Let me begin by saying that I’m not looking to blame anybody, developers or players. I’m confident that the WXP system was added with the best of intentions, and that players are not at fault for wanting to play optimally, as that is one of the driving compulsions of MMOs.
There have been some steady changes in how WvW is played over the last year, and the biggest of these is the introduction of WXP and the change to server match-ups, and soon Bloodlust and Season One. I’m not going to declare that everything was perfect before these changes came into effect, but the way people play WvW now has changed on a fundamental level.
Before WXP was introduced, player actions were generally aimed at setting their server up to win the week and gain ranking points. Many players were reasonably happy to escort Dolyaks, siege up keeps and start upgrades, possibly stay in them for scouting. There were certainly some players who preferred flipping objectives for quick karma gain, but the majority of players, even if they didn’t always play like this, would do so now and again.
When WXP was introduced, it originally favoured large numbers of player kills, and we saw, within a week, a shift towards very large groups of players on servers that had previously been happy playing in smaller groups. Likewise, when the WXP for taking objectives was doubled, the shift to flipping objectives was almost immediately visible. By the time the most recent adjustments came in, the mentality had set:
Leave upgrades and sieging to other people, because that’s time you won’t be getting WXP. Defending can get you some WXP if you show up at the right time and fight the enemy zerg, but mostly from killing enemies rather than from completing the Defence event. Staying inside towers is WXP lost. Please don’t roam solo because you’ll be denying the WXP train if you take a camp or a sentry before they get there. Friday is reset day, and that means don’t worry about defending anything, just flip, flip, flip.
And so on.
Again, I’m not blaming players for this attitude; it’s simply the result of the system that’s currently in place. My problem with this system is that it’s creating a conflict between the short-term reward of WXP – which everybody wants to get, as quickly as possible – and the long-term ‘reward’ of server position and points, that sieging up and holding objectives provides.
While I’m sure there are many players who will be enthused by Season One, I think for many servers, especially those who on basis of match-up history are unlikely to come in first place, are unlikely to find it the necessary stimulus to return to doing all these WXP-inefficient things that made WvW what it was. So long as they complete the Seasonal achievements, they’re going to be happy.
So what I’m saying, and what I’d really like to see the WvW team focusing on once this next WvW release is out, is trying to work out ways to synergise the WXP system, and defending, to incentivise players to actually start doing all these things that defined WvW for the first half a year.
Running around trying to find a paper walled tower to break into, or playing musical chairs with Hills and Bay are fantastic for WXP, but they’re definitely beginning to bore me, and from map chat, others feel much the same way. It’s demoralising to have to ask players to siege up, and get no response because they are – again, quite reasonably – more interested in the next objective.
For those who managed to get through all of that, thanks for reading, and I welcome discussion and differences of opinion. I hope this topic helps the WvW developers see what some players’ opinions are on this.
(edited by Bethryn.4087)