Guild Wars 2

You enter WvW, you look at the map, you see a commander shield, you run to the shield, you have no clue what is happening, all you know is to run to the shield.

A Thief duo instantly kills you.

You look at the map, you run to the shield.

You get to the commander, you spend 1 hour following a group of players, all of which are unable to perform any kind of attacks due to lag, we all spend our time tab target auto attacking, we gank solo and small groups, feeling like we are pro as we do this.

we attack a keep, a kitten whom can’t read tags too early.

a larger zerg eats us like a fat man to a pie, we respawn, and blame each other. we log out until the zerg has gone, please start from the beginning to find out what happens next.

Sounds rough. Doesn’t really mesh with my experience though.

get a guild, quit complaining

It sounds like your first time. I don’t know how much you expect to know on your first time. As you get to learn how things work (if you take the time to play it more), things will get clearer.

Usually the commander can only do so much when he/she is leading people like you who aren’t sure of what’s going on. Instructions have to be simple, can’t react fast, and without voice chat you can’t really type out everything that’s going through your head (which can often be wrong, you can’t expect every decision to be gold over many hours of playtime) and give some context to your actions. So I think in large pick up groups lots of people are sort of makin their own decisions based on the information they have.

Joining a guild helps the process of learning. Running with a regular group gives you a better idea of the things you can do with a certain size of people and, perhaps more importantly, the things you can’t do, heh. Discoverin new things you can do though is heaps of fun =)

Just like to clear this is, this is not my first time in this wvw game or pvp.

the WvW zones are too small meaning smaller groups get owned by zergs, the servers are too slow meaning you cant do a kitten thing while fighting a zerg or being part of one.

When you zerg everyone loses their identity and become the minion of the commander.

fix: actually spend some money of a good wvw server, merg all the wvw maps into one large zone.

the more like daoc the better.

I run with groups of 5-10 and have no problems other than limited bag space.

ask in map chat for TS/RC/mumble/etc… im sure this will help you understand whats going on =)

Direwind.8409:

You enter WvW, you look at the map, you see a commander shield, you run to the shield, you have no clue what is happening, all you know is to run to the shield.

A Thief duo instantly kills you.

You look at the map, you run to the shield.

You get to the commander, you spend 1 hour following a group of players, all of which are unable to perform any kind of attacks due to lag, we all spend our time tab target auto attacking, we gank solo and small groups, feeling like we are pro as we do this.

we attack a keep, a kitten whom can’t read tags too early.

a larger zerg eats us like a fat man to a pie, we respawn, and blame each other. we log out until the zerg has gone, please start from the beginning to find out what happens next.

lol nice Summary.

That’s what happens when you reward casual zerglings and leave broken pvp mechanics -stealth- unattended for a full year>>>declining customer base.

Have fun with the scraps that are left, Anet. Thank the devs.

Move to a less zergy tier.

Lol, I see a commander tag and I know where I shouldn’t go^^ The experience of the OP is totally different to mine.

Direwind.8409:

the WvW zones are too small meaning smaller groups get owned by zergs, the servers are too slow meaning you cant do a kitten thing while fighting a zerg or being part of one.

Our havoc group of 5 [HB] didn’t seem to have a problem not getting owned by zergs, though [TW] did give us a few chases and scares for our lives, and we managed to flip four towers before we were done.

So…? Were we playing a different game?

Ur not doin it rite.

You enter WvW. You look at the map. You ascertain what is happening by looking at the map (big orange swords on stonemist’s inner layer. Gee, what is going on there?). If you cannot ascertain what is going on in the map, you ask what is going on in the map. After you find out what is going on the map, you decide to

A): Join or form a Havoc team of 5 players that goes around getting tanks and undefended towers.
B): Set up siege defenses and run supply at critical towers and keeps, as well as maintenance siege and upgrades at those locations.
C): Go to the commander shield and do whatever it is they are doing.
D): Go near the commander shield and scout specifics, reporting back to the commander group what you see (enemy groups, how well defended a tower is, how much time is left on guild claiming, etc).
E): Go solo and try to intercept yaks and pwn n00bs.
F): Put on your own commander tag and form another group that takes on larger missions.
F) a) If you don’t have a commander tag but have enough pull in a guild or on the map, do F but without the tag.
G)Sit on defense at a tower or keep and keep tabs/have a sandwich with a relaxing view of zerglings running by.
H)Group up as many as you can in one spot and LIVE FOR THE SWARM!!!
I)Enter Guild vs. Guild battles.
J)Decide the map is fine and your services are needed elsewhere.

And probably some other things I haven’t mentioned. There’s a limit to my creativity and experiences, after all.

As a solo player, WvW involves going to a zone, looking for a commander tag, finding it, frequently dying because their zerg is bigger than our zerg, paying repair bills, logging out.

Not impressed. That’s all I can say.

Wvw takes some skill and experience. The OP description is how I started playing it, but eventually you get to know which commanders are worth following, and what you can accomplish on your own or with a smaller group. You also learn how to rally a small group even outside your guild, and how to deal with or get away from that thief duo.

If wvw continued to always be that original way, I can see why it would be no fun. But the first time I defeated that duo, and the first time I got a small group together to take our own keep, and the first time we stood against a larger zerg and were triumphant… that feeling is why I love it and keep playing.

Direwind.8409:

You enter WvW, …

What you describe surely matches the observation of new and inexperienced players (or a player who just doesn’t want to dive deeper into WvW). It is surely one of the game’s problems that while it is easy for new players to jump right into the action as you describe, the game itself doesn’t help new players to understand that there can be more to WvW than just this.

Fortunately, this gap is usually filled by your server’s community. There are simple ways to gain access to a deeper WvW experience:

• Most server’s do have a “world-wide” TeamSpeak/Mumble/whatever server open for all players. Listening to your server’s communication really helps to understand the current situation leagues better that reading map chat and mini map can ever achieve. Just ask for IP and credentials using the in-game chat.
• Active WvW communities also host forums or VoIP meeting to coordinate their strategy. This communication helps to make to most of your servers resources. and to extend the map coverage to the off hours. I’d ecourage you to also follow your servers discussion outside of the game.
• And, most importantly, join a WvW guild and start discussing/training strategy and tactics with your peers. Dedicated WvW guilds usually train group tactics that are way superior to a random zerg’s tab-and-spam-1 lack of tactics.

~MRA

(Having a blast in WvW since March 2012. And I literally mean blast, as in blast finishers.)

This is WvW…- a roamer’s view

You enter WvW, you look at the map, you see a commander shield, you say “whatever, I’m gonna go kill some scrubs.” You have a clue what is happening, because your server either communicates in chat, uses or voice comm, or you can tell by what is contested, and what has been taken. You know that running to a shield blindly gets you killed.

A thief duo tries to kill you. You take them out then jump on their bodies until they respawn.

You look at the map, you see the shield, you sigh, “whatever.”

Stay tuned for the next installment, This is WvW… – a coordinated server’s view
————————————————————————-
Seriously though it sounds the typical pug zergball without any sort of communication, coordination being lead by a pug commander with pugs following. Everyone has to start somewhere, but if “all you know is to run to the shield” then I suggest you bone up on your WvW knowledge and map reading skills. Maybe ask some people in chat on your server? It would also help if your server and commanders learn how to communicate information to each other, whether it’s chat or a voice comm (that’s not really something you can control but yeah).

ditch the zerg and learn to roam. Zerg is boring , roaming is not rewarding if you are after wxp but fun.

Mogar.9216:

ditch the zerg and learn to roam. Zerg is boring , roaming is not rewarding if you are after wxp but fun.

Only on thieves.

Aether McLoud.1975:

Mogar.9216:

ditch the zerg and learn to roam. Zerg is boring , roaming is not rewarding if you are after wxp but fun.

Only on thieves.

And on my necro, and on my mesmer… and I am sure others can add their professions too…

Vena.8436:

Direwind.8409:

the WvW zones are too small meaning smaller groups get owned by zergs, the servers are too slow meaning you cant do a kitten thing while fighting a zerg or being part of one.

Our havoc group of 5 [HB] didn’t seem to have a problem not getting owned by zergs, though [TW] did give us a few chases and scares for our lives, and we managed to flip four towers before we were done.

So…? Were we playing a different game?

Maybe not a different game, but certainly a different kind of opposition [NOOB] if a group of 5 is allowed [SCOUT?] to flip 4 towers on your server.

OP left out an important part that fixes everything he’s talking about. When I go into WvW…

Step 1. Get on TS.

op is pretty much right. sure you do a bit of this or that. but a lot of the design decisions are pro-zerg*. and if you are in a small group, you can do a little more but it comes with the ‘pressure’/restrictions of doing whatever someone else wants all the time, which can be ok but can blow too.

- if players were able to start sieges and take towers solo for example by easily building siege, then players would spread out and not need to follow the zerg. If repairing/manning siege was more rewarding – and didn’t disappear – people would do it more. siege could be more rewarding by higher visibility, maneuverability and damage so you can actually score kills and see the effect (rather than shooting into emptiness and not killing even if you manage to hit). Zergs are the most profitable in terms of wxp etc too.

yeah its a really terrible game design and they have only made it worse since the game released (nothing but zerg/noob friendly patches). i had such high hopes for wvw in this game. such a huge disappointment all around.

its supposed to be zerg vs zerg… why else they allow 80ppl per server in a map?

large scale fights is what makes this game great.
only problem is the skill lag wich needs to be fixed.. only problem i see is that.

simple

My days as a Ranger are a little different:
1) Check the map for yaks.
2) run to the yaks.
3) Run from the pair of thief that tried to gank you, and kill them underwater if they follow.
4) get to the yaks, kill the yaks.
5) if there are 2 minutes until click, flip the camp. Else, back to 2
6) repeat.

or, if there is a known commander, follow lead.

Nice and fun

TyPin.9860:

Aether McLoud.1975:

Mogar.9216:

ditch the zerg and learn to roam. Zerg is boring , roaming is not rewarding if you are after wxp but fun.

Only on thieves.

And on my necro, and on my mesmer… and I am sure others can add their professions too…

Guardian, warrior, and ele as well. If anything roaming as a thief has become terribly boring. I’d rather have a challenge.