Guild Wars 2

Hi guys, I’m posting this thread as I need some help in making a decision in a world transfer. I originally came from Piken Square as many of my guildies were there, but since the guild I was in recently decided to close, I chose to move to Gunnars Hold to be with some friends in WvW, but it wasn’t what I expected.

There were a lot less people on (despite being the same medium-sized populated server as PS) and we were losing a lot. I’m a WvW fanatic and I live for it, but I decided to give it a couple more weeks giving it the benefit of the doubt, but I haven’t seen much change and I simply can’t stay when the place is as dead as a desert most times I enter, therefore I’m seriously thinking of changing servers.

I really like Piken Square, in fact I LOVE it, as we had good tactics, strong defense, and a decent server size, although I noticed it has become a lot more populated and I still have the same problem now in Gunnars Hold as I did in Piken Square, in terms of going there and it being quite dead at times (most likely due to time zones I would imagine).

I was wondering about hopping over to an American server as I assume there’ll be more people in WvW ALL the time, and ALL throughout the day no matter what the time zone (I’m from New Zealand so usually when I’m awake, others aren’t, and vice versa) but I may need some help in deciding which server would be best for me. This is the criteria I believe I need to have the most fun and to be the most efficient, as I WvW a lot.

1) It has to be an American server
2) I want a server that wins in WvW frequently (so tier 1 or tier 2 only)
3) I need the server to have a lot of players both in PvE and WvW (for living story events in particular, and WvW of course)
4) It has to have teams in WvW pretty much 24/7, so it’s in line with my timezone no matter when I’m online

I’m thinking Blackgate, but I don’t know if they have teams on 24/7 in WvW, so was just wondering… also any videos of recent WvW footage might be helpful too :-D I’m also a berserker elementalist with rank 443 (will be higher too when the account bound ranks come), so I can bring a fair amount of WvW abilities to the table/team :-D

And last but not least, I was wondering whether I should transfer now or later, as moving to a highly populated American server would cost me 1800 gems (pretty costly if you ask me), and from memory there was once a time when we were given a free transfer, or a cheaper transfer to a medium server or something? I can’t remember the specifics, so was wondering if I should wait till another opportunity like that arises, or whether I should just move on and pay up now.

Many thanks in advance guys

Blackgate. Has 24/7 coverage. Long ques during peak hrs and may or may not have them off hrs. They also have an enormous pve population. If u don’t mind some que time and like running in medium to large groups BG is probably the place. TC is another high pve populated wvw server AMD from what I hear has a pretty good community. Those r the only 2 I know much about.

You might like tc based on what you wrote. We’re not as strong as blackgate nor as populated but we do pretty well in all areas.

Quality isn’t really good nor is the music but I usually make these weird videos. ^.^

:3

Sweet thanks for that :-D Blackgate sounds a lot like what I’m after, and I don’t mind queue times

Edit: thanks Sovereign I’ll take a look at those vids now

Sounds like blackgate would be a good choice. You kight want to rethink about being a zerk ele though lol

Go to blackgate i hear the billionth player gets a free legendary!!!

Try FC. Yes we’re a much lower pop server than either TC or Blackgate, but we have a strong Aussie presence (I’m part of Bloody Swagmen and EDGE). We do a lot of WvW, guild missions, map completion, a world boss train each day etc.

Good luck wherever you land.

how people feel about particular wvw servers is often very subjective, so you may need to try multiple servers to see how you like them. but this can end up costing you a lot of gems.

the most economical option here may be to buy another copy of GW2, and try making a new character on the #1 ranked server to see how you like it. if it turns out that the queues are too long, delete your character, switch to the next server down the list, then make a new character there. keep doing this until you find a server that has a balance of population / queue times you like. remember, you only have to pay gems to move existing characters. if you have no characters on an account then transfers are free and you can sample as many servers as you like.

once you’ve found a server you like, then you can commit to transferring your regular characters on your main account using gems.

-ken

If winning is your #1 criteria; go BG.

If you want a lot of people in your prime time (during the NZ day and evening) you’d like SoS.

Any of the top 6 (FA replacing Mag) would have people for you and quality play.
I suggest looking for a guild on your new server before transferring. The top tiers in NA servers are unkind to solo PuGs (having a supportive group is key to a positive experience).

My opinion -

BG is currently the most populous (and strongest) server in WvW. BG is strong enough to roll over every other server except JQ, which is able to put up some resistance but BG still generally wins. If winning is your only priority, BG is the best choice. BG also has many Oceanic players and almost 24/7 coverage. At the moment queue times are generally nonexistent unless you want to play on Eternal Battlegrounds, which is usually queued. During the WvW season BG were way more often queued but it looks like people are taking a break. I’m not sure what the queues will look like in a few months’ time.

If you don’t want to play for the current strongest server, then JQ is the natural second choice. As far as I can tell their coverage isn’t as strong as BG’s, but Oceanic timezone is quite packed and is in fact JQ’s strongest timezone. Third strongest server right now appears to be SoR, but I’d refrain from moving to SoR because SoR appears to be suffering some community problems. They simply stopped showing up in the WvW season, then one of their biggest WvW guilds transferred off it, and the server appears to be in decline. They’re still populous enough to be 3rd or 4th overall, but if SoR is your intended destination I’d wait till the dust settles a bit before moving.

The T1 servers are usually able to field zergs on multiple maps. Before I transferred off SoS a few months ago, the same does not hold true for the T2 servers, and even then they can’t get any single map queued. That doesn’t mean they don’t have enough players to achieve something, but against another T2 server you’ll be playing with a slightly lower population in any given map, while against a T1 server you’ll always be fighting outnumbered. If you don’t mind (or enjoy) that kind of game, then go ahead and pick a T2 server.

Finally there’s PvE. I’ve been on both SoS and BG and frankly I couldn’t tell much of a difference (although I know quite a lot of SoS players who guest to BG regularly to do world events). I imagine the same applies to all the other servers. If you need to you can always guest as well, so it shouldn’t be much of a concern.

Jeydra.4386:

My opinion -

I second what Jeydra says though I semi disagree with the note on SoR. (and have no comment on T2 servers)

From what I can tell it looks like most of SoR’s “internal issues” are more or less resolved and they are currently rebuilding. I would suggest looking at there recruitment post in the recruitment sub forum. They have great leaders and some really awesome guilds. While they aren’t the strongest and you won’t be winning (the match) in T1 for a while, they are still a viable server for anyone looking for a new home. Also as any server in a rebuilding phase, they will probably welcome any new interested experienced players to there ranks.

From the looks of your post it seems you already had Blackgate in mind and are looking for someone to sell you a different server as a option. Since I’m from Blackgate I can’t really sell you another server but I wouldn’t rule them out as a possible new home.

Also keep in mind this week is a bad week to get impressions of a server in WvW. Most people are taking a “break” from competitive WvW and with the patch every one is throwing snow balls and farm pink gear.

Snowreap.5174:

how people feel about particular wvw servers is often very subjective, so you may need to try multiple servers to see how you like them. but this can end up costing you a lot of gems.

the most economical option here may be to buy another copy of GW2, and try making a new character on the #1 ranked server to see how you like it. if it turns out that the queues are too long, delete your character, switch to the next server down the list, then make a new character there. keep doing this until you find a server that has a balance of population / queue times you like. remember, you only have to pay gems to move existing characters. if you have no characters on an account then transfers are free and you can sample as many servers as you like.

once you’ve found a server you like, then you can commit to transferring your regular characters on your main account using gems.

-ken

Sorry for the late reply guys, I had some guests over. This is actually quite a good idea, especially considering the game is being discounted all the time it seems, though to be honest I don’t think I can be bothered going out and buying another copy :-/ brilliant suggestion though, thanks!

Edit: I’ve decided to go with Blackgate – I was tossing up between Blackgate and Tarnished Coast looking at you guys’ recommendations and the criteria. After looking at all the videos and taking in everyone’s feedback, and looking at the leaderboards I noticed that Blackgate was the most consistent, and that is an important factor for me too that I didn’t think about, and it has all the criteria I need in both PvE and WvW and time zone issues as well.

I want to thank you guys for taking time out to recommend which server would be best for me <3

Oh and in regards to this recommendation…

Sounds like blackgate would be a good choice. You might want to rethink about being a zerk ele though lol

I’ll definitely take your advice there, especially seeing how big those zergs are, ha ha. I think would get rolled over in a second!

Here’s the thing (coming from a fellow kiwi) , no matter where you go NZ is a dead spot. Prime time begins just as the PST players are logging off (7pm NZ it 10pm PST) and it’s before the Aussie and SEA forces get on. That said there seem to be plenty of players still on on both Blackgate and Jade Quarry, and to a lesser extent SoR, when I jump on so if you come to 1 of the big 3 you’ll have no probs getting fights.

Shameless plug: KnT are still recruiting Oceanics, and we have a decent group of Kiwis. They’re mostly horrible jafas but there’s at least one totally awesome South Islander.

If you’re coming to BG just to win though… May I suggest Sea of Sorrows instead? Large oceanic community and t2 server that is climbing up the ranks.

KnT.

We are awesome.
I am from New Zealand – so are a couple of our officers and commanders but we’re from Auckland so I hope you love Jafa’s.

We have (unfortunately) this guy, Jorjeis, from Christchurch. We also recently acquired a guy from Whakatane. The jokes are endless.

We also have a decent NA, Oceanic and SEA presence so you’ll be able to play not just with us but Blackgate as a whole regardless of what time you’re on

Hello Zikory,

Thanks!

SOR is currently on a rebuilding phase and I am glad to say that it’s looking good. DiE has folks coming back from EBay because the queues are better now. Some IRON folks are heading back to SOR also after their stay in GH. We are looking to build a 24/7 community that’s out for fights 1st and ppt 2nd.

We also have new folks from other servers joining us in late NA, OCX and SEA. We still have a gap in EU time.

FW

Zikory.6871:

Jeydra.4386:

My opinion -

I second what Jeydra says though I semi disagree with the note on SoR. (and have no comment on T2 servers)

From what I can tell it looks like most of SoR’s “internal issues” are more or less resolved and they are currently rebuilding. I would suggest looking at there recruitment post in the recruitment sub forum. They have great leaders and some really awesome guilds. While they aren’t the strongest and you won’t be winning (the match) in T1 for a while, they are still a viable server for anyone looking for a new home. Also as any server in a rebuilding phase, they will probably welcome any new interested experienced players to there ranks.

From the looks of your post it seems you already had Blackgate in mind and are looking for someone to sell you a different server as a option. Since I’m from Blackgate I can’t really sell you another server but I wouldn’t rule them out as a possible new home.

Also keep in mind this week is a bad week to get impressions of a server in WvW. Most people are taking a “break” from competitive WvW and with the patch every one is throwing snow balls and farm pink gear.

Hmmmm I’m liking the WvW in Blackgate thus far, though can’t say the same for PvE (the amount of people is epic though, great for completing the living stories). I was in Kessex Hills killing a champ with a zerg and couldn’t figure out why I was getting damaged with the corrupted/toxic spore icon when there was no obvious thing attacking me, so I asked why others weren’t getting damaged (as they were literally in the same spot as me) and this Roger Malone guy said “you’re standing in spore blankity blank blank”. Worse thing was another player ditched in and insulted me. I never got that (at least only rarely) in Piken Square. I hope the whole server isn’t like that when just asking a simple question – I feel I can’t ask people anything now in Blackgate :-/

Hmm..I wouldn’t say that’s the norm on Blackgate as I never encountered such rude behavior myself. I generally find the pve community quite helpful and friendly. However, given the population on BG and the amount of guests from other servers, it would not surprise me if you meet a bad apple once in a while…..

For the best WvW experience you should join someone like TC or SoS. T1 servers don’t need any more people. T2 servers need to fill up so T1 servers have more opponents and don’t fight each other week in and week out.

Then again, people just seem to care about loot or easy fights these days so just join BG. When things look down, transfer to JQ/SoR, that’s what everyone else is doing anyways. :\

Jade quarry is also a good choice. they have a lot of people too and good community.

Zaoda.1653:

Hmmmm I’m liking the WvW in Blackgate thus far, though can’t say the same for PvE (the amount of people is epic though, great for completing the living stories). I was in Kessex Hills killing a champ with a zerg and couldn’t figure out why I was getting damaged with the corrupted/toxic spore icon when there was no obvious thing attacking me, so I asked why others weren’t getting damaged (as they were literally in the same spot as me) and this Roger Malone guy said “you’re standing in spore blankity blank blank”. Worse thing was another player ditched in and insulted me. I never got that (at least only rarely) in Piken Square. I hope the whole server isn’t like that when just asking a simple question – I feel I can’t ask people anything now in Blackgate :-/

Always going to have a few rotten apples – generally when you ask a question everyone’s pretty friendly with the new content. Feel free to hit me up if you ever want someone to play with during that timezone though ^^

You should really go to bg, they could use more numbers.