Guild Wars 2

Hello,

Let me first start out by saying I find the PvP really fun. I do enjoy playing it, however I wish it to be a little more challenging. I’m not saying that I’m some high glory pvp god, but when I play pvp i get pretty bored after a while because I feel it doesn’t challenging me personally. I’d like to say what I find that causes the pvp to feel casual and less challenging.

1. The way the skills are setup. Many of the skills don’t really require thinking of how to cast them. Sure there are combofields, but a majority of them are AoE based. AoE heals, AoE dots, AoE fears. Everything seems to be AoE. It causes the players to not really pay attention to when and the situation in which their casting it, but instead to just spam. This is especially prevalent on points in spvp. I think classes need more single target skills that actualyl require some thought of how to use them. Ill go into why a lot of the single target skills aren’t up to par in this regard in the next number. But I like the way thiefs skills are setup (despite their dps being amazingly overpowered). They are single target and require you to cast them in a certain synergy.

2. You progressed amazingly in the realm of PvE in MMOs. But I feel as if you regressed in the regard of PvP. Something many mmos do now a days is the SSB setup of how to use skills. Stun Snare Burst. You did this way to much in this game. Every DPS build i come across runs this setup. Mesmers with their clone snare and then teleport/invulnerable burst. Warriors do the same thing, charge > Thousand blades. Engineers do this in some regard with rifles, net shot > burst (though rifles suck single handily in dps). When I played GW1 I found that this was also true, however it was not to such an extent that you have shown in GW2. I really feel they took the easy route when designing pvp. My suggestion is go back to your roots and figure out what you did to the PvP in GW1 that made it such an amazing success that is still played today.

3. Condition – Boon emphasis. This has some really interesting possabilites, though you really went about it wrong. There are many builds that rely on the player giving themselves boons and applying conditions, then those two things will cause increases in damage or other things. There are a few problems with this. Again, it feels the simple route. Make some conditions, and then rename skills that all do the same thing. Such as apply confusion or poison. Another problem is the way condition removal works. There is no way for you to single out a particular condition and then remove it. It always removes the, I believe, last one applied. I say keep going with what you’re doing now, but make skills have more individuality. Not just another poison spell that every class has, or a burning spell.

4. Balance and downed state. Downed state should be removed all together. Some classs are grossly unbalanced in the downed state regard, and the whole concept in PvP is frustrating. Then you have class balance, but as any GW2 player knows, you are working on it.

But other people who have played both forms of PvP, what do you feel about these points I’ve brought up? Do you have any points that you wish to be addressed in PvP in general, in terms of how it is formed or developed?

Rifles suck in dps…? :O

I think the downed state is something unique that encourages team play and more depth with the game. If the downed state wasn’t there, 2v1s would be much more accessible, and so that’s degrading team play a bit. For me, there are three professions that make the downed state a bit ridiculous, the Mesmer, Thief and Elemantalist. These three exploit the downed state and evidently have better abilities that disrupt fights to an extent that makes them a high threat even in the downed state.

I don’t think it should be removed (not that it will be removed) because there are also abilities that are focused on the downed state. Coming from an Engineer, my favourite elixir is one that revives players when they are downed. The fact that players can return, and it’s not just simple to die, makes PvP a lot more diverse.

Deified, your right.. when i do play spvp after a while it does really get boring not being able to think of what i am doing ( i play a range) all i do most of the time is let my 1 be spammed. I want to be able to think about what to do next and look out for opportunity to stay in the game and not get bored.

There was one thing i loved about WoW was arena and i wish hopefully they bring that sort of competitive aspect in this game.

Yeah I loved PvP in WoW before Wotlk (around the time when i quit). So close to getting glad, good days.

The reason why I say rifles suck in dps is because in comparison to other classes, including the warrior, using them solely for dps is bad. They can easily get out dpsed and many of the skills are more of a kit support role. What this means is that builds that use other means of dps, such as a toolbelt crit or kit build, rifles are commonly used because of their ability to jump shot, push back, and immobilized. These skills cooldowns cause them to be less desirable in ranged dps alone.

MMORPG’s PvP has never been about twith/micro skill. It’s always been about decision making.

While good decision making is a benefit in an RTS/FPS game, having superior micro/twitch can and will trump someone.

This isn’t the case for MMOs. What’s your spec? Their spec? Your CD’s? Their CD’s? Your positioning? Their positioning? etc.

You’re presented with a ton of information, more so than an FPS and RTS game, and it’s your decision to act or not act. It’s the strat calls before and during the game. The execution of your strategy.

So take the game for what it is. The skill in an MMORPG is superior decision making compared to the other team, not who has better micro/twitch.

The best way to increase skill is to decrease the amount of time you have to make a decision. Sad thing is just look at how that holds up with the community. People are upset because they’re dying in 1.5~2seconds “before they can react”. Yet no one questions why they’re reacting 2 seconds after being engaged. They want the game slower, which just decreases the amount of skill in any game.

If the skills are right, decision making and micro skill can be one with the same.

There a few problems with the common mmo pvp makeup and this game. One is animations. Some have obvious activations (like engineer potions) while others you really don’t notice. There seem to be no casting times on 80% of the skills making a major part of the game just a skill rotation spam. I played MMO pvp a lot, and flooding the skill “market” with instant cast AoEs is dumbing it down majorly. When I play on other games that aren’t constant AoEs, it is more about deciding when to use a ability and the pros and cons that come with that, ontop of it skill comboing with other skills. Sure this one has combos, but it isn’t very skill combos. It’s is a pug/casual way of promoting skill combos with the AoE fields and finishers. It is a cool concept, but very casual compared to what is out there.