Guild Wars 2

As opposed to Dark Age of Camelot (DAOC), where 8-men group cooperation formed the core of PvP warfare, MMO’s like warhammer online and also Guildwars 2 seem to rely more heavily on the so called zergs, or vast masses of players. The latter requires vastly less skill of the individual players in order to achieve something and may sometimes give one the feeling as if his or hers participation adds only so much to the scale. As one of the best PvP games released thus far, DAOC really proved that Group-oriented PvP, as can be found in Guilwars 2 as well in the sPvP game modus, really fits an open-world PvP area such as the borderlands as well.

Group-focused WvW will require more of the individuals players skill level as well as of the inter-individuals cooperation skills in order to be succesful, whereas I particularly find the former to be lacking in zerg-oriented PvP/WvW. Moreover, group-focused combat also adds to the PvP experience in the sense that it supports ‘guild pride’ even more than is currently the case in Guildwars 2. Go see the movies of ‘Dem Hibbies’ on you tube, a particularly strong PvP (or RvR) guild from back in the days of DAOC to see what I mean.

So, why do Warhammer Online and Guildwars 2 seem to induce a more zerg-like style of WvW, whereas DAOC could support both? I think this has to do with buffs and particularly with speed buffs. In DAOC, one particular class could give the entire group (not the other players) a speed buff that enabled the group to run as one. In Warhammer Online and Guildwars 2 everybody has a speed buff, so everybody can keep up with everybody thus more easily allowing ‘flock’ formation. Also, although this is in conflict with certain Guildwars 2 principles (the lack of specific healer classes) in DAOC, two specific classes were able to buff the rest of the group (and not the zerg) to such a degree that the group had a superior advantage over unbuffed individuals. Whereas I do not think that the latter would enhance Guildwars 2 since it automatically excludes those players who are not buffed, and since it will probably cause players to start ‘dual-boxing’ to receive buffs from a ‘buff-bot’, it did drive people away from just randomly joining a zerg and drove people to forming groups instead.
So the question is, would group-oriented WvW be better than zerg-oriented WvW? And, how could Guildwars steer people towards group-oriented WvW without neglecting their own values (not having class-specific roles, tanks, dps, healers)?

Regards,

Mike