TL;DR: WvW queues are bugged so they do not work like queues are supposed to work (i.e. first in, first out). This is an unfair system for resolving who gets in, especially since everyone thinks we are waiting in a “queue” because the game tells us so. At a minimum, the developers should change the text so we know that this is not how the system works, since it is a false statement.
This has been broken since launch and will not be fixed for several months. I don’t feel like this issue has received enough attention. I hope that by bringing more attention to this, we can get something done about it sooner, even if it’s an intermediate fix.
I feel like people are not upset enough about the bugged WvW queues.
I understand that this is mainly an issue on high population servers. I understand that I can transfer to a lower population server to not deal with it, and I have understood that the devs have been telling us so. However, I have been on Jade Quarry since the game launched, and I am not going to pay for gems to move from a community I love because people keep joining my server. I do not have a problem with waiting in line for my turn, even if it’s a long wait. I have a problem with the fact that I am waiting for a seemingly random and arbitrarily system to decide when I get to go, when other people might have to wait significantly less time or significantly more time, for no apparent reason. While these are my own feelings, I believe that I am also speaking for a significant portion of the playerbase.
In case you missed it, Devon Carver recently confirmed that WvW queues have been broken since launch, and that they are not going to fix it until months from now when they release the new Edge of the Mists map.
Queues will be fixed as part of the new map. They will continue to operate as they have since launch until then. The queue does not function as a typical queue and we are fixing it. It will just take some time. It has been a lower priority than the other things we have done and we’ve only now been able to devote the appropriate resources to it.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Bugged-Queues-1/first#post3059071
The problem is not that queues are long, the problem is that they do not work like queues should work. Calling such a thing a “queue” is wrong at best, lying at worst.
If you are not familiar with the word “queue”, here is a dictionary definition:
a line of people who are waiting for something
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/queue
The reason why queues or queue-like systems work is because everyone understands how they work and agree that they are fair. The simplest queue follows a simple and sacred social norm that has been used by human civilization since civilization existed: first come, first served. This is a basic concept to deal with situations where you can’t serve everyone at once. Everyone is treated equally, and you get priority based on how long you have been waiting.
Think about this: if you have been waiting for a long time for something, wouldn’t you be upset if someone “cuts in line”? (as we Americans put it.) Let’s say you’ve waited for an hour to get on the rollercoaster at the amusement park, and somebody jumps in front of you and only has to wait five minutes. I would consider that incredibly unfair, as I hope would most people.
Of course, there are certainly situations in real life where you can jump into the middle or beginning of a queue that is somehow socially acceptable – e.g. “flash passes” at Six Flags, airline premier members who can use the faster security line, elderly people in wheelchairs bypassing lines at tourist attractions. In each of these cases, there is some reason (possibly debatable if a good reason) why these people get to skip the long line, whether they are paying extra money for it or because we don’t want to subject elderly people to long waits because of their weaker health.
This is not the case for WvW queues. Arguments can be made for why or why not people with higher WvW rank might deserve to get in first, or why or why not recent transfers should get lower priority, etc. But that is not what is going on here. With no further explanation is being offered for how the queue actually works beyond that it “does not function as a typical queue”, there is no clear, transparent preferential logic that we can debate the merits of. As far as we are concerned, the queue is random.
By calling the system a “queue”, we are being falsely advertised to. There is an understanding of what a “queue” is, and this is not it. There is an unspoken social contract between us, the players, and them, the developers: we play this game in a way respectful of them and each other, and they will treat us with respect. I think this is clearly a case where the developers are not holding up their end of this contract.
…(continued in next post)…
(edited by Veron.8645)