Guild Wars 2

I solo queue for free tPvP and frequently end up in 4v5 or 2 v 3 matches, where chances of winning a nearly zero. Why not cancel or wait until the slot is filled before allowing a match to start? If someone leaves before the match is due to begin, it should not start until someone joins and makes the teams even.

+1ing

Hate anxiously waiting 5 whole minutes only to have to wait/screw around for 5 more while we get our kitten kicked.

don’t solo queue?

Reikou.7068:

don’t solo queue?

I was going to say that, but you beat me to it. If you don’t want to chance playing on a team where some random player may decide to quit, how about playing with your friends?

Thing is random pugs running 2 mesmers and 2 bunkers own your friends. So its a 50-50 while queing solo

Don’t think I’ve ever been beaten by a pug, but yeah, whatever^

Thing is, once it matches your team up, those 5 accounts are locked into that tournament until they win or are knocked out.

If one person logs out, the game can’t know if he has left for good, if he has dropped connection and will be right back, or if he is swapping characters.

Imagine d/cing in a tourney you are doing well in, then coming back to find your place taken.

Sorry, either deal with perhaps not getting a full team, or run a premade.
Even if my team is not online, I will only go into a tournament with a premade group of 5 randoms, picked up from the mists, rather than let the game do it for me.

@Reikou – Seriously? So your answer to everything is “don’t play the game”.
@BigTeeHunter – Your idea about locked teams is at 5-year-old level and yes, this is what is currently in the game. Sorry, I did not imply it is your idea, you are just stating what it is. However, this is not the right way to do it. It should be easy enough to check how many players are actually in the match and then act accordingly.
First we hear that 8v8 is bad, don’t play it. Now I can’t join tPvP solo. How many parts of this game actually work? No, I don’t want to go through the screening process of “which class do you play, what level are you, oh, we don’t need that”.

The locked teams make perfect sense!

Tournament pvp is supposed to be competitive pvp, where more organised teams play off against each other. It is not a 5v5 mode of hot join, else we would just have 5v5 servers.

In serious pvp, if one of your team members accidentally drops connection, or even decides to swap out a class for a better composition and/or more team synergy, they should be able to immediately re-enter the game (This is why if you leave a tournament game, or if you reconnect whilst a game is in progress, you are instantly put back in the game)

Therefore, tell me how it is humanly (or computerly ;) ) possible to “check how many players are actually in the match and then act accordingly”
The system has no way of checking if a player will be back imminently, and therefore, in a competitive game mode, is is always preferable to assume they will be back, as in competitive games, a player is not going to just drop and never come back.

The problem here for you is you are playing the wrong game mode. Perhaps tournaments should have a less hardcore option, for solo join only, and have more lax rules, but that is a completely different argument.

TLDR;
Tpvp is fine the way it is. It’s just the game doesn’t (yet) cater to your criteria of gameplay (casual/non-zerg).

What you are saying makes sense, but as it stands now, there is no other plausible structured PvP format for casual pvp’ers other than 5v5 tournament hotjoin. If Arenanet fixed the 8v8 and made it 5v5, there would be no problem.
In general, what’s in the game is in the game. If they did not want to allow hotjoin 5v5 tournament, they would disable that option. So while that option is there, in the interest of fairness, rather than discouraging the use of that option, they should make it work properly. I play mostly necromancer and they have a lot of bugs. I prefer that the bugs be fixed and balance issues be addressed rather than “do not play it” solution.

The word “cater” as used in the context of your post is derogatory. I have a certain play style and the game can either offer that or not. I don’t need to be catered.

However, my situation is not unique. This argument (about tournament hotjoin) is similar to “dungeon finder” argument. It is convenient, has its downsides, and is either available or not, and people may like it or not. But, e.g. in WoW, if you used dungeon finder, you expected a full group at least at the start. There has to be a way to see who is inside the instance, not just on the roster, at the time the tournament is due to start.

Just wait for paid tournament system, then your free 5v5’s will be casual as the big comp will move on.