Guild Wars 2

I know i’m not adding anything that has not been said already, bit i am adding my voice to this thread.

I’m writing this while i wait for the Shatterer. Iv stood in-line for about 10min while 1 or 2 plays complete the pre-events, I don’t recognise any of the other players here – there are just so many and no one really says much while more people than can display on my screen stand around waiting. Now i’m here typing while my ele auto attacks the dragon, it took 5 minutes to die. Now i have just opened the boss chest to grab my Dragonite and 3-4 blue and green drops + my rare and i’m off to find something else to do. I’v just looked at the world boss timers and the next ones are in about 3 hours. I usually have about 2 hours a day to play the game during the week when i’m not busy, but i don’t have time/flexibility to log-on through the day to catch these other world events…

Reading this brief account of my experience is making me feel unhappy as a GW2 player. A few months ago i would regularly log-on and with a bunch of players i knew from my server to complete world events on daily achievement reset. If the usual group was not running i would guest to another server with friends to run with them.

World boss spawn timer ‘normalization’ and Megaservers have simply destroyed this element of the game for me. I’m not sure the guild world events spawner really makes up for this socially and in terms of the rewards/challenge it is like waiting in-line for a handout… I really feel sorry for that poor Dragon.

To A-net, please put some effort/thought into the design of your games experience, before normalizing it to the point where it also dies like that dragon.

With a new ‘league system’ inbound there is a lot of discussion about the issue of server transfers and their impact on the game. We all know how participation (and organisation) play a huge role in the difference between a ‘good’ and a ‘bad’ wvw server. These discussions have highlighted to me the issue of server loyalty, something which i think should be the core foundation of wvw if it is to successfully remain a server vs server format. However the idea of server loyalty and its implementation in game seems to have been lost somewhere along the way. There is no benefit to sticking with a certain server, no recognition or reward for hard work and dedication over the short or long term.

So i want to suggest that some focus in wvw be put on server benefits – and benefits to those who support their server in wvw. I have some thoughts, but i am really interested to hear what others think and look for ways this can be addressed.

Reward players and guilds for server loyalty
Provide incentives to guilds and individual players such as special server based ranks (Knight of [server name]) capes with trim, different coloured guild names or badges, different commanders tags, emblems and other cosmetics that show dedication. Rewards that are linked to different kinds of participation and which all disappear if you leave your server. Also when a low rank sever is rolling a bigger better competitor why can’t they receive more reward for their effort for ‘most improved server’ ?

Improve world benefits and rewards to winning servers
Honestly i think wvw should have more impact on the pve side of the game, how this is best done i am not sure but it could involve providing some additional content to the winning server, conveniences like the Royal Terrace or maybe even just seeing the NPC’s in Lions arch celebrating your victory. Even some impact on wvw would not go astray, enhanced aesthetics to buildings, siege and NPC’s would add a nice touch if you are the winning server. Obviously the new ‘league system’ will add new rewards but i have not heard anything to suggest server wide benefits.