Guild Wars 2

So Ive been getting pretty frustrated lately from the role this game forced upon us.
The decap, the +1, the constant disengaging.
All in all I got sick of ‘winning fights by not fighting’
That was literally what I was thinking when it came to my mind that I was intuitively using a quote I have heard before.

If you do not know the art of war. Short version: Its a 7000 years old strategic guideline, yet even today common, if not mandatory lecture amongst militaries, laywers, businessman or even psychologists.

So why am I posting this: two reasons.

First of all for people like me. If you are sick of our classes role, this might be able to cheer you up.

Second for new thieves and all those who wish to get better at their class.

Because the art of war literally describes our current role perfectly. I will be linking a site with some quotes on it. You will find a lot of them are only variations from one another, but nonetheless almost everything written down there can be applied to gw2 pvp in general and specifically the thief class.
And that is pretty amazing.
Actually, If you as a player want to improve, you should read that stuff.

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3200649-s-nz-b-ngf

So yeah. Either draw from this whatever wisdom you can, or call me silly for comparing a game to warfare to begin with. I posted this because it proved useful for me and might for others.

??? you’re sick of playing a classes role in a team based pvp competitive game mode? like every other game? We are the mobility class. we weren’t forced into it, it’s what we are. If you’re sick of the role play another class that has a different role. Don’t complain that you’re tired of a classes play style because it fits a role you aren’t particularly happy with.

Travis.3487:

??? you’re sick of playing a classes role in a team based pvp competitive game mode? like every other game? We are the mobility class. we weren’t forced into it, it’s what we are. If you’re sick of the role play another class that has a different role. Don’t complain that you’re tired of a classes play style because it fits a role you aren’t particularly happy with.

I would say that for most of the new players that are rolling thief what you say doesn’t apply, Anet fails to explain the role of thieves miserably (at least on the website, wiki, class selection, etc) and I think a lot of new players make thieves expecting the class to be way different.

Travis.3487:

??? you’re sick of playing a classes role in a team based pvp competitive game mode? like every other game? We are the mobility class. we weren’t forced into it, it’s what we are.

So you want to drive a supply truck in a WW2 game?
Or fly a cargo plane in an air combat game?

Look at the Thief’s history before you say we weren’t forced into it.
Anet changed the Thief from being an assassin to being a waterboy.

Whatever else it may be, Conquest is a combat game mode.
If you can’t knock a guy off point or hold a point, you’ve got little reason to be there.
The Thief SHOULD be able to do so… even if it has to play dirty.

Pls dont turn this into that discussion now. I fought that battle already and Im tired of it.
I hope we will become a dueling class again, but until then I want to focus on making the best out of what we have.

I’ve been playing thief since beta, with only a minor 4 month break, I don’t need to look up on thieves history I know how it was. Thief is pretty close to where it should be honestly. Thief gets a lot of hate because it is one of the few “skill” based classes in the game. your prowess with thief is greatly determined by game knowledge and your ability to overcome the shortcomings by exercising it’s strengths. Thief right now imho can carry harder than almost any other class when played right. Our bursty dps is still there we just aren’t getting 20k back-stabs or 25k pistol whips like we use to, and we still have the mobility, only difference is the class has a bit larger of a learning curve. The class isn’t weak at all, people just don’t play it right, or they just time skills wrong. and that’s what separates the good thieves from the bad. We’re still an assassin, but we’re not a duelist. I jump into fights and 100-0 people all the time. if you want an assassin as you say, your goal isn’t to fight someone head on it’s to sneak around them drop them and leave. Even now If i catch someone by surprise they’re probably gonna die.

Replying because I have read the Art of War inside and out countless times.

Thieves do fulfill a lot of the intelligence warfare that Sun Tzu emphasized. As a Thief, my goal in PvP matches is to pull the enemies wherever my team needs them to be pulled. Attack where they are not. Attack where they are exposed (waiting in the wings and then bursting someone in the middle of a team fight). Attack the maral of the enemy (major harass between points, so by the time they get to a fight on point they have blown cooldowns and/or not at full health).

This is how I normally play thief and it works well. I don’t play the game, I play the players.

Heh, I like your aproach to the topic, nice thinking there op, I hope one or another player actually read it and improve themselves by doing it.

Rogue.8235:

I don’t play the game, I play the players.

Wow that’s a gread quoute right there!

Rogue.8235:

…
I don’t play the game, I play the players.

But the players you play are in the game, so to play them you need to play the game.

Unless, you mean, playing someone that’s playing on your account that’s playing players under your name – Then you’re play players, dawg.

Rogue.8235:

I don’t play the game, I play the players.

Reminds me of poker, haha! However, there’s a lot more flexibility in how you play when you have the cards to back it up… at least a decent amount of the time :-P

Zero Day.2594:

Rogue.8235:

…
I don’t play the game, I play the players.

But the players you play are in the game, so to play them you need to play the game.

Unless, you mean, playing someone that’s playing on your account that’s playing players under your name – Then you’re play players, dawg.

You need to know how the game works, yes. But he’s talking about getting inside the player’s heads, so they start playing the game in the way you want them to.

bearshaman.3421:

Zero Day.2594:

Rogue.8235:

…
I don’t play the game, I play the players.

But the players you play are in the game, so to play them you need to play the game.

Unless, you mean, playing someone that’s playing on your account that’s playing players under your name – Then you’re play players, dawg.

You need to know how the game works, yes. But he’s talking about getting inside the player’s heads, so they start playing the game in the way you want them to.

By that I meant more of something I picked up from chess. You don’t play the board so much as the player. Deception, feints, and counters are based on who you play. I’ve set up aboard once and used my king as a frontliner because the player was so obsessed with trying to get it. This is what I mean.

Edit: He was so frusterated and confused by this tactic. He never quite learned.

Rogue.8235:

bearshaman.3421:

Zero Day.2594:

Rogue.8235:

…
I don’t play the game, I play the players.

But the players you play are in the game, so to play them you need to play the game.

Unless, you mean, playing someone that’s playing on your account that’s playing players under your name – Then you’re play players, dawg.

You need to know how the game works, yes. But he’s talking about getting inside the player’s heads, so they start playing the game in the way you want them to.

By that I meant more of something I picked up from chess. You don’t play the board so much as the player. Deception, feints, and counters are based on who you play. I’ve set up aboard once and used my king as a frontliner because the player was so obsessed with trying to get it. This is what I mean.

Edit: He was so frusterated and confused by this tactic. He never quite learned.

That’s more or less what I meant. You’re just providing a specific form of what I’m talking about.

Cyhann.2609:

Heh, I like your aproach to the topic, nice thinking there op, I hope one or another player actually read it and improve themselves by doing it.

Rogue.8235:

I don’t play the game, I play the players.

Wow that’s a gread quoute right there!

i improved myself very easily. ‘’why be a soldier when you can be a tank’‘. re-rolled scrapper in other words. tho it’s sad to see thief in this state. once it goes back to more of a dueling class im sure i’ll roll it again. just cause im an addict. tho i cannot play a class that isnt rly capable of 1v1. just cause i love roaming in wvw. and 1v1 is very important there. pvp yea.. pvp role is fine. +1 and decap always works. but not being able to 1v1 or giving so much effort to be able to 1v1 is just not okey. cuz from my perspective and my older mmorpgs every class has to be able to 1v1 if it’s controlled by a skilled player. and before HoT and june patches it was the case. but when it became a game of class > skill that’s when i just said ‘’nope. not anymore. this is just wrong’’

Dave.6819:

Cyhann.2609:

Heh, I like your aproach to the topic, nice thinking there op, I hope one or another player actually read it and improve themselves by doing it.

Rogue.8235:

I don’t play the game, I play the players.

Wow that’s a gread quoute right there!

i improved myself very easily. ‘’why be a soldier when you can be a tank’‘. re-rolled scrapper in other words. tho it’s sad to see thief in this state. once it goes back to more of a dueling class im sure i’ll roll it again. just cause im an addict. tho i cannot play a class that isnt rly capable of 1v1. just cause i love roaming in wvw. and 1v1 is very important there. pvp yea.. pvp role is fine. +1 and decap always works. but not being able to 1v1 or giving so much effort to be able to 1v1 is just not okey. cuz from my perspective and my older mmorpgs every class has to be able to 1v1 if it’s controlled by a skilled player. and before HoT and june patches it was the case. but when it became a game of class > skill that’s when i just said ‘’nope. not anymore. this is just wrong’’

I’m able to 1 v 1 very effectively. However, I don’t do WvW so there are different circumstances in that arena. I’m not able to comment on that theater of war.

As a blind player I’m better in 1 v 1’s than team fights. Too much motion and light in teamfights to know what is going on. However, 1 v 1 I can easily get in the head of my opponent. I treat 1v1’s like fighting games such as Tekken and Soul Calibur (which I still play as well, beware my Seigfried and Miguel)

Edit: New strategy to this conversation. Thieve3s are in a really crappy state so please buff. >_>