Guild Wars 2

Are we going to have some kind of private grouping system for more than 5 people that we can use for private events or specialty forces?

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/devon-carver-on-the-future-of-world-vs-world/

In that blog above it was noted that the commander and squad system was not up to par, and the devs acknowleged it. There have been some fantastic suggestions on how to improve the C&S system, but many have been moved to the suggestion forums and lost beneath the mass pve suggestions.

I urge the devs to read over the many suggestions about the C&S that have been posted since release. Foremost there has been many people asking for a “guild commander” or “private squad” system where guilds and alliances can form private events without having a zerg flock to the pin.

Guilds and players have many different ideas of what is “fun” to them. But giving them two options to organize is not enough. A grouping system should be flexible to customize to all player and guild styles.

No that means that there will be Commander upgrade throught wxp with:
50wxp points – 1% dmg to guards
100wxp points – 2% dmg to guards
etc

Hule.8794:

No that means that there will be Commander upgrade throught wxp with:
50wxp points – 1% dmg to guards
100wxp points – 2% dmg to guards
etc

Ugh…. I hope not. This is a social game and we need tools to allow us to group and organize for our social networks. Just do a search and read the suggestions for commander and Squads. Some great feedback and idea’s, many different people asking for the same things.

Here are some of my thoughts on how to improve the squad system, INCLUDING private squads….

1. More Versatility (options) for the Commander (and co-Commanders)
Such as… toggle on/off squad members to see other Commanders pins in game. Right now, once I join someone’s squad (or they join mine), we cannot see another commander pin. It makes it a little difficult sometimes to follow map chat or VOIP when noting activity elsewhere on the map. For coordination, it helps to know where OTHER commanders are too.
And possibly… Pin Visible to all or Pin Private – so only members of your squad can see your pin.

2. Creation of Co-Commander who can help with adding/removing people from squad, and/or drawing on the map (that was a cool feature added, thanks ANet).

3. Easier or Alternative Methods of adding Players to Squad – this will especially come in handy if and when squads go Private. A text command for Commanders/co-Commanders to add players would greatly help and/or for players to join squads. A simple /squadinvite [player name] or something similar would help. This helps especially if players are farther from the commander, or are not as familiar with the game (to click on pin and join squad). Sometimes a text command (/joinsquad Ahmrill etc.) could make things more simple.

4. Additional Color Text for Commander/Co-Commanders. Not everyone uses VOIP… this can help. As well as Commander/Co-Commander options to mute individual players from squad chat or the ability to easily boot them.

5. Squad Interface – sometimes it would greatly help to see a “master list” of all the players in the squad. I other games there are ways to easily see who is in your squad, their careers, and if they are co-commanders etc (like a raid panel from WoW or Warbands from Warhammer). It also would help if there was a symbol listing if the player has supply (or how much) and a total tally somewhere, maybe near the bottom or top of the squad panel that shows TOTAL supply.

6. And of course, as mentioned, Private Squads. For many who run with just their guildies (and a few tag-a-longs), this will help tremendously. I know ANet is supporting that WvW allows for smaller group on group or 2 group vs. 2 group action… outside of the zerg… this is alive and well in WvW… except, currently, with the commander pins and squads, it’s VERY clunky for smaller scale guild group to run together. Sure we can “see each other” in 2-3 different groups… but since we already have a commander feature… with a pin, once we activate that pin, the smaller group can easily become a zerg… which, we don’t necessarily want to do (mostly because it confuses players… we’re hitting camps and flash attacking towers… we don’t need 20-30 players for that, meanwhile our main force has breached inner at Garrison etc.). And again, the ability to toggle your pin so that ALL can see, or only those within your Squad can see would be tremendously helpful. It will help our 2-3 groups of guildies and friends to find each other MUCH faster.

Anyhow, I am sure there are hundred and ten better suggestions… and I am sure Ahmrill has already collected and posted them two to three dozen times already. Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have posted this here… but again, private squads… squad display, would greatly greatly help out WvW players.

Uncap AoE!!!!

Or atleast up it to 10

I think they shouldn’t introduce a new bonus every week. What they should do, is introducing squad functions for commanders. Letting him put flags on different targets, saying: Team 1 point A, Team 2 & 3 Point B. This would change the battle from zerg vs zerg to more different group fights and would allow more strategy EVEN with PUGs/non-gild members.
There is/was a nice squad function in Battlefield 2142. One Commander leading the squads with flags and commands, while the squad has a leader to define the exact strategy to fulfill the commander’s order. Some fast-activation-shouts for squad leaders for commands such as “back up”, “attack” and “hide”. Same system could be implemented in GW2 and would allow more tactics.
Squads could easily implemented, as there are groups. They should be able to set flags for others, because there already are these personal waypoints which can be seen by other groupmembers.
Just make a menu when you enter the commanders group, letting you enter one of the existing squads (or making a new one). Then you’ll see the squads’ flag and “hear” the squad intern commands (with a clear indication, not just chat-window but like a red font in the middle of the screen (to let people notice the “flee” command even when in the middle of a combat)).

Everything else, such as squad-kicking function and more things like that, could easily be implemented later. Just make a beta commander→squad function =)
(And don’t bother making an ingame voice system, teamspeak is clearly more powerfull and there is no real reason for introducing an own system)

Hule.8794:

No that means that there will be Commander upgrade throught wxp with:
50wxp points – 1% dmg to guards
100wxp points – 2% dmg to guards
etc

You ruined the surprise.

Jinks.2057:

Uncap AoE!!!!

Or atleast up it to 10

Aoe is capped at 5 due to technical reasons, so they won’t be changing that.

Azylynne.9487:

Here are some of my thoughts on how to improve the squad system, INCLUDING private squads….

5. Squad Interface – sometimes it would greatly help to see a “master list” of all the players in the squad. I other games there are ways to easily see who is in your squad, their careers, and if they are co-commanders etc (like a raid panel from WoW or Warbands from Warhammer). It also would help if there was a symbol listing if the player has supply (or how much) and a total tally somewhere, maybe near the bottom or top of the squad panel that shows TOTAL supply.
……….

Anyhow, I am sure there are hundred and ten better suggestions… and I am sure Ahmrill has already collected and posted them two to three dozen times already. Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have posted this here… but again, private squads… squad display, would greatly greatly help out WvW players.

THIS. - point 5. This should be added from the very beginning of the game (personally i consider it as a basic setting). Once in a squad i have no ideea where exactly are the other squad members, can’t see nothing. AT LEAST make members in that squad marked with OTHER COLOUR on map (like randoms are green, party – blue), you get the ideea.

Cheers.

To piggyback the flag idea, it would be great if commanders could ‘flag’ a target and put a number corresponding to people on each flag. Volunteers would then right click the flag to join that group. Once the group is full nobody else can join. This would make small groups play more organized and under the commander’s power.

“We have some ideas in the pipeline to try to increase scoring when people are playing the game and to make it much more difficult to keep your territory without actively guarding it.”

does that mean upgraded structures are gonna be even easier to get caped by night shift???

PetricaKerempuh.7958:

“We have some ideas in the pipeline to try to increase scoring when people are playing the game and to make it much more difficult to keep your territory without actively guarding it.”

does that mean upgraded structures are gonna be even easier to get caped by night shift???

Do you only read what you want to read?

“We have some ideas in the pipeline to try to increase scoring when people are playing the game…”

If you want to flame Arena Net then at least be smart about it.

It’s rather simple to give the commanders what they want.

Things ANet got right:

Hiding other commander sigils on your minimap when in a squad
Allowing commanders to see the supply in their squad
Squad chat

Things ANet needs to add:

The ability to remove people from groups out there (Why is this still not fixed!?)
The ability to invite people who arn’t within 50 feet of you (Why is this still not fixed!?)
Squad Assistants to help invite people with their own sigils (Only visible if your in the squad)
Adding a raid style UI to show everyone in the squad (Commander and Assistants only? Members would still see just their group)
Making every squad member a specific icon on the minimap with different colors per group (Or some variant of this. If your in a squad you should not be a generic green dot.)
Fix group blue dot transparency so it doesn’t look like a green dot with a light blue aura.

There are plenty of things to add but those are some basic issues I see with the commander/squad/group system out in World vs World.

To answer the question above, ANet just wants WvW to be a focus of strategy and planning. I’m sure they don’t enjoy watching giant mindless zergs just doing laps around an area like locusts to a crop. So their going to encourage better play by adding more incentives.

Azylynne.9487:

Right now, once I join someone’s squad (or they join mine), we cannot see another commander pin. It makes it a little difficult sometimes to follow map chat or VOIP when noting activity elsewhere on the map. For coordination, it helps to know where OTHER commanders are too.

As a commander you should be able to see other commanders on the same map as you, I know I can. I would disagree if your suggesting everyone in a squad should be able to see other commanders as this can confuse people/new comers. It makes a lot of sense that once you join a commander squad that you can no longer see the other various commanders on the map as you should NOT be following them.

“Everyone who plays WvW has encountered the zerg, either as a member or as a victim. The zerg is an important part of the game, but it shouldn’t be the best strategy for victory.”

He could have just replaced Zerg with Arrowcart and that would have worked well too…

Private commander with UI for guild should of been in at start of game and was all told to them. Along with many other things which have since been a major fail.

If true its about time.

Caedmon.6798:

“Everyone who plays WvW has encountered the zerg, either as a member or as a victim. The zerg is an important part of the game, but it shouldn’t be the best strategy for victory.”

He could have just replaced Zerg with Arrowcart and that would have worked well too…

He is specifically addressing Arrow Carts too in the blog post.

Devon is basically addressing 90% of the issues brought up on these forums and people still cherry pick parts and take them out of context so that they can keep complaining.

It makes the entire WvW community look stupid.

Raine Akrune.8416:

Azylynne.9487:

Right now, once I join someone’s squad (or they join mine), we cannot see another commander pin. It makes it a little difficult sometimes to follow map chat or VOIP when noting activity elsewhere on the map. For coordination, it helps to know where OTHER commanders are too.

As a commander you should be able to see other commanders on the same map as you, I know I can. I would disagree if your suggesting everyone in a squad should be able to see other commanders as this can confuse people/new comers. It makes a lot of sense that once you join a commander squad that you can no longer see the other various commanders on the map as you should NOT be following them.

That is true but I think what he is getting at is that there are more players than just the pinned up commander that help direct the flow of battle and his other suggestion of co-commander or some other officer rank in the squad that can both see other commander pins and help with invites and pings would be very useful. Right now squads are only useful for turning off other blue dorito stacks when you get too many in one place and I rarely see commanders using them at all.

Best of luck to you guys on your epic crusade to get improvements to squad functions, it’s been a long road. Though it is nice to hear Devon talk about the issue, ANET has mentioned it before and has known about the problem for a long time so I am not going to start holding my breath just yet. Sometimes trying to re-invent the wheel isn’t the best plan when you have limited programing hours but I am sure if given enough time they can make something work.

It is just sad that it is so low on the priority list. Yes culling and guesting to lock down transfers had to be fixed first but the waiting has already done a lot of damage. I just hope being so easy to jump back into with Pay 2 Play that ANET sees big returns once they get things in order. I miss a lot of those who have already moved on out of frustration.

Gab Superstar.4059:

PetricaKerempuh.7958:

“We have some ideas in the pipeline to try to increase scoring when people are playing the game and to make it much more difficult to keep your territory without actively guarding it.”

does that mean upgraded structures are gonna be even easier to get caped by night shift???

Do you only read what you want to read?

“We have some ideas in the pipeline to try to increase scoring when people are playing the game…”

If you want to flame Arena Net then at least be smart about it.

nobody is flaming anybody. im asking a question.

i read: more ppl playing = more points, if you are not guarding your territory it will be easier for your enemy to take it.

what did u read?

if u wanna be a fan boy at least be smart about it…

how to make defending towers more worthwhile? make them matter. if the towers actually work as defensive structure for entering a part of the map, then it would be very important to hold them. now we have towers 500m away from only entrance to a part of the map (sunny and craig come to mind). this makes them only strategical points for taking garrison or getting points. but if you require to take the tower to go north and snipe yaks, you would need to hold them. also the defending server would want to take them back asap. i know thiefs wont like this, but yeah… i said it.

Sacrx.6721:

Private commander with UI for guild should of been in at start of game and was all told to them. Along with many other things which have seen been a major fail.

If true its about time.

This has been suggested a TON of times by different players since BWE’s. They don’t even have to make major changes…. allowing commander to hide the pin to anyone not in the squad AND still retain all the functions of a squad would be huge.

It would basically give guilds and players the flexibility to use the C&S system for any situation without taking away from those commanders that are actually leading the zone.

Smaller multi group havoc forces need a better way to coordinate then simply running separate groups, marking a “driver” and having to use 3rd party voice to communicate.

Raine Akrune.8416:

Azylynne.9487:

Right now, once I join someone’s squad (or they join mine), we cannot see another commander pin. It makes it a little difficult sometimes to follow map chat or VOIP when noting activity elsewhere on the map. For coordination, it helps to know where OTHER commanders are too.

As a commander you should be able to see other commanders on the same map as you, I know I can. I would disagree if your suggesting everyone in a squad should be able to see other commanders as this can confuse people/new comers. It makes a lot of sense that once you join a commander squad that you can no longer see the other various commanders on the map as you should NOT be following them.

Raine, Pariah actually hit the nail on the head. Sure as a Commander I can see other Commanders on the same map… but folks in my squad cannot. Why? When I have other players in my squad who are smart, competent, and able to act and react to what is going on the map… it doesn’t make sense that they cannot see what the other commanders are doing… there’s almost a “disrespect” towards players’ intelligence with this feature….

And here lies my complaint about the Commander feature (this part is not addressed towards you Raine =)). At first we thought it was a great idea… Commander, 100 gold, blue pin on the map. That was a pretty novel and cool concept during the BWE and only a few guilds were able to muster up the Commander on our server (JQ). However, once things got rolling… in many ways, the Commander pin dumbed down play. I don’t blame our good solid commanders in the early days of the game. They did well, coordinating the zerg, forming up balls, and thought up new and creative tactics (a lot of credit to the Tempest Wolves now on SoR).

BUT… as time rolled on, it seems that more and more focus is purely ONLY on the Commander pin. People flock to it like a moth to light. Commanders flood map/team chat with micro-managed chatter about their zerg (use Local?). The emphasis of the game radically shifted from multi-pronged groups attacking many targets at once to what the commander was doing.

Compare this to (my) beta… where during those days, without the commander pin, we relied on good communication across the board, usually having two main prongs of attack with various smaller raid groups in between flipping and defending camps and catching enemy reinforcements or running havoc behind enemy lines… players new to map or just got on map asking where the action was were directed towards various places that needed help on the map…or joined the smaller raid groups that went about fighting in smaller engagements. Players had to work a bit harder in coordinating (no server VOIP yet at that time), and played smarter… instead of say, “come to my pin”, “stack on my pin”, etc.

That’s just my rant… and I’m sure people are going to rip it apart with tons of counter arguments and what not.

That said… I would like to encourage ANet to have some deeper considerations to changes in WvW…. making it a more…. intelligent challenge… like how the maps are designed (with balance), like with supply, and caravans, etc. Many suggestions for commander are towards improving the more social and organizational aspects of the game… Squad UI, flags to mark targets, etc. I would appreciate ANet focusing on those aspects of the Squads… in addition to the someone more “fun but brainless” aspects of +% damage within Range X of the Commander…

I’m also not saying to kill the zerg… the Commander pin/ball zerg strategy works… but create incentives for the non-zerg gamers too. Those that run the smaller raid groups striking camps timing it for the flips for score… those that wait patiently for dolyaks to leave a camp to score extra points for their side, those that bait out enemy players to kill, tagging towers, or flash capping towers, cutting off enemy reinforcements from the enemy zergs and major engagements… there’s a lot of fun to be had for these gamers too… and based on ANet, they seem to want to put some emphasis on these guys as well.

These discussions about buffs from a commander, they sound cool, but aren’t they just going to promote zerging?

Azylynne.9487:

I’m also not saying to kill the zerg… the Commander pin/ball zerg strategy works… but create incentives for the non-zerg gamers too. Those that run the smaller raid groups striking camps timing it for the flips for score… those that wait patiently for dolyaks to leave a camp to score extra points for their side, those that bait out enemy players to kill, tagging towers, or flash capping towers, cutting off enemy reinforcements from the enemy zergs and major engagements… there’s a lot of fun to be had for these gamers too… and based on ANet, they seem to want to put some emphasis on these guys as well.

I agree Azylynne, more support needed for non zerg forces. When your zerg is vastly outnumbered by the other server’s zerg you have two choices.

- Switch to another map
- Split up your zerg and hit multiple targets at once.

The first option is easy, the second option more difficult as we don’t have the in game tools to create multiple forces of say 15-20 people. I’d love to see a “raiding party” grouping system of 15-20 players. They could have a different color icon, and commanders can still use the C&S system for the large forces.

Snickers.9570:

Jinks.2057:

Uncap AoE!!!!

Or atleast up it to 10

Aoe is capped at 5 due to technical reasons, so they won’t be changing that.

Wrong there used to be no cap but ppl didn’t like dieing in 25 sec. Check this thread here its being talked about it. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Small-Mans-Encouraged-Mindless-Zergs-Not/first

subcrazy.1098:

Snickers.9570:

Jinks.2057:

Uncap AoE!!!!

Or atleast up it to 10

Aoe is capped at 5 due to technical reasons, so they won’t be changing that.

Wrong there used to be no cap but ppl didn’t like dieing in 25 sec. Check this thread here its being talked about it. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Small-Mans-Encouraged-Mindless-Zergs-Not/first

I would have no problem seeing the AOE cap moved to 10 allies/enemies. A smaller force could defeat a larger force (not a zerg though) with a slightly higher cap limit.

Gab Superstar.4059:

Caedmon.6798:

“Everyone who plays WvW has encountered the zerg, either as a member or as a victim. The zerg is an important part of the game, but it shouldn’t be the best strategy for victory.”

He could have just replaced Zerg with Arrowcart and that would have worked well too…

He is specifically addressing Arrow Carts too in the blog post.

Devon is basically addressing 90% of the issues brought up on these forums and people still cherry pick parts and take them out of context so that they can keep complaining.

It makes the entire WvW community look stupid.

Not being able to understand a joke can you make look pretty stupid aswell.

sostronk.8167:

These discussions about buffs from a commander, they sound cool, but aren’t they just going to promote zerging?

I don’t think it should be about zerging or not zerging, but having a system to allow all forms of grouping. Let guilds and players decide HOW they want to group.

It’s like ordering a coffee…. you are only allowed to buy a small coffee or extra large one. GW2 grouping systems offer nothing but a 5 man group or a Zerg. They need a way for medium sized guild or private squads to be created.

you have been a very busy boy my commander ~^ hope it pays off in good ways.

PariahX.6970:

you have been a very busy boy my commander ~^ hope it pays off in good ways.

Hope so. Just hope they realize how frustrated players are at the inability to group with friends in an easy and flexible manner.

Still any news for commander changes from that Dev post?

Lets hope they pull their finger out. People talk about how War Hammer Online had a better system, and war hammer online suxx -.-

It’s sad how few people know that the squad system even exists when it’s right beneath the party join box. Those that do know it exists are commanders or frequent WvWers and know not to use it because the pugs will never join, and /squad commands work regardless of whether they’re actually in your squad or not.

SoPP.7034:

Lets hope they pull their finger out. People talk about how War Hammer Online had a better system, and war hammer online suxx -.-

For all the shortcomings warhammer may have had, their grouping system was one of the best. I don’t even care if we have a system just like warhammer had. I just want to see a system that’s flexible enough to meet all guild and player uses and preferences.

One of those preferences is to have some kind of “private” option so we can create a custom squad for our guild without having every single player in the zone flock to the commander pin.