Guild Wars 2

Maybe not a lot of people will agree, however, that’s expected with the internet. Instead of talking about how bad the current Commander system is- how to fix it, etc, I want to see a conversation about how to improve the functionality as it stands.

1. Communicate- If you want to be the leader, then you have to lead. Make sure your intentions are known. Sometimes there are spies in team and map chat, so you may have to work around it. Talk in say if you are confident in the people around you, send whispers to key community leaders in your server.

Who are community leaders?
Obvious ones are guild leaders with some size behind them.
Sometimes there are other commanders that aren’t taking the reigns, speak to them as well.
Community leaders can also be popular people from crafting, speaking in map chats.
These people are your first priority when trying to lead a realm in WvWvW, relying on them to trickle down information.

Another aspect of communication, it goes two ways. You may think you are the reincarnation of Sun Tzu, Alexander the Great and Ghengis Khan… however, you are not and this is only a video game. Listen to the criticism and advice of others. While leading, it’s not only important to give direction… but to take it as well. The “militia” often has great ideas, as a good commander, it’s your job to help encourage and support those great ideas and pluck them from the chaos. It’s also good to know when your way isn’t cutting it and to look for a better way.

2. Collaborate- In a war where all the soldiers are voluntary, this is essential. You cannot be a dictator without a dictatorship- and you do not have the ability to force everyone into your grand scheme. If there is an obvious push towards a tactic or region that you do not support, then find a way to compromise.

Example of doing it wrong: “omg, the militia is dying against enemy spawn tower again… while our keep is getting attacked?! you n00bs, stop doing that! i r best commander, get back here now. Ah whatever, we lose to n00bs again, don’t even bother yelling at them anymore.”

Example of doing it right: “Hey Jake, can you go over there and see what’s going on? Can you talk in /say and get some of them to spawn back to support our defense? Thanks!”

Or….

“Alright guys, pull back to inner gate and get some siege defenses by the keep lord, we’ll hold them off. Let’s see if we can get some support to the militia to take that tower, so some of them will come back in time before we lose this place.”

Another important aspect of collaboration, allied commanders. It does no good to tell every other commander that you were there first, that you know better, etc. etc. Try to reach a compromise, I’ve often done attacking commander and defending commander. Another compromise is to have one directing forces in one region, another directing forces in a different region. Collaborate ways to use resources effectively, instead of telling everyone how your way is the best way, so much better results.

3. Play it Cool: Alright, so you were winning for the past two hours and some upstart general comes in trying to tell everyone how he’s going to dominate the rest of the map. This is not a guy or gal that wishes to communicate anything beyond their own authority and direction, they will not collaborate… and are already not playing it cool.

You can A: Begin an internal wrestle for power…

B: Rely on all the people you’ve been leading effectively to ignore the usurper or support your authority.

or

C. Let the guy have his five minutes of fame.

If A and B aren’t working, please go to C. The only ones who win while you are arguing with the other commander (commanders) are the enemy realms. Just let him/her lead if they want to lead that badly and it’s dividing the army. Either you will be presently surprised as they take objectives and hold them, or they will wipe so badly that the militia is scattered and looking for new direction. (Continued…)

WvWvW lasts so long that you do not need to fret over an allied commander making bad calls for even 2 or 3 hours. Honestly, if there are 6 commanders all over the map barking different orders, it doesn’t help. Just try to rally behind one with the most common sense, if they won’t support you.

Another part of playing it cool, just as important. Do NOT take credit for victories. It’s the entire server that helps win the war, you function only as a part of that winning. The guy firing the trebuchet to keep the outter wall down while you bark directions on the inner wall is just as important as you. If he stops firing, your army gets cut in half and things can easily go down hill from there. The militia, guildmates and alliances all play vital roles in winning battles- you are only there to help serve them. The quicker this is learned, the better and the more positive results you will see.

Sometimes it may be necessary to do some chasitising, however do it with class. Even while telling groups what they did wrong, try to offer something they do right or how to turn things around. This is still a newer game and lots of people are learning a completely different way of warfare. Play it cool… Do not simply give up on your fellow realm mates.

Ex. of doing it wrong. “omg, again?! wtf, how many times I tell you n00bs, go where I say, now look where we are?!”

Ex. of doing it right. “Look at this as a lesson learned. Over-extending without the supplies and upgrades to hold a place has put us in a bad spot; you all are great fighters, so let’s get back in the game. Here is where we can start…”

TL;DR. Communicate, Collaborate… and play it Cool Commanders. It’ll make the game more fun for you and everyone else.

No, no, no, no, no.

There is only ONE C that is important. Congregate. The power of the zerg is unparalleled. Commanders only have one purpose, be the beacon on the map.

kKagari.6804:

No, no, no, no, no.

There is only ONE C that is important. Congregate. The power of the zerg is unparalleled. Commanders only have one purpose, be the beacon on the map.

It’s a bit silly to say that zerging is everything. It is the Commander’s job to herd the zerg, though; unless we mean “commander” in the sense of “person who directs people around the battlefield” rather than “blue arrow”.

Zerg is everything, basically it just escalates

Level 1 – who has the biggest zerg wins
Level 2 – which zerg has a better leader(knows where to go and doesn’t waste time)
Level 3 – which zerg responds to commanders orders faster and more efficiently
Level 4 – which zerg has a solid group of players leading the charge and breaking through enemy zergs

I’m just messing around, threw that together in 30 seconds…some truth in it I guess

The way WvW works now is the zerg with the bigger number always win.
They cary more suply’s, they cary more siege equipment, they have more raw power to attack and defend.

Thing is a few mesmers with 10/15 good AoE classes can realy one of the most deadly weapons on the battlefield.
A good commander should use mesmers more often as of right now its the only way to stop a bigger attacking force.

It seems to me some commanders just have no clue and think they are god when it comes to leading, even they are wrong and a simple soul making a sugestion is ignored most of the time or is quickly disposed as a noob and yelled at with comments like buy commander tittle if you wanne lead.

Lik ein real life you have good commanders and bad one’s, ive seen a few good one’s but they almost never seem to take adivise from us simpletons.

Best way to fix this issue is like somone sugested:

Vote for your commander and refund current commanders their 100 gold.
This way you see at least a commander that most of the WvW population agree’s with instead of a bought tittle.

Commanders need to earn that tittle not buy one.

Being the blue arrow on the map doesnt mean ppl likes you or that you have any leading skills, it only means you have money.
Ex: in RoS we have 1 good commander and 1 good leader. And we have like 4 other commanders that think that just because they send 100g down the sewer they can bark and ppl will listen. Well, no. Those 4 are always barking orders but no1 follows em. The server follow a Nice leader thats not even a commander during daytime and the good commander during night-time( due to them switching confortably with their timezones)

So. Spending 100g doesnt assure you you Gil get ppl to like you. You will only be a light in the darkness for “autist” ppl that doesnt bother to ask/give info. So you wont have ppl following you, only dogs.

I feel like my original post was completely misunderstood. It has nothing to do with the title, but about the ethics of those saying they are leaders.