Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 will soon have its first anniversary, unbelievable its been almost a year since launch! The following is all my opinion.

Unbelievable, because the game is still a lot of fun, in all three phases PvE, sPvP, and WvW. This is without a doubt a testament to Arenanet.

While the guild I am a part of is primarily a WvW guild, we have become less active in WvW, and more active in PvE and sPvP. Their are a number of reasons why; the ooo shiny is gone; player’s leveling alts; the living story Anet has implemented drawing time away from WvW.

I still play all phases, and still tend to put more time into WvW than any other phase. My server like other servers is starting to see drop offs in concurrent player-base in the WvW phase. Some of my guild mates have suggested that the implementation of living story in PvE is why the drop off is happening. I don’t know if this is true, but I do believe more players find the fun in the game in PvE more than WvW. Do you agree?

Is there a way to draw PvE players into WvW? I think this depends on what is “fun” for the individual player. From what I have seen over the past year, “fun” in WvW can be classified into two categories. Groups of players who only enjoy killing other players. Groups of players who enjoy winning the match and derive very little enjoyment from killing other players. (killing is a bonus in their eyes) I think I am apart of both groups at times it largely depends on what group I am running with. I rarely roam around solo, because I derive my “fun” from group play and team work. Combo fields make me smile!

Do you agree with this categorization? If so, where do you derive your “fun” from in WvW?

Final question, can Anet make changes to the current mechanics of WvW to improve server unity with out segregating players into groups like stated above?

Fun is subjective, as you realize, so the way a player chooses to play the game is fun for them. Pretty obvious as you pointed out, that people are enjoying the Living World content right now and thus not in WvW as much, or have simply ‘burnt out’ of wvw (I really hate this term but ti gets the point across).

AN should have put some functionality for guilds into WvW to keep them there, but they have been slow. Some sort of server scoreboard, or a dedicated GvG function. I hope and believe this is something they’re working on. In doing so, you would also see pve’ers venturing into WvW with their guild more frequently, making for a better WvW experience for us all.

For me, my fun in WvW is ‘fighting for my server’. However, I am not guilded, because it isn’t fun for me to wait around half the time for other people. I genuinely find it fun harassing groups of enemy players, especially the large guildballs, messing up their movement and relaying their position.