Guild Wars 2

Game modes. It’s a tricky one. From the various s CDIs I’ve read, there was a lot of shoulder shrugging. People want some old gw1 game modes. That’s cool. People (including devs) described the possibility of a MOBA. Again a cool idea.

But that got me thinking about MOBAs, and how games inherit other game modes. I’m not a DOTA player. I do however remember it from its Warcraft III incarnation ten years ago. Back then I spent a lot of time on player created game modes, of which DOTA was only one.

There was another that stood out to me though from those days. I did some research, and remember it roughly as ‘Angel Arena X’, one of several versions of a Warcraft III MOBA-esque arena.

It had some similarities to MOBA games – control of a single character capable of levelling up through player/npc kills. The premise was simple – a player starts off at level 1 in either safe zones A or B (allocated to each team). From there he has access to stat/gear upgrades in exchange for gold/exp acquired by venturing out into the contested PvE zone. By contested, I mean both teams have access to it and are capable of player killing/stealing mobs for exp.

Periodically (say every 2 minutes in a game like ours) contested PvE play is paused and players are ported to an ‘arena’ not too dissimilar from WoW arenas. In this game a player from each team was picked randomly for a 1v1, although of course this idea could be scaled for 3v3 5v5 etc, as well as simultaneous 1v1s if game time was an issue.

Attached at the bottom is a very simple version of the map. Of course the contested area could be as complicated and multifaceted as you’d like, but it is in essence a single area.

I seem to remember a team won by killing a specific mob. It would however be cool to have this as an alternative route to victory such as that found in Legacy of the Foefire, and make it possible to win from the accumulation of XvX victories in the arena. The contested PvE zone is still vital for this as players will only level up there.

Some comps may be stronger in the early game, and so play aggressively during arena interims to prevent the other team progressing. Conversely, I could see glassy teams burning through content in order to maximise their stats versus the inevitably tougher matchups of more sustain orientated teams in the arena.

If arena matchups were scored on a point system (best of 6), the matchup could be as follows..

1. 1v1 / 2v2 l 1 point
2. 1v1 / 2v2 l 1 point
3. 5v5 / 3v3 l 2 points
4. 1v1 / 2v2 l 1 point
5. 1v1 / 2v2 l 1 point

Where above just shows a couple of different matchup combinations that could be implemented.

There could be a tiebreaker if points were even at the end. For spectating purposes the matchups would need to be sequential, although possibly simultaneous if game duration was an issue (quickmatch option). Games would take longer if matchups were even.

Pros:

• 4v5 teams less of a problem.
• Development of character freezing (pausing)/deathmatch arenas have good applications in other game modes.
• Bridges PvE, WvW and sPvP
• Could make full use of sPvPs streamlined but expansive build customisation
• An original game mode (i.e. not just gw2’s version on DOTA)

Cons:

• Would require substantial development of the contested PvE zone to encourage positional play and ‘plays’, as well as content which more hardcore teams could hone their skills on (i.e. a fair but challenging and expansive ‘flow’ to PvE combat).
• Interface for mid-match progression would need to be worked on, although mechanically a (skills/traits etc) system is readily available from PvE/sPvP update.
• A properly new and original game mode is a development risk that would require substantial player backing.

.

Anyone have any feedback on this? Really would like the design team to take a look. This is coming from a ‘hardcore’ spvper who’s put some time into your question of game modes we’d like to see – sorry it wasn’t in time for the CDI!

A MOBA-type game mode was brought up a few months ago on one of the CDI threads. I believe the devs said they were looking into it, but the general consensus among the pvp community is to not have any player progression (leveling, unlocking skills, etc.). A MOBA game type would also require a much larger map depending on how large the teams can be especially if it’s a five man team. I voted for a MOBA game type myself, but it should definitely be all about map progression and small scale fights to control resources, but no one should have stat advantages from leveling. That’s just my opinion anyways.

SuperHaze.4210:

A MOBA-type game mode was brought up a few months ago on one of the CDI threads. I believe the devs said they were looking into it, but the general consensus among the pvp community is to not have any player progression (leveling, unlocking skills, etc.). A MOBA game type would also require a much larger map depending on how large the teams can be especially if it’s a five man team. I voted for a MOBA game type myself, but it should definitely be all about map progression and small scale fights to control resources, but no one should have stat advantages from leveling. That’s just my opinion anyways.

Yeah I saw those comments at the time.. The suggestion of a MOBA game type will always be controversial (if they preferred MOBAs they wouldn’t be here).

The OP isn’t really a MOBA though.. just wanted to suggest an alternative game type as it seemed most (if not all) of the suggested game types from the CDI could be found in gw1, dota, or Call of Duty…

Thanks for the feedback though, it’d be interesting to see if a horizontal progression could work its way into this game mode too…

I remember this! It was pretty great in WC3, but I’m not sure that if fits Gw2 all that well.

Love that arena though! It was the best. It’s a great idea!

Capture the flag when.

I don’t see in-match character progression working with GW2’s design. The fun part of MOBA’s is that through progression you can counter the enemy by picking certain items, like if the highest level/most fed enemy players has direct damage you’d build armor to counter them so in team fights you’d be safe from them. Other elements such as denying creeps and baiting spells also play a huge role in these games as well as positioning.
Another massive factor that GW2 lacks is roles. There is no dedicated healer, bruiser, ad-carry, support, tank, jungler, etc in GW2.
The way I imagine GW2 have a MOBA-style game mode is where you have to pick your class and lock the skills you’ll ve using. You start out with 1 weaponset and as you progress you unlock the locked in utilities, weapon skills and eventually a second weapon set that you have to buy mid-game. They also need to add stackable stats such as stun-duration, -condi duration% and so on to allow for mid-game counterbuilding.

The mechanics are amazing in this game but that’s about it.

DanyK.3842:

I don’t see in-match character progression working with GW2’s design. The fun part of MOBA’s is that through progression you can counter the enemy by picking certain items, like if the highest level/most fed enemy players has direct damage you’d build armor to counter them so in team fights you’d be safe from them. Other elements such as denying creeps and baiting spells also play a huge role in these games as well as positioning.
Another massive factor that GW2 lacks is roles. There is no dedicated healer, bruiser, ad-carry, support, tank, jungler, etc in GW2.
The way I imagine GW2 have a MOBA-style game mode is where you have to pick your class and lock the skills you’ll ve using. You start out with 1 weaponset and as you progress you unlock the locked in utilities, weapon skills and eventually a second weapon set that you have to buy mid-game. They also need to add stackable stats such as stun-duration, -condi duration% and so on to allow for mid-game counterbuilding.

The mechanics are amazing in this game but that’s about it.

Thanks for commenting bro

Firstly just wanted to reiterate that although the origins of this game mode are shared with MOBAs, this isn’t a MOBA..

Also, all of the elements of progression you’re saying you’d like to see could be incorporated into it, they were all present in the original game mode after all

Same for the mob stealing. As for the character roles it’s tough to say. Really depends on if the PvE content requires specific roles, which as I understand it depends on the nature of the encounters. From a PvP perspective roles is pretty loose subject, but it’s easy to tell if a comp is missing something

Phadde.7362:

I remember this! It was pretty great in WC3, but I’m not sure that if fits Gw2 all that well.

Love that arena though! It was the best. It’s a great idea!

Oh nice! Yeah it’s a pretty different way of thinking about gamemodes.

As someone who has just spvped from launch, it would be very new to me too! GW2 is so well equipped to deal with a game type as demanding in development as this however

Nice idea, why not try that ^^