Guild Wars 2

Personally, I don’t think any change will be made with regard to stacking. I expect to see very high concentrations of classes in matches.

If that happens, the season will not go well.

I don’t like rap, but thanks, nice video.

3 stacked matches in a row. One was 500 – 5. If ANET can’t provide fun matches, they can’t expect people to play. I’m seeing stacks of necro and dh over and over.

The influx of people won’t happen soon. There is a widespread perception that PvP is unfair and brutal.

That belief was strongly increased when ANET attracted PvE players to PvP with a legendary backpack. These (relative) innocents were then exposed to stacked matches.

PvP needs to upgrade it’s credibility to the game as a whole. A solo/duo season might be a step in that direction. To do this, we’ll need very even matches.

Longer queue times would be an excellent trade for non class stacked matches.

It’s an additional concern. I recognize that the initial criticisms have been addressed.

This does NOTHING absolutely NOTHING to address the issue of class stacking.

I just came from a match with 4 lights and a medium against 2 wars, 2 DH and a Necro.
As expected, it was stupidly unbalanced.

I’m pleased that s5 sill be solo / duo.. I have some concerns though;

If players sync, entering the que at the same time they will often be teamed together. Is there anything set up to prevent this? I understand that it’s an issue in GW1.

Also, is there a mechanic to prevent 2 duo queue and a random from facing 5 randoms? This would be almost as bad as a 4 player premade.

The propensity for a sub group of pvp players to farm and exploit, ( and claim it’s “competitive”, ) is extreme. If these situations are not prevented they may well be rampant.

Thieves got a huge upswing. No doubt they will be the DH of season 5.

Why doesn’t ANET strive for balance instead of making a new class super strong every round? That’s weird and ineffective.

Mad King says: Stealth buff DH, Supersize thief, Kill Mesmer

SMGDH,

Folks, Glint gave her life in an effort to save the other races of Tyria. Aurene is her daughter.

If nothing else we need to protect and nurture Aurene as a debt of honor. In addition, there is every reason to suspect that she’ll grow up to be an ally.

Dagger throwing or MH pistol sound a lot better than axe to me.

Another Mesmer toon; Phedre No Delaunay after a favorite character. She’s the protagonist and narrator of “Kushiel’s Dart.”

(Plus it was not an altogether inappropriate character for my experience of PvP. Phedre is a high class courtesan who takes pleasure in pain.)

There was Raid on the Capricorn, my first PvP map. Sadly underwater combat was even less balanced than matches on dry land.

The volume of the screaming rose so high that the map was completely removed. It has since been replaced by “Revenge of the Capricorn.” I assume this raid on Lion’s Arch is in retaliation for the past raid on the Capricorn.

Balance is already not working well. Adding back underwater combat would completely loop it.

PvE animals would be appropriate in Coliseum. Perhaps released by a team as allies. This would be an interesting buff.

You, sir, are a troll and reported as such. The “defensive rotation” you name is not invulnerability , nor is it proof against being killed.

All classes are capable of a defensive build. Few use a full defense build, (other than an auramancer support ele which has pitiful damage. I speak from experience. ) They don’t because such a build would be nearly useless.

Having a defense available most of the time is true of most classes. Therefore, your complaint is moot. I suggest you try to get over your vendetta.

The “Holy Trinity” was tried with the Ele buffs on auramancer. It worked well but the crying could be heard all the way in Abu Dhabi.

A similar outcry in WvW looks to be setting up for a crush nerf to Mesmer.

The best solution would be to balance the classes that are being overplayed. ANET doesn’t seem able to do that.

Failing that a limit on classes would help.

Sounds as if we’re looking to send Mesmer to the bottom of the list, again. I don’t understand what seems to be an institutional dislike for Mesmer.

I think this is a troll thread intended to argue nerfs for Mesmer.

Uhm, several,(if not all,) classes can have defenses up 100% of the time. So what? Now if it were 100% Aegis uptime, that would be a talking point.

Of course you want defenses up. This doesn’t mean you can’t be hammered into the soil of Tyria. I can speak from experience on this point.

You are definitely trolling now, OP.

The idea of random has merit. Over time, everyone will end up fighting everyone. So, in the long run things will even out.

The problem is that there will be heavy short term loss and win streaks.

More serious is the issue that some players will be angry if they don’t believe there teammates are “worthy” of them. This attitude is part of what fuels the pre-made farming culture.

I’d like to see clone death traits returned to the lineup. In this current world of rampant aoe it would be deadly.

Maybe a trait that would cause clones to randomly grab an enemy’s targetting like a ranger pet. This would give clones some realistic defensive value, taking heat off the Mesmer.

Alternative Misdirection Mechanic; Clones and Phantasms taunt, just like ranger pets.

This would finally make clones defensively useful. They haven’t really been since clone death traits were removed.

Dirame.8521:

B

Reason No. 3:
Having the option to queue as a 5 man team DOES NOTHING to depreciate the experience of GW2 PvP for the people in the premade . In fact it enhances the experience for the people in the premade. I mean do I really need to go over this? You guys know this right? I don’t know what’s going on in the back end but it really boggles the mind as to why you may have chosen not to even think about Team Queues at all.

Keep in mind I’m basing all my presumptuousness on the phrasing used in the poll question. I seriously can’t even click yes or no on that poll until I know what we’re giving up to get a solo/duo queue.

I fixed that for you. This is the issue; a high percentage of players don’t wish to dedicate the time/effort/politicking that goes into getting on and being part of a team.

Teams have exploited solos enough that it is has boiled over.

I think the extreme farming and exploitation of s1-s3 are causing a strong backlash.

I’d have preferred to see solo and team queue as it was in the past. Still, given the choice, I voted solo/duo without hesitation.

I’m sick of being farmed.. It’s as simple as that.

I like the fact that there are small spaces of safety near mid. Ranger already has huge advantages with ranged attacks in the wide open spaces.

If the pet could get to the platforms it would be too much.

This map is so open that the mobility obstacles are really a saving grace for Mesmer and perhaps thief.

Smoke and Mirrors:

New Mechanic “Misdirection” ; The spec focuses on redirecting an opponent’s attacks. Target a player and hit her or him with a skill. There next attack and subsequent ones go to there nearest ally. In a situation with no allies the attacks are turned on the attacker.

This would persist until the affected player manually switched targets.

multiple slot skills could do variations on this: An aoe effect, and effect that can be steered to a specific target and a random redirect.

This would be similar to the ranger pet taking aggro except that it would direct aggro at another player or pve opponent.

New Elite: Doppelganger as suggested above.

@Ananeos, no bet. You’ve practically got that won already.

Josh Davis.6015:

Hi all,

I’d like to take a moment to address some of the concerns posted since last Friday regarding the possibility of solo/duo queue.

The poll we’ll be running this week will simply ask if we should trial a solo/duo queue system during season 5. Assuming the poll passes and Season 5 is solo/duo only, we’ll monitor feedback throughout the season and then run another poll at the end of S5 to ask folks if they’d like to see the change become permanent.

“But Josh, what about people that like to queue as premades, do guild missions, etc?” An overwhelming majority of players already play as solo/duo in leagues, but that doesn’t mean we’re not thinking about the groups and the guilds. That said, unranked arena will continue to accommodate roster sizes of up to 5. Guild missions will still be able to be completed in unranked arena. Assuming the post-season 5 permanence poll passes, we’ll evaluate the need for another environment where teams can compete (based on your feedback).

Hopefully that answers some of your questions!

I don’t understand why this is a trial. PvP had Solo Arena and Team Arena for quite some time and it worked well.

Placing teams against solos is, in effect, another form of stacked match. I think there is general agreement that the stacked matches of S2 and S3 did not work well.

Oh .. the NCSoft style holodeck is a bit scary. I really would rather not see Tyria become any more magitech than it already is.

Asuran Female: Holomancer Lyn partly after an npc in Orr. I like the idea of a magitech oriented Asura making holographic illusions.

Norn Female: Tinuwyn, slightly corrupted Sindarin. The name sounds like the Sindarin for “Star Maiden.”

I like the crowd buff. It’s one one ANET’s better ideas. Playing before the crowd is compelling in a way that the other maps definitely are not.

The blink and TP points are deliberate and a good thing too. Without them, Mesmer and Thief would pretty much be out of the game. I’ve seen a couple of necros making good use of [Flesh Wurm] as well.

Ranger has some real advantages on the map. Again these are partially offset by the mobility set up.

The sky boxes ala’ Harry Potter are great as is the general scenery. The crowd motion seems a little better. I love the notion of the red and blue banners and particles.

If memory serves, chariot racers at the hippodrome were identified by colored ribbons. That fit’s beautifully with team colors.

The duality of Dwayna and Grenth on the two sides of the arena is a nice piece of symbolism and very well thought.

The Coliseum actually looks similar to historical accounts I’ve read. Basic functionality is the rule. The games were about the killing. Some pageants and plays were done as well, but in general it would have been very drab.

At the beginning of every match, I hear in my head, “Hail ANET! Those who are about to die, salute you.”

Wow, just Wow. The storytelling team has once again done an amazing job. A compelling and believable story, logical continuity… wow.

Even the end fight wasn’t excessively OP once I figured out the mechanic. Nice borrow from GW1 there with Lazarus.

Outstanding job, Living World devs.. I’d love to buy the first round.

Then, you are the player I want to evade. This would be instantly abused by blocking anyone who might beat you.

How about playing rather than trashing your teammates by afk’ing? That’s the action I’d expect of someone much younger.

Nice Troll attempt. Hopefully the devs are sharp enough to see through it.

Exactly what Mesmer doesn’t need is more melee. I really would not like an axe as a weapon. If it must be, make it a boomerang type projectile weapon.. something like Chieftain Uhtahein’s throwing axe.

GW2 had a “Solo Arena” and a “Team Arena” for quite a long time. Solo Arena was removed despite quite a bit of protest. ( I was one of the voices protesting it’s removal )

From where I sit, there is no question that the new mixed queue reduced average match quality. It also failed to promote teams. Instead, it promoted farming solos.

Combining solo and team arena has been a clear failure in my opinion. It has contributed to a lot of kittened off players along the way as they got hammered by farm teams.

ANET chose to amplify the effect by making stacked matches for 2 seasons. That, too, was pretty clearly not successful. A secondary effect was that many team farmers were lifted far above there true level by being matched against PUGs. Hence, the system tends not to promote skilled play.

TLDR: The old system of Solo Arena and Team Arena had consistently better match quality. Many players have been lifted far above there true skill level by stacked matches. Team vs randoms is just another form of stacked match.

Solo queue was a huge thing in the past. The idea that PvP is “meant” to be played as an organized team is pure myth.

The Solo Queue was apparently removed to try to increase teams. That tactic has not succeeded. In addition it’s kittened off a lot of players and probably contributed to a reduction in overall pvp population.

Yes, by all means bring back solo queue. Match quality has noticeably declined since it was removed. Best idea since coliseum.

-edit- Oh and by the way, thanks for talking to us and releasing some information.

I came to PvP because I got sick of being overwhelmingly outnumbered in WvW. The personal story and living world episodes are the heart of the game for me, but not terribly challenging.

Most of the time PvP is where I come to try to get better. Some of the time, I log in because I’m in an awful mood and the environment, ( with it’s extreme match imbalances and flaming,) suits the mood.

I agree that major shake ups should not happen for there own sake. S4 matchmaking improved.

The major problem at the moment is class stacking. I am heartily sick of seeing 2-3 DH, necro, ranger and probably another ranger.

Esports is something that really isn’t going to happen. ANET should face that.

Chronomancer is far from OP. Beside that, ANET has a history of periodically making Mesmer extremely weak.

I agree, class stacking is the real issue. A big secondary problem is organized groups vs solos.

One DH alone is mildly over tuned. two working together is pure murder against a solo group.

We had solo queue for years. It needs to be returned.

The way I succeed in pve is to level to 80 via tomes or pvp.. then go back and play the story episodes all geared up and trained.

Anet has really made things difficult for Mesmer otherwise.

Not bad. I like the Mesmer that changes age/appearance.

BTW it’s “flautist,” not “floutist.” A floutist would be a commedienne?

Years ago, one of the prominent [OMFG] Mesmers wrote an instructional story about a condi Mesmer fighting a Guardian.

I just came from a fight in Coliseum that happened almost exactly as told in the story. It went right down to hitting the DH with moa with my last bit of hp. He then went down to a last ditch shatter.

That was a good way to instruct, I remember the story. The Mesmer who wrote that ought to continue writing such if s/he is willing.

It might have been Fay.

There isn’t a truly powerful DPS build. Glass cannon shatter will die too quick and too often to be effective.

ANET has pretty much nerfed Mesmer each time the class has done well. So, there is perhaps one effective build left and it’s not dps.

@Jerus Check your sarcasm sensor.

I don’t see a melee weapon working very well. Sword / Shield works well enough but it’s just not, “Mesmerish,” you know? Beside that, our survival in extended melee is questionable at best and our burst isn’t enough to do a quick assassination and bail.

I like dual pistols.

What Id really like for xpac, Wintersday or whatever is an effective phantasm or two. How about it ANET?.. After all It’s past my fourth birthday.

oooh now there’s an interesting idea.

Welcome to the Mesmer’s world. Returning to the point, I love my auramancer ele, the team medic role suits me to a “t.” Sadly, ANET trashed it for me since I solo queue.

I strongly suspect that balance decisions are made based on dueling or a dev’s subjective experience in PvP. Neither of those is likely to produce reliable results.

I wish anet would be much lighter handed and cautious with both buffs and nerfs.
( after they nerf bat DH of course )

You know? Upon reflection, I think I see part of the issue: New people have heard that teams are “farming” and having success. So, they form teams. This more or less fools the matchmaker into thinking they are much better than they are.

I personally encountered this a couple of seasons ago. A party of 5 lost to our group of randoms so hard that I felt pretty bad about it.

So, I called one of them and asked about the match. It turned out that they were playing there first pvp match ever as a 5 man premade. They were all friends or associated in some way.

Perhaps what’s broken is the way the matchmaker considers teams.

I’m amused to hear s2/s3 winstreakers ( many of whom were carried by the matchmaker ) upset about the current matchmaking.

Having said that… matches like this make me wonder if they didn’t revert to stacked matches.

-edit- We won this time, the other side had two DH, but neither knew what they were doing. I’m seeing 3 and 4 losses between wins at the moment and this type of score is pretty typical.

I might point out that none of those links refer to GW2.

During my wasted youth, I competed in “Skimmer” class at our local yacht club. These were small fast scows. In that culture of competition, we would self penalize if we felt there was even a reasonable probability that we’d made an error.

-edit- and also at our local model yacht club, in US One Meter Class, a very competitive open development class.

Nobility, sportsmanship.. the grand gesture these are the qualities of classic competition.

It was common to help another boat with parts or even money at times. That’s what competition is and should be. The community self policing and helping each other.

GW2 competition is more like “reality” tv… everyone taking pleasure in screwing the next person. That sort of “community” will never grow much and is basically self destructive.