Guild Wars 2

Hi, my question has to do with the future of WvW. I’ve played wvw since the release of the game and Its been awesome so far. One issue I’d like to address though is the use of the same maps over and over. Will wvw be like other games that always keep the same maps? (dota, lol) or will we see some variation.

I especially liked wvw in the beginning because the maps seem to be designed with siege placement in mind, so it was really fun using new tactics that other servers may not have thought of yet. It really showed who the innovative and creative commanders were on each server. I feel like at this point there are only so many possibilities when it comes to sieging a keep or tower, and everyone either knows those positions and counters so you rarely see anything new. I’m not complaining but it would be a lot of fun to keep the matches tactically dependant, and if we had at least a variation of maps this would only stress the need to be creative. Now it’s come down to commanders just copy catting positions and you rarely see anything new.

So my question is Anet, will we see some new WvW maps in the near future??

New stand-alones? Unless they are really small or GvG, then no.

New variations of the BLs that rotate in and out? Yes.

Yeah I’m talking about new wvw borderlands maps. Id hope they release some type of system for GvG’s anyway, something where we can use tactics rather than open field combat GvGs south of SS camp. And guild halls, bring back the GVGs and guild halls from GW1, it is Guild Wars after all.

I wish there was a little more info on how serious this effort is.
I mean did an intern turn in some scribbles on a napkin or is there a team dedicated to this, they just need a lot of time to do it right?

Less than two months til the 1 year anniversary, it’d be awesome to see the game get rejuvenated with something like this!

based on his response, I would say new maps are a year out

Thanks for the response Devon. I can tell the current maps have been fine tuned with things being spaced out properly, locations of choke points, height advantages and siege placement areas in mind. Seems like things are just far enough from each other so that organization actually matters when responding to attacks and what not. I’ve been in situations where we barely make it to defend objectives in time, and I can’t help but notice things are where they are for a reason.

I do believe however that some people have lost interest in WvW because of the repetition, and I am a firm believer that with new or more maps people will be playing WvW more than they are now. It may be something worth pushing towards the front of the queue. Lord knows I’d take new maps over mortar mastery….. As appealing as that sounds. Hahaha…

Thanks again Dev for all your hard work and dedication to the community.

DevonCarver.5370:

New maps are definitely in the plans, however I can’t say with any degree of certainty when that might be. It takes a good deal of time to get a map to the level of polish that the current maps are in and while we want to get new maps out to mix up the gameplay, we aren’t going to release them until they are totally ready. When there is more to tell, we will tell it, but for now all I can say is we definitely want to do new maps and will when time allows.

By new maps you mean adding brand new maps and leaving the currently ones as it is or repolishing the ones we have? Anyway its good to hear there are changes coming up, the whole point is not having the same maps forever, at some point it gets boring running around the same stuff.

DevonCarver.5370:

New maps are definitely in the plans, however I can’t say with any degree of certainty when that might be. It takes a good deal of time to get a map to the level of polish that the current maps are in and while we want to get new maps out to mix up the gameplay, we aren’t going to release them until they are totally ready. When there is more to tell, we will tell it, but for now all I can say is we definitely want to do new maps and will when time allows.

See you in 2015

DevonCarver.5370:

New maps are definitely in the plans, however I can’t say with any degree of certainty when that might be. It takes a good deal of time to get a map to the level of polish that the current maps are in and while we want to get new maps out to mix up the gameplay, we aren’t going to release them until they are totally ready. When there is more to tell, we will tell it, but for now all I can say is we definitely want to do new maps and will when time allows.

You won’t have any WvW population by then. Have you checked the numbers?

I love how people claim that WvW is dead or dying. There is still massive amount of people running around on my server and every single server we have faced the last few months, more or less at any time during the day.

Any chance for a change of maps every few months? No jumping puzzles or grubs please!

First deal with the skill lag please one step at a time.

the WvW team is understaffed

DevonCarver.5370:

New maps are definitely in the plans, however I can’t say with any degree of certainty when that might be. It takes a good deal of time to get a map to the level of polish that the current maps are in and while we want to get new maps out to mix up the gameplay, we aren’t going to release them until they are totally ready. When there is more to tell, we will tell it, but for now all I can say is we definitely want to do new maps and will when time allows.

… Devon… could you please just actually answer the question for once. Of course you want to add new maps.

Are you working on new maps now? And if so you must be able to give us some indication of whether they’re being designed, balanced, tested and prep’d for release.

The phrase “we want to…” basically comes across as “we’ve not done anything on this yet”… and as a player, that’s really very disappointing.

Parthis.2091:

… Devon… could you please just actually answer the question for once. Of course you want to add new maps.

Are you working on new maps now? And if so you must be able to give us some indication of whether they’re being designed, balanced, tested and prep’d for release.

The phrase “we want to…” basically comes across as “we’ve not done anything on this yet”… and as a player, that’s really very disappointing.

And if they say they are working on them people will complain about them not being in the game with every single update released until these maps makes it to live.
And with updates coming every two weeks that will be LOTS of pointless posts about this.

I would say it is a rather good idea to NOT talk about details until stuff is set in stone, since otherwise people will shout about them lying and such.

Oh yeah, new maps!

The guy just confirmed it, now we have to wait for release.

Magnetron.5823:

First deal with the skill lag please one step at a time.

Yes please! New WvW maps would be fancy fun for many I am sure but the basics need to be solid before going down that road of more cosmetic upgrades. I think the WvW team has a lot of their plate right now and new shiny stuff probably needs to be a little less of a priority. I would hope we all properly showed our appreciation with our pocket books when things like culling and free realm transfers were addressed and not just for more adorable backpack skins. ANET will focus on the things we reward them for paying attention to so make it known loudly where your priorities lie so the work can reflect our desires accordingly.

lordkrall.7241:

Parthis.2091:

… Devon… could you please just actually answer the question for once. Of course you want to add new maps.

Are you working on new maps now? And if so you must be able to give us some indication of whether they’re being designed, balanced, tested and prep’d for release.

The phrase “we want to…” basically comes across as “we’ve not done anything on this yet”… and as a player, that’s really very disappointing.

And if they say they are working on them people will complain about them not being in the game with every single update released until these maps makes it to live.
And with updates coming every two weeks that will be LOTS of pointless posts about this.

I would say it is a rather good idea to NOT talk about details until stuff is set in stone, since otherwise people will shout about them lying and such.

We want to do X.

We’re working on X.

One of those statements provides a sense that X is infact a priority, as opposed to a want.

I’m not asking for release dates, I am however trying to get a sense of whether new maps are in the development stream or simply a twinkle in the eyes of a few devs.

Parthis.2091:

We want to do X.

We’re working on X.

One of those statements provides a sense that X is infact a priority, as opposed to a want.

I’m not asking for release dates, I am however trying to get a sense of whether new maps are in the development stream or simply a twinkle in the eyes of a few devs.

And if they are saying they are working on x they will be “attacked” every single update where x is not implemented.

DevonCarver.5370:

New maps are definitely in the plans, however I can’t say with any degree of certainty when that might be. It takes a good deal of time to get a map to the level of polish that the current maps are in and while we want to get new maps out to mix up the gameplay, we aren’t going to release them until they are totally ready. When there is more to tell, we will tell it, but for now all I can say is we definitely want to do new maps and will when time allows.

You do realize that no matter how much polishing time you put in them, only in heavy play will you find all the exploits and holes and unbalanced things. Just look at the list of problems that got fixed in the existing maps, which I’m sure underwent a good deal of polishing, too.

I’m sure WvW players can deal with not having a veteran ice wurm placed just so in exchange for getting to play on a new map.

lordkrall.7241:

Parthis.2091:

… Devon… could you please just actually answer the question for once. Of course you want to add new maps.

Are you working on new maps now? And if so you must be able to give us some indication of whether they’re being designed, balanced, tested and prep’d for release.

The phrase “we want to…” basically comes across as “we’ve not done anything on this yet”… and as a player, that’s really very disappointing.

And if they say they are working on them people will complain about them not being in the game with every single update released until these maps makes it to live.
And with updates coming every two weeks that will be LOTS of pointless posts about this.

I would say it is a rather good idea to NOT talk about details until stuff is set in stone, since otherwise people will shout about them lying and such.

And the official ANet apologist makes his appearance …

lordkrall.7241:

Parthis.2091:

We want to do X.

We’re working on X.

One of those statements provides a sense that X is infact a priority, as opposed to a want.

I’m not asking for release dates, I am however trying to get a sense of whether new maps are in the development stream or simply a twinkle in the eyes of a few devs.

And if they are saying they are working on x they will be “attacked” every single update where x is not implemented.

Do you work for Anet? Welcome to the internet, it’s turtles all the way down.

Anet are quite happy to talk about all of the “in the works” content for PvE, state of the game videos for sPvP, etc etc.

All i’m asking is “are new maps a priority and perhaps even in progress”… because as players we already know that devs want to add stuff to their game…

But I can see we’re not going to agree here, and tbh, It doesn’t matter – I don’t believe for a second that we’ll get an actual answer.

I hope they make some maps without all the stinking cliffs that make travel a royal pain in the dupa.

And plz, don’t make useless mob everywhere in WvW …..

I could care less for flying pirates if they added a new map to WvW. The number of people I have seen LEAVING PvP, to go for the new PvE content is enough to warrant the idea that more people would go TO PvP if a new map or content was released. Sadly, the only real change for PvP would be a total rework. New map, etc. Anything less than that would be too small of a change to make a real impact. And surely, Anet would not advertise it or make global announcements every time you login about WvW

While it is always nice to get new additions to the game, having new map(s) would be good if it was something significantly different. There have been tons of suggestions from, much larger maps, to different objectives, and so on. A new map that follows the same design as existing maps would not really add anything to the game. What I would LOVE to see, is a post from ANet team saying something along the lines of "We are in the process of getting ready to design and create a new WvW map, and for the next “x” period of time please respond to the following thread with wants/suggestions"

kelman.9451:

I hope they make some maps without all the stinking cliffs that make travel a royal pain in the dupa.

I actually like the cliffs, they present interesting tactical opportunities that I like taking advantage of. Nothing like leading your group off a cliff that you barely survive from and waiting patiently for the pug Zerg to follow. You’re healed up, they dropped off a cliff with 5% life left. They’re dead. ;D

meep.2601:

based on his response, I would say new maps are a year out

I doubt it. LOTRO devs have officially advertised a new PvP map with one of their expansions, and it never came. WvW in Gw2 is just like Monsterplay in LOTRO, a side mini-game, and as much as they may wait it, they will not have the funds to do it just like Turbine didn’t.

This is because 99% of the devs in general still haven’t realized, that the future lies in fan driven and fan generated content. There are hundreds fans out there far more skilled and capable than the devs, who would gladly make the maps for them, and let the devs do final testing and ship with the game, reducing the costs and time needed to release quality content by 90%.

Don’t believe me? Look at Morrowind, Skyrim, look at Sims, at GTA, what fans did with the games, far surpasses the original creation. All that is needed are tools/editor, a site to share creations, and the ability to load custom maps/content in game to test and rate it.

One step further is adding incentive to fan generated content, to give the creators a % of the cut, like Valve did with TF2.

Wothan.4673:

And plz, don’t make useless mob everywhere in WvW …..

Those are needed for stacking.

lordkrall.7241:

Parthis.2091:

We want to do X.

We’re working on X.

One of those statements provides a sense that X is infact a priority, as opposed to a want.

I’m not asking for release dates, I am however trying to get a sense of whether new maps are in the development stream or simply a twinkle in the eyes of a few devs.

And if they are saying they are working on x they will be “attacked” every single update where x is not implemented.

No, that would only happen if they said “almost done, final testing”.

Parthis has a point; “we would like to” is vague to the point of being meaningless.
I’m sure they’d LIKE to have 5 different maps in a running rotation, with interactive terrain and unique events that have an effect on the world in which you battle.
I’m fairly certain that it’s not in the works.

There’s a big difference between: “we’d like to”, “we hope to”, “we plan to”, “we are working on”, and “more info to follow soon”

lordkrall.7241:

And if they are saying they are working on x they will be “attacked” every single update where x is not implemented.

And in this case, that’s a good thing. They need some pressure, they need to get their priorities right.
New WvW maps is not a thing like Guild Halls or Cantha. You can’t say they shouldn’t let themselves be bound to such statements, because upcoming substantial WvW content should be taken for granted.
WvW is the third big pillar of GW2. But judging by the progress we made, you don’t feel that at all. New actual WvW content (rather than the minor adjustment they sell us as “content”) is desperately needed, but we’ve seen none of it in the past year, but concurrently still have to fight with excessive lags that should have been nipped out within the very first weeks of the game’s release.
I do give Devon more credit than the original poster because he atleast said new maps are “in the plans” and not just that they’re “thinking about” or “wanting” it, so I’m confident they’re actually at it, even if it takes a long time still. Though meep is right, the WvW team is understaffed.
ANet needs to fully realize WvW is basically permanent, low-maintenance hardcore endgame. It helps to keep the game vitalized, it lures in newcomers with massive-scale PVP battles, and thus keeps the sales coming, it keeps people in-game, just by existing, no bi-weekly updates needed. That is, if it’s treated better.

Parthis.2091:

DevonCarver.5370:

New maps are definitely in the plans, however I can’t say with any degree of certainty when that might be. It takes a good deal of time to get a map to the level of polish that the current maps are in and while we want to get new maps out to mix up the gameplay, we aren’t going to release them until they are totally ready. When there is more to tell, we will tell it, but for now all I can say is we definitely want to do new maps and will when time allows.

… Devon… could you please just actually answer the question for once. Of course you want to add new maps.

Are you working on new maps now? And if so you must be able to give us some indication of whether they’re being designed, balanced, tested and prep’d for release.

The phrase “we want to…” basically comes across as “we’ve not done anything on this yet”… and as a player, that’s really very disappointing.

Nothing is confirmed until it’s pretty much done. Plans change all the time and if you make promises and can’t fulfill them, then well, we’ve all seen what happens on the forums then

Ummmm…you can make beautiful PvE maps that house like 15 people max at a time but you can’t produce a better WvW map that house hundreds of people?
Slow clap….
I’d also be fine with some new skins for time to time…

I think the frustration from a lot of people is the priority of changes within WvW. It seems the priorities are about increasing siege equipment, adding new progressions skills, and adding items such as traps. None of those really add to the value of WvW. Instead I suggest the following priorities:

1. Skill Lag
2. New Maps
3. New Game Mode Dynamics

Skill Lag;
Everyone knows what this is. No further definition needed.

New Maps:
Why not introduce some 2 server maps. It would be nice to alternate 2 and 3 server weeks. For example, week 1 is server 1v2, 3v4v5, 6v7, 8v9v10. Week 2 is 1v2v3, 4v5, 6v7v8, 9v10. This allows for new matchups on a week by week basis for everyone except for the top 2 and bottom 2 servers. The random number generator used today could be tossed

New Game modes:
GvG has become a lot bigger. Allow for a custom map that allows 20v20. Put a capture point in the middle and just let to two sides fight. No siege. The team that takes the point gets 10 points for their server (or whatever number). If you added spectator mode to this, it would probably end up being more popular to view than a PvP match. The map itself doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs an open field.

Well at least make the borderlands look different. Make one full winter, make one fall with lots of trees, make one spring.

I know creating brand new maps is a big undertaking. But couldnt you just re-skin the existing maps? Like keep everything exactly the same cept make a desert theme version. Skin the grass to sand, skin the exist trees to palm trees, etc.

you could also have swamp, volcanic, arctic themes and rotate thriugh them. Weekly.

DevonCarver.5370:

we aren’t going to release them until they are totally ready

Dont worry man, we know on release will be buggy as crap like every bit of minuscule content you release so far since release, no matter if is pve or pvp content. We are used to that by now and we are still loving

would be really nice to see map changes every week!!!

WvW is just the lowest priority in the game, even Spvp lobby gets a re-skin on an event. WvW Gets nothing.

Its more what the Devs want instead of what the players want.. but ye, who listens anyway huH

New maps with the same mechanics would be a total fail(like capturing and holding towers, keeps and stuff). There are still servers in the game that don’t even have enough players to get queues on all the existing maps.

They should get some free transfers running to get players to servers like Vabbi.

For new maps some new mechanics – like a map with a Dolyak pasture you can capture to give all other maps your Dolyak a permanent movement buff and supply buff.

To make it more interesting to control all the other maps… not just EB your courner and your home borderlands as it is now.

Variations in the Borderlands instead of 3 identical maps would be more than enough to make me happy already

“New PvP Map – Skyhammer”

… and another new s/tPvP map comes with another patch. Grats to the few people who play sPvP. Anet’s obsession with this game being an eSport is getting baaaaaaad.

Commitments on content, new crafting resources, etc etc etc…
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/07/02/guild-wars-2-major-updates-every-two-weeks

… WvW?

For those people talking above about how the Developers can’t talk about stuff that’s in progress as it may not happen, here’s a little insight for you: Development studios plan this stuff out in painstaking detail, doubly so on a two week cycle. When they have nothing to share it’s because nothing is in-progress. From that you’re left to assume that stuff might happen, but who knows when as it isn’t planned into a build/release… and if it doesn’t make it into a release schedule, or covered via a plan, then it’s simply not a studio level priority.

What will it take for Anet to realise that the closest thing they have to hardcore endgame is WvW… and Mortar Mastery after several weeks of silence doesn’t cut it.

Devon, can you share anything we may see in the short term? No dates, no time scales, just what exactly is the focus of the WvW development team at the moment? Is a new WvW map planned this year? Or is it on the development plan for next year?

Yes to more maps. It’ll help eliminate queues(hopefully) on higher WvW-centric servers as well as spice up things a bit more.
A set of 6 random maps per matchup would be kewl.

Parthis.2091:

“New PvP Map – Skyhammer”

… and another new s/tPvP map comes with another patch. Grats to the few people who play sPvP. Anet’s obsession with this game being an eSport is getting baaaaaaad.

Commitments on content, new crafting resources, etc etc etc…
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/07/02/guild-wars-2-major-updates-every-two-weeks

… WvW?

For those people talking above about how the Developers can’t talk about stuff that’s in progress as it may not happen, here’s a little insight for you: Development studios plan this stuff out in painstaking detail, doubly so on a two week cycle. When they have nothing to share it’s because nothing is in-progress. From that you’re left to assume that stuff might happen, but who knows when as it isn’t planned into a build/release… and if it doesn’t make it into a release schedule, or covered via a plan, then it’s simply not a studio level priority.

What will it take for Anet to realise that the closest thing they have to hardcore endgame is WvW… and Mortar Mastery after several weeks of silence doesn’t cut it.

Devon, can you share anything we may see in the short term? No dates, no time scales, just what exactly is the focus of the WvW development team at the moment? Is a new WvW map planned this year? Or is it on the development plan for next year?

ANET is trying really hard to get people to care about PvP. I’d love to see the metrics for the amount of time people spend in PvP vs WvW. I suspect we would see a higher amount in WvW. If that is correct, ANET has the wrong development priorities.

As to my earlier message, look at what we receive for WvW this update. A new progression skill. Wrong WvW priority once again.

Yamato Shinobi.4378:

A set of 6 random maps per matchup would be kewl.

You know what i’d dearly love?

PvE players have the entirety of Tyria to play with, yet they never venture out of LA.

I’d love to have WvW fights on those maps. For example, at the start of each match-up the game selects two maps from Tyria, removes the mobs/NPCs, instances them, and designates one for 1-19 man groups and one for 20+ groups. Each of the maps has three control points worth a point value (just reuse the towns in the maps and add a control circle like camps in WvW). No supplies, no walls, no gates, no siege… just a variable map, organised groups and territory control.

A play ground for organised groups to go and do their thing. Point is, Anet, you already have a ton of maps. Most guilds don’t really care about the points anyway… just the fights.

One can dream, eh?

With the new update announced quick question Devon…how has it taken so long for even 1 WvW map to be done when their is such great demand from the WvWers while there will be now I think the 3rd or so sPVP map released?

“build and repair mastery” lol its almost like they are mocking us with this terrible content.

meanwhile pvp gets a new map. anet sure likes to fail

We want maps! Even crappy one with lot of flaws and exploits, just for the sake of getting new maps. Simple.

I spent the first 2 months in WvW learning tactics and finding all the nice spot to place siege in the 2 maps. Now I’m done. I have seen it all. There is no more innovation and I’m bored.

The last I remember, ANet said they had two shared devs (i.e., part timers) working on WvW, while they just recently stated that they have four full time teams (!) working on PvE content and that they plan to roll it out as often as every two weeks. It’s not hard to figure out where we stand or what the likelihood of a new WvW map is.