Guild Wars 2

There are too many empty maps in HoT. Verdon Brink is constantly asking to move maps and when you do, you end up in a map that is even emptier than the one you left. The mobs are just waiting for the caracter to arrive in teh new map and wipes you out as soon as you enter. There is no reason there should be asking to change one minute into a large event when there are people doing the event. The only thing I can say about HoT at this point is it is a HOT mess and needs to seriously be looked at. For the most parts the maps are empty and their is nothing a single casual player can can do in the area. Time gates and other kitten garbage is not fun it is kitten annoying, The Devs need to look at this, There is not a lot of people on the maps so it is seriously ruining the game for me. Think about the casual players and quit catering to special interest groups. They come are go at each new releases but the casual players are here. Please look at the maps this is ruining a great game. Mob killing is not fun. It is actually making me regret purchasing the Hot expansion.

Well, let’s try to be a little bit constructive here. Yes, those “empty maps” topics are getting old (you don’t need to post a new one every single day, dudes), but their frequency shows there’s a real problem with the way the different maps are handled by the megaserver. It also shows a lot of people don’t know how taxis work (it’s not hard to find an event map when you do).

So what would the solution be? Districts as often suggested? Something else? Any idea?

Let the OP rage if he wants. No one here needs to be constructive here, it’s not like the dev’s actually read this stuff.

The OP is right.

The new maps are garbage.

They’re catered to players who can dedicate 3+ hours at a time.

I log on infrequently for maybe 1-2 hour sessions, nearly everyday. If I show up 5 mins late to a meta event, then its nearly impossible to get into a full/organized map. Ef’n Dragon Stand.

I’m trying to farm events in Verdant Brink, but every map I get into is nearly empty during the day cycle. What is up with that?

These stupid maps were designed for high population and absolutely suck with low population.

Is it the map placing mechanics screwing things up and putting players in empty maps by mistake?

Or is it, they designed maps that don’t attract players (non-fun maps)?

I got better things to do (in-game and irl) than stand around for 10-15 mins trying to taxi into full/organized maps.

The system they had before Mega-servers was much better than this, which is really sad. They should just go back to it, split the servers back up, and have players guest on higher populated PvE servers to get these events done. At least that way, I don’t have to rely on this broken map placing algorithm they designed.

ChoChoBo.6503:

Let the OP rage if he wants. No one here needs to be constructive here

(…)

I got better things to do (in-game and irl) than stand around for 10-15 mins trying to taxi into full/organized maps.

Fine. Then let me point out you don’t have 10 mins to look for something IG, but surprisingly, you have 10 mins to post this on the forum…

Seriously, taxis are not an issue. Getting one to VB / AB / TD is fairly easy: you will almost always find one to a non-full map (and if you don’t, just do the meta another time). Admittedly, it can be trickier in DS – but then again, you know when the event starts, and all you have to do is to show up 5 mins before to join a squad before the reset. I have never spent 15 mins looking for a taxi. And the fact DS event lasts 2 hours is a completely different topic.

What the OP is talking about is the fact that the megaserver tends to send him to an empty map (pretty bad luck, most likely, since I often end up in event maps), and that he doesn’t seem to understand how taxis work. He’s not alone in that case: I see a lot of new players completely confused about the megaservers.

Sir Mad.1092:

ChoChoBo.6503:

Let the OP rage if he wants. No one here needs to be constructive here

(…)

I got better things to do (in-game and irl) than stand around for 10-15 mins trying to taxi into full/organized maps.

Fine. Then let me point out you don’t have 10 mins to look for something IG, but surprisingly, you have 10 mins to post this on the forum…

Seriously, taxis are not an issue. Getting one to VB / AB / TD is fairly easy: you will almost always find one to a non-full map (and if you don’t, just do the meta another time). Admittedly, it can be trickier in DS – but then again, you know when the event starts, and all you have to do is to show up 5 mins before to join a squad before the reset. I have never spent 15 mins looking for a taxi. And the fact DS event lasts 2 hours is a completely different topic.

What the OP is talking about is the fact that the megaserver tends to send him to an empty map (pretty bad luck, most likely, since I often end up in event maps), and that he doesn’t seem to understand how taxis work. He’s not alone in that case: I see a lot of new players completely confused about the megaservers.

I have a pretty easy IRL job that let’s me, from time-to-time, peruse the interwebs and forums and spend several minutes doing nothing. I’m extremely grateful for that.

The point I wanted to make was that the system for taxi’ing around is pretty much crap. There wouldn’t be a need to taxi people if the megaserver did it’s job and put players in active maps. So they should either revamp the LFG tool or fix their megaserver system.

My problem might be the fact that the times I get to log into this game, maybe on low/non-prime times. But I have an IRL job, so there really isn’t any helping that. I’ve spent plenty of times in LFG looking for taxi’s in all the new maps (outside of AB). Again, I wouldn’t have to be LFG’ing all the time to taxi into active maps, if the kitten system just put me in active maps to begin with.

The time gated events suck too, because of IRL responsibilities, I can’t always schedule my game time with the new maps event times. Because I’m a casual player and log in whenever I can to play the game, it’s even harder to get into active maps for me.

Again, these new maps are designed for high population players and players with more time to dedicate to the game (basically, non-casuals). HoT is a crappy experience for a casual player like myself.

Another thing I want to note, I don’t mind farming IG. Spending countless hours looking and working for something IG is kind of rewarding for me.

I dislike the new maps because to effectively farm, I need to be on active maps. And putting me in empty maps and having me spend pointless time LFG’ing into active maps. That kitten annoys me to no end because it isn’t progressing to my farm.

Thank you both for you input. I did take the time to look for like topics, but nothing came up. This area is not player friendly. You need a group to do anything. I have a given amount of time to play. I don’t have time to look for groups for map completion. I enjoy the maps but it is very hard for an individual to do anything. That is all I am saying. I don’t mind the times cycles. The map is to overpowered for a single player to move around on at times. I do enjoy the maps. I like playing with my Guildies. IT is just that solo players are punished for playing the game.

Sir Mad.1092:

It also shows a lot of people don’t know how taxis work (it’s not hard to find an event map when you do).

Based on my experience, for every time I’ve gotten into a shard, I’ve had 2-3 times where I would spam “Join in” until my patience ran out. I suspect that means that luck has something to do with it, as well as region and chosen playing time.

@ Indigo: yes, I guess. Don’t get me wrong: taxis are just the way players found to fix an issue with the megaserver. So how to fix it once and for all? I guess a queuing system could do the job (technically, it’s feasible since it’s already in place in WvW: the functions are already there, half of the job is done), but it would also require a major LFG tool overall (for instance: let the players vote and advertise for the map they’re currently in: cf, meta, worldboss, etc, and let the other players queue for that map).

I’m not sure queues would actually solve the problem. The issues I see complained about are the lack of viability in existing maps, and problems with taxi when the map is full. Players are not likely to leave a viable map unless they aren’t there for the meta. Thus, a major issue with a full map is that it’s not going to get emptier until whatever event is running ends.

What a queue would do is guarantee one gets in on one’s “turn” rather than if one happens to click Join In at just the right time. However, if that’s the best that could be done, then so be it, but it doesn’t strike me as that much of a solution.

Unfortunately, I don’t know what a better solution would be. However, I think the experience would be better with the following adjustments.

• Maps shouldn’t close automatically until their current meta cycle is over. This would prevent the issue with maps closing while those on the map are actually attempting to succeed.
• Participation credit should be owned by the name of the map, not by the shard ID. Leaving a map for another copy of the same map should not erase credit.
• Some adjustments to the bottom of the scale for events. If the current iteration requires 50 people for meta completion, then perhaps that should scale down to 10 people if that’s all that are there participating. It used to be possible to complete Orr temples with a few people (in fact, it was more fun to do so). However, after mega-server, it is rare to find such a circumstance. This would at least allow a few people on a low pop map the opportunity to try — at least with the events that don’t require splitting the huge herd into several smaller, but still large, herds.

ChoChoBo.6503:

The point I wanted to make was that the system for taxi’ing around is pretty much crap. There wouldn’t be a need to taxi people if the megaserver did it’s job and put players in active maps. So they should either revamp the LFG tool or fix their megaserver system.

^This right here. I am surprised the players just let the system be broken and find a work-around rather than, you know, ask the developers to get it fixed up so that it works as intended. If its doing more harm than good, why even have it in the game in the first place? Also, quite surprised that this is still isn’t fixed even after months of the expac’s release.

Either fix it to work properly, or set up a system that auto-taxi’s or tells people to taxi to another map.

The megaserver system works best when people don’t taxi. The megaserver, moves people to maps to fill up. Player believes the map isn’t that full, so taxi out to another map using the LFG tool. So in my opinion, the megaserver and lfg tool aren’t broken they are just working against each other. Players are enabling this by using LFG, however I’m still a strong advocate of using a LFG tool to find maps that want to do Events Vs. Hero Points Vs Chest Farms,.

Thamriyell.5490:

ChoChoBo.6503:

The point I wanted to make was that the system for taxi’ing around is pretty much crap. There wouldn’t be a need to taxi people if the megaserver did it’s job and put players in active maps. So they should either revamp the LFG tool or fix their megaserver system.

^This right here. I am surprised the players just let the system be broken and find a work-around rather than, you know, ask the developers to get it fixed up so that it works as intended. If its doing more harm than good, why even have it in the game in the first place? Also, quite surprised that this is still isn’t fixed even after months of the expac’s release.

Either fix it to work properly, or set up a system that auto-taxi’s or tells people to taxi to another map.

Well players have asked Anet to fix this and Anet is working on fixing this. However, no guarantee fixes are overnight. I’m sure most people realize the megaserver is a big, complex system and takes time to overhaul. Anet has been on it a couple of months already apparently, so I don’t really know what to tell you.

Seems like after all these years, people still think major changes to any game system can be finished and tested in a relatively short time period. It’s just not that simple.

reapex.8546:

The megaserver system works best when people don’t taxi. The megaserver, moves people to maps to fill up. Player believes the map isn’t that full, so taxi out to another map using the LFG tool. So in my opinion, the megaserver and lfg tool aren’t broken they are just working against each other. Players are enabling this by using LFG, however I’m still a strong advocate of using a LFG tool to find maps that want to do Events Vs. Hero Points Vs Chest Farms,.

That’s a good point. Taxiing is the work around for being in an unorganized map, but people leaving those maps means the map is less likely to get organized. My luck seems to be that I miss out on taxi more often than not, so I’m often either stuck on a map that isn’t going anywhere, or I just go elsewhere.

IndigoSundown.5419:

reapex.8546:

The megaserver system works best when people don’t taxi. The megaserver, moves people to maps to fill up. Player believes the map isn’t that full, so taxi out to another map using the LFG tool. So in my opinion, the megaserver and lfg tool aren’t broken they are just working against each other. Players are enabling this by using LFG, however I’m still a strong advocate of using a LFG tool to find maps that want to do Events Vs. Hero Points Vs Chest Farms,.

That’s a good point. Taxiing is the work around for being in an unorganized map, but people leaving those maps means the map is less likely to get organized. My luck seems to be that I miss out on taxi more often than not, so I’m often either stuck on a map that isn’t going anywhere, or I just go elsewhere.

Yup, LFG tool is a positive and a negative unfortunately when it comes to the megaserver doing its job.

Anet have already said they are looking into it. Remember, it took months to phase in the system so it’s not something that can be fixed in a couple of days. The fact the it works well in core Tyria but is such a mess in HoT is a bit of a mystery to me. I assume there’s something different with the two map types that has broke the system in HoT.

Anyway, trying to fix the system can just as easily make things worse, so I’d rather Anet take their time and do it properly. Lfg and taxiing is not perfect, but it’s workable.

It’s only going to get worst. HoT has to be hands down the worst expansion Anet has ever released. No wonder people quit this game.

onevstheworld.2419:

Anet have already said they are looking into it. Remember, it took months to phase in the system so it’s not something that can be fixed in a couple of days. The fact the it works well in core Tyria but is such a mess in HoT is a bit of a mystery to me. I assume there’s something different with the two map types that has broke the system in HoT.

Anyway, trying to fix the system can just as easily make things worse, so I’d rather Anet take their time and do it properly. Lfg and taxiing is not perfect, but it’s workable.

Actually my experience has been the same in the old maps as the new, they are just noticed more. Try doing Guild events and pop to a location where your other guildies are and see how many times you end up in a different instance.

As for Dragon Stand, it wouldn’t solve everything but if they turned off the map wipe every 2 hour until they got this resolved that would help folks stay connected with groups.

Again this is my opinion only

Sir Mad.1092:

Well, let’s try to be a little bit constructive here. Yes, those “empty maps” topics are getting old (you don’t need to post a new one every single day, dudes), but their frequency shows there’s a real problem with the way the different maps are handled by the megaserver. It also shows a lot of people don’t know how taxis work (it’s not hard to find an event map when you do).

So what would the solution be? Districts as often suggested? Something else? Any idea?

I say keep making new topics, make their servers grind to a halt with them all. People understand how taxis work, but taxis SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED!
If a map is “too full” then don’t allow more to join, but they need to get rid of the forced moving entirely.
The mega server is built horribly. It should function like this; only one map exists of Verdant Brink (for example) until it reaches a specific capacity (not max as that only ensures people start crashing like crazy) another map will never be made. When it reaches maximum capacity then, and ONLY then, should a second map be created for people to port into. It should also remember your map. If you crash from the first map, you log back into the first map and continue on with what completion you were doing on any meta event.

1. If I am taxiing, for example from a recently finished Silver Wastes to one that is at 50%, say, then I should lose ALL progress. After all, I’m exploiting the LFG tool for profit.

2. But if the map is closing and urging me to move I should keep all progress, after all, it’s not my fault.

3. If I get disconnected there should be a reasonable grace period to allow me to get into the same map, and I should be able to keep all progress, or be eligible for the relevant rewards if the meta just finished.

I’d also like some control over a move. Anyone can lie and say “SW 90%” when it’s actually 40% (and they do) or claim to have an organised Triple Trouble Wurm with 3 commanders, when actually it’s just the usual hopeful PUG, doomed to fail.

I also wish players would stop posting LFG for dungeons or home instances, or personal story, in the open world LFG group.

Sir Mad.1092:

Well, let’s try to be a little bit constructive here. Yes, those “empty maps” topics are getting old (you don’t need to post a new one every single day, dudes), but their frequency shows there’s a real problem with the way the different maps are handled by the megaserver. It also shows a lot of people don’t know how taxis work (it’s not hard to find an event map when you do).

So what would the solution be? Districts as often suggested? Something else? Any idea?

Most people refuse to taxi or be a taxi buddy no matter how much time passes and how many veterans there are that know what a taxi is and how to avoid being suppressed. This issue has frustrated me a number of times, and finally the conclusion I’ve come too is that people are just too lazy to take a few seconds out of their killing to post in lfg. That’s the inherent problem with the lfg as it’s currently set up.

Only way round it I can see is to have a map select feature which allows you to que up for say Ab pylons; and a smarter system which places you in map which is filling, not emptying.

The maps, their group content, their timers, and assorted issues were annoying in the weeks directly after launch. Months later, these problems are getting worse and maps are getting emptier as people realize they do too much sitting around waiting to taxi to an event map or waiting for help with specific smaller events and hero challenges.

Players are only going to sit around for so long before they decide to find a game where they don’t have to put up with these problems.

Empty maps, frequent offers to move to a new map, and loss of progression on a move are known issues Arenanet should be addressing soon.