Guild Wars 2

Server structure
Server structure is pivotal in the balance of WvW because it dictates how the millions of players around the world divide themselves. ArenaNet opted for a EU/US server structure which makes sense in terms of reducing latency and promoting players in the same continents playing together. However, this structure fails at promoting international servers with 24/7 activity which is needed for competitive WvW. Europeans and Americans have inherently been split into two camps, the US servers don’t have Europeans to depend on during their off-peak hours and vice versa. This is the reason why so many servers are vulnerable during late night hours but a select few servers who have international presence are stronger around the clock.

Lack of equilibrium restoration
The system should ideally be helping losing sides push the fight back to an even state. Currently there is no mechanic that does this in fact, precisely the opposite is true. The system helps the dominant force keep the fight at the extremities aka full map control. A good system should make it extremely hard for a team to take another teams home keep and relatively easy for the losing team to get their home keep back.

Supply
Teams being pushed back to their spawn cannot reliably get supply. At best you can take a supply camp to replenish what you have on you but once they are retaken, you are back to working with limited resources. Defending the supply camp may not be a choice when you face overwhelming numbers and need all hands at a tower to take it.

I originally would have liked a supply point at the spawn but I figure it should only be available to those in desperate need of it. I would propose the supply point to be active when the outnumbered buff is active.

Match-making
From the way we know it works at the moment it is largely in-effective. Three similar scoring servers can be a total mismatch even though it is the best matchup by score. Match making ought to be more complex and match based on activity hours as well.

Very good points all.

1) You put your finger on the problem with server structure. They made EU and NA servers, but not Oceanic ones for the third region. The number of off-peak players in their home regions is negligible compared to the impact of guilds playing outside their region. ArenaNet’s efforts to paint customer complaints as “being unfair to shift workers” is a straw man.

2) Equilibrium restoration is needed. ’Nuff said, has been discussed ad nauseum elsewhere.

3) Great suggestion on supply. When you are overwhelmingly outmanned on a map, it can be impossible to even take and hold 1 supply camp. Making supply available in the spawn when you are far behind would help.

There are sensible rebuttals of every single one of your points. And yet I wonder if it would be worth it. You’ve obviously put some thought into this, which tells me that you willfully ignore the ‘solutions’ to all the problems you bring up. So. Either you are trolling, or you’ve made up your mind already. Am I wrong?

I agree with what you’re saying in general, but I feel your 1. complaint is missing the point. It’s not about time zones – population imbalance is an issue at all hours of the day, even prime time, and the game doesn’t really do anything at all to mitigate it (quite the opposite due to the snowball effect).

A good system to correct for population imbalance would address the time zone issue, but it’s also needed to address imbalances in population at all times. It’s not just time zones doing it.

Also, with supply – the other problem is you can’t carry as much when you’re outnumbered. You really need to be able to carry more in that situation.