Guild Wars 2

I can’t really think of a title that quite describes what I’m talking about quite right.

Problem: The servers can’t send all the data needed to render all the members of a zerg all the time.

Proposed solution: When the server needs to send more data than it can send, Send only the alliance, location, and direction of a player, and have the client simply render a simple team color stylized humanoid silhouette until it gets more information.

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From what I understand much of the problem with the culling is that the servers can’t send all the needed information to all players quickly enough for the full detail renders. For a player to be rendered at this point the server needs to have sent us race, class, all armor, all weapons, boons, conditions, hairstyle, haircolor, skincolor, skin pattern, height, buildtype, eyecolor, all the facial feature variables, animations, location, heading... Basically every single character creation option has a numeric value that must be sent from the server when the game wants to see a player.

That’s a hell of a lot of data to get one player rendering. Might not be much with current high speed internet, but when a server needs to send all that to hundreds of players at the same time, it adds up which seems to be giving us the culling issue.

That’s why I propose an intermediate level between rendering fully and not rendering at all. I think if the servers sent the location and heading of a player first, which the client only renders a quickly painted looking simple humanoid figure for, and then sent the rest of the data when it gets the chance the culling issue would be greatly reduced if not removed completely.

Location and heading is only a fraction of the data that needs to be sent currently. I for one would much rather have 2 people fully rendered with an army of faceless figures behind them that slowly fills out, than 4 people fully rendered and an empty field behind them that slowly renders a portion of the army.

I originally posted this on the Guildwars 2 subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/15j6vg/elementalist_weapon_switch/

Elementalists/Engineers cannot have a second set of weapons equipped. It doesn’t make a big difference to me since I use staff on my elem 98% of the time.

However, I was thinking, could Elems./Engs. still have the ability to have a second set of items equipped so that the users can one-button click to change battle types? I’m not suggesting they allow these classes to change while engaged in combat like the other classes, but simply the ability to swap between play styles without having to open your hero tab and manually swap the weapons.

Real World Example: I generally play staff. However, when I’m grouped with my friends and we’re doing a map completion, Staff just can’t keep up in terms of damage dealt when fighting random mobs. I’d love it if I could just one-button click to swap to another build and back again while not engaged in combat.

In my reddit post, people popped up that those who can easily disengage from combat, switch weapons, and re-enter combat with a new build my be over-powered. I was thinking a simple counter to that argument is that in a PvP/WvWvW scenario, a cooldown is applied to the hot-swap button.

I’d love to hear more feedback on this.

ps. To the ANet employees reading this, thanks for your time, and thanks for the great game!

I’d like to see Titles return to what they used to be in GW1. Right now, no one notices your title as you actually have to target a player to bring up this kind of information. In GW1 the title would appear directly under someone’s name when hovering over the name or model. Bringing this back (or making it visible permanently instead of hovering) would probably motivate people to hunt for different titles.
Right now titles are somewhat useless, and even lack the “prestige” that comes with it, as simply no one notices them.

? Now the joining system
As we need to do if as instinctive as possible, for casual players to fit in easily and the more experienced players to get in fast here is how I see a good joining system:
The UI should have a new window as you get into WvW: a joining window. This should show the divisions that are formed into the map. The player chooses witch division he wants to join, then a division and then the group (if not neither locked nor full).The player will be able to see what members are in a division/squad/group for him to find is friends easily. As well in the chat system there should be a “click to join group/squad/division” system. Let’s say I am a Group leader, I need two more people for my group to operate effectively, I go to my group window, shift+click the name to ping it in the local chat. Then all the people will see my group name in the chat and they just need to click for them to join my group.
Let say a new division commander arrived on the battle; he then can form a Division by inviting squad commanders to his new created one. This works as well for the squad commander.

? The changes in what you see :
In the map, the commander should be able to see every key person in the field. That means squad commanders, group leaders and other division commanders. Like this:
The squad commander should see the group leaders and the commander:
The group leader and a group member should see of course the commander and the squad commander:
A not in division player should see no change in his map.

? Chat changes :
Well like I told there should be the ability to ping a group/squad/division for “click to join” purposes. I also talked about new chats: the division, squad and command ones, let’s take a look, those work as easily as any other chat in the game, any player in the division can talk in the division chat, any player in the squad can talk in the squad chat, and any player in the group can talk in the group chat. How does both the division and squad commanders fit in? They have the command chat, in which only the division and squad commander can chat.

? Reward changes :
Well of course we need reward, if not why do such a thing as the division?
Commander gives an order to a group; group leader accepts order group members receive order. They now need to accomplish the order in a particular time. Why? For rewards! Cumulative rewards of course. Like drop bonuses on karma, gold, and insignias given in the event complement rewards.
For a group:
5 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on karma received for events
10 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on karma received for events
25 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on karma received for events
50 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on karma received for events
100 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on karma received for events
For a squad:
50 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on insignia drop rate
100 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on insignia drop rate
250 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on insignia drop rate
500 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on insignia drop rate
1000 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on insignia drop rate
For a division:
500 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on gold received for events
1000 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on gold received for events
2500 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on gold received for events
5000 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on gold received for events
10000 orders accomplished: +2% bonuses on gold received for events

So what it basically means that the more time a division is on the battlefield the more rewards it will have. Well yes! And the only possible way for a division to cease to exist is that the commander leaves it without nominating a new commander. Same for squads.

Hello everyone,

I am here to discuss and propose a more interesting system of leadership and communication in Guild Wars 2.

So the dev team made a beautifull work on the WvWvW, but I fear that this will not keep players playing it for a long time as it is too mutch causual oriented, witch is good, but no options are in for players who want to invest more time in it.
WvWvW is a strategy oriented war game, keeping dongeons under your control, taking towers to the ennemy, not falling into the trap of attaking an easy target as you won’t be able to keep it for a time. All this needs leadership and communication.

So the GW2 groups are 5 people groups… Great for small ambushes but not for real war stuff. So comes into play the Commander book and the squad system. Seriously? This is the stuff that you put into game to make WvW be a war game and not just a big pvp map? A small symbol above the head of the commander and a squad that nobody heard of it nor joins it? A map that displays only people that are around you even if you are a commander? There is like what, 100 people on the same side in a WvW map, and the communication system is done by the “map” chat?
I will stop whining and start proposing ideas, as I have a good experience in leading as well as IRL or in other games like EVE Online, which Arenanet dev team should learn.

The Ideas, an overview:
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? The hierarchy system :
As the grouping in Gw2 is 5 people like said over, the Squad system should work like an assemblage of those said groups into a bigger, but not just for beautifull purposes but also for communication. Every group having his own orders system, as the leader (and there should be a group leader in PVP as even the communist army has a general) can distribute them to his group, lock his group from the squad/division commander and give a group name. Then comes the squad leader (let’s say a 50gc book for being it should be good) that can make 5 people groups assemble under his orders, I think 3 groups should be good, he then can give orders to the group leaders, communicate to all groups in squad chat as the commander, move members from one group to another and give a squad name. Then comes the commender, that can assemble a division that would be consisted of let’s say 3 squads, making like this a 9 groups division. The commander can then: give orders to squad leaders, move members in the division to another part (group or squad), talk in the division chat as the commander and give a division name.
So here is the tree of the new hierarchy grouping:

1. Division Commander
1.1 Squad Commander
1.1.1 Group Leader
1.1.1.1 Group Member
1.1.1.2 Group Member
1.1.1.3 Group Member
1.1.1.4 Group Member
1.1.2 Group Leader
1.1.2.1 Group Member
1.1.2.2 Group Member
1.1.2.3 Group Member
1.1.2.4 Group Member
1.1.3 Group Leader
1.1.3.1 Group Member
1.1.3.2 Group Member
1.1.3.3 Group Member
1.1.3.4 Group Member
1.2 Squad Commander
1.2.1 Group Leader
1.2.1.1 Group Member
1.2.1.2 Group Member
1.2.1.3 Group Member
1.2.1.4 Group Member
1.2.2 Group Leader
1.2.2.1 Group Member
1.2.2.2 Group Member
1.2.2.3 Group Member
1.2.2.4 Group Member
1.2.3 Group Leader
1.2.3.1 Group Member
1.2.3.2 Group Member
1.2.3.3 Group Member
1.2.3.4 Group Member
1.3 Squad Commander
1.3.1 Group Leader
1.3.1.1 Group Member
1.3.1.2 Group Member
1.3.1.3 Group Member
1.3.1.4 Group Member
1.3.2 Group Leader
1.3.2.1 Group Member
1.3.2.2 Group Member
1.3.2.3 Group Member
1.3.2.4 Group Member
1.3.3 Group Leader
1.3.3.1 Group Member
1.3.3.2 Group Member
1.3.3.3 Group Member
1.3.3.4 Group Member

They could add slots for F5 – F8 keys for minipet, nutriments, boosts and auxiliary
In auxiliary you could add: revive orbs, repair canisters, golem banker, etc.

Merry Christmas to you too!

I would only use it to better view scenery and other characters’ armor, but I’d still use it. I believe that both this and the extended camera zoom should be permanent additions that players have the option of whether or not to use.

To this day Im am disappointed about how there is no first person view option in Guild Wars 2, when it has first of all: Become the standard of most MMo’s, is key essential for bringing a community together through the use of Machinimas(Most popular MMO’s became popular because of Machinimas), is really needed for most if not all jumping puzzles and that with out a first person perspective, one cannot fully enjoy and appreciate the gorgeous environments that was so beautifully crafted by the artists of this game.

Now I understand that Collins is completely against first person view “as the player looses the appreciation for his or her character”, I have to say, with the amount of customization and cut scenes that are in this game, the fact that we cannot have a first person view because we have to “appreciate” our character more, is a little bit obnoxious. Don’t you think?

make free transfers 2 weeks cool down. just asking it help to slow down ppl from spying in wvw.

How about making it impossible to tab target the NPC animals that are far behind the PC players we try to target. Nothing worse than targeting a group of Minotaurs that are on the other side of the map instead of the person trying to kill you who is right in front of you.

Just remove them all.

salluks.6017:

i fear this Feb update is so hyped and make or break fo a lot of people that even a small misstep from Anet will result in an outrage or just dead WvW.

Anet, please listen to the WvW before making changes going by every major update we have had so far, almost every update has missed something major and creates a storm.

I agree, hype is a double edged sword. On one had you get people to wait when they might otherwise not, or invest in something with the hope of the future. On the other had if it doesn’t live up to the expectations it is devastating. And the more hyped things get the higher the expectations, up to a point where nothing can realistically live up to them.

The best way to console people now and deflate the hype so Feb doesn’t cause all the rage is just to start leaking info. More real info = less hype = less disappointment.

That is why an interview like this gets such disappointment and rage because there was not really any real info up to this point. I hope it is a lesson learned. Share with the community and the community will share with you.

While not brimming over with details, I still enjoyed seeing the people behind the scenes. I hope Habib Leow doesn’t mind my quoting him in my signature, but I find his statement poignant.
Yes culling creates the most ludonarrative dissonance, its waveform is causing all kinds of cresting, and minimizing it will help a lot. However, from the description of the causes, the developers may never be able to eliminate culling completely; especially since the more fun WvW is the more risk of culling.
Could a culling rate meter be developed? Something similar to a ping/fps rate meter. A culling rate meter would allow players to take responsibility for their pillar of the paradox.
The PvE:PvP:WvW culture cresting is tougher….
My instincts tell me that evolving a more dynamic rear echelon, supply line doctrine could help align wave forms.

Way I figure its still early days in terms of the game that’s only been out for 4months and in hindsight, a lot of the MMO type of games take some time to fill out all their areas. That doesn’t necessarily make me satisfied of course as a full time WvW player to have no recognition titles, usable equipment (for my condition spec) to buy with badges or the fact the PvE monkeys are universally both wealthier and now, also better equipped.
So 6 months probably seems about right to fill out, however, due to a number of factors I think it should have been done earlier.

WvW is important because it also affects server health- the better your server does:
The better the game bonuses
Ability to attract better players and guilds
Keep better players and guilds

But mostly, this is Guild “Wars”, I came here for an open warfare experience, I didn’t come here for “PvE Wars”, “Dungeon Raid Wars” or “Group Wars” on some postage-stamp sized spvp match of half a dozen a side. All other games do that kind of stuff and its universally boring for me, I’m here for the week long, big fights, long term tactical planning/manoeuvring and logistics required for my server to be winning a War.

So please Anet, give us, the hardcore 1%‘s that fight it out every day on the battlefield some recognition that will never be achieved by someone running a dungeon 20 times, grinding components, crafting silly legendaries etc.
That we are are ’Realm Defenders’, the crazy guys and girls with a 25-1 player killer ratio, the supply train destroyers, castle ransacker’s, contributors to the server’s honour with hundreds of hours of blood and warfare under our belts.

Shadow.3475:

Listen to what they say instead off making up stuff, they want to make ranking system better rewards and so on but they need to figure out how to do it and it is better to say nothing then say we will do this and that and then it takes them 10month to get it to work, or like Funcom never get it to work.

No one is making up stuff – as you say Anet might be like Funcom… so your post is kind of self contradictory…

I think the concern we have for WvW is right. And this interview as a whole doesn’t really say much nor does the Anet devs: wait for feb – is all they say. While we from the other side of the spectre rightfully have said since the start: Culling – please fix it.

Yes character progression in WvW is poor, but at the moment I think there are many more issues with WvW.

Stealth is broken at the moment due to culling – there is no counter ability from any profession in the game to stealth. No stealth detection turret, field or break on damage mechanic.

Map overlay tiresome and boring – the same terrains and due to that – one tactic for one bl is the same for the rest. Eternal bg map is good though, but way too small. If you played DAoC – you would feel claustrophobic, have I heard. The overall map-size is waaaaay to small.

Commander options – in this interview Matt said due to they want people to play the game they wouldn’t implement any changes. However Commanders are checking map for swords or other information almost constantly – a small UI as the friendlist will never hurt – and then Commanders might want to have a friend/lieutenant check the map for them.
Guild Commander tag option. I think guilds with a commander or a commander in a guild that have many numbers in WvW knows what I am talking about. And would actually make squad-chat viable.

Minimap friendlies colour (while this is a small issue): You could easily implement a colour for friends, guilds and then randoms on your mini-map. Bloodlusting players want to kill and get lost afterwards cause the 5 man party was full and now has to embarras him self on ts, vt or mumble to get back to his herd… or worse lost and have to stop up to type in g-chat or party-chat cause he lost his friends or guildmates.

No news about culling… this is probably the biggest problem and also the most fragile for Anet at this point – but the no news, as it is now – is troublesome for many.

Feb patch: There are no information about this patch… what will be changed? No one knows, but I feel this is one of the biggest issues as well. Anet need to be better to give small reliable information, I mean it’s 1 month and approximately a week away.
The news this interview gives is what we can all rely on – character progression and rewards are being added, which then presumably means: Ascended gear available.

If this is all we can look forward to, I think our concern as a whole for WvW is equitable. The silence of this patch content is worrying. We don’t know if any of the major issues will be addressed.

Anet, if you are listening. Some changes you might consider.

Guild Commander Tags – These are tags only guild members can see. Make them show as a gold icon on the map.

Camp upgrades – Allow for more, better upgrades for smaller guilds to defend camps, those guilds who can’t really afford to upgrade towers/keeps. Something like putting up easy to break walls, set up traps, or any number of things.

Character travel time – I thought you had the right idea giving the Ranger, Necro, and Elementalist a full time 25% run speed, even though I didn’t think the Elementalist needed it. But you forgot the two slowest classes in the game, the Guardian, and the Mesmer. Please consider adding a more reliable movement speed for these two classes.

Orbs – These should be keep specific items that are captured, and moved to a keep to strengthen those who fight “inside the keeps”.

Guild buffs placed on claimed keeps – These should be zone wide for the guild.

World vs world should be a FOUR SERVER MATCH UP.

ADDITIONS TO THE ABOVE!!

Reward system: Defense reward system kind of sucks because you constantly see the timer tick to zero, while the enemy is still beating on the gate, and you do not get rewarded. This is the best place to reward PUGs, or give PvE players a reason to leave PvE, and defend keeps/towers thier server owns. To encourage more participation in a defense, a person should be rewarded every single time the defense timer ticks to “zero”, even if the enemy is still beating on the wall/gates.

UI Changes: I think the most important UI change should be putting a place where we store our consumables so we don’t have to open our bags to use them. Better yet, if you didn’t want to apply this UI change, allow for us to apply an “auto consume” feature on our foods so that once the duration has run its course, our toons automatically use the consumable again. We had the auto consume feature in Everquest II, and it worked extremely well.

Supplies, more importantly supply runs: The 15 supply buff from guilds should be a 20 supply buff “AT” supply camps, and players should be allowed to assist keep/tower workers in thier upgrades, allowing them to run to a supply camp, pick up supplies, and go click on the “structure” being upgraded inside the keep/tower. That alone would solve a lot of problems for guilds trying to do upgrades.

Road Marker “Banners”: These should emit a pulsing buff (600 radius) for 10 seconds of swiftness, instead of the need to click on them for a buff for 20 seconds of swiftness. This would require more to be used, and allow for a better synergy, with use. Also there is a major bug with these that makes them disappear too early.

A major class change I’d like to see;

Warrior I’m seeing fewer, and fewer banners in WvW, probably because they’re tedious. To assist Warriors out, I thik once they pick up a banner, it should put the banner on thier back, or the back of the person carrying the banner. Allowing for them to carry the banner, and utilize their weapon skill set. This is a UI change, basically making “F8” the banners special buff, like Banner of Disc’s “Fury Buff”, and making “F9” the Banners Swiftness buff. This would allow for one Warrior to provide multiple banners to be moved by multiple people in a large scale fight, without losing the weapons they’ve traited for. It would also be cool if the banners represented the guild the Warrior belongs to.