No two months without my contribution to improve WvW, imho.
I already mentioned how I would like to see WvW driven by battles between two places instead of the constant run and gun type gameplay, which is then followed by long periods of siege weapons vs reinforced wall.
Since I don’t want to say the same couple of things all the time, I came up with a couple of new ideas or wishes to turn WvW into a real war.
1. Add hundreds of slots to WvW so not only a very small fraction of the playerbase can experience WvW at the same time. In order to achieve this, we need more maps. I don’t mind if the new maps are just copies of the same for the time being, but this is very important to make WvW bigger and a worthy competitor to Planetside 2 and the upcoming Elder Scrolls MMO.
2. Add a campaign system to WvW. This should be done by stitching all maps together. First, add a couple of exit points to every map, at best, give it the size of half the map width. Then enable shortcuts to other maps for teams for holding key locations on every map. As a result, you could drive an enemy server off a map for a while by killing all of them on the battlefield and then taking the special location, which is used for map travel.
This should add a lot to the server progression of WvW and make fortifications actually worthwhile. You won’t lose things too easily and whenever you lose an objective it actually hurts. Taking shortcuts is a good way to cut supply lines. The whole shortcut system could be used to implement real supply lines. Outposts near the frontier could send caravans, which carry supplies and blueprints to fortify the outpost on the other map.
The whole thing adds battlefield progression and a sense of achievement.
3. Add more smaller structures to WvW maps, which can be used to break line of sight and prepare ambushes. Right now, the best way to prepare an ambush is to exploit the culling issue in any way or form. Smaller structures could also be used as encampments and forward base. Also, add more environments to make fights more intense and varying. Add cities, which can be destroyed and buildings which can be used for vertical combat etc. There is a lot of potential yet to be used.
4. Finally, replace orbs with regional bonuses. They should not overlap with guild bonuses, but give an incentive to take points or a number of nearby points. For example, holding two or three towers in a line should make it easier for the defending team to hold that line. Add something which contributes to protecting an area at same time as promoting battles in between objectives. In this case, once you hold these towers NPCs guarding the front gates of the respective towers leave their place and march to hold the line, which players established.
In highly contested areas key locations should provide regional bonus similar to the orb. However the bonus should not be attached to an object that can be taken away, but to a trigger. Once battles intensify around the key location the bonus automatically triggers for x minutes. This should help turn the tide without promoting a snowball effect. Once a player leaves the area the bonus vanishes. This could also be used for tactics. Let the orb trigger, fall back, and then return in full force.
I feel ANet has only scratched the surface of WvW and hope they are inspired by their direct competitors to enhance and improve this format.
Thanks for reading.
…..but i would like anything that add extra’s in wvw.