned to like it, at least to a certain extent.

Anyway, it seems a very small percentage of players use this part of the game, and PvPers are always arguing about why that is. Seems to me that it’s missing the point to have people who engage in an activity speculate about why those who don’t engage in it choose not to, rather than asking those people directly.

So, to those of you who don’t participate in sPvP: what are the major reasons why?

No rewards, Arena/Battleground combat is far played out at this point, and it sucked to begin with. Little strategy is involved imo compared to WvW. It’s just not enjoyable to me anymore. If I wanted to play battlegrounds WoW and Rift did it better and actually rewarded you for playing PvP. I’m not knocking anyone who enjoys it, I’m just done with that game type at this point. Just a bunch of dudes running cookie cutter fotm builds slapping each other on the butts saying good game.

WvW is awesome though.

i prefer pvp, but it must be fun.

wvw=fun
pvp=frustrating

why? mesmer clones, stealth, targeting, non reliable skills (sometimes not working, missing when opponent gets out of range while skill is telegraphed even though i cast it when in range, probably many more problems here), unkillable builds unless specialized for that specific build (omg i want to play my build), traits that work as automatic counter to what i do (i expect my opponent to counter-play, not to have AI do it for him=frustration especially with stealth), loosing target on stealth (ok, but i dnt want to search for target again when out of stealth, especially when stealth is spamable), being able to attack in stealth…

of the top of my head, and probably many many more reasons.

not fun, but frustrating. i dnt care about rewards. i will not do unfun things for rewards.

In a game primarily driven by cosmetic incentives I find sPVP to be far too unrewarding for me to play it.
Legendaries don’t make themselves.

Its not fun.

Activities vrs small groups of players are fun, because everyone has the same skills and stats. It is truly a skill based activity.

This is not the case for sPvP, there is and will always be some kind of gimmick build or class that is better than all others. No amount of rewards will make this format fun.

Its a game of gimmick not skill. You are either traited to counter or beat an enemy or you are not.

also: too long cooldowns. i want to have options. some will argue that low CD’s are for spaming. i will argue that game combat needs to be built around having options, but if u make a mistake you die. the way cd’s are now, i usually die because i simply dont have skills to use, not because my opponent outplayed me (frustrating). elite skill 10 sec, most powerful normal skill 7sec, rest 2-5 sec for my taste in combat.

conditions are a mess. if there is a skill that drops more than one condition, there must be a skill that cleanses more than one condition. also i have no control over what condition i am cleansing (ridiculously frustrating).

I play spvp, but classes are always out of balance, they constantly nerf some classes while some classes stay untouched and op.
And there’s a broken downed and rally system, these can make you go nuts…
After a tough 1v1, your downed enemy rallies and kills you, because one of your team member died at the other corner of map. So logical…

Tman.6349:

The only thing you REALLY said here is that you have a blind discontent for something that you obviously haven’t tried and are completely clueless about.

This is perhaps the only true thing as it relates to me about your entire diatribe, good sir. I most certainly have not tried PvP IN THIS GAME.

I have, however tried it in many other games, and have come to the solid, time tested conclusion that the only place PvP has is in first-person shooters, real-time strategy games, or in combat sims designed with ONLY PvP in mind. it does not belong in MMORPG’s. The disparity between the two cultures(RPG’ers and PvP’ers) causes too much friction to be of any use to the game’s population as a whole. My evidence for this statement is this very thread, as well as every other PvP thread in every other mmorpg out there. Go visit them, I’ll wait.

…..that’s right. Full of vitriol and bile, every single one. Why would anyone want to be a part of that if they’re not masochistic?

At any rate, I stand by my original, unedited portion of my post.

“I don’t need (or want) to “beat someone up” to have fun or feel good about myself."

However, in any(perhaps all) MMORPG’s out there, the rest of my post is quite valid and has been my experience in every. Single. One. Of. Them.(I’ll admit I’ve not tried it in every single one, but I have sampled a good portion. Enough for me, at any rate.) Find the FoTM build. Grind to it after reaching max level. Enter PvP arena. Get pwnd by someone who’s been playing and knows all the ins and outs. Leave PvP arena/area and never return. Rinse and repeat for the next mmorpg.

For the record, I do play PvP-only games. Current examples being World of Tanks and War Thunder. (Although I got very sick of WoT and uninstalled. Waiting for Ground Forces release on War Thunder)

What really keeps me off from serious tPvP is lack of… Unique stuff. You know, elite armor and weapon skins titles, visible in-game ratings not based on how many matches have you played but on actual MMR

I have never found a game yet that I got any pleasure out of pvp. The closest was Atlantica Online and even then I did not get any real joy out of it.

1. It gives rubbish rewards
2. Too. Many. Particle. Effects. I can’t really fight well enough to PvP when I’m having a seizure all the time and I can’t interrupt/dodge anything when I can’t see.
3. Asuras. I can’t tell what they’re doing unless I place a microscope on my monitor.