Guild Wars 2

Hey all,
After playing this game’s PvP since start, but only being able to enjoy a single game mode (let’s not count Courtyard) I was very excited to learn that a new game mode will be coming to GW2.
I’ll share with you my thoughts on how Stronghold will affect the game and PvP community.
The good:

1. New game mode – yay! Finally. This will bring in more players from around the game as well as get some players to return to the game for sure.
2. Teamwork – as opposed to conquest being semi-teamwork based, Stronghold seems like a game-mode where tactics are key to even having a chance at winning. If 2 players on one team decide to not go with the plan, it will definately ruin their team’s chances at winning.
3. Clutch plays – as we saw from game modes that are similar in nature in other games (LoL, Smite, GW1 GvG… etc) the type of play Stronghold seems to reinforce is that of quickly changing pace. This means that the game can go from being a stalemate to a rapid rush victory for one team in the matter of seconds.
4. New meta – as they mentioned on the livestream, Stronghold will most definately bring around a new meta for builds. I predict that this game mode will require way more build synergy than conquest, which brings around more exciting and fun comps.
5. Support role will rise – I think because this game mode will bring around much more exciting team fights than conquest, support role will become more demanded in top teams playing Stronghold.

The bad:

1. No separate queue – seriously? ArenaNet needs to rethink this. The only argument I see behind this is them “not wanting to split PvP population”. With the addition of all the new players coming in to try Stronghold exclusively, this will be a major setback. “I’ve already tried conquest and didn’t like it. Why should I queue with the chance of having to play it, when I actually like and want to practice Stronghold.” – This will be a very common reason for players of all levels not to want to PvP still. Another massive issue with the 2 game modes being in the same queue is that it is clear that the conquest meta builds will not do as well in the new game mode.
2. Lack of in-game voice coms will hurt this game mode – because as they said on the stream, this game requires more of a team effort and thinking. If everyone goes off doing their own thing it will have a huge negative impact on the team.
3. Profession/build stacking – due to the varying nature of different objectives around the map, profession and build stacking may be harmful for a team. This problem will surely come up in solo queue.

Ideas:

1. Add a separate queue – this is essential. Without this the game mode will most likely fail and become another Courtyard.
2. Truly separate solo and team queue – teams with build synergy and voice communication will have such a huge advantage that it would be bad not having a team-only queue.
3. Support a 3rd party voice software, such as Curse Voice to give players a chance to use voice communications as it will be even more demanded than for conquest.
4. Add a team builder – because I already see new roles emerging with this game-mode, I think it would be ace if players had a chance to match their roles with other solo players to create some form of synergy.

All-in-all, I think Stronghold – if delivered correctly (separate queues) – can really make the PvP in this game shine again. Let’s hope everything goes well.