Guild Wars 2

While I hate watching the ESL Matches on Twitch because of the horrible camera angels, missed calls by the announcers and overall “what just happened” feeling I continue to get, I do enjoy tuning in to Twitch streams for several of the Pro players and watching their games exclusively from their perspectives. Many of you probably follow Helseth on Twitch, I’m sharing this for those who don’t.

If you’re having a bad day in PvP and are feeling like the developer doesn’t take the game serious this may lift your spirits. Lord Helseth of EU Pro team The Civilized Gentleman talks on his feeling about opposing pro team Orange Logo. This highlights a pro player giving respect to and perspective on an opponent. Knowing the pro players are still this passionate about the game gives me something to hold onto.

It seems everyone from the low-level PvP players to the Pros respect this game more than the game studio behind it does. Sad, hopeful eventually they will care as much as we do and fix all the broken things.

http://www.twitch.tv/thelordhelseth/v/28905219?t=01h57m10s

I worked in corporate America for more than a decade. I have mingled among top management and I see how a corporation works and what drives it.

Look, ArenaNet sells a product to gamers, but I strongly suspect it is no longer driven by people passionate about online gaming. Especially not PvP gaming.

Rather, I imagine the marketing and finance people have taken over the show.

Heart of Thorns has all the signs of being driven by the Marketing Department serving the goals of the Finance Department.

People here are mostly young, and probably not many have actually worked at a corporation at a high level. So they do not realize what they are really dealing with. I note their honest calls for ArenaNet to listen to them, thinking that ArenaNet management is actually worried that the PvP balance is out of whack.

I do not think ArenaNet management is even thinking that much about PvP. GW2 now is, at its heart, a PvE MMO. That is what it is.

You think the ESports push is all that much money to them? It’s a gamble, they gave it a try. Throw something at the wall and see if it sticks.

When it fails, they will totally walk away from PvP. I believe that.

And they won’t see it as some big tragedy.

They live in another world than PvP gamers. I think the PvP gamers in management have all left ArenaNet, for the most part.

Who is left? What power (Read: budget) are they given?

Um..given how f small this xpac was i dont think they are focused even on pve. Just compare the amount of weapon sets HOT gave to the amount of gemstore sets since hot release. Mind blowing really. They are focused on milking players atm.

Burtnik.5218:

Um..given how f small this xpac was i dont think they are focused even on pve. Just compare the amount of weapon sets HOT gave to the amount of gemstore sets since hot release. Mind blowing really. They are focused on milking players atm.

Not a single gem exclusive weapon skin was released since HoT that cant be obtained in game.

Burtnik.5218:

Um..given how f small this xpac was i dont think they are focused even on pve. Just compare the amount of weapon sets HOT gave to the amount of gemstore sets since hot release. Mind blowing really. They are focused on milking players atm.

Really? Clearly the HOT expansion caters to the PvE crowd (4 new maps with huge meta events, raids, etc) this new sPvP is crap, and WvW features they mentioned were left out (since march 2015 according to the ex-WvW lead), how can you say it’s not catering to the PvE?

rchu.8945:

Burtnik.5218:

Um..given how f small this xpac was i dont think they are focused even on pve. Just compare the amount of weapon sets HOT gave to the amount of gemstore sets since hot release. Mind blowing really. They are focused on milking players atm.

Really? Clearly the HOT expansion caters to the PvE crowd (4 new maps with huge meta events, raids, etc) this new sPvP is crap, and WvW features they mentioned were left out (since march 2015 according to the ex-WvW lead), how can you say it’s not catering to the PvE?

HoT had a negative effect on PvP because their failure to properly balance is forcing people to play classes and build they don’t want to play. No PvP meta has not always been that way. Prior to HoT release PvP meta had stabilized and there was something for every class. Now it’s reduced to five builds with heavy emphasis on bunker and cc focused team builds. There is no fun in that type of play because it’s not strategic at all, it’s more a coin toss of who starts the skill rotation and lands first hit.

In PvE if you want to continue play a PU Shatter Mesmer, Hammer Warrior, DPS Guardian, etc… the option is still there and you can make that build viable. Outside Raids and top tier fractals there is a lot of variety and options.

The PvP side of the game rips back the curtain and reveals the ugly balance flaws. They introduced this right before the ESL Pro League’s introduction and were arrogant enough to believe this wouldn’t happen. In allowing the Elite Specs in ranked play they not only destroyed the old meta, they destroyed the play mechanics that every player enjoyed.

They completely changed the players experience though a combination of Elite Specs + broken League system blending solo, premade and guild team queues into one. The PvP side of the game took a huge hit with HoT.

PvE players have been given the red carpet with HoT. PvP players the shaft.

I have only mostly positive things to say about the PvE side of the game. It was worth the price of admission, it’s just my “end-game” to any expansion is going to be PvP and I think a lot of other players feel the same. We don’t want to go after that Raid wing 100 times in a row. We don’t want to replay the same fractal. The only real non-repetitive end-game content is PvP. The current “bunker meta” is evening threatening that.