It goes without saying that no one has played this gametype loads. I was going to gather a list of everyones perceptions of it, good and bad, and all suggestions of how it could be improved. No doubt there’ll be a CDI on this soon, so this would just be a good place to start.
I’ll start out by saying that I’ve really enjoyed the gametype on the whole. I think its not only a real breath of fresh air but that it really fits the play anything mantra that guild wars 2 has been trying to achieve and is a fun, engaging game mode.
Highs:
Decisions!
Everytime you accomplish what you were trying to achieve or die you have a huge number of options at your disposal to help your team. Do you supply run and create mobs, fire your treb, defend, attack, grab hero communes, support heros.
Diversity!
With all those decisions, there are a lot of different types of roles you seem to be able to play, which even in the first few hours I’ve seen lead to more build diversity
Clutch Plays!
Legacy of the Foefire has long been a favourite map for the Esports scene, largely due to the clutch plays that can happen with Lord kills! Now we have another game type that can have clutch plays everywhere, but the win condition may need some work
Lows:
Amulet Diversity
Its only natural that people continue to play the builds they feel comfortable on, but Celestial amulets do seem to be at the forefront again. I really feel this is because the total stat numbers for Cele are far too high (over 3000 compared to 2200 or so for normal amulets) and that this is a general pvp balance issue rather than an issue with the game type
Confusion
I’ve been dying for a more complicated gametype, don’t get me wrong. I actually do see this as a big plus in general. Currently though I’m experiencing the gametype effectively as a soloqueuer and it seems to me currently that it will be too difficult to coordinate in soloqueues at any point in the future as it requires a lot of communication. Once again, I do see this as a plus, and hopefully it will really encourage teams to form and the esport scene for the wellbeing of the game, but I have listed it as a low as, currently, it can be frustrating. Especially if all four of your other team members have no interest in defending at all!
Win Condition
There’s already been quite a lot said about the win condition when the game goes to the timer. Personally, I’d always prefer a gametype that was objective focused, rather than points focused. To see a game hit 15 minutes and my team win was nice, but when we hadn’t even got the oppositions second door down and our lord was on half health it seemed a kitteneesey.
Suggestions
Win Condition
1. Have the game decided by objective progress rather than points. In the event of a tie points would decide the game
2. At the end of the timer, the lords will try to attack each other, they both go to the central area and the first lord to die wins
3. At the end of the timer, any lord who has had both doors broken into will try to attack the other lord. (I.e if both teams are at lord, they both attack, if only one is, the lord that is open will go to try to invade the other teams base) If neither lords room has been broken into the game is decided on door progress/points
Supply Room Dead Zone
It seems that the supply room becomes a bit of a deadzone for combat fairly on in the game. Its right in the centre of the map and should really help to tie the two lanes together but doesnt fill its purpose at the moment. While I can see some people might suggest making damage block communes I imagine it works in the current way (only CC interrupts supply pick up) so that there aren’t stalemates in the centre for most of the map. Here are the suggestions I’ve seen on the topic:
1. Make damage interrupt supply pick up (already explained counters to this)
2. Reduce the supply to one pile so LOS is less prominent and CCs work more
3. Reduce the supply to one pile and place it in a pit so CCs work even more
Anymore suggestions please leave them in the comments below and I’ll add them to the list