Guild Wars 2

The implementation of leagues and ladders has been discussed before, but yet, in my opinion, has been truly fleshed out. With the introduction of the new expansion, I hope that this feature (along with others) will be introduced soon in a way that tries to push the somewhat stagnant competitive scene in new directions and provide incentives for newer players entering the game.

Although guild wars 2 is trying to market itself as a unique pve centric focused mmo, there is no doubt in mine or I think anyone’s mind in the competitive scene that the potential is there. No other game has the fast-paced, fluid, and intelligent combat system that guild wars 2 offers. In consideration of this uniqueness, arena net may attempt to introduce a one-of-a-kind system for leagues, ladders, and other features that are necessary for a competitive game. I hope that arena net does not push in this direction, but instead takes note of other competitive games and attempt to mimic their successes as closely as possible. In this way, I believe guild wars 2 will reach new heights.

Yes, guild wars 2 is unique, but there is a reason why many games use the same systems to promote competitive play…it’s because it works really really really well. Yes gw2 pvp resources are obviously very very very weak compared to other parts of the game. However, competitive games take many years to develop, and although I honestly don’t see gw2 ever becoming esports due to some core problems (mmo rng, too many things going on at the same time, too fast paces), it’s possible to make it at least somewhat more entertaining.

Arenanet should focus on building a population first by following examples of other competitive games. With a population, leagues and ladders become more realistic. To build a population, you need incentive and entertainment such as:
-Allowing people to do duel and play other parts of the game during ques
-Better rewards that are more specific to pvp
-More support for ESL and community tournaments, as this is pretty much the lifeline for gw2pvp currently. When ESL dies, so will gw2pvp probably.
-Replays (this is a personal suggestion that is near the top of my list)
-Tutorials focused on pvp conquest
-Automated tournaments
-More involvement with the community…look at steam games and see how community driven they are (community designed skins for example).
-Leagues and ladders
-Voice chat support
-Free to play pvp only

Having something like bronze, silver, gold, and masters league similar to League of Legends or Starcraft with appropriate rewards would greatly provide incentive for players. Bronze, silver, and gold could be distributed based on MMR, and masters league could be distributed based on ESL performance (3 times 2nd place?). These leagues should be viewable to both friend and foe during a ranked que (maybe not unranked), and could be even more personal by representing a player’s main class (for example, a silver leagued necro would have a silver looking necro emblem beside his/her name despite being on an offclass in a que). Ladder seasons could then be implemented, and even if the league system is slightly flawed and premature, it’ll still provide an illusionary incentive.

Of course, I’m sure arena net knows all this. They aren’t stupid, and I’m sure some of these are being worked on even at this moment. But as a community, we should still offer suggestions to let them know we’re still alive. We’re here.

I think the idea of leagues and ladders is appealing to many pvp players and definitely would have a potential to improve the pvp scene. Even if it didn’t work out, at least something would be happening, it’s just been so stale with no events/season/whatever.

Sometimes I feel like ANet tries to be so unique with their game, that it hurts them in the end, since they refuse to take on the well-established aspects and just try to come up with something new. Don’t get me wrong, I think their ideas are sometimes interesting and cool, but just fail in use.

‘’Pve centric focused mmo.’’ – not even this is true, really. Pve players have been dying for new content, too and the fact there isn’t any is exactly due to trying to be unique.

I just want something that shows others I’m good at this game. And yes, I need that, because that is the only form of “progression” SPVP has to offer.

Frenk.5917:

I just want something that shows others I’m good at this game. And yes, I need that, because that is the only form of “progression” SPVP has to offer.

Exactly this, which is why the previous leaderboards was terrible. It wasn’t a representation of player skill.