Guild Wars 2

At release the Orb mechanics were a pretty cool wrinkle to WvW, and I was saddened to see them go due to massive hacking/exploiting.

Has there been any word on when these can be reintroduced? It provided a different layer of strategy to WvW, and also served to add value to the Borderlands and get more people to do stuff there.

Miss the orbs!

Dev said Orbs will return before the next star trek movie. So be patient.

I hope they bring back the mechanic but not the boost. Getting an orb on another server’s BL was some of the most exciting WvW I’ve played and I hope they do something to bring it back.

Ex: per orb
WXP boost (5%)
MF boost (20%)
Better loot from level up chests – say 5%

LilMcGinley.3890:

I hope they bring back the mechanic but not the boost. Getting an orb on another server’s BL was some of the most exciting WvW I’ve played and I hope they do something to bring it back.

Ex: per orb
WXP boost (5%)
MF boost (20%)
Better loot from level up chests – say 5%

This is an excellent idea. Also maybe things like Karma, Xp, Crafting, Mf boosts for the world in general. A good way to get people into wvw to defend your orbs if they feel they will lose them if they dont.

Though guesting might make this a little less effective

Don’t attach any PvE boni to the orb. No one in PvE cares about WvW. WvW already provides boni to PvE and no one seems to jump into WvW “coz with another 500 points we’ll get +5% crafting XP”. You’d have to make the bonus something truly ridiculous for anyone to care, like a guaranteed second rare from world boss chests, and even then most people would just leech.

Obviously, don’t make the bonus anything that’ll make the strong stronger, like the old orbs.

A WXP, gold, MF bonus is a great idea.

In DAOC the relics added inc/DEC % damage to the controlling server, if j remember correctly.

3 orbs, 5% per orb, maybe 15% max for DMG DMG reduc and 15% wxp

Thoughts?

I bet most of them have never pressed ‘B’ and seen the bonuses though :p

It would be more widely publicised here. And if it’s not then that’s your servers fault

Mattargul.9235:

Don’t attach any PvE boni to the orb. No one in PvE cares about WvW. WvW already provides boni to PvE and no one seems to jump into WvW “coz with another 500 points we’ll get +5% crafting XP”. You’d have to make the bonus something truly ridiculous for anyone to care, like a guaranteed second rare from world boss chests, and even then most people would just leech.

Obviously, don’t make the bonus anything that’ll make the strong stronger, like the old orbs.

A WXP, gold, MF bonus is a great idea.

This is because 90% of PvE’rs dont know this.. If they where, more would join inn from time to time i belive.

Fuzzion.2504:

Dev said Orbs will return before the next star trek movie. So be patient.

Well, at least it was a good movie.

I guess this pretty much answers my question.

Rumor is they are looking at returning them back into the game, but they will not have the same buff as before. They are shooting around ideas about what that “buff” should be. My guess is WXP or something along those lines.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

WvW needs inherent gameplay and balance improvements before useless kitten like orbs are added back in to it.

Cottage Pie.6215:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

WvW needs inherent gameplay and balance improvements before useless kitten like orbs are added back in to it.

I agree that there are much better things to be done with Dev time other then reworking Orbs…

As much as I like Orbs(as long as the buffs are properly done)…

I agree with some of the above statements:

Orbs should be low on the priority list…lets get working on the skill lag and some map rotation.

etrigan.4213:

As much as I like Orbs(as long as the buffs are properly done)…

I agree with some of the above statements:

Orbs should be low on the priority list…lets get working on the skill lag and some map rotation.

I disagree. WvW was designed with Orbs in mind. The structure of every BL map is based on continuous fights over Orbs, and they provide a counterpoint to the constant fight over Stonemist in EB. They were a vital component to WvW when implemented because they offered alternative paths to victory and additional room for strategic positioning.

Also, skill lag becomes less of an issue if people are busy fighting over multiple maps because all map now contain something of great strategic value. Matchups will become less predictable and stale when there is room for more unpredictable strategies to win the day.

In summary, Orbs were a core part of WvW because they were a good idea! I think finding a way to reintroduce them should be a top priority, because without them we’re all just playing half of the intended game mode.

Bringing back the orbs has two major roadblocks.

Making the bonuses worth fighting for, but not overpowered, but useful, but balanced…… I haven’t seen a single idea yet that fits all this very well, and I don’t envy the dude tasked with the job of coming up with it either.

Making the orbs hacker-proof. The main reason they were removed completely rather than just adjusting the bonuses, was how tempting and easy it was for single players to use exploits to mess with orbs and the altars. It’s still easy to exploit into a keep, but there isn’t much reason to now, as a single player can’t really solo-cap a keep. Removing the orbs removed most of the hacking without a major server architecture overhaul, by removing the best/easiest thing to disrupt. Bringing them back requires major security work.

Frankly for those saying that Orbs should be low on the priority list, think about it. The entire coding structure for Orbs is (presumably) still in place (unless they removed it entirely from the game which would be ridiculous). The only thing that needs to be done is A ) rework the numbers, and B ) fix glitching/exploiting/fly hacking etc… something that should be done anyway.

For the numbers, how about stat boosts but with major diminishing returns. I also think that so called “PvE stats” like magic find are good, but not as the only incentive. Magic find needs to be an extra, the cherry on top of a goodness pie if you will.

Orbs should be added in with something like this:
+25 to each major stat (power/precision/toughness/vitality/condition damage/healing power, not critical damage, boon duration, condition duration or any of those)
-3% to incoming damage (or +3% HP, it really makes little difference)
+20% magic find boost
+10% WXP boost

but with diminishing returns on the actual combat stats the more you have. So with 2 orbs, your bonus would be
+40 to each stat
-4% to incoming damage
+40% magic find boost
+20% WXP boost

and with 3:
+50 to each stat
-5% to incoming damage
+50% magic find boost
+30% WXP boost

Just a thought, i tried to keep it conservative, and yet still desirable to have the orbs. If we can find that balance, as well as get rid of exploiters and hackers, Orbs might really help liven up WvW.

They took out orbs because of the positive stat increases, if they put them back in it would have to be MF/WXP/Karma boosts and nothing else. Would those even be worth fighting over?

Make the center island an “orb”.

1 hour buff
random spawn window of 15 minutes after 1 hour passes.

Faction to cap it gets the 1 hours of bonus wxp/karma/mf on all 4 BLs.

No hacking. Load into a map to cap it if you want.
Camp it? Sure, but now you’ve left part of your BL undermanned.
No stat bonuses to prevent the “cycle” ANet talked about as a reason to remove them in the first place.

Can’t say it will be to much work to put the orbs back in they already had to spend time on all the breakout event nonsense stuff because they weren’t thinking when they took the orbs out. So all the servers go kitten mode and completely zerg their home BL since the Orbs aren’t there to force them to spread out on maps. It’s kittened to look at the map and each BL be 100% home colored.

A big reason for removing the orbs was hacker stealing them. If they do bring them back the orbs shouldn’t give any stat bonus but instead give a point bonus

Orbs provide a tactically valid reason to upgrade and defend your corner in each bl. Without them its just become a karma/wxp train downgrading everything before moving onto the next objective. Yuck

I wouldn’t Complain if they only had stats on one Orb, I’m Sure most people would still try to take the 2nd and 3rd orb to prevent there enemy servers from getting the Bonus.
I always liked the “Orb defense” or “Rush for the Orb” at reset. It really is a shame that Hackers got them removed.