ArenaNet,
I am sure that over the course of the next week that you will see countless threads popping up complaining about the rewards found in the WvW Season One reward chest. I don’t want to waste your time, but to be blunt something needs to be done. The rewards are… not only underwhelming, but for the health of WvW moving forward I feel that the current reward is inexcusable. Rewards in for events in GW2 (and any game) serve a few key functions:
1. Motivate players to partake in an event.
2. Provide adequate time/reward compensation to players who participate.
3. Grant players a feeling of accomplishment.
The current WvW Season One rewards do none of the above as the same reward for a 7 week undertaking is equal to about 30-40 minutes farming Frostgorge Sound. The implications may be greater than you previously anticipated. The full impact of the lackluster Season One reward should not be underestimated. Many servers in Bronze/Silver league worked diligently to recruit and motivate players who had never participated in the WvW game mode. Given the insignificant current reward getting people to try (and continue to play WvW) will only become harder. If no action is taken, when WvW Season 2 rolls around fewer players will be motivated to participate because the reward is not worth the investment of their time. Furthermore, as I’m sure you can see, the vast majority of the Season One participants feel that the reward was inadequate compared to their time investment. Finally, I think that it is safe to say that the current rewards provide absolutely no sense of accomplishment for anyone.
So, here is my clear and concise recommendation:
Amend the WvW Season One reward chest by providing the following-
1. Provide a unique, worthwhile reward for every player on every server who earned the reward key. Here are some suggestions:
a. An ascended quality back piece with a unique skin that is only awarded at the end of a season. (Think Karka Shell or Fractal Capacitor)
b. Utilize the release of the upcoming ascended armor release and reward players with a single set of ascended armor.
c. A single unique weapon skin (allow each player select one weapon from a set) that is only awarded in the WvW Season chests.
2. Remove the 250 count from the Gold/Silver/Bronze Dolyak finishers and make them permanent until the beginning of Season 2. The top 3 servers in each league should be given the gold for first, silver for second, and bronze for third. Essentially you would be giving 9 servers finishers rather than only 3. Clearly this would provide less insensitive for players to rush to a handful of servers and more intensive for players to participate spread throughout the range of servers so that nobody has to deal with a 4-5 hour queue.
Many are suggesting that we as a community simply accept the current reward and move on. However I would encourage you to consider the long term implications of inadequate rewards on the GW2 playerbase between now and the end of Season 2. ArenaNet has these forums so that the players have a clear channel of communication to the developers. Luckily, ArenaNet does listen and is taking strides at showing that with the Collaborative Discussion as well as removing the Flamekissed Light Armor Skin being removed/reworked. Make your voice heard.
(edited by Righteous.4307)