Guild Wars 2

Future Readers…

Sadly this eSport SuperBowl opportunity will be wasted. Many of you were apathetic & wouldn’t support this Topic Thread if begged. I don’t blame you. I blame the broken Base Map Mechanic that could have been fixed, but won’t be. When MegaServer is launched…ANet will choose the wrong cornerstone to build something that could have scaled to what should have been a skyscraper, but will be only as big as 3 Colored Alliances can inspire folks to be.

Peace to you – Diku

Imagine going to a NFL SuperBowl game where:

Red, Green, or Blue Team
You buy a ticket to cheer for a team.
NFL tells you who to cheer for.
NFL makes sure that supporters are evenly divided between the Red, Green, and Blue Teams based on each person’s friend/family preference.

Server Pride
You buy a ticket to cheer for a team.
You decide who you want to cheer for.
Win or Loose you pick your own team.

Server Pride has the potential to nurture a strong sense of community.

Server Pride will work if mechanics are in place to keep players from gaming the system…which sadly…is happening now.

Current Base Map Mechanic forces players to game the system in order to have fun.

ANet really needs to fix the Current Base Map Mechanic that is holding back the fan based passions of Server Pride from fueling the next eSport’s WvW SuperBowl.

Proposed Solution

Please give credit to author if this idea is ever used

A lot of effort went into this proposal…any rewards would be appreciated

Thank you

Please…Reboot the Base Map Mechanic – Transform Servers into Globes

Change Base Map Mechanic & Allow Individual Player Picked Globe Match-Ups

Please…Reboot the Current Population – One Time Free Transfer

Population Reboot & Time Zone/Language Label

Should, Would, or Does work…which is better?

How much coding does ANet need to do?

Borderland Maps – Mix, Swap, or Reduce

Less is more?

Note to developers:

Just in case.

This proposal is not perfect, but at least it allows players to go where the fun is without sacrificing Server Pride & Identity.

This Server based solution lets players decide their own match-ups individually…while collectively encouraging a War between Worlds on a massive scale.

FAQ & Answers

1) Doesn’t having too many maps spread out the population base?

2) Isn’t this New Base Map Mechanic that does switching Globes the exact same thing that we have now for Match-Ups?

3) Isn’t PPT over emphasized in this proposal?

4) Why are you separating Globes into Time Zones & Language that keeps players apart?

5) How do you propose to stop a single super stacked and strong Globe from buying up guilds & dominating all Globes?

Unfortunately most don’t care about server pride. It’s a dead concept.

We need lots of players on the map pride.

We need epic battles pride.

We need good rewards pride.

We need to feel some sense of progress pride.

We need to have full coverage across 4 maps pride.

We need let’s have fun pride.

NFL has billions of fans… Certain other games are more like the NFL, not gw2 unfortunately. We are closer to high school football if anything…

GW2 is lacking in many ways despite some really great elements, but it’s just not even close to being “there” yet sadly.

Server communities is what has kept people playing a reward-less game for the past three years. It’s only with the advent of the new map and the pve mechanics on those maps that WvW has completely sputtered out.

The problem with megaserver is that there is no brand loyalty. The conclusion that new communities will emerge from it is specious if you look at how the mechanics will work.

First off, if you’re not in a big guild, you likely will have a randomized map. If you do defense at all for your server, you will know that the bulk of those defenders come from small or solo guilds.

Big guilds tend to want to run together, so they are not going to separate one or two members to scout and watch the maps. They just won’t.

And how many guilds do you know of that strictly do defense 24/7 in WvW? And how big are those guilds? Not likely very big.

And if those smaller solo/guilds are randomized into different matches, there’s no creation of team — the backbone of WvW will disappear simply because people won’t respond to scout call outs because they don’t know and trust that scout. Scouts will stop doing the most unrewarding task on map because their efforts are being ignored.

With no scouts, and no defenders, the map will consist of attack forces only. With nobody defending the keeps or towers, and only attack on the map, the map will ultimately morph into a pve-champ train map — all aboard the ktrain.

And I think people forget that without defense, you can’t really have fights. It’s a symbiotic relationship. You lose one, you lose the other.

For those of us who have played this game, and loved this game mode, for the past three years — and honestly with the sheer lack of rewards in WvW and STILL it drew a loyal following is indication of people’s passion for this game. And all of that relied on a sense of community.

It didn’t happen because of guilds and their alliances. It happened because of a common purpose/server pride/goals that brought all those different guilds and single players together.

Take away that, and you’ll see WvW turn into a giant pve ktrain. Which will empty the next time a big update/shiny is announced.

And we clearly see where these prideful and segregated communities and lack of meaningful rewards have gotten us…

Most of the playerbase doesn’t care about wvw, let alone server pride…

Also, you make it seem like defending and scouting are not capable to do across 4 megaserver wvw maps that have objectives… That makes zero sense honestly…

So we don’t have scouts in eotm calling off enemy locations at times?

We don’t have defenders at times?

We don’t have havok groups breaking up zergs at times?

And this is the eotm that some of y’all give a bad name…

There was a group of 10 awesome players really pushing an entire zerg at a keep inside and out with smart gameplay…

I lead a group that cut off and ambushed a BL group that hit the wurm tunnel then wiped FR that ran in the mix right after…. We were very outnumbered too, but we had great AC placement, AC protection and use and coordination… In the open field not behind walls…

There was a havok/ambush group from FR that kept cutting off OG stragglers from their zerg for a half an hour and kept using the trilevel terrain to their advantage when lager groups would try to push…

There are lots of stories like these too… But this is only eotm…

Some of you assume way too much about eotm and megaserver stuff…

I’ll keep this separate… So, you experienced wvwers can’t take what community you are given and make something good happen?

That’s what I’m hearing… I keep hearing “we are really good and experienced”… Then lead all the newbies and take control of whatever map you are on…

Put together a scouting group and teach players how to scout…

Take some players and teach them how to defend…

That’s how you build up communities and that’s the mentality you carry.

You could zone into eotm right now, pop a commander tag and set the tone and lead the troops, teach players how to get better and keep your map full of your color dots…

@Swagger

You have a very valid point.

Megaserver is being touted as the big fix to WvW.

I will not debate you on this point.

@WvW Community,

We should not encourage others to debate on which solution is better.

We should encourage other Players that share a desire for a Server Based Solution to step forward & tell ANet we want a Server Based Solution.

ANet is totally convinced that Megaserver is the solution based on my observations & opinion.

We understand that ANet has ignored us time & again.

We should at least voice our choice before this Megaserver solution is un-veiled.

We should at least offer the best Server Based Solution that can to fix this current Population Stacking, Can’t play with Friends, and Off Peak capping mess that we’re in.

Please rally behind a Server Based Solution to let ANet realize that Server Pride…If properly fixed…can create a Strong Sense of Community which is the backbone behind many Good & Hard Fought Rivalries imho.

Your truly,
Diku

I just love the experts that claim to talk for the majority or most, when in fact they can really only talk for themselves or at best a small circle of friends…..

Hope I’m not coming across as an expert claiming to talk for the majority, because that’s not my motivation.

My motivation is to save the Classic Server Based WvW that I fell in love with.

That’s why I’m asking for support…if anything…I think I’m in the minority for asking for it.

Yours truly,
Diku

It is difficult to build a community when your allies one moment might be your enemies the next.

The actual WvW game mode is not, in the end, all that fun (personally speaking). The draw is being part of something larger—the server community. Thus, while I suffer in the moment scouting and repairing and cleaning up camps/sentries, I enjoy the overall experience based on my contribution to the server.

Contrast this with a MOBA style game where team loyalties are more fluid. There, I’m playing for personal advancement. If my allies and enemies shift it doesn’t matter much because I only need to mesh with them in order to accomplish my personal goal of winning the game, which is in itself enjoyable and profitable for me. There is no such personal advancement in WvW

First things first is the devs need to sell wvw to the individual player…

Anyone here in sales and marketing familiar with the acronym “wiifm”?

Edit- doing stuff for the wvw community and the game community in general is good, but what is everyone’s favorite radio station?

Diku.2546:

Hope I’m not coming across as an expert claiming to talk for the majority, because that’s not my motivation.

My motivation is to save the Classic Server Based WvW that I fell in love with.

That’s why I’m asking for support…if anything…I think I’m in the minority for asking for it.

Yours truly,
Diku

Nope – understand what you are saying/asking. Your counterpart seems to think he/she speaks for the majority. I doubt the majority even come to the forums so I don’t know how anyone could read all those people minds not on their server……

So is the majority of the 1,000,000 (whatever number) player base in wvw fighting for this so called server pride?

If so please let me know…

Liston.9708:

Diku.2546:

Hope I’m not coming across as an expert claiming to talk for the majority, because that’s not my motivation.

My motivation is to save the Classic Server Based WvW that I fell in love with.

That’s why I’m asking for support…if anything…I think I’m in the minority for asking for it.

Yours truly,
Diku

Nope – understand what you are saying/asking. Your counterpart seems to think he/she speaks for the majority. I doubt the majority even come to the forums so I don’t know how anyone could read all those people minds not on their server……

Oh, that’s comforting.

I’ll still have to say…that I’m speaking for myself.

I’ll miss the Classic Server based Communities.

It’s gonna be especially hard to get really fired up emotionally for whichever team I end up fighting for.

I’m trying to imagine an NFL SuperBowl game where we cheer for Red, Green, or Blue team.

Team or Server identity is thrown out & we’re given a product that forces us into 3 Teams.

I’m trying to imagine the NFL consolidating All the Football Teams into 3 Teams.

Sorry Green Bay Packers & Fans…you gotta Team merge into…let’s see…the Blue Team.

I don’t think he’s disagreeing with you Diku.

Diku.2546:

I’m trying to imagine an NFL SuperBowl game where we cheer for Red, Green, or Blue team.

Now try and imagine a Superbowl game where for the last 2 quarters one of the teams only played with 5 players on the field, whilst the other team still plays with 11, and imagine what an anti-climax, what a joke, what a hollow meaningless game that would be and how if every NFL game was like that there would be no NFL, because there would be no fans, because no one with an IQ out of double digits would care over a “competition” that is such a worthless joke, yet that is NFL if it was WvW under the current system.

@Jane

I know Liston is probably being supportive…which I am grateful.

ANet, however, firmly believes the advice of my counter-part…imho.

Just very upset that we’re going to loose the Strong Sense of Community that a Server Based WvW creates imho.

Which I also believe is the backbone behind many Good & Hard Fought Rivalries.

The broken Base Map Mechanic has a solution in my opinion.

Players that want a Server Based Solution seem very apathetic…and can you blame them?

Just hoping to have Players that want a Server Based Solution to stand up & post their support before the un-spoken solution that is secretly being implemented is made public.

@zinkz

Let me ask you what really makes the NFL SuperBowl so successful at its core?

Tier 1 wvw on a Sunday night and there is ONE commander tag up across 4 maps…

That is your segregated server pride in action…

Wvw is dead. Wvw here is not like a national US sport like football. Lol is more like football, wow is more like football. Gw2 is like highschool football… Gw2 does not have the population to support a segregated wvw system unfortunately…

We have had the same separated servers since the beginning and it’s not working obviously…

@Swagger

Ok…we get your point…the Base Map Mechanic is broken for the Current Server Based Tier System.

There is a fix to the Current Server Based Tier System btw that doesn’t sacrifice giving up Team Identity.

Let me ask you what really makes the NFL SuperBowl so successful at its core?

National US sport like football is relatively new.

Ask EU Soccer fans…that’s the original Football…and even they’re passionate about their original Football…and once again…what makes that so successful at its core?

Actually, look at any successful sport. What makes it so successful at its core?

This core value has the potential to make WvW successful like all those other sports imho…if ANet fixes the Current Server Based System that has a huge flaw.

I totally agree with you. The Current Server Based System is broken, but there is a fix that doesn’t sacrifice giving up Team Identity

And what happens when the teams are uneven in a nfl game ?
not gonna be a fun game to watch unless you like to watch ppl get ran over
The only thing server loyalty will get you is a dead server

You can’t compare video games to sports ultimately. I was just pointing out what level gw2 is at using your nfl/football reference.

Gw2 does not have the population to support the individual server idea anymore and there is not enough interest.

@Swagger

You can compare video games to sports.

The future will be eSports.

Imagine a world where a single company owns all the resources for this sport?

1) Sports equipment
2) Team uniforms
3) Training fields
4) Stadium venue
5) Referee services

Basically everything that is needed to make the NFL SuperBowl happen from high school football teams all the way up to the actual NFL SuperBowl itself?

The NFL SuperBowl was not the multi-billion dollar industry it is today. One point in history it was struggling to gain acceptance. If you don’t recognize this…I’m sorry, but I can’t help you envision where things are really headed…course this is just my opinion.

If ANet structures WvW wrong…they will loose their ability later to position this for the next NFL SuperBowl equivalent in the eSport genre…is what I’m saying.

Once again…Let me ask what really makes the NFL SuperBowl so successful at its core?

Gw2 does not have the appeal to be an esport… 10+ million players then we can talk. Your ideas don’t generate 10+ million players.

Figure that out first if you want the globe idea to even be a “reality”.

Trust me, Anet and all of us would love to be having a discussion about what best to do for 10+ million players… But that’s not the case is it now?

Currently there is no broad appeal to gw2 pve, wvw or spvp… Is gw2 a great game in many ways? Sure, but “nfl” equivalent it’s not…

You have to think of what the needs are then fill those needs first.

The #1 need right now is to pool existing wvw players together and let them play, have fun and feel rewarded.

Gw2 wvw players need bodies to play with and against. Until Anet can figure out how to fill this game with 10+ million players so they can draw that 10% for wvw, then we are at a standstill with your globe idea…

There are a lot of assumptions being made about the megaserver or alliance system that are frankly silly. We don’t know the details of what Anet is planning.

All the loyalties tied to servers should be able to be moved to an alliance without too much effort, because all a server is, is a group of people tied together by a name they picked at server selection.

And Anet isn’t stupid, they’re not going to destroy the server communities without setting something up to replace it.

You might have to become Darkhaven Alliance instead of just Darkhaven or something, but adding a word shouldn’t be a big deal to a tightly knit community.

@Valky

You’re right. It’s not fun watching an un-even NFL game.

Same goes for playing in an un-even WvW match-up.

I’ll be honest…I’m trying to get a grassroots going to gain support for a proposal that seeks to promote a Server Based Solution without giving up Team Identity.

I’m pretty desperate, because the rumors circulating about a major change to WvW has me worried that we’re going to loose our Server Based WvW Universe.

@Caliburn

Agree with you. I hope its Darkhaven Alliance & Not Red, Green, or Blue Alliance.

Diku.2546:

@Jane

I know Liston is probably being supportive…which I am grateful.

ANet, however, firmly believes the advice of my counter-part…imho.

Just very upset that we’re going to loose the Strong Sense of Community that a Server Based WvW creates imho.

Which I also believe is the backbone behind many Good & Hard Fought Rivalries.

The broken Base Map Mechanic has a solution in my opinion.

Players that want a Server Based Solution seem very apathetic…and can you blame them?

Just hoping to have Players that want a Server Based Solution to stand up & post their support before the un-spoken solution that is secretly being implemented is made public.

I know hon. I get it.

I think the dissenting voices have been pretty vocal in lots of threads here. I suspect many have just given up. It’s a little funny to me that the threads about hot changes are being largely ignored, instead of being blamed for the diminished wvw population though.

That’s ok. If Anet doesn’t hear those like us, we can find a new place to spend our money.

Its very rare a newish MMO gets legacy loyalty you find in games like WoW and EQ. Most MMOs lose their audiences quite quickly.. That comes with a strong sense of community. You lose that sense of community and the legacy dissolves. It’s the players that keep the passion alive.

What servers are you trying to save honestly? Even tier 1 is dying a slow painful death… I can only imagine what the rest of the servers are suffering through…

@Swagger

My point is many popular sports were not viewed or played by millions at one point in history.

Soccer <—- First Original Football that came before American Football
American Football
Baseball
Golf
Tennis

All these sports started somewhere…without the huge following that they have today.

Can you be so narrow minded to think that all the above sports had millions of followers the day they were invented?

Caliburn.1845:

There are a lot of assumptions being made about the megaserver or alliance system that are frankly silly. We don’t know the details of what Anet is planning.

This makes many quite fearful, frankly. Particularly due to their detachment from WvW and those communities in general.

Caliburn.1845:

All the loyalties tied to servers should be able to be moved to an alliance without too much effort, because all a server is, is a group of people tied together by a name they picked at server selection.

I stand by this logic; community is arbitrary and is but a mere name of a collection of people with a common interest. I can definitely understand concerns mechanically to preserve this or concerns towards the uncertainty of the future. Jayne and I have had extensive discussion of the subject in the past. Implementing such a system would require a lot of effort to do correctly, and not doing so correctly would have potentially devastating consequences.

EoTM-style strictly isn’t good enough. And if that’s what ANet is planning on doing, they will be dealing more damage to the format than good in regards to good match-ups and pleasing players.

Quite frankly, it also seems that even within WvW, there are vastly different community differences just between NA and EU.

Caliburn.1845:

And Anet isn’t stupid, they’re not going to destroy the server communities without setting something up to replace it.

Many would beg to differ; particularly with what we’ve seen in or around the release of HoT.

Caliburn.1845:

You might have to become Darkhaven Alliance instead of just Darkhaven or something, but adding a word shouldn’t be a big deal to a tightly knit community.

I think the argument stems from the sense of shared collateral for losing.

That said, the only scope of that should be the feeling of not winning. Players should strive to play and win WvW because it’s fun, not because of some arbitrary name or necessary sense of duty to server said name.

The sense of loss should come only from being upset at the fact a loss occurred; something trivial which can easily be forgotten about with no real consequence of substance.

It shouldn’t be about community representation, but fun. If it’s not fun, the community doesn’t matter, because then nobody will be there to actually make and distinguish a community.

As far as the philosophy on the OP; they’re incomparable. The scale, money, and influence of the sport is so vastly difference on the everyday compared to GW2’s WvW.

These athletes are often role models (unfortunately in many cases) for our youth, they shape the lives of kids as they grow up, ranging from recreational fun to college scholarships to get a better education and job. Such sports have long-standing cultural significance in a population that doesn’t undergo dramatic loyalty shifts and changes externally.

Many watch and cheer because the teams represent a region or sub-culture; their livelihood. Yet many also watch and cheer for the team that represents them now.
Contemplate the man who moves from one region to another in his early adult life. He may still cheer for his original team for a while. But over his life, he’ll lose touch with his old home and garner the respect of his new one and his new culture. A man constantly moving may not route for one team, but the underdog. And the Superbowl only represents two teams; why then do so many people watch, when they are not being represented? Because they care about the game itself, not who is what or where necessarily. Passion is what drives the success of anything. Passion for a community will, but only when the community in its entirety is going to have such similar devotion.

Passion for a game makes for people passionate about those who partake in it. We do not even have passion for the game [mode] yet. There is no way to build such strong passion for its sub-communities until the initial is created.

There was passion for no-names in old gladiatorial pits. People were passionate because of the game, not because of who was necessarily fighting.

Hahah…I can see the following:

Tennis = Guild Wars PvP

@DeceiverX

Appreciate the feedback. Good points made, but I still feel that Team aka Community matters.

If you want a Strong Sense of Community that a Server Based WvW creates imho.

Which I also believe is the backbone behind many Good & Hard Fought Rivalries

Otherwise, you’ll just end up with another Shoot Em Up game that doesn’t drive emotions & passions when it comes to playing the game.

NFL SuperBowl is so successful at its core…because?

Real Blood & Gore is totally on a different level from computer Blood & Gore. I hope you know the difference…

Changing Teams is perfectly acceptable…as long as there are Teams that you can choose to change your support for.

Would you be ok with a system picked team if it’s shoot em up fun for you?

Or,

Is it more fun to be involved with a SuperBowl Team based around a stable or un-stable Community instead?

Talk to Green Bay players & fans for the un-stable or loosing viewpoint. They wear it like a badge of honor.

Ok…my bad…Saints fan.

Diku.2546:

@Swagger

My point is many popular sports were not viewed or played by millions at one point in history.

Soccer <—- First Original Football that came before American Football
American Football
Baseball
Golf
Tennis

All these sports started somewhere…without the huge following that they have today.

Can you be so narrow minded to think that all the above sports had millions of followers the day they were invented?

Ok, so while you are looking at the wvw matching mechanics and server stuff, you are not looking at the fundamentals…

Profession designs are subpar.

Meaningful profession development is nonexistent.

Trait system is all wacky with things like a warrior traitline that includes traits that effect the longbow and an off hand weapon/horn I believe? Really?

Ranger shortbow trait is in skirmishing?

Most gameplay is auto attacking…

“Roles” are pretty pathetic and sad compared and it’s still mostly zerker/dps meta…

Can’t even move weapon skills on the bar…

Can’t even move the combat bar itself…

Profession balance is horrendous…

Professions and certain combat designs are not really good at all, yet you want to have a healthy wvw?

Where are the great rewards and sense of progress in wvw?

Spvp tournament had a pathetic amount of views, yet you want wvw to be some super esport that players care about?

The core list of things that need to be handled first goes on and on and on… These CORE issues must be addressed before you can think about some other ideas. That’s what I’m saying…

@Swagger

Cornerstone needs to be set correctly or the whole skyscraper will not build as tall as you want it to.

The core needs to be Team Based.

All lucrative Sports are Team Based & have a Solid Identity…

Franchise…is that a marketing term? Well it applies here…for ANet to consider.

Ok…you can bring up Tennis…but that’s like PvP.

NFL SuperBowl is darn successful on having multiple teams compete…and high school players dream of making it into the NFL…but they all have their Team identity that is core to their value.

ANet’s skyscraper for WvW will be limited if they choose the wrong cornerstone to build with.

Choose wrong…and you’ll get the best Shoot Em Up game ever, but ANet will never have the ability to be the next eSport SuperBowl & setting up a Franchise model if they really care about the bottom line.

Yeah pretty much everyone has server hopped at this point. If you like the allies you have then stick with it. They are just going to move on and let your server fall apart tho. Some might be satisfied playing in dead timezones because of some sence of loyalty and community. Me Im like all the people that left you alone, I just want to play the game.

@displayname

Without having to merge servers & sacrifice server identity.

Given the following choices…Would you prefer to:

A) Fight against 2 Worlds that the System Picks for you at the beginning of every week.

Or

B) Fight against 1-3 Worlds that you choose at the beginning of every week from a choice of 24 NA and 27 EU Home Globes. ANet could adjust this number to keep players from gaming the system.

Would you be ok with either choice, or none of them?

If you choose Option B. That is possible, but the Base Map Mechanic has to change.

Diku.2546:

@Swagger

Cornerstone needs to be set correctly or the whole skyscraper will not build as tall as you want it to.

The core needs to be Team Based.

All lucrative Sports are Team Based & have a Solid Identity…

Franchise…is that a marketing term? Well it applies here…for ANet to consider.

Ok…you can bring up Tennis…but that’s like PvP.

NFL SuperBowl is darn successful on having multiple teams compete…and high school players dream of making it into the NFL…but they all have their Team identity that is core to their value.

ANet’s skyscraper for WvW will be limited if they choose the wrong cornerstone to build with.

Choose wrong…and you’ll get the best Shoot Em Up game ever, but ANet will never have the ability to be the next eSport SuperBowl & setting up a Franchise model if they really care about the bottom line.

Ok, the core is team based. You need players to make a team… Think about that until tomorrow…

Jayne.9251:

I know hon. I get it.

I think the dissenting voices have been pretty vocal in lots of threads here. I suspect many have just given up. It’s a little funny to me that the threads about hot changes are being largely ignored, instead of being blamed for the diminished wvw population though.

That’s ok. If Anet doesn’t hear those like us, we can find a new place to spend our money.

Its very rare a newish MMO gets legacy loyalty you find in games like WoW and EQ. Most MMOs lose their audiences quite quickly.. That comes with a strong sense of community. You lose that sense of community and the legacy dissolves. It’s the players that keep the passion alive.

@Jayne

Fist bump

Changing of the Guards it seems…we’re close to the end of a Server Based WvW it seems…where we faced our enemies & could call them by their Name.

Next, we will fight against a Faceless Enemy Horde by color that on some days…will be your closest friend.

Thank you for your kind words…I salute you…even though we may meet as enemies before this all ends.

Diku, why is spvp megaserver?

Swagger.1459:

Ok, the core is team based. You need players to make a team… Think about that until tomorrow…

Hmm…thinking about this.

Fight against 1-3 Worlds that you choose at the beginning of every week from a choice of 24 NA and 27 EU Home Globes. ANet could adjust this number to keep players from gaming the system.

ANet just needs to change the Base Map Mechanic to allow this.

@diku – agree with you I do ( heh Star Wars coming soon so added some Yoda speak). I do love me some Packers. I will watch football, but really only care about their game as far as the outcome goes. Alliances can be good if done well. If I have the choice of playing with the same people I play with currently AND new folks that is perfectly fine. If I am randomly thrown together all the time – meh I’ll pass.
@swagger – I don’t know that I speak for the majority about servers either. I never said I did. My point was you don’t either so why speak for “most”? Speak for you.

As a little background. I am on a server that is considered by many to be a bandwagon (YB), yet many of the names are people that were there 6 months into the game (when I first entered wvw) and have never moved. What is left of the lower tiers probably played together for a long time as well.

Do I care if I play for server name X? No I don’t. I do care if I cannot play with the same people if I want to though.. Caliburn has it right – so much of the fear comes from Reddit. If those are really the parameters oy vea….. They can’t be that bad…

Actually, if most of the playerbase liked wvw and were participating in wvw, we wouldn’t be having any of these discussions.

So saying “many” and “most” is appropriate.

Swagger.1459:

Actually, if most of the playerbase liked wvw and were participating in wvw, we wouldn’t be having any of these discussions.

So saying “many” and “most” is appropriate.

Not if they left the game…. I doubt anyone not playing now is coming back so IMHO we are referring to the current players or ones that stopped in the last few weeks not anyone else…

Playerbase = the whole enchilada… That means every individual account active right now as we speak.

There are a million (whatever) active accounts… Are they in wvw?

There are more than enough players to fill every version of every bl and eb map, but where are they?

Diku.2546:

@displayname

Without having to merge servers & sacrifice server identity.

Given the following choices…Would you prefer to:

A) Fight against 2 Worlds that the System Picks for you at the beginning of every week.

Or

B) Fight against 1-3 Worlds that you choose at the beginning of every week from a choice of 24 NA and 27 EU Home Globes. ANet could adjust this number to keep players from gaming the system.

Would you be ok with either choice, or none of them?

If you choose Option B. That is possible, but the Base Map Mechanic has to change.

Option B.. Alot of players have asked for more variety and manual intervention in matchups. The only problem is the servers are so imbalanced there aren’t many matchups that would be any good.

Some servers are stacked in OCX, some EU, most you won’t see anyone until NA rolls around. Wanting Anet to get involved and curate these servers is not going to happen.

What could be possible is dynamic matches. Matchmaking similar to PvP, taking into account level, WvW rank, guild affiliation… or just keep it simple and go by numbers alone with an option to queue for a preferred side.

Or just get rid of the transfer fee and let the full status algorithm deal with any bandwagon issues. EotM dosent cost 1800 gems to play I don’t see why the servers should charge that.

Swagger.1459:

Playerbase = the whole enchilada… That means every individual account active right now as we speak.

There are a million (whatever) active accounts… Are they in wvw?

There are more than enough players to fill every version of every bl and eb map, but where are they?

You really think that many people are playing? Guess it probably is alot. Why then do they need the transfer fee for WvW if its noone is playing WvW? Do they think it’s some anti-bandwagon measurement? That’s what full status is for.

Playerbase = the whole enchilada… That means every individual account active right now as we speak.

There are a million (whatever) active accounts… Are they in wvw?

There are more than enough players to fill every version of every bl and eb map, but where are they?

That’s doesn’t answer the question of why the devs made spvp cross server…

Swagger.1459:

Playerbase = the whole enchilada… That means every individual account active right now as we speak.

There are a million (whatever) active accounts… Are they in wvw?

There are more than enough players to fill every version of every bl and eb map, but where are they?

Swagger.1459:

Diku, why is spvp megaserver?

I guess I have to say this again.

Ok…you can bring up Tennis…but that’s like PvP

Tennis is solo or played in a pair.

2 People certainly make up a team. You’re pretty clever aren’t you.

Wimbledon & NFL SuperBowl

Putting 2 Players or 4 Players together for a Tennis match could definitely use Megaserver where Team Identity may not really matter.

Championship for Tennis eventually leads to 2 or 4 specific players having a reserved slot to play.

Matching up over 240 players then having a reserved slot for each specific player is a bit asking too much.

How should I know where they went. I can only speak for myself…

I’ve play less WvW nowadays because:

1) New Desert BL is too Big, Complex, and Full of PvE elements
2) AutoUpgrades made my job as a Camp Havoc meaningless
3) Guild Upgrades being taken away makes it harder to be a PUG Commander
4) Guild Siege build supply cost makes it harder to be a PUG Commander

Objectives on the New Desert BL really have no feeling of any strategic value. Everything can be Back Capped.

Not because there was a drop in population on my server.

I’m pretty used to fighting for hours with the Outnumbered buff triggered for me.

I find it irritating not to have it…because I have to repair my armor if I don’t have it.

What I think happened is another Severe Server Stack happened again.

Players not playing in Top Tier stopped playing.

Everybody in the Lower Tiers wanting to get a piece of the action…migrated up into the empty seats of players busy doing something else that is more fun or distracting them from playing in WvW.

But all that still doesn’t answer the question unfortunately.

Swagger.1459:

That’s doesn’t answer the question of why the devs made spvp cross server…

Tennis – You want to encourage all players to fight against each other. Only the strongest individual or paired players will become a Wimbledon Champion. Megaserver is wonderful at matching all players against each other.

NFL Football – You want to encourage well established & well known Teams to fight against each other. The community of fans are encouraged to fight & cheer for their Home Team. The best & well known Team becomes the SuperBowl Champions.