Guild Wars 2

Hule.8794:

In Commander CDI players answered easy question:
– do you want some easy fixes now or big fixes later?
And players answered, at least something like color tags now.

This was one of the first CDIs published (like 3 months ago) and dataminers discovered color tags in previous builds of game.

My question to Anet:

will there be any changes to commanders in Feature update?
Maybe just those color tags?

I wouldn’t expect much Dev response… not here. Probably get some on the PvE forums. As far as I’ve heard nothing commander related, but we’ll see on April 15th I guess.

It’s been almost two years since the first BWE. People complained loudly that the C&S system was devoid of flexibility and functionality. Almost 2 years…. that tells volumes about WvW priority and what players want.

Not enough gem store revenue in making a better grouping system apparently.

FearedbytheGods.8617:

Just wondering what came from the CDI done on this topic recently.

Same as the hacking issues…. nothing is done. But at least discussing the failures in GW2 grouping systems doesn’t get the thread deleted like the hacking/exploits do.

Very disappointing that one of the most needed features in the game wasn’t in the “big feature” patch. I wonder if it even made the list….

Freeelancer.2860:

Ahmrill.7512:

If you took a poll or tallied what features are important to players a month ago, not a lot of the features in the big April patch would have been on there.

Which is, again, your subjective opinion.
Furthermore, as Gumball tried to point out, even if it were true, would it really prove anything ?

Yes it certainly is my opinion.

And would it prove anything…. Hell No! It’s Anet’s game and they will continue to make changes that benefit themselves and game revenue. I’m simply pointing out, in my opinion, they dropped the ball in making changes that many players really wanted to see.

Ahmrill.7512:

nGumball.1283:

I suppose it comes down to suggestions or features people want VS. the frequency of suggestions for those features. I’m sure that every single thing has been suggested by someone at some point on these forums. But some things have been asked for repeatedly and are basic fundamentals of any MMO game.

I’m a fairly consistent read and poster on these forums, and have been since early beta. Some of the things in the April 15th feature patch I’ve never seen asked for. I’m sure they have been asked for here at some point, but I didn’t see many of them. Some features NOT added are being asked for on a daily or weekly basis and are causing actual frustration for players.

I’m not saying any of the features are bad in the April 15th patch. It just doesn’t seem to be the stuff on the top of many players list of what’s REALLY needed. At least not from what I’ve read over the last 2 years.

Still, Gumball does have a point in that you are basing your arguments on anecdotal evidence. While you acknowledge the possibility that suggestions may have been made with your not being aware of them, you fail to provide evidence that would indicate one feature is asked more than another. Now, no one is saying you have to do an in depth statistical analysis on the posting habits of the forum members or anything.

Let’s just assume you’re right and that suggested/requested features have been ignored or put in limbo. The question now is, are these features really top priority? An even better question is, does the frequency of the request make it necessary? That is actually quite subjective. Every week you see a new thread about the trinity. Does that mean that ArenaNet should fundamentally change the game to accommodate this? Every now and then you see players asking for an inspect feature. Does every player want this? I don’t have the answers to these questions and neither will I pretend I do. It’s something for you to think about.

Simply read over the threads as far as they go back and draw your own conclusions. I’m certainly not going to count, tally and link every thread for each specific feature that was asked/suggested for. Some requests are indeed unreasonable, changing the trinity is a core design change and I doubt it will ever happen. I do indeed see requests for inspect features quite often. Although I’m personally ambivalent to an inspect feature, it had a high player request and does not effect core design…. I would understand if they did it.

Being able to group with only your guild and ease of use/functionality shouldn’t be a chore… and they are currently. What I’m saying is meat and potatoes feature changes were ignore for many bling features and changes to increase gem store revenue.

If you took a poll or tallied what features are important to players a month ago, not a lot of the features in the big April patch would have been on there.

That was the main intent of my OP.

nGumball.1283:

You forgot to mention the majority of the things introduced in this patch were suggested by the community also, the majority of the updates that set GW2 behind were also suggested by the community.

No point of blaming Anet and going with the ‘’if they listened to us, the game would be a paradise’’ argument, cause everything from ascended gear to wardrobe etc etc. were player-suggested and just becuase you didn’t suggest it, doesn’t mean other didn’t.

You have alot of valid points but they are mostly subjective.

I suppose it comes down to suggestions or features people want VS. the frequency of suggestions for those features. I’m sure that every single thing has been suggested by someone at some point on these forums. But some things have been asked for repeatedly and are basic fundamentals of any MMO game.

I’m a fairly consistent read and poster on these forums, and have been since early beta. Some of the things in the April 15th feature patch I’ve never seen asked for. I’m sure they have been asked for here at some point, but I didn’t see many of them. Some features NOT added are being asked for on a daily or weekly basis and are causing actual frustration for players.

I’m not saying any of the features are bad in the April 15th patch. It just doesn’t seem to be the stuff on the top of many players list of what’s REALLY needed. At least not from what I’ve read over the last 2 years.

The problem is the lack of a flexible grouping system. Some people are putting a pin up simply to organize two groups or more. 30 extra people flock to the pin and that person is a “bad” commander because he’s not leading right.

Without a way for guilds or players to make private squads, people will put pins up without the intention of actually trying to lead zergs properly.

Tom Gore.4035:

All the best wishes to CU. It’ll obviously be a niche game. I wouldn’t be surprised if it will receive even less updates than WvW does.

Too soon to say if it will hit or miss. I dunno if it could POSSIBLY get less updates than WvW does when it has no PvE content. The entire world with the exceptions of of some safe zones is basically WvW content.

WvW, Crafting and Housing using a Minecraft build style…… no PvE!!! Woot!

hip.8435:

I was really hoping for some kind of feature that would allow for:

A.) The Guild Leader to see tiny blips of where everyone is on the entire map, without necessarily forming a party.
B.) Everyone else to see where the Guild Leader is at all times on the map. (again, regardless if you’re in his\her party or not)

That would definitely help alleviate some of the LFG issues.

Anything that avoids having multiple groups running together, forcing everyone in 3rd party voice and marking a driver with a bullseye would work for me. That’s currently the best and only way to create a private or guild force in GW2. Putting a pin up that attracts an extra 30 people to a guild force defeats the the whole purpose.

There is no reason in a modern day MMO we don’t have flexible grouping by this time. We’re not talking about some fancy feature, we’re talking about basic guild grouping and custom forces.

Naz.2607:

I was stunned that that was all we got.
Not even the new masteries?!?
Welp, I guess we can look forward to continuing to watch our guildmates die while walking down a slope! There’s always that!

Your guildies probably slid on some poop accidently left by Anet shoes. That one time they came into the WvW zone.

goldenwing.8473:

And as much as I love Mark Jacobs and am looking forward to seeing what becomes of CU, I will continue to reserve judgment on whether “the magic” can happen again. And 2016, er 2015, is a long way off in terms of game time.

That’s funny our guild recently had a conversation about just that. Trying to re-capture “the magic” from DAOC. It may be hard.

At that time there were no other MMO games that had that 3 faction/server PvP. It was unique, but now we have options. Most of our guild were younger with no life and able to play 12 hours a day as well. Now many of us are now semi-responsible with families. We’re in a different place.

dang… I feel like an old fogy reminiscing about the old days.

Grotesque.6480:

Highly disapointed in the whole Feature Pack kitten. A fe suggestions have been addressed, but pointers and even collaborative discussions have been totally ignored. Truth be told, I often wonder why this game is called Guild Wars while there is no motivation or incentives to actually do things as a guild.

I won’t go over the things again, however, I do wonder if ArenaNet is seriously believing this game will survive on its PVE only. Once a new RvR gets around the corner which is worth the time and play, Anet will lose everyone due the current WvW state.

Kitten kittened off about this whole Feature Pack, which is a big middle finger to all their players while telling us ‘’ We don’t give a rats kitten about you, the customers. We do whatever the kitten we want ’’

[mod edit: removed offending content]

I think you summed up a lot of what our guild feels. Many of the features our guild cares about seemingly are ignored.

Hannelore.8153:

Yes, how dare they implement major quality of life changes that have long been seen as “dropping the ball” at game release! While you are right that there are still many issues to address, they first have to address the major issues affecting all areas of the game, not just a given game mode.

On top of that, you say that they are not doing anything for grouping, yet by the end of the year they have said that guilds will span every server. The game will no longer be dominated by a handful of large guilds, because small guilds will finally be able to build up a decent amount of influence and compete…

I don’t know why people seem to confuse “you didn’t do what I want” with “you didn’t do anything useful to anyone”.

I guess you missed the part where I said the new features are nice and will enhance GW2 overall. The things players (not just me) were asking for have been ignored.

So yes they dropped the ball when adding features that players were asking for.

Hannelore.8153:

Besides, the whole UI is garbage. Requesting specific enhancements for it is kind of silly when the whole thing needs to be trashed and overhauled.

On this we agree 100%.

Flytrap.8075:

Expect changes to Commander tags and squads in 2016.

Far to optimistic my friend. Even if you are right it doesn’t matter to me. By that time I’ll be playing a 3 realm PvP game that actually FOCUSES on guilds and PvP.

Camelot Unchained don’t let me down!!!

ViRuE.3612:

So the entire feature pack has now been announced. For WvWvW specifically the only change of note – already announced and expected since last November – is account bound WxP?

Not entirely impressive?

Not impressive? It’s freaking laughable.

WvW is a piece of crap on the bottom of Anet shoes. It gets about the same priority and resources that scraping off the shoe gets. WvW has some of the most passionate players in the game and they focus on PvE fluff and gemstore revenue. Summed in up here…

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Feature-Update-Missed-what-s-really-needed/first#post3853088

Almost two years and I’d love to actually be able to GROUP with my guild the way we enjoy. Because having only two ways to group in a 21st century MMO is enough?

The great “feature” update is anything but especially to WvW players.

There is a correlation between the que on Jade Quarry and the TESO head start. The ques are now at a reasonable level! I was prepared for que’s lasting hours at a time and now things are much more manageable!

who would’ve figured?!

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Collaborative-Development-Commander-System/page/14#post3343318

Many of the suggestions in this thread where discussed there. Of course NOTHING has been done yet… we’ll see what happens on the feature update.

Could info but a little late.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Collaborative-Development-Commander-System/page/14#post3343318

And YES we still need C&S upgrades still.

IMO the C&S system is the WORST grouping system I’ve used in the last 7 years of MMO gaming. Absolutely devoid of flexible grouping and organizing. If it’s not on the feature update….. I’m speechless. #1 feature that needs attention.

What about basic grouping in a MMO? Having only a 5 man group or a zerg as the only grouping systems is frustrating. Unfortunately it’s not how many players and guilds enjoy organizing and grouping.

I’m hoping the feature update gives us a way to create private and guild only squads for the the C&S system. IMO upgrading the C&S to be flexible enough for ALL types of grouping should be the #1 feature needed.

I’m still waiting for a basic grouping system that allows me to group with friends and guild members the way we enjoy. Having only a 5 man group or a zerg as grouping systems is frustrating.

I’ve hoping the feature update gives us a way to create private and guild only squads for the the C&S system. For all the things GW2 did right, they have omitted many features that should be in a modern day MMO.

Not having the most needed feature, a flexible grouping system for private/guild forces, on the big feature patch would be the biggest joke of all.

If we see no upgrades to the C&S and grouping on this “feature” patch then I want to know what they are smoking.

ViRuE.3612:

We can only hope that one of the “facilitating friendly play” posts covers this. At the moment the only thing WvWvW get specifically out of this feature update is account bound WxP. Which we have known about since last year. Well, I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised we get nothing.

We can only hope that the “friendly play” blogs are going to be about the C&S system or a way to group properly in GW2. Only two options to group in a modern MMO is a travesty. If you you enjoy running with just your guild or anything but a 5 man group or a public zerg we’ve been screwed since gw2 went live.

Not having the most needed feature, a flexible grouping system, on the big feature patch would really show how Anet feels about WvW.

Q: Last login for guilds… does that mean last represented login?

You could have an active multi-guild member that has not represented your guild in 6 months. Guild leaders want to know when a player last represented their guild and if they are an active part of your guild…. not the last time they logged in to another guild.

I hope that’s the change…. it wasn’t very clear on the blog.

FearedbytheGods.8617:

I’ve never understood why they haven’t developed WvW into their business model. That’s part of the reason they neglect it.

The numbers must be big for people who participate.

It never fails to amuse me when the sPvP team point out that PvP numbers are huge! (because they include WvW in those numbers).

WvW is at the bottom of the priority list and Dev resource. They fixed culling and added the bloodlust mechanic… both good changes. EOTM was more a need for instanced solution for having seasons and events…. people would complain about the que and need an alternative.

The meat and potatoes of WvW have been ignored. We don’t even have the tools to organize in game properly. A 5 man group or a zerg is not flexible grouping.

The first step to breaking up or giving alternatives to a zerg is…. actually have a flexible grouping system that supports custom forces.

We only have two ways to group. Either a 5 person group or a pin that attracts everyone in the zone. If you want to have more organized forces and then you need to have private/guild only squads for people to organize.

If people have options other than zerging then they will do it. But you have to have the tools to do it.

gennyt.3428:

Ahmrill.7512:

Anet, I sure hope you guys have one of the most important features needed in GW2 and requested by players, especially those that enjoy WvW. Those being….

Upgrades to the C&S system to allow private and guild only squads, and better functionality to the system.

The grouping system flexibility and functions in GW2 are abysmal. You give us two ways to group in the game. A 5 man group or a zerg. It’s been almost two years since the first Beta Weekend event on April 27th 2012. Players have been requesting a decent grouping system since then and pretty much every post on the collaborative thread regarding the C&S system.

If one of the most needed and requested features is not in the big feature patch…. I guess it really proves Anet is completely out of touch with the player base.

You know I’m going to co-sign this. It’s a major reason I’ve never ever, ever bought a commander tag, total waste of gold imo.

They know what players would like in regards to the C&S system. It’s simply a matter of making it a developer priority…. but it may already be to late. When GW2 went live we’d often have 3-4 groups of guild members in WvW. We enjoyed havoc style fighting and didn’t like putting the pin up and attracting an addition 30 people. Like many we’d have 3-4 groups running separately, in 3rd party voice and marking a driver with a bullseye as the only alternative to coordinate.

So many guild members have quit GW2 that we rarely have over a group running now in WvW. Ironically the thing we needed most at release won’t benefit us much at this date.

zortek.9607:

So, I agree, Ahmrill. Although, I fear the event horizon has already been crossed and gravitational forces will soon be ripping the elite community to another venue.

Great post zortek!

Yes, the decision to focus on living story and PvE aspect of the game for revenue purposes has effected the community. Many of my guild have left and are simply waiting for Camelot Unchained MMO or other PvP focused games in development. I too fear that meaningful changes to WvW are already to late.

Terrier.8732:

I think the point has been completely missed sigh

The point is WvW is an afterthought. Some of the most passionate and dedicated players enjoy WvW. WvW is at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of priority and dev resources.

1) PvE
2) sPvP
3) WvW

We don’t even have a way to organize player forces in WvW properly… it’s been almost 2 years since the BWE1 event feedback. 5 man group or zerg…. WTF? That’s the only way to group in game? Last time I checked it was the 21st century so how about a 21st century grouping system for starters.

ualgh.1832:

on a 1-10 scale, I’d say my disappointment is about 8/10. I think the most glaring issues are the lack of account-bound WXP (despite being announced forever ago and formally announced 5 months ago) and no changes to the commander tag/commander system (despite having a Collaborative Development Initiative on the issue months ago as well).

Further, I think a more overarching and more pressing concern is the lack of developer transparency and communication. The WvW population currently has no estimation of when they can expect very serious game breaking bugs to be fixed. Instead, we are treated to unwanted commander pin changes, renaming of skill point buffs, and general carelessness on the part of ArenaNet. There have been months of concerns logged in the official forums that are still unresolved.

Is there anything we, as a concerned community seeing our game mode slowly die, can do to get some substantive feedback?

Completely agree with you. The “lack of developer transparency and communication” rings true as well. We want substantial features and bugs addressed in WvW, not new content.

Fix the meat and potatoes of WvW first. A functional and flexible C&S system, skill ability lag, bugs and exploits.

Cactus.2710:

But but but … we just had a CDI on the commander system. That means we’re going to see positive changes within in our lifetime, right?

Oh wait …

A gamers life and interest is limited. It’s been almost two years since people asked for a functional and flexible grouping system. By the time they “get around” to it most of the dedicated WvW players will be gone.

It needs addressed ASAP.

Nuzt.7894:

Why would they be in touch with us, they have made it very clear that they know what we want and we have no idea what that is.

Upgraded C&S system is one of the most needed feature. We don’t have basic tools to organize the way we enjoy. Let’s see…..

1) Started asking for a functional grouping system since April 29th 2012 (first BWE)
2) We’ve been asking for the same thing daily for almost 2 years now.
3) Devs posted that the C&S system needs more functionality numerous times.
4) Devs started a collaborative thread getting feedback from players about C&S.
5) Still no idea if they are making changes, or what changes or when they might be.

Very frustrating when people are forced to deal with a useless grouping system in a game that promotes grouping and organization.

FearedbytheGods.8617:

Ahmrill.7512:

Halk Toyne.4983:

good game aney

so 3 months waiting for wxp acc bound is nothing. we should stop complaining guys

You say we should stop complaining about things in WvW and commander abilites? It’s been almost 2 years… we should be complaining more.

I read it as sarcasm?

In any event it was actually longer than 3 months for AB WXP saga. There were the months as well of just getting them to admit soulbound WXP was a silly idea.

My bad if i missed the sarcasm. It’s still an “F” grade though when it comes to grouping systems in GW2. It doesn’t bother me that they didn’t have a great grouping system in at release. What bothers me is they have left it unchanged since release and pumped out this crappy living story content every two weeks.

Many of the REALLY passionate gw2 players are those in WvW and they cater to the PvE crowd to earn gem store revenue. We’re not asking for massive changes here, just a flexible private grouping systems for players and guilds to organize properly.

Many of my old DAOC friends have stopped player due to the lack of meaningful WvW changes.

They better have private/guild only squads and upgrades to the C&S system. Also one of the most requested features that have been ignored.

Anet, I sure hope you guys have one of the most important features needed in GW2 and requested by players, especially those that enjoy WvW. Those being….

Upgrades to the C&S system to allow private and guild only squads, and better functionality to the system.

The grouping system flexibility and functions in GW2 are abysmal. You give us two ways to group in the game. A 5 man group or a zerg. It’s been almost two years since the first Beta Weekend event on April 27th 2012. Players have been requesting a decent grouping system since then and pretty much every post on the collaborative thread regarding the C&S system.

If one of the most needed and requested features is not in the big feature patch…. I guess it really proves Anet is completely out of touch with the player base.

A proper grouping system should be the priority… because the C&S system certainly ISN’T.

Halk Toyne.4983:

good game aney

so 3 months waiting for wxp acc bound is nothing. we should stop complaining guys

The first GW2 beta weekend was April 27th to April 29th 2012. That’s roughly a month shy of TWO YEARS. After that beta weekend on the forums I recall extensive feedback regarding the ineffective grouping systems and concerns and suggestion about the C&S system. We’ve asked for the same thing every consecutive beta weekend, at release and still now.

We need a flexible grouping system that meets the need of all guild and player styles. A way to form private/guild only squads and tools to organize effectively.

You say we should stop complaining about things in WvW and commander abilites? It’s been almost 2 years… we should be complaining more.

root.9415:

Go to the official leaderboards for achievements and load your guild roster

In my case its: https://leaderboards.guildwars2.com/en/na/achievements/guild/Priority%20Order%20Of%20Vigilance

Note: this page is notoriously buggy and it make take a few attempts for it to load correctly for you, especially if you’re in a large guild, be patient.

Once your guild AP leaderboards have loaded, create a new bookmark in whichever web browser you use, edit said bookmark and paste the following javascript code in the location field

click your new bookmark, wait a few seconds, and a new column will appear showing how long it’s been since your members have earned their last AP

I understand this is a way to see when the last time someone was on or earned AP’s… but why?? Why should players have to load a website, alt tab to GW2 and find players to boot for inactivity? Why doesn’t a modern MMO like GW2 have the BASIC tools to manage a guild roster… like a last online/represented feature built into the UI.

Some of the stuff Anet has focused on and NOT focused on just blows me away.

Commander Pin needs a lot of things that have been ignored for to long. Until Anet realizes the C&S system is a huge priority for players…. we will continue to be frustrated.

It’s a travesty that GW2 grouping systems have not been upgraded to an acceptable level yet. Social grouping is a huge part of MMO’s. Yet people still can’t organize with guilds or the way they enjoy with only two ways to group in game.

This needs to be the #1 priority for features.

GW2 has one of the worst MMO grouping systems I’ve used in the last 6-7 years of MMO gaming. Two options in game – 5 man group or zerg. No way to create custom private squads or guild only squads. Completely inflexible and sub par system for grouping.

They have our feedback… let’s make it a priority Anet.

A DECENT GROUPING SYSTEM: A flexible grouping system that can be used for private/guild squads. The commander and squad needs changed ASAP, should be the number one priority.

Last online/represented: GW2 guild UI is horrible for managing a guild roster. How do we know who is inactive or never represents? Hard to recruit people if you have no idea who’s actually still in your guild or when they played.

The lack of flexible grouping systems in GW2 is one of it’s biggest faults. You are expected to either be a 5 man group or zerg. How could Anet not realize that guilds and players have their own idea of what is fun or how they like to organize. It should have been in at release, and it certainly should have been addressed by now.

Commanders should be able to toggle a squad “private”. This can be used for guilds only, alliance squads or whatever makeup players enjoy. What people don’t enjoy is using a pin for a couple of guild groups in WvW and having 30 extra people flock to the pin. Hard to be a stealthy havoc force with those extra 30 people trailing behind tagging every guard in sight.

Anet you have the overwhelming player feedback asking for this, how about making this a priority and get it done.

I can only run with 5 people or a zerg because there is STILL no way to create medium sized forces with the current in game tools. Lack of flexible grouping system FTL.

I think the first part of improving tactics is to have a grouping system that allows flexible group composition and sizes. We simply don’t have the tools for players to organize the way they like. The WvW zones would be much more dynamic with more medium size forces on the map. Meaningful changes to GW2 grouping systems are the single biggest way to improve WvW.

Popping a pin creates a zerg, which limits tactics that private/guild only squads could create. Anet needs to make better functionally and flexibility in the C&S a priority, not an afterthought.

Slyfer.6478:

I’m finding it hard to believe it takes extensive effort to make the commander tag appear guild specific or just simply turn ‘gold’ when you’re in the same squad. You could add the options for commander tag into the right-click menu of a portrait This is one of those things that really makes me puzzled, just like the lack of “Last online” feature in guild roster (which turns bigscale guilds off by the way, they’d rather play a subpar mmorpg with a solid guild system). Really hope you guys reprioritize the items on your list, i’d rather skip several Living Story episodes just for quality of life changes.

Exactly…. the priority level for the C&S system simply needs to go to the top of the list. I know it’s not making Anet money on the gem store, but flexible grouping systems are a fundamental part of MMO’s. Something GW2 still doesn’t have.

Poxheart.2845:

Ahmrill.7512:

yeah something new… like actually able to form a private or guild only squad without having people flock to the pin and form a zerg. C&S system upgrade is a good start for helping WvW….. but it appears only the players feel that way.

Hey Ahmrill – I don’t know if you’ve tried it, but in ESO you can form a large party of up to 24 people. Similar to the warbands we used to be in together in WAR…

Heya Poxheart! Yeah tried the TESO beta and even they can can figure out how to make a PROPER grouping system. Warhammer failed on some things, but they sure excelled at grouping systems. The warband is still the best grouping system I’ve ever used for large scale PvP… something Anet needs to research.

Some of our guild are planning to initially try TESO, should try and get our guilds on the same faction/campaign.

Ikaros.7812:

I heard Guild Wars 4 is shipping with this feature.

lol… perhaps then we can find a way to group properly.

Yet ANOTHER call for guild/private squads.

Make this a priority Anet! You got the feedback from the commander collaborative thread… let’s see this pushed to the top of the stack of “things to do”.

Completely agree with the first couple points you made.

How they cannot have an in-game system for guild/private squads is ridiculous. People just don’t use the commander pin because it’s not worth the hassle. An attempt to use the commander and squad pin to help a couple guild groups organize suddenly attracts an extra 30 people.

Fixing the C&S system so it’s flexible for all player needs should be the #1 WvW priority IMO.