Guild Wars 2

You come up over a ridgeline near Stone Mist Castle and see an ally getting beat down by an enemy, what do you do:

a.) Ignore it, it’s none of your business.

b.) Attack the enemy player, it’s WvW

c.) Don’t attack, and say, “Are dueling or PvPing?”

I answered “b” but supposedly the correct answer is “c” to the “ally” who called me a childish name and acted like I was the worst person ever in the world. (BTW I don’t usually read chat while in combat, so I didn’t the lame insults until after the fight.)

Please tell me that we aren’t catering to personal duelers in open WvW.

Nothing against dueling, but if you do it out in the open in WvW, do not expect people to give a flying fruit about it, I certainly will not be “asking” if it’s alright to fight the enemy.

Of course, maybe I hold the minority opinion on the matter.

Just kill everything and block people if you can’t ignore them.

While you are not wrong for doing what you did, it’s considered common courtesy to not disrupt even numbered fights (1v1, 2v2 etc) or fights between 2 guilds.

Deli.1302:

While you are not wrong for doing what you did, it’s considered common courtesy to not disrupt even numbered fights (1v1, 2v2 etc) or fights between 2 guilds.

Even back in DAoC this was a soft “rule” but duels were also fairly obvious, you’d have multiple friendlies and enemies standing in a large semi-circle with the duelists in the center.

This was me standing on the wall of SMC seeing a “red” fighting something, I jumped off and ran toward the enemy and started range attacks.

SMC is not a dueling area.

I let all my allies die whether it’s a fair fight or not. It will only make them stronger… or they might just quit and go back to PvE, I don’t really care either way.

Fluffball.8307:

SMC is not a dueling area.

Thanks for the sanity check, this just rubbed me the wrong way because I just came back to the game and encountered this…

If they fight on the edge of the map, far far away from any objective, I’d assume it’s a duel and let the duel it out. However, I am not on the far edges of the map myself. Other than that, if I see an enemy, no matter if upleveled or seemingly in a fair fight with an ally of mine, I attack. I attack in “easy mode”, giving them a chance to run. However, often that encourages them to fight back (who doesn’t wanna win a 1v2?) leaving them dead seconds later.

If my supposed “ally” starts to insult me, I will make fun of him. Because that attitude is just simply idiotic. Have your duels in the far edges of the world and don’t turn objectives into your personal duel spots.

Kill leeching is neither fun nor honorable, most of the time I just ignore them and move on. Turning something like a 2v2 into a 3v2 is more of a gray area on the other hand.

Not all duels are intentional. I may be roaming around and fight another lone roamer, I want to 1v1 not 2v1. I’m sure most others would say the same. Don’t assume because they aren’t in a secluded area means they aren’t dueling.

I only let them duel if I know that it’s a duel based on the guild tag, I know who they are, or it’s very clearly a duel with people watching from both servers on the side. Anyone else, I just jump in since the only real place people should be dueling now is the Obsidian Sanctum.

This happens a lot just north to the south camp on the borderland maps.

If there are no people sitting around whilst two people fight, then feel free to attack as it’s clearly not a duel. in fact, attack any enemies you see, it’s a pvp zone. I’ll usually stop attacking if they ask me to, or not attack if it’s obviously a duel, but if there is a 30 man queue foe EB I’ll suggest they go to a BL or OS to avoid repeated interuptions.

I’d rather people didn’t waste space in the most heavily queued map to duel, plenty of space on borderlands maps or OS (which is made for it). Have some respect for your fellow players duellers.

Deli.1302:

While you are not wrong for doing what you did, it’s considered common courtesy to not disrupt even numbered fights (1v1, 2v2 etc)

Yep, I think Deli has it… most roamers enjoy even numbered fights, even if not a pure duel with /bows and all and it’s to the death. If I roam and find another solo roamer, the last thing I want is that someone interferes in the middle of the engagement, be it going good or bad for me.

There are known spots for official duels, bumping into someone and fighting 1v1 isn’t something to be getting upset over in open field in the same way as someone interfering with an actual duel. If it’s red, it’s dead.

When you enter Wv3 you know you will be having engagements, if you enter thinking “Gosh I really hope I get lots of 1v1s in frequently travelled spots and nobody interferes”, you’re doing something very wrong.

Pavel.8531:

Deli.1302:

While you are not wrong for doing what you did, it’s considered common courtesy to not disrupt even numbered fights (1v1, 2v2 etc)

Yep, I think Deli has it… most roamers enjoy even numbered fights, even if not a pure duel with /bows and all and it’s to the death. If I roam and find another solo roamer, the last thing I want is that someone interferes in the middle of the engagement, be it going good or bad for me.

Roaming tends to lead to fights, and fights are not duels. When I roam, I expect others to join the fight (whether with or against me). It’s part of massive PvP tactics and strategy. We must all maintain situational awareness, be aware of our capabilities, and know when to pop smoke.

If I saw a fellow soldier engaging the enemy on a battlefield, I would come to that person’s aid. If the same soldier was in a boxing match, then I would sit and watch. WvW is a battlefield, and I don’t hesitate to join in a fight. We’ve got s/t/PvP and (nominally) OS to be boxing rinks.

The point isn’t about whether it’s “fair”, “allowed” or “expected”.

Its just about fun.

Lets leave aside formal duels for now, and just talk about roaming, where 1v1s and 2v2s can frequently happen.

If I’m in a 1v1 while roaming, and 2 allies jump in and turn it into a 3v1, I don’t get annoyed because its not “honourable”. I get annoyed because its not “fun”. 3v1 takes zero effort, requires zero skill. You can do it with your eyes closed.

So rather than having a challenging 1v1 where I have to really work hard, by adding in you turn my fun fight into, basically, PvE. You have robbed me of fun.

Its not about honour and fairness, its just about turning fun fights into tedious zergfests.

However, I fully agree that people shouldn’t expect perfectly fair fights if they’re hanging around objectives and main-roads. This is why many people seeking duels on EB go to the east side of Stonemist, where the Oakhearts are, because there is rarely any reason for the PPT hordes to go through that way.

If I’m anywhere on any wvw map and come across a 1v1 I’ll never join in unless its a guildie who I know isn’t dueling. One time on Eotm I had an uplvl rage at me for not helping him kill a lvl 80. Idk why cus he killed the 80… My personal favorites are the dinks who run by south ruins/sentry on BLs and yell at me when they jump an enemy who’s standing there obviously waiting for duels, and get tyrannosaurus rekt.

I always stand aside and watch. I only get involved if the ally is downed and the other party goes in for the stomp or if other enemies get involved. Best of both I guess. There simply isn’t time to ask or get an answer in most duels.

Kuldebar.1897:

You come up over a ridgeline near Stone Mist Castle and see an ally getting beat down by an enemy, what do you do:

a.) Ignore it, it’s none of your business.

b.) Attack the enemy player, it’s WvW

c.) Don’t attack, and say, “Are dueling or PvPing?”

I answered “b” but supposedly the correct answer is “c” to the “ally” who called me a childish name and acted like I was the worst person ever in the world. (BTW I don’t usually read chat while in combat, so I didn’t the lame insults until after the fight.)

Please tell me that we aren’t catering to personal duelers in open WvW.

Nothing against dueling, but if you do it out in the open in WvW, do not expect people to give a flying fruit about it, I certainly will not be “asking” if it’s alright to fight the enemy.

Of course, maybe I hold the minority opinion on the matter.

The correct answer is (b).

On some occasions it might be obvious, like when a couple green and red tags mingle with each other while observing a green and a red tag fighting, but that is rare. Or if the green tagged dude is obviously winning and the fight nearly over, just doesn’t seem right to take a piece of the cake (otoh, more loot bags buys better gear).

The way you phrased it is interesting, “an ally getting beat down by an enemy”. It is hard to tell right away if people are dueling or if it was someone getting ganked on their way to an objective.

I usually sit there any watch. If the ally runs toward me or seems to be trying to run away I’ll jump in and help out. (Unless the enemy is a thief and then I’ll just run away because I’m not built for roaming and why give the little kitten two free kills?)

If in a keep or tower, they are red.
If outside away from a tower, or next to a tower that isnt being attacked, then ask.

But the usual attitude is the former Red = Dead
WvW is WvW, it is not sPvP, dueling, or even GvG.
Anything goes in WvW, and thanks to very few fixes, and even approval of playstyles by the mods, anything really does go, be it legit or not.

So next time you come up to someone who complains, tell them they should go to a quiet area where players rarely go, there are plenty dotted around each map. They can duel in peace and without interruptions there.

Pinkamena Diane Pie.8054:

If in a keep or tower, they are red.
If outside away from a tower, or next to a tower that isnt being attacked, then ask.

But the usual attitude is the former Red = Dead
WvW is WvW, it is not sPvP, dueling, or even GvG.
Anything goes in WvW, and thanks to very few fixes, and even approval of playstyles by the mods, anything really does go, be it legit or not.

So next time you come up to someone who complains, tell them they should go to a quiet area where players rarely go, there are plenty dotted around each map. They can duel in peace and without interruptions there.

truer words have never been spoken, its WvW, not anything else. If someone gets mad, oh well. Send them a smiley emote and tell them to have a nice day

If its somewhere in the middle of the map i attack it. There are enough spots around the maps to duel on and i respect that and leave it alone.

dueling normally does not include stomping. If I see an even fight, I normally stand and watch for the outcome. If enemy player goes in for the stomp, I interfere.
Large contributing factor to my jumping into a “fair fight” depends if enemy is a thief… If so, they can quickly reset their duel.

But I agree with most posts, if you wanna duel: go do it somewhere else…

If I see two people fighting I tend to let them be, although if my ally loses I will prevent them being stomped.

When I am the one dueling I, of course, prefer allies not to get involved but to be honest, unless we’re fighting somewhere which is clearly a dueling spot (JP, Windmill, etc), I would never get annoyed with someone else jumping in because it is WvW and if we’re there fighting in the middle of the road you cant expect everyone to just walk on by.

As a roamer, I will jump in on any fight I see. I stay away from typical ‘dueling’ spots like behind the Windmill or in OS, but everywhere else is fair game. I got kittened out for wrecking a duel right outside of SMC and feel that there is a TON of places you can go if you want to do that. It’s pretty easy to group with the other person and decide to get out of the way for your fights.

So to answer the question, the correct answer is ‘B’.

I concur B.

Red = dead in WvW, if you wanna duel go to obsidian sanctum or head into pvp.

Block and move on, if they don’t realize WvW is a battlefield where you can be run over by others then they are at fault, not you.

I guess I just care more for an even fight, and can look past the “huuurrrr red is ded” mentality. Besides, I’ve seen the same Mags for so long now, I recognize tags and ranks and know whether or not to stick around.

for me, if I see that it’s a fairly even fight, i’ll normally let the 1v1 continue. but if my ally is clearly the better player (There’s a lot of good roamers on my server) I’ll normally tag the enemy and go on my way. If my ally is loosing, I’ll probably drop a burst on the enemy and let him do the rest.

That is how i would treat a 1v1 in EBG. however, If you’re by the windmill on any of the borderlands doing a 1v1, I’ll probably fly a guild kite and run circles around your dead body.

Typically red=dead.

Generally I will not interfere with a 1v1 fight if it’s in the middle of nowhere, if they both stopped to fight there then that means they both wanted to fight. I’ll sometimes wait around to see if the ally dies, and then I’ll jump in with fears and res them, if they wanted help they just need to say it on TS.

Its funny though those 1v1 guys want an even fight and will cuss you out because you interfered, but then they will turn around and prey on people who clearly do not want to engage in a 1v1 fight, because guess what more than half the people you will run into in wvw are not specced for roaming but for groups.

To the duelers, respect is a two way street, if you don’t want people jumping into your fights then don’t jump on people who clearly do not want to engage you.

kill first, talk later

People usually zerg down solo roamers as harmless as they may be, outside SM is not really a duelling zone, near the outer east or south walls is usually a safer spot though.

If they both have a dueling-like spec, I’ll let them finish (unless I see other enemies approaching, in which case I probably jump in and lend my aid).
If one of them is a zerger, I’ll just jump in relentlessly and kill/scare away the other guy.

WvW is about fights and PPT. Both are important. Fights keep us coming back, but PPT gives fights purpose.

“Roamers,” to me, are people who are still involved in the objectives game, just not in large groups. They can do a lot of damage to your server if you just leave them alone entirely. So, if you’re even remotely near an objective, I’m going to try to kill you to make sure you can’t claim it or disrupt it. This includes camps, yak paths, the ruins (bloodlust matters, yo). It’s also usually in my server’s best interests to make sure you end up back at your spawn point before you’re able to scout stuff.

Thus, unless you’re really really going out of your way to establish yourself as just dueling off in the corner somewhere, I’m gonna interfere in the fight and try to splat whoever’s red. It just makes sense.

Sometimes when I’m running with a mid-sized group we intentionally ignore small fights because we don’t want to waste time chasing. It’s not really a principles thing.

If you want absolutely want a fair fight, there’s Sanctum and SPvP dueling arenas. By choosing to try to start up duels all over the WvW map you’re embracing the fact that some external factor might mess up your fight at any time.

Play however you want. There is no right answer.

Personally, if I see a 1v1, I just watch. If my ally loses and the enemy tries to stomp, then I get involved.

If you want to duel go to obsidian sanctum. If you don’t want anybody interrupting your fun then that is where you go.

IcomeINpeace.2085:

I always stand aside and watch. I only get involved if the ally is downed and the other party goes in for the stomp or if other enemies get involved. Best of both I guess. There simply isn’t time to ask or get an answer in most duels.

That’s pretty much my take on it, but even that backfires.

I came across a 1v1 once and my ally was getting beaten pretty bad by a warr but i let it go. Suddenly a hero thief came in and finished off my ally then he and the warr both turned on me.

If you want ‘fair’ fights go PvP, anything else is fair game.

Happened to a group of 15 or so of us a few days ago on the way to blue keep, we just steamrolled over the top of them despite our server colleague shouting “NO KILL”, “NO KILL”.

They should go duel in OS or jumping puzzles or pvp not in the middle of a map when there’s constant traffic around, especially since they’re a free stacks / bloodlust points

I personally love dueling and making friends with/partying other server mates. It’s good sportsmanship and at least for myself, I feel a lot less frustrated when I’m killed by someone I know/am friends with. So it gives the competitive atmosphere a much nicer feel.

As for OP’s question, do what you will. It’s your game and no one else can tell you how to play it, if people getting angry at you for interrupting a duel upsets you, you can refrain from doing it in the future.
I get a bit snippy when someone interrupts a duel but I never call them names or anything like that unless they’re trolling and constantly killing the guy when
he comes back. Some people are just jerks, lol. WvW isn’t for duels so no one should expect other people to treat it like it is. It’s one thing to interrupt a duel accidentally, it’s a whole other to do it on purpose even if WvW isn’t for dueling, who are they to deny you your fun?

I watch even fights and root for my ally to lose. I’ll then taunt the corpse of said ally.

I’ll also troll any allies who interrupt even fights because GW2 wvw is finally getting that all important sub community of soloers

It is a world versus world zone, not a PvP zone. Just for the record, if my allies see me getting beat down by an enemy…..PLEASE come and help me. I’m just a necro and have no means of escaping my fate.

ozmaniandevil.6805:

It is a world versus world zone, not a PvP zone. Just for the record, if my allies see me getting beat down by an enemy…..PLEASE come and help me. I’m just a necro and have no means of escaping my fate.

You have the best escape available

Win the fight

When coming upon a random 1v1 I usually check their jobs. If the jobs are the same, I usually leave them be unless it’s, say, about contesting a camp or something, if there’s a clear objective involved. I only do this because it’s what I’d want done to me. If I am in a 1v1 with someone and another person jumps in, I sometimes disengage entirely; 2v1 isn’t fun or interesting. Not that all jobs are balanced at 1v1, many are not, and many builds are not, but you can learn something even from those encounters, whereas from a 2v1 you’re not likely to learn anything.

I don’t get worked up over it if someone interrupts my duel. It’s annoying, yes, but the unpredictability of WvW is a big part of why I play it in the first place. Adapt, accept, move on. If you want to follow a script, there’s always PvE.

I agree with all of you about respecting obvious dueling participants and also concur that if they need to duel it should be in an area far removed from an objective.

I disagree that “honor” or fairness is a factor in this…this is a fantasy battlefield with unregimented troops flowing over the map.

The Honor System in warfare was usually reserved to such things as:

a.) not killing those who had “properly” surrendered

b.) compliance with a location/time of a battle or other mutually recognized rules of engagement

c.) reliable adherence to verbal contracts, declarations and statements

d.) the real history of human warfare doesn’t hold up very well when scrutinized…sentimental and Hollywood-esque renditions aside, it was never pretty or neat.

None of these things is really part of the overall WvW conflict on the macro level:

a.) For starters, there’s no “actual” clear and consistent method to broadcast such intentions in the game world; communication basically.

b.) Hesitating and forgoing first blood opportunities in any PvP related scenario generally has no upside; incorporating polite “grey poupon” style questioning is not conducive to WvW.

c.) War, or in this case a video game virtual war, is about exploiting the enemies weakness, not pandering to it. Formal duels are not part of the game design in WvW and have no standing.

d.) Common courtesy should always rule number one in any social activity, but the burden of tolerance and accommodation is on the persons who deviate from the expected norm, not the other way around.

e.) ANet should just fix the issue by making free-form 1v1 dueling instances.

Thinking that duelers have any expectation of protected privilege in WvW is woefully misguided and counters the very reason for WvW.

Red is dead, tbh your kitten ed if you do and kitten ed if you don’t, you’ll either get backlash for adding on their “duel” or backlash for letting them die.

Same old story, Solo’s don’t want people to add, Small mans don’t want people to add, Guild groups don’t want people to add, and yet every single one of them will break this so called code in a heart beat.

Just kill whatever and move on while ignoring the QQ’s.

Part of being a roamer/solo player/duelist/insert fancy name here/etc is that you anticipate and accept the fact that you’re always in hostile territory and any encounter can, and most likely WILL, get out of hand very quickly. No matter what unspoken rules we abide by, we should always be prepared to face those who play by completely different rules and the consequences that follow.

In the OP’s situation, I usually throw out a quick, “Need help?” but otherwise let them fight it out themselves.

All 3 answers are correct because you can play however you want.

You can fight/defend someone else if you want or ignore them. Another player doesn’t like it? Who cares. I play how I want.

Kill the enemy and tell your teammate to “Move!”. As there’s no time for kitten ing around in WvW!!!!!

I usually don’t even engage solo players at all. It’s simply not a cost effective way to spend your time in WvW. Though I do understand having something you wanted to do interrupted can be frustrating. I was in a fun 3v3 that became a 3v7’ish and it spoiled the fun. Though both sides were whispering and it was easy to find each other again.

DeWolfe.2174:

Kill the enemy and tell your teammate to “Move!”. As there’s no time for kitten ing around in WvW!!!!!

I usually don’t even engage solo players at all. It’s simply not a cost effective way to spend your time in WvW. Though I do understand having something you wanted to do interrupted can be frustrating. I was in a fun 3v3 that became a 3v7’ish and it spoiled the fun. Though both sides were whispering and it was easy to find each other again.

This also, as rule our guild is not going to chase down a solo (unless it is someone we know, then you just gotta zerg them down and laugh together about it) however, if there’s a duel in our path were running over it, but were not going to chase after them and break formation if they decide to disengage and move.

I’m pretty good at noticing a duel when seeing one, but got called a bunch of rude names for “interrupting” one the other day. Two people were fighting near the west wall of SMC, a wall that had had just been trebbed into swiss cheese, and I went in and killed the enemy.

He called me out in map chat and plenty of people said “well, that was a stupid place to duel, go somewhere else.”

So, yeah. Take it somewhere else.