I am a multi-season Gladiator in WoW, I’ve played in amateur HoN and DotA2 leagues and tournaments, and done well. I preface this post with that not to brag or show that my opinion is worth more, but instead to give perspective. I have been a hardcore, small-scale PvP’er in many different games for the past 6 or more years.
I have done sPvP in this game for all of 10 ranks, which is much more than the incredibly vast majority of anyone playing this game has done, but in reality it’s barely anything. I came to GW2 at launch with a group of 10-20 friends who wanted something just as competitive as the WoW arena scene, and I know of PvP guilds from WoW who numbered in the hundreds of players that moved to GW2 expecting competitive small-scale PvP, and all of them apart from myself and 1 other have gone back to WoW.
I’ll also say that it was basically unanimous among that group that GW2 is a much more fun game, the mechanics more interesting, and skill was a bigger factor. These are all good things, and I know a lot of those players ask me at least twice a week how GW2 is doing. They always ask the same things: Are there visible ratings yet? Are there more game types? Is there a visible ladder? Is there matchmaking? And the biggest statement I always get back from them: if GW2 had arenas, or some sort of 3v3 system on smaller maps, then I would play the kitten out of that game.
I think most people in here so far are on track with making success more visible and promoting competitive play through matchmaking and ladders. But those that say that there isn’t any money in it and thats why competitive players arent here are completely wrong. Look at every competitive game; from DotA, HoN, LoL and even WoW. Millions of people play those games, and there are maybe 50 players in the world getting paid. Having a big esports scene is great in promoting the game, but its not whats stopping the masses from coming to try. The problem is that the majority of those players have already bought the game, and looked forward to “guild vs guild” type things for many months before release. But then they played it. Most lasted a week.
Secondly, those arguing that everyone plays for fun are correct. However the type of people that need to be playing sPvP and promoting it amongst their own circles are those that think competitive play is fun. Those that enjoy looking amongst their peers and seeing who the best is, and garnering recognition from that. Maybe thats shallow, and we all know it means nothing, but that is whats “fun” for those millions of players, and GW2 doesnt have that. For advertising the PvP aspect of the game so much, it really fell short with the competitive scene, and not because of mechanics or class balance.
People are correct. There is absolutely no reason to get good at sPvP in this game. Again, my group of friends plays exclusively competitively in every game. They don’t half kitten a game, they either put in the time or they don’t play. Every single one of those guys wants to play GW2, but see’s no reason. These people could care less about gear, rewards for them are in numbers associated with their proven skill.
What needs to happen is:
-a visible ladder and ranking system accompanied by visible matchmaking.
-something smaller scale than 5v5. I know that 5v5 is still small scale PvP, but the logistics of getting a tight-knit team of 5 people on all the time is hard to do. 3v3 has been the sweet spot in gaming for years.
-static teams, with team recognition.
-numerous different game types, but the biggest one I hear is a deathmatch or team deathmatch type. I understand that objectives tie in to the lore. But let’s be honest, us PvPers do not give a rats kitten about lore. We want to beat people, not environment.
-In general, more support given to the sPvP community. Team-finding websites or an in-game tool. Even though I had a large group to start with and finding teams was easy, it’s now myself and 1 other good friend, and finding people of similar skill level has been our largest barrier for playing paid tournaments seriously.
This game has so much potential to be the esports king of the MMO market, and ANet just needs to tap that potential and let us run with it. I honestly feel that focusing all their efforts on WvW and PvE is the wrong move. Those people already have their game, and the majority of them really love it. Fixing sPvP will attract many more people to a game thats already on their radar.