Guild Wars 2

If they revert/change trait aquisition, review the way megaservers work, lose the “living world now works to a strict timetable” and add new instanced group content eg dungeons/fractals then yes. ( I HATE ZERGS)
Otherwise, No

This was such a laugh last year. We tried walking through the portal at the same time while grouped but were (quite deliberately?) split into 3 completely separate instances, all three of which had less than the recommended 5 players.

We promptly exited and smashed everything up in Tixx’s Infinirarium instead and then logged off.

What a shame

Yup, but i read the first bit too

Taken from the release notes:

Completing daily achievements no longer awards players with achievement points.
A new Daily Completionist achievement has been added and is earned by completing any combination of daily achievements from the three categories.
Completing the Daily Completionist achievement rewards players with 10 achievement points.

So do we get achievement points or not?

I made a Charr warrior (before the awful April feature pack) so I could play through the Charr personal story. I don’t really like playing charr, so was planning on making a new warrior by buying another character slot.
However, this is not going to happen now because the new character would have no traits.
I’m still patiently waiting for improvements.

These achievement guides are very helpful.

http://dulfy.net/2014/11/05/gw2-echoes-of-the-past-story-achievements-guide/

As Hidden Arcana is very long, if you mess up on one boss, you can interact with a challenge mote and re-do that specific boss without having to do the whole instance from the start.
(Thanks Anet!)

I’ve been using a Razer Naga for about 4 years now – I also have fairly small hands and the size is perfect.

Scaling from 6 players upwards
Instanced
No gear grind/agony

Autumnmane.3574:

Bumpity bump. So how are people finding the megaserver since the Sept Patch? Is it getting any easier to group as they’ve been tweaking the algorithm?

The first guild bounty we did after the September patch, I ended up in a different map to my group, squad, guild AND friends list, so I’m guessing the algorithm still needs work.

I don’t know if the temples/world bosses/major events are still being massively overcrowded as haven’t attempted since the first week post megaserver

Location: Kent, UK
Friday 3rd October, around 9pm UTC+1
Gunnars Hold
Skill delay, leading to disconnect while on pvp map (only 6 players total on map)
Saturday 4th October, early evening. Huge lag spike – game froze for around 5 seconds, then caught up. This happened just as the inquest event at Prosperity finished.
Tuesday 30th September between 8-10pm – skill lag of up to 2seconds followed by all catching up. This happened a couple of times, also to others in the group, but not necessarily at the same time.

I used to be able to play this game with little lag, although I have always tried to avoid zergs (since megaserver this is becoming very very difficult)

What % of events would you say ends up with too many people?

Maw, Jormag, SB, Golem, Shatterer, etc (they’re all just a big blob of spell effects).
Earlier events in the chain are designed for way fewer players (poor scaling of these has already been mentioned elsewhere)
Orr has already been mentioned.

The Harathi chain is hard if you’re on a level appropriate char, because you see the notification for the event, go towards it, to find it’s over before you get there, or you can’t tag fast enough.

Believe it not, there are people who don’t like zergs (and their associated low fps, lag, tagging issues and possible disconnection) but STILL enjoy joining up with other players to complete events/skill points etc.

There’s a HUGE difference between exploring a zone and meeting small groups of other players and completing the odd event or heart together and literally being suddenly trampled by 100 players just because you’re in Wayfarer Foothills at Maw O’Clock.

If the large events have to be on a strict timetable because of the megaserver, why not at least have 3 or 4 world bosses up every time. Then the WB farmers can still do the same amount of farming in the same time, but the WB zones won’t have such an extreme rush hour

My level 8 ranger, wielding longbow and GS with all weapon skills unlocked, completed a heart, switching between both weapons.
At level 10, I went to LA to buy more weapons but on removing the GS, suddenly the weapon slot became locked, and I had the message that weapon swapping wouldn’t unlock until a higher level.
Underwater hearts are painful with only 2 abilities – if we’re not meant to be playing underwater because it’s too confusing, remove the underwater requirements from the low level zones

Putting all these “important” features into the game must have taken thousands of hours – good thing that no one wanted guild capes, or a new profession or an expansion or dungeon paths or precusor scavenger hunt…

As the population on a map changes over time, the megaserver system sometimes needs to close certain copies of that map. It does that by ceasing to add new players to that map (unless they intentionally join to be with their party) and by waiting until that map copy is empty to finally close it. This has occasionally created an odd experience for players left in the map, who will see fewer and fewer companions.
With the September 2014 Feature Pack, we’re introducing a new mechanism to solve this problem. When certain copies of a map need to be closed, the players on those copies will be notified and will have the option to be moved to a different map copy right away. This will help you make sure that there are always allies by your side, and it’ll help us more efficiently manage maps—which in turn makes everyone’s experience better. If you choose to volunteer to move to a new map, you’ll even get a reward in the form of a new effect, the Volunteer’s Blessing, which increases movement speed by 15%, karma gain by 5%, and experience from kills by 10% for 10 minutes.

I guess they noticed players deliberately waiting in a map for the zerg to leave so they could get a more comfortably populated zone to play in, and are now bribing them to leave asap

Thought I’d try to summarise the pros and cons of the Megaserver from this thread.
I’ve probably left some points out but I tried to skim through every page

Pros:
More people on maps
Cheaper (less servers required)
No “home” server vs overflow issues
Increase in new player retention
Unpopular events can now be completed
No need for server merges

Cons:
More people on maps
Effect on RP
Every map is overflow
Language on EU
Loss of server community/pride
Lack of choice for players who prefer low pop
Increased loading times
Loss of server events eg Temple runs/mining runs/world boss tours
More gold sellers
Guesting can result in player being put back in same map
Guild & WvW recruiting
Guild missions/puzzles etc can be confusing with players spread across maps, different guilds queueing for same event etc
World bosses on strict timetable
Too many players and spell effects at world bosses causing lag/low fps/dc
Difficulty in getting credit at some overcrowded events (particularly for lower level players)
Players beginning to avoid /map and /say.
Lack of proper scaling for events
No option to queue for different megaserver or /join if not in party
Problems reconnecting to same server after frequent disconnects due to zergs

Edited to add reconnection issue.

2: We choose

Top priorities are traits (no interest in alts until fixed) and megaserver (no interest in any open world pve until fixed)

Classic case is the (lack of) information on Megaserver rollout:

…We’re keeping our focus on the monitoring, and we will let you know when more maps are added

This was posted after approximately half the maps were megaservered but yet…

… that would have taken everyone off their servers where they were happy with less people and put them with more people

But isn’t that exactly what the Megaserver did? With the added benefit of making sure that even their language choice wasn’t taken into account.

ladybutter.5280:

Sigh… I really tried. I really tried to like the megaserver. I kept an open mind about it and tried not to be so negative and actually play on it.

But no, ever since the megaserver came, I noticed that I lost all sense of belonging. When I zone in to a map, the people I see are strangers. Gone are the days where I know the people who idle around a specific area, LA for example, in my server, there was this girl who just stands there 24/7 carrying a spikefruit (I won’t mention her name but I know a lot know her). While I don’t talk much in map and say chat, it gives a sense of familiarity when I know the people talking there.

Now there’s no place to see familiar faces other than wvw. I’m a wvw pug and I must say, it’s difficult now to discuss wvw matches outside the BLs because it doesn’t make any sense, outside wvw, you don’t belong to any server. Not to mention it’s quite difficult to call on your server to arms.

I tried to see the advantages, there are people now in mid level maps. However, that was the end to it. I thought that if there are more people then map completion wouldn’t be so boring. But no, what happened was, the people I usually bump in to are the people who will ignore you and just forge ahead. They won’t talk and won’t even ress you when you’re helping them fight something. When you ress them, they won’t even say thanks or whatever. It didn’t happen much back then when there was no megaserver, because you both know you’re in the same server, and most likely will see each other again whether in wvw, high level maps or world events.

Now, because of the anonymity brought by the MS, it’s like everyone has a free ticket to be a jerk.

I tried guesting to another server, if it will alleviate my frustrations. But nope, it doesn’t work. Guesting is pointless. Before, if I want to chill and RP, I’ll guest to TC. If I want to immerse myself, I’ll guest to low pop servers. But now? Sigh.

My suggestion, I would like to have the option to be in a megaserver or not. I played AION before, and they have this fast track server and the normal server. Aside from that, they even have channels in each zone that you can switch to. Is that possible here?

I really tried MS, but I guess it’s not for me. I know some like it, that’s why I wouldn’t suggest to remove it completely. Just an option for those of us who would like the server communities back.

Please ANET

Perfectly said!

Spent time crafting in LA today and absolutely NO-ONE spoke in map chat or /say during the 20 mins or so I was there. (It wasn’t the language filter either because as soon as I zoned into Dry Top, I was greeted with a guild recruitment message in German.)

Remember when players would say Hello/Goodbye etc as they logged on/off? And tell jokes, answer questions, share tips, announce mining runs/temple runs, ask for help in wvw or with a world boss?

There were a couple of things that struck me from the Jeff Strain speech posted earlier:

It is a truism that MMOs are all about community, and the success or failure of your MMO will largely be gated by how well the community coalesces and feels a strong sense of place in your world

And yet the megaserver destroyed those very communities that servers had built.

And

It is tempting to believe that because a player is playing an MMO, and because good MMOs are social games, every player must therefore like to play with other players in a group. Our experience with Guild Wars is that this is an erroneous and dangerous assumption. On any given day, a player may want to play with his guild, or he may want to play with his best friend, or he may want to play alone. The fact that he is playing in a large communal environment is not a predictor of how he wants to play. We should be striving to make games that let you play how you want to play right now, and offer you the flexibility to progress with any combination of players you like.

What makes me mad is if you log out and back in, you could be on a completely different mega server.

Or, when TRYING to reach a completely different megaserver, you end up on the same one, even when you guest…

And to answer OP:
Megaservers have ruined the events where they were run for the server community by known commanders eg mining runs, temple runs, karka queen, boss tour etc.

Today I logged on and thought I’d do some Crown Pavilion. I’m guessing I went to my “home world” first – but nothing happening there. I then guested but logged on to the EXACT same server. I used my last guest pass and logged on and yet again – same server. I repeated the guest/homeworld cycle for the next 15 minutes but always ended up in the same server.

I can only assume that guesting is broken. I pity people who have actually paid to transfer in the last few weeks.

Taygus.4571:

here in the uk, teq now spwans at 5pm! …. which is dreadful timing, and at 9pm..Which is normally far too late

they added more spawns but still karka/teq/wurm aren’t at peak times for us. Which is 6pm/7pm/8pm.

Should be better once our clocks go back at least.

Just wanted to point out that many people don’t even get home from work til 6pm or later

I’m also hoping that they fix timings for world bosses (and a lot of other “features”) destroyed by the megaserver.
Used to do a server temple run most nights, which often included Karka queen plus Teq / Wurm scheduled events.

Now nothing

Ilyaniii.3918:

Morrigan.2809:

Phoenixlin.8624:

If they say “We understood that megaservers are the worst idea ever thought. It fixed nothing and broke lots of thing. We are returning to the old system”, it will satisfy me.

this

Yup..

Agreed.

“If they can get those two things fixed, I will be happy to call the megaserver system a huge success.”

I’d like them to also fix:
overcrowding, waypoints being contested, temple status, longer loading screens, lag/fps issues, boss schedule, server activities such as temple runs/mining runs/world boss tours, server Teq and Wurm events etc.

Today, while trying to find a map that wasn’t ridiculously full, and having to constantly re-log and eventually try to guest, I find that there are apparently no low pop servers any more – all are high or very high. How do we chose quieter worlds?

Aeolus.3615:

- maps and game design was not made take advantage of a megaserver system
- Overflows worked better than Megaserver yet overflow system was a pain when occurs.

i just hope that megaserver going to be dropped after some time, and this “test” and bring back the server division but with system w/o overflows.

Surely every map is now overflow all the time…

I’m sure its been said in 25 pages, but I just want to put in my 2 cents here since I seem to be in these forums more these days than the actual game. (That’s not even hyperbole. Think about that Anet.)

I keep checking forums to see if there is any progress made to the WB schedule and megaserver issues & rarely log into the game now. Specifically looking for answers to:

1. Have they removed the megaserver from places it patently doesn’t work eg Orr?
2. Have they reduced the soft cap in zones so that events aren’t over before they begin?
3. Have they made progress in removing/discouraging zerg content?
4. Have they done anything sensible about language options for EU players?
5. Have they labelled megaservers like districts, or given an option to opt out?
6. Have they amended the world boss schedule for EU/UK players?
7. Have they realised some of us chose lower pop on purpose and some don’t like zergs?
8. Have they made changes so that not only parties but guilds and squads stay together?
9. Have they changed the way guild missions/bounties etc work?

I’m not even mentioning RP, contested waypoints, nodes, increase in gold-sellers, destruction of community and several other things which I will remember after I post this.

There should be a 100% chance to be on a map with players from the realm the players chose (often paying to transfer to).
100% chance to be with players in the guild they currently represent.
100% chance to be with players in their squad.
100% chance to be with the players in their party.

If the larger champions/events/world bosses were to spawn a lot more often, this would also spread out server load as players would distribute themselves more evenly through maps.

Finally, to re-iterate what has been said several times already, it’s very hard when you know little to no Spanish (or German/French/English) to communicate and coordinate a large world event such as Wurm or Teq.

5 level 80s, 4 map completions and currently working towards map completion for character 5

(I just don’t feel I’ve “finished” my char until she’s completed exploring)

Amber.8193:

I’m hugely disappointed by megaservers tbh:
- no more golden tags;
- no more server community and events;
- huge mess for guild missions;
- huge mess for Orr temples, how are we supposed to know now when an event is active
- waypoints costs
- nodes changing every day….
- trolls everyyyywhere, ppl complaining, almost insulting (!) ppl about their languages
- no more WvW communication
- I never felt so lonely in the game now

When I first read about Mega, I thought it would take time, to let people getting used to it, and above all to see their reaction and feelings. But no no, you just rushed the implementation, leaving us quite overwhelmed and not taking into account our opinion…
I really hope you will come up with some solutions : maybe give us back non mega cities (or at least one map where a server can meet x.x), instanced guild missions ?

I feel like I’ve been evicted from the server I paid to transfer to.
Zones are horribly over-crowded, with sudden drops in fps when a zerg to kill something runs past.
Today I had to re-log three times to be able to rez and help npcs for the heart – they were all alive and kicking on the first two servers I got sent to.

Is there anywhere (excluding wvw) where our server and only our server can hang out?

For the guild bounty, one member of the guild, the server AND the party was in a different megaserver. There seemed to be no option to click name and choose to join another group in their version

Not one of the scheduled mega-bosses falls into UK prime time. Not one.

Quote “Added a chat option – enabled by default – that shows only the messages coming from players sharing your client’s text language.”

How exactly will this help coordination in killing bosses?

Does anyone have a list of zones that aren’t megaservers?

A few months ago, I spent quite a few hours researching guilds and servers before paying to transfer.
I wanted a small, friendly pve guild, on a low-med pop server, English-speaking so that events would generally run in the evening after work (UK).
I was very lucky to find the perfect fit. Outside of my small guild, I got to know the commanders for the daily mining run, the daily temple run, Teq etc. I got to recognise players in LA even if i never spoke to them, which made it feel like “home”.

I would like my “home” back.

As a UK player with work/family commitments, who can play a couple of hours in the evening after work, I notice that Tequatl will NEVER be active when I’m online? Surely some mistake…

She just made level 80 a few days ago.

I’ve had my Razer Naga for nearly 4 years now, and it still works perfectly.
I have bound most of my abilities to the side buttons – ideal if you have small hands.

I’m having exactly the same problem – the more congested the area, the longer the load time.
Occasionally I appear to load normally, but then find I can move about, but not use any abilities or interact with the environment or npcs; eventually I will get “lost connection to server, try again later” error message.
It seems that every patch it gets a little worse, to the extent when I dread the next Living Story update because I’m wondering if I’ll be able to play at all.

I am also having this problem. It occurs at peak times, and when zoning, including fractals. Sometimes I just get stuck on the loading screen for 5 minutes, then I get the error code. Other times I might appear to have loaded, but I can interact with nothing, or I have a delay of 30 seconds on my skills.

Sometimes I use task manager to exit, then reload the game – often to find it works perfectly (at least until I need to zone into LA…)

On using gameadvisor, I always have a very large amount of packet loss at one particular IP address – the one before reaching the server. I attach part of the text here:

12 28ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% xe-0-1-0.fra23.ip4.tinet.net [141.136.110.125]
4/ 100 = 4% |
13 37ms 86/ 100 = 86% 82/ 100 = 82% 89.149.164.42
0/ 100 = 0% |
14 —- 100/ 100 =100% 96/ 100 = 96% 206-127-157-86.plaync.com [206.127.157.86]
0/ 100 = 0% |
15 28ms 4/ 100 = 4% 0/ 100 = 0% p4-23-c0-ncdc-pub.plaync.net [206.127.158.1]

It’s always the hop to 89.149.164.42 which shows higher numbers than all the rest, and it always occurs at peak times, or just after a new patch when there’s a sudden flurry of activity.

Exactly this – have often had long loading screens, know that I will be disconnected if a zone is so busy I’m redirected to an overflow – I’m used to that.
However, in addition to this, every time I zone anywhere, Isee a black mini-map, occasionally with a couple of icons; the map is a complete blur.
I don’t know if it’s related, but on trying Sanctum Sprint yesterday, I had a skill delay of about 3-5 seconds, and was rubber-banding all over the place. That hasn’t happened since it was first introduced to the game.

I assumed they’d do something about the overflows but apparently that’s not seen as a problem…

I noticed that the Tequatl announcements on screen disappear after you have completed the Boss Week meta achievement (finding dragon scales etc in Frostgorge, Blazeridge, Sparkfly and doing the Boss dailies)

We had this problem too and finally worked out that you have to leave one of the adds up all the time in order to stay in combat.
Otherwise when the dragons fly off, you go out of combat and they regain health.

I think players are getting frustrated by lack of communication; for example our server forum organised an event with advance warning, voice comms etc.
However a very large group decided to guest on our realm and even arriving one hour before Teq spawned put our guild into overflow.
In the overflow, players were giving out VOIP information in German, and I also noticed chat in French, and maybe 2 other languages ( I didn’t recognise them however)
Possibly this is a problem limited to EU overflows only.

I didn’t feel the atmosphere was awful, more that players were resigned even before the spawn that the attempt would be unsuccessful because they literally could not understand what was being said.

Months ago when this was happening, re-zoning into the Chantry of Secrets in Bloodtide Coast fixed it.
It might be worth trying.

I’ve now run World 1 Zone 2 three times.
Each time I have carefully followed guides (two guides in case one has an error).
I have missed no baubles, I’ve not left the instance, haven’t got dced, have found all the secret rooms but I also can’t get this achievement.
I also cannot dig up the two red baubles by the waterfall.

Try to zone into the event, get stuck on loading screen. After a few minutes ctrl-alt-del to quit and start again. Repeat.
Occasionally get the message disconnected from server.
Finally zone in (on an overflow where NO event is taking place).
Wait one hour, rinse and repeat