Guild Wars 2

Possibly a poor choice of name for what I have in mind – this is an NPC who can be found at all server spawn points in EB and the BLs. His function is to give players information which in turn has been imparted to him by Commanders. Let me explain.

As a relatively new WvW participant, I find it difficult, on joining a WvW map, knowing where I’m needed. Very often, I waste time following anything/one who looks like they know what they are doing.

Yeah, I know – get on TS, and get informed. Agreed – if you know about TS, have got authenticated, and any other number of reasons you may not be able get on. Truth is, a lot of participants aren’t on TS, Mumble or whatever.

The Herald gives these players the opportunity to get info on what’s happening, and where they may be needed .. in much the same way as on PvE, the hint guy gives you an idea of what to do when you visit an area in PvE. Only the Herald gets his info from the local commanders.

Here’s how I see it working:
When a commander comes online, and puts on his tag, he gets the option of writing a log entry to the Herald, spelling out what he intends to do. A couple of Examples:
Commander A: PUG leader. Join me in Karma Train 15:00 GMT for 2 hours. Going for everything.
Commander B: [GuildName] Guild Raid. Private. If you see us, please do not join. Thx.

I see this working by the commander visiting the Herald and given an option to leave a message based on the fact that he is wearing his tag.

Anyone joining the server map can then go to the Herald and read through the messages.

That’s the bare bones of it – if there’s any interest shown here, then we can flesh it out (non-commaders can leave messages for a fee, when to delete messages, etc).

Thoughts?

Blood

Just ask map chat or whisper a commander on map most will tell you where needa help if there are more then one

snowaugar.1823:

Just ask map chat or whisper a commander on map most will tell you where needa help if there are more then one

Perfectly valid way to do it – agreed. However, the Herald solves the problem that a busy Commander in the middle of defending a keep, or leading a team into a keep, being spammed by people looking for info.

I like the initiative for increased communication. The communication system in place is problematic.

While commanding, situations can turn on a moment’s notice and your original plan is suddenly useless. Sure, I may have planned a karma train, but the enemy responded and we’re pushed to defense. I also can’t leave the map because others on my server are pushing elsewhere and I’m keeping the enemy busy. (This is just one example.)

Sometimes I have a hard time coordinating the TS channel and typing into map chat while still fighting/strategizing. Updating the herald would become one more thing to add to the mix.

Perhaps to make it easier, have check boxes with preset categories such as group composition (Pick-ups, Guilded, Both) and activity (Offense, Defense, Havoc). I can click lots, but typing takes a bit more effort.

I hate this idea, I was thinking it would be more along the lines of the DAOC herald…which would be pretty cool. But nevermind that, the reason I hate this idea is simply because of how easy it is to find your way around in WvW in this game. I doubt many commanders would even bother using it, and the ones that did would probably stop using it once they start presuming that spies are probably using the info more than atual newbs. People don’t even use the LFG system and basically it’s the same as what you are saying with the exception being it can actually be slightly harder to find a group than it is to find where you are needed in WvW.

Only if he says, “Citizens!”

Khailen.5031:

the reason I hate this idea is simply because of how easy it is to find your way around in WvW in this game. I doubt many commanders would even bother using it, and the ones that did would probably stop using it once they start presuming that spies are probably using the info more than atual newbs.

I’ve noticed a lot of new players on my server recently (I think sales went up when the price of the game dropped). Learning the ropes is difficult, and coordinating between commanders is sometimes difficult. I’m all for anything that increases communication.

So far as spies go, they are always going to be there. Spies are typically more advanced players who can glean far more information than the herald will provide by monitoring the map and map chat anyway.

Nikked.7365:

While commanding, situations can turn on a moment’s notice and your original plan is suddenly useless. Sure, I may have planned a karma train, but the enemy responded and we’re pushed to defense. I also can’t leave the map because others on my server are pushing elsewhere and I’m keeping the enemy busy. (This is just one example.)

Sometimes I have a hard time coordinating the TS channel and typing into map chat while still fighting/strategizing. Updating the herald would become one more thing to add to the mix.

Perhaps to make it easier, have check boxes with preset categories such as group composition (Pick-ups, Guilded, Both) and activity (Offense, Defense, Havoc). I can click lots, but typing takes a bit more effort.

You make a valid point. Check boxes could work as well – thanks for the suggestion, and your considered reply.

Honestly, I can’t imagine this thing ever being up to date unless it simply provided some automatic information. Things just change way too fast for that. Either that or you’d get generic stuff like ‘tick siege, run dolyaks, sentry towers x, y, z’ because it’s the only thing that will still be accurate by the time most people read it – and by extension, is also so obvious as to render the system redundant.