Guild Wars 2

So, hear me out on this. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I believe that this could be a decent WvW solution that could also fix some other problems too.

In a nutshell the idea is to tie the Guilds themselves more into WvW. “Guild Wars” is the title of the game so why not have some… Guild Wars?

Here’s how I would see it being implemented. First, every week a player gets to select which guild (s)he wants to represent WvW for (Right now I see this as the only real limitation and it may not even be necessary) then they are “locked in” to that guild for WvW only. Next, a new research option for guilds called “Mist war research” is created. Completing this allows a Guild to sign up for WvW. It would have 3 tiers; small, medium, large that unlock based on Guild population. The previous one then being locked (So a 450 person guild couldn’t do the small one) these would be researchable relatively quickly, say 24 hours, so even a guild prone to procrastination could get it done. Every week it would need to be done to “register” for the next matchup. Once a Guild had completed the research the guild leader then can select from a number of factions (Red, Blue, Green) that mirror the total sever numbers, or more or less depending on needs. Anet simply keeps tabs on the guilds sizes that are signing up and makes sure they are balanced, my suggestion would be as basic as when doing random death matches, one side is greyed out till the other(s) catch up.

This would allow a few different things. First, it would balance the matches. Especially if the names changed. You couldn’t just say “us 40 guilds sign up for Trainzforlife every time”. Obviously there will always be work-a-rounds, but I feel that large scale fixing would be near impossible and easily caught if attempted. Second, it would foster stronger guild communities and ties between guilds. While I would be opposed to vast “alliances” of guilds that essentially amounted proxy servers, I think a band of 4-5 large guilds that always attempted to play for the same faction would add some spice and drama to the game! Third, this would provide a variety for the matches, instead of: “X server again, ugh it’ll be the same as last week!” you’ll never know quite who you are facing or what to expect! Fourth and most importantly; we would have GUILD WARS.

Although the initial implementation may be rough I think a follow addition could make a huge impact in the game. After the first several weeks Guilds would get a score based on population and time spent WvWing. Not based on skills, or caps or achievements, just on how many people are playing WvW and for how long. Eventually this shifting score could be the bases for having guilds join factions rather than just “small, medium, large” It could also become a point of pride and/or a recruiting tool for guilds.
Thoughts? Feedback is appreciated.

TL;DR Guilds as the bases for WvW not servers.

They are never ever going to do such an “overhaul” to WvW, period. The current version, albeit flawed in many ways, works decently.

While I dont disagree with detaching servers from WvW and using ingame “factions” in ESO style campaigns to place groups of guilds vs other groups of guilds, the problem is how do you translate and keep the current community intact? Many servers (I’m guessing all T3 and up) have their own TS, their own little community. Its one of the things that make GW2 truly great. When you move away from this and more towards a fluid EoTM style system where guilds join up on a side, there would be no fixed gathering point. There would be no community. Even worse if different guilds sign up the next time or you end up in some group that you dont even want to play with.

I honestly dont see a way around it.

Best case scenario, I wish they move everything ingame. Make it more immersive.

- Remove the login server selection, its completely pointless after megaservers. New accounts get the option to joining a “guild” after creating a char and logging on for the first time.
- Change the servers to Anet created “guilds”. You cant represent them unlike player created guilds, but you are always part of them and its now listed in the guild tab as your WvW “guild”.
- Ingame major guildhalls for these “guilds” (much, much bigger than the minor guildhalls for player guilds) where things always change; NPCs crying for reinforcements if the “guild” is low population, fireworks and banners if the “guild” won the matchup, transfer options via NPCs, etc and so on.

Basicly its a 1:1 translation of current servers into ingame major guilds. Dont change the functionality, just change the… visuals, sort of speak.

The first thing ANet should do is disconnect PVE server choice from WvW.

When new players start playing, don’t bother giving them a choice of “servers.”
→ Since megaserver makes it mostly irrelevant anyways.

When they enter WvW for the first time, they’ll get a choice of “server”, with a small reward (WvW Badges? Siege Blueprints?), which scales up according to how empty the WvW server is.
→ New players are thus encouraged to spread out and even up the servers.

WvW server population is measured by “Active Players”. You have to play WvW for at least a few hours each week to be considered active.
→ So population-based pricing and rewards can more accurately reflect WvW populations.

Transferring to a different WvW server can cost gems, the more crowded the server, the more it costs to transfer.
→ We’ll no longer have a situation where a server is “full” of PvE players but WvW is less populated.