Guild Wars 2

Sirendor.1394:

Wishlist

• New game mode(s)
• Better rewards
• Guild/team facilities

Dark Catalyst.1028:

GW2 is different than Wildstar, because GW2 is an ultra-casual, “everyone wins” sort of game. Hence, why nothing is instanced and blob play is so rewarded. No one gets their feelings hurt and no ones performance is scrutinized in a blob.

It’s why this community is so against things like duels and damage meters.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not for me.

Implementing some difficult content isn’t really affecting the ordinary casual player(?) no more than high level fractals currently are. Why not add content that provides a good active challenge for the portion of the playerbase that wants it (or longs for it)?

I can’t recall hearing anyone say that adding difficult content would be bad for the game =)

Could we keep this thread on topic? Please refer to the Original Post.

Phadde.7362:

This is not supposed to be a praise to WS, it’s supposed to draw attention to what probably a lot of people miss in Gw2: Actual actively challenging content…..

(please keep on topic and be reasonable)

Sartharina.3542:

Eh. I’d prefer more challenging and smarter enemies.

Fixing AI could very well mean making them more challenging and smarter. I actually thing it will be just that if they’re fixed.

Control and (defensive) Support should have a much larger role to play in dungeons.

Nike.2631:

While this topic will almost certainly be deleted, lets maybe direct it towards something they’ll at least print out and look over in a meeting after its gone:

What good qualities can GW2 absorb from Wildstar without falling off its own pillars?

I hope it won’t be deleted, as the thread is meant to discuss pretty much what you asked here.

I just want more game modes. That’s all. Mostly something more PvP-combat focused.

THIS THREAD
went fairly well in the beginning. People came with solutions and discussed arguments in a fairly good manner.

Now it has completely derailed. Can’t people stop arguing and instead discuss problems and solutions in a structured manner?

knightblaster.7420:

I think the main issue is that typically that kind of challenge, in order for the high skill cap player to find rewarding, has to provide the high skill cap player with gear/ability upgrades that are only available to that skill cap level — i.e., something that provides separation between them and the moderate skill cap players.

Indeed. I believe that some well designed cosmetic items would suffice as a “trophy” for besting this difficult content.

Corpus Christi.2057:

I totally agree with knightblaster.

Me too, it was well written.

But why can’t Gw2 have some content that caters to that other crowd as well? I’m not suggesting that they are to change anything fundamentally, just add content that provides active, on the fly challenges.

>>>Edit: THIS IS NOT A Gw2 vs Wildstar Thread.<<<
>>>Read this post before replying to the thread!!<<<

Firstly, I love Gw2 – A lot. I think it was a great and important leap for the MMO genre in a much needed direction.

However, for the last year or so, I seem to find little enjoyment in the game. I tried out Wildstar yesterday and shortly enough understood what I missed from Gw2:

Freaking Active Challenging content!
Whilst playing WS, I encountered several “Elite”-ish mobs which actually forced me to think on the fly and utilize my abilities and movement the best I could in order to not get roflstomped. I’m not much for WS, but I’ve missed this so much that it’s enough to draw me in.

I heard that WS would have actual difficulty in it, but I was always skeptical since the Dungeons in Gw2 where also considered to be difficult – But then people learned the tactics and it was a walk in the park. The challenge lies in remembering the tactics and just doing them.
The challenges feels different in WS. Surely they will become a lot easier later down the line, but even then I don’t think there will be a lack of good and really difficult content even whilst leveling.

Even though I haven’t played Wildstar’s End game (they insist on calling it “Elder”) I think Gw2 is the greater game. This is not supposed to be a praise to WS, it’s supposed to draw attention to what probably a lot of people miss in Gw2: Actual actively challenging content. I think there’s a huge chunk of people that miss this a lot, whether they know it or not (although I’m obviously biased).

Gw2 seem to often be referred to be a “very casual game”. Do you think that this is something that the game really, really needs?

(please keep on topic and be reasonable)

pdavis.8031:

Why do I keep following this thread? It’s all the same arguments over and over, both pro and anti dueling in PvE. It’s almost as this topic hasn’t been discussed to death 15,000 times already.

Feels like we mostly don’t discuss the arguments – At the very least not in a structured manner.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Phadde.7362:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

And you think I would have still gotten that if I hadn’t

1) been anti-duel?
2) been actively participating in this thread?

Suuuuuure. If just the topic brings such actions out in people, I really don’t have much of a positive view of how those same people would use such a ‘tool’ in game.

Since when do we let vile people and trolls decide how the game should develop?

One word…… Ascended.

I don’t think that’s a sufficient answer.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

And you think I would have still gotten that if I hadn’t

1) been anti-duel?
2) been actively participating in this thread?

Suuuuuure. If just the topic brings such actions out in people, I really don’t have much of a positive view of how those same people would use such a ‘tool’ in game.

Since when do we let vile people and trolls decide how the game should develop?

O.o

/15chars

CptAurellian.9537:

And that requires the devs and almost all of the stacking/skipping/whatever whiners to actually understand the game, which appears to be a very difficult task.

With stacking, it is. Without the possibility to stack, people usually learn rather fast =)

The newbies I ran AC with last night actually learned to dodge Kholer flawlessly after the first wipe.

Zaxares.5419:

Eh, I don’t care. I love my Necro too and I won’t stop using her in Fractals and dungeons. I start dungeons too so PUGs can go ahead and kick me if they want. :P I’ve never been kicked before though; advertising for “friendly run. Can teach if necessary” gets some newbies, sure, but I also get a surprising number of experienced players. I guess sometimes people just like to hop into a dungeon where anything goes as long as the atmosphere is light-hearted and we finish in a reasonable amount of time.

Good spirit!

Tolmos.8395:

After the inclusion of Ascended gear to the game, I’m pretty much against the idea of dueling in anything except sPvP land. in sPvP, I know at least that we are on the same playing field when it comes to stats, and that a stat advantage had nothing to do with it. With ascended gear in PvE, I wouldn’t accept a single duel since I’d never known whether I’m about to fight a guy decked out in full purples just another exotic bum like myself.

Well, as someone who would really much like having a dueling system in the game and that knows that it will bring a ton of enjoyment for a lot of people, frankly I don’t care if someone occasionally duels me in full ascended if it means that I can enjoy dueling nonetheless.
If you don’t want to accept duels because the attributes will almost never be equal, then that’s fine.
You could always duel in the Mists where you actually have your PvP build activated, or duel someone is PvE while naked =)

DaShi.1368:

Didn’t take long for a member of the pro-dueling crowd to start sending harassing pms.

Dueling period is a bad idea.

Well, shame on him/her.

Would be nice if we could have this discussion with nothing but reasonable arguments and fair compromises.

I agree a lot with this. In particular the lack of difficulty and multiple sPvP modes:

What is GW2 missing? That’s easy, actual challenging/rewarding endgame. Unfortuntely GW2 is by far, the most casual game I’ve ever played. It is built and catered specifically for very casual MMO players.

WvW? Not endgame to me. Its a blob vs blob endgame. Small groups/skirmishes are rewarded pathetically and have very little effect on the overall environment that is WvW…. its very much a Zerg Vs Zerg gameplay, period. Whoever has the bigger blob and coordinated group that listens to a commander wins. It doesn’t even come close to the Original realm vs realm gameplay that way we saw back in the day of DoAC.

spvp – lol. Doesn’t hold a candle to original GW’s PvP system. I can’t believe they regressed on this. The reason I bought GW2 is because of how much fun I had in GW1 doing pvp. Its not the same here. Every match I enter, all i see are hambows, decap engis, spirit bunk rangers, cheese thieves and MM necros. Almost 2 years and we still have the same ole build dominating the pvp scene. Still no new modes to pvp. Its lackluster, sorry.
and why is PvP not being focused that much by anet? because casuals very rarely play it. Its a barren wasteland. Heart of the Mists is pretty much a ghost town in this game, no one cares that much about PvP.

PvE? lol havent had anything new to do here in years. No new dungs, Fractals are a joke and unrewarding. The most rewarding thing to do in PvE is running in a freaking zerg train. Thats challenging and fun! not.

That game has a lot of potential – but its serious lack of meaningful endgame is what will be its downfall. It’s catered to casuals too heavily, hence why we are still seeing Living Story updates as priority over actual, meaningful expansion pack content.

Cosmetics and skins are the endgame. Thats fine, but you are totally neglecting any potential hardcore MMO players with this kind of endgame system…

Safer Saviour.9685:

Phadde.7362:

Safer Saviour.9685:

So what you’re suggesting is a second healthbar and evasion tool. That’s very much an unbalanced, poor idea ……..

….. This game was not designed to support mounts and were mounts added, every aspect of the game would need to be restructured…

Why not just make it so that if you even get hit while on a mount, your mount would be dismissed and you would be dazed for 2 seconds. Nothing else has to change to maintain a balance.

Because with the mob density in some areas, you’d not be able to ride your mount further than five in-game yards, making it pointless anyway.

There are roads in the game. By design you are supposed to be able to avoid aggro entirely while on those roads.
Besides, there are lots of areas in each zone where you can run and entirely avoid attacks.

Safer Saviour.9685:

So what you’re suggesting is a second healthbar and evasion tool. That’s very much an unbalanced, poor idea ……..

….. This game was not designed to support mounts and were mounts added, every aspect of the game would need to be restructured…

Why not just make it so that if you even get hit while on a mount, your mount would be dismissed and you would be dazed for 2 seconds. Nothing else has to change to maintain a balance.

joneb.5679:

Read my last post

It was a good one. I pretty much just threw myself into the discussion without bothering to read previous comments. Anyways, I agree.

GET A MOUNT JAOW

Suppose they made those a bit viable after all

The Waypoint system kind of makes mounts obsolete for traveling, and it’s already built into the game’s core. It would be useful while leveling as you generally don’t have many WPs. Once could increase the costs of WPs, but I think the solution should be do increase the need for Mounts in some way without making something else worse.
I could see myself use it for shorter distances (while easily getting the Gathering daily on the way.)

I don’t know how to make mounts practical. However their main value lies in cosmetics, which they would be great for! Their sheer size makes a lot of space for awesome details and effects!

Edit: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-is-almost-EVERY-WAYPOINT-Contested

Algreg.3629:

……

Via duel options in pve content, we´d give them a vehicle to engage pve players – and no, a decline option does not solve this. If you are denying that many declined requests will be followed up by harassment und trash talk, you really cannot be from planet earth.

No one’s really talking about an option to “deny” duels. We’re talking about something very similar but yet different: An option to enable duels. The norm should be to leave the “Dueling Tag” disabled; I love dueling, but even I will have the Tag disabled for most of the time.
If dueling isn’t allowed in the main cities (where it seems like most PvE 80s hang out), those that want to duel will gather in other locations.
If someone where to abuse you for reasons tied to dueling (Most likely around these areas where people chose to duel) an option to report that person for such abuse with a screenshot of the chat log (just like on a bug report) that would ban that person from dueling for some time and ultimately ban him from the game for a while if his behavior continues, would definitely suffice… right?

I can understand that some people absolutely despise this behavior, but with a few easy and sensibly implemented solutions to this Dueling system, the potential discomfort of it will be rare at worst and almost non-existent at best for those that do not wish to duel. It’s understandable that one might be against Dueling if they find no personal benefit to it and potential discomfort, but I think that Dueling will be absolutely great for the game in general.

By the way, the poll is at 13% against dueling (8% neutral, 237 votes currently).

DaShi.1368:

This thread (and the others like it) are exactly why there shouldn’t be open-world dueling.

If you are not in favor of dueling, here are some of the things you’ve been called by its supporters in this thread:
……..
…….

Anyone – for or against – that act close-minded and doesn’t look at the whole picture isn’t helping the thread. There are positives and negatives with dueling, however those for dueling often comes with solutions to the negatives, but those against usually doesn’t seem to take those solutions into account. I mean no offence, but it frustrates me.

Phadde.7362:

Lilith Ajit.6173:

Start the instance yourself and KICK THEM.

It’s so easy.

I say “lfg Only pink dyes”. I kick anyone who will not comply. It’s so easy.

I’m going to attempt to be dead-on brutal.

Brutality is king! =)
Did some of my most enjoyable AC runs. Though, the group members where rather new to the game, except for one person, who I (perhaps as a result) had to kick.
I’m going to try Arah as well to see if it works with experienced people.

Suppose it makes sense to move it here from the General Discussion-section, but you just killed the Poll.

Astralporing.1957:

Phadde.7362:

The game wasn’t designed specifically never to have dueling.

It was however designed with an assumption that 1v1 balance between classes will not be a thing. So, the game was not designed with dueling in mind. Even as a future option. Which is, by the way, one of the prime reasons why devs didn’t introduce 1v1 sPvP arenas yet (they mentioned this several times).

Good point, but it’s the same thing in other games. In WoW where dueling was anything but unpopular, the class balance had a rock, paper, scissors method and with fairly limited build customization. It was great there, even though you couldn’t “untag” yourself for dueling requests and even though the balance was much less suited to dueling. Dueling already occurs in Courtyard – It’s definitely some of the best fun I’ve had in GW2, but it’s clunky as all hell, and it’s quite rare to find a server for it.

Some of the best benefits of having a dueling system is that it provides a great way to pass the time while waiting for your group to fill, for a guild event, for a mate that needs to do something before you can go dungeoneering, or when you simply wait for the Shatterer to spawn =)

JustTrogdor.7892:

I’ll go one more time at this and voice my concerns with open world PvE dueling and even post possible solutions. I’m basing my post on the assumption that if PvE dueling did exist there would be auto-decline option.

1. The affect that dueling will have in /map, /say. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t understand the point of healthy competition and can’t control themselves win or lose. My concern is rage over duels will spill into /map and /say with a lot of garbage talk. Sure I can turn those channels off but why should I have to? Here are just 2 few fairly recent examples (out of many I have read on the forum) of how a duel gone bad can spill into trash talk:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Bad-reactions-after-duels/
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Hostility-in-PvP/

Possible solution: 5 minute cool down before you can post in /map, /say after a duel. (not a likely solution but I thought I would throw it in). Even then I can see where there a lot of trash talk could still spill into /map

2. The affect dueling will have on the PvE environment. If people want to duel fine, but I don’t want to watch it or have to deal with it all over my screen. I don’t want to be at a bank, TP, crafting station or vendor with people dueling all over my screen. People that support open world dueling state it allows to duel in “awesome” locations. Will people really start duels in areas where they might accidentally tag a neutral mob with a multi-target or AOE skill? Will they duel among hostiles? Doubtful. Duels will occur in the safe areas which are also the most populated by PvE players.

Possible solution: No dueling in main cities. Have designated dueling areas in certain maps. This will allow people that want to duel, and practice or whatever reason those that want dueling to due so. They will have the full benefit of dueling in PvE gear while not disturbing other players. Oddly those that are most supportive of PvE dueling reject this compromise every time it is brought up even though it fits most of the criteria for why they want PvE dueling anyway.

3. Scaling. For those that want to duel if they are in areas below L80 how do they know who they are dueling level wise? Like WvW obviously someone L20 dueling someone L80 in say, Queensdale will be at a huge disadvantage and not know they accepted a duel with a L80. I can see where this will lead to a lot of high level players hanging out in low level zones trying to duel new players for bragging rights. This might leave a bad taste in the mouth of new players that are trying to learn the game and testing the dueling system at the same time.

Possible solution: When a duel is requested it shows the true level of both players.

I’m not totally against dueling in PvE as long as there are some limits. I think I have been fair in considering ways that it could be introduced without disturbing the overall PvE population. I think with some compromise it could be integrated and fit the needs of those that want to duel for fun, to practice, and do so in the spirit of healthy competition. To be fair I’m not labeling the entire pro-PvE duel crowd as a bunch of griefers that want to cause trouble. However, I think it is fair to say that introducing open world dueling will indeed open up avenues for more people to try to cause problems for others. Sure, there are already trouble makers in PvE but that doesn’t mean it is a good idea to introduce more tools for people to cause more problems.

I feel that if PvE dueling is important to those that want to duel in PvE with no intentions of causing problems a few limits on where and when PvE dueling can be done is a fair compromise.

Wetpaw.3487:

I’m for dueling in gw2, this is how I would like to see it implemented.

1. Not allowed in major hubs, LA, Vigil Keep, Rata Sum, etc..

1. An option (checkbox) in settings for players that don’t want to be bothered.

1. No death or finisher, duel ends when one player has one hit point left.

1. Dueling allowed everywhere outside of City/major hubs in PvE environment.

Even w/all these naysayers and doomsday comments I personally have had far more better experiences dueling than negative. Outside of city hubs this content fulfilled times of boredom or simple breaks from the everyday norm of current content.

Yes I have been trolled winning & losing a duel, hardly matters though right? Add to ignore list and never run into that player again.

On the other hand I have had duels same faction & enemy that has resulted in a /bow, /salute, /cheer, “gd”, & “what build are you using?”. Some becoming pretty good friends over time.

Nostalgia inc
I still can recall one of my favorite duels from over half a decade ago during BC, an Alliance DK and my Horde DK went at it in Zangarmarsh.

Right before I had the kill hit I backed off and /sit to let himself heal up, he/she seemed a lil taken back and went ahead to heal up, we went at it again.

Almost an hour later and one to two accidental deaths (we both let each other rez and heal to 100% prior to going at it again) we had a crowd of both factions sitting around us not attacking each other watching the show that eventually ended in a /bow and going our own ways. Good times.

Fightclubs in the PvE world, this is a big factor for players that don’t understand or want dueling in PvE environments. They can happen anywhere anytime anyplace, and the world that Anet has built it would be a shame not to put it to use for this reason. Underwater, mountain tops, caves, towns, and even the consensual Deathmatches on bridges, peaks, Jp’s, etc..this is the point of dueling.

Latinkuro.9420:

Dueling yay or nay ?
take the poll and be heard

http://strawpoll.me/1650018/

This is a great idea, so I started a separate thread with a poll form that website.

EDIT:
Well, they moved it to the Linksville-section of the forum, so my poll is pretty much dead now. (http://strawpoll.me/1650433/r)
Might as well use yours. Mine ended up with 30% against and 70% for dueling (with different variants)

http://strawpoll.me/1650433

Creds to Latinkuro.9420

Behellagh.1468:

It’s not basic functionality if the game was designed never to have it (button to issue challenge another player and duel in PvE zone). And if such functionality was so important to you then why play a game that doesn’t have it?

It’s like complaining the game doesn’t have the traditional MMO trinity.

The game wasn’t designed specifically never to have dueling. There is nothing in the game that gets “broken” by adding the ability to freely duel people willing to do so in the open world (with a few restrictions).

I keep repeating myself, because most naysayers doesn’t seem to look for the suggested solutions to their issues with Dueling.

• IF you have to enable a Dueling tag to even be available to requests,
• IF it wasn’t available in the main cities,
• IF you could simply report someone for abusing duels,
  (which I don’t think will be even nearly as frequent as you make it sound) there isn’t really any good arguments against dueling.; They’re easily solved and petty in comparison to the arguments for a Dueling system.

“And if such functionality was so important to you then why play a game that doesn’t have it?”

Just because a game doesn’t have a certain functionality (however enjoyable or healthy it would be for the game) doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t play it.

Brtiva.9721:

It is STILL a decline, which in retrospect seems to be the key thing.

Not having the “dueling tag” turned on doesn’t mean that you’re actively declining a specific persons dueling request. It means that you, at that time, do not wish to duel with anyone whatsoever. Making the tag an Opt-in feature makes it a passive act of leaving the tag disabled, rather than an active act of disabling it.

JustTrogdor.7892:

I’m not totally against dueling in PvE as long as there are some limits. I think I have been fair in considering ways that it could be introduced without disturbing the overall PvE population. …….
………

I feel that if PvE dueling is important to those that want to duel in PvE with no intentions of causing problems a few limits on where and when PvE dueling can be done is a fair compromise.

Nice! Well put.
I think that dueling should be available in part of the main cities: Perhaps a district in DR, in some open areas off the main road in BC, below Vigil Keep, on the bottom floor of the Grove, and so on.

I didn’t really think of the issue with downscaled characters. Because of this, I don’t think that dueling should be allowed in the level 1-15 zones.
In other areas I think it should be available.
However, your suggestion of having Dueling locations is a good one and would probably suffice if it’s more than a problem than I though.

It could be like a discreet circle with a flag, where you would be able to request duels for those within the circle who have manually enabled dueling requests for their character.
However, we would miss out on a lot of awesome dueling locations around the world unless ANet makes an absolutely splendid job with spreading them out around the world.

Scrambles.2604:

… Basically, you flag yourself as able to be dueled and other people that want to duel can request you.

I thought that was a cool idea. Not so different then a auto-decline, except it only really puts you on the spot if you want to duel, not the other way around.

This is what I mean; Opt in instead of Opt out. Everyone’s happy =)

sorudo.9054:

If you have to turn on the ability to be able to be requested to duel, you shouldn’t be affected. Dueling shouldn’t be available in the center of the main cities for the sake of people that for some reason can’t even bare to have people having fun dueling in their presence.

The arguments against dueling are either easily solved or petty.
The arguments for dueling are strong.

Seerstrange.4723:

Phadde.7362:

I saw someone suggest a great idea in another thread to increase dungeon difficulty:

3-man or 4-man the dungeon! I think it’s a splendid idea! Easier to find a full group, with good members. Your impact becomes greater, etc.

Thats nice but the point of hard mode is harder challenge for better reward.

A Hard mode that reduces the party size for better rewards was what I was suggesting.

Lilith Ajit.6173:

Start the instance yourself and KICK THEM.

It’s so easy.

I say “lfg Only pink dyes”. I kick anyone who will not comply. It’s so easy.

I’m going to attempt to be dead-on brutal.

dutchiez.7502:

Phadde.7362:

I saw someone suggest a great idea in another thread to increase dungeon difficulty:

3-man or 4-man the dungeon! I think it’s a splendid idea! Easier to find a full group, with good members. Your impact becomes greater, etc.

You’re like a year late with this suggestion.

I haven’t seen this specific one until recently. None the less, adding these “modifiers” to increase difficulty and rewards is what I currently think is the best thing for PvE atm. It will do a lot, and probably the vast majority of the assets required are already in game (our current dungeons)

Punch.3507:

OP here.

To answer everyone who is saying “just don’t stack,” it’s nearly impossible to find a group that won’t kick you unless you stack. It’s stack or gtfo.

This is true. Simply creating a group with the description “No Stacking” or something similar very rarely does the trick. I’ve been trying this for some time, but it pretty much either ends up in people continuously leaving or just simply ignore what was said previously and proceed to play as they’re so used to.

Narthexia.1836:

What I have found missing in GW2 is rare cool stuff. Such as…..

Algreg.3629:

GW2 offers quite a lot in the what to do area, but is heavily lacking in the why section….

Gele.2048:

my list
1.Raids/not that open world bosses….

mooty.4560:

I think it’s missing depth in the game play department….

thaooo.5320:

What’s Guild Wars 2 missing?

Guild Wars.

Dark Catalyst.1028:

Dueling, and rewarding content.

Apparently, I agree with a Lot of people on this thread =)

Dark Catalyst.1028:

Dueling, and rewarding content.

Hah, while I think a well implemented dueling system would be absolutely great for the game, I don’t think it’s what it… Well, almost desperately lacks.

Currently:

• In sPvP it’s either Conquest or the awesome but currently makeshift Courtyard.

• In PvE it’s either Dungeons or… FotM, which is kind of the same thing. (Not a fan of the fairly unstructured GMs)

What we likely need:

• In sPvP I think we need more Game modes. Even though you may not play them all, I think it feels nice that they’re there; The game feels bigger.

• In PvE I think we need a bigger variety of experiences, and content that actively challenges you (Not just a rehearsal of predetermined tactics). You may not ever get to see the hardest of this content, but the fact that it’s there (again) makes the world feel more vast.

I saw someone suggest a great idea in another thread to increase dungeon difficulty:

3-man or 4-man the dungeon! I think it’s a splendid idea! Easier to find a full group, with good members. Your impact becomes greater, etc.

I think it’s a lovely concept. I think it should be prohibited from the central parts of the main cities, and that you should have to enable your character to be able to accept duels in the first place – Making it opt-in instead of opt-out is the best. If you don’t like dueling, you’re not affected. If you do, I think it will be an absolute blast!

Well, first and foremost it’s not actually behind a paywall at all; There where already a lot of CAs before Courtyard. Sure, the new game mode probably made more CAs appear, but those paying for them do so willingly.

You do not have to pay anything to play Courtyard. There’s no paywall whatsoever to play Courtyard. There is a paywall to have your very own CA that you dictate over, but that is by design and that is how it was before as well.

The reason why I don’t think ANet have their own Courtyard servers is because that map is currently in an experimental phase; they do not know what to do with it yet, so they just threw it in there to see what the community made of it.
I think that if they would have their own Courtyard servers, the rules on those would be considered the norm, the proper way it should be played. Instead, let the community come up with their own approaches to the game mode. I think that is a better way to do this experiment.

I can agree though, that a new game mode is very long overdue.

EverythingEnds.4261:

Only self heal doesn’t make them a healer.

Even though I’m not that good in ele issues, I know that 6 points in the last line (evasive arcana) allows them to “heal on dodge”, if they are attuned to water.

… In Water attunement, yes. In Earth Attunement we get an additional Combo Blast. Atleast in PvE, most of the healing done by Elementalists are via Combo Blasts through Water fields.

We probably are. Either they’ve extended to EU as well, or I’ve been misinformed by those who I have had in game contact with. The person that connected me with AA was fully aware that I was on EU.

PeepMeDown.5017:

Also why is there the new map behind a paywall?

It’s not. And there’s a legit reason why it’s only available as a custom arena.