Guild Wars 2

I just wish to preface this post by saying that GW2 is my very first MMO. My gaming background is primarily RTS, and I must say that I am exceedingly impressed with GW2 on so many levels.

Anyway, I have been in exploratory mode ever since my main character attained max level a couple of weeks ago. Although I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my adventures in the wilds of Tyria and met some great players during my travels, I was seeking a change of pace from the usual. So, I decided to give WvWvW a shot. What follows are some quick thoughts about my 2.5 hour experience from last night.

The Battles
Virtually all “group events” in PvE suffer from player over-saturation, and to my dismay, I discovered that WvWvW was no different. The “epic” battles are so huge that the entire experience devolves into a cacophony of spell casting and explosions. I found myself spamming skill #1 just to acquire a positive target lock on something. In the final analysis, I just did not feel that my contribution to these battles made much difference due to the massive scale and confusion.

Repair Costs
As stated in my opening, I admit that my MMO experience is limited to GW2. So, I have a grand total of about one month of tenure under my belt while many of you have years. I have the maturity to take my lumps from the more experienced players in WvWvW until I learn the ropes. Many of you have your WvWvW builds and tactics down to a science and I think that’s great. Given enough time (probably a LOT of time), I would be the guy schooling noobs like me and taking on my equals in during a tower siege. However, what I cannot abide by are the costs of repairs during this “learning” process. I spent more silver in repairs during that 2.5 our period than I do in a week of PvE. I wanted to be in the thick of it. I was not content to just cower behind a wall while my server compatriots were dropping like flies. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be? So, I got a beat-down. Many times. It’s not fun getting one-shot to the deck and paying 1s54c in repairs each time it happens. For me, WvWvW is severely deleterious to my bottom line, so I’m not too keen on repeating the experience.

Thankfully, GW2 offers some spectacular PvE content. There are some PvE issues as with any new game (player over-saturation during group events is my biggest gripe so far). However, the overwhelming majority of my PvE experience has been incredibly memorable and enjoyable. Even when I attain 100% map completion, I enjoy the content so much that I would not mind repeating it with a different race and class someday.

I cannot say I’m turned off from WvWvW forever, but as it stands now, the risk versus reward ratio is just not conducive for me to return to it any time soon.

I’m also not a big fan of the repair costs in WvW (and for all those people that say “stop dying/get better”, lots of people are going to die in WvW no matter what. Not being one of them just means this is a problem for someone else).

Nonetheless, 20 minutes spent running around Orr zones mining ori/doing events you come across should be enough to make 30-40 silver (four ori nodes will give you twelve pieces of ore, goes for around 2.5 silver atm, which puts you at 30 – tp costs, so around 25; everything else you get is gravy). That’s enough money for a dozen repairs and change, so the costs shouldn’t be a huge deal. (And if you’re getting one-shot, you’re probably running glass-cannon gear. Don’t do that.)

Also, don’t be in the middle of the zerg. In fact, you’re best off not being in the zerg at all. Get together with a small group of friends/guildies and do something else. WvW rewards small group play nearly as much as large groups; there’s always camps to be taken, towers to be defended, places to be scouted, etc. Even sticking with a smaller, 15-man or so zerg should have you dying less quickly if you’re careful (and you’ll have much less issues with ability lag and masses of spell explosions blinding you).

Defense in general is another good idea, as you’re less likely to die, not enough people do it, and it’ll familiarize you with the various siege weapons, defensive emplacements and offensive/defensive tactics.

Going solo in WvW without organized group/guild = you die alot. Pro tip find a 15+ people with the same guild tag and run with them

I disagree with the “don’t be with the zerg” advice. If that zerg is capping regularly, that’s the best money to be made in WvW.

Yes, but he specifically complained about the battles being too huge to see anything/do anything useful. Only way to get away from that is to get away from the zerg.

It’s unfortunate that the rendering issues are still in full force. During the main push at server switch last night, about 80 % of the time I was just spamming things hoping to hit someone right next to me I knew was there, but I couldn’t see. I have been pretty patient, but it is really starting to get old.