Guild Wars 2

First Game Ever I have not enjoyed instanced pvp.. Which is weird as I I have enjoyed instanced pvp running in structured teams alot over the last 10 or so years.

we used to even set up team competitions in warhammer, and i held most wins on my server for like a year and a half until I stopped playing.. WoW arena got boring fast after a season (but I still enjoyed the battlegrounds), chasing a druid around a pillar for an hour.. no thanks.

Its not hard, Balance is always on going, as are bug fixes.

It just feels I am playing someone else’s character, I mostly do it to test watered down builds for wvw.

Water combat and downed kinda blow, but its not that, it just get so kitten boring so fast. It jsut does not feel strategic, it feels more pveish, and tracking timers or some gimmick.

I cant totally put my finger on it, anyone else feel same way?

I do wish we could have some additional scenarios we could play our real characters in, to take a break when wvw is slow..

Perhaps it’s because there isn’t an incentive to keep on playing. It’s fun at first, but cosmetic gear that isn’t even colored the way you want and will take many ranks at a slow grind really doesn’t do it for some people to convince them to play for fun to get to the next coolest thing.

It’s as if you’re stuck with an endgame for spvp. You do the same thing over and over again while its still fun and soon it gets repetitive, you feel its a bit unfair X class wins easily, you feel your class Y just can’t be played the way you want to play him and it just gets to you.

Although I enjoy the pvp…it needs a lot of work. I think the fact there isnt really a traditional tank/healer/dps takes away some of the depth. Also, everyone has the same gear, and its all domination/capture the point makes the matches feel “vanilla” after a while. Kinda like a DPS pew pew mosh pit with no strategy outside of dps mechanics. Makes it feel kinda “arcade” like.

To survive this I like to try playing other classes and swap which class i play on a regular basis. Respec often and experiment with new builds. But I agree, it can get a little boring after a while.

My Suggesstions to Dev’s.
1.) Give some small amount of EXP so you can advance your character while running matches. I hate griding content and Im not the only one.
2.) Be less “restrictive” on rewards for pvp. I understand the only reward is glory to buy styles for spvp, but for the love of god a person should be able to wear their earned style ANYwhere. Same goes for pve styles, you earned it…let us use it!! Right now it feels like there is no reward for spvp so that takes some of the drive to play right out of it.

I love the current setup. It feels like a perfect merger of an FPS style gaming with MMO depth of class mechanics.

I find the PvP itself fine, but there’s just little to no incentive to actually play. There does need to be more of a reward, maybe once we get paid tournaments and the gem rewards for coming 1st/2nd it’ll be slightly better.

My opinion on it is that SPvP has no ‘flair’. TPvP conquest, uber balanced is fine and a lot of fun.

But SPvP isn’t, it’s 16 people on a 10 players map running around like headless chooks. Which is most MMOS bg’s to be fair. But the thing distinction for me, is not only the maps not being designed for 16 people, but the failure to include ‘for fun’ game types. Capure the flag, oddball, etc.

For me Swtor sucked, the PvP was imbalanced and a WoW clone, with no ‘e-sports’ in mind. But the casual PvP was amazing, Huttball was the single best BG idea ever, I spent countless hours playing that.

For me this is what SPvP lacks. TPvP is fine (assuming paid comes soon as free is getting boring, rankings are important!), not that I wouldn’t love E-sports huttball though.

hotjoin is about getting the top spot on the boards and farming glory while tourney is about winning as a group. obviously they cater to two types of players.

I said this in another thread, but having spent some time in GW2 sPvP I actually MISS SWTOR PvP pretty badly.

I mean, it was a total unbalanced mess (and from what I hear still is), gear gave ludicrous advantage, level gave an advantage, etc. But for all that, Huttball was fun, and other battlegrounds had a totally different feel. Capture the nodes, the tower defense, etc.

Even in WoW I had a lot more fun playing games like Warsong Gulch, stealing the enemy flag, hiding it, etc., than the simplistic conquer mode of GW2. Really rather disappointing.

The WvW was supposed to be a major draw. But since level and gear make a huge impact, as does the orb control, it feels just as unbalanced as SWTOR’s PvP. And there’s just too much PvE in WvW for my taste – too close to the PvE race of Alterac Valley in WoW.

I would say it’s because they made an FPS out of an MMORPG.

There are really few skills/builds that it can get boring pretty fast if you’re into strategy or building a char. With my necro especially I get bored pvping with him, condition build or some well build that’s either glass cannon aoe burst or bunker. Yawn. =p

And I’m just talking about normal, casual, hotjoin pvp, not any tournament stuff where builds are even more limited.

I never got into the pro-scene in GW1, I played casually in random arena’s, Jade Quarry, Fort Aspenwood, etc. I could play for hours just making SO many fun, gimmicky, or even effective builds. It was just a blast. You don’t find that here. Then of course, I had the carrot of having new skills to unlock to make even MORE builds to keep my playing as well. There’s no carrot here, no ladder, etc, gear skins aren’t nearly enough, I found one I’m happy with and the rest aren’t worth going for, especially since it’s dyed Red or Blue anyway.

You don’t enjoy E-Sport is what you mean, since GW2 instanced PvP is E-Sport material and WoW arena was an E-Sport. Don’t play sPvP, it is for pro’s and competitive players. Try WvW seems more like WoW battlegrounds, no skill zergs.

For a community that puts WoW down every chance they get, this game could learn a lot about pvp variety in WoW. And than WoW wasn’t even all that special, but it was better than what is being offered here…
I didn’t fancy the vehicle bg’s, but others did. At least you had choices in game modes.

Spvp is a bigger zerging mess than I have seen in WoW, as a design I mean.
WoW bg’s could be a mess, but they could be great as well.
Here the 8v8 formula on a 3 point map just screams for zerging and neglecting strategic play.

The only strategic decision you need to make in spvp is: how do I join the zerg again? And hope you don’t run into the other zerg.

Tpvp is a lot better of course, and beats most random bg’s WoW had.
But does it beat the rated bg’s? Nope, it’s simular. And again: the rated bg scene in WoW never took of as it was intended too.

Both games are not balanced as they should, so that argument falls away too.

In the end GW2 has the superior combat system, and WoW has tons of variety this game lacks.

GW2 advertised itself as a pvp game, and I’m still wondering why.
It’s no more a pvp game than WoW is. In fact: in terms of options it’s even less of a pvp game.

note: the gear grnd in WoW pvp ended at a point, and all comparisons should be made from there.
Uneven gear level was the biggest issue WoW had for e-sport. Something this game dealt with excellently.

I am sorry but WSG and Arathing Basin back in wow , was even worse with zergs
But u had the healers to save u :P
Just take the flags in WSG and run in mid , or try to take the Farm from the Hordes :P

All maps of GW2 are amazing except raid on the capricorn, they seem “zergy” because hot join is dumb thanks to 8v8. It should be 5v5.

Blazer Hellsing.9184:

All maps of GW2 are amazing except raid on the capricorn, they seem “zergy” because hot join is dumb thanks to 8v8. It should be 5v5.

that is exactly the main issue for me.

Why on earth did they make it 8v8?
Just make it 5v5 and force people to play together.

I agree with the OP.

I liked Rift pvp. You could see what the opposing player was doing and find a counter. In GW2 there is none of that. IMO all this dodging and whatever lowers the skill level, not improves things.

GW2 is not a thinking mans game.

Killthehealersffs.8940:

I am sorry but WSG and Arathing Basin back in wow , was even worse with zergs
But u had the healers to save u :P
Just take the flags in WSG and run in mid , or try to take the Farm from the Hordes :P

This was often the case of course, but at least it could be countered.
Yes: you can counter a zerg team in AB, and yes: you can counter a zerg team holding the flag in wsg.
It didn’t happen all that often, and I’m not saying WoW pvp was perfect.
But you could counter it, by playing the game as it was created.

Now take 8v8 spvp zerging.
You can’t counter it.
Yes you can take points they abandon, but you can’t hold them when they come back for them.
And even if you try, they will always end up with tons more glory than you. While still beating your smarter tactic as well.

In AB if u are alone in the Farm u have to aoe the Flag and stay alive vs 5 opponents
The same apply to sPvP bases in GW2

And even there the AB defender gets less points than the roamers

I am sort of having fun but it is absolutely not sustainable.

Aside from the complaints in this thread that I agree with I think the things that annoy me most about pvp is the camera angles. Never in a game have I had to manually adjust my camera so many times because the camera doesn’t really follow my character when he changes direction.

The sloowwwwww grind is probably the biggest killer. I am pretty sure they did this because your ranking is account wide. IMO they should have made it so that you rank faster but it is character based. You can still hold onto the gear that your highest ranked character wins and pass it along to your alts but they can’t wear it until they are high enough rank themselves. This would provide a bit of a carrot on a stick for players who make alts but not make it a grueling grind for those who don’t.

As many flaws as WAR had I really miss it so much. Never had so much fun pvping in my life. I was hoping that GW2 would fill that spot in my heart in both PvP and WvW but sadly it doesn’t even come close.

Need a ladder/rating sytem asap or this game will fail 6 months from now. Also new maps, im getting very bored of base capture.

Wow was never as zergy as this game, if both teams were evenly skill/geared. Rated battlegrounds was the best pvp ive ever done and AN is gonna have to do a lot of improvements in GW2s pvp to compete with it. The great thing about GW2 is the classes, all of them are so much fun to play and i think thats the main reason ppl are sticking with GW2 atm, and hoping AN does something to improve its PVP design. I really hope something comes soon, to give us more incentive to sPVP or im gonna find myself drifting back to a game that i was assured id never go back too.

@NJS, no, no more new “maps”. Remove raid ont he capricorn and have these 3 maps for conquest. Thats more than enough.

If they add any more maps it should be for other game modes like capture the flag etc.

NJS whats the difference with 10vs10 in mddle fight (WSG) and whats with 8v8 (sPvP) ?
Why GW2 is zergy , while WoW aint ?

I dunno what to think of sPvP, I tried it for a bit but I couldn’t enjoy capture mode really. It felt extremely short and the map size seemed to support a decent sized group moving around.

The pvp itself though is well balanced although I think downed state should be much more restrictive dmg wise. I dunno why mud slinging would do good damage at all. In fact, I’ve seen a warrior drop a person completely from 60% about just by mud slinging. Even worse, they both ended up in downed state tossing things at each other…. I think it just comes off looking a bit dumb in PvP.

dooger.2640:

First Game Ever I have not enjoyed instanced pvp.. Which is weird as I I have enjoyed instanced pvp running in structured teams alot over the last 10 or so years.

we used to even set up team competitions in warhammer, and i held most wins on my server for like a year and a half until I stopped playing.. WoW arena got boring fast after a season (but I still enjoyed the battlegrounds), chasing a druid around a pillar for an hour.. no thanks.

Its not hard, Balance is always on going, as are bug fixes.

It just feels I am playing someone else’s character, I mostly do it to test watered down builds for wvw.

Water combat and downed kinda blow, but its not that, it just get so kitten boring so fast. It jsut does not feel strategic, it feels more pveish, and tracking timers or some gimmick.

I cant totally put my finger on it, anyone else feel same way?

I do wish we could have some additional scenarios we could play our real characters in, to take a break when wvw is slow..

I enjoy sPvP, but I can see where you are coming from. It could be better. Key improvements needed, I would say are:

1) Less claustrophobic maps. Currently there is way too much charging from node to node, which does not have sufficient tactical depth to be really satisfying.

2) More tactically varied maps. Every map at the moment feels more or less the same in terms of tactics. Some capture the item, king of the hill, etc maps would add diversity and keep people thinking a bit more.

I will also say that downed and water combat get more interesting the more you play. They have their own tactics and it takes a fair amount of time to learn enough about them to start enjoying their contribution to the overall game.

I would like to see more maps with more strategic items, but the basic concepts and framework seem pretty sound.

In particular, everyone having access to the same gear and level is huge. No level advantage, no gear advantage. These things have always been garbage, whether it be a crutch for less skilled players or an even greater imbalance toward more skilled players, outgearing opponents is simply not fun.

I’m enjoying it so far, but I do have to agree that the maps themselves will get stale without some kind of mixing it up.

WoW was less zergy than this game for primarily one reason – there was no point system akin to glory. You got extra honor from kb’s and whatever but it was NOWHERE near the amount of honor you got from actually winning your matches, which [usually] forced people to… like… try and do whatever was required to actually win the match. Especially in AB, you’d often see people try and lay out strats prior to the gates opening. It wasn’t uncommon to see communication between players throughout any given match.

In this game, glory pulls people towards selfish play which just results in mass zergs rolling around circle capping free points and tagging stragglers along the way. Why? Cause that’s the path to max glory, plain and simple. Conquest being the only game mode actually exaggerates the problem because it fully supports that style of play. Communication between players is almost non-existent because it isn’t necessary because it makes zero difference whether you win or lose, so long as your personal glory count is high.

This is the single biggest problem with non-tournament PvP at the moment, IMO.

Variety is another problem – currently, there is none. You can add all the secondary mechanics you want, but at the end of the day people will get over the novelties and the gimmicks and realize that they’re still essentially playing the exact same thing over and over again. This can work if that thing people are playing repeatedly is super fun. Unfortunately, conquest just isn’t that interesting, especially when the maps are too small to support the number of players involved and all strategic value/desire to win goes out the window thanks to the glory system.

Most of my 6~ years in WoW were spent in WSG. Why? Cause the format was intense. Chasing down flag carriers, feeling the excitement of returning flags while surrounded by enemies, pulling off crazy maneuvers and pass-offs to cap flags while being chased by the entire enemy team, getting clutch last second returns to win games, and so on – that kitten was so fun for me that I could spend literally all day in WSG and rewards didn’t even matter. It was just fun. Period. Rated WSG was literally a dream come true for me and it was more or less everything I thought it would be.

This game? Nothing like that. Nothing that elicits the same feelings. Even tourneys are approaching the same state cause of no ladders or any sort of matchmaking to speak of. You either stomp or get stomped, learning nothing in the process and getting absolutely nothing out of it. Sometimes, rarely, you get a good game. You can sync queue but tbh that shouldn’t be necessary in this day and age of video games.

So yeah, all in all I’d say GW2’s pvp in its current form is kinda lackluster.

For the first months of an expanion theres communication (aftewards they get points from arenas , while going in BGS for Fun)
And then each person seeks to increase his <<Healing Done>> + <<Kills>> ignoring tacktics
When the communiacation fails , and the oponents had better OP classes , what happened in the chat between the meam8s ?
<<<u sux>> <<kittening scrubs>><<u should stop playing pvp>>

I dont have any problem with new map-modes
But the the grass anint greener , in the other field :P

How was WoW at the very start ? Seriously gamers are getting too demanding nowadays.

GW2 is a really really big game and it takes time to makes things happen.

Just let some time to Anet, and u’ll see. It has a lot more potential in terms of E-sport than wow.

Imo the game was released a bit too early but thats not the dev’s fault, now let them the time to bring some great pvp.

Vizual.3504:

How was WoW at the very start ? Seriously gamers are getting too demanding nowadays.

GW2 is a really really big game and it takes time to makes things happen.

Just let some time to Anet, and u’ll see. It has a lot more potential in terms of E-sport than wow.

Imo the game was released a bit too early but thats not the dev’s fault, now let them the time to bring some great pvp.

GW2 was not released at the start of WoW.
I’m not playin with words here, this really is an important thing to remember.
GW2 knew what the demands of players these days were, they didn’t create a game in a vacuum.

You feel like GW2 was maybe released a bit too early, but that isn’t the designers fault?
It is! ’We’ll release it when it’s ready’
Guess what: pvp in GW2 wasn’t ready…

WoW has gear grind issues indeed, not to mention a system of random bg’s that is catering for selfish play too.
But sorry to say: so does spvp in GW2. Defending gets you nothing but killed…

Both games lack balance, both games try to keep their heads above the water by making fixes along the way.

It’s not that WoW is better than GW2.
It’s the disapointment that pvp in GW2 isn’t better than WoW after all the promises!

I feel that way too.

I enjoy more wow pvp than gw2, Sadly. Not because of farm points for gear (i prefer gw2 in that), not because of balance (none of both has that, MOP jajjajaj nice balance), not because of skills system(i prefer gw2) i prefer gw2 in a lot of the aspects of pvp, but still i enjoy more wow. Why? i dont sure.

arena, rating, ladders, matchmaking = competitive and fun e-sport like pvp. That is why WoW arena was very good for a long period of time.

Vizual.3504:

How was WoW at the very start ? Seriously gamers are getting too demanding nowadays.

GW2 is a really really big game and it takes time to makes things happen.

Just let some time to Anet, and u’ll see. It has a lot more potential in terms of E-sport than wow.

Imo the game was released a bit too early but thats not the dev’s fault, now let them the time to bring some great pvp.

While I see where you’re coming from, some things simply can’t be justified by that principle.
Okay, we shouldn’t throw WoW’s 100+ dungeons in Anet’s face for example, because that number really is unrealistic for a MMORPG in it’s infancy. That goes for bunch of other things as well.

BUT,
There are factors and game elements that simply cannot be defended from that point.
-four(!) pvp maps
-one(!) pvp game mode
-overall pvp GUI, scoreboard, party/enemy info, stats etc.
This is an AAA game. I think (without any spite, please don’t get me wrong) that this state of things is simply unacceptable for an AAA game that reached it’s full release. I will go even further and say that this state is unacceptable for a game that’s in beta.

This is a young game, yes, but we are in 2012. If a reputable car company made a new model of a car and if that car is an open roof wooden wheels uncomfortable thing that goes 5mph, you would find that disappointing, to put it mildly. I doubt you will say “it’s a new car, give it time, look at the first mercedes in XIX century, it was the same”. I mean, it’s not the case of, I don’t know, a buggy onboard computer or a broken untested air conditioning.

This is irresponsible and dangerous – for the company. I am giving this game a big chance, as I like it and there’s no subscription to prevent me from checking it out from time to time if I get a break from it. But, there’s the catch – most people will simply leave. They might leave with a mindset “I’ll check it out when some big patch comes out”, but they won’t, their enthusiasm will be deflated, simply. This game does have a core playerbase of fans, but that’s not enough, this is a top production AAA title which can’t allow itself to cater to that small a percentage of players. I want SO MUCH for this game to succeed, but each day, each minute of status quo on these things makes the situation worse. Even more when it’s realized that big game changes and additions simply can’t be pulled of in a week or even a month. That’s why I am saying about having those big changes and additions BEFORE full release.

Obvious and numerous balance issues aside, what’s missing is maps, and game types. I suspect it’s simply a matter of waiting and seeing what happens. Making sPvP and tPvP use differing amounts of players was a mistake IMO.

Personally, I prefer Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch to any of the sPvP maps and “conquest mode” we have here.

Ashanor.5319:

Personally, I prefer Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch to any of the sPvP maps and “conquest mode” we have here.

I like the design of the maps in GW2, they do so much more with the limited space.

but I much prefer the variety WoW had.
In fact: I came to GW2 expecting lots of pvp variety. Rather disapointed with what I found…

Ashanor.5319:

Personally, I prefer Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch to any of the sPvP maps and “conquest mode” we have here.

Weird. I used to think of warsong as hands down the worst pvp map in the game.

The PvP system needs a way to let puggers and solo players play competitive games. I don’t know what’s up with MMO developers who always seem to think all of their players want to have to voice communicate with a team to play their games. Team play should be built as an add-on over an already good 1v1 game play. Make a great 1v1 PvP game then scale it up so you capitalize on the massive amount of players who prefer to play solo. Duels are always extremely popular for a reason.

atropos.3074:

Ashanor.5319:

Personally, I prefer Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch to any of the sPvP maps and “conquest mode” we have here.

Weird. I used to think of warsong as hands down the worst pvp map in the game.

How could it be bad? It’s a perfect mirror with only cosmetic differences per side. It is meant for fair CTF game play. It only got bad when they tried to change it in Cata and turned it into a graveyard camp fest.

I find it a bit frustrating at times.

The amounts of stuns and the big disparity in damage between some classes, can make it unpleasant.

This prevalence of bunker vs glass cannon type toons, instead of more balanced toons, is not fun.

I don’t often feel in control like I have in other games.

Kimbald.2697:

Ashanor.5319:

Personally, I prefer Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch to any of the sPvP maps and “conquest mode” we have here.

I like the design of the maps in GW2, they do so much more with the limited space.

but I much prefer the variety WoW had.
In fact: I came to GW2 expecting lots of pvp variety. Rather disapointed with what I found…

I think the maps in this game promote zergy gameplay (possibly because they are meant for 5v5). I don’t like the way they look, I don’t like that the scoring system promotes flipping nodes back and forth and doesn’t promote defense, I don’t like the auto balance feature and the fact that because of it winning means practically nothing because if it did people would be kitten when they get team switched mid game. I don’t like that you can talk to the other team either. I have heard more trash talk in this game than I have heard in any game. lol I also hate the stand on a point to flip it system because it excludes classes that need to kite or stealth and causes them to lose the node, in other games they have to flip a switch for 5-10 seconds uninterrupted, which is much more balanced for all classes imo.

Not going to bother editing this, I know its messy but I am busy. lol

I tend to just change group if the group is just zerg-minded or there are like 8-thives or it is all thievues/mesmers. It is not like those groups are unplayable, but it kinda smells of ppl being there for other reasons than winning the battle. I have no issue finding fun groups yet … .

Anyway, maybe it is just me, but I feel I can do more and more sensible things in hotjoins where ppl don’t zerg … maybe because I have moved a bit out of the noob-area .. who knows.

Same.

Also played war, swtor and enjoyed more. Also played wow (where i sucked and there is no gear, so this is not the issue) and enjoyed more.

First time ever done more pve than pvp. I have tried tpvp; it was a lot better so at least one of their failings is the kitten format of hotjoin, which probably makes up a larger fraction of players due to the full grp req for tournament. Another might be the conquest format idk.

I just tried hotjoin a second ago. A thief finished me off without appearing on my screen, and was invisible for idk 5 seconds before he stomped me. A minute later I am attacking some mesmer (ps: most players are thief or mesmer), I get stealthed from some thief on my team and I notice I am hitting the guy for a while with my character still stealthed. FAIL.

Why do games insist on repeating same mistake of stealth classes + burst damage. Fail design. Particularly if in actual gameplay u get rendering issues with stealth. Do not include these classes. Pet classes, again fail, since no one seems to be able to code the AI properly the pet class player ends up with either a mediocre class (balanced around the pet, except it doesn’t work sometimes) or a too strong class (balanced around a non functional pet, except it works sometimes).

I am saying this as someone who has played stealth classes a lot. played witch elf in warhammer, rogue in wow, OP marauder in swtor but would have played agent if they hadn’t been (deservedly) nerfed. Oh, I have an 80 thief in this too. Stealth classes in this game even have the added bonus of being the most mobile and hard to kite (and SB does a kittenton of dmge if someone tries).

edit: i don’t think balance changes would make me like the pvp regardless since I dislike the overall design with high dmge, low heals, cast time on melee attacks.

I’m enjoying just playing it, but I wouldnt want to do it all the time.

It may be the class, you havent found the right one, or you need those extra incentives of gear/loot.

I enjoy logging into a spvp server and trying to get a nice string of wins, just for its own sake, but I also enjoy the challenge of my class mechanics (elementalist)

Nope, I think the spvp in this game is the best in any mmo I’ve played. I love that I can just jump in with a max level character and that every player is on an even footing. I cannot think of one reason why all the usual gear-grind/leveling based mmo spvp is better than what we have in GW2.

The spvp in this game just takes all the crap in other mmos out and leaves the pvp game, its awesome. I’ve played most days since launch and have hardly done any pve, infact most of my toons are still level 2.

At some point I might get sick of spvp (but it seems unlikely), but then I still have wvw and if I even get bored of that I guess I can go exploring the world a bit.

Sorry OP , I’ve played all the games mentioned in the thread, but I can’t sympathize with you at all (although I did like WAR the best of the lot, especially the RvR parts).

Yasha.5963:

Nope, I think the spvp in this game is the best in any mmo I’ve played. I love that I can just jump in with a max level character and that every player is on an even footing. I cannot think of one reason why all the usual gear-grind/leveling based mmo spvp is better than what we have in GW2.

I think you are missing the point.
That is not the issue that bothers people. Nobody is complaining about the mechanical structure of fundamental PvP principe in GW2. In fact, people generally like it. Personally, I love it, I love the build principle and the skill usage.

The thing is, you get to experience it in one game mode on two and a half badly designed maps in matches governed by flawed reward system, while having attrocious GUI and info/stats. In a full release AAA game, focused on PvP.

SWTOR had the funnest instanced PvP of any MMO I played. It got repetitive with the grind, grind, grind and the long wait until ranked Warzones, but it was still a lot of fun. WoW arena’s was mixed with me because I usually ended up being on the short-end of the stick (played a Disc Priest in early WOTLK) because the other healers could full mana themselves and I couldn’t. Battlegrounds were always fun.

sPvP just isn’t there for me. The maps are spread out so it’s always battles being big zerg fests and it’s stupidly easy to be 100% -> 0% without being able to do anything. It’s like STUN -> Burst -> try to heal -> Daze -> try to heal -> Daze -> try to heal-> Knocked Down -> Dead.

I mean come on, there’s no DRs. In SWTOR the only annoying things were chain knockbacks and slows, but you couldn’t be spammed to the point you couldn’t do anything to defend yourself. In GW2 PvE you have mobs in instances that can chain knock you around to death.

WvW is a different animal and better. If only Ilum was like this…

Ifrit.7296:

I love the current setup. It feels like a perfect merger of an FPS style gaming with MMO depth of class mechanics.

This is exactly why some people don’t like it. Some folks simply can’t do well in PVP without a distinct advantage over other players and they are willing to grind forever to get that advantage and guarantee wins due to out gearing their opponent. This is also why you see so many theives/mesmers in spvp.

Personally, I LOVE that there is no gear advantage and would stop playing if there was one, as there is no challenge when I out gear someone, or if I’m playing a profession that is clearly better (see: theives/mesmers).

Sure there needs to be more Maps and game types, but i think that will come in time.
The more like team Fortress 2 that they can make PVP in this game, the better.

“Perhaps it’s because there isn’t an incentive to keep on playing. It’s fun at first, but cosmetic gear that isn’t even colored the way you want and will take many ranks at a slow grind really doesn’t do it for some people to convince them to play for fun to get to the next coolest thing.”

My view as well – The Maps though well made (minus the stupid Under water combat) and the stupid down state that is pretty useless unless your group really out numbers the other you will die.

It gets boring after all a while – Just doesnt feel rewarding, the stupid thing that all you get are skins and even then the color you chose gets over written anyway is kind of annoying

There isn’t a gear advantage, but the gear isn’t equivalent to what you get from the regular game. I wear the exact same gear + rune combination in sPvP and “PvE” and I have 4k more HP in my “PvE” gear which is a noticeable survivability difference. I get bursted easier in sPvP than in WvW and I’m pretty sure everyone’s cruising around in exotics by now.

Doolio.1865:

Yasha.5963:

Nope, I think the spvp in this game is the best in any mmo I’ve played. I love that I can just jump in with a max level character and that every player is on an even footing. I cannot think of one reason why all the usual gear-grind/leveling based mmo spvp is better than what we have in GW2.

I think you are missing the point.
That is not the issue that bothers people. Nobody is complaining about the mechanical structure of fundamental PvP principe in GW2. In fact, people generally like it. Personally, I love it, I love the build principle and the skill usage.

The thing is, you get to experience it in one game mode on two and a half badly designed maps in matches governed by flawed reward system, while having attrocious GUI and info/stats. In a full release AAA game, focused on PvP.

Actually the OP specifically states in his opening post that he wishes he could bring his pve character into spvp and mainly does spvp to test watered down builds for wvw AND that he enjoyed those other lowby ganking games. So my post seems pretty on target in regard to that.

In regards to your issues with it, I agree more game modes would be good, but the current maps are some of the best I’ve played. There are so many strategic spots and interesting mechanics on each map its a lot of fun. The reward system is fine, it even has a cool mechanic where you can craft pvp gear. In fact I find it so much better than other mmos because there is really no need to get a reward- playing itself is the reward (a first for mmos?) and its a lot of fun. The GUI and info/stats are fine.

Seriously think of the inovations in this game- the biggest ones being we don’t have to gear grind just to be competative or the absence of pug farming and yet still being able to play with friends.

The classes are better balanced than in other games I’ve played, the graphics are in line with wow and have some nice effects, eveything runs as smooth as in any other mmo I’ve played.

It sounds petty when you ignore all that and focus on problems you have with the GUI, which is just fine anyway. Recall that the title of the thread is “First Game Ever I have not enjoyed instanced pvp”, is the GUI really that bad?