Guild Wars 2

Saltiness and Toxicity.

This seems like a huge problem in spvp. I browse through these forums and I see post after post accusing Anet of having some nefarious matchmaking conspiracy that is targeting specific players to force their rating down. How does this not sound insane to anyone else? This is tinfoil cap at its finest.

I see posts talking about how horrible of a problem AFKers are. In 150+ matches this season I haven’t seen more than 1. That 1? He got flamed by some toxic teammate so he quit. Do I condone that? No. But every time I see people posting screenshots of how someone Akitten on their team it seems to include somewhere that they got “called out” which usually means verbally abused because they aren’t playing at a level their teammates believe they should. Toxicity making a problem worse? Go figure.

I also find about half my matches, win or lose, where people just freak out over every perceived mistake.

Why are there 3 at home? Flame teammates. Nevermind that there were 3 defending home because there were 3 attacking home and the alternative was to give them an easy kill and cap. Player rushes mid 2v1 or 3v1 and manages to down a player, then complains that his teammates can’t stomp or “where was everyone” because he couldn’t be bothered to actually hold back and regroup. We could be ahead by 150 points and one teammate gets ganked by a thief and a stealthed engi and someone is bound to blow up over it. Even when the criticism is fair its stated in an unnecassarily rude and off-putting manner. Your thief keeps dying 1v1 on far and you want to suggest he rotates elsewhere and avoids those 1v1s? Suggest it politely, or at least calmly. Don’t call him a noob and tell him to uninstall and why do you keep dying 1v1.

I’ve played a lot of different types of pvp games in my time. GW2 has been one of the worst as far as toxicity goes. Folks that get like this over a video game need to sit back and reassess their priorities. Maybe go take a break.

SEE? i agree 1000% with omcrazy i knew i wasn’t nuts about this and noticing it.This is one reason i get turned off by spvp, cause even in map chat people are likely to run their mouth.

Not Even close to lol imho :d

Shirlias.8104:

Not Even close to lol imho :d

I’ll agree. LoL is probably the worst ever (DotA 2 likely no better but I don’t play) and they’ve done a lot to try and make it better. They get pretty aggressive with punishments.

But outside that MOBA genre with matches that can be decided within 10 minutes but take 45 to complete I find the toxicity in GW2 is pretty up there.

Most of the time I don’t see even an attempt at correctly tactics before the flaming starts. I mean, its one thing if someone tries to suggest different tactics and is met with defensiveness and aggression. But the vast majority of time I see someone suggest a teammate do something different the “suggestion” is filled with “noob” and “uninstall” and “idiot” etc etc. Like, come on.

Competitiveness brings the worst out in some people. No one likes to lose but some handle it better than others. But honestly every competitive game I’ve played online has it’s toxicity. Try playing a first person shooter with your mic on. Always such delightful and worldly comments.

I have never addressed or responded to posts about how Anet targets people to bring them down, because when someone actually thinks/ believes that, then there is absolutely no chance to reason with such person.

I completely agree with the Scenarios and Opinions that you have stated, but truth is that this is a purely Human factor and it is never ever going to change because people are of many personalities and characters, even the most curious thoughts are to be found amongst us.
Funny is that I have seen tons of posts where OP/ people actually blamed Anet for toxic people as well. This alone is a proof that anything is possible with human mind, thus there will forever be toxic people same as people willing to help out.

Alatar.7364:

I have never addressed or responded to posts about how Anet targets people to bring them down, because when someone actually thinks/ believes that, then there is absolutely no chance to reason with such person.

I completely agree with the Scenarios and Opinions that you have stated, but truth is that this is a purely Human factor and it is never ever going to change because people are of many personalities and characters, even the most curious thoughts are to be found amongst us.
Funny is that I have seen tons of posts where OP/ people actually blamed Anet for toxic people as well. This alone is a proof that anything is possible with human mind, thus there will forever be toxic people same as people willing to help out.

Toxic people exist in any competitive game in large amounts…. However.

ArenaNets multiple failures to properly balance and support PvP content has arrived at a much smaller pool of players to be matched with. Match quality has suffered because of this smaller pool of players and this does plenty to really bring out the toxicity.

ArenaNet’s power creeping, the ESL drop… Consistently this company has caused people to discount PvP as an absolute joke. It doesn’t stand up to other titles. In addition to simple toxicity, there is a giant sense of apathy.

CrashTheGrey.1492:

Alatar.7364:

I have never addressed or responded to posts about how Anet targets people to bring them down, because when someone actually thinks/ believes that, then there is absolutely no chance to reason with such person.

I completely agree with the Scenarios and Opinions that you have stated, but truth is that this is a purely Human factor and it is never ever going to change because people are of many personalities and characters, even the most curious thoughts are to be found amongst us.
Funny is that I have seen tons of posts where OP/ people actually blamed Anet for toxic people as well. This alone is a proof that anything is possible with human mind, thus there will forever be toxic people same as people willing to help out.

Toxic people exist in any competitive game in large amounts…. However.

ArenaNets multiple failures to properly balance and support PvP content has arrived at a much smaller pool of players to be matched with. Match quality has suffered because of this smaller pool of players and this does plenty to really bring out the toxicity.

ArenaNet’s power creeping, the ESL drop… Consistently this company has caused people to discount PvP as an absolute joke. It doesn’t stand up to other titles. In addition to simple toxicity, there is a giant sense of apathy.

I’ve seen this mentioned before. That GW2’s pvp doesn’t match up well against other similar games. I’ve played a lot of MMOs over the years What pvp is actually better? I’ve seen mention of some being better mechanically like maybe BDO (never played) but from what I’ve heard its extremely p2w so…

Partially just asking so I have some ideas for what MMOs to check out with friends. We tend to pvp exclusively.

From my perspective GW2 is pretty reasonably balanced and has a pretty high skill ceiling. Yes, top top ranked teams might gravitate to certain classes more than others. That’s how any game goes with different classes, its impossible to perfectly balance everything. But it seems a lot better than other popular MMOs I’ve played like FF14 and WoW. Most classes are fairly well represented (except Revenant).

CrashTheGrey.1492:

Alatar.7364:

I have never addressed or responded to posts about how Anet targets people to bring them down, because when someone actually thinks/ believes that, then there is absolutely no chance to reason with such person.

I completely agree with the Scenarios and Opinions that you have stated, but truth is that this is a purely Human factor and it is never ever going to change because people are of many personalities and characters, even the most curious thoughts are to be found amongst us.
Funny is that I have seen tons of posts where OP/ people actually blamed Anet for toxic people as well. This alone is a proof that anything is possible with human mind, thus there will forever be toxic people same as people willing to help out.

Toxic people exist in any competitive game in large amounts…. However.

ArenaNets multiple failures to properly balance and support PvP content has arrived at a much smaller pool of players to be matched with. Match quality has suffered because of this smaller pool of players and this does plenty to really bring out the toxicity.

ArenaNet’s power creeping, the ESL drop… Consistently this company has caused people to discount PvP as an absolute joke. It doesn’t stand up to other titles. In addition to simple toxicity, there is a giant sense of apathy.

Being toxic/insultive toward others is a choice not an outcome. I, as everyone else, am affected by imbalance and failures, yet I did not turn to insult people around me for their gameplay and skill.
By what you say, the outcome would be/ should be people being angry with Anet and not with one another.
If I fire a gun, people will blame me, not the gun or bullet.
I hope we did not misunderstood each other

Omcrazy.4756:

CrashTheGrey.1492:

Alatar.7364:

I have never addressed or responded to posts about how Anet targets people to bring them down, because when someone actually thinks/ believes that, then there is absolutely no chance to reason with such person.

I completely agree with the Scenarios and Opinions that you have stated, but truth is that this is a purely Human factor and it is never ever going to change because people are of many personalities and characters, even the most curious thoughts are to be found amongst us.
Funny is that I have seen tons of posts where OP/ people actually blamed Anet for toxic people as well. This alone is a proof that anything is possible with human mind, thus there will forever be toxic people same as people willing to help out.

Toxic people exist in any competitive game in large amounts…. However.

ArenaNets multiple failures to properly balance and support PvP content has arrived at a much smaller pool of players to be matched with. Match quality has suffered because of this smaller pool of players and this does plenty to really bring out the toxicity.

ArenaNet’s power creeping, the ESL drop… Consistently this company has caused people to discount PvP as an absolute joke. It doesn’t stand up to other titles. In addition to simple toxicity, there is a giant sense of apathy.

I’ve seen this mentioned before. That GW2’s pvp doesn’t match up well against other similar games. I’ve played a lot of MMOs over the years What pvp is actually better? I’ve seen mention of some being better mechanically like maybe BDO (never played) but from what I’ve heard its extremely p2w so…

Partially just asking so I have some ideas for what MMOs to check out with friends. We tend to pvp exclusively.

From my perspective GW2 is pretty reasonably balanced and has a pretty high skill ceiling. Yes, top top ranked teams might gravitate to certain classes more than others. That’s how any game goes with different classes, its impossible to perfectly balance everything. But it seems a lot better than other popular MMOs I’ve played like FF14 and WoW. Most classes are fairly well represented (except Revenant).

Yeah, BDO quite easily has the best combat out of any current gen MMO, however the game is a complete cash grab, and I would highly suggest people steer clear of it. GW2 balance is pretty middle of the road; there are some builds that are crazy strong, others that are extremely weak, and everything in between. The skill cap in GW2 is decent as well, but a bad player with a good build can outperform a good player with a bad build, so take that with a grain of salt.

The biggest issue I have with matchmaking is that we end up matched with players from every rank. I’m Plat 1 and had a match where there was a Legend duo on the other team, and a Silver player on mine. Granted, it was during off-hours, but the rank gap should never be that large. I understand it’s to cut down on queue times, but I would rather wait longer to have a more balanced game. As it is, I would say only 20% of my games are even matches. The rest are blowouts on one side or the other (blowout being 500 to <300).

Another issue with matchmaking is the MMR gain and loss is based off the likelihood of you winning or losing a match (based on the average team MMR), but it doesn’t take into account blowouts, afkers, trolls, ragers, etc. While no system can account for this, because the MMR gain/loss varies based on whether you were “more likely” to win or lose, you have matches where you win and gain 10 points, and matches where you lose and lose 20 points. Because of this, it makes maintaining your rank quite difficult, even with a 50% winrate.

The MMR system in itself is also quite flawed. I’ve ran into Gold players that still didn’t know that as a thief they should go home and focus on decapping, Plat players that chased around the map instead of fighting on point, etc.

Not to mention all the trolls, afkers, ragers, flamers, etc. that go unpunished. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people flaming/raging in game, I’ve reported, then I see them doing the same thing the very next game. Obviously reports aren’t instantaneous, but if it’s consistent behavior for that particular person, they definitely shouldn’t still be playing ranked.

Lastly, because the only game mode we have is conquest (stronghold is a meme), it incentivizes cheesey builds such as the recently popular Ventari Rev that allows you to 1vX on point for extended periods of time.

After 5 years the only real thing that has changed with sPvP is adding rankings, and that took them 3 years to implement. We don’t have CTF, or DM, or even KOTH, all of which are fairly standard arena-type game modes. sPvP, along with WvW, feels abandoned by the devs, despite the fact that quite a few people really enjoy these game modes but don’t play them because of these many issues.

Omcrazy.4756:

CrashTheGrey.1492:

ArenaNets multiple failures to properly balance and support PvP content has arrived at a much smaller pool of players to be matched with. Match quality has suffered because of this smaller pool of players and this does plenty to really bring out the toxicity.

ArenaNet’s power creeping, the ESL drop… Consistently this company has caused people to discount PvP as an absolute joke. It doesn’t stand up to other titles. In addition to simple toxicity, there is a giant sense of apathy.

I’ve seen this mentioned before. That GW2’s pvp doesn’t match up well against other similar games. I’ve played a lot of MMOs over the years What pvp is actually better? I’ve seen mention of some being better mechanically like maybe BDO (never played) but from what I’ve heard its extremely p2w so…

In comparison to other MMOs, it may be exaggerated. But comparing GW2 now to what it was before HoT is a valid criticism. HoT added a lot of skill-less power creep. It not only made certain specs dominant by far, but also many of them can be played by mashing a keyboard almost as well as by someone who knows what they’re doing.

Omcrazy.4756:

I’ve played a lot of different types of pvp games in my time. GW2 has been one of the worst as far as toxicity goes.

sarcasm? o.o if so I don’t get it.

There’re grievers everywhere, but compared to pretty much every game out there I find gw2’s as a relaxed and friendly pvp community.

I usually block/report grievers, however on average I only see one or two every 20 games or so.

Compared to an average of at least 1 griever on every BG/arena in wow

Helbjorne.9368:

The MMR system in itself is also quite flawed. I’ve ran into Gold players that still didn’t know that as a thief they should go home

That’s not flawed MMR. The problem is you actually believing thief needs to cap home on opening split.

Don’t forget a lot of the toxicity simply gets exaggerated. People see one salty player over and over, but then assumes every player is that way.

Then there’s the problem of ignorance, some players just refuse to work around their team and rather just spend the entire game typing instead of reworking their own strategy. This, more often than not, is the real reason people don’t win as much as they could.

Salty people are just being childish. There’s no need to mind the kids. Just let them drown in their own tears and suffocate in their screamings. Next match please.

Azukas.1426:

Helbjorne.9368:

The MMR system in itself is also quite flawed. I’ve ran into Gold players that still didn’t know that as a thief they should go home

That’s not flawed MMR. The problem is you actually believing thief needs to cap home on opening split.

It was an example to show lack of game knowledge in ‘higher’ rankings. If that was your takeaway from everything that I wrote, I pity you.

Helbjorne.9368:

Azukas.1426:

Helbjorne.9368:

The MMR system in itself is also quite flawed. I’ve ran into Gold players that still didn’t know that as a thief they should go home

That’s not flawed MMR. The problem is you actually believing thief needs to cap home on opening split.

It was an example to show lack of game knowledge in ‘higher’ rankings. If that was your takeaway from everything that I wrote, I pity you.

Thief capping home is more of a mid MMR thing. As you get higher thieves tend to stealth mid or go far. Thief is not that good at holding home if the enemy sends someone there on initial split. At middle range MMR people seem to focus on doing home/mid splits (probably wisely so) and higher MMR tend to do 1-3-1.

Jugnificent.2061:

Helbjorne.9368:

Azukas.1426:

Helbjorne.9368:

The MMR system in itself is also quite flawed. I’ve ran into Gold players that still didn’t know that as a thief they should go home

That’s not flawed MMR. The problem is you actually believing thief needs to cap home on opening split.

It was an example to show lack of game knowledge in ‘higher’ rankings. If that was your takeaway from everything that I wrote, I pity you.

Thief capping home is more of a mid MMR thing. As you get higher thieves tend to stealth mid or go far. Thief is not that good at holding home if the enemy sends someone there on initial split. At middle range MMR people seem to focus on doing home/mid splits (probably wisely so) and higher MMR tend to do 1-3-1.

Right, but the emphasis is on players being at higher MMRs and still not knowing what to do in matches (ie chasing around map, not contesting Bell, Svanir, Artifacts, etc.).

I wrote the original post on mobile while taking a break from boarding up the house for Irma, so the writing is a bit sloppy, but the points are still there.

Helbjorne.9368:

Jugnificent.2061:

Helbjorne.9368:

Azukas.1426:

Helbjorne.9368:

The MMR system in itself is also quite flawed. I’ve ran into Gold players that still didn’t know that as a thief they should go home

That’s not flawed MMR. The problem is you actually believing thief needs to cap home on opening split.

It was an example to show lack of game knowledge in ‘higher’ rankings. If that was your takeaway from everything that I wrote, I pity you.

Thief capping home is more of a mid MMR thing. As you get higher thieves tend to stealth mid or go far. Thief is not that good at holding home if the enemy sends someone there on initial split. At middle range MMR people seem to focus on doing home/mid splits (probably wisely so) and higher MMR tend to do 1-3-1.

Right, but the emphasis is on players being at higher MMRs and still not knowing what to do in matches (ie chasing around map, not contesting Bell, Svanir, Artifacts, etc.).

I wrote the original post on mobile while taking a break from boarding up the house for Irma, so the writing is a bit sloppy, but the points are still there.

Was all voided when you said thieves cap home on opening split.

Anyways be safe with Irma on her way and good luck to you and your family.

Azukas.1426:

Helbjorne.9368:

Jugnificent.2061:

Helbjorne.9368:

Azukas.1426:

Helbjorne.9368:

The MMR system in itself is also quite flawed. I’ve ran into Gold players that still didn’t know that as a thief they should go home

That’s not flawed MMR. The problem is you actually believing thief needs to cap home on opening split.

It was an example to show lack of game knowledge in ‘higher’ rankings. If that was your takeaway from everything that I wrote, I pity you.

Thief capping home is more of a mid MMR thing. As you get higher thieves tend to stealth mid or go far. Thief is not that good at holding home if the enemy sends someone there on initial split. At middle range MMR people seem to focus on doing home/mid splits (probably wisely so) and higher MMR tend to do 1-3-1.

Right, but the emphasis is on players being at higher MMRs and still not knowing what to do in matches (ie chasing around map, not contesting Bell, Svanir, Artifacts, etc.).

I wrote the original post on mobile while taking a break from boarding up the house for Irma, so the writing is a bit sloppy, but the points are still there.

Was all voided when you said thieves cap home on opening split.

Anyways be safe with Irma on her way and good luck to you and your family.

Yes, everything else, which are all prevalent issues constantly being brought up on the forums, is null and void because of one mistype.

LUST.7241:

Don’t forget a lot of the toxicity simply gets exaggerated. People see one salty player over and over, but then assumes every player is that way.

Then there’s the problem of ignorance, some players just refuse to work around their team and rather just spend the entire game typing instead of reworking their own strategy. This, more often than not, is the real reason people don’t win as much as they could.

Yes, it’s really more like you get 1 human wonder in 15-20 or so games, who spends the whole game typing and insulting teammates. If we keep calm whilst losing and try different strategies, there is definitely room to make a comeback, and those are some of the best games.

Cooperation is such a wonderful thing; if these toxic episodes are as frequent as claimed, mankind would have been extinguished over small, violent squabbles when we lived in caves. As it turns out, I think it’s just the present gamer population that’s too sensitive.

Jugnificent.2061:

Helbjorne.9368:

Azukas.1426:

Helbjorne.9368:

The MMR system in itself is also quite flawed. I’ve ran into Gold players that still didn’t know that as a thief they should go home

That’s not flawed MMR. The problem is you actually believing thief needs to cap home on opening split.

It was an example to show lack of game knowledge in ‘higher’ rankings. If that was your takeaway from everything that I wrote, I pity you.

Thief capping home is more of a mid MMR thing. As you get higher thieves tend to stealth mid or go far. Thief is not that good at holding home if the enemy sends someone there on initial split. At middle range MMR people seem to focus on doing home/mid splits (probably wisely so) and higher MMR tend to do 1-3-1.

But if thief isnt good at holding someone that is sent home, how is far easier, unless u speak of +1, which rarely happens in pug startpushes

nacario.9417:

Jugnificent.2061:

Helbjorne.9368:

Azukas.1426:

Helbjorne.9368:

The MMR system in itself is also quite flawed. I’ve ran into Gold players that still didn’t know that as a thief they should go home

That’s not flawed MMR. The problem is you actually believing thief needs to cap home on opening split.

It was an example to show lack of game knowledge in ‘higher’ rankings. If that was your takeaway from everything that I wrote, I pity you.

Thief capping home is more of a mid MMR thing. As you get higher thieves tend to stealth mid or go far. Thief is not that good at holding home if the enemy sends someone there on initial split. At middle range MMR people seem to focus on doing home/mid splits (probably wisely so) and higher MMR tend to do 1-3-1.

But if thief isnt good at holding someone that is sent home, how is far easier, unless u speak of +1, which rarely happens in pug startpushes

Thief can delay the full cap and if they don’t send anyone to your home you start with a 1-0 cap for a few ticks.

That being said a thief going home will lose the cap giving them a 2-0 cap.

Thief going mid with someone else going far can work better b/c Thief can rotate home/far based on their split

Azukas.1426:

Thief can delay the full cap and if they don’t send anyone to your home you start with a 1-0 cap for a few ticks.

Thief is absolutely not ment to be delaying any caps at all. Not to mention Thief wont be even able to stay in the area of Node long enough to make it even worth it as by now, your team is dying in 4v3 at Mid.

That being said a thief going home will lose the cap giving them a 2-0 cap.

Disagree.
Thief going home and having INC will bail Close and win Mid thanks to +1. Leaving you with 2-1 cap and a 5v2 in your favor, which can be rotated pretty quickly

Thief going mid with someone else going far can work better b/c Thief can rotate home/far based on their split

[/quote]

True, but if we are speaking of Meta Thief in Rank, then such Thief is in no way supposed to be in Team fight. IF somebody is going Far a Thief should go, too. Making it 2v1. Yet, your team will be 2v4 at Mid (in other scenario 2v3) which is just plain bad aswell. So in my opinion 2 Far/1 Close/ 2 Mid Scenario should be done only with a heavy sustain team, or just not Mid at all. It can always turn in to a Nightmare especialy in Legacy of the Foefire.

Alatar.7364:

Azukas.1426:

Thief can delay the full cap and if they don’t send anyone to your home you start with a 1-0 cap for a few ticks.

Thief is absolutely not ment to be delaying any caps at all. Not to mention Thief wont be even able to stay in the area of Node long enough to make it even worth it as by now, your team is dying in 4v3 at Mid.

That being said a thief going home will lose the cap giving them a 2-0 cap.

Disagree.
Thief going home and having INC will bail Close and win Mid thanks to +1. Leaving you with 2-1 cap and a 5v2 in your favor, which can be rotated pretty quickly

Thief going mid with someone else going far can work better b/c Thief can rotate home/far based on their split

True, but if we are speaking of Meta Thief in Rank, then such Thief is in no way supposed to be in Team fight. IF somebody is going Far a Thief should go, too. Making it 2v1. Yet, your team will be 2v4 at Mid (in other scenario 2v3) which is just plain bad aswell. So in my opinion 2 Far/1 Close/ 2 Mid Scenario should be done only with a heavy sustain team, or just not Mid at all. It can always turn in to a Nightmare especialy in Legacy of the Foefire.[/quote]

You do realize a thief won’t insta die in a 1v1? Any competent thief can keep a node contest for enough time for home to cap & for gain a point advantage. Yes a 2v1 on far on open is prolly the best split.

You automatically assume giving up a 2v4 or 3/4 at mid is a bad thing. You should have enough support & player skill to stall enemy cap & rotate off w/out dying.

I don’t think anet spends much resources on PvP to keep a friendly and healthy environment. It is frustrating to see player beeing AFK just to show other player they can.
If you loose such a 4 vs 5 match the next match is likely to be an easy one (blowout for the other team). No wonder everybode gets toxic …

Azukas.1426:

Alatar.7364:

Azukas.1426:

Thief can delay the full cap and if they don’t send anyone to your home you start with a 1-0 cap for a few ticks.

Thief is absolutely not ment to be delaying any caps at all. Not to mention Thief wont be even able to stay in the area of Node long enough to make it even worth it as by now, your team is dying in 4v3 at Mid.

That being said a thief going home will lose the cap giving them a 2-0 cap.

Disagree.
Thief going home and having INC will bail Close and win Mid thanks to +1. Leaving you with 2-1 cap and a 5v2 in your favor, which can be rotated pretty quickly

Thief going mid with someone else going far can work better b/c Thief can rotate home/far based on their split

True, but if we are speaking of Meta Thief in Rank, then such Thief is in no way supposed to be in Team fight. IF somebody is going Far a Thief should go, too. Making it 2v1. Yet, your team will be 2v4 at Mid (in other scenario 2v3) which is just plain bad aswell. So in my opinion 2 Far/1 Close/ 2 Mid Scenario should be done only with a heavy sustain team, or just not Mid at all. It can always turn in to a Nightmare especialy in Legacy of the Foefire.

You do realize a thief won’t insta die in a 1v1? Any competent thief can keep a node contest for enough time for home to cap & for gain a point advantage. Yes a 2v1 on far on open is prolly the best split.

You automatically assume giving up a 2v4 or 3/4 at mid is a bad thing. You should have enough support & player skill to stall enemy cap & rotate off w/out dying.

It is not about Thief dying, it is about Thief not having enough defensives to stay on node long enough to make it worth for the Team to be outnumbered that entire time. Dodges are no ultimate tool and can be still easily put off.

You say that any competent Thief can keep a node contest, that is true but in Rank about everyone is/ should be competent, so any competent player will indeed insta kill Thief, cause the Thief being competent is actually his abillity to get away from danger not stay in the danger.

We might have different experience in this matter, but I have never seen this to pay out.

4v2 at Mid will be such an insta death for your Team that you won’t be even half way back to Mid and they will be dead already. Unless, as I said, there is heavy sustain or kite such as Ele and Shoutbow Druid, etc. etc. But since you now have Close/Far It’s fine, I guess.
4v3 Scenario could be pulled off as you said, but I still do not think that it is worth trying. I mean, if you are really good you can go Far, do 1v1 and seriously try to Kill instead of surviving, but both are quite unlikely to happen and highly risky.

Toxicity in PvP is 80% ArenaNet’s fault.

Ranked is played with a friend of your choice in best case scenario, but even under those circumstances 60% of your team is not under your choice, or under your communication. To this, add typing on keyboard, because by the time you finish a few words, you are dead, because the game is very fast. To this, add that most players do not have any voice chat (Discord, or Teamspeak, or Skype) or do not have a working microphone.

To diminish toxicity in matches, we need to be allowed to enjoy the game with friends, and guild mates, in voice chat; not with some random unknown people given to us by ArenaNet, with the purpose to carry them and promote their game product. Toxicity in matches comes from players, but it’s roots come from developer teams and marketing teams, because they listened to children wanting fast rewards and SoloQ.