Guild Wars 2

This post is not a post from me claiming to know anything about this game, it is simply feedback from a perception gained on returning to this game after a couple years.

Questing is still fun and fast, the classes enjoyable, players friendly and helpful. At least my retuning experience has been pleasant. Casual PVP is how I like to spend evenings playing a friendly MMO for hours. Per google query GW2 MMOPVP rates highly.

WvW is a kind of weird experience though after just two nights of trying it out solo-queue. It doesn’t seem like something intended for a casual solo-queue player. I don’t have a problem with that and do not want to open any wounds or start any trouble, that is not my intent. My intent is to describe the new player experience in effort to aid those making suggestions how this could all be better.

New players to WvW, that are solo, clueless and trying to just tag along, don’t seem welcome, helpful or accepted. I don’t have a problem with that and from what I can tell the WvW is way more involved and requiring an experienced and geared guild structure than structured for random clueless players to just join in and have fun.

So why would I mention this? If GW2 is to not just slowly die from players slowly bleeding away, it needs to accommodate new players joining. I am not saying change anything for me, I am saying if there was some type of “fail-safe self help” to assist new players learn the path to being useful as a solo player in PVP that would help bring in new players. What seems lacking is a “handrail” to entering PVP the way one needs to in order to ramp up and be ready, useful and desired.

Looking for quest and a roadmap to in what order I should move from one location to another, isn’t completely intuitive. I just have to open the maps I guess and scroll over hearts to see what i haven’t done and what level the area is. Likewise for PVP, it seems I cannot just solo-queue walk-in and start attacking reds while hovering around a group of friendlies.

My suggestions would be in order to accommodate a fun experience, which lends itself to attracting new players to stay, some kind of road map to when to do what and what you need to succeed self-help would contribute. Plenty of help can be found from other players, the forum and google etc. This should be in game though. When I am told I qualify for PVP now and want to try it, I should be able to go in to a “baby pool” so to say and learn to swim. I’m sure the sharks enjoy this not being the case; but the team I join is not going to babysit and I understand that.

If WvW is not balanced in group size and gear … well we know what this is like and I think there has been a lot of discussion of smaller groups. This seems like a group would then be just part of a guild and no solo player would ever get in. New players could not participate then. This may be better though for the experienced and skilled players and I am OK with that. I just need a baby pool where I can learn to swim, gain the gear I need, meet other PVPers, prove myself, then be invited to swim with the sharks. Did I miss something, do we have that already? If so I missed the memo.

i think you can ask the NPC when you waypoint into a map questions… and if you don’t own your home tower you can start commander siegerazor to help initiates take an objective fairly easy. Outside of that … there isn’t much to guide players to 1) group up into a party 2) determine objectives 3) top up supply 4) go be useful somewhere on said objective

You are right, it could use a how to intro even if just spoken by the NPC at waypoint

PyroRobby.1987:

If WvW is not balanced in group size and gear … well we know what this is like and I think there has been a lot of discussion of smaller groups. This seems like a group would then be just part of a guild and no solo player would ever get in. New players could not participate then. This may be better though for the experienced and skilled players and I am OK with that. I just need a baby pool where I can learn to swim, gain the gear I need, meet other PVPers, prove myself, then be invited to swim with the sharks. Did I miss something, do we have that already? If so I missed the memo.

Just specific to this part, We occasionally get entirely new players in the guild, and guilds we are aligned with. I do not know about the other new players, but those I have experience with seem to find it reasonably well.

I do think some of that has to do with WvW style game play and RvR being more common in recent MMOs so players are a little more familiar, either via experience, or reading up on it, then they used to be.

coglin.1867:

PyroRobby.1987:

If WvW is not balanced in group size and gear … well we know what this is like and I think there has been a lot of discussion of smaller groups. This seems like a group would then be just part of a guild and no solo player would ever get in. New players could not participate then. This may be better though for the experienced and skilled players and I am OK with that. I just need a baby pool where I can learn to swim, gain the gear I need, meet other PVPers, prove myself, then be invited to swim with the sharks. Did I miss something, do we have that already? If so I missed the memo.

Just specific to this part, We occasionally get entirely new players in the guild, and guilds we are aligned with. I do not know about the other new players, but those I have experience with seem to find it reasonably well.

I do think some of that has to do with WvW style game play and RvR being more common in recent MMOs so players are a little more familiar, either via experience, or reading up on it, then they used to be.

To me it seemed like a conflict of what I expected, expectations set by the questing experience, and a shift from just wandering up solo to a group and joining in and how that is ineffective to the effort when in WvW. That is when questing solo, I don’t have to group. When doing WvW yes, I don’t “have to group”; but If I am not in a group, plugged into the com channel and dancing on queue, I am not helping and will likely just be the idiot nub that dies a lot.

Much more is involved in WvW. Gear, Utility, organization, skill execution on queue … like being in a PVE dungeon from what it appears to be. I am sure this is a blast to the veterans. To the new comer it is a reversal of the norm and without the speed buffs, gear, fore knowledge of intent … one just feels more like an appetizer for the reds.

In short I wouldn’t recommend WvW to the new solo casual player. More so, I do not know where the fresh solo PVP’r goes to get geared and learn all while having a fair chance to enjoy the experience. I know the game is “Guild Wars” and that has implications; but all the questing can be done solo just fine. Is the deal here pecking order, your food til geared and still food then util you are in the bigger zerg? The feedback so far seems to be, join a Guild kid and learn to dance.

You can gear up with exotic karma gear from the temples to get on a similar level. Then you can customize your gear as you get badges

For all that offered encouragement, facts and honest feedback, it is appreciated. I would suggest that any newcomer be encouraged to sample WvW and choose for themselves when they wish to step up and do WvW. Experience will vary depending on fore knowledge, gear, solo-play / guild play and many other variables surely.

My experience in tandem with my play style and lack of fore knowledge has me siding with the school of thought that solo play at low level can be a rough experience and you may not be all that helpful to your team, so you shouldn’t expect to enjoy it as well sub level 80. My experience was very limited though so again I would stress each player choose for themselves, you may have a much better experience than did I. That being said there is much to know.

WvW is not just two massive teams brawling. There is a leader and coordinated effort. If you are not part of the communication connection, versed in your utility role, aware of your surroundings and the team goal, your enjoyment factor may suffer and you find yourself not getting much more accomplished than feeding the red players. Based on thinking these things the case, my perspective is don’t solo queue WvW and don’t expect to be the hero sub level 80.

Personally I wish I could say the experience will be equally fun at 18 as 80 and solo queue also equally fun; but from my perspective WvW isn’t really facilitating the solo queue play style. Should it is another topic completely and I am not qualified to offer an opinion on that at this point in time.

I definitively agree that WvW is rough on a new player trying it for the first time. Been there and done that, was confused as all heck.

I lucked out and found a guild with roamers, that likes to run around 1-5 players. Started running with them, and learned a whole lot. The lower servers also gives you some more leeway with this, in that the map isn’t packed to the rim with enemies.

The local Kaineng joke "Queue’s ? Never heard off."