Guild Wars 2

Good day Ladies and Gents,
as I am using the observer quite regularly as a shoutcaster I wanted to give some feedback about what I would like to see in future updates.

I’ll start off with the Custom Arenas going further to the Observer Mode.

As I’m not good at writing a wall of text here a list of notes (First the “bug”, second the “solution”)

Custom Arenas:

This is just a must have:

• Force map change
  • Simple but powerful tool which is a must need!
• Force server restart
  • For example for setting a new password
• Kick players from spectator
  • If a password was leaked it is currently not possible to kick from spectator
• Assign admins
  • Only having one admin is forcing this player to be online to use the arena properly

Some neat features I would like to see:

• Give the spectators (or admins) a ready button
  • This makes it easier for shoutcasters and teams to coordinate
• Don’t show equip and traits unless permitted
  • It hurts to see that players are looking at each others traits before a match, a dedicated list on who can see them would be awesome (could be a player decision or an public(!) list)

I really like the concept and the possibilities I see with them in future! Please keep going in this direction.

Observer Mode:

As it is not as clear here just a list.

• More stationary cameras or a way to move them
  • For example a “path”(like a rail) which can be used with “A” and “D” to move around graveyard on legacy
• A “Free-Camera” would be neat but is not necessary if we can add some minor features to the fixed cameras (semi-fixed would be awesome)
• The ability to click on players on the minimap (while holding shift or ctrl)
  • This is really a main aspect which is missing, it costs about 2-3 second to find the player in the list to click on it. Otherwise players could get a number like in GW1 for spectators so that they can be followed more easily.
• Disable stationary cams when holding shift or ctrl
  • Its sometimes hard to draw on the minimap and the camera keeps switching
• Do not reset the camera after using right-click to change the angle.
  • This can be easily achieved and is really annoying. Normally i use right click to pan the camera which would give me a reset in spec mode (Can be dodged by using left-mouse^^)
• Give us a status bar how far the point is captured
  • Could be the point filling up in one color (the ground symbol on the ground) or a bar on the Ui listing all available points
• Same goes for buffs (Chieftain,Svanir; Runes on Temple; Orb)
  • A neat little timer above the minimap or next to the points is more than enough

Thats it for the features, now for the current misplacement of the cameras. Sorry for skipping Capricorn

Cameras

• Forest
  • No camera is showing the Henge properly! (The one that is nearby isn’t placed very good
  • No direct cameras for Chieftain and Svanir
  • Mine camera is placed nicely
  • Keep camera could use a lift
  • “Mid” camera (south from Keep) could use a lift too
• Spirit Watch
  • Camera North-West of Wolf needs a repositioning (can’t be used because its to far away)
  • Raven camera is fine (unless you look to the east, there is a tree)
  • Cameras South-West and east of the orb respawn are fine, the middle one should be placed north of the orb (Wooden thingy south of raven)
  • Rest is placed nicely
• Kyhlo
  • Clocktower and Trebuchets could use a lift as well as the ones between them
  • Rest is placed really nice, like them alot!
• Temple
  • Both cameras facing towards the upper middle rune need a huge lift.
  • Adding a camera above the mid-upper rune would be nice
  • Temple and Altar could use a lift
  • All other cameras are fine for now.
• Legacy
  • Quarry needs a lift
  • Mid should be split in 2 one above each cliff leading to the outer points (or moveable like a train)

Well that’s it for the moment. Any additions or criticism is appreciated!

As time progresses I am going to update this list (with a new post underneath showing whats been added).

At the end I want to thank everyone working on the game! You guys are doing a great job. One thing I want to mention to is the nice work of people promoting our streams (mainly US :P).

Thanks for reading and greetings from Germany.

-[Jianji] SteppenWolf
ShoutCaster

I fully aggree with SteppenWolf! In addition, I would like to see keyboard shortcuts for the spectator mode.

for example:
» 1 to 6(…) for the stationary cams on a map (1 = cam on the left to 6 = cam on the right)
» Q, W, E, R, T for team blue (Q = 1st player, W = 2nd player, …)
» A, S, D, F, G for red team (A = 1st, …)

I would add 2 more things to make the matches easier to watch for viewers:

• Cast bars: The viewers want to know which skill was used. Just looking at the animations is not enough.

• “Reduced effects option”: The spell animations are way to flashy. Even in a 1v1s it’s not that easy to see what’s going on. This is especially bad for new viewers.

Haha, steppen we just sent a list to Anet that compiled the issues we had during the SOAC Tournament, and the reset issue, forced map change, and password disappearing were all on that list :P.

Blackhat.4016:

I would add 2 more things to make the matches easier to watch for viewers:

• Cast bars: The viewers want to know which skill was used. Just looking at the animations is not enough.

• “Reduced effects option”: The spell animations are way to flashy. Even in a 1v1s it’s not that easy to see what’s going on. This is especially bad for new viewers.

these should be standard for all players

Good points so far =).
Keep it coming guys.

-[Jianji] SteppenWolf

milo.6942:

Blackhat.4016:

I would add 2 more things to make the matches easier to watch for viewers:

• Cast bars: The viewers want to know which skill was used. Just looking at the animations is not enough.

• “Reduced effects option”: The spell animations are way to flashy. Even in a 1v1s it’s not that easy to see what’s going on. This is especially bad for new viewers.

these should be standard for all players

True.

I wonder if newer players would appreciate a skill usage list in spectate? Put it on the side of the screen for the current spectated player, and make it unobtrusive. Don’t include the auto attack on that list to avoid spam. Add an option to hide it.

Nettle.9025:

I wonder if newer players would appreciate a skill usage list in spectate? Put it on the side of the screen for the current spectated player, and make it unobtrusive. Don’t include the auto attack on that list to avoid spam. Add an option to hide it.

technically there is no autoattack skill in gw2. So from a code standpoint excluding a skill is a bit tricky I imagine.

Something that I think CA definitely need, is a team/ player queue list, where every time a team loses, it is substituted by spectator players on the queue.

First of all great job with the custom arenas and the observer.
Things that need to be changed:
1) Reset custom arena function to update changes that were recently made. For example i made a mistake like making the teams 10 person each and ready option on, well it won’t reset unless a considerate amount of time passes with the room empty or 20 people ready up on my room.
2) Add administrators for the public channels there are many channels that were made for 2v2 3v3 duels and people went capping points etc ruining them, either because they are new to the game and ended up there or because they were trolling.
3) Be able to kick spectators! this is very important, spectators can be badmouthing on map chat, spying for some team, stream matches that were organized for someone else to stream etc.
4) If you make changes on a private room(pass-worded) and you don’t renew the password on the field it resets and goes public without password.
5) When u first enter the game u cant go to the mists if you don’t select a side or spectator.
Suggestions:
1) Pause game! if you implement this it will be awesome for the tournaments in the case someone gets a disconnect we just pause the game and skills stop recharging their cool downs.
2) Replay function
3) Option to limit classes(this can be used to have warrior only public games for example)
4) No points for capping or doing secondary objectives like orb(so the custom arena goes duel arena mode)

Also a function which warns you upon joining a match that you’re going to be observing only would be nice.
I understand why some like observing, but I never ever want to. I just want to fight and learn from my own mistakes (I make enough of them :P) but often I’ve joined a match and found that I could only observe it.

I am going to have to agree with everything here but the freecam. THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN for the game to be viewable by anyone that wants to watch.

The main reason is this. You need good angles in order for someone who has never played the game to see what is happening.

Also please give everyone the ability to turn down the effects! Not just in PvP.

I get really nauseous from spectator mode. The same thing happens when I look at my wife’s screen while she’s playing; if the screen moves around a lot and I’m not controlling that motion, it’s like riding in the back seat of a car vs. driving. And if I’m trying to pick out fine details or read anything on the screen, then it’s like riding in the back seat of the car while trying to read.
But if I choose one of the stationary observation points, it’s like watching a race: really exciting when they happen to run past, but pretty boring the other 99% of the time. If I switch points trying to follow the action, it’s almost as bad as the nauseating player-cam.

For these reasons, I’ve tried spectator mode three times. The first time, I thought, it could have been a fluke. Maybe I was doing it wrong, and that was why I got so sick from it. The second time, I thought maybe the stationary points would help. But after the third time, I knew this just wasn’t the eSport for me. At least not yet.

jim.5380:

5) When u first enter the game u cant go to the mists if you don’t select a side or spectator.

I noticed that if you press “N” (or whatever key you’ve bound to the “instructions”) that screen goes away and you’re defaulted to spectating. Then you can go back to the Heart of the Mists.

I’d like to see a “force random teams” option in combination with the option of locking people out of rejoining a match that they quit (so people can’t get around it by exploiting autobalance, if autobalance is enabled).

Draygo.9473:

Nettle.9025:

I wonder if newer players would appreciate a skill usage list in spectate? Put it on the side of the screen for the current spectated player, and make it unobtrusive. Don’t include the auto attack on that list to avoid spam. Add an option to hide it.

technically there is no autoattack skill in gw2. So from a code standpoint excluding a skill is a bit tricky I imagine.

There is an auto-cast feature though. The skill list could show which skill the player has on auto-recast (usually skill 1) and if it is actively recasting.

Please keep show traits/equip on by default.

Thanks for your commitment jianji, it’s really appreciated!

I actually don’t like spectator mode. Mainly because it will speed up the distribution of builds accelerating how long it takes to turn new players into experienced players. This will speed up nerfs and make players reach a point where they have less to look forward to. Then they will quite the game in search for another game. An example of this is the phantasm Mesmer. They have become much more common due to this update and kill very very fast. All in all, I look forward to the development of custom arenas. I can’t; however, stress the importance of separating dueling. Perhaps dueling tourneys may help because dueling is taking over some arenas but are still being invaded by players that want to cap points.

“Reduced effects option”: The spell animations are way to flashy. Even in a 1v1s it’s not that easy to see what’s going on. This is especially bad for new viewers.

this needs to happen game wide to be honest cant see roses for trees when the spells start flying and honestly supprised it wasent an option at launch :|

Evan Lesh.3295:

If you get nauseous from the follow cam, try using free-cam. This allows you to disconnect the camera from your targets facing direction by using left-mouse.

Except we are limited to what the shoutcaster uses, and I don’t think anyone knew you were able to do this as a spectator.

Is there a guide to setting up, resetting, and camera options for the Arena? If there isn’t than that should be something to look into.

Evan Lesh.3295:

If you get nauseous from the follow cam, try using free-cam. This allows you to disconnect the camera from your targets facing direction by using left-mouse.

It’d be better if it was a real free-camera that can roam/re-target people if need be

Bazeleel.8219:

I am going to have to agree with everything here but the freecam. THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN for the game to be viewable by anyone that wants to watch.

The main reason is this. You need good angles in order for someone who has never played the game to see what is happening.

Guys, a free camera makes it even harder for people to keep track of whats going on ( It will never be as smooth at we need it). If we get some more features on the stationary cams (like the ability to circle a point) that’ll do good for all of us.
A static camera is way easier to follow (ever watch a sports match like soccer where the cameraman is running across the field :O?).

The idea of multiple cameras at a time is a nice idea but not suitable for casting. It is way to hard keep track of everything. One picture is the maximun of concentration anyone can bring. As well as the question: How do people know which screen I am currently talking about?

pot.6805:

Please keep show traits/equip on by default.

Well yes, I want that to. But it would be nice to have the chance to lock them for a while. Looking what build the other team is running is common right now which is awful. “Dude… they got 4 condi builds, get **** utility”.
Furthermore if a player decides to not show his traits, why not? If he is working on a new build to get an advantage let him be.

Kau.8495:

this needs to happen game wide to be honest cant see roses for trees when the spells start flying and honestly supprised it wasent an option at launch :|

Oh lord please let it happen (at least for observer, ingame is fine for me)

Empathetic Fighter.2065:

Thanks for your commitment jianji, it’s really appreciated!

Thank you for keeping us entertained!

Greetings
[JnJ] SteppenWolf

Here’s a suggestion for observer mode: allow people to spectate without having to actually join the game, a la GW1.

Evan Lesh.3295:

If you get nauseous from the follow cam, try using free-cam. This allows you to disconnect the camera from your targets facing direction by using left-mouse.

Yeah, but even when you can change the direction of the camera, it’s still subject to the motion of the player you’re following. If they run forward while you’re looking to their right, the camera moves to your left.

To continue my “riding in the car” analogy, it’s like sitting in the back of the car and turning your head; you can look in whichever direction you want, but if the car is still moving forward, looking around will only make things worse.

The only way I know to make it better is to let us roam the map invisibly. That way, we control our own cameras, but no extra models have to be rendered. I don’t know what kind of programming that would take, and I kind of doubt it’ll be implemented, so I’ve pretty much resigned myself to not spectating. No hard feelings, just nausea.

I don’t mean to cause a fuss; I’m just particularly susceptible to motion sickness. Even driving to and from work makes me nauseous, and I can’t do more than one jumping puzzle (if that) before I get sick and have to take a break.

I am adding a suggestion for custom arenas this is just for tournament games.
An option that every player when enters the game is on a “lobby mode”, which means he cant spectate or pick team, but the admin of the room has to move him either to a team or to observer mode. The suggestion is for competitive pvp so oponnent teams cant look at each others traits/amulets/runes/weapons before the game starts and react to it accordingly, but instead being prepared for it. Ofcourse observer build inspection should stay as it is so the new players can find out new builds etc.

Spectator Mode:

• Particle effects colors are all friendly while observing making it hard to tell what is going on, perhaps make the effects team color oriented while in spectator mode so it is easier to follow.

Make treb shots red or blue. Makes it easier for casters and watchers to see who’s trebbing.

I think you should be able to click on anyone that you can see and have their hp/identity pop up at the top like it normally does if you were playing and clicked on them. Sometimes I just want to see their boons/hp without having to scour them on the left/right panels.

Just a couple comments after watching the MotM tourney and finding out this thread actually exists:
When a player dies, and the camera is in his perspective, can we get the same effect as we do when we play (the saturated/black-and-white effect)? It just got confusing for me to tell whether someone was rezzed or still in downed state or completely defeated when the colour stayed the same – but that might be because I’m so used to it by now.

Also, all AoE needs blue or red circles on the ground depending on the team that cast it, and the health bar of the target should work like that too: all I saw were green health bars. There isn’t even a green team.

Besides that though, as a spectator, I thought the cameras were well done. Now, if the shoutcasters can get better at using them…

We need more ways to control the rules of a custom arena. Specifically, dueling arenas.

• We need a way to turn off point captures
• There should be the ability to add a rules screen that prompts people to accept so random joiners know what they are getting into.
• There should be a way to vote kick/ temp ban players who join simply to grief others

Need healthbars on lords viewable + lord/gate dmg should be announced to spectators too. Look at: MiM vs Sleepy!

I partially watched the SOAC tournament that was going on last evening/night and one thing i think could be beneficial would be to show skills that players are using and show if they are on cooldown. That way the casters/spectators would have easier time calling “power moves” like players using elite skills if they could see that X mesmer used time warp and X engineer dropped a supply crate in to a fight. They are visible currently, yes, but if caster/spectator misses the animation of the skill, they miss a whole lot of what’s happening in the fight.

If the skills were visible in spectator mode under player names for example it would be easy to see when players decide to use their utilities and elites in a fight. This would lead into the spectators being able to follow the fights much easier.

@Daxter the skills should be visible to everyone during the fight, so people know what’s going on.

A start screen with all the professions aswell as their most used builds (small adjustments can ofc be made) that switches between the teams so counter picks can be made.

Pause button

The obvious things like callouts to the spectators when the base/lord/svanir/etc is under attack, better minimap, etc