Guild Wars 2

Okay, I get why they were removed. There was hackers able to fly through the map with the things; there was Mesmers portaling through the walls; and there were environmental weapons that exploited around keeps. That’s all been cleared up, right?

The orbs also had an issue with them being super powerful for the winning team. A team could cap all 3 orbs and essentially own all 4 maps for the entire matchup against the other servers. Though this is partially due to the other two servers not partnering up to take out the commanding server, yet instead they just gave up all together.

Enough of the negative,..just enough. Let’s look at the positive aspects of them. When there was an orb in a keep, that entire owning server’s presence on that server was to defend that keep at all costs and obtain surrounding structures to support/supplement that keep. The other two servers presence on that map was to consistently harass and attack that keep (whether in unison or individually).

Trebs, catapults, and various other siege was used by literally the 100’s in single invasion attempts. Supply camps never stayed supplied…never. A supply camp was constantly drained to constantly repair buildings, build siege, and help back up whatever objective was your team. This was done through volunteered and assigned supply teams/trains, which kept moving over and over again (not giant zerg balls).

Even when it came to transporting the Orb(s), a team did it in ways that wasn’t so much a zerg as it was multiple team efforts. Different groups would be clearing the roads in front and behind the orb carrying group. There would be siege preparations setting up on where the orb was going, based on the inevitable strike against it by the other chasing servers.

Suggestion related to orbs: Reduce the buff of the orbs by 2% HP and 50% Stats per additional orb owned. Right, so the single orb is a flat 5% HP and +50 Stats, the second orb owned would give another 3% HP and +25 stats, and the third orb owned would give an additional 1% HP and +13 stats. (equates to total of 8% HP and +88 Stats, which is like having two extra food Boons).

It might still push other servers over the top. I say, instead of stat boost, an increase in exp, karma, MF and Wxp (kinda like the ones you get when you’re outmanned).

penatbater.4710:

It might still push other servers over the top. I say, instead of stat boost, an increase in exp, karma, MF and Wxp (kinda like the ones you get when you’re outmanned).

I like this idea. If a team is winning by a good margin, then they’ll go for the orb. Having the orb naturally encourages double-teams by the other two teams — something that’s definitely not encouraged in the current environment but is really needed. Thus we get better matches (ideally).

Orbs bring further imbalanced to matchups that are already not balanced. Playing on NSP and having about 15% of the WvW population of DH who we are playing against, I would not want to give even more of an advantage to the side that is going to win 100% of the time anyways.

Now in balanced tiers, where all 3 servers are equal, orbs would be a nice twist. But until the WvW tiers balance out, orbs are too volatile to bring back.

NO!
adding more for body length.

Curo.2483:

Orbs bring further imbalanced to matchups that are already not balanced. Playing on NSP and having about 15% of the WvW population of DH who we are playing against, I would not want to give even more of an advantage to the side that is going to win 100% of the time anyways.

Now in balanced tiers, where all 3 servers are equal, orbs would be a nice twist. But until the WvW tiers balance out, orbs are too volatile to bring back.

They’re a single goal that is fought between 3 sides. If two sides don’t own it, they fight against the side that does to obtain it. That’s where it becomes a more enjoyable, tactical fight instead of just a circle-cap run that it currently is now.

As I’d mentioned above, the stats of the Orb (singular) is that equal to a food buff. If you have a food buff and they don’t, you’re on even terms. If you have two or more orbs, it’s still only a slight increase by that of only 75% of the first Orb.

I’m just saying that when the orbs were in play, beyond the hacking/glitching/exploiting, the gameplay was far more fun because it was a singular objective on a spread map with several secondary ones. It helped advance a more tactical team play than what’s currently out there. IT WAS FUN!

penatbater.4710:

It might still push other servers over the top. I say, instead of stat boost, an increase in exp, karma, MF and Wxp (kinda like the ones you get when you’re outmanned).

This.
Make them bonuses you would want but not things that change the game. Could be anything from a lot of Magic Find to increased WXP.

Encourages fighting over them but doesn’t cause major imbalances in power, only rewards and if you’re holding it, drawing that attention, I think the reward should be all yours.

Castaliea.3156:

penatbater.4710:

It might still push other servers over the top. I say, instead of stat boost, an increase in exp, karma, MF and Wxp (kinda like the ones you get when you’re outmanned).

This.
Make them bonuses you would want but not things that change the game. Could be anything from a lot of Magic Find to increased WXP.

Encourages fighting over them but doesn’t cause major imbalances in power, only rewards and if you’re holding it, drawing that attention, I think the reward should be all yours.

It is called “Orb of Power” not “Orb of Experience” nor “Orb of Magic Find”, I’m just saying that it giving a side a small (food buff) boon is not a bad thing.

nope, no need.. WvW is already nice without them…. no need to reintroduce the hacking prone feature….

The problem with the orbs is that the team strong enough to take them is generally strong enough to keep them indefinitely, coverage permitting.

The solution is that Orbs should:

1. Increase the XP, WXP, Karma, Gold, and MF of the team that has them.

2. Decrease the Armor, Health, Power, and Condition Damage of team that has them.

The idea being, the risk of owning them is commensurate with the reward, and further, the more of the orbs you have, the more likely you are to lose them, and the harder you have to work to keep them and their reward.

That introduces an interesting tactical dilemma into the game and would force dominant servers to make a real choice – do we take the orbs and lose some of our dominance but gain a lot of “financial” reward, or do we ignore them and maintain our dominance but not reap the financial benefits of having them as well.

“WvW is already nice without orbs” …of course – but it could be far better with reintroducing them! To counter possible balancing issues, let the orbs be both a blessing and a curse at the same time:

• An orb gives a bonus of +6% to the points per tick.
• An orb for the 1st server (total score) gives a penalty of -3% to the players stats.
• An orb has no stat-effects for the 2nd server.
• An orb for the 3rd server gives a bonus of +3% to the players stats.

And to prevent hacking, just make the orbs accessible, when the keep lord and/or one of the inner doors is down.

How about rather than make the Orbs give a stat boost (giving the winning team more of an advantage), or a MF/XP/etc boost (tactically and strategically worthless and not worth the effort), just make the Orbs give points. Maybe make holding an Orb equivalent to holding a keep as far as point accumulation goes. That way they are still highly desired, but won’t simply strengthen the already strongest team.

Of course making the Orbs worth anything will encourage hacking and exploiting… but if Anet is able to stop the hackers/exploiters (I have my doubts though), then all would be good.

^this last idea, that would solve a lot

Alternatively, make them an equalising measure. That is, any server can hold the orb, but if your server is leading in points by, say, 25%… the nature of the buffs changes from getting points to getting MF and karma (or it always gives MF/karma/xp; but if you’re leading that much, you stop getting the points). There’s still the motivation to keep them out of the hands of the lower servers, to stop them getting points… but it doesn’t lead to an increase in the all-out domination fest.

Sharky.5024:

And to prevent hacking, just make the orbs accessible, when the keep lord and/or one of the inner doors is down.

this was among the suggestions given to ANET when orb was in the game and orb hacking was all over the place, and yet none has been done. finally ANET took orb away, and everyone happy….

again NO ORB RETURN !

Instead of playing capture the flag with an orb make it an upgrade. An example would be you have to own garrison hills bay, or some some other combination like garrison and its two towers..
— Once you own all of the towers you can start the orb upgrade, if you lose one of the towers you lose the orb.
—Add a countdown/timer in the UI that shows how long till the upgrade is completed for all servers to see.

This would help provide pressure against the upgrading server while forcing them to protect what is theirs. Could work in conjunction with an improved outmanned buff, say increase dmg against walls, doors, etc.

Siphaed.9235:

Castaliea.3156:

penatbater.4710:

It might still push other servers over the top. I say, instead of stat boost, an increase in exp, karma, MF and Wxp (kinda like the ones you get when you’re outmanned).

This.
Make them bonuses you would want but not things that change the game. Could be anything from a lot of Magic Find to increased WXP.

Encourages fighting over them but doesn’t cause major imbalances in power, only rewards and if you’re holding it, drawing that attention, I think the reward should be all yours.

It is called “Orb of Power” not “Orb of Experience” nor “Orb of Magic Find”, I’m just saying that it giving a side a small (food buff) boon is not a bad thing.

Frankly, “Power” can mean or imply many things and if you’re only going to translate it into only “OP stats for everyone!” then by all means go ahead and debate semantics all day.

Also, I know who you are Siph… I’m always watching.

I see a lot of really cool ideas in this thread guys. I’m glad to see people brainstorming actual ideas.

Orbs as they used to be:
1) cause snowballing
2) encourage playing for second

Orbs that give Karma/Gold/XP/WXP boosts:
1) encourage sacrificing points to gain money
2) encourage winners, discourage losers

Both types of Orbs do bad things to the meta. Why would you want them?

titanlectro.5029:

Orbs as they used to be:
1) cause snowballing
2) encourage playing for second

Orbs that give Karma/Gold/XP/WXP boosts:
1) encourage sacrificing points to gain money
2) encourage winners, discourage losers

Both types of Orbs do bad things to the meta. Why would you want them?

Two types of people.
He has a point though. Where I, or we, don’t view it as something we’d sacrifice drastically for unless we could who is to say others wouldn’t headlong rush for sacrificing objectives for it and then even giving up if unable to get it? That does sound like a typical gaming community. I specifically remember people just flat giving up if they didn’t feel they had a chance and being frustrated to no end. At the end of the day I think I like WvW without them better. Although there were some epic 3-way battles and good times with them in I think it was a good move taking them out. If they were ever implemented again though I’d much rather them be fluff bonuses (Karma,WXP, etc.) than stat stacking.

DevonCarver.5370:

Orbs will never come back in the form they had as they simply were too easy to hack around. With that said, we are definitely working on finding a suitable replacement for the best parts of the orbs, while avoiding as many of the downsides as we can. It’s not simple task though, so it isn’t as simple as deciding to do it one day and finishing it the next. Our goal is to get a new and improved version out when we can, but we can’t say yet when that will be.

This is a good thing. Orbs should never return IMO. The mechanic is simply broken..the server most likely to hold the orbs the majority of the time was the strongest server, providing even more buffs to the side already winning.

There are better ways to to attempt to resolve the disparities between servers.

I’d like the orbs to come back with monetary, karma, points and maybe wxp bonuses, and giving the sides that do not control them combat bonuses to balance it :p

This is something I’d love to see in WvW more often : give bonuses to the losing teams! It gives the losing team some hope and if carefully tuned, nothing else. A really strong server currently can control the whole maps easily. With bonuses to the losers, they’d control 3/4 of the map? We can still associate that with a really strong server anyway so why note throw a bone to the loosing servers and give them some stuff to claim as their own?

If you give things like karma and MF for orbs the top, serious, servers simply wouldn’t bother and the weaker servers, if any, would get the nerfs! (Or no one would bother at all and it would all net out) A points boost, counterbalanced by a stats nerf though might be interesting!

stof.9341:

I’d like the orbs to come back with monetary, karma, points and maybe wxp bonuses, and giving the sides that do not control them combat bonuses to balance it :p

This is something I’d love to see in WvW more often : give bonuses to the losing teams! It gives the losing team some hope and if carefully tuned, nothing else. A really strong server currently can control the whole maps easily. With bonuses to the losers, they’d control 3/4 of the map? We can still associate that with a really strong server anyway so why note throw a bone to the loosing servers and give them some stuff to claim as their own?

then strongest team would just let the weaker teams take the orb for the stat bonuses and be even stronger.

I think it would be very cool if orbs had both a positive and a negative. For instance, maybe they have stat increases as before, but require a constant feed of supply for power (thus draining they hold keep and making it easier to get into). This would make player defense of the orb more important, but also give them a built-in time-limitation such that nobody can just lock everything down. Anything that decreases the passive defense of the orb station while buffing players is an interesting dynamic.

Darn, when I saw the little red bubble next to the thread I thought Devon had come in here and said the orbs were coming back.

I don’t understand why they’re easy to hack. But then I don’t understand how people hack anything in a game.

DevonCarver.5370:

Johje Holan.4607:

Darn, when I saw the little red bubble next to the thread I thought Devon had come in here and said the orbs were coming back.

I don’t understand why they’re easy to hack. But then I don’t understand how people hack anything in a game.

They were easy to hack because of the fact that if you managed to fly or teleport hack you could do that and pick them up and take them right back to your base.

I always thought the sensible answer for this was to require a certain number of players around the orb in order to take possession of it. You can do proximity counters with events like Siegerazer, so why not the orbs? It’s not like fly hackers run in packs. They were always solo rogue players.

DevonCarver.5370:

Johje Holan.4607:

Darn, when I saw the little red bubble next to the thread I thought Devon had come in here and said the orbs were coming back.

I don’t understand why they’re easy to hack. But then I don’t understand how people hack anything in a game.

They were easy to hack because of the fact that if you managed to fly or teleport hack you could do that and pick them up and take them right back to your base.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane….. nope it just our orb being flown to the enemy’s base. dang.

seriously, is there no way to prevent or detect flying or teleporting people in WvW? I understand in the regular game world people log in all over the place, but not in WvW. I am no programmer or anything close but wouldn’t the monitoring of movement be much easier in just WvW?

I miss the Orbs, they were fun and added a lot to WvW imo. dang hackers ruin it for everyone.

DevonCarver.5370:

Orbs will never come back in the form they had as they simply were too easy to hack around. With that said, we are definitely working on finding a suitable replacement for the best parts of the orbs, while avoiding as many of the downsides as we can. It’s not simple task though, so it isn’t as simple as deciding to do it one day and finishing it the next. Our goal is to get a new and improved version out when we can, but we can’t say yet when that will be.

There are several ways of dealing with that. You could just add a very tough champion that would require a zerg to defeat him to be able to take the orb out, much like the giant grub.

You also could add orbs back in the form of xp/magic find/gold boosts, a way of making players happy and avoiding any further unbalance by hackers or anything like that.

Even if there is a group requirement to ‘unlock’ the orb you still have the issue of a single player picking it up and flying it away.

A better system would utilize NPC’s that carry the orb to its target location.

When the orb is picked up this caravan spawns and the player can choose the path. (Garrison East Gate, Garrision West Gate, Bay North Gate, Hills North gate) note you wont be able to pick a keep your faction does not own.

Another idea is to change the orb buff to be used to disable keeps or blast holes in a keep. Instead of using it to target an allied keep you can target an enemy keep and when it reaches a certain distance (outside AC range) from the outer door it explodes that door. Or alternatively use the Orb buff to disable waypoint upgrades in keeps for 15-30 mins at time.

Because the escort event is marked on the map for all sides it should encourage a lot of open field fights.

The carrier NPC should move faster than a dolyak but slower than a running player, and gain a buff so it takes reduced damage when allies are nearby.

Instead of making the orbs granting buffs to the server which holds them, just use this method instead:

There are 3 orbs. The server which is leading in the matchup doesn’t gain ANY bonus for holding them. So why should YOU protect them? Simply: to not to let the other two servers get those buffs from them. Moreover add a mechanich which grants a bonus in points whenever a server take the orb from the winning server (like get +10’000 points in the wvwvw matchup in addition to the buffs the orb provides).

Ipothetic scenario: server A is leading wth 150k points, server B is at 130k, server C is at 120K.

Server A holds all 3 orbs so neither server A nor B nor C get buffs. But then server B gains one orb, having buffs AND a +10’000 points. Now server A has 150k points, server B has 140k points AND buffs and server C has 120k points. Server C has no point in trying to steal the orb from Server B, since B is not leading AND has the buffs AND C would not get those 10’000 points. So B and C still focus on A.

This is both balanced (because the winning server gets NO advantages neither from holding nor from stealing an orb – it only doesn’t let the other 2 servers have the buffs) and funny, since the winning server (which often has a +50k lead) can never be too sure of winning the matchup.

Nebilim.5127:

DevonCarver.5370:

Orbs will never come back in the form they had as they simply were too easy to hack around. With that said, we are definitely working on finding a suitable replacement for the best parts of the orbs, while avoiding as many of the downsides as we can. It’s not simple task though, so it isn’t as simple as deciding to do it one day and finishing it the next. Our goal is to get a new and improved version out when we can, but we can’t say yet when that will be.

There are several ways of dealing with that. You could just add a very tough champion that would require a zerg to defeat him to be able to take the orb out, much like the giant grub.

Yes, but then people can still teleport/fly hack the orb out of the base once the champ is defeated. The problem still exists, it’s just not as bad as it was where a single person could fly in and steal it.

1) If it’s a power buff make the orb buff similar to a banner in that it expires after say 30min. That way you can use the buff when you push, but it won’t be on you forever without some cost to you.
2) If the buff is MF/XP it can stick around for longer.
3) Do not make it a WXP buff. As much as I’d love more WXP it’d be horrible for weak servers who can never hold on to the orbs.

Excalibur.9748:

then strongest team would just let the weaker teams take the orb for the stat bonuses and be even stronger.

But then the weaker teams would still control at least 3 garrisons/keeps then. And they’ll get bonuses that are appreciable for them.

Draygo.9473:

Even if there is a group requirement to ‘unlock’ the orb you still have the issue of a single player picking it up and flying it away.

The big difference here is there would be other players around to see it and potentially click the player to get an account name and report them. The major issue before was it was almost impossible to know who did it because nobody was around to see it happen. Also, I think people who decide to cheat would be less likely to do so when there’s other players around.

DevonCarver.5370:

Johje Holan.4607:

Darn, when I saw the little red bubble next to the thread I thought Devon had come in here and said the orbs were coming back.

I don’t understand why they’re easy to hack. But then I don’t understand how people hack anything in a game.

They were easy to hack because of the fact that if you managed to fly or teleport hack you could do that and pick them up and take them right back to your base.

I thought you guys can machine detect that kind of hack and ban the account right away?

Seems not.

But yeah I don’t like those orbs. Balance-breaking.

Veplerion.3921:

Nebilim.5127:

DevonCarver.5370:

Orbs will never come back in the form they had as they simply were too easy to hack around. With that said, we are definitely working on finding a suitable replacement for the best parts of the orbs, while avoiding as many of the downsides as we can. It’s not simple task though, so it isn’t as simple as deciding to do it one day and finishing it the next. Our goal is to get a new and improved version out when we can, but we can’t say yet when that will be.

There are several ways of dealing with that. You could just add a very tough champion that would require a zerg to defeat him to be able to take the orb out, much like the giant grub.

Yes, but then people can still teleport/fly hack the orb out of the base once the champ is defeated. The problem still exists, it’s just not as bad as it was where a single person could fly in and steal it.

Simple, make the orb a long kitten channel. This should force people to at least clear out the area before attempting to teleport.

You could just make the orbs a fixed part of the garrisons and such and the bonus would be to the person that owned that keep, It would give more of a reason to hold or attack.

Switch outmanned and orb buffs IMO.
Kills 2 birds with 1 stone, gives us orbs back, buffs less populated servers

DevonCarver.5370:

Orbs will never come back in the form they had as they simply were too easy to hack around. With that said, we are definitely working on finding a suitable replacement for the best parts of the orbs, while avoiding as many of the downsides as we can. It’s not simple task though, so it isn’t as simple as deciding to do it one day and finishing it the next. Our goal is to get a new and improved version out when we can, but we can’t say yet when that will be.

How can you NOT address a simple hack of the game you created, run and monitor?

Change the mechanic of carrying the orb.

Track down and ban people hacking it. I’m sure tracing who picked it when a hack is reported is easy. Track how fast it moves. If it moves beyond a certain speed then ban the person.

A few slaps on the wrists will address the issue.

It is not easy to be done in a day but you had months to fix it..

Draygo.9473:

Even if there is a group requirement to ‘unlock’ the orb you still have the issue of a single player picking it up and flying it away.

A better system would utilize NPC’s that carry the orb to its target location.

When the orb is picked up this caravan spawns and the player can choose the path. (Garrison East Gate, Garrision West Gate, Bay North Gate, Hills North gate) note you wont be able to pick a keep your faction does not own.

Another idea is to change the orb buff to be used to disable keeps or blast holes in a keep. Instead of using it to target an allied keep you can target an enemy keep and when it reaches a certain distance (outside AC range) from the outer door it explodes that door. Or alternatively use the Orb buff to disable waypoint upgrades in keeps for 15-30 mins at time.

Because the escort event is marked on the map for all sides it should encourage a lot of open field fights.

The carrier NPC should move faster than a dolyak but slower than a running player, and gain a buff so it takes reduced damage when allies are nearby.

I think this is a brilliant idea. Allows orbs to return by nipping the stated problem in the bud; the ability of real players to carry the orb. If it’s an NPC carrying it, fly and teleport hackers are cut out of the equation.

However, there’s the issue that – the orb carrier being an NPC – this implies a fixed path. Part of the fun and challenge of capturing the orb was chasing the carrier over hill and dale along a random path. By contrast, an NPC programmed to follow a fixed path would quickly lead to the opposing players learning what that path is. It then becomes easy to set up road blocks and ambushes pre-emptively, eliminating much of the challenge.

Assuming it would be possible to program, I suggest either of the following solutions:

1) Make the NPC follow the largest concentration of real players who were involved in the orb’s capture. As long as there’s at least one real player representing the server that captured the orb within a certain radius of the orb carrier NPC, the NPC will follow that player(s). Pets and minions can path according to their owner’s position and direction; just apply the same mechanic to the orb carrier.

If there are no players representing the capturing team within a certain radius, the NPC orb carrier stops moving. If the capture timer runs out before the NPC makes it to a keep held by the capturing server, the NPC along with the orb are returned to their altar. If a player(s) representing the capturing server comes within the required radius of an NPC orb carrier who has stopped walking, the NPC will resume following that player(s).

2) One player on the capturing side speaks to the NPC orb carrier. The NPC then follows that player alone.

Now to critique my own suggestions.

1) The capturing side may not always want the NPC to follow the largest group. Perhaps they want their main force to run ahead and clear a path while a smaller party escorts the NPC or they want to the orb carrier to take a wholly different path from the main zerg. If the carrier is programmed to follow the largest concentration of players, this won’t be possible.

2) Leashing the NPC orb carrier to a single player allows for greater control of where the carrier moves. However, it also opens itself up to abuse by trolls and saboteurs. A troll could – just for LULZ – leash the NPC and lead them straight into an enemy zerg. A saboteur who transferred over from an enemy server could do the same in an effort to deny their opponent the orb.

So option #1 – the NPC follows the largest concentration of players – may be the better solution.

Advantages:

1) Reintroduces orbs to WvWvW.

2) Completely denies fly and teleport hackers from abusing the orb. Of course, the better solution would be to implement better anti-hacking. I mean, come on, you’re telling me you can’t program it to detect when someone’s hacking and automatically boot them from GW2 as is done in other games?

It really shouldn’t be that hard. Player A moves from point X to point Y (beyond the range of any teleport skill currently in game) in Z seconds and there you have your teleport hack detection. Player B moves from point X to point Y at elevation Z (above the elevation of the terrain between point X and Y) and there you have your fly hack detection. Done.

Disadvantages:

Some listed above already. Feel free to add more if you see any.

I didn’t realize there were people who want orbs back as they were. Do you not remember how terrible they were for WvW as a whole?

If orbs do return they should either

A. Provide a non-advantageous buff (additional wxp, exp, karma, mf or no armor damage on death)

or

B. Provide a unique feature instead of a buff. This could be something like making the waypoint at the keep where it is held uncontestable, interacting with it gives 60 seconds of swiftness, placing it an alter creates a merchant that sells siege blueprints at half price and helps defend the lord room, etc.

DevonCarver.5370:

Unfortunately, this particular mechanic is far too susceptible to any number of hacks of this sort and while we can do as much as possible, it doesn’t prevent it from happening all the time

I’m sorry Devon but i have to jump in here. It has been suggested by me and tons of other people that by implementing a simple mechanic were the Alter of Power is completely invulnerable to damage whilst the Keep Lord is alive would stop the type of hacking we saw during the Orb of Power era.

Has this suggestion gone completely ignored all these months?

Orbs need to return to the borderlands soon with a flat PPT value per orb held and the fail-safe mechanic.

EnemyCrusher.7324:

I didn’t realize there were people who want orbs back as they were. Do you not remember how terrible they were for WvW as a whole?

If orbs do return they should either

A. Provide a non-advantageous buff (additional wxp, exp, karma, mf or no armor damage on death)

or

B. Provide a unique feature instead of a buff. This could be something like making the waypoint at the keep where it is held uncontestable, interacting with it gives 60 seconds of swiftness, placing it an alter creates a merchant that sells siege blueprints at half price and helps defend the lord room, etc.

I agree with you; reintroducing the orbs using the same buffs as before would be a mistake. The strongest server (however you wish to define “strong”; greater numbers, greater coverage, etc.) would capture the orbs and become even stronger.

If brought back, the orbs’ bonuses/buffs would need to be reworked so as to avoid this self-fulfilling prophecy. There’s several suggestions in this thread for accomplishing this goal.

Frenk.5917:

Instead of making the orbs granting buffs to the server which holds them, just use this method instead:

There are 3 orbs. The server which is leading in the matchup doesn’t gain ANY bonus for holding them. So why should YOU protect them? Simply: to not to let the other two servers get those buffs from them. Moreover add a mechanich which grants a bonus in points whenever a server take the orb from the winning server (like get +10’000 points in the wvwvw matchup in addition to the buffs the orb provides).

Ipothetic scenario: server A is leading wth 150k points, server B is at 130k, server C is at 120K.

Server A holds all 3 orbs so neither server A nor B nor C get buffs. But then server B gains one orb, having buffs AND a +10’000 points. Now server A has 150k points, server B has 140k points AND buffs and server C has 120k points. Server C has no point in trying to steal the orb from Server B, since B is not leading AND has the buffs AND C would not get those 10’000 points. So B and C still focus on A.

This is both balanced (because the winning server gets NO advantages neither from holding nor from stealing an orb – it only doesn’t let the other 2 servers have the buffs) and funny, since the winning server (which often has a +50k lead) can never be too sure of winning the matchup.

This is a great idea. Not necessarily the 10 K points but the idea of the leading server not getting any buffs but only the other servers. It encourages attacking the stronger server – exactly what should be happening.

Even if the orbs aren’t brought back WvW needs something like this to encourage the weaker servers to attack the stronger.

Anet isn’t able to fix wvw queue bug in 10 month, what did you srly expect for the orbs….

In terms of the hacking problem, what about: whoever picks up the orb goes into a transformed state where you have fixed set of skills (or even no skills) and no buffs can be applied to you (possible as golems currently can’t be buffed).

If you teleport, you drop the orb (there are bundles in the game that are dropped upon teleport, so this is possible).

If the server detects you are moving too fast, you’re definitely hacking and the orb is dropped, your file is forwarded to the ban-team, and you’re banned. (As you have no skills and can take no buffs, “moving too fast” shouldn’t be too hard to detect.)