Guild Wars 2

I’m a somewhat new player, having played several dozens of hours with 5 characters ranging from 26-34. I’ve had a taste of dungeons and fractals, and have spent a couple hours doing sPvP and WvW. I’m on Eredon Terrace.

But the thing is, whenever I try to play WvW I can rarely ever find others on. It seems impossible to figure out if your server is doing anything without cycling through all five WvW maps (EBG, BLs and EotM).

I want to play WvW more; I love the concept and if I had it my way, it’d be the only content I’d play. But I just don’t know how to figure out when activity is occuring.

The other problem is that when I do find activity, it’s generally horribly one-sided. It reminds me of Planetside 2, but even worse; either my team is just taking points without contest, or my small group of friends run into a gigantic horde of enemies.

So my question: How do you tell when people are playing WvW? Is there a way to play it more regularly? Do I have to switch to a more populated server? If I do, won’t my friends have to switch as well? Or is WvW just relatively dead? Are there WvW guilds I can join, and if so, do they hold scheduled events or is the population sufficient enough to “round up” a WvW squad? Finally, how do we guarantee that we’ll encounter some resistance?

Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately you fell into Anet’s trap…their trap of not marking servers properly and merging low pop servers so new players like yourself can have good WvW experiences. Something people have warned them would happen to new players. You probably didn’t know but the server you’re on is one of the lowest populated servers in terms of WvW activities of all NA servers. Yeah I know, would’ve been nice if you knew before you started right? But with all servers marked as “medium” you never knew this server is dead last out of 24 NA servers. It has extremely bad coverage and WvW participation. See this link: http://coveragewars2.com/

The best advice I can give you is to yes, switch server. A server that far down the list isn’t going to get much better unless Anet swallows their pride and merge low pop servers. This game simply has way too many servers for the amount of WvW participation. So new players like yourself fall into the trap of picking a random server and having bad experiences with empty WvW maps.

If you transfer to any of the first 9 servers listed, you would have a much better experience. Sadly Anet locked the most populated servers so if you enjoy large scale, massive zerging, action in more than 1 timezone combat, you can’t. Because those servers are marked as “Full” and you can’t transfer over there. You’ll want to pick a server listed as “high” or “very high” on the server selection screen.

Yes there are WvW guilds you can join. Some match-ups are unbalanced so you either are with the side that wins all the time or the side that loses all the time. Use the link above to get an idea of how servers match up and what their coverage is like throughout various timezones. You could do some research on the forums to see which guilds are recruiting, but chances are you will get better ideas once you join the server and start to play WvW regularly.

If you transfer and wish to play with your friends then yes, all of you will need to transfer to the same server if you want to WvW together. For PvE or EOTM, you don’t need to be on the same server. But for WvW you do.

Good luck! And here’s to hope Anet wakes up and do something so players like you won’t have to pick the wrong servers and end up getting discouraged or quitting due to bad WvW experiences. Just think of all the people that don’t post on the forum and ask for help, most just leave after experiencing empty WvW maps.

I’m an EU player, but:

Eredon Terrace is the last server on NA (source ), so you can’t really expect them to have big population, as the PPT-ranking is mostly coverage-based.

If you want to have more ppl in wvw, you “have to” transfer to a “higher” server with your friends, but if you don’t have a lot of geared-up characters, you can do it for free by deleting all your existing chars and then switching home-server.

Most servers have a server-website and/or “server-TS/Mumble/Whatever” you can check for activity, be it recruiting guilds or commanders playing right now on X map.
On higher servers you can see 60v60 or even bigger fights if that’s what you want, you can find guilds who likes to fight 15v15/20v20 or similar “gvg” numbers, guilds who likes to “roam’n’ninja” with less-than-10, WvW is not dead yet, just going towards extinction.

Id try to find a guild that plays wvw, most have a ts and or a website that they use to communicate. If you are interested in switching servers kaineng is recruiting and we use that stuff and work really well as a server with multiple wvw guilds, if this interests you send me a message. Eredon terrace has the weakest wvw population out of all the NA servers so transfer could give you a lot more people to run around with in wvw

NikolaiLev.8492:

… whenever I try to play WvW I can rarely ever find others on. It seems impossible to figure out if your server is doing anything without cycling through all five WvW maps (EBG, BLs and EotM).

Hi,

I was in the same situation, started playing last month on Blacktide EU (ranked last in WvW) and moved to Aurora Glade about a week ago.

Move server. I guarantee you will not regret it

NikolaiLev.8492:

But the thing is, whenever I try to play WvW I can rarely ever find others on. It seems impossible to figure out if your server is doing anything without cycling through all five WvW maps (EBG, BLs and EotM).

I want to play WvW more; I love the concept and if I had it my way, it’d be the only content I’d play. But I just don’t know how to figure out when activity is occuring.

Try this “map reading” guide our guild made:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw8ZFZHnPUE56Fg3Xn5tiUcJN0RhP0EMB

Ye you fell into Anet trap. You want to play wvw in a populated server but you are locked in a low populated one. Now you have to pay to play. Paying the transfer to onother server. Enjoy

NikolaiLev.8492:

I’m a somewhat new player, having played several dozens of hours with 5 characters ranging from 26-34. I’ve had a taste of dungeons and fractals, and have spent a couple hours doing sPvP and WvW. I’m on Eredon Terrace.

But the thing is, whenever I try to play WvW I can rarely ever find others on. It seems impossible to figure out if your server is doing anything without cycling through all five WvW maps (EBG, BLs and EotM).

I want to play WvW more; I love the concept and if I had it my way, it’d be the only content I’d play. But I just don’t know how to figure out when activity is occuring.

The other problem is that when I do find activity, it’s generally horribly one-sided. It reminds me of Planetside 2, but even worse; either my team is just taking points without contest, or my small group of friends run into a gigantic horde of enemies.

So my question: How do you tell when people are playing WvW? Is there a way to play it more regularly? Do I have to switch to a more populated server? If I do, won’t my friends have to switch as well? Or is WvW just relatively dead? Are there WvW guilds I can join, and if so, do they hold scheduled events or is the population sufficient enough to “round up” a WvW squad? Finally, how do we guarantee that we’ll encounter some resistance?

Thanks in advance!

Hi

Unfortunately you are simply on a wrong server for WVW. On ET you will not be able to experience the game mode and all it offers even if you played at prime time.

In addition to that, judging by the time of the day you made this post you are either very late PST or early OCX player ? Late NA is worst timezone to be on ET as you can see on the graphs on one of the links below. Because timezones matter greatly, you will never have massive battles at those time frames on the tier you are on and will be always struggling to find people to play with / against.

Please check out the 2 links below, if you want to get into and play WVW as it was actually intended you will have to switch servers. Its rough, but that is the truth of it. If you do decide to transfer, let us know which specific time frame you play on the most.

http://mos.millenium.org/na/matchups

http://coveragewars2.com/timezone/

If you transfer to tier 2 or 3, you can still have few people to play with if the server you transfer to has too few players on that particular timezone.

Here’s what you do.

Create a personal guild.
Put all your items from all your toons in the guild bank.
Delete all your toons. This will let you transfer to another server for free.

As gavyne.6847 says, look at /http://coveragewars2.com and see which servers are doing well in the times you typically play. Transfer to that server as long as that server isn’t full.

If you want to run with a lot of people, create a Guardian, Warrior, Elementalist and/or Necro and level them in EotM to 80.

Enter WvW, I’d start first in Eternal Battlegrounds or your home borderland and see which guilds are running. Ask them for Teamspeak info and join their channel after verification and listen. Say in map/team chat you’re new to WvW and need build help. Someone will give you directions to gear up your toon(s). Take your time and follow several guilds, eventually you’ll find one that you’re comfortable with.

@Swamurabi
Glad you posted this to a new WvW player.

@NikolaiLev
Welcome to WvW…glad to another WvWer…hope you find a really nice World to play for…

Thanks everyone for the help. It’s unfortunate that we’re forced to forego our progress (5 level 27s is not something I want to go through again) to get a good WvW experience.

I hope anet will do something about this. Merging servers under an “alliance” (say, Eredon Terrace, Gates of Madness, and some others form the “Crimson” team) until there’s a sufficient constant activity in WvW would make it a lot more fun.

Switching servers costs too much money. Frankly, I think it should be free. But then, I have many issues with the business model as it is.

Does Anet actually read feedback? Or should I not even bother posting about my issues as suggestions? I’m really quite sick of posting thorough feedback only for it to be ignored, as it has on plenty of other game forums.

Swamurabi.7890:

Here’s what you do.

Create a personal guild.
Put all your items from all your toons in the guild bank.
Delete all your toons. This will let you transfer to another server for free.

Creating guild will take time and Influence for just the first tab. You also cannot store Soulbound or Accountbound items in a guild bank.

NikolaiLev.8492:

Thanks everyone for the help. It’s unfortunate that we’re forced to forego our progress (5 level 27s is not something I want to go through again) to get a good WvW experience.

I hope anet will do something about this. Merging servers under an “alliance” (say, Eredon Terrace, Gates of Madness, and some others form the “Crimson” team) until there’s a sufficient constant activity in WvW would make it a lot more fun.

Switching servers costs too much money. Frankly, I think it should be free. But then, I have many issues with the business model as it is.

Does Anet actually read feedback? Or should I not even bother posting about my issues as suggestions? I’m really quite sick of posting thorough feedback only for it to be ignored, as it has on plenty of other game forums.

Coming from another long time T8er (DR), I’d say stick it out. And in the mean time finish leveling your characters, since you’ve expressed no desire to delete all your toons to get a free transfer, and learn your’s and other professions as well as the mechanics of WvW.

A lot of WvW players are taking a hiatus pre-HoT largely due to burn out from stale (and at times severely outnumbered) match-ups, and we really don’t know what kind of population changes will come with HoT. So you should see more players in WvW post HoT launch (at the least people returning from hiatus). In the mean time try and find a WvW guild on ET, or at least a PvX guild based on ET.

Anet won’t be merging servers as it’s an admission of low population. Also if you’ll notice the population scale doesn’t go below “Medium” which anyone in T8 knows kitten well is a face-saving crock at least as far as WvW is concerned (EoTM doesn’t count).

A lot of WvW’ers are o break until HoT.

However if considering changing servers or staying on yours, check to see if your server has forums/voice comms for the wvw community. Also see if any guilds during the time you play are recruiting or try forming a guild.

Many servers have a teamspeak (or other voice communication program set up.) In addition to forums.

Hello OP,
I was a commander in Eredon Terrace for several years. I understand your frustration and wish you had logged into a better experience. Many players log into wvw and expect action 24/7 but really all tiers and servers have luls in the action even the big ones. Most ET players will be around really early morning or NA prime time.

ET is in a hard spot right now where many guilds left and because of this it is constantly out numbered. However, there are still guilds in your server fighting the good fight and need people like you that want to learn and grow and help them fight back against their oversized opponents.

While everyone may say “just leave” that isn’t always the answer. Your community still has really great people you just need to find them. ET will turn around, it always bounces back eventually. Look for TFOR or OTBH on your server TS and website.

If you try to reach out and still find that you just can’t enjoy the game then consider transfer. Just remember…bigger isn’t always better.

Deleting characters would be the best as you don’t lose too much on lowbies, however, you have 5 characters and I imagine deleting them would basically mean starting over.

If you don’t want to do that, I would suggest logging in and receiving the daily rewards; those come with experience tomes that will speed up your progression, and get laurels at the end of the daily reward track. You can buy t6 crafting materials, sell em, and receive the gold you need to get setup.

In the meantime, go to EOTM. It will provide you with WXP, xp, karma, and gold as well as learning the very basics like handling supply and siege. Most importantly, you’ll be able to have a geared level 80 before you can really enjoy WvW. This will also allow you to amass some gold should you decide to move. Gem prices are quite high right now, so don’t rush.

Swamurabi.7890:

Here’s what you do.

Create a personal guild.
Put all your items from all your toons in the guild bank.
Delete all your toons. This will let you transfer to another server for free.

As gavyne.6847 says, look at /http://coveragewars2.com and see which servers are doing well in the times you typically play. Transfer to that server as long as that server isn’t full.

If you want to run with a lot of people, create a Guardian, Warrior, Elementalist and/or Necro and level them in EotM to 80.

Enter WvW, I’d start first in Eternal Battlegrounds or your home borderland and see which guilds are running. Ask them for Teamspeak info and join their channel after verification and listen. Say in map/team chat you’re new to WvW and need build help. Someone will give you directions to gear up your toon(s). Take your time and follow several guilds, eventually you’ll find one that you’re comfortable with.

This is the best advice. I feel bad you picked ET as your first WvW server. I don’t mean anything disrespectful or personal towards ET, I actually feel for those guys, I mean that in finding action to learn the game mode it’s far from optimal. I’d say stick it out for a little bit though, maybe find others on that server to play with and only leave if you can’t ever find action on the times you play. I hate suggesting to leave the low tier server because they need help(but TONS of it). If it’s between that or not playing, I’d transfer. If you want the best action at most times, I’d suggest T2-5. Maybe 6 if you only play NA prime. GL HF