Guild Wars 2

Hi, I played a bit of pvp when GW2 came out. It was weird… but I managed to accomplish something. Now I just come back after years of absence and if I thougth pvp was a messy sprout then, I think it is even more of a mess now. I am talking about hot-joins.

I mean, for an approaching player, understanding what’s going on is really hard. Everything is so quick and ferentic, and I just find myself immersed in a flash of lights and effects, then I am stunned for 3 SECONDS, then knocked back, thrown back and forth like a doll, then I die. Just to respawn and get my hp halved (literally) in a single blow, even if I build full toughness and vitality on a mesmer.
And there are so many characters on the screen, they move so quickly I cannot even select an enemy, let alone tab targeting.

I play a tanky mesmer and I do no damage, which I can accept, but I also don’t survive any longer than a squishy thief. My life goes down in halves or thirds… My clones and illusions are useless since everyone knows which is the real me. If I stay still, I die, if I move I die. If I turn invisibile damage breaks off my invisibility; if I use another invisibility spell right after, it doesn’t work.

Really, everything is just fo frustrating and overwhelimg I completely lose the will to go on and try harder. So, some suggestion:

• I know everyone is lv80 in the Mists, but this means nothing. Everyone has different account-wide achievements, pvp rank, matches played, etc… I cannot believe that a fair matchmaking is in place when my kitteny character gets paired up against fully uber-equipped players (I know that stats are equalized, but the more awesome the look, the more time spent gaining it, so more experience involved). Just implement a fair matchmaking system.

• In all matches I start on the smaller team. Literally every match. Either 1v2, 2v3 and so on. Can’t we just wait for a full team to be assembled before starting. And come on, starting with only 1 player in a team? Ridiculous.

• I can set up all the filters I want and kitten but… no filter ever displays results. If I want arenas with at least 5 starting players, nothing; or with no autobalance; nothing; or just with my favourite maps; nothing. Is it even working?

• Add the option to make nameplates bigger (without increasing all the UI scale) and to hide minions’ ones (at least for trivially obvious minions). And the possibility to move the enemy target frame: it’s overly onconfortable on the top of the screen and decisively out of reach of my attention during a gameplay so frenetic.

• Add post-death details on what skills killed you, so that I can start to pick up the pieces and look for the reasons of my defeat. I can die a thousand times but not knowing what killed me wouldn’t make a difference. Also I’ve been told that sometimes heavy-hitting abilities don’t figure in the combat log: just losing 10k hp instantly without knowing why.

Where to start…

Yes rank/gear means nothing. A fair matchmaking system for hotjoin? If you feel outclassed in your lobby, then swap. Hotjoin is simply for jumping in and out of a game as you please.

You getting the smaller team may again be a lobby issue with few players. Or players spectating but that is a known annoyance but honestly, just play to get better. Its hotjoin – it ultimately doesn’t matter if you are on the losing team as along as you are practicing your play.

As for filters, I’ve never even used them. Just pull up all of them, pick a lobby with like 8 players and join a team. Maps rotate unless its a private server so choosing a favourite won’t matter in the end if its a generic server.

Nameplates and UI is more of a QoL issue that I’m pretty sure people have asked for. While reasonable as a request, if you just play more often you get used to the placement of them now. Gotta tough it out until they add those features (if they decide to). It being at the top really isn’t that out of the way IMO as the action is happening right below where you are looking at the frames.

Post death details do exist, before you click waypoint click on the symbol to pull up your damage breakdown.

Op play a warrior or guard first get used to the game a little bit then hop on your mesmer.

Chaotic.9742:

Where to start…

Yes rank/gear means nothing. A fair matchmaking system for hotjoin? If you feel outclassed in your lobby, then swap. Hotjoin is simply for jumping in and out of a game as you please.

You getting the smaller team may again be a lobby issue with few players. Or players spectating but that is a known annoyance but honestly, just play to get better. Its hotjoin – it ultimately doesn’t matter if you are on the losing team as along as you are practicing your play.

As for filters, I’ve never even used them. Just pull up all of them, pick a lobby with like 8 players and join a team. Maps rotate unless its a private server so choosing a favourite won’t matter in the end if its a generic server.

Nameplates and UI is more of a QoL issue that I’m pretty sure people have asked for. While reasonable as a request, if you just play more often you get used to the placement of them now. Gotta tough it out until they add those features (if they decide to). It being at the top really isn’t that out of the way IMO as the action is happening right below where you are looking at the frames.

Post death details do exist, before you click waypoint click on the symbol to pull up your damage breakdown.

What do you mean by “swap” lobbies?

I would play to get better, just I cannot “play”. I am vastly outskilled and die so quickly I cannot grasp how to avoid all that storm of kitten. The one thing I have learnt so far is escaping, and even that is futile 80% of times, except on a staff-elementalist, whose inversed rollback I am fairly proud of.

Btw, they might all be little nuisances, things like UI and filters, but everything adds up…

IcyTotem.3491:

What do you mean by “swap” lobbies?

I would play to get better, just I cannot “play”. I am vastly outskilled and die so quickly I cannot grasp how to avoid all that storm of kitten. The one thing I have learnt so far is escaping, and even that is futile 80% of times, except on a staff-elementalist, whose inversed rollback I am fairly proud of.

Btw, they might all be little nuisances, things like UI and filters, but everything adds up…

Apologies, should have said Server not Lobby. When you pull up the pvp menu, you can see all the servers and players in each. Pick one at a good number and see if you are getting annihilated or handling your own. If getting destroyed, open menu and pick a different server. The “Play Now” option will generally be disappointing from what I’ve heard (I’ve never used it).

Learning to dodge is a key concept to survival, if you are getting destroyed, dodging is a good skill to practice for now. While it isn’t fun for you right now being killed repeatedly, it is essential to learning what to dodge to stay alive and how to do it properly. Once you get survival down more, you can focus more on pressuring your opponent. Even learning to disengage like you mention is a useful tactic. Honestly, I got to the level I can play at today due to my losses more than my wins. Mindless stomping doesn’t build your fighting skills, losing makes you reflect on what you can do better the next time. Fighting people above your skill level pressures you to perform better, simple as that (whether it’s staying alive for more than 10 seconds or getting them downed).

Back at launch I was just as frustrated as you since I didn’t have the hours every day to get better and I was once one of the many who were farmed while I learned to play. That’s just how this combat system is since it is extremely fluid and fairly complex to pick up. It will take time but it will get better.