Guild Wars 2

Just back from a two week or so break and spvp is all different. What happened to hotjoin and can I still join games casually? I only had 30mins to play today, but when I joined I ended up as spectator and then one game I joined but when I went to requeue I ended up as spectator again.

Is there any place like hotjoin where I can casually just hop into a few games when I don’t have much time to play? I found the new set up very confusing, although it was nice to be able to spectate.

Unfortunately you can’t anymore, the old Hotjoin has been replaced with this one. If the server is full you basically have to queue up as a spectator, wait for the match to end then enter the new one. If not you have to filter through servers and the one with the odd numbers usually have a ready spot but sometimes it gets filled up just as you enter.
Yea, I too preferred the old set up.

Windfury.3598:

Unfortunately you can’t anymore, the old Hotjoin has been replaced with this one. If the server is full you basically have to queue up as a spectator, wait for the match to end then enter the new one. If not you have to filter through servers and the one with the odd numbers usually have a ready spot but sometimes it gets filled up just as you enter.
Yea, I too preferred the old set up.

Thanks for the response. I know some forum goers thought that hotjoin was the reason for all that they felt was wrong in the world, but for me it was one of the most innovative systems Anet had come up with.

When I wanted to play true competative pvp I did tpvp, when I wanted to just have a bit of fun or test builds I did hotjoin, and it was always on 24/7 pvp, was awesome.

In the past I never pressed the play now button anyway and always looked for servers with free spaces to join. So maybe its not that different? Not sure why I was moved to spectator when a new game started though. I’ll try it out again later tonight. However, my initial impression was “this is crap”, but that’s hardly surprising since I liked what we had before. Maybe I’ll warm up to it when I understand it more.

the server lists the max ppl that can be in the server, but it also has a max # of player that can play. so you will see 12/20 which may mean there are 8 slots to play in, or it may mean the server is full and there are 8 spectator slots. it is a bad system.

milo.6942:

the server lists the max ppl that can be in the server, but it also has a max # of player that can play. so you will see 12/20 which may mean there are 8 slots to play in, or it may mean the server is full and there are 8 spectator slots. it is a bad system.

It takes just a little math by looking at the team size, but yeah it isnt optimal.

Another recommendation is to use the filter system to get the game type you want. (eg. 8v8, 5 sec respawn)

I kind of like this one but for guys like me that don’t have a super computer and maps take they’re time to load, when i finally get into the map all the spots have already been field…

Imo ppl that were in a team should have priority over the ones that were previously spectating… unfortunately it happens do me quite allot…

milo.6942:

it is a bad system.

Agree. Can’t understand how they can make things so complicated. Hotjoin pvp should just be about joining a game and fight off a few rounds – fast, easy and simple. They made the gameform overly complicated for some stupid reason. Also, organizing teams and team swapping shouldn’t be allowed in hotjoin – it’s not the right place for that, and only turns even more ppl away from pvp in this game.

Anet needs to go back to the drawing board on this one.

So I tried it out again, 1st game fumbled around with the filter. Found a game, got added as a spectator-left match. Went back to spvp npc, tried filter again, then just gave up and looked for a match with few people without using filter. Found one played a few games but it just died out. Stopped playing.

It is confusing. The filter is too detailed. All that was needed to improve on the existing good system was 4 tabs: 5vs5, 8vs8, custom, filter.

Click on 5vs5 tab and all the 5vs5 games using the existing rule set are listed. Click “play now” in that mode and you are added to a nearly full game. Same for 8vs8.

Custom games are specialized- I don’t want to see them unless I choose to by hitting a “custom game tab”.

Filter….good for finding custom game types I guess? Good for when there are millions of people playing at once? At the moment just confusing.

I may have misunderstood the system, but that in itself points to a lack of intuitiveness.

Edit: Almost forgot-you should NOT be moved to spectator when you move to the next game, that is just crazy compared to the old system.

Yasha.5963:

Edit: Almost forgot-you should NOT be moved to spectator when you move to the next game, that is just crazy compared to the old system.

Yeah this is great, finishing a match and then basically getting kicked out of the next one at random.

I honestly don’t understand what’s the issue…

Here is what you get in the list now for example.

Server 100 – 9/20

Then in description you see if it is 5v5 or whatever.

So just use your brain – this means there is a spot, yay!

Occasionally this spot will be taken by the time you join, so just join spectators and the moment someone leaves you will be able to join that team from the score window even mid match (there are arrow things at the right top of the score screen, where you can chose which side to join).

Too hard?

Let’s review example b:

Bobby the kitten stares at hotjoin server list, then he rolls his mouse over Server 78 – 15/20 with description 5v5 in it’s window. Will Bobby get the spot to play right away? Noooo! Good! Why not? Because 5+5=10 and server already has 15 players either playing or spectating, so he won’t get a spot to play!

So yeah… Really, the only viable complaint here would be the option to see how many players are actually playing the match as opposed to the current value of playing+spectating, but then – there aren’t really many cases of spectators when there are 9 players or less playing, so it’s ok as is anyway.

Gaidax.7835:

I honestly don’t understand what’s the issue…

Here is what you get in the list now for example.

Server 100 – 9/20

Then in description you see if it is 5v5 or whatever.

So just use your brain – this means there is a spot, yay!

Occasionally this spot will be taken by the time you join, so just join spectators and the moment someone leaves you will be able to join that team from the score window even mid match (there are arrow things at the right top of the score screen, where you can chose which side to join).

Too hard?

Let’s review example b:

Bobby the kitten stares at hotjoin server list, then he rolls his mouse over Server 78 – 15/20 with description 5v5 in it’s window. Will Bobby get the spot to play right away? Noooo! Good! Why not? Because 5+5=10 and server already has 15 players either playing or spectating, so he won’t get a spot to play!

So yeah… Really, the only viable complaint here would be the option to see how many players are actually playing the match as opposed to the current value of playing+spectating, but then – there aren’t really many cases of spectators when there are 9 players or less playing, so it’s ok as is anyway.

Yeah, its probably me just being used to the old system (which I liked) and having difficulty adjusting. I played a 10vs10 game today and it was fun to put a new spin on the game like that. However, the kicking is just silly.