Guild Wars 2

ColinJohanson.2394:

Shiren.9532:

Most servers can’t fill four maps, why do we need a fifth?

I’m excited about new terrain and possibly new objectives or gameplay, but populations are too sparse already, this will make that problem worse.

It’s a good question, and one we talked about a lot. Above all else, our main raises behind adding another map (which can overflow and create multiple copies of itself) include:

• On many more populated servers in NA and EU, there are queues, this would allow people to play the game they want at all times.

• We want to do things in the future, this map included, that will help get more people interested in WvW. We need to make sure we’re not just making them sit in a queue when we do that.

• The game is going to be launched in other parts of the world, and on launch in NA/EU we had queues for WvW on just about every world. In some of the largest gaming parts of the world say, China for example which we’re in beta for right now, we’re seeing massive responses from guilds that make NA/EU guilds look tiny. These guilds all want to play WvW on the same world together, this map will help facilitate a better launch in new regions, as well as the much larger guild alliances you find in the east.

Hope that helps a bit! We know for much smaller worlds this may seem like it’s no big deal, since you never deal with queues anyway, but the gameplay and experience should hopefully be fun (and different) such that it may attract new players to WvW. It also opens up opportunities for us to do other types of experiences in WvW across all worlds that may help bolster smaller worlds populations as well.

I hate to ask this, but with what I assume is the intent to try and keep maps filled a bit more in WvW, is the idea of Server/World mergers on the table at all if the methods of attracting more people to WvW don’t pan out for those “smaller” servers.

1. More Dungeons & End Game
2. Less Restrictive Time gating (ie. fewer daily tasks, more weekly/monthly)
3. More Skills & Traits

1. Game Modes
2. Class Balance
3. More Accurate Matchmaking

1. Server Population Imbalance (Relating to WvW)
2. Commander Functionality
3. Making WvW Progression more Alt-friendly

I’ll get a screenshot later, but I completed the last of my achievements for this over the weekend. Definitely had some very annoying parts and I gotta say doing World 1 the day of release was painful, but after I finished it, I can clear all of world 1 in about an hour so that’s kinda nice. Anyways here’s my opinion of each zone.

W1Z1: Once, you know the route it’s quite easy. (1st Run: 2hrs; Now: 15m)
W1Z2: Couple annoying rock jumps and then the lilypads. (1st Run: 3hrs; Now: 20-25min)
W1Z3: All I have to say is kitten those monkeys. Also, King Toad fight was easy after realizing you can just brute force the fight. (1st Run: 3hrs; Now: 20-25min)
W2Z1: The only difficulty sections were really just the very beginning and the Waterfall at the end. (1st Run: 90min; Now: 30min)
W2Z2: Too kitten long with too many annoying traps and minor bugs. Checkpoint of Doom anyone? Glad they fixed it though. (1st Run: 4hours; Now: 75min)
W2Z3: Go Fullscreen and turn your Gamma up everything else is easy if you have reasonable jumping skills. (1st Run: 2.5hours; Now: 60min)

Overall, I found it to be a pretty enjoyable challenge. World 2 was a bit too long as I occasionally had to AFK for food or answering an email/call, but it definitely felt like an achievement when you were done.

Had a similar issue and have submitted a Bug Report.

Absconditus.6804:

I’ve gotten 2 in Zone 1, 2 in Zone 2 (freebie torch one didn’t count, moved all over inside (avoiding the trap in the ceiling by going on the left of the counter)) and 6 in Zone 3 (hidden one under the rug and Elite skill room counts). Total 10.

Currenty going back to Zone 2, to see if they count the hidden room that you had to go “under the map” for as a shop (right before checkpoint leading up to the boss-cage), if it’s even reachable in Tribulation mode that is. It had a bed and other furniture, but I wouldn’t have called it a shop. Who knows, going to check.

I’ve already checked that one. I did find a massive Alligator under one of the shops in Zone 3, but nothing else…

Maybe the access to it is not open yet since it might require a glove upgrade further down the road. (A Dev noted that there are 3 versions of the glove that will eventually be released.)

So I’ve been making my way through World 1 of Tribulation Mode and I think this Achievement might be bugged as I have hit all of the previous shops from the Normal mode plus some of the bonus “homes” in Zones 1 & 2 and the Shops Visited count does not seem to increment for all of them. I am currently at 4 of 11 shops with Zones 1 & 2 done in World 1 for Tribulation Mode. I believe the proper count should be 6 of 11 at the end of zone 2. (Someone correct me if I am wrong.)

Has anyone else experienced this issue? If not, could someone explain to me what I am doing incorrectly. (I think it may have to do with possibly dying upon entrance to the “fake” shops disabling the trigger for the objective progression. Again, just my hypothesis.)

1. Rocks kill
2. If you don’t land on the rocks exactly right, they knock you around. (Normally, killing you.)
3. After a precision jumping sequence, normally involving those pesky rocks, do NOT for the life of you run forward. (You’ll die.)
4. At the start of a hallway or narrow passage that seems easy, take the left side of the passage. (It appears righties developed this mode.)
5. Even if the enemy is supported by the ground, it does not mean you are.
6. Baubles are not “nice to haves”. They make the level bearable. (You probably want ammo.)

Well, that’s all I got for now. I’ve done World 1 Zone 1 & 2. Will do Zone 3 tomorrow and then work on World 2.

So I’m still at 11/13 and not sure I will be completing by the end of the event due to the complete randomness of the map selection.

Also, initially I found the event to be great, but the amount of grind required plus the fact that you can’t even really plan your gametime due to constantly waiting to see if the zone you are missing spawns makes this event quite frustrating. I have not seen such a lack of players in every other area of the game outside of this patch. It is really sad. If you were to do an event like this again, I would highly recommend not doing a complete randomization if so many zones are involved. I’d think people would be enjoying it more if the randomization was limited so that people knew that only a small subset of zones would be assaulted each day such as 2 to 4 zones per day that would repeat in a random rotation throughout the day. Maybe even do it by area theme like Maguuma zones one day and the Kryta zones the next.

kitten THIS BULLkitten!!

Sil.4560:

Waffler.1257:

Doors are no joke.

Ha, nice.

Grieve.1432:

The thing is Sil if people are leaving because they are losing it’s probably better for your server community overall since they are probably the ones whining and complaining the most causing more friction than necessary in your server community. The fact of the matter is you will always have that chance to end up in a series of losing matches unless you are on the extremely stacked #1 server with the system Anet implemented. That series of losses may actually show your server who actually cares because the loyal ones will be there day in and out no matter how rough the situation. This is coming from mine and a number of CDers experience after being pounded for I think 2-3 months straight by SoS and Mag after we had a big exodus.

I wouldn’t say they’re leaving because of losing. Rather I know that at least one guild has left simply for a change of environment. When a large and/or dedicated WvW guild leaves, we need to fill the hole. People who mainly PvE aren’t as inclined to want to join in on a mode where it looks like we’re going to lose the majority of the time.

With the nightcapping, there also exists the problem that no matter how much effort you put into defending your BL late night, it will all be undone by the time you wake up because a swarm of noobs comes and knocks it all down unopposed. That’s really lame because it completely defeats the purpose of competitive play. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing a separate set of Oceanic servers implemented down the road or something.

At that point, just focus on the fights when you’re on and ignore the overall score. CD had to do that when we were stuck with SoS. Our SEA crew was nothing compared to their Oceanics, but the fights were still enjoyable during NA.

Sil.4560:

Ehmry could use a solid win at the moment. A number of our more dedicated guilds have left and we’re trying to get more of the PvE population involved to replenish our numbers. Call it an interest in server morale to get more people to play with us.

The thing is Sil if people are leaving because they are losing it’s probably better for your server community overall since they are probably the ones whining and complaining the most causing more friction than necessary in your server community. The fact of the matter is you will always have that chance to end up in a series of losing matches unless you are on the extremely stacked #1 server with the system Anet implemented. That series of losses may actually show your server who actually cares because the loyal ones will be there day in and out no matter how rough the situation. This is coming from mine and a number of CDers experience after being pounded for I think 2-3 months straight by SoS and Mag after we had a big exodus.

Waffler.1257:

Sil.4560:

Well, time to log on and see how much PvDooring was done by CD again while I slept. It would be really cool if primetimes were all around the same times.

Doors are no joke.

Man, I just had flashbacks to that game. You have made my day.

Good Day to all! Even you non-quaggans, coo! Crystal Desert has finally decided that we are in of need more Quaggans, specifically of the Oceanic and Euro variety. The Quaggan council has realized that if we are to fight dirty Yaks, banish the Mighty Flame Ram God, and many other evils we must recruit more Quaggans to the cause, Coo. Now, we are willing to welcome any stray quaggans to our community, but as quaggans, we enjoy our fun and ability to roam free so our Golem border patrol, might have to turn you away if occupancy is high. Have quaggan caught your attention yet, coo?

Well, if not, let quaggan explain benefits package recieved by all in the Quaggan Sanctuary provided by Crystal Desert’s very own Quaggan Conservation Society[QCS]. *Note: QCS Only provides the Quaggan Sanctuary. All benefits procured seperately via your local Quaggan Representative or our precious Asuran intern, Bloo. (She thinks she’s a quaggan, coo… it’s quite sad really.)

~Quaggan Cooings~
We, quaggan, hold two Cooings a week. (Any more would make some Quaggans lose thier voices and a Quaggan who can’t Coo is just a sad sight.) One of our Cooings is for our Quaggan Commanders to discuss threats to our Sanctuary and how we will keep them the Coo out of our home. The other Cooing is for all quaggan, even the littlest of baby quaggans. At the open Cooing, quaggans coo about many topics, including Quaggan Sanctuary Defense (most Quaggan Commanders will Coo at this time), Quaggan Higher Education, and, of course, Quaggan Parties. (Quaggans party everywhere from Orr to LA.)

(For the non-Quaggan literate)
Crystal Desert holds two community meetings a week; one for WvW planning & one for overall Community development and activities.

~Quaggan Higher Education~
As part of Quaggan life, Quaggan strive to always improve. In order for Quaggan to succeed, we have developed Quaggan friendly training for brave quaggans who venture into the realm of Yaks and Flame Rams. For the quaggans with OCD and a love of dank caves, we have organized activities to keep them busy for hours on end. (And out of our tails, Coo!)

(Again, translation for those non-quaggan, not that quaggan care or anything.)
Crystal Desert has an active set of WvW training courses held on a weekly basis, including class specific (currently, Mesmer, Guardian, Ranger, & Engineer), roaming/havoc, zerging/sieging and WvW basics courses. We have a Commander shadowing program that was very recently started. Also, for our PvP & PvE brethren, we have Orr Temple Runs, Dungeon guides, sPvP tournies, and Achievement point groups. Lastly, we occasionally have parades, giveaways, and scavenger hunts.

~Quaggan Community~
Quaggans aside, our server community on Crystal Desert tries to promote guild interactions as much as possible because we believe it creates a stronger bond for us as a community overall. In WvW, We have a healthy mix of roamers and zergs throughout the day so any playstyle should fit in well. Also, we have a 512-person Teamspeak Server for community use along with a Community Website & Forum. As for our policy for new guilds looking at us, we will not fund their transfer as we want players who want to be here and play alongside us. Once a guild is here, however, we will normally be more than willing to help that guild help itself get back on its feet in various ways. Lastly, yes, we do have trolls and forums warriors, but most every server has at least a few and ours are normally pretty tame.

If interested in joining us, please contact one of the following Crystal Desert players listed below.

Contact for General Questions
Grieve Logdan[SoH] (Grieve.1432)
Tyrlis[SoH] (Tyrlis.8072)
Alsyone[INC] (coldc.4093)

Contact for Oceanic/SEA
Echo[PA] (Echo.6207)
Vexia[PA] (Vexia.6538)
Alencon[KoME] (Bishop.7596)

Contact for PvE
Khatyala[PDoX] (Khatyala.7504)
Vexia[PA] (Vexia.6538)
Athens[Sig] (Athens Of Healing.4123)

Contact for WvW
Lychon[FKVA] (JakobGW.5730)
Daeronz[TDS] (Necro.6432)
Amber Vine[CLAV] (hmsgoddess.3869)

We shall leave you with… When Quaggans Attack!
http://youtu.be/ed7FWhke9K0

So says Commander Quaggan!

What’s all this talk of people playing during the day? I just got back from the office.

I assume when changing builds armor, traits, and utility/elite skills are allowed to be changed.

Where will it take place WvW or a PvP arena?

I assume no stacking runes (ie. Bloodlust, Life, etc.), boosters, or food. Yes? No?

saiyr.3071:

Hello Crystal Desert

Hello to you too! Sorry you didn’t get to bash BP’s face in this week.

I assume fight clubs all week along with plenty of rainbows and unicorns or did #Magswag squash that.

Zindrix.1750:

CD actually has some impressive roamers considering the mentality of higher pop servers is usually zergfest. BPs roamers could take some lessons from you guys.

It’s because we at the Desert are striving to live up to the legacy of this guy…

Grieve.1432:

Fight Night tonight SBI BL at the usual location starting 6pm Server time (9pm ET).

Reminder Fight Night starting soon in SBI BL for interested parties.

Fight Night tonight SBI BL at the usual location starting 6pm Server time (9pm ET).

Mordecai.6318:

All of the CD currently in the jumping puzzle are quite possibly the worst players I’ve ever seen. 3 hours, a 6v1, and a 10v2 and you finally manged to kill me.

They could just be silly little PvErs that don’t know better. Just a thought since Anet decided to place an Achievement at the end of the EBJP, which was a cruel joke for the PvErs.

Becka Williams.4978:

The band’s back together again!

The Anet Devs…

Oh, man! Keep it up you guys you’ve almost caught up to the Tier 1 Match-up thread in forums posts. I know you guys have the forum skills in you to do it and beat ’em. Maybe this will help you…

Also, something that might assist in fixing the issue would be for Anet to take the 600 rating points they put into the bottom servers out of the top servers thus closing the gap slightly between rank 12 & 13 since we do have an extra 600 rating floating in the NA bracket.

kitten you DB trying to take our garrison while I was running a training session. We had like 10 guys just on map mode while I was explaining something then I suddenly hear over VoIP that we have a DB zerg standing right in front of us. Just glad you didn’t wipe us all while we were in map mode that would have just been rude.

Oh, nice try though.

So I gotta ask is [TG] still on DB?

Well, didn’t see this coming…

Does cancelling a guild upgrade that uses Merits return the Merits to you in the way that Influence is returned?

Any information would be appreciated.

Oh Mags, it’s been such a long time. I hope DB didn’t knock the swag out of ya.

Gankiskhan.4671:

HUGS!!! Lets all just have a BBQ instead.

BBQ?? Where? CD’ll bring the booze, but none of ya’ll better be underage.

Xabu.3754:

I wanted to be red

Oh, you can be red. Just stand still as our CD zergs trample over you. I swear that’ll turn you red though it could just be temporary.

SykkoB.9465:

tbh i just have this feeling that is is going to be

sor/bg/tc this week
jq/db/sos
fa/mag/ebay

its just a gut feeling

So then that would mean…
cd/yb/kn

I like the sound of that.

Sovereign.1093:

Thank you SOS and CD. May we meet again in better terms after this matchup. Keep it up.

Hey Sovereign,

Just gotta call you out here, but why were you lurking in our TS, CD, I mean it couldn’t be that you were trying to listen in on where our zergs were going right cuz you sure as heck just disappeared when I directly messaged you. I mean I don’t mind if you just came to hang out, but jeez at least say something otherwise there might have to be a ban put down and I really don’t wanna have to do that.

Kalidri.5427:

Nikked.7365:

Thanks for the fun, TC! We had a great time, and hope you did too.

Cheers,
Jacked Jackal

It was fun! I think a few folks tried to make the repeated killing of the parade by quaggans into a ‘thing’ but when you all died at the gates I think we forgave CD. It is wvw and one does tend to get killed in there

Of course, there was NOTHING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING innocent about those quaggans. Lies.

-Gos, the honest to goodness RP thief from TC that likes dying in wvw TAKE MY BAGS!

Oh, We’ll have a video coming out eventually, but yes it was quite enjoyable and I’m glad TC was good sports about it.

I think the best moment was actually when our Quaggan Squad came running out of our Citadel for the first time and right as we were about to run down the hill, the RE zerg appeared around the corner and everyone from both groups just stopped dead in their tracks and just stared waiting to see what the other was doing.

TC, you are so cruel for killing such sweet and innocent creatures.

From CD here, haven’t faced EBay, Mag, AR, or BP recently so wouldn’t mind seeing how they stack up. Also, I kinda want one of our least probable opponents, NSP, to go against some of my old servermates.

Shazirah.8350:

For those of you itching for 1v1 or 2v2 (or any small-scaled) fights, I believe something is in the works for this evening! 6pm Server Time.

Cross-server Fight Club. No zergs allowed!

Get off of the forums and flex your muscles!

(I think the BL is still tbd.)

And then there is going to be a parade of dolyaks, I trust.

Well, since the Dolyak Parade is already planned for CD BL apparently, I’d say we could have Fight Night on CD BL by the windmill per usual. My only request would be could TC lay off the pressure on CD BL for just those hours so that more fun may be enjoyed by all and well also so CD has an easier time reaching the Fight Night or Dolyak Parade.

Also, I’d like to start the fight night as early as 5pm Server Time and I guess it’ll run til whenever.

So does anyone remember when ANet adding 600 rating (300 each) to two of the tier 8 NA servers as a “temporary” fix. I wonder. If they were to take it out from the top tier NA, would that shuffle the ratings down enough to help close the gap between tier 4 and tier 5 making those matchups more likely as they probably should.

All this talk of spawn camping reminds me of my days way back on NSP when got match ups where because of how dead the match up was I snuck past the Legendary defenders on a BL spawn and built a cata to kill the other teams NPCs man was that fun. The enemy players that eventual showed up didn’t know whether to just laugh or kill me. Oh, good times.

Anyways, when and where is Dolyak Parade going to take place? I promise I won’t crash the party.

Oh, and unless the Dolyak Parade conflicts there will be a planned fight night Thursday night at 6pm Server Time. The map is tbd.

Kronyx.2570:

I don’t think CD has a prime time in the same sense as us yaks and KN. CD is probably the most spread out and least coverage gaps, which is why they end winning. Yea they have weaker pushes and stronger ones. But yaks have strong pushes from like 5 PM server time to about 1AM in the night then its like maybe 10-20 people spread out across all maps hitting camps or what not. Same with KN I assume, since they lose their whole BL and EBG everyday now.

Nonetheless, exciting match. I think at the moment Yak’s are edging in for a second place. I’m leaving work early to help lol :P

I actually have to agree with you there. Crystal Desert has pretty much reached an equilibrium for our server coverage as an NA server at our rating. It’s also why we are no longer actively recruiting as we have a nice WvW balance, for an NA server, with strong NA, moderate SEA/Oceanic, and average EU. No one is stuck PvDooring or getting completely stomped unless we are matched way out of our rating. Also, gotta love that we have a nice PvE and sPvP crew on our server as well.

So a massive party in Stonemist for everyone for the last hour before reset? Drinks, Food, and Fireworks? Oh and golem brawls.

I say our goal in this match up should be to make it end with all 3 servers within 1k points of each other. Now, that would be impressive no matter who won.

Bleergh.1938:

jschultz.2901:

This matchup has been so close and I’m loving it. I even looked back through the history of various matches and I honestly couldn’t find one this close. This is how it should be kitten it. (Though I have to admit some deficiencies in times, Kain in the pre-morning of North America, and Yak in the evening in North America) CD seems to have a good mix in both. Not sure how the hell you work that out, but it’d be nice to not see folks dominating and the disappearing. This is from the CD side personally.

Didjia of CD

in NA there has only been 1 matchup close to the current one
Early October last year was YB-SoR-NSP matchup that by the end of it was 4k between 1st and 3rd

in EU on the other hand there have been 4
December last Year on EU PS-AR-GD 5k
early April UW-DL-MS 3k
mid May GD-MS-FS 3k
last week UW-RoS-FR 4k

My guild LoM was actually in the match with YB-NSP-SoR and I gotta say it was a fun match. We were on NSP back then, but that was a while ago and CD is our home now.

I just gotta ask YB. When you guys came in tonight around 8pm Server Time and went to flip KN’s NW tower, did you not realize the south wall had been taken out when you put your 3-4 flame rams down on the gate. I mean my guys in LoM kinda had a laugh about it even though we never got the tower. I sure hope the guys in that zerg had a facepalm moment when the gate slammed open and saw the wall on the south side had been down the whole time.

I think you two officially derailed this match thread. Kudos! /slowclap

Touren.2591:

Good fights this week. But, I just have to ask… Did CD’s WvW population double since last Friday? Over the last day or two it seems like CD is everywhere.

Nah, no new guilds. You’re just imagining things.

Nozzie.2067:

I can only comment from my limited view of the battlefield during NA primetime but CD seems far more organised & numerous than the last time we (YB) met. There seemed to be CD scouts everywhere & I don’t thing I came across a single CD tower that didn’t have at least one defender, usually manning an AC. Borderland defence is key to winning these matches & from my view CD easily had the best defence of the three servers.

Yup, we’ve been working on that quite a bit as a server and when you discover that actively defending can actually get you a bunch of loot, badges, & wXP it can be entertaining.

Also, interested in finding this out as reset is in under 12 hours for NA and what like 6ish hours for EU.

Kronyx.2570:

Only if KN and YB merged

But I don’t think CD is T4 any longer. I am actually interested in seeing the outcome of a Mag Vs CD matchup now.

Nah, I think some of CD is still licking its wounds from the last Mag match-up. Those Golem pushes of theirs are painful. I enjoy their fight clubs, but actually WvWing them now that’s a different story. YB & KN can keep Mag to themselves.

Also, we were really psyched up for this match. I mean we missed YB and there was some people on CD that just wanted to beat up KN as I believe they were making claims about how they’d slaughter us a couple weeks back. Oh, and no more absurd SoS Oceanic zergs…

Though I wouldn’t be a part of it I’d love to see a DB/SoS/KN match-up with DB’s NA crew taking a slight brake to see how those Oceanic/SEA teams match-up.

For my server, CD, I’d like a match-up with…
YB and SBI

Though there are some servers I’d love to go against just to hunt down certain guilds/ players and harass them all week, but I’ll keep that list to myself.