Guild Wars 2

About freaking time.

Many of these changes were suggested by myself and others in this very forum at least 2 years ago. Let’s hope it’s not too little, too late.

Sadly, for some it already is; I know many players who are leaving the game because of the lack of WvW support and the fiasco of the borderlands implementation with the HoT release.

The take away from this should be:

a) Stop letting WvW languish.

b) Listen to the WvW player base when they make suggestions and don’t take 2+ years to implement them.

Unfortunately, based on past experience, this probably won’t happen.

As of 9:45am, December 19th the arena barrier in my guild hall is working again. Sadly, it’s still not possible to place the decorations (traps, walls) inside. So much for the games for the Christmas party we were having

Same issue. Prior to Tuesday, December 15, 2015 game update, I was able to place decorations, traps, and toggle on/off the arena barrier.

Since the update was released, I can not place any decorations or traps nor turn off the barrier. This despite being the sole leader of my guild with all permissions active.

It’s one of the few areas in the game in which we can customize it to our needs; from build testing, to PvP with guild mates and alliance members, to creating a space for games and contests, it’s a crucial area of the guild hall.

Please restore this functionality; hopefully in time for our guild’s Christmas party this Saturday. Thank you.

LetoII.3782:

Kraag Deadsoul.2789:

Players who would complain about being instantly sent back to respawn on death are appeased. They can still linger on the ground as a corpse – watching the battle

This is actually another issue.. Dead men should tell no tales.

Agreed, but we know it won’t happen (sending players back to spawn immediately on death). The outcry on the forums would register 9.0 on the Richter scale if they did.

So I suggested an option that still allows for the possibility of a rez, but makes it more difficult to do so by eliminating the mindless, skilless, numbers-beat-all method that currently exists.

Please implement the ability to assign waypoint markers on a sub-squad by sub-squad basis. Just as commanders currently have access to four icons they can place on the map which can be seen by all squad members, simply extend this functionality to all the sub-squads.

In this way, the commander can mark on the map specific objectives for each sub-squad. For example, sub-squad #1 might be given an icon tasking them to defend point A, sub-squad #2 an icon tasking them with attacking/capturing point B, sub-squads #3, #4, and #5 an icon indicating to rally at point C, etc.

Or do what has already been suggested multiple times throughout the years right here on this very forum:

Players in combat can not rez allies.

Kills multiple birds with one stone:

1) Addresses the rezzing zombie hoard issue.

2) Players who would complain about being instantly sent back to respawn on death are appeased. They can still linger on the ground as a corpse – watching the battle – hoping they may still get rezzed within the next 5 minutes and avoid the long walk of shame back to their friends/party/squad/zerg.

3) Rewards players by making a stomp/kill more permanent.

4) Evens the odds between two numerically mismatched groups. If the outnumbered group manages to take down enough enemies, the chance exists they may get the upperhand and win.

5) Opens up new playstyles. “Combat medics” who steer clear of the main fight so as not to be put into combat so they can rez downed allies. Counter-tactics then evolve for the opposing side to identify and target the combat medics before they get a chance to rez the fallen. This will sync well with some of the new profession specializations coming out with Heart of Thorns.

6) It’s very simple to program. The function for rezzing already exists, the function for determining whether a player is in combat or not already exists. Now simply write a new function that tests if a player is in combat when they attempt to rez (which technically also already exists because you rez slower when in combat; so the game already knows this). If the answer is “yes, the player is in combat”, then block the call to the function that controls rezzing. Done.

Please, please, please implement the ability to assign waypoint markers on a sub-squad by sub-squad basis.

Just as commanders currently have access to four icons they can place on the map which can be seen by all squad members, simply extend this functionality to all the sub-squads.

In this way, the commander can mark on the map specific objectives for each sub-squad. For example, sub-squad #1 might be given an icon tasking them to defend point A, sub-squad #2 an icon tasking them with attacking/capturing point B, sub-squads #3, #4, and #5 an icon indicating to rally at point C, etc.

There is another possibility. As one of my guild members reminded me, there is more than one guild on Aurora Glade that uses [GLAD] as an acronym. My guild is “The Gladia [GLAD]”. These other guilds use the same acronym, but have an entirely different guild name and a slight variation in the guild tag; for example, [GLaD].

However, “The Gladia [GLAD]” has no affiliation with any of those other guilds other than playing on the same server. To the best of my knowledge, “The Gladia” was the very first guild on AG to use the [GLAD] tag.

I’m not suggesting any of those other guilds are guilty of hacking, either. But if there was indeed a mesmer inside of Hills with a [GLAD] tag, it may have been one of the variants.

In closing, I’m not personally aware of any hacking that occurred that day on the part of AG. If it can be proven otherwise and I discover it was one of my members, I will take it very seriously and deal with it appropriately. Short of conclusive proof of hacking, though, it seems more a case of a patient mesmer than a cheating one.

schloumou.3982:

@Kraag
Sorry, I didnt start this threat to discuss whether this has happend, to state how much of borderlands get capped, whether you like to troll people nor to nitpick on my phrasing. Several people saw it at hills. No way this guy could get into bay and it was even on your own teamchat. I just wantet to know if something can be done about that and i got my answer. I was asked to give this info to you and maybe i shouldnt have done that. Im sorry for that and next time i will only give it to official authorities. Have fun guys.

Then why did you start it?

schloumou.3982:

…but several people saw it

Several people saw what, exactly? A mesmer portaled allies into Hills. You claim this is hacking. Ok, fine. Where’s the proof? Did he climb the wall? Glitch through a gate or texture? Use a fly hack? Got screenshots? Video? Oh, that’s right; you already said:

schloumou.3982:

…further didnt i record his hackingmaneuvers

Onto your next point:

schloumou.3982:

Later the same Mesmer portet a wild bunch of guys in our back when we deffended the spawntower against the spawncommander and friends. Yep all gates and walls where intact. Later the same evening this guys was jumping around in our t3 bay.

Yes, the gate and walls were intact; at the moment at which we ported in. However, they WEREN’T intact earlier during one of our numerous break-ins into that tower. Our standard operating procedure when facing a numerically superior force is to break into a tower or keep, knowing full well we’ll be wiped before we cap. BUT we tell our mesmer to go into hiding the moment we get inside so we can return later to port in and cap it when you’re not paying attention (gotta remember to do those mesmer sweeps).

An intact gate and walls isn’t a conclusive sign of hacking. It’s a two-stage process; just because you weren’t present when stage one was occuring (the break-in that happened earlier; maybe when you weren’t even online) doesn’t mean a hack was involved. We play the long game and are very, very patient (as other posters here have attested to when they’ve faced AG).

Same thing happened at Bay. Your outer wall got breached (remember all the trebs at Briar hitting your outer wall?), we got wiped before we could get into inner (as we knew we would), but our mesmer went into hiding, patiently biding his time until the opportunity presented itself to port the rest of the team in.

In short, if you had any proof at all or your accustations any merit, you would have presented them to ArenaNet staff rather than starting this post (which, by the way, is against the forum rules).

So the only conclusion I can draw in answer to the question of “Then why did you start it?” (this thread) is you got outplayed, are but_t hurt over it, and decided to come to the forum to stir up drama, point fingers, and make false accusations with absolutely zero evidence to back it up.

Show the proof and and I’ll kick the offending player, out him or her myself, and make a sincere and public apology to you and your server. Hell, during my shift I’ll even let you cap our Hills, Bay, and Briar with no resistance as recompense.

Short of that, I’m calling BS on your accusations of hacking; especially when I was playing the game for 12 hours that day and the mesmer in question was both in my party and in the server Teamspeak with me a good deal of that time. I was the one telling him to hide after breaching your walls or gates and to wait and port us in later when things quieted down.

I don’t tolerate hacking, but neither do I tolerate false accusations of hacking; especially when you try to drag my guild’s name through the mud.

Reserved for Vampiric Shroud.

New Trait Line:

Minor Adept: Vampire Lord

You can equip a sword (main-hand) and use vampire skills. Death Shroud is replaced with Vampiric Shroud.

(1) Major Adept: Blood Rage

Whenever you inflict bleeding, gain 1 stack of Might for 5 seconds (1 second internal cool down).

(2) Major Adept: Blood Sacrifice

Whenever you sacrifice health, gain 25% of the sacrifice as life force.

(3) Major Adept: Hemorrhage

Hitting a foe below 50% health inflicts 3 stacks of bleeding for 10 seconds (10 second internal cool down).

Minor Master: Blood Drinker

Siphon 10 health every second from each bleeding foe within 600 range (max 5 targets).

(1) Major Master: Blood Fury

Whenever you inflict bleeding, gain Fury for 5 seconds (15 second internal cool down).

(2) Major Master: Sanguine Blade

Sword attacks steal health. Steal 3% more health for each stack of bleeding on a foe (bonus only applies to life stealing from sword attacks). Stacks with other sources of life siphoning.

(3) Major Master: Withering Blood

Hitting a bleeding foe below 50% health inflicts weakness for 5 seconds (10 second internal cool down).

Minor Grandmaster: Blood is Life

Gain 1% Life Force every 3 seconds for each bleeding foe within 600 range (max 5 targets).

(1) Major Grandmaster: Blood Frenzy

Critical hits against bleeding foes grant Quickness for 5 seconds (15 second internal cool down).

(2) Major Grandmaster: Blood Shroud

Inflict 3 stacks of bleeding for 10 seconds on up to 5 foes when entering Vampiric Shroud (600 range, 10 second internal cool down). You are healed for 10% of damage you deal while in Vampiric Shroud.

(3) Major Grandmaster: Exsanguinate

Hitting a bleeding foe below 33% health inflicts immobilize for 3 seconds (10 second internal cool down) and doubles the target’s current stacks and duration of bleeding (10 second internal cool down).

New Healing Skill:

Heal: Blood Renewal

Recharge: 10 seconds

Sacrifice 10% max health. Gain regeneration for 5 seconds. At the end of 10 seconds, heal for 20% of your max health.

Notes: High risk/high (more frequent) reward. By the numbers, the healing seems OP on paper due to the short recharge. But let’s assume a necro with 20,000 health. On activation, they lose 2,000 health. Assuming the regen boon isn’t removed, they’ll gain another 650 health in 5 seconds. At the end of 10 seconds, they’ll be healed for 4,000 health for a total of 4,650 health gained. The net healing, though, is only 2,650 due to the initial health sacrifice. Over 30 seconds of spamming this skill when off cooldown, they would heal for 7,950 net (under ideal conditions).

This is about what a necro would heal when using Consume Conditions if they had 3 conditions on them at the time of activation. So it’s comparable healing; just in smaller but more frequent doses. These numbers do not take into account healing power and player level effect on regen; if it’s an issue, healing coefficients can easily be changed to make this skill balance with the other healing skills.

New Utility Skills:

Barbed Signet

Recharge: 30 seconds
Conditions Converted: 1 every 5 seconds
Range (Active): 600
Number of Targets: 5
Life Force: 1% per stack of bleeding consumed
Breaks Stun

Passive: Converts one condition into bleeding on the necro every 5 seconds. Duration and number of stacks of the converted condition are retained as new stacks and duration of bleeding.

Active: Consume all bleeding on yourself, as well as allies (up to 5) and enemies (up to 5) within range, converting it to life force at a rate of 1 stack bleeding : 1% life force.

Note: Condition mitigation for the vampire combined with life force generation and a bit of group support. Also synergizes with the trait line if equiping any type of condition transfer to foes.

“Come to me!” (Shout)

Sacrifice 5% max health. Taunt nearby foes and gain life force.

Activation: Instant
Recharge: 45 seconds
Number of Targets: 5
Radius: 600
Taunt: 2 seconds
Life Force: 2% per target
Unblockable

Note: Within the context of GW2 mechanics, this is as close as I can get to a skill that resembles the ability of a classic vampire to hypnotize his victim(s) and draw them to him while simultaneously giving necros access to the new Taunt control effect. Adds a little life force generation that scales with the number of targets.

Bat Swarm

Assume the form of a swarm of bats, evading attacks and bleeding nearby foes. This skill counts as a transformation.

Activation: Instant
Recharge: 60 seconds
Duration: 5 seconds
Number of Targets: 5
Number of Pulses: 5
Bleeding: 2 stacks, 10 seconds per pulse
Radius: 210
Evade: 2 seconds
Breaks Stun

Note: We finally get an evade skill that still fits thematically. Mist form is also asscociated with classic vampires, but the eles stole that from us; so bats it is.

If activated underwater, assume the form of a plague of rats or something appropriately aquatic themed (a school of piranhas?).

Vampiric Gaze

Sacrifice 5% max health. Stun target. Mark target with Vampiric Gaze, siphoning health and gaining life force each time target activates a skill.

Activation: 1/4 second
Recharge: 45 seconds
Stun: 1 second
Range: 1,200

Vampiric Gaze Duration: 3 seconds
Damage: 250 + (damage coefficient to be determined) per target skill activation
Healing: 250 + (0.5 healing power coefficient) per target skill activation
Life Force: 5% per target skill activation

Note: A nod to the necros of Guild Wars original, this is a skill that punishes an enemy for trying to punish the necro. A bit of stun thrown in for good measure. If you feel the need to add counter-play, the enemy marked by Vampiric Gaze loses the mark if they get beyond 1,200 range from the necro.

New Elite Skill:

Blood Bath

Sacrifice 10% max health. Surround yourself with a pool of blood, gaining fury, might, regeneration, and swiftness while bleeding nearby foes. Life siphoning from all sources increased 50% for the duration of Blood Bath. If struck a fatal blow while in Blood Bath, assume mist form instead. When Blood Bath ends, you are healed for 10% of your max health.

This is not a true transformation; all other skills remain active during the duration of Blood Bath.

Activation: Instant
Recharge: 150 seconds
Duration: 15 seconds
Radius: 240
Fury: 3 seconds
Might: 6 stacks, 3 seconds
Regeneration: 3 seconds
Swiftness: 3 seconds
Boon Application Interval: 3 seconds
Number of Targets: 5
Pulse: Once per second
Bleeding: 3 stacks, 5 seconds per pulse
Breaks Stun

Note: The blood drinking monster revealed in all it’s terrible glory. Though not a true transformation, the character model and animation on activating this elite should definitely fit the vampire theme.

The mist form triggers when damage from any source would reduce the necro’s health to zero; it’s otherwise identical to the Superior Rune of Vampirism effect.

New Weapon Skills: Sword (Main-hand)

Sword Skill #1 (Chain)

(a) Crippling Agony

Damage: To be determined; less than warrior but slightly better range.
Cripple: 1 second, -50% movement speed
Number of Targets: 3
Range: 150

Note: Maybe less an actual sword swing and more of an oppressive aura emanating from the blade that implies the pain and applies the cripple.

(b) Bloodletter

Damage: To be determined; less than warrior but slightly better range.
Bleeding: 1 stack, 8 seconds
Number of Targets: 3
Range: 150

( c) Lifebane Strike

Damage: To be determined; less than warrior but slightly better range.
Number of Targets: 3
Range: 150
Life Force: 3% per bleeding foe struck

Note: The whole sequence may take slightly longer than the Warrior sword sequence; 3 seconds perhaps. Slower than warrior (appropriate), slower than dagger (also appropriate), but faster than greatsword.

Has the potential to generate life force faster than dagger by pure numbers; 9% for the sequence compared to 8% for dagger. However, there’s the opportunity cost of having to hit a bleeding foe to gain the life force and the sword hits slower than dagger. Dagger will still come out slightly ahead as the better life force generator; maintaining it’s advantage in that regard.

Sword Skill #2: Heart Piercer

Activation: 3/4 second
Recharge: 10 seconds
Range: 600
Damage: To be determined
Healing: 100 and/or 750 as Life Siphoning + (0.75 healing power coefficient)
Combo Finisher: Leap

Sacrifice 5% max health. Dash towards your target. Siphon 100 health from up to 5 enemies passed through on the way to the target. On hitting target, siphon 750 health. If no target selected, dash forward in a line siphoning 100 health from up to 5 enemies passed through, but no 750 health siphon at end of the dash.

Note: The life siphoning is not off the chart; compare it to dagger #2 Life Siphon at 2,682 healing baseline with a 75.6% benefit from healing power. Add in the initial health sacrifice, and this skill heals less than dagger #2; albeit with the added benefit of a dash/return dash and a leap finisher.

Sword Skill #2: Heart Ripper (second activation)

Activation: 3/4 second
Recharge: Dependent on Heart Piercer
Range: 600
Damage: To be determined
Healing: 100 and/or 750 as Life Siphoning + (0.75 healing power coefficient)
Combo Finisher: Leap

Sacrifice 5% max health. Dash back 600 units towards the point at which Heart Piercer was activated, pulling the targeted foe 600 units along that path while siphoning 750 health from targeted foe. Siphon 100 health from up to 5 enemies passed through on the return dash.

If this skill is not activated within 10 seconds of having first activated Heart Piercer, Heart Ripper reverts to Heart Piercer and no return Dash can be performed until Heart Piercer is activated again.

Note: If the target is beyond 600 range from the necro when Heart Ripper is activated, the necro dashes back to the point where Heart Piercer was activated but the target is not pulled along with the necro nor is any life siphoned. This allows for counter-play (blinks, blocks, dodges, evades, positioning, stun breaks, etc.).

The life siphoning is not off the chart; compare it to dagger #2 Life Siphon at 2,682 healing baseline with a 75.6% benefit from healing power. Add in the initial health sacrifice, and this skill heals less than dagger #2; albeit with the added benefit of a dash/return dash and a leap finisher.

Sword Skill #3: Blood Whorl

Sacrifice 5% max health. Spin and bleed nearby foes. You can move while spinning. Places a water field at your location at the end of the spin.

Recharge: 15 seconds
Duration: 2 1/2 seconds
Number of Targets: 5
Radius: 150
Damage (8x): To be determined
Bleeding: 1 stack, 10 seconds per strike
Life Force: 1% (per strike per opponent)
Combo Field: Water
Duration of Field: 2 seconds

Note: I’d prefer a new Blood Field be introduced in conjunction with this elite specialization; leap finishers in said fields would siphon health rather than provide direct healing. Assuming that were not to happen, I have to work with what we have; water fields.

This synergizes with sword skill #2 to provide potential healing on both the dash in and the return dash (if timed well and not interrupted). Skilled play would allow this combo to actually heal the necro rather than just break even between the health sacrifice and the life siphoning of the two skills alone.

Can potentially generate 40% life force if 5 opponents are struck with all 8 hits; a very unlikely scenario but one which would still have to be taken into account for balancing purposes. Might need to change some numbers to avoid an OP life force generating situation.

Whorl is not a typo of “whirl”; it’s intended to be spelled “whorl”.

The vampire has been reimagined of late as an agile swordsman (see Vampire Hunter D, et al) rather than the slower sophisticate of the Bela Legosi era. With this in mind – while also giving a nod to the blood necros of Guild Wars past – I present the Vampire Lord elite specialization (if we ever get to the point of additional elite specializations added to the game).

Health sacrificing is introduced as an opportunity cost to offset the lower skill recharges and/or greater power than one would normally expect from comparable skills found in other professions. It also provides a high-risk/high-reward play style (a hallmark of the orginal Guild Wars blood necro).

The specialization also applies bleeds with abandon, synergizing with the new trait line and overall theme of the vampire. To prevent the new sword main-hand from displacing the sceptre as our other bleed applicator, it’s range is less than sceptre (though it’s single stack of bleed lasts a bit longer).

Three new stun breakers (two utilities, one elite) help us mitigate control effects. We’re not getting blinks, teleports, and other forms of escape; to compensate, we need more access to stun breaks. Again, fits with the theme of the vampire being a slippery character who is hard to pin down.

Lastly, there are multiple opportunities for healing and life siphoning outside of the primary healing skill and lackluster Blood Magic traits, allowing for an attrition/sustain build that has been lacking from the profession since release.

…but the will is lacking.

ASSIGN

A

DEVELOPER

WHO

ACTUALLY

MAINS

NECRO

TO

DEVELOP

FOR

THE

NECRO.

It’s really not that hard, folks.

P.S.

If the above is too difficult for you, ArenaNet, then just go back to GW1 to see how awesome necros were in your first iteration of the profession. Then apply the lessons learned there to GW2.

Also, if you’re having a hard time grasping what the necro is all about, I’ll sum it up for you; it’s the anti-everything.

High health? Let me siphon that from you!

High DPS? Let me curse you so that you damage yourself faster than you damage me!

Lots of boons? Here, let me strip them from you while hurting you in the process!

You’re quick? I’ll slow you down!

CC? I’m the unstoppable force, mother kitten!

DoT? I’ve got more lives than a cat and will out-regen whatever you throw at me!

Focus me? Eat my minions!

We’re the dark matter, the blackhole, the -1, the inverse, the mirror universe. If you can’t figure that out on your own, don’t give yourself an aneurysm over it. GW1 captured the theme of necros perfectly; how you kittened it up so badly in GW2 is beyond me. Without breaking a sweat, though, you can just go back to your roots in GW1 and re-use the mold. We won’t accuse you of being lazy. Promise.

I am the guild leader of [GLAD]. I can assure you with regard to the spawn tower (Briar tower) on the Miller’s Sound borderland that no hacking was involved. I spent the entire day in question repeatedly breaking into that tower with my guild mates as we chipped away at Bay.

At no time did the mesmer who accompanied me hack into Briar (nor Bay). He’s excellent at hiding, mass invising, veiling, decoying, blinking, and taking advantage of very narrow windows of opportunity. We call it “Operation Trolololol”; tie you up at Briar tower, outlast you, and finally cap Bay (which we did, along with the rest of your border).

As Vavume stated, [GLAD] has been on AG since GW2 was released and is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of the WvW gaming experience for all; friend and foe alike. Rest assured, I hate hackers and if one of my guild members is caught hacking they would be immediately kicked from the guild with no chance of ever returning.

That said, the only thing I hate more than hackers is false accusations of hacking. Either present conclusive and irrefutable evidence of said hacking or drop it.

Also, get better at keeping an eye on your surroundings and realize that what you may consider impossible or hacking is simply a skilled player with extreme patience. We’ve had mesmers on AG who have quietly waited up to 5 HOURS inside of a keep (after having previously breached the wall or gate; no hacking involved) only to port us in and steal it out from under an enemy who wasn’t paying attention. As you yourself stated, schlomou:

“…suprised when we saw a Mesmer of the Guild [Glad] inside our hills which wasnt open for quite some time.”

“…inside our hills which wasnt open for quite some time.”

“…wasnt open for quite some time. (i.e. it WAS open earlier and the mesmer simply outwaited you)"

We’re a small guild; what we lack in numbers, we make up for in patience and persistence. Good things come to those who wait

Thor Rising.7850:

I guess I’ll be playing warrior until they balance this broken class, might as well get my Champion Legionnaire title while it’s this easy. Good luck my necromancer brothers, there isn’t a build out there that can stand toe to toe with warrior or mesmer in their current state.

Thor Rising.7850:

I guess I’ll be playing warrior until they balance this broken class,

Thor Rising.7850:

until they balance this broken class,

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three years in and they still haven’t balanced it. Hope doth spring eternal, though.

ArenaNet; fantastic combat system, crap class balance (with their extreme bias and favoritism not helping the situation).

notebene.3190:

I don’t know if this was supposed to be a ‘feedback’ thread as well, but if it is, I found something that is confusing to me (and I’ve been playing since launch).

I’m bringing up a new Necro. Well, she was 18 before the patch and she’s 31 now. When my elite skill opened up, I put in some sort of creature. Wish he was black to keep my theme going, but I digress. When I went for a swim, he went away, and I saw the elite slot ‘open’. Figured, “OK, can’t use that red beast in the water”, so clicked on the up arrow to see which skills would qualify, and it just opened up to a skill set I hadn’t spent any points in yet? Furthermore, when you mouse over the last skill in each ‘wheel’, it doesn’t say on the mouse over if it’s even an elite skill or not. The only time you really can see if a skill is elite is:

1. It’s the last skill in the wheel and you haven’t trained it yet, says by the button to train it up.

2. You are (apparently?) on land, or in ‘the right place’ (whatever that is) to click on the arrow to see the other skills. When I’m on land, I can click on the up arrow on the elite slot and see all the eligible skills, whether I know them or not. If I’m under water, that doesn’t seem to work.

I suppose I could have posted it as a bug, but it could just be an overall design oversight, intentional, but maybe not friendly?

So now it’s a thing you know.

The Flesh Golem (the “red beast”) never had an opportunity to take swimming lessons. It’s deathly afraid of water, going into hiding – curled up in a fetal position sucking its thumb – whenever you go for a swim.

This has been the case for the last 3 years since launch. We were told we’d get a replacement for the big scaredy-cat in the form of an undead shark. Of course, that never materialized, undead sharks being a rarity given how quickly their cartilaginous skeletons decompose.

You’d think a couple weeks of swim lessons for Fleshy would be in order to patch things up, but I guess that’s too expensive for A-net at the moment (or the last 3 years of moments, for that matter).

It’s a thing they’ve known for a loooooooooong time.

L Step.8659:

Some people just like to watch the world burn.

And some are masochists.

“And some are sadomasochists”

There; fixed that for you.

In the General Options Panel > User Interface section exists a drop down menu titled “Content Guide”. One of the options is “Off”.

With the upcoming expansion (or even sooner with a patch), could you please allow the “Off” option to also turn off all of the event notifications in WvW. They clutter the screen, make targeting difficult at times, and are of little to no value to those of us who could care less that a yak made a delivery of supplies or that tower XYZ was successfully defended.

If you just can’t bring yourself to go so far as to turn it all off, then at least give us the option to click on a little up-pointing arrow icon or something to roll all of it up so the only thing that is left on the screen is that tiny little icon. Should we want to, we can then click the icon again to unroll it all and return to reading about all the fascinating events happening around us in WvW.

Pinkamena Diane Pie.8054:

So can it be that the only things we get from this are coloured tags and golem mastery?!

Except that we won’t be getting colored tags; at least not the ones we requested. What we’re getting instead are gold-gated vanity items which have been co-opted by ArenaNet into a naked cash grab that no true WvW player will bother purchasing (or – as will be the case for many – won’t even be able to afford).

So golem mastery is all we’re getting.

grifflyman.8102:

I think it’s clear the community has spoken. I can’t remember the last time this many players came together to discuss a feature that was not well received.

I personally feel like the WvW community is dieing, if we are ignored after all these people have come together I think I’ll just join the Archage band waggon.

I’ll likely be following right behind you.

goldenwing.8473:

I believe we just plain and simple have a design decision made in a meeting room without someone present who has a clear understanding of the entirety of the WvW experience from a customer perspective.

And that right there summarizes the crux of the problem:

Decisions regarding an entertainment medium are being made by a committee of “suits” motivated purely by profit who don’t play the game and/or fail to understand what makes the game “fun”.

In short, they totally fail at that which they pretend to be: business men and women. If they were competent at business, they would understand the fundamental principle of exchanging a business’ product or service for a customer’s currency (but only so long as the customer values the product or service). They are failing to deliver a valued product/service – entertainment or “fun” – and thus we will refuse to exchange our currency (real cash converted to gems converted to gold).

Will some buy it? Sure. Will anet profit in the short-term? Sure. Will this game survive 9 years like it’s predecessor? Doubtful. Does anet/ncsoft care? Based on history to date, probably not; it’s all about the cash grab now while they still can.

PetricaKerempuh.7958:

Kraag Deadsoul.2789:

However, if I’m proven wrong, I’ll take a tinfoil hat in matte black, please.

that would be 300g, tyvm.

At least I’ll get more value for my money from the tinfoil hat than from this F-ed up colored commander tag fiasco.

GW1’s necro was – IMHO – the pinnacle of attrition play perfected (when built for it, of course). One of the keys to that were multiple siphoning utility skills which permitted the necro to maintain a low (but not as ridiculously low as GW2’s) but constant trickle of healing at an opponent’s expense. The other key was being able to use your own health as a resource to sacrifice now for an even greater benefit later. It was beautiful.

GW2 dispensed with both mechanics for the necro class and that – in conjunction with other factors – severely limits our attrition potential. Would making SoV a utility solve the problem? By itself, no. However, it would a be a step in the right direction of giving us additional tools designed specifically to enhance our attrition and sustain.

Scrambles.2604:

Kraag Deadsoul.2789:

Scrambles.2604:

If it wasn’t for Anet’s history of almost getting feature changes correct, i would bet on this being a PR move to generate controversy and publicity for the new feature patch.

Rarely does this community find itself primarily on the same side of an issue, so something must be afoot. WvW has lost a lot of players (at least from my perspective as a WvW player), and colored tags is a big change to improve and enhance WvW.

In order to get the word out to bring players back to WvW, Anet implements a controversial change to generate buzz and reach out to old GW2 players that may not follow the game closely, but would likely hear about what is regarded in the community as a big mistake.

I would imagine changing the colored tags to be more accessible would be a relatively easy change, so they set themselves up to be in a position of “OK you guys are right! We are changing the tags, because we are listening and we are here for you!”
Tl;dr – the change is a sloppy misstep or a calculated PR move. I’ll be selling tinfoil hats for 300g. If you want a different colored tinfoil hat it will be an additional 300g.

If true, it’s still a fail. Why risk generating all this bad blood with the cloak-and-dagger, horribly miscalculated, minsinformation, bait-and-switch campaign when they could just take the path of least resistance?

Namely, just give us exactly what we asked for without piling any additional feces on top of it: all commander tags now have the ability to change color on the fly. No additional costs, no having to pay for each additional color, nada, nothing, zilch, zero, zip. Period.

It’s not a fail, though. They have no subscribers to lose. If it’s an easy fix, like i assume it is, then they’ll fix it and still come out on top. “We have listened to the community and fixed this because we love you.”

That being said, controversy is the best publicity generator. I haven’t posted on here in months, yet this ridiculous change brought me back to the boards. It’s a terrible change, but it definitely grabbed my attention at least. I know more about the feature patch now because i have been reading up on this one backasswards change. If it wasn’t for the controversy i probably would have just passed over the description of the feature patch.

I’ll admit it’s farfetched and i’m still offering those tinfoil hats in various colors. They say not to attribute malice to that which can be explained by negligence. But marketing is a fickle beast that can never be trusted.

They have no subscribers to lose but they do have gem sales to lose as well as potential future customers who may be put off purchasing the game due to the negative fallout.

I do agree with you that it could be a Machiavellian marketing ploy. Given their past history, though, I’ll err on the side of attributing it to incompetence, detachment, and negligence rather than calculated cunning and malice.

However, if I’m proven wrong, I’ll take a tinfoil hat in matte black, please.

Straegen.2938:

Altie.4571:

If you’re not going to post constructive feedback that can be addressed to resolve the issue, don’t post at all. I’d be the first one to ignore 60% of the posts in this thread as pure QQ.

So posting QQ about QQ is ok then? Well let me be the first to QQ about your QQ of QQ. Good luck stopping it officer.

Literally LOL-ing until I started to cough. Thumbs up to you, good sir

Avalon.6418:

ArenaNet, it befits more shady companies who care only of profit.

This is not the ArenaNet you’re looking for.

That ship sailed with GW1. Their days of making “fun” equal in value to profit are over. They’ve jumped the shark and are now officially lumped in with the companies who care only for profit.

PetricaKerempuh.7958:

i dont think this is gold sink mate… this is what everyone else sees it is. its monetization of basic functionality, that should have been in the game from start. pls think about it…

QFT

phirefox.2568:

Are those horrid prices for colored tags a test to determine how far they can push us around without losing players?

If it IS a test, then they just got a big, fat F- !

Scrambles.2604:

If it wasn’t for Anet’s history of almost getting feature changes correct, i would bet on this being a PR move to generate controversy and publicity for the new feature patch.

Rarely does this community find itself primarily on the same side of an issue, so something must be afoot. WvW has lost a lot of players (at least from my perspective as a WvW player), and colored tags is a big change to improve and enhance WvW.

In order to get the word out to bring players back to WvW, Anet implements a controversial change to generate buzz and reach out to old GW2 players that may not follow the game closely, but would likely hear about what is regarded in the community as a big mistake.

I would imagine changing the colored tags to be more accessible would be a relatively easy change, so they set themselves up to be in a position of “OK you guys are right! We are changing the tags, because we are listening and we are here for you!”
Tl;dr – the change is a sloppy misstep or a calculated PR move. I’ll be selling tinfoil hats for 300g. If you want a different colored tinfoil hat it will be an additional 300g.

If true, it’s still a fail. Why risk generating all this bad blood with the cloak-and-dagger, horribly miscalculated, minsinformation, bait-and-switch campaign when they could just take the path of least resistance?

Namely, just give us exactly what we asked for without piling any additional feces on top of it: all commander tags now have the ability to change color on the fly. No additional costs, no having to pay for each additional color, nada, nothing, zilch, zero, zip. Period.

If they really, really just have to create a gold sink, then do the following:

Commander tags remain 100g.

Commander tags can now change colors on the fly; no additional costs, restrictions, or anything.

To unlock the commander tag to make it account bound will cost a one-time purchase of 300g.

Done.

Is it really that hard, Anet, or are you just that incompetent?

Dasken.5670:

Tryto keep the angry hateful ones [posts] out of this thread please. We want solutions not to be ignored as angry trolls.

They ignore us when we’re calm and reasonable. It seems we get more attention when we complain loudly.

blakdoxa.7520:

Many already know upper management with anet/ncsoft blots out the concerns of customers and even the voices of their own staff, in actual game development…. It’s no wonder to me that only charts and numbers have any value to the corp at this point.

In that case, I certainly hope they’re looking really close at those charts and numbers when they start to show a decline in profits. That’s the problem with the charts and numbers, though; they’re reactive rather than proactive. They only reflect what has happened in the past rather than what is happening currently.

To find out what’s actually happening here in the present, they have to pull their heads out of their charts, get down in the trenches, and actually listen to us. But that seems beyond their capabilities.

Instead, they’ll continue to put their faith in some young hotshot executive with an MBA from <insert name of prestigious business college here> who knows all about charts and numbers but not a clue about how to make a fun and responsive game until they’ve lost so many players they’re left scratching their heads as to what went wrong and why their profits have dried up.

Pavel.8531:

https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/104396/I4E780N.jpg
^ Still relevant. Sad.

As well as arrogant and ignorant. The opinions of the forum posters often reflect the opinions of the silent majority who are either unaware there are forums or are reluctant to post here for fear of being flamed, etc.

We who post on the forums are often gathering the opinions of our fellow gamers and condensing them into posts. To simply dismiss us as not representative of the mood of the WvW player base is foolish. But, hey, go read your charts, D, if it makes you feel better.

They weren’t even polite enough to use lube this time. Total, epic fail.

The last sliver of hope I had is gone. It’s obvious now they’re going to charge for every minor QoL improvement made to the game that should have been there since launch. What’s more is, they’ll implement the changes in a way that runs entirely counter to the necessity for the improvement.

Case in point: Colored commander tags have been requested to aid commanders in better coordinating their efforts in WvW; different colored tags would be used to differentiate the various tactical groups on the map.

Due to the inequity of the WvW rewards system coupled with many commanders selflessly using what little gold they have to buy siege, upgrades, and food buffs, commanders tend to be one of the poorest populations in the game. With commander tags going up in price to 300g per color, many commanders will not be able to afford the new tags.

Thus the very group for whom this change was intended to benefit is now locked out from obtaining it. Additionally, the potential improvement this would have brought to WvW game play by allowing commanders to divide up into color-coded groups is now lost. Absolutely brilliant, Anet! GG

They are so fricking clueless about WvW it makes me want to tear my eyes out. I feel like I’m in an episode of McHale’s Navy:

Commander: Ensign!

Ensign: Yes, Skipper?

Commander: Have the men swab the deck. I’ll be back later to check on your progress.

Ensign: Aye, aye, sir!

* 2 hours later *

Commander: Ensign!

Ensign: Yes, Skipper?

Commander: I thought I ordered you to swap the deck. So far all I see is one small patch. What have you been doing the past 2 hours?!?

Ensign: (gulp) Well, you see, sir…we started swabbing the deck like you ordered. But…umm…we ran out of Q-tips and…hmmm…errr…this is far as we got, sir.

WHAA-WHaa-Whaa-whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I’m done; another loyal customer they just flushed down the toilet. Kitten Anet and NCSoft. Just waiting it out until a better RvRvR comes along.

Dawdler.8521:

Sean.8274:

Who are the poorest players in the game? WvW Commanders!

Who will benefit most from the new color commander tags? WvW Commanders!

Lets make them spend 300g for each additional color they want. Makes sense. Let’s make the poorest people even poorer.

Yes, it make sense. Poorest players will cave in, buy gems and convert to gold. Otherwise they have no chance to get the tag.

If this is true its the cheapest, cheeziest backhanded money grabbing kittenslap in the face I have ever seen. 300g per tag color? Seriously? Its some sort of sick perverted joke of the many ideas and suggestions we’ve been posting on the forums for 2 years.

Tbh, I’ve rather not have colors than this type of implementation.

Not this player; no way I’m giving them a single penny. kitten you, Anet!

Signed,

WvW Commander who hovers around 100g max

ArchonWing.9480:

I made a hyperbole about what if tags suddenly went up to 300g…. and this crap happens.

Honestly, I think I should just buy one for lulz but I don’t know. >.>

You jinxed it!

Fudge.9527:

Are we seriously getting charged for a functionality improvement?

Different colors weren’t requested for cosmetic reasons, these aren’t like quaggan backpacks.

Yep. Hey, it’s “Aren’t-charging-enough-Yet” we’re talking about here.

goldenwing.8473:

Can we really assume that the new colored tags are specifically designed for WvW, instead of being added for PvE? I mean, it’s important to keep the PuGs for The Wurm following the correct tag, never mind ensuring no one other than select players can see their leader for Guild Missions.

Specifically designed for WvW or not, ArenaNet can create an opportunity out of it if they’re willing. It’s about thinking outside the box and saying,

“Hey, things have gotten pretty bad with the WvW community. How about we scrap the idea of increasing the commander tag cost to 300g as well as having to purchase a separate compendium for each color. Instead, let’s just allow players to change the color at will with a single purchase. Then we add gem store items that allow you to change the icon’s appearance and profit from it that way.”

Tags were originally conceived as an aid to WvW. It’s great that players were creative enough to leverage their use in PvE, too. But having been initially tied to WvW and the WvW community requesting this addition since beta, it’s now something of a slap in the face to both increase the cost 300% and require a new purchase for each additional color.

Leave it to ArenaNet to take a good idea and then mess it up. Word comes out that colored tags are finally going to be added to the game and it looks like they’re taking 2 steps forward. Then they go and milk it for more gold and they take 2 steps back again. Of course, they’ll take the tact of, “Hey, we gave you what you asked for: colored commander tags. What more do you want, you ingrates?!?” Clueless.

/shakes head

goldenwing.8473:

Can we really assume that the new colored tags are specifically designed for WvW, instead of being added for PvE? I mean, it’s important to keep the PuGs for The Wurm following the correct tag, never mind ensuring no one other than select players can see their leader for Guild Missions.

Specifically designed for WvW or not, ArenaNet can create an opportunity out of it if they’re willing. It’s about thinking outside the box and saying,

“Hey, things have gotten pretty bad with the WvW community. How about we scrap the idea of increasing the commander tag cost to 300g as well as having to purchase a separate compendium for each color. Instead, let’s just allow players to change the color at will with a single purchase. Then we add gem store items that allow you to change the icon’s appearance and profit from it that way.”

Tags were originally conceived as an aid to WvW. It’s great that players were creative enough to leverage their use in PvE, too. But having been initially tied to WvW and the WvW community requesting this addition since beta, it’s now something of a slap in the face to both increase the cost 300% and require a new purchase for each additional color.

Leave it to ArenaNet to take a good idea and then mess it up. Word comes out that colored tags are finally going to be added to the game and it looks like they’re taking 2 steps forward. Then they go and milk it for more gold and they take 2 steps back again. Of course, they’ll take the tact of, “Hey, we gave you what you asked for: colored commander tags. What more do you want, you ingrates?!?” Clueless.

/shakes head

So the question becomes:

Do we buy Commander Compendiums now while they’re still 100g, then sit on them and wait until after the Sept. 9 Feature Patch in the hope that we can then choose what color to make our tag when we activate the Commander Compendium?

OR

Will the colored tags come from a new Commander Compendium item specifically tied to each color? Current Commander Compendiums will not be grandfathered in to allow one to choose a new tag color.

Zepher.7803:

buy colored tags…..wow, that is just rude and makes no sense, so this idea has to be a joke.

Big mistake on their part. Given how they’ve soured their relationship with the WvW community, the better option would have been to allow us to choose what color we want when we want without having to pay extra gold for it. A fence mending gesture, if you will.

Then they should add the ability to change the icon used for the tag. Make that the means of monetizing the tags by putting it on the gem store (“This week only in the gem store: 20% off the pink Quaggan commander tag icon! Get YOUR’s today!!!”).

If they were a little more creative with their monetization schemes, they wouldn’t have to resort to nickle-and-diming us for the commander tags. Instead, give a freebie, generate good will, then add in a gem store purchase tied to the freebie and watch as players flock to buy it. It’s not a pay-to-win; it’s purely cosmetic.

Solomon Darkfury.3729:

THIS IS NOT A MATCHUP THREAD…

The WvW community DESERVES a GENUINE response from the development team regarding the current state of competitive health of WvW.

Currently there is yet ANOTHER server making mass guild purchases… this server in question in the last 3 weeks has spent TENS OF THOUSANDS of gold to move in excess of 10 guilds to their server each with 30-50 man zergs.

This has stripped SEVERAL servers of their BEST guilds. If this continues, WvW will end up with 6-7 superservers and EVERY other server will be a graveyard…

How is this even REMOTELY good for the competitive health of WvW in GW2? Since when did a game that was based on free to play become pay to win in WvW?

I’d like to hear people’s thoughts on this topic. PLEASE keep this topic CIVIL and DO NOT turn it into a matchup thread. In particular I would like to hear SOMETHING from a developer regarding this even IF it is just saying “we are looking into it”.

I find it appalling that all a server has to do to win in WvW is whip out a credit card now…

I’m in agreement that the current system is broken when viewed through the lens of what makes for engaging competitive play; it’s working exactly as intended when viewed through the lens of making money for ArenaNet, though.

However, you can’t fault a server for “purchasing” guilds. They’re simply working with the hand they’ve been dealt inside this broken system. Furthermore, it’s not like guilds are something you can buy on the gem store. The guild that transfers chooses to do so and shares as much responsibility for jumping ship (if not more so) as the server that is “buying” them.

Regardless, all of the above is but a symptom and not the cause. The cause is ArenaNet’s allowing unrestricted transfers which then unbalance the servers. That cause is not likely to go away any time soon because transfer fees are the primary method that ArenaNet has chosen – rightly or wrongly – to monetize WvW.

To eliminate the cause, it must be replaced with a new system which will maintain income equal to what ArenaNet currently receives from transfer fees. If there is no viable substitute which meets this criteria, then it’s not in ArenaNet’s best financial interests to change the current system; at least not in the short-term (long-term is another matter altogether).

yanniell.1236:

My 2 cents: if Anet is not willing to solve the population unbalance between servers, so just shut down like 16 servers and put the players on the 8 servers that remains. Ah, and put new names on the remain servers, because people will cry about servers been favored, even though it’s a whole new community.

There. Now there’s competitivity (is this a real word?), there’s always fair battles, and WvW is healthy again.

Ultimately, this won’t work; it will just compress the problem. Players would just transfer up to the #1 or #2 server out of the 8.

Nuzt.7894:

We already know Anet is notorious for ignoring WvW and what little we get, no one asked for or is so craptastic that no one cares. If we start settling for less this will become the norm.

Theres nothing wrong with colors but it is only half of what we asked for, I personally am sick of half that apparently took almost year to add some kittening color … think about that a year to add color. No, that is not good enough, we asked for color and private options how hard could that really be that they couldn’t manage it within a year ? If you want to settle for less then by all means, thats your choice but I will not, when they had plenty of time to get this minor change done. In terms of game programming, yes, this is a very minor change.

Agree with everything you say. If you check my post history you’ll see I’m a very vocal critic of ArenaNet. So much so that I’ve earned a few all-expenses payed trips to BANanaville (can’t say the dreaded “i” word or I’ll just get “i”-ed again) and was one of the agitators responsible for them instigating the now infamous “THOU SHALT NOT NECRO” ruling. Conversely, I’m also a huge fan of WvW who wants to see this game mode reach it’s full potential; of which it has tons, but is being sorely neglected.

Yes, if all they give us is colored commander tags and little else, then I predict my rants on that topic will be earning me some more vacations to BANanaville. It’s a simple change to make (ArenaNet’s protests to the contrary notwithstanding) and I expect a hell of a lot more to be done for WvW than just that minor improvement. I’m far from settling for just colored tags; but I’m willing to give them a chance despite their past history of dropping the ball where WvW is concerned.

So we’ll see what the feature patch brings. Also, Living Story is being put on hiatus until the Fall; meaning there may be additional personnel and resources freed up to focus on other areas of the game. This is an opportunity for ArenaNet to improve both the WvW mode and repair their relationship with the WvW community. Hopefully they’ll do a Forrest Gump and run with it till they can’t run no mo’. If they don’t…well…it’s going to get ugly on this forum.

Comedy gold.

If you’re going to hate on a profession, at least have an inkling of what you’re talking about.

Nuzt.7894:

Heres my take on colored tags, its almost pointless. Why ? Pugs will follow a tag regardless of color, this is why so many drivers don’t tag up. Whats to stop a pug from following a green, yellow, red, orange, purple, whatever color tag because its not blue ? You ask nicely now if they could let you do your guild run and they still follow so all of a sudden color is suppose to be magical and stop this ? Sure it will help with coordination but those Commanders that avoided tagging up so they could do guild runs will still avoid tagging up so they don’t get the ranger uplevel army following them.

Not good enough, private guild/group tags and public tags are what is needed.

It’s not a panacea and I agree 100% with implementing private guild tags; make it an “Art of War” guild upgrade, even.

At this point, though, it’s less about the colored tags themselves and more the principle of the thing. Namely, it’s an opportunity for ArenaNet to demonstrate they actually give a kitten about WvW by giving us something we’ve been asking for since beta. A show of good faith, if you will.

Honestly, at this point, there may truly not be enough players left in WvW any longer for it to be worthwhile for multiple commanders to tag up on the same map; making multi-colored tags kind of pointless now. Another example of ArenaNet’s procrastination in their effort to make it “perfect” being counter-productive; a case of too-little-too-late.

However, it’s at least something and – if they continue with additional improvements above and beyond this simple change – then their show of good faith will have been worth it if it salvages their relationship with the WvW community. But there’s a long road ahead and colored commander tags will be but a first step along that road. Let’s hope they’re up to continuing the journey beyond just that first step.

Vol.7601:

Ever consider that there are different degrees of bugs and how they can be fixed?

Ever consider that not fixing a bug at all has nothing to do with the degree of difficulty but rather an unwillingness to commit resources to a particular area of the game?

Assassin X.8573:

See Napoleon’s military campaign

Army decimated by harsh Russian Winter. Superior numbers (and Napoleon’s ego) were a liability, not an asset, as trying to move such a large force inexperienced in Winter warfare through harsh terrain and foul weather proved a disaster.

Assassin X.8573:

See Caesar’s miliatary campaign

Frequently outnumbered by the various “barbarian” tribes they faced, Rome’s forces prevailed through superior tactics, strategy, discipline, training, and equipment.

Assassin X.8573:

See WW1

See machine guns versus human wave tactics in the trenches of Europe.

Assassin X.8573:

See WW2

See Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Assassin X.8573:

See Battle of Troy

Small force uses cunning to sneak into Troy where their larger zerg failed.

Assassin X.8573:

See Battle of Themopoly

The Battle of Thermopylae saw ~1,000 Greeks (there were more there than the legendary 300) hold against tens of thousands of Persians for 3 days.

Assassin X.8573:

See any medieval war anything.

You mean all those wars where sieges would last months in an attempt to starve out the inhabitants of a castle because banging your head against the walls and gate was largely futile?

Assassin X.8573:

In all of these examples above, you can see 1 side having a large structured force (ie – zerg) typically tactically attacking a smaller force.

Would you like to go back in time an ask these folks to stop zergimg and using siege against one another?

Ummm…they did use siege against one another; quite frequently. The Romans, for example, were renowned for it.

All your examples support the idea that battles and wars are not necessarily won by whoever has the largest force. I think you just argued the anti-zergers’ position for them. Might also want to review history a bit.

Baldrick.8967:

Colour your commander tag! Only 800 gems a colour! Make your tag account bound, only 2000 gems!

Hope I’m wrong…

Unfortunately, I think you’re 100% right.

Which – taken on it’s own – isn’t a bad thing. I’ve posted before about the need to benefit both parties – the players and ArenaNet – if we’re to see any improvements to the game. Otherwise, if they can’t make money off it, it’s not in their best interest to devote time and resources to add anything to the game; necessary evil and all that.

However – in the larger context and given the shabby treatment of the WvW community, the stonewalling, and neglect – adding a minor addition we’ve been asking for since launch and then expecting us to pay for it this late in the game would be a slap in the face.

Rather than listening to their in-house economist on ways to milk the WvW game mode, what they need is a good psychologist, sociologist, or even just a decent community relations person to point out to them where they’ve dropped the ball with respect to the WvW community and the necessity of mending some fences.

What I’d suggest is:

A) Give commanders the ability to change tag color for free. This satisfies the WvW players’ long-requested need and demonstrates a responsiveness on the part of ArenaNet. The players will be appreciative. Some will grumble about how long it’s taken (me included), but in the end we’ll be glad to see it finally implemented and ArenaNet will get some kudos for it.

B) Add the ability to change the icon itself as a gem store purchase. Those who want to run around the map with a moose icon (as was requested in another thread) can then spend the gold or the cash for it. ArenaNet benefits as a portion of the commander population rushes to purchase the new icons and non-commanders start purchashing commander tags just so they can change the icon.

Win-win.

Of course, that’s probably not how it will play out; assuming the “Command the rainbow” was even in reference to colored commander tags.

butch.8136:

You guys seriously think they’ll only give you commander tags and a new mastery?

Given their history to date? Yep. That or equally ineffective additions which fail to address the underlying problems with WvW. I look forward to being proven wrong, I truly do. I’ve been pessimistic of late, but that’s in response to the stonewalling and neglect of WvW going on 2 years now.

Look at my post history and you’ll see I’m a huge fan of WvW who was very optimistic and supportive of ArenaNet for about the first year following launch. My attitude changed after they’ve repeatedly failed to make any substantive improvements to the core mechanics of the game mode in conjunction with their poor treatment of the community. So if the situation improves, I’ll be more than happy to return to championing ArenaNet. Until then, I’ll maintain a “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” approach.

insanemaniac.2456:

i thought colored tags was supposed to be a “quick fix”

is like 9 months quick?

Apparently ArenaNet offices sit near the event horizon of a black hole where time is greatly dilated and no information is able to escape to the world beyond.

Chaba.5410:

Baldrick.8967:

Colour your commander tag! Only 800 gems a colour! Make your tag account bound, only 2000 gems!

Hope I’m wrong…

I’d pay gems for commander icon skins (not colors), like armor skins and finishers.

If they’re smart, they’ll take this anecdote as confirmation of what I detailed above; give the colors for free, and make changing the icon’s shape a gem store purchase.

Based on past history to date, I have zero expectations that this feature patch will do much – if anything – to improve the core mechanics of the WvW game mode. It’s a golden opportunity for ArenaNet to mend some fences among the WvW community, but they’ve flubbed such opportunities in the past.

The sub-text of their announcement gushes on about their precious tournament, demonstrating once again they’re still kicking that dead e-Sports horse. The one positive I take from it is that Living Story is going on hiatus until autumn. Maybe there’s finally a realization within the corporation that there’s more to the game and to the community than Boring Story.

What’s disheartening, though, is – if they’re shutting down LS until Fall – that means they’re shunting personnel around to work on other areas of the game. Though it would be good for those other areas to finally get some attention, it confirms what we’ve suspected; there is no dedicated WvW team as the majority of their resources were tied up in LS. Doubly bad as those who are being repurposed to focus on other game modes lack a historical perspective by virtue of not having worked regularly on those modes. So it will be like starting from scratch to have the issues addressed that we’ve been pointing out since launch.

I’ll welcome my pessimism being proven wrong, but I’m not hopeful. The likely outcome are some minor additions (“Now you, TOO, can have a colored commander tag for only 1,000 gems. Buy YOUR’s today!!!") while completely ignoring the glaring issues that are pointed out on a daily basis on this sub-forum. Unfortunately, they’ll do the typical PR spin and hail those minor additions as the savior of WvW and consider it job done. Then we can go back to being ignored and neglected for another 2 years.

Please prove me wrong.

Lightsbane.9012:

a ranged power weapon, while deathshroud sort of kinda …yeah no it doesn’t fill this role. Longbow? Rifle? something? what exactly do you give a necromancer for a ranged power weapon?

Crossbow.

Straegen.2938:

At this point even an ANet F-U post to the WvW player base would be nice.

I think their lack of communication and neglect of WvW qualifies as a de facto F-U already.

Falcon.8713:

There will be a cleave attack for necros on daggers aswell I believe, think about it.
Ele: Cleave: 3 targets
Thief: 2 targets

The chance they will kitten us up this time is very low..

Falcon.8713:

There will be a cleave attack for necros on daggers aswell I believe, think about it.

The chance they will kitten us up this time is very low..

Falcon.8713:

The chance they will kitten us up this time is very low..

Ahh, the hope is strong in this one.

I do hope you’re right and we get dagger cleave; not going to hold my breath, though.

Based on past history, I hope for nothing and expect the worst. Breaking with reality for a moment, though, I’d like to see the following:

• Dagger AA cleave
• Siphons buffed (real buffs; not some kitten 2 point increase if you go all in with all siphon traits equipped and maxed healing power)
• Some kind of improvement to Axe AA and/or #2. Plenty of suggestions/speculations already posted by others. Perhaps increase the damage based on how many boons an opponent has on them, synergizing a bit with Axe #3 to turn it into a boon punishment/boon stripping weapon.
• Axe #3 blast finisher.
• Warhorn #4 either granting a group buff (Fury or Ferocity as Ropechef suggested) or being a “Revealed” skill. This is in addition to it’s current function as a daze.
• Fix the unreliability of several skills (Spectral Grasp being blocked by a blade of grass, etc.).
• Improve Life Force generation across the board by either increasing the % from the skills that currently grant it or add LF generation to other skills.
• Maybe improving the telegraphing of certain skills in exchange for reduced cool downs.
• Spiteful Marks damage increase made baseline. Replace Spiteful Marks with a new trait. Perhaps buff allies inside the radius of a mark when triggered, giving us some group utility, or add an additional condition to marks when triggered. Of course this would have to be carefully balanced on account of Mark of Blood’s short 6 second recharge.

eithinan.9841:

Jamais vu.5284:

Ultimaistanza.4793:

Ikaros.7812:

atheria.2837:

eithinan.9841:

Here is a serious question. What will be the general feelings from players towards the guilds that have sent in footage?

I am on the side of those who want to send in videos of glitches, incorrect tooltips we count on, cheats, missing items and wrongful WvW associations.

Perhaps someone from the community should compile another WvW promo video, including the jewels that have been removed from this thread along with other little incidents that happen on a daily basis. Release it at the same time Anet release theirs and see how much they differ.

Yeah, it can be a compilation of people fly hacking, people under the map using omegas to break open gates gates, thieves stealthing off walls, people draining structures of supply to build troll siege, people siege capping an area/map with said troll siege, people being rezed through gates, people in EotM telling WvWers to go back to WvW if they want to fight, and end it with the ANet Dev that trolled the GvG.

I’d watch it! Actually we should make our own WvW compilation vid with the things you listed and release it for Gamescom/PAX. Being a “People’s History of WvW” so to say.

LOL, pop it up on youtube with a title like “alternate gw2 pax promo” or something like that.

Call it “The REAL WvW” or “The WvW ArenaNet doesn’t want you to see”. Now THAT’s a call to arms I’m willing to support. Will probably get more views than the montage ArenaNet puts together. LOL

Do we have any among us willing to volunteer their time and effort to make this? Also, we’re going to have to move this over to the http://www.gw2wvw.net/ site or reddit because obviously this thread is likely to be deleted by tomorrow morning.

TO ARMS, FELLOW WvW-ers !!!

sMihaly.1492:

I’m mad at them too, but it’s still just a game. Even if its painful to watch what they r doing to such a good game, we are always free to play something else, and they are free the neglect us.

Except that if your interest lies in large scale RvRvR, GW2’s WvW is pretty much the only game in town right now; and anet knows it. Which is why the day a competitor comes out with a RvRvR game to challenge GW2 can’t come soon enough. That is when a fire will finally be lit under anet’s butt to start putting resources into improving WvW; if it’s not already too late by then.

That, and the absolute waste of potential of this game mode is so very disheartening. There is so much more WvW could become if they put even a quarter of the effort into it that they pour into PvE and the Living Story. And has been demonstrated in a previous thread, WvW-ers buy gems, too; quite possibly more than PvE-ers. So there’s an incentive for anet/ncsoft to develop this game mode further as it would benefit their bottom line. But because they’re unwilling to think outside the box, it languishes far behind PvE.

My 10 Suggestions for Improving WvW:

1) Players in combat mode may not resurrect defeated allies; downed allies can still be resurrected per the current mechanic.

2) The gates of towers, keeps, and Stonemist Castle upgraded to the “Fortify” state (T3) can not be damaged by player skills. Only siege weapons can deal damage to these gates.

3) World Score points are awarded to the server which succeeds in capturing an actively defended objective. Actively defended is defined as at least one player who belongs to the world which owns the objective having been present within the objective’s sphere of influence (the “Defend the X” event radius) at any point during the current siege; they do not have to be present at the moment of capture. Each objective awards a base amount of World Score points on capture plus additional World Score points for each completed upgrade built at the objective.

4) No World Score points are awarded to a server for capturing undefended objectives (PvDoor will award nothing).

5) No personal rewards (loot, experience, karma, etc.) are given to players for capturing undefended objectives. The current rewards for capturing supply camps, towers, keeps, and Stonemist Castle will only be given out when capturing an actively defended objective (per the definition given in #3). To give even greater incentive for attacking actively defended fortifications, perhaps scale up the rewards based on the number of upgrades built at the objective.

(A poster in a previous thread in which these same suggestions appeared critiqued point #5 as being punitive to soloists and small roaming parties. I agreed and wrote a revision which scales rewards based on the number of players present when capturing an objective; the intent being to reward skill and effort rather than numbers.)

6) The rewards for defeating real players are substantially increased over their current level.

7) World Score points are awarded for each player defeated in combat by default rather than being an award associated with the Bloodlust Buff. Maybe even give a bonus for stomps; sending a player to defeat without stomping awards 1 World Score point, stomping awards 2 World Score points.

8) Supply camps, towers, keeps, and Stonemist Castle no longer earn World Score points for the owning server unless upgrades are built there. The amount of World Score points earned every 15 minutes (PPT) will scale with the number of upgrades; the more upgrades built, the more PPT an objective earns.

9) World Score points are awarded to the server each time an upgrade is completed at an objective they control. The points awarded will scale based on the level of the upgrade as well as the size of the objective. For example, upgrading to a reinforced gate (a tier 2 upgrade) will award more points than upgrading the walls (a tier 1 upgrade) and upgrading a supply camp with extra NPCs will award less than the same upgrade at a keep.

10) For each “Defend the X” event completed at an actively defended supply camp, tower, keep, or Stonemist Castle, the owning server earns World Score points. In recognition of the fact that the defenders have the advantage, the World Score points awarded will be a fraction of what the attacker would earn on capturing the objective; a 10-to-1 ratio is suggested as a starting point.

For example, if capturing a keep with some upgrades would award 50 World Score points to the attackers, the defenders will earn 5 World Score points for each “Defend the X” event successfully concluded at the keep. This only applies while there are players belonging to the world which owns the keep actively defending it; the owning world earns nothing if there are no players defending the keep during any 3 minute “Defend the X” event.

In Conclusion:

The above shifts WvW from passive rewards (earning PPT by sitting on empty, unupgraded objectives while PvDooring) to active rewards for engaging in conflict with real players and/or making investments in and defending one’s holdings while also addressing the issues of karma training and zerging.

It also recognizes the efforts of builders, defenders, and open-field PvP-ers by giving them the means to directly contribute to their server’s World Score (sorry escorters and scouts; I’m still thinking of ways to have your efforts recognized, as well).

Wingschnipp.4928:

Somebody wants his unwanted child to look pretty for the neighbours.

i suggest to close this.

No, please keep it open until at least Tuesday. The hypocrisy here is delicious. Had this been a player-created thread with this amount of negativity/toxicity, it would have been locked then deleted before getting past the first page.

Because it’s Anet asking us for a favor, though, they apply a double-standard, keep it open, and going on 4 pages now. Funny how we ask for stuff and those threads get deleted and the posters infracted. They ask for stuff, and the thread stays open.

I’m sure they would love to close it, but they won’t because they need those precious videos to white-wash the previous two years of WvW neglect for PAX and whatever promotions they’re tying into the 2 year anniversary of the game’s launch. I predict that come Wednesday, though, this thread will – woosh! – disappear without a trace.