Guild Wars 2

I like the changes a lot. Currently T1 towers may flip faster, but camps flip less.
Still, first steps to eliminate those silly Karma-PvE-Trains.

You can have actual fights around towers and camps WITHOUT haveing to fear getting “stomped” by the major zergs.
Scouting and Patroling gets easier and I saw WAY MORE small groups doing exactly this WHILE getting WAY MORE engaged in small skirmishes with enemy maurauders…
there where massive zergs around as usual…BUT you wouldnt meet them that often anymore.

Btw. DEFENDING hasnt to be boring…
You DONT need to idle in a tower all the time as scout/guard!

You still can patrol the area for fights/checking white swords or recap nearby camps (..as well as doing a lot of pve stuff).

You roam only a smaller area compared to “making-a-karma-train-round” to be able to react to any attacks in your “zone”. (How small depends on your speed and HP of walls/doors)

….but it can get boring, if your server dominates the map, have to admit that
At least for pvper like me.
Might be an idea to “reward” map domination with pve rewards?
i.e. like current WvW pve-boni, but only effecting a single map. While pvp/WvW related boni scale down the more stuff is capped.

Let them pver do the scouting/guarding on totally dominated (boring…) maps. ;P
This way pvper could focus more on fighting, while the more Pve oriented would cryout loud if enemy zergs start tearing at objectives and thus reducing their “valued pve boni” or makeing JP,map completion impossible.

Edit:
Btw. Red/Orange swords may sound nice, BUT would result in Zergs focussing on the orange swords first…and then maybe(!) going for the red ones…

Demonbox.4703:

1st: That video totally blew me out, MJ + EVE online + Morricone’s music? great video
2nd: If u never tried EVE, and you like the “sandboxy” elements of GW you should definitively try it (spent almost 6 years there, till they decided cash shop+subscription was the way to go)
3rd: as long as i agree with the OP, i still think is pointless hoping to get a (real) sandbox experience out of GW2, wasn’t designed that way and will never become such, they will have to change too many mechanics, which will in the end affect also the PvE side “ruining” their product.

And Lavath EVE is still runing, and as far as i know kicking, 1 single server 200kish active players, all fighting for the same (and huge) space, just be prepared to set your alarm at weird times to save your base/POS from someone in a diff timezone, a base that maybe took your corp months (If not ages) to build ;P

Totally agree, but its not about converting GW2 to Eve (or else), but the “spirit” or finding analogies.
In principle EvE might seem very complicated, but its “only” complexity via a lot of small, simplistic mechanics/ideas which are dependant on each other and in conjunction work (mostly) as a “whole complex system”.

In Eve Ressources/Credits are needed and scarce (for the higher tiered stuff).
The “harder”/high tiered/expensive objectives rise extremely in defense/hp pools.
You therefore have to come in “Numbers” and/or “Prepared” (with the right and mostly similiar expensive equip). As well as bringing some diversity in your fleet to be able to fullfill different “roles” (in and out of battle, i.e. scouting, mining as well as haveing some “firepower”). Still, battles will take some time which allows even pilots some systems away to join in.
While earning/getting credits/ressources is also depending on your “Numbers” and “Investments” and in itself scales the rewards according to the risks.
… roughly put

Now in WvW we have supply & gold. “Roles” are defined roughly by equip, weapon, trait build or siege used.
BUT supply are not really a limiting factor for setting up siege or upgradeing and should become way more scarce. Gold in GW2 case shouldnt be that limiting (imho), cuz of weekly resets and faster meta (compared to EvE).
While almost everything SHOULD be more “tanky” especially upgraded structures and scale rewards for attacker&defenders, which in itself sets the incentive to upgrade and/or “be best prepared” as well as makeing supply scarcer aka more important.
We dont lose ships/equip, but siege and objectives/upgraded stuff are still at stake.

Thats why imho easiest and best solution to enhance GW2 meta:
- T2> objectives, siege equip, Dolyaks, Veteran guards & Champs
—> HP x5 – x10

- Camp supply output
—> about 2x – 4x faster

- Dolyak supply amount
—> 2x – 4x supply per Dolyak

- Supply drop on player death
—> Should be FFA to “ninja” for ALL other players

- Rewards scaleing with difficulty

I like GW2 fast-paced fighting style, but battles/siegeing SHOULD NEVER be fast, otherwise you eliminate possibilities to counter/react and defender cannot get attached enough to care about the objective that much.

About 4 months ago they mentioned custom servers for sPvP would be highest priority…now they release a new map (which is nice), but no real update on the progress of the arena servers at all since then…

But guild missions are ready “suddenly”, which also got mentioned sometime around release.

I guess its not an issue, that AN isnt transparent enough…but more of an issue they dont keep us (players) “on track” enough…

Would also like to see some ui screenshots or else of features “in-the-makeing” BEFORE they get released.
IMHO AN could verify via these by community reactions, if their “nearly polished and ready” features are “really” ready and “what the players want for the game”.
Maybe the players have some cool additional and easy/fast to implement ideas…?

But monthly preview page was a good addition, have to admit.

Fizzlepip.5218:

Edragor.9164:

For any sandboxy elements to really work, you have to change some things first:

Upgraded keeps walls & Doors & siege need way more HP
Then rushing/capping wouldnt be that of an option and trying to upgrade asap first priority. Defending/Holding would make more sense. Battles around T2/T3 resolve in a long battle of attrition..maybe for days ..or need a big amount of siege deployed.
And siege cant be that easily destroyed ..except for structural dmg by other siege. More skirmishes around keeps and such would happen, too.

Just starting to read this thread, so I can’t comment on stuff after this, but what you suggest here would virtually kill lower Tier WvW.

All it would take is the morning downtime (there are hours of silence and nothing going on in the lowest ones, where even small groups walk in and recap their Keep without any fight if it had been nightcapped) for everyone to upgrade and supply, and watch as the maps don’t change. Simply not enough people and presence for sieges to work… ever. There goes the rest of the already depleted loyal WvW population.

Depends on what you believe the meta should be about?
If your in favor that even a 5 man group should cap every keep/tower in a short time frame and without much costs attached?
Its currently the case and resolves in a “flat meta” about “flipping objectives”…
- no real incentive to upgrade
- no possibilities for guilds to get “attached”
- not much time for other elements/meta to “evolve around”

Now, lets imagine every structure would have way enhanced HP.
i.e. T1 wall would need 10 catas to destroy in the same time (like currently with one cata):
-> More coordination/time needed (with more “siege sites”)
-> zergs have to spread more
-> more defending of & travel between camps (supply line)
-> more need for repair teams and supply runners

—> more spread out fights overall
—> more options for defenders to react & counter
—> more feints and tactical retreats for attackers
—> more emphasis on supplies (thus holding / defending camps)

Now, imagine siege equip could only be destroyed by other siege fast, but player dps would take like 10 times. Siege would be repairable,too :
-> siege on walls wouldnt be destroyed that easily
—> zerging it not worthwhile
—> more counter siege needed
-> defence gets easier
-> more need/work for supply runners / dolyak guards & repairs
-> more rushing/pushing onto battlefield to take out siege sites
-> more siege would be build “in-the-wild”, cuz of high hp and being repairable
—> more “eagles nests” to take out = more “sandboxy” meta

Overall the meta would change from little cap-flipping fights to more prolonged battles, which would result/attract lot more fighting, as well as tactical retreats and such.
With way more damage to repair on walls & siege after a fight/battle, the strategic meta would “spice-up”, too.
Who gets repairs coordinated faster after a battle? Maybe leaving a wall at 50% and feinting to go for another objective only to return shortly after?

Defending/holding would hold more meaning and be easier vs uncoordinated zergs.
Small groups might be “excluded” from siegeing, but would hold way more strategic/tactical value for defending/capping camps, harrassing supply lines or siege sites.
Big guilds/zergs would focus on siegeing the upgraded / better defended objectives more, while T1 fortresses would be still “doable in a reasonable” manner for smaller zergs or effective guild groups.

IMHO a complete rework of WvW would be ridiculous and some ideas like farms or constructed stuff by players maybe “too unrealistic”, BUT tweaking / adding little things would/could change the whole meta to allow for more “sandboxy feeling”…

Edit:
To add an analogy to EVE.
Mining (or most other stuff) around solo takes FOREVER!
Only by grouping up and/or investing into “effective equip” it gets worthwhile and in pvp zones attracts other players.

Same should hold true for a siege battle. Siege equip should be easy to afford, but more emphasize should be on supply and (re-)organizing it. To make:
- ORGANIZING SUPPLY (&TIME)
- SIEGE AMOUNT
- PLAYER SKILL
- STARTEGY & TACTICS
the “modifiers” to the battle and divide between good / organized groups and mindless zerg rushes.

Currently its mostly too much about player numbers and who “didnt forgot to buy some blueprints”…

For any sandboxy elements to really work, you have to change some things first:

Upgraded keeps walls & Doors & siege need way more HP
Then rushing/capping wouldnt be that of an option and trying to upgrade asap first priority. Defending/Holding would make more sense. Battles around T2/T3 resolve in a long battle of attrition..maybe for days ..or need a big amount of siege deployed.
And siege cant be that easily destroyed ..except for structural dmg by other siege. More skirmishes around keeps and such would happen, too.

pve champs
Similiarly they have to provoke a battle of attrition and therefore be more tank& spank to be considered “part of WvW”.

pve random mobs
They shouldnt be spread out like in pve zones, but “cramped tightly” into a few dedicated places (1 near each Spawn and 1 mid map) and as such would be more part of WvW meta and attract farmer (guilds/raids) as well as enemies. And some servers might protect these areas (…player generated content).

Convenience Stuff part of keeps&towers
Like vendors, bankers, TP, craft station… SHOULD ONLY become accessible in upgraded keeps (except for the Repair & siege NPC nothing is needed at spawn area). Gives players more incentives to hold on to at least 1 tower/keep. Its the right thing to make everything available in WvW needed to level up, BUT you should have to pvp for it, too.
(even dungeon/cultural karma vendors could be set up in SMC T2/T3)

Crafting nodes
Again, not really bound into WvW. Farming a node should block it for 10 minutes to enemy servers. Or/And give a chance on special pvp related material (lets call it ORB) which you HAVE TO carry to some camp to speed up dolyaks or gain additional supplies…otherwise it lets you blink like a beacon to the enemy on map as long as you dont turn it in or get killed (which drops the ORB and can be picked up by enemy for some minutes).
Or a 10 min buff, which allows you to save 50% supply on building stuff.

Enemy names & Bounty system
Should be possible to optionally show your name in WvW and also make yourself “accessible” for enemy players to be able to put a bounty on you…
The higher the bounty gets, the better the droprate on loot for the hunted player.
On death of the player the bounty will be divided or returned to the players who set the bounty (in the case of falling or pve-only-related deaths).

JPs
Fun, but again not really part of WvW. Entry for EB JP should be at every BL.
Every JP should have some 1-3 conquest points spread out, which could give some bonus points to WvW score – or if all capture points are owned by one server it will result into something “special” ( maybe spawn a mob attacking SMC or bay/hill, blowing a hole into 1 enemy fortress or else, but should be more value to the losing servers than the already winning one).

Siege
Has to be repairable and maybe even useable by enemy? Why not make siege contestable…the more player “right click and channel” the faster it gets converted.
This might result in more careful consideration what or if to destroy enemy siege.
While siege owner should be able to “deconstruct” their siege and maybe a chance on retaining the blueprint.
(No more running around wall and mindless whacking of siege, while defenders have to consider if they leave their siege or try to deconstruct if pushed to inner ring)

Keep Upgrades-System
Currently its too expensive for most while holding not much (percieved) advantage.
Let players pay into an upgrade that amount they like to spent and if enough money by different players comes togehter the upgrade will start. If interupted the money will be sent back.
This would make it easier for random zergs & solos to help with upgradeing without stressing their purses or haveing to fear that their payment will be lost.

See, in principle there is a lot potential already for sandbox elements, but would need some little tweaks & changes at different points.

Sometimes it seems better and sometimes it seems worse with only haveing a few peeps on screen and still they “flicker in and out of existence”.

Some ally ranger running in WvW beside me blinked away every 1-2 seconds, even was already fully loaded before, while other allys in the distance “stayed”… my impression its a camera fault/error.
Especially if you look around this happens a lot to nearby players and even enemys.

Therefore if some player already got fully loaded, it shouldnt be culled away again as long as the char stays in range… especially melee to mid range.
…But extend the transition phase between fallback model → full model for chars at long range. Would result in more fallback models / culling on long range and less in your CIRCULAR vicnity.

(Contrary to game developers & engine designers believe…players TEND TO TURN AROUND in games a lot and not always heading into a straight direction…thats why circular is important at least on melee range)

Have to agree with OP.
Something AN – and experienced PvPer – tend to forget/miss out…
… Custom Servers with “mindless modes” (DM,CTF,LMS) help newbs to get into sPvP in the first place
From a newb/noobie perspective its horrible to get into “complex” game modes without losing fun/getting overwhelmed. While experienced players get annoyed by players who dont focus on the modes target but the fighting mostly.
Newbies to pvp/a game…:

1. …tend to search/go for fights/kills
Mostly to learn their class and compete their skills/have fun (…bashing around…)

2. …have to learn the map(s) layout and meta
And like to focus on only a few maps to get attuned with… and despise too fast / much rotation or too short timers… or Pros getting annoyed by a newbs lack of map knowledge.

4. …often DO NOT care much about META
Conquested points or other additional targets are more of a hindrance for a “learning player” (see 1. & 2.)

5. …often DO NOT like K/D-ratio or ranks
Or other such “permanent stats” while still being at “noobie stage”, while some “pros” have tendencies to search noobs as easy kills to better ranks/progression stuff…

6. …often like to STAY on a server
To meet up with friends and/or players of similiar skill AND LIKE to stay there as long as possible & fun.

…after getting more attuned to class, maps & meta… the (not that new anymore) player tend to look for more complexity, competition, stats/ranks/ladders…and most of the above listed points change / dont hold true anymore…
THATS WHY… you NEED BOTH. Custom servers as some sort of entry level / for gateing newbs over time into the more complex stuff. Resulting in more competition => esport…

i.e. HalfLife2 had mostly DM servers at release and most player had their focus on 1-2 maps only (out of 3-5..not sure). Today its the complete opposite…mostly TDM servers and a lot of maps in use by players setting up the servers…
…and a lot players who “transitioned” into the more complex, balanced & esporty Counter Strike.

Thought about progression talk and what is annoying me most in GW2 pvp?

Its not balance, engine errors (ok culling maybe…oO^^) or that there isnt anything to go for… For me its mostly about scores/stats and the competition, that goes with it in pvp (and even pve)…

In WvW I am MISSING:
- better squad / commander ui …(but got discussed to death…^^)

- some sort of battle report system after a fight & match…
Kinda like Eve or strategy games do it.
Even part of a zerg you still like to see how you and others contributed…and those 3 (buggy) medals dont do it for me pvp-wise.
Was the enemy zerg doing heavy on crit and that got your zerg “steam-rolled” or did they compensated the dps via heals etc.?
How much supplies was used during fighting, blueprints deployed/finished, siege destroyed?
Adding some info WONT reduce GW2 to some sort of Excel battle, because your skill with keys & mouse actually DOES REALLY matter (unlike in Eve).

In Tpvp I am MISSING:
- more scores & stats after a match…
Its switches to fast into the next map. Some sort of log maybe for the matches done?

- stats and scores…
To really compare myself with other pvpers. Its not about win/loss or some “average score” only, but HOW I won/lost “exactly”, like doing more crits, dps, heals etc. And even helps to look for team/guild members If ur searching someone who is an expert at like healing.

…and to customize my map rotation/modes/times/… ( like every 0815-ego-shooter…)

Do I need some progression (aka leveling) system?
NO, BUT SCORES/STATS
To better my playstyle is MY pvp Progression…
…and “showing it off” by my teams / guilds / personal scores & stats & ladder-rank.
(Thus leveling/progression isnt needed, but ok aslong its not hindering me.)

Guess, also RTS, OlSchoolStrategists like to have more info/numbers on how things went in a fight / battle / match.
Knowing your rank 2 and won against rank 10 is sweet to know, but not whats really about for most pvpers
(esüecially longterm…and even in soccer, basketball and else its not ONLY about win:loss ratio, but they like to get “nerdy with numbers”,too^^ ).

mjharrison.3209:

Saweth You Him.9047:

So while an aoe nerf is being discussed armies of 20 golems are still being portaled to reinforced gates and destroying them in 3 seconds with time warp and capping a tower or keep much faster than the waypoint resets so no oppurtunity for resistance can be made. And then the golems are waypointed to safety. 2000 supply worth of siege portaled to a gate then waypointed away.

Not to mention AOE is already so gimped because of the 5-target cap that a defending side could not take those golems down before they get the door down.

In the field, as a bunker Ele I will routinely stand in AOE as I can comfortably outheal the damage long enough to stall a push or halt a rout on our side using counter-CC. The idea that AOE is too strong in WVW is laughable.

I would prefer to see the AOE 5-target cap removed and only then look at reducing AOE damage based on distance from the geometric centre point/line of the AOE that same way DAOC did it. eg: centre of the AOE = full damage, close to edge of AOE = half damage.

WVW desperately needs mechanics that punish zerging/balling up so that more group-based strategies can flourish, or at least have the tools that they can counter zergs through skilful play. I find it ridiculous that the current game mechanics reward/encourage zerging/balling up/turtling in order to mitigate already woeful AOE damage when every other area of the game seeks to punish this behaviour.

Very good idea.
After all, AN mentioned some AoE skills where preferable compared to some single target ones… -dunno, what they are talking about (Cluster bomb?good, but not imba)…
…but, thinking about the above idea got me to the following suggestions/changes:
_-> No AOE Player Cap!_

-> “Single” dmg zone of AOEs
The Center of every AoE should be only 1m / 1 Person in diameter and dps should be comparable to Single target dps. Channeld spells could even be upped in dps.
Would also help adress balling/stacking up players…
Skills like firewall would have their center either in the middle or at one end, which might graphically be indicated via higher flames/earthwall…

-> “Regular” dmg Zone of AoEs
DPS toned down (about 25%-50%) compared to the current values, but not be playercapped.

Optional:
-> Make AOE fields unstackable
You shouldnt be able to put/stack 1 field ontop another….simple as that. Might seem unrealistic on Arrowcarts and such, but would be a more balanced approach and still allow for good AoE defense tactics.

Rezzing in WvW wouldnt be that of an issue vs zergs without AoE player cap…

Samhayn.2385:

The problems I have seen in the past with gaining rank thru objective capping is people stop attacking defended keeps. Taking defended location is hard and slows gains so people don’t do it and that then devolves into objective swapping.

Well gaining thru kills means people do defend and attack since its a good way to get kills if you defending or to draw people out if your attacking.

Totally agree.
While Capping should be rewarded, some shouldnt forget its already a reward in itself obtaining a fortified structure, fortifying the whole thing, the potential to gain WvW server points and attracting the enemy…
→ which might/will result in good rewards for the battles happening around/for it.

Thats why killing players, defending and holding an objective should be more rewarding.

But maybe upscale rewards the longer an objective didnt switched sides for both defenders and attackers?
This way good defended points will rise in interest.

I agree, even if I believe it should be max 3 slots. Preferebly 1-2.
BUT maybe work like the skill-slot-ui-mechanic, speaking of clicking an arrow to switch Consumables in a small listing like changeing slotted skills.

Or 1-2 usable In-Combat and some additional slots which only work out of combat.

Actually the arguements seem to be split about the pro & cons between the Com.
Limiting inter-server-communication to the say chat could be a win-win for both “sides” on this matter.

Maybe make it optional,too, but there is also whole bunch of players who are for ways to be able to communicate, imo.
With option “Block WvW enemy say chat” by default, there would be no real harm.

Same goes with nameplates. You (and a lot others) might not want to show their name to the enemy…still, there are plenty players around threads who would actually like that.
Why not make it optional and let the player decide?

Money sinks in WvW are higher for dedicated players on the long haul.
Thats why craft mats, badges and items <exo/rare should drop more often, especially from players and via events.

While kill count/events occur way more often, exo/rare items & expensive craft mats should be of lower drop rate compared to pve.
BUT unlike pve you want no farm spots/meta and discourage gold farmer to exploit easy kills for precursor drop…
Thats why on rarer stuff the drop rates have to be highly reduced.
But be available (in theory) even via a lucky player drop AND not linked to specific mobs/events like pve.

In WvW it shouldnt be about thinking which approach to take in order to get rewarded best,
…it should be about how to WvW best and be rewarded best without needing a “farm-tactic”.

I believe there should be a way to communicate with other servers in WvW. And a lot player seem to like it, too. Posted already in another thread, being able to chat via Map channel would do more harm than any good.

Allowing the say-channel be unblocked between servers
could be a good middle-ground to please most players and allow for:
- Communicating temporary peace treaties between 2 dominated servers
- Spy meetings in WvW
- Personal duells
- RP
- Getting your name known (..for those with the need to…^^)
- “Flamer meetings”…oO^^

Griefing and annoying the whole chat channel is not possible and if someone wants to flame…its more face2face with possible “pvp retribution” afterwards.
If a player gets annoyed by flames, he can escape the griefing.

The generic nameplates-system should stay in place but be optional.
A lot like anonymity in pvp, especially newbies takeing first steps in WvW.
But a lot of veterans and dedicated players like to show-off and make them a name on the battlefield, too.
Thats why it should be optional for every player.

On a sidenote to Onyxia:
Its a good example. Even later in the game new player still wanted to go for onyxia to get her head.
While the “head/city buff” was worthwhile enough to be of interest for high end guilds.

Now, imagine (dunno how WoW is nowadays^^) there would have been a Monthly/seasonal & Lifetime-Most-Kills competition/ladder on onyxia for players/guilds…

Would add a whole new meta for players/guilds where there may be even guilds only targeting for those specific achievements/competition.
“The dragon hunters” guild might actually be what their name indicates with those competetive rankings/ladders.

(not only for pve ofc)

Pve content tied into WvW/pvp content
Quaggan/ogre/hylek camps are a good examples, but even the grub.
I dont mind the JP either, but would wish for more objectives in them to be tied to the actual WvW battles and rewards more targeted at WvW.

Harpyie is badly implemented pve, cuz its too easy to kill and too “well hidden/safe”.
Same goes with all those annoying random mobs (kraits, icebears, wolves,wolves, wolves…^^) littering the WvW everywhere…
They hinder WvW and would be better off stuffed away at centaur camp…at least it would be attracting more players to that area.

About wrong incentives from PvE rewards
More siege BPs, more badges (less in chests!), more money-worthy items.
Player kills and WvW events should give away lots more of craft mats & more drops < exotics/rare level.

On the other hand rare stuff like Exotics/Precursor …
…should be possible to drop (even from player kills), BUT with a WAY, WAY,WAY lesser droprate compared to pve!

May sound paradox?!
The high RnG factor on rare loot gets dimished by the higher kill count and “long term dedication” (..to kill player/take objectives) of a typical WvW player. The surplus on money-worthy drops will be (already is…^^) “countered” by the WvW money sinks.
While the lesser drop rates on rares wont scare away pvper from killing players, but wont be any real
incentive for money/rares-farming pve dedicated players.

After all killing players for some hours feels less grindy for the pvper compared to PvE while possibly be more challengeing and expensive at times, which often dont get rewarded.

Thats why overall money income should be higher, because costs on the long run are higher if dedicated to WvW.
While rares can be rarer, because bad drop rates get compensated by longterm dedication to WvW.

…I noticed that sometimes you dont see the dps numbers, but you still hit something and will get lootbags even if the whole time it “looked like” you didnt hit anything (cuz of the missing numbers).

I think its very misleading and might be part of the confusion about AoE limits on siege.

I would suggest to (optionally) show all dps numbers even if they might “obstruct” vision a bit?

Or some sort of audible / visual indication what (player/door/wall) you hit and how many targets got struck.

i.e. Screams/yells from hit players (echoeing the more player where hit or similiar).
Crumbling wall/breaking wood sound which can be heard even afar from a distance. Would also prevent “ninja-catapult-tactics” to some degree.
On a sidenote: Marching golems could make some loud and even far away noticeable sounds too.

As some already mentioned:
- WvW loot bags:
Autolooted, account/soulbound lootbags are needed and a better way of handleing things

- Chatting with the enemy:
Chat wars can be harmful and hunting/griefing individual players, BUT why not allow x-server talk via “say”?
This way players can decide for themselves to give away their name to the enemy and even start face2face flameing without bothering too much other players/chat channels. And spies would be able to meet up… and can be sought out/punished by other players.

Paid Transfers, Spectator Mode, Guesting, WvW player/guild(?) ranks & visual rewards, more/better achievements, more/improved WvW objectives, culling-fix/-improvements ahead, Player Arenas with own rules (hopeing for TDM/LMS modes!!^^) and some not specified improvements to guilds in general…plus the stuff mentioned in the WvW Dev thread (i.e. Siege Despawn Timer).

Sounds all in all pretty awesome, but some concerns,too…

Realm Abilities
Even the slightest edge over another player via skills/stats can harm pvp on grand scale:
- Either by introducing a tret-mill which discourages pvp newbies on the long run…
AND/OR
- Gets overpowered via player numbers thus giving even more incentives to zerg…

Suggestions:
→ Keep the current weapon/skill/trait system in place!
→ Handle those realm abilities like elite skills
→ Make them WvW specific and (visually) powerful without overpowering them for small fights and 1vs1
i.E.:
- Weak boons with very short duration BUT effecting up to 10/25/50 players at once
- AoE with very low dps BUT effecting more than 5 players

This way you strengthen battles/fights of the following types:
- Coordinated Group/solo vs Zerg
- Coordinated Zerg vs Pug Zerg
…but without affecting:
- Group/solo vs Group/solo
- Zerg vs solo/group

WvW UI improvements
At least the commanders neeeeed more tools/info on things like:
- Current supply
- Players in Squad (alive/dead/offline)
- Classes in Squad available
- Showing raid/squad/group members in different colors on (mini-) map

Reading A-Nets concerns I get that they dont want WoW Raid roster and every little boon active or HP changes to be shown…but at least some more easy accesible infos are needed.

Especially if the fights already started, u wont type a command into chat before you decide if there still plenty supply for a balliste, or you dont want to realize that the only mesmer in your raid already logged out 5mins ago while your commander cries out for portal bombing the enemy…

NO. In every other MMO the logout timer gets exploited and will be even easier in GW2 (cuz u can get easier out of fight by running)…
I play WVW a lot since beta…and I dont have any D/C issues at all. Since release i got kicked maybe once or twice?
Clearly the problem lies on your side.
1. Kick WLAN out of the (RL^^) window… serious gamer dont use WLAN after all, guess why…

2. Do some Speed Test on your Inet connection.

3. Optimize your Network/Router connection (i.e. via TCP Optimizer)

4. Do some SpeedTest again

By default you mostly dont have the best connection with a “fresh” windows plus “not-quite-right-for-your-ISP” configured router…

12 rares and 0 ectos was my worst rng…

But the more you salvage the more stable your ecto income will be.
If you want to make money by salvaging for ectos, you should at least go for 30-50 (crafted or otherwise obtained) rares.

After crafting & salvaging countless of leather boots, I would agree on the 0.9 factor someone posted above.

For 100 rares you will end up most of the times with something between 80-90 ectos per “run/turn”.
Sometimes you might end up only with 70-80 and once i got around only 63 (or something) from 100x lvl80.
But also got 112 once from 100 salvaged items.

Depending on how cheap you bought your craft ressources in relation to the current ecto price, even with 60 ectos from 100 items you can still be on the Plus side.

P.S.: I hate the “do you want to salvage this rare?” popup box. And I need some bigger rare salvage kits …(25 uses…)
I currently craft like 2000-3000 mats (bones, blood, whatever is cheaper atm) which nets me some 200-300 ectos per “run”…and looking at TP data there are other players which can afford to put like 500-1000 ectos at once in the TP every day.
…and crafting 500-1000 leather or silk takes some time, too… (Craft time speedup is capped..why?!)

Like this idea and proposed it in some other thread , too.
And have to disagree on the complaints some have.

You CAN hit culled players and even anticipate their movement, which makes it evident that culling CANNOT be related much to network or server lag, but must be some client-engine related performance issue.

Better to see only 5 animated chars in your vicnity and 20 generic-non-animated placeholders to indicate the other players…
…instead of seeing 10 chars in flawless animation, but having to be clairvoyant about the other 15 players..

The former might be more pretty & immersive, but the later is more of tactical & in-fight use…

I played a flute in Age of conan…
…over the body of ganked players.

Imagine guilds playing an “attack theme” in WvW… Especially if they happen to have some serious pvpers, it might give u the “shivers” in WvW hearing your arch-enemy-guild “approaching”…

Draygo.9473:

Edragor.9164:

@Colin:
Reworking the structure for a complete culling overhaul is indeed time consumeing and “binding” lot of resources & manpower, I would agree.

But players asking for a fast & simple fix to culling, just to be able to eliminate the Tactical problems they get with invisible players. In short:

Some ugly tag/nameplate/indicator shown is better compared to haveing to deal with invisible enemies.

(optional..for those who dont like to lose their “immersion” in pve…)

Would also give the team way more options to “delay timeline” for the real fix and wouldnt “tie” the “whole” team to 1 issue….rockstars or not.
Its about focus on a fast and maybe simplistic fix first, before “tieing” the whole team into a major overhaul…

…and being able to see mosquitos and the moa-duo at deepwaters bridge while players get culled…
tells me there are some easy and simple fixes at hand ;D

That is not a simple fix, that is the most complicated part of the fix.

What a person is wearing, the colors he chose, the weapon he is using is all data that is only sent once.

His location, his skill usage, status effects are what culling is about, because this data is actually expensive in bandwidth and cpu usage. If you switch to nameplating, these things would still have to be sent.

Basically your suggestion doesnt fix a thing in a simple way. And you need to realize that.

Yes and no.
Its about priotizing the data. I can still hit culled players with an anticipated catapult shot….
Shows me that the engine has not a lag, but graphical lag issue (for the most part).

…and I dont need to see their shoes, armor colors or whatnot for doing the catapult shot…but at least a simple, graphical indication marker/tag/sign is needed to percieve troop movements/reinforcements arriving.

Hell, even an ugly non-animated black box would be way more appreciated compared to not see the enemy at all.
And if the engine is ready, it may finish “drawing” the rest of the culled char.

Graphical details may be culled at a low offset value with no harm.
But the char position itself should have way more higher priority.

I believe they have to stay in the market and present good incentives to use the cash shop for a lot (mostly younger?^^) players.
There is still a lot of work to craft a legendary and therefore even buying it with RL money an achievement of its own (..i guess^^).

And after all there are those who dont like to do pvp or pve and still WANT a legendary. Making it available through different ways doesnt hurt the game nor the legendary status of the item.

Additional suggestion:
Its never bad to have both Lifetime & Repetetive Achviements.
Lifetime ones like who killed the most ettins since release tend to cater mostly to veterans (..and exploiters!) and after a while get percieved as “undoable” by newbies to the game.

Therefore and always in addition to the lifetime-achievement ladder there should be a ladder which gets reset after a while. i.E.
Who killed the most ettins this week?

This way you get both players…
At any point a newbie can take part in the weekly/monthly competition and still a veteran doesnt get bored by this weekly competition for being able to go for the “lifetime-competition” after some time instead.

Every Ettin needs 2 carrots, one for each head!

Why not have both?
Some class/char-specific rankings and some account-specific… it doesnt exclude itself.

@Colin:
Reworking the structure for a complete culling overhaul is indeed time consumeing and “binding” lot of resources & manpower, I would agree.

But players asking for a fast & simple fix to culling, just to be able to eliminate the Tactical problems they get with invisible players. In short:

Some ugly tag/nameplate/indicator shown is better compared to haveing to deal with invisible enemies.

(optional..for those who dont like to lose their “immersion” in pve…)

Would also give the team way more options to “delay timeline” for the real fix and wouldnt “tie” the “whole” team to 1 issue….rockstars or not.
Its about focus on a fast and maybe simplistic fix first, before “tieing” the whole team into a major overhaul…

…and being able to see mosquitos and the moa-duo at deepwaters bridge while players get culled…
tells me there are some easy and simple fixes at hand ;D

Maybe I am sceptical for having played Age of Conan and experienced how “not-in-touch” Devs can become with their games..especially on the pvp side of things.
And how neglecting and/or forcing playstyles WILL break a pvp com over time.
Some things to consider about:

Progression
Progression in terms of upping stats by level, gear spiral (Ascended gear coughcough), etc.
-> destroys the “power ceiling” and therefore will be (and has been in every other title)…
GAMEBREAKING over time

On the other hand progression by ranks/titles, scoreing ladders for guilds and/or individual players to differentiate themselves (“Arcade Station score AAA” and people even paid for it…)…
IS A MUCH WANTED INFLUX/INCENTIVE TO WVW

Suggestion: Achievements ladder
Who (guild/player) killed / build / repaired / healed /capped / held the most a given day/ battle week.

Rewards
Defending can net some decent rewards as long as it gets attacked…. But doing the karma train seems more worthwhile still to most players…
In addition depending how/whom you ask you might get different oppinions on the reward matter:
-> a lot (non-crafting) player regard the whole WvW set as to expensive and restrictive (cuz its not useful to a lot of builds)
-> …and dont get me started on the AG-matter…
-> …not to be forced to pve/craft/trade for WvW equip/siege
—> many pvp players like to see titles / ranks / emotes / visual gimmicks as part of their rewards/progression.
—> Player actions haveing MORE impact on WvW server score

Suggestion: Scale Rewards
The longer a structure didnt got tapped/reset the higher its rewards should become for both defending and taking the objective.
In addition the attackers should get some bonus WvW score points if they manage to cap.
—> Gives more incentives to build out/hold a tower/camp.
—> Strengthens guilds and server com
—> Karma train cycling will reduce
—> Adding deeper meta to score strategics
—-> Dominating server might “spare” some structures to up rewards…giving away some points&time to the defender
—-> The longer you hold a structure the more troublesome it will get. cuz even underpopulated but organized and strategically working servers could still “switch the outcome” by concentrateing on those objectives. (and might solve night-capping to some degree…)

—>>Scoreing overall will become less predictable over the week and if you start out to dominant into a week it might even completely backfire.

MAPS
I can relate that more WvW maps need some serious dev-manpower/time… BUT
Changeing textures around might be doable. Keep the map, but change the ground textures (convert ice map into desert map i.e.) and/or give a seasoned theme. Every object without collision-mechanic could be replaced (i.E. Grass/Flowers/bushes…and even trees could change as long as they remain at their map position).
Its not only about new WvW map mechanics, but also about a change in looks for a lot of players.

Culling
I get that it takes some time…but also it seems client-related. On High settings i experience way more culling issues.
Why not introduce an option to “Never cull tags/generic placeholder”?
Would make it easier to discern between client and server-side related problems. I dont need to know about class/equip/style/hp of some player group 100m away…but at least I have(want/need to know that some group is around and where they are heading.

UI
None wants to click around a raid group pane…and none asks for it.
See, for a Commander/Squad leader its about information.
i.E.:
- How many still live in group 3?
- How many players are part of a given squad group?
- Where is group 3 now on the map? everyone together or split apart?
- How many supplies does the raid currently have?
- Commanders of stealth Squads want their group to know where they are…but none else…its about stealth after all
- haveing different raids talking in the same team chat can be very confusing…raid chat needed
- Commander icon should show guild heraldric…instead of the generic blue icon

At least in my exp these are the (often only little) things I miss or see a lot player asking for it in/for WvW (or other pvp titles).

Server transfers should be way more limited asap!

Maybe the WvW pve boni should be eliminated (or only count towards WvW Map)?
And instead be placed onto homeworlds at bottom of WvW ladder?
→ Would give more incentives to pve dedicated players to stay out of the high WvW tiers.

As some already pointed out, you can be heal/support on all classes…even thief (Fast Condition removal..anyone?^^).
But if you want to excel at heal/support its way more about position play, condition removal, buffing, timing of HoT/boon duration and ccs …compared to other MMOs.

Btw. 2 new sets for dedicated heal/supporter/tank builds came out with the last 2 events Lost shores & Winters day.
So ANET listend
If you still have troubles as heal/support, u might take a look at traits/weapon or maybe even your playstyle.

So, I vote a strong NO. Not more emphasis on Trinity roles, cuz the basic mechanics in place just work fine…and some player like me already are using them for different roles by mere switching exo-equip.
(ele 20-30 earth can go defense or condition dps, just by switching equip (and some traitskills maybe^^))

Why not give them a drawback?
Holding an orb of power could give boni but at the cost of adding some mali.
i.e. debuff some stats like WvW repair costs, dolyak travel time, amount of supply, etc.
…but adds boni on MF, Gold find, additional harvesting node

Or even vice versa.
Either lure winning side with some nice-to-have world-wide pve boni at the cost of pvp stats.
Or give incentive for losing side to get some pvp buffs, but at the cost of world-wide pve boni while keeping incentive low for the already winning server to capture the orb.

I like this idea.
After all, on the long run its about competition…and you CAN select which “Grinds/Competitions” you are interested in…

…unlike gear spiral which force ALL player to participate. (Hint: Get rid of AG stats…)

Customizing color of mouse pointer & target arrow/circle would be very helpful.
→ And add option to keep mouse visible on right-click

Dropping loot after hiting ride the lightning and having to run back for those 3 loot bags evenly positioned along your trail…if u see them at all (culling)…
…isnt fun
…favors selfish behaviour

Yep, could also give some incentive to sell/buy some of the blues/greens a little better.

Totally for it.

WvW needs a little more love and attention. Couldnt agree more.
- Stop Transfers…
- Get rid of AG-stats in WvW
- Get rid of roaming-and-Always-Adding-PvE Mobs
- …add more pve mobs to PvE Camps instead!

- More Raid/Squad leader functions (player roster/raid channel etc.)
- Make/introduce achievements with more visual style (having title is nice…but if it would come along with some emotes / ladder board / grafical aura…)

- …and culling-fix,ofc
- …and maybe additional tactical elements (barriers, deployable traps…)

Cross-hair would be nice indeed.
(& ego-perspective would make it even better^^)

Even if i would agree with ANETs philosophy, that conquest mode is better suited as an esport/for tournaments…
The WD-sPvP is a blast of fun and hav to agree with the other players.

PUG/Fun (Team) Deathmatch & Capture the Flag modes are best suited to get new players into PvP in the first place (..and WvW ofc^^).

Suggestions for Rentable Arenas:
- Let players access/rent those Halloween/WD maps/game modes
- Make all current sPvP maps available to play in other Modes like: (T)DM and/or CTF
(…or even the WD-CTF version incl. the classes)

—>This way playerbase can “experiment” which maps/modes are fun/interessting to play
—>Devs can better fetch statistics on maps& favoured game modes for future tournaments et.

WvW Issues with Gear spiral(s):
- Stat Gap
Currently players already complain about Gear (lowlvl vs Exo). Imho wouldnt consider it a true “entry barrier” into WvW, but adding AG ontop of it WILL have a harmful effect on WvW.
100 vs 100 players on same skill level WILL make a difference if one side has way more AG than the other.(AoE/Overlapping Heals/Conditions…etc)
-> Newbies will demoralize faster
-> Content with better farm rate on AGs WILL suck away population from WvW.
- DPS scaleing WILL break on some point making glass cannons the FOTM again.

- Grind issue
I started to build some additional exo sets to be able to play around with different playstyles…
… and its the first MMO ever I really started to twink (other having them as bank mules)…
This horizontal progression i didnt considered grind (even if it takes time/effort. Cuz u CAN but are not FORCED to do it!).
…I STOPPED and lost fun to farm/trade after hearing about AGs with stats increased!
->Why?: My current goals got obsolete and not willing to farm x sets each year on y chars.
(Seen it, did it and finished with it^^)

SOLUTIONS:
- Get away with the increased stats
- Put Agony mechanic on a rune…
or
- Roll out some “exo-set-clones” with additional Agony stat, but without upping the existing stats.
- Make AG Cosmetic stepping stone between Legendaries (armor/weapons). Nice looks but easier to get and less optical gimmicks compared to legendaries.
WinWin.

/sarcasm
In AGONY the WvW dedicated playerbase awaits the FOTM builds riseing up due to a broader getting power gap…and in Agony some will put up with the slavery grind of a gear spiral. Giving others agony for haveing to fight superior equipped enemies…
…and again in Agony all WvW newcomer will flee the battlegrounds even more in the future.
…some funny devs in your pve division, I guess…oO^^

Its a little bit silly haveing to stop/run back for your loot. Especially for roamer builds or condition dps.
See, as ele and while riding the lightning I can “spew out” loot on my way cause somewhere somebody got killed I had put some conditions or AoE on.
Additionally the bags dont appear instantly but fade in…sometimes with lag and even if you look around while fighting (getting distracted…) you still might find some bags later on.

I guess over 50% of my loot i would miss out if I dont travel back my fighting trail.

Server Guild Roster.
Showing in an overview list every guild on that particular homeworld/all servers (maybe optional to show the guild in that list) along with their logo, playstyle (WvW,Events, Inis,sPvP,Craft, Trade, RP), guild points earned total, online members, total members and maybe recruiting note.

To help players searching for or informing themselves about guilds, and for bragging rights ofc.

Thing is, battles with 1 or more enemies dominating the offtime hours result in less dedication to fortify towers/keeps/camps.

I guess the “Underpowered buff” could even things out a little, if T2/T3 doors and wall hps would increase drastically for the underpowered forces.
Would give an incentive to actually fortify positions and get them with minimal force eventually through the night…or at least stall the enemy zerg a little longer.

On a sidenote to the “underpowered buff”, i would focus on strategic buffs compared to actual player stat enhancing boni (+10 player supply, speed bonus on building etc., faster captureing).

Still, i like matches between servers shareing the same peak-hours way more than those nightly Oversea-Invasions.