Guild Wars 2

As the title says, I am severely disappointed with SPVP, TPVP and WvWvW in it’s current state. It is simplistic, extremely repetitive and extremely slow and boring.

I’m played many MMOs over the years, and always loved to PvP, In Aion as my assassin, In Wow as my Druid Cat, in Rift as a bard/assassin…………. the list goes on and on.
Now why I say GW2 has the worst pvp I have ever played it for these 4 reasons.

1: Downed State adds nothing to actual PvP, it was maybe intended as some sort of teamplay mechanic with no holy trinity but instead is just a unbalanced mess. There’s a reason no other PVP game has this horrible mechanic it shouldn’t be in PVP.

2: Limited, VERY limited build variety, GW2 has got to be the most rigid, simplistc game I have played in years when it comes to character building, the only builds seen are bunker guard/eles (i played guard) and Burst ranger/warrior/theif. There is no variation in this game it’s either be built to kill someone in 2 seconds or be built to last longer than 2 seconds.

3: Combat, My main reason why GW2 PVP is the worst i’ve ever played. It’s floaty, shallow and slow. Coming from Aion were, like GW2 an assassin can kill you within a few seconds, in Aion you can actually counter or are actually given the tools to avoid that. You can block spells, Break Aether Hold, Parry, Block attacks, are given situational skills that add depth to combat. Not Gw2 where as a guardian which is based around being a protector, I have 3 blocking skills, and they trigger NOTHING they simply block the next attack and go on cooldown. I don’t get the ability to counter their attack after block or use a skill that can only be used after blocking, no just block and wait for my cool downs to come back.

4: Combat is cooldowns, cooldowns, cooldowns. With this being the such a big aspect of GW2 combat it makes PVP boring and shallow my worry in combat is waiting for my cooldowns, with no conditional skills or abilities like "If stunned, press F6 to push back all foes " the combat is paper thin and simple.

Maybe i’m used to having to use 50+ skills and consider every option when fighting different classes not having the same bunker build that require no chance because it’s so stupidly effective.

Maybe i’m use to actually having to think in combat other than capture a point and hold my ground for the 1000+ time.

It’s funny the devs even stated they wanted to make combat as dynamic and simple as possible because they didn’t want the balancing problem like in GW1 , but not only is the combat simple, boring and slow it’s unbalanced as well.

Probably get removed, but have to agree.

In it’s current state it’s probably the worst of any game I’ve played… the only excuse is they threw out the book with their wacky class design and combat mechanics, so they are starting from scratch and can’t learn enough from PvP/RvR games of the past like WoW, DAOC, Warhammer.

Since they seem to have this desire to chase “e-sport” status and these boards are overtaken with people who think a 5v5 is a borderline zerg, I expect the game will become better for WoW-arena style players and group vs group….but that’s about it without major changes.

SWTOR’s war zones were incredibly fun and that game was one of the most balanced and fast paced PvP games I’ve played. Literally I would be shaking on close matches.

GW2 PvP is too slow paced and the limited amount of abilities at your disposal and class depth isn’t interesting enough to keep me playing in sPvP. Also, the lack of a diminishing return system on CCs and having to rely on “stabilities” isn’t a fun mechanic. In SWTOR if you got hit with 2 or 3 CC’s you would become immune to CC’s for about ten seconds so you had to be strategic about them.

Also, with no tanks or healers it takes out another aspect of the game. There’s no class synergy in this game. Everyone is just a DPS. The current maps available in sPvP are just boring and reward zerging instead of defending.

In SWTOR you had capture the flag, demolition, capture the point, and a semi-capture the point slash demolition. Every map required different game play and strategies to win.

WvW is loads more fun because of how strategic / tactical it is with large group play and coordination.

It’s fake slow though…I mean the TTK is pretty fast with so many glass-cannons but there’s so much teleporting, dodging to escape melee, and bunker builds with no counter (since the fights aren’t big enough to run assist trains).

I actually like a slower pace (I was one of the few who loved Warhammer Online)… but this game just seem schizophrenic and doesn’t know what it wants to be. It’s a bit like WoW I guess in that it’s trying to be everything to everybody.

In fact, when people ask about the game I say..well it’s sort of a modernized but young WoW….but at least it’s free!

i disagree iwth pvp being too slow, i hate fast reaction based games where the person who goes first is the winner. i like some tactics.

as for other points, yes and no

I completely agree with points : 2-3-4, as ele I can say that you’re either built to take a beating for long times or you’re built to die the moment somebody sneeze in your direction, especially point 2 is the most complained about.
Talking from an ele PoW and for the majority of cases seen so far ( so not including the special snowflake who always appear), 70% eles go around with cantrips the remaining 30% use at least one signet, in the sub-forum the general consesus is :" go d/d tank ..or go home", people have started using d/d even in PvE.

As you have stated is either you’e built to die in 2s or you’re built to last 2s, in the ele case the number of times you die in 2s far outweight any other class built in the same way hence the reason why all you can hope to see is tanky d/d eles .

I agree with all points.

I played lot of other games (aion, tera, gw1, rift, lotro, …) and purely looking at fun, I would rate GW2 pvp lowest of all, mainly because of points 1 2 and 3 made by the OP.

its because the dev’s lack depth so its seen i the game they made…and since in their minds “its a great game” things dont change. on top of that they dont listen to their community who tell them from beta the issues they have with their games why? because in their minds “its a great game” so u see alot of things go unfixed…

The game will NEVER be massively altered to what we as a community would like it to be because 1 Anet doesnt listen to their customers. they already have our money so nothing we can do about that except NOT give them more when expansions come out.

If you feel u didnt get what you paid for dont give them more in hopes of getting what you wanted the first time you paid.

raw.6857:

Of all the bad things A.Net did to GW2, removing the mana bar is one of the most insanely idiotic ideas they ever had. Whoever pitched that one internally should be degraded to the lowest QA position they have, and may god have mercy on his soul.

I never thought about that. I wouldn’t say idiotic, but they were shooting low in terms of skill requirement for classes.

In other MMOs I would have almost 20 different key binds (!) and mouse binds. This game its 1/3rd as many buttons.

urinfamousr.7631:

its because the dev’s lack depth so its seen i the game they made…and since in their minds “its a great game” things dont change. on top of that they dont listen to their community who tell them from beta the issues they have with their games why? because in their minds “its a great game” so u see alot of things go unfixed…

The game will NEVER be massively altered to what we as a community would like it to be because 1 Anet doesnt listen to their customers. they already have our money so nothing we can do about that except NOT give them more when expansions come out.

If you feel u didnt get what you paid for dont give them more in hopes of getting what you wanted the first time you paid.

Well… it is a great game. Also, most of the people with issues are really bad and just whine. Honestly, I very rarely see any constructive criticism in these forums. Anet never lied to anyone, everyone knew what the game was going to be like. I don’t understand why people continue to play if they are so upset? I loled at “NEVER massively altered”. Why the kitten would anyone do that? Are you suggesting that ANet creates a new game? GREAT IDEA!!!

I love the PvP in Gw2. I don’t see myself leaving for another game anytime in the near future. Gw2 is not the problem, the kittenty players who play this game are.

Niptease.8971:

urinfamousr.7631:

its because the dev’s lack depth so its seen i the game they made…and since in their minds “its a great game” things dont change. on top of that they dont listen to their community who tell them from beta the issues they have with their games why? because in their minds “its a great game” so u see alot of things go unfixed…

The game will NEVER be massively altered to what we as a community would like it to be because 1 Anet doesnt listen to their customers. they already have our money so nothing we can do about that except NOT give them more when expansions come out.

If you feel u didnt get what you paid for dont give them more in hopes of getting what you wanted the first time you paid.

Well… it is a great game. Also, most of the people with issues are really bad and just whine. Honestly, I very rarely see any constructive criticism in these forums. Anet never lied to anyone, everyone knew what the game was going to be like. I don’t understand why people continue to play if they are so upset? I loled at “NEVER massively altered”. Why the kitten would anyone do that? Are you suggesting that ANet creates a new game? GREAT IDEA!!!

I love the PvP in Gw2. I don’t see myself leaving for another game anytime in the near future. Gw2 is not the problem, the kittenty players who play this game are.

Nice constructive criticism buddy you obviously trolled yourself there. People have come up with great posts. Funny part is the devs are currently adding feature to the game which we asked for by the way. You obviously don’t keep with what the devs are doing. Games are driven by the community if their is no one to play there game its dead plain and simple.

Pride N Greed.8106:

Well… it is a great game. Also, most of the people with issues are really bad and just whine. Honestly, I very rarely see any constructive criticism in these forums. Anet never lied to anyone, everyone knew what the game was going to be like. I don’t understand why people continue to play if they are so upset? I loled at “NEVER massively altered”. Why the kitten would anyone do that? Are you suggesting that ANet creates a new game? GREAT IDEA!!!

I love the PvP in Gw2. I don’t see myself leaving for another game anytime in the near future. Gw2 is not the problem, the kittenty players who play this game are.
[/quote]

Nice constructive criticism buddy you obviously trolled yourself there. People have come up with great posts. Funny part is the devs are currently adding feature to the game which we asked for by the way. You obviously don’t keep with what the devs are doing. Games are driven by the community if there is no one to play there game its dead plain and simple.
[/quote]

It was no intention of mine to come across as a troll. Please enlighten me. What are these feature(s) you speak of?

Also my original post was in defense of the game. I purchased Gw2 fully aware of what the game was and what it intends to be. I have no complaints, and my expectations have been fulfilled.

It’s like people buying vanilla ice-cream, knowing it’s vanilla ice-cream, and then complaining that it’s not chocolate.

Interesting. I’ve played a handful of the MMOs you’ve listed and this game has been MMO I’ve really gotten into the pvp, save for trolling open world in vanilla WoW as a teenager.

I can understand your issues I guess (though if cooldowns are such an issue for you play a Thief?), but I dunno’ man. I wouldn’t say the game is shallow, but rather that it just doesn’t suit you. Play the PvP in the other MMOs you enjoyed.

I prefer a minimal amount of skills per player and an emphasis on positioning/team-play over managing 20+ skills hot-keyed all over my screen. I don’t feel an abundance of hot-keys adds any complexity to a game (from a pvp perspective). I also feel the game’s combat feels faster than any other MMO I’ve played, but that’s just me.

I gotta strongly disagree here. Being an avid MMO player since EQ and PVPing seriously since that time I will say I greatly enjoy the PVP aspect of GW2. That being said I can understand where many would not like it. But lets not confuse not liking something with that something being bad.

IMO it is pvp based much more on twitch reflex that more fans of FPS games will appreciate than MMO fans. You can be defeated in less than 3sec in this game if the right attack hits you at the right time. Because you have limited tools at your disposal it requires you to be much more reactive to your ever changing environment. Understanding what is in your peripheral and knowing how to use what you have to the best of your advantage. Tera was poised to reinvent MMO pvp with it’s active combat system but mmo players simply found it too foreign and had far more criticism than praise.

Those of you using SWTOR as a “balanced” mmo you are absolutely kidding yourselves. Need I even go into when Illum was 1st implemented? Grav-round and tracer missile spammers left unchecked for months until some what slightly rebalanced? Lets not get things twisted here people. Most MMOs have their pros and cons but to say PVP in GW2 is flat out bad is simply not an accurate statement.

People, people, people. Patience.

I’m sure that right now folks are hard-at-work getting ready for the valentines’ day event, and also the easter event. sPvP will get fit in somewhere, likely be addressed sometime between the cinco-de-mayo event, and the Tyrian unity event in July. If you bought this game last August, you should have known that the focus would be largely on mini’s and mini-games for the first year or so. In the meantime, go buy some gems and get some adorable mini’s. See if you can get a mistletoe focus skin, or the giant candy-cane staff skin. Maybe go grind some ascended gear so you can be more competitive in WvW, or just wait out of the next tier of gear to be introduced sometime during the easter event to keep you grinding. Not to mention all the other wonderful adorable cutesie things coming out between now and July.

sPvP doesn’t get people buying gems. Until it does, sPvP will take a backseat role to mini’s, snowball fights, and baby quaggans.

The game came out in August…I think there’s room to improve, but raging on a free game that has sPvP, tPvP, and WvWvW at release seems a bit harsh.

There aren’t many skills but most have 2 or more different uses along with fields and finishers rolled into them to think about as well. Yes, you only need 6-10 keybinds but what one you choose to use at a particular time adds up to like 30 or more different uses.

For instance. Haste (gives quickness) = 1 bind. I may hit it for:

1. DPS
2. Fast resurrection
3. Fast stomp
4. Stun break

All while considering if it’s negative of losing all endurance and not regenerating endurance for a short while is worth it in that specific case.

I could go on and on with all the different utilities each skill has built in but it’s much more involved then LUL 10 SKILLZ. I much prefer this than key-bind bloat from Aion/WoW etc.

Arheundel.6451:

I completely agree with points : 2-3-4, as ele I can say that you’re either built to take a beating for long times or you’re built to die the moment somebody sneeze in your direction, especially point 2 is the most complained about.
Talking from an ele PoW and for the majority of cases seen so far ( so not including the special snowflake who always appear), 70% eles go around with cantrips the remaining 30% use at least one signet, in the sub-forum the general consesus is :" go d/d tank ..or go home", people have started using d/d even in PvE.

As you have stated is either you’e built to die in 2s or you’re built to last 2s, in the ele case the number of times you die in 2s far outweight any other class built in the same way hence the reason why all you can hope to see is tanky d/d eles .

I’ve recently started trying staff in sPvP, just to try it. With my current build I can dish out okay damage, and decent survivability. Except versus thieves, still die in 2 button combo. CnD Steal + Autoattack Backstab. = Downed, but that’s a whole different story. No matter what spec you will still be 3 shotted by one profession.

Only complaint I have is the slow cast animations on Staff ele. I feel like I am in slow motion compared to all other ranged classes.

Dondarrion.5041:

The game came out in August…I think there’s room to improve, but raging on a free game that has sPvP, tPvP, and WvWvW at release seems a bit harsh.

These guys are game hoppers and only wanting attention to see if some changes happens rapidly ignoring the fact this game came out recently this year. They are used to other MMO pvp gameplay that they played and expecting this one to be exact or better.

Overall the pvp in this game isn’t bad at all but certain professions / traits / weapons should be reworked when it comes to pvp so that they can come into pvp without relying on some professions for support depending on the situation like a zerg.

Nueshak.2437:

I gotta strongly disagree here. Being an avid MMO player since EQ and PVPing seriously since that time I will say I greatly enjoy the PVP aspect of GW2. That being said I can understand where many would not like it. But lets not confuse not liking something with that something being bad.

IMO it is pvp based much more on twitch reflex that more fans of FPS games will appreciate than MMO fans. You can be defeated in less than 3sec in this game if the right attack hits you at the right time. Because you have limited tools at your disposal it requires you to be much more reactive to your ever changing environment. Understanding what is in your peripheral and knowing how to use what you have to the best of your advantage. Tera was poised to reinvent MMO pvp with it’s active combat system but mmo players simply found it too foreign and had far more criticism than praise.

Those of you using SWTOR as a “balanced” mmo you are absolutely kidding yourselves. Need I even go into when Illum was 1st implemented? Grav-round and tracer missile spammers left unchecked for months until some what slightly rebalanced? Lets not get things twisted here people. Most MMOs have their pros and cons but to say PVP in GW2 is flat out bad is simply not an accurate statement.

SWTOR was actually fairly balanced Class Wise, probably one of the better balanced Games.

Illum in your example isn’t really a balance issue, It was a gameplay issue because of lag (their game simply didn’t support more then 16 people fighting)

Tracer-Missile spam is another one…You think to yourself “Well those abilities were unbalanced because all they did was spam them” While it did create some very unfun game play, the classes themselves weren’t overpowered…I absolutely took a dump on Mercs/Commando’s who spammed those abilities..They were nasty if you left them alone and didn’t kill them and let them blow you up..However anyone in the game with any sort of interrupt routinely stomped them into the ground.

As for GW2

It’s SPvP is easily the worst i’ve seen in any game, It’s why i don’t bother with it..I don’t see why anyone bother’s with it, It’s completely uninteresting, It’s got less build diversity then World vs World and it’s Map are downright awful and completely unfun.

Here is a rule MMO Developers should follow when designing any sort of Instant PvP map, Having to Guard a point on a map away from the fighting is INSTANTLY unfun….

Look at SWTOR/Warhammer for example for maps that were fine, and why they’re fun.

SWTOR – Huttball, The fighting is going to be where the ball is, or in middle, The Map is frankly the best designed Structured Map seen in an MMO to date.

Look at the Civil War map in swtor, It’s comparable to this games maps, and is considered the crappiest map in the game..For the same reason GW2 Map suck..Camping a point is boring …

Warhammer Online – Tor Anroc and Mourkain Temple, Fighting is going on where the Ball is..That’s why those maps were good, They were also well designed..Esp Tor Anroc..
In fact you look at what Maps were good in Warhammer, and you see that most of them revolved around 1 object and 1 point….Most of the bad maps were large maps were you had to camp a point.

The World vs World suffers a different problem, It was rewards the crap out of Zergs, and like the OP said, Downstate makes taking on larger numbers an exercise in frustrations, esp with all the random mobs laying around to die and get everyone Rally.

The learning curve for PvP in this game is incredibly steep, and that needs a huge amount of improvement. If you can get past the learning curve, however, GW2’s PvP is exceedingly well designed, and surpasses anything I’ve experienced in myriad other MMOs.

It’s a shame how much a player needs to invest into the game before they’ll really “get it”, and I think that’s really stunting the growth of a healthy PvP community in this game.

If you’re willing to put in the time to really learn it, the PvP in this game is really good. In six months to a year from now, I think it will be nothing short of amazing.

The biggest problems with GW2 PvP right now are the expectations of players who just genuinely aren’t looking for this game.

Every single complaint by the OP is a style criticism. They’re not objective “this mechanic is bad” type complaints. They’re all subjective “I don’t like games that do this” type complaints. The same goes for most of the follow up comments. Essentially, they read like the complaints an RTS player might level at a first person shooter. To use a more specific, more pertinent example, they are the things a CoD player might say about Counter-Strike. They’re both competitive FPS games. But any big CoD fan is likely going to play CS and immediately cry “This game doesn’t have respawns, what a failure!” “There’s no iron sights, why would a game do something terrible like that?” So on and so forth. The CS players would complain the same way about CoD, because while the games are technically in the same genre (same sub-genre even!) they appeal to very different sets of people. The CoD players disliking CS’s combat doesn’t make either one bad, it just means they’re appealing to different audiences.

The last panel of this Penny-Arcade (possible NSFW language) pretty much sums up the complaints in this thread.

I played a lot of sPvP but then stopped because I got bored. The PvP doesn’t have much to offer in regards to variety. The maps are boring and repetitive. It’s the same goal each time, and you can’t really play with your friends unless you do a tourny. I miss having a team arenas and other types of PvP. I’m assuming they are going to be adding that stuff eventually. Until then, I’ll just sit back and wait in PvE.

Xorus we are going to have to agree to disagree on how “great” huttball or SWTOR pvp is to be honest. Camping a point (conquest in most FPS) is a core component for that type of crowd who digs that style. Most folks hated Arathi Basin because it was the same concept..

Granted being “stable kitty” and guarding a point is not the highlight of a pvp match but it IS entirely necessary especially in a team based game. I think maybe if you broaden your gaming experience beyond the traditional MMO you will see that the conquest style of play in a game like GW works well. Check out Planetside 2 or even BF3..some times you gotta play D to ensure victory.

All of this really comes down to like I said a matter of personal preference it does not make it legitimately bad. Because like I said…it is not legitimately bad.

Now I WILL say GW2 spvp is repetitive. That is it’s downfall. If you don’t like the concept it presents you will REALLY dislike it because it shoves more of the same down your throat. For those of us who enjoy it….we play the hell out of it.

Syeria.4812:

The biggest problems with GW2 PvP right now are the expectations of players who just genuinely aren’t looking for this game.

Every single complaint by the OP is a style criticism. They’re not objective “this mechanic is bad” type complaints. They’re all subjective “I don’t like games that do this” type complaints. The same goes for most of the follow up comments. Essentially, they read like the complaints an RTS player might level at a first person shooter. To use a more specific, more pertinent example, they are the things a CoD player might say about Counter-Strike. They’re both competitive FPS games. But any big CoD fan is likely going to play CS and immediately cry “This game doesn’t have respawns, what a failure!” “There’s no iron sights, why would a game do something terrible like that?” So on and so forth. The CS players would complain the same way about CoD, because while the games are technically in the same genre (same sub-genre even!) they appeal to very different sets of people. The CoD players disliking CS’s combat doesn’t make either one bad, it just means they’re appealing to different audiences.

The last panel of this Penny-Arcade (possible NSFW language) pretty much sums up the complaints in this thread.

^ a million times this.

Nueshak.2437:

Xorus we are going to have to agree to disagree on how “great” huttball or SWTOR pvp is to be honest. Camping a point (conquest in most FPS) is a core component for that type of crowd who digs that style. Most folks hated Arathi Basin because it was the same concept..

Getting way off topic here, but Arathi was easily one of the best BGs in WoW. The two worst were WSG (far and away the worst BG) and Eye of the Storm or whatever the one in Outland with the flag in the middle was called.

/obviously these are all just my opinion…

I think that the guild wars 2 pvp can be much more fun if we are able to use more than 3 utility skills, maybe 6 – 8 utilities ?
I understand that they are trying to make the combat and build much more depth with only 3 skills to pick from, but i felt like having only 3 utility skills is just doing the opposite of what they are trying to do.
Because some skills are just plain useless and with only 3 options to choose from, there is no way those useless skills going to be viable or used, which is why you see a lot of class use similar utilities over and over.

1: With non-trinity gameplay downstate is necessary and I do think it adds another dynamic to pvp that is new to the genre. I will agree that the types of skills and balance can be incredibly frustrating, especially the evade skills which cannot be countered.

2: Very much agree. There are probably 10 or less viable builds that people would use if money was on the line.

3: Have to disagree strongly here. The combat engine is really the only good thing about GW2 pvp. Active dodging and self heal means eveyone has reaction defenses and you cannot just mindlessly spam skills since they will whiff when not in range.

The issue is underpowered weapons, tierd traits, few stat allocation choices (cookie cutter amulets), and the conquest map mode which forces people to play as a burst roamer or a bunker which pigeon holes everyone into the few viable builds we have and causes stagnant gameplay.

4: Dont agree here. If its not waiting for cooldowns, then its waiting for resources like mana or whatever to regen so its all the same thing. Personally I dont find on-reaction skills to add depth to a game, all they add is 30 skills to your bar that are barely used.

GW2 is about reacting to your opponent, not managing macros. I just dont see how someone could claim a game like Aion where the player presses 1-2-3 and watches the game do everything for him is better than GW2 which requires the player to use precise reactions and timing or risk wasting a CD.

Wow, just wow. What pvp are you comparing it to? Pretty much all MMO pvp sucks.

Guild wars 2 pvp is better than 99 percent of MMOs simply because there aren’t shoehorned stat progression mechanics forced upon the PvP scene. My character isn’t cap, and I’ve been playing PvP for months.

On top of that, most other MMOs are predominantly PvE focused, so PvP can be fun, but the lack of overall design focus prevents the game from being good. SWTOR, Aion, WoW, etc. all fall into this box and its why all of the PvP will suck and be niche.

GW2 PvP isn’t successful at the moment because it lacks features, and build variety. We’ll see in the coming months if it will succeed or fail based on their efforts to improve. But from my experience, its the next best PvP next to GW1. Anything else has had a mixture of the above, and clunky unresponsive combat.

Agree on all except downed state (i love it) and the combat is pretty good, i coulnt play WoW after playing this, i would be just trying to dodge or move quickly.

Lavexis.5360:

I think that the guild wars 2 pvp can be much more fun if we are able to use more than 3 utility skills, maybe 6 – 8 utilities ?
I understand that they are trying to make the combat and build much more depth with only 3 skills to pick from, but i felt like having only 3 utility skills is just doing the opposite of what they are trying to do.
Because some skills are just plain useless and with only 3 options to choose from, there is no way those useless skills going to be viable or used, which is why you see a lot of class use similar utilities over and over.

Ok, so now you have allowed a guardian to have all spirit weapons in combat, stability shout, condition removal, etc…

Everything would have to be reworked. Its not as easy as adding a few more boxes to the UI

hharry.1967:

Agree on all except downed state (i love it) and the combat is pretty good, i coulnt play WoW after playing this, i would be just trying to dodge or move quickly.

^^^^

Tried out mists of pandaria, and stopped cuz i couldnt roll. Played WoW for 6 years, and could never go back after this game

Dondarrion.5041:

The game came out in August…I think there’s room to improve, but raging on a free game that has sPvP, tPvP, and WvWvW at release seems a bit harsh.

free game? i could have sworn i payed for it? hmmm better call my credit card company there must be a mistake

condiments.8043:

Wow, just wow. What pvp are you comparing it to? Pretty much all MMO pvp sucks.

Guild wars 2 pvp is better than 99 percent of MMOs simply because there aren’t shoehorned stat progression mechanics forced upon the PvP scene. My character isn’t cap, and I’ve been playing PvP for months.

On top of that, most other MMOs are predominantly PvE focused, so PvP can be fun, but the lack of overall design focus prevents the game from being good. SWTOR, Aion, WoW, etc. all fall into this box and its why all of the PvP will suck and be niche.

GW2 PvP isn’t successful at the moment because it lacks features, and build variety. We’ll see in the coming months if it will succeed or fail based on their efforts to improve. But from my experience, its the next best PvP next to GW1. Anything else has had a mixture of the above, and clunky unresponsive combat.

are u on crack? better pvp than any mmo wow . if u call 3 shotting people and zerging pvp then yeah best kitten out there…

urinfamousr.7631:

Dondarrion.5041:

The game came out in August…I think there’s room to improve, but raging on a free game that has sPvP, tPvP, and WvWvW at release seems a bit harsh.

free game? i could have sworn i payed for it? hmmm better call my credit card company there must be a mistake

Fine…..free to play. Jesus. Forest. Trees.

I have to strongly disagree with the OP, out of the many many MMO’s I’ve played over the years (and MUDs before that) GW2 offers some of the most fun I’ve had PvP-wise. It definitely needs more game modes to retain my interest, but I think they’re off to a very strong start compared to where most games are at in this stage of development.

Honestly reading most of the complaints it sounds like we’re playing a different game, but to each their own.

@ OP – you’re lucky to have noticed it now… I’ve been around since the beta hoping they would actually take notice of most of the issues you’ve mentioned. But it seems they’ve taken these on face value (like the dude above me has) & not really given a crap to address it or more importantly understand how to extract from those feedbacks.

PvP isn’t “you think, I think”…. it’s talking to two parties and going “okay, here are the rules. This is how you win. Now go about it”.

EDIT:
@ Infatum. The game’s still got no set core metas to run your team comp around. It’s like saying “let’s play basketball, without knowing how many guards we have, how many power forward we have, etc”.

Do you think that’s where most games are at in this stage of development (ie. 4 months after beta and 3 months after launch)?

Niptease.8971:

hharry.1967:

Agree on all except downed state (i love it) and the combat is pretty good, i coulnt play WoW after playing this, i would be just trying to dodge or move quickly.

^^^^

Tried out mists of pandaria, and stopped cuz i couldnt roll. Played WoW for 6 years, and could never go back after this game

I wouldn’t be surprised if WoW or any MMo will copy off GW2 style like no kill stealing getting exp for it instead, your own loot, nodes..etc etc.

I can see learn2play issues everywhere.
1- You can use downed state to gain advantage against your enemy, and save your/your teammate’s life… but you can’t do this. Oh.
2- I don’t know which game you are playing, but GW2 gives a lot of room for build combination – traits, abilities, weapons, stats. Not enough? Oh, but you can only copy a FotM build and call it the only possible one.
3- Doesn’t make any sense, so I won’t even comment.
4- Crying about having cooldown up on after using a skill – have mercy.

In other words, you a getting instagibbed by better players all the time without having any chance to fight back, what creates irritation and such topics. It’s possible to 100% counter somebody in this game, because you might use pointless build with zero utility, damage and defense, therefore making you useless by your own wish, or you simply copy someone’s build without knowledge how to use it.

Of any mmo-rpg I’ve played, Gw2 has probably the best pvp. I enjoy the fact my personal skill makes a far larger impact on my performance than my build. You don’t auto lose to certain classes. I don’t need to run some gimmick for effectiveness. Movement and positioning is important, combat feels fluid and dynamic. I’m not dice rolling to hit people.

To those who say there is a shortage of builds, I strongly disagree. While there are many builds, you’ll only ever see a handful represented at the top levels of play due to a combination of raw effectiveness, and people simply copying builds they find on the net because they can’t craft their own. Its a lot like MTG, you have the top 8 decks that make up the tournament meta, but that doesn’t stop you from making anti-meta or meta invariant builds to power through with something unique. Doing so requires knowledge of the game and it’s mechanics that is far deeper than most players put into the game.

If you want more builds, make them and learn to play them. Stop asking for people to give them to you.

Dagins.5163:

I can see learn2play issues everywhere.
1- You can use downed state to gain advantage against your enemy, and save your/your teammate’s life… but you can’t do this. Oh.
2- I don’t know which game you are playing, but GW2 gives a lot of room for build combination – traits, abilities, weapons, stats. Not enough? Oh, but you can only copy a FotM build and call it the only possible one.
3- Doesn’t make any sense, so I won’t even comment.
4- Crying about having cooldown up on after using a skill – have mercy.

In other words, you a getting instagibbed by better players all the time without having any chance to fight back, what creates irritation and such topics. It’s possible to 100% counter somebody in this game, because you might use pointless build with zero utility, damage and defense, therefore making you useless by your own wish, or you simply copy someone’s build without knowledge how to use it.

We know how it works. We just don’t agree with the rules, simple as that.

And since this is a feedback forum… we’re just giving feedbacks. It’s got nothing to do with not knowing how things work.

Please, don’t be so silly minded & respect people’s honest opinions if you’re not going to put up actual specifics to disagree the opinions.

I enjoy SPvP, though it could be improved, but WvW is a huge disappointment for me. Massive zerging is too rewarding and being dedicated to WvW gives out very little.

Also, some simple annoyances like cannon users being killed due to AoE spam, making cannons near useless against a group for defense. Burning Oil not insta killing players considering how limited it is(you have no excuse to be hit by it). My best moments was SM before they moved the lord. That required more than just zerging, against a good world.

Overall it’s just too mindless and tactics do not play a strong enough role. My issues will probably be fixed when they release the WvW patch. Then hopefully my guild comes back.

I enjoyed the PvP on this game for a few months but have ultimately come to the view that it is too focused on burst/bunker builds to be keep it fresh. so I agree with the OP on point 2. Otherwise i like this game’s PVP a lot. Less burst/bunker, more build variety, more maps and more modes and it would be a head and shoulders winner. Right now i would place it somewhere between collarbone and belly button.

urinfamousr.7631:

condiments.8043:

Wow, just wow. What pvp are you comparing it to? Pretty much all MMO pvp sucks.

Guild wars 2 pvp is better than 99 percent of MMOs simply because there aren’t shoehorned stat progression mechanics forced upon the PvP scene. My character isn’t cap, and I’ve been playing PvP for months.

On top of that, most other MMOs are predominantly PvE focused, so PvP can be fun, but the lack of overall design focus prevents the game from being good. SWTOR, Aion, WoW, etc. all fall into this box and its why all of the PvP will suck and be niche.

GW2 PvP isn’t successful at the moment because it lacks features, and build variety. We’ll see in the coming months if it will succeed or fail based on their efforts to improve. But from my experience, its the next best PvP next to GW1. Anything else has had a mixture of the above, and clunky unresponsive combat.

are u on crack? better pvp than any mmo wow . if u call 3 shotting people and zerging pvp then yeah best kitten out there…

I’ll take fast paced action gameplay with an even playing field over getting 3 shotted by people who grind endlessly for PvP gear and own everyone. At least GW2 has the decency to respect its player’s time and give them all the options right away, rather than grinding for weeks to have a hope of winning against some people.

Nueshak.2437:

IMO it is pvp based much more on twitch reflex that more fans of FPS games will appreciate than MMO fans.

I’m a huge FPS zealot. I find it to be STILL the supreme form of PvP combat mechanics compared to any MMO that’s come out with PvP. That said though, I do enjoy PvP’ing in MMO’s mostly because I want the vast perpetual world war, and melee combat (fantasy combat optional, not a fan of spellchuckers. Would be insanely happy with melee/archery/ranged style only but I digress).

That said the biggest thing that has bugged me, and STILL bugs me about GW2 PvP is the class/build balance and lack of viable diversity. In any FPS a single/solo player can, though improbable, pull back a victory from defeat by finishing off the entire opposing team due to the nature of most standard FPS mechanics. The players that can go 5-10+/1 KDR’s each round. GW2 only has 3 classes right now boasting this potential and of course plastering video after video of doing so. So once again the biggest and most important decision a player can make is rolling the right class to invest his time in.

even though GW2’s pvp isnt perfect, and wont be for a while, it is hands down the best pvp any MMo has ever offered, so we should be thankful for that.

I actually find gw2 pvp the be the deepest combat system ive seen ever in an mmo. People look at the game when they first see it and go well i only have x moves and i have to rely on cds to stay alive. this game is boring. But the way combo fields and finishers effect gameplay is amazing. Thieves can actually heal there team alot if a ranger drops there heal and the thief cluster bombs it giving aoe healing for about 1000 to every one in a certain area. :O teamwork is generated. you have a certain number of cds to keep you yourself alive but with team work you can also get people to peel them off of you with a variety of ways. yes there are bunkers but they are there to help you hold points and while it seems like the only other choice is burst there is also condition builds and support builds. also different burst builds do not function the same. An ele burst build is designed to get the whole other team to a bit lower health while a thief and a warrior are designed to target down specific people.

I know I just didn’t read an OP glorifying Aion’s PvP. Aion hasn’t had decent PvP since they nerfed the Core. Silentera Canyon was passable, but otherwise it was a zergfest. Also, most assassins were bad in Aion. There were only a few phenomenal ones like Rheeza, Kerplop and Feel. Don’t even get me started with the inherent gear differentials dictating most battle outcomes.

There is thought involved in combat, you just apparently lack it? Learn animations and trends in player behaviour. All of a sudden those block skills of yours aren’t so useless. Learn how to bait stuns and time your bursts/cooldowns. Oh look, you’ve become a more effective player almost instantaneously.

At least GW2’s PvP has mechanics other than “rally the zerg and slam your face against a fort so you can take the eye and lock the opposing faction out for easy key farming.” Personally, I think intelligently defending a point is far more interesting and involved than the dull crap Aion has to offer.

PvP in Tabula Rasa was more dynamic and fun than GW2. And straight out of the gate. Tabula Rasa didn’t survive long enough for any post development tweaking.