In the recent past it’s very obvious that Anet has been pushing for an Esports scene in Guild Wars, but despite their efforts the results haven’t been as fruitful as they would have hoped (I’d imagine). Some of this can be attributed to the fact GW2 is an MMO, and MMO’s aren’t particularly known for their Esports viewer base. But even so, other MMO’s can and do have a large audience when it comes to professional play, and what do these MMO’s have that GW2 doesn’t? An arena style pvp.
When it comes to spvp, your only options are conquest, and the newly added stronghold. Both of which many people find boring to watch (and some even to play). Other MMO’s with a strong Esports scene have a structured 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 arena, where the only goal and objective is to defeat your opponent. Many competitive GW2 players don’t stick around because they love the idea of conquest, but rather because Arena Net has created such a dynamic and intricate combat system. If you go on youtube and search up Guild Wars 2, some of the most consistently watched and uploaded videos are about WvW roaming, that range from dueling to outnumbered fights, and small scale GvG’s. In my opinion this is the style of PvP content that is most appealing to not only be played, but to be watched as well.
Now I know you can already do this by simply roaming around WvW hoping to get a 1 on 1 fight, or hopping into the guild arena to duel against your friends, but what i’m requesting is a structured and ranked Spvp mode where you go alone, or with 2-3 other friends and play against other teams to see whose best. Just like what we already have with leaderboards and ranked seasons for conquest, carry that over to an arena styled spvp system.
Personally, I love to watch duels and small scale fights from youtube or in game, and I’d be willing to bet that if something like this were implemented into the Esports scene, there would be a much larger audience. Myself included.
