Im mostly speaking about the mechanics. Is the system pretty much complete aside from minor tweaks to balance, culling improvements, etc?
Are we stuck with the following mechanics?:
1. The majority of WvW revolving around “the zerg”. The side with the biggest zerg, wins. You dont need skill or much strategy when it comes to zerg gameplay. Its so extreme that zergs overcome pretty much ANY challenge in WvW in mere seconds: Smaller enemy zergs, Keep assaults, Keep Lords…. any of it. Zerg rolls in, seconds later, its over. Class build, skill combos, etc… none of it really maters.
2. Time+Effort = horrible rewards. Incentive… where is it? This is mostly in comparison to ANY other activity in this game. Crafting, Gathering, dungeon farming, Event farming, etc all yield better rewards for time and effort spent. This issue seems to have just been written off and ignored because players just use the excuse “Just get the rewards through other means”. Good, so take out incentive from the WvW part of the game, that surely will make things better. (/sarcasm). And no, im not saying i should get badges from every zerg kill. I often go 1 v 1 with people as I roam around, and walk away with under 10 badges after 2 hours of playing. 1 vs 1 seems to only net any sort of reward about 20% of the time. The time it would take to collect badges to buy 1 piece of gear is nearly 10 times longer than any other method of getting a reward in the game. Maybe if WvW badge gear was a lot better than other gear. Oh wait, its pretty much identical. Where exactly is the balance here?
3. Short of setting 24/7 groups to defend, there isnt any real way to organize and mount a defense to incoming raids/attacks. This has to do with #1 (the zerg), as well as the proximity of things like Keeps, Supply and Forts to each other. Things are too close together, making it too easy for the attacking zerg to attack, capture, and move on before a side can organize and launch a real defense to stop them.
4. Having come from games like Daoc, Shadowbane, and even (shudders) WaR, the concept of wall/keep defense seems completely “off”. Not only can attackers hit targets they cant even see up on the walls, but its easier for the attacker to hit defenders, than it is for the defenders to hit attackers (totally NOT the way any sort of realistic keep defense goes.). Yes, this isnt reality, its a game, that doesnt mean it has to be so far fetched that it totally removes certain gameplay elements from a factions vs faction battle. Attackers should feel more or less weaker against wall defenders UNLESS they have siege to attack. Wall defenders shouldnt have to rely entirely on siege to mount any type of defense against attackers, especially those at the base of the walls. Wall archers? LOL please, Instant death. People trying to man wall mounted siege like cannons… instant death. The only hope for wall defenders is to play indirect fire siege weapons far enough back from the edge of the wall, and even then, some class abilities STILL manage to find a way to hit them.
There are lots of other areas where WvW could use some serious gameplay improvement (as well as technical improvement, but they promise they are still working on the tech part). Is what we see now, what we get for the next 2+ years more or less when it comes to WvW gameplay? Have the devs talked about some big, noticeable changes that are coming that will change things up quite a bit? Or is it futile for me to wait for any real changes beyond the minor tweaks and balances that will happen over time?
Personally, id love to see a few new, slightly smaller WvW zones added, called “battlefronts” which would have only a handful of objectives, and a population cap on how many players from each faction could enter. To promote non-zerg, small team organized gameplay and strategy. Results of each battlefront could add passive bonuses to the normal WvW areas.