Guild Wars 2

IF

http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_if.htm

Look to the battle, look to the people, build them, lead them and watch the victory come to you with the satisfaction of the effort you have put into the enterprise. Defeat will come to and at my hand if I have any choice! Still do not despair and turn away. There will be a ebbing and a growth to your force. Recognize it and drive on.

One of the most memorable moments in WvW was when RegA rolled into a tower that had been golem rushed. We had been defending with 12-15 players and 7 omegas rushed us and plowed through the door. RegA rolled in with about 40 and made a stand in the lords room with the ring up. Bannered the Lord and melted the golems plus the 30 people with them.

You have to have a thick skin and look on the game with a long term perspective to avoid the negative impact that come with the cyclic downturn of population. Our guild focuses on the improvement of the guild and the team. We work to develop coordination within the servers WvW population. We work on training our new players. WvW population seems to me like a reptiles skin always growing dieing and shedding.

We have a hearing impaired guild leader / commander on our server as well. Knowing that there is an impairment makes a huge difference in the teams response to that individuals communication habits. They are no longer urged to get on TS. They lead their guild primarily and cover down as a map commander when another commander needs relieved. I would follow her commands through text without question because I know she has the skill, knowledge and dedication to lead the fight.

The game dynamic shifts when you are not in VOIP and as a follower we adapt to her style and direction. When following her you work to keep intel flowing to her steady and anticipate commands more.

Pretty quiet in here. A bit of boot leather was passed around last night. Did ya get a piece?

Don’t hesitate to roll with GoT. If you are looking for a team to get involved with they have some good leaders to work with.

Who we are – Black Rose Legion on Devonas Rest – 90% WvW focused with some dungeon support for guildies that want dungeon armor, guild missions under our belt to get the accommodations for heroes banners. We have one primary leader, a second in command, seven commanders along with a handful of other skilled and competent leaders. We have grown from a core of 25 to a roster of 116 in the last 8 weeks based primarily on the fun people have when rolling with us. We have married couples, sets of siblings, whole families, entire guilds of friends who have come to BRL because of the organization, fun and positive atmosphere. We use a server teamspeak (had 110 players in channel last night) and have a private ventrillo for guild only activity.

What we offer- I made direct contact with the leadership of 92 guilds on Devonas Rest to coordinate WvW. We run a server commanders meeting weekly to coordinate our allied guilds actions. Our guild is one of the few primarily WvW guilds of size on Devonas Rest. There are many small guilds that work in coordination with us and have done so since last spring. All of the above was written to say we are a vital part of the server community and we have allies that enjoy working with us and stick with us. We have access to a custom arena to work on builds internally as a guild. We have people working on specialized team play. We are continuously working to bring new tactics into our play and build new members up so that we do not become stagnant or irrelevant.
We (BRL and our allies) are the remnant of organized WvW on Devonas Rest. We don’t have a bunch of zombies that play bullet stopper/ zerg fodder. Our members are experienced WvW players unless they are fresh to the game in which case they are getting trained up to a solid baseline. Our guild members that have come from higher tier servers enjoy the friendly and relaxed way we play. We are not “EPIC HARD CORE” but we do play with dedication and team improvement as our goals.

V/R
Molen Labe Guild leader Black Rose Legion
Devonas Rest
www.blackroselegion.guildlaunch.com

It is new year and time for a new challenge. Take your guild out of that laggy long queue server and find a new home in Devonas Rest!

stop watch

15 char

Herrrrre we go again, Same Ol ShEE again, Fightin GOM and Kain again.
Ohhhh here we go again. 10 more weeks and we’ll be through?

RESET night – WHAAAT? we have the same match again?

Really I have no idea when this matchup will change. We may be together until the next league starts up. I hope we take the time to sharpen our rivalries, rest and refit and build our server and our tactics. Maybe even make some good cross server friendships. As many weeks as we have worked against each other I have yet to see a server lay down. Keep up the good fights!

Stryker, I have responded to your PM. I look forward to hearing from you again. I will be in game tonight after 7 pm central time. Just /whisper phlogus.2371 and I will get the invite sent.

Stryker have you talked to any of the guilds on Devonas Rest?
BRL, RED, HAVC, GVNC, HOD, ZERG, DTGA, VOX, COC

All have dedicated players with considerable experience in game and a dedication to the server.

There will be krispie treats with sprinkles…

Rested and refitted after the most recent holiday there is time for you to get your stomp on. Yes the full stomach and thick sock cozy feeling is nice but don’t you really want to get back to the rampaging killer you have always been? Come to the battlefields of Devonas Rest. Roll over the opposing server like Santa looking for a sugar cookie. Get hungry for the fight and come feed that hunger on Devonas Rest. The bags and suger cookies are here, no batteries or assembly required.

I will miss the match up threads… Where has everyone gone this is the dullest thread ever. Is there already a new host out there?

I always wondered if we would get some good press in the forums for BRL. Hard work over a long period of time to build the guild up and now. NOW I see we get true love. The crying gif is fantastic and I couldn’t have asked for anything more precious. TY, ty, ty.
With the match forums being eliminated bitter tears fall.

Similar thread here- https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Fixing-the-zerg-problem-Supply-Capacity/page/2

underpopulated servers have to intentionally reduce the enemies supplies as a preparatory step to assault. It is costly, takes task discipline, time and money. Flip camps, set traps, destroy perimeter siege, destroy keep and tower walls. Slowly starve the opponent. Do it subtle and then shock them with an assault. Use small forces that make them chase you all over the map. Five people working in coordination can make this happen.

My guild has pulled off some really good defenses with minimal numbers. We work with a rotation of people on watch and others on offense. On a tier 8 server you have to make the most of your available forces and keeping the same people on watch is poor management. Set yourself up for success – Garrison and Hills make sure you own them and fortify them. Do not ignore your yaks. Steady continuous improvement will win the day. Get the north half of the map sieged up. A defense is not forever. People go to bed and if you don’t have off shift coverage it can be disheartening to see the losses. But the pay off when the barbarian horde is on every gate and wall clamoring for your hide and you can turn them away and watch them gesture and dance and cry OHHH the QQ is sweet. When you hold the tide and your team surges to push them out of the gate the battle is epic. Yeah I am the old one who shouts " GET OFF MY LAWN!" The defensive fight isn’t as flashy as the zerg buster that roams around and plants their boot on the enemies face but the victory is earned all the same.

Get off the fence and go look at these people! They have good leaders and they are fun to play with.

Developing new players and new toons so there will be some upticks from DR. No one wants to run around the PVE maps and craft , click, craft, click their way to 80. Might as well have them on map making what impact they can.

You <——- Yes I am talking to you. We have a deal for you today! get it now while the time is right. Open maps full of loot bags. They are free to be had with just a minimal cost of participation. Make the jump to Devonas Rest and you will have the opportunity to earn more then your share of them.

There will be Sailors and Soldiers and odd Asuran merchants. We have roses and barbies and the occasional vampire. You need room to stretch and flex those 200 people you rallied together into a fighting force? We have room man! Bring it on over to Devonas Rest.

Looking at the population on Devonas Rest, the exodus prior to season one and the current departing migration of WvW focused players I think it is obvious there is a population problem on the lower tier servers. The CDI on world population discussed a wide variety of perspectives on that problem. The most significant point relative to the lower tiered servers is a clear split between WvW population and PVE population. Without that clear separation there isn’t an accurate portrayal of what is happening on the battlefield. I think that Anet is running the population numbers without culling the inactive players off the roster like a large guild that has great numbers but 50% ghosts and a core of 20% active players.
So knowing it is unlikely to be addressed by Anet as the direct movement of players would restrict freedom to play we have to deal with it ourselves. We build our guilds, grow them, recruit from WvW, PVE and off server. Then after all of that work people decide it is time to move on to a different server and our population is decimated again. Low tier servers have become like a farm league for mid tier servers. We don’t have the lag or the queues of top tier servers but we also don’t have the coverage ability. So once a solid team is established they are always in the rotation, always on the front lines. What I have experienced on a lower tier server you have to build the team while staying in the fight and the results of transition and growth are a dedicated team that has value to a higher tier server and is then coaxed into moving on.

As a guild leader I ask all of my guild members to come on teamspeak. Our guild is entirely WvW focused and members know that when joining. We used to use a private ventrillo server but have moved to the Devonas Rest public teamspeak so that other members of the server and our peer guilds can work with us. The value of strong guild alliances and coordination has been a huge benefit to the quality of gameplay our members enjoy. Along with the many valuable points given above about battle command I would like to add the following.

1. You own your channel you have to maintain the quality of communications in it.
During operations there is no" did I tell you about my girlfriend?" conversations
Keep it clean- no swearing, discrimination, sexism, belittling other players in channel

2. Don’t expect everyone to talk and DO limit traffic to battle information only. There are other channels where you can make friends and chat about your cool guardian build.

3. Maintain a clear and even temperament during combat, people will respond to steady confident leadership.

4. When you have multiple guilds in channel identify primary / priority speakers from each and reduce traffic from all others to allow leaders to command their forces.

I am totally convinced that voice communications can be a vital tool to build cohesion, enhance momentum and effectiveness. It can also be a draining and corrupting experience if it is used poorly.

OP- as to the how of getting people in I would say a couple things
1. make your channel a valuable place by keeping it clean and professional so it isn’t draining to listen to.
2. There are people you don’t want in teamspeak as they have diarrhea of the mouth and can’t shut up, stop begging, whining etc.
3. Direct engagement one on one makes people want to commit to a method. Recruit guild members one to one recruit teamspeak participation one to one. The time it takes to have the conversation and set the standard for use will make the new persons participation worth it.

Black Rose Legion on Devonas Rest has been invited. Thank You ANET! The email was in my gmail spam folder and I will be working to get the spreadsheet filled out and submitted as soon as possible.

OP- Get over the QQ. We are your competition right now and you are doing fine. You can’t control the server population. You can’t control the game design. You can influence your community. Engage the people on your server. Build them up, set the bitter tears aside and impact what you can actually change.

I play to build the team and refine the battle skills of my guild. I play to become an unstoppable force of devastation or an undefeatable bastion of doom for my enemies to fall before! Let them QQ in sorrow as we take their bags!

I earn more money from fighting with my necro then any other class in WvW.

SO as an example the other night we assaulted toward valley keep from Lowlands keep. Recovered golanta, flipped hylek, took dan, took fully fortified QL, was repelled from fortified and sieged lang, held QL from multiple pushes out of SM and Valley then assaulted fortified Valley watergate and broke into inner but was repelled.

2/3 of the force was with me in ts and over half of that was my guild. ( we don’t get 100% participation at all times right?) There are a lot of comments here about split it up but really as you spread the force on multiple objectives you lose power and momentum. A four front battle to hold QL, pressure and prep Lang, assault Valley WG and defend WC or KLO from the other side of the map and pretty soon a 80 person map blob is no longer much of a force to be reckoned with. If you choose to abandon the rear and all you gain to stay together then the opponent can focus as well.

I use the commander system for a “come here” identifier on map, a point of morale for the unorganized players on map to see someone is leading, and to do supply info.

What it should do – all of the above plus allow for management of the force you are leading. It should be a tool to support decisions the Commander is making.

Strength, composition, location, logistics status, health, sub leaders are all tactical information I manage through memory and voice communications when it should be provided through a simple heads up display. and allow me to make decisions without having to interact. My voice communication should be free for commands and reports.

Quick fix, long term fix, total wipe- I choose quick fix of up to five small items to increase functionality

1. Differentiate tags using colors- preferably guild emblem if guild emblem is implemented you can have 5 people in a guild tagged and the map knows it is them operating without needing Lieutenant tags.
2. Invisible / private / guild only tags – I do not tag up unless I have a substantial amount of people in teamspeak from my guild on me. I seek success as a team and that happens when I have my team / guild with me.
3. Display the location of my squad and any Lieutenants on mini and main map.
4. Change suppression threshold
5. Hide the commander from the buff bar.

Long term solutions needed
1. A user interface that displays my squad members by name, class and health bar . This directly supports decision making during skirmishes so I know the percentage and structure of my downed / remaining force.
2. squad leaders / sub commanders – I delegate tasks to small teams from the size of 2 to 15. Provide a way for me to segregate them, identify a leader among them and track them on any of the maps. I don’t have to waste time communicating if I can see with my own eyes

Include all of the short term recommendations as well.

The reward in defense is snubbing your opponent and melting them for loot bags like hay in the fire.

Find good people to play with as a team and get on voice comms. It makes the game completely different.

Player Character,
Yeah that sounded foolish didn’kitten But look at it this way, flash a force of 15 on each map at the 7 minute mark and flip everything that is off buff and within travel time. Do it in a timely manner with specific teams tasked to each tgt and rally back up when done. It is a simple task to take a camp. Not as simple to manage timing, tgt assignment, reinforcement to defended or contested locations. How many locations can you get in under the tick? How many of your people wipe in transit? How many hit it and go grab a drink instead of coming back into the main force and working on larger objectives.

Myth Shaia,

In order to keep supply starved and scouts on all maps do you establish 2-3 person teams in zones split to the cardinal directions or do you ask solo players to trail enemy forces, kill yaks and flip camps? Most of the time I have solo players out doing this sometimes as few as two per map split east and west.

Lioka Qiao in another thread broke the engagement into 6 phases.
1. Before the fight
2. The onset
3. The crash
4. The recoil
5. The crash part 2
6. Critical mass and wrapping up the wipe

The details internal to each phase reflect the areas for refinement on the use of a larger force during a open engagement.

Fannwong- TY for your comment. I do have complete trust and compliance in my force. The bolded quote brings up a good point. I have a peer that is working to homogenize his force. I think that has some distinct benefit as he has demonstrated, however, i think it also reduces flexibility.

Some good info in the thread above

Yes Chris we can muster a large force organized in TS depending on who is online.

I do not want to be a blob. I want to be a organized force, responsive to commands (driving), trained to respond to direction and drills like battle drills with specific actions on contact. Disciplined to avoid over pursuit. Fast to respond to specific tactics. I agree bottlenecks can be effective in limiting ranged attacks and focusing fire. But take the area NW of nw tower and citadel spawn. As an attacking force you know the three locations your opponent will approach from in any number and you can use elevation on either side of the road to force choke points outside of siege range from the tower. If you choose to fight on the high ground there you have a cliff at your back and no where to fall back to. If you choose to fight between garri and the tower you have a cliff you can escape by and fall back to the open field toward bay. So pick either position and form up. Then what? Wait for the opponent to assault your position? Kite them until they are out if siege range then turn and smack them in the face? Stack , stealth and cut between garri ciff and the tower and push them toward the camp and ramps exposing your rear to their reinforcements?

This is a mostly guild force all on teamspeak. Just new to working on this scale. So I guess it will be a lot of trial and error. We are blasting static for speed. We do have a formed front line group. Have not tried the surround and pound. So far it has been flank attacks, pursuit, or passing and turn into them.

I play in tier 8. The fight is different on this end of the spectrum from what you face in T1. In order to maximize the effectiveness of much smaller forces we have to find things we can impact with 2, 3 or five people. Since we very rarely have that larger force to execute a direct assault we have to starve, misdirect, surprise our opponent. As far as player capacity we never move without the +5 guild supply buff running. We always keep the force supplied because when the opportunity presents itself you have to be ready to hit and get it. Also all three keeps in a borderland can be opened with a single catapult per objective. So with a guild buff and a guild catapult you can open a keep with two players and 30 supply. Will this small force succeed every time? Not likely but more then once we have taken a keep with three people.

We had a mass exodus before leagues not an influx so not an issue here. The “old timers” server loyalists will stay because it is about the people you play with not the ppt or “we’re # 1”. Folks that had that priority already left.

Hickeroar,
Thanks for the response. We are pretty solid on taking camps towers and bloodlust and most of the time can fight our way into fortified and defended keeps. The specific area we need to improve is force on force in the open field. How to take bites out of the enemy force, I have seen the veil and pass maneuvers. I have seen and used rotations to take stragglers. I have watched 10-15 man teams string out a opponent and break into the middle.

So just looking at one of those- stretching the enemy force out. You need someone to play bait, a call to reform to hold against the concentrated force and a flanking team. I have made this move and some times it works sometimes your flanking force is better off disengaging because the bait and reformed force has been wiped by enemy momentum and cc.

Limiting supply capacity to the enemy is part of the available strategy currently through traps, use, siege builds, upgrades. If your leadership isn’t managing available resources it isn’t A nets fault. Logistics is part of the fight. Knowing to pop an upgrade and having someone there to do it before a camp flip is a reflection of forethought and situational awareness. Eliminating supply capacity kills momentum on both sides. Just like market limitations reduce economic activity.

There are so many posts about zergs and what they can / can’t do. I have seen discussions of golem rushes, open field combat, turtleing in a keep. I haven’t seen good discussion about how to use a large force to it’s greatest effect. Simple things like stack, buff, move, stack, heal, reengage. I got that much but refining a force to be effective and organized rather then a zerg is something I want to accomplish. I understand the other more strategic parts of the fight like scouts, blood lust flipping, managing supply, restricting opponent access to supply. I understand organizing the force by skill sets and a mix of what skill sets. I am used to watching for momentum breaks during a skirmish to make decisions on pursuit or not. I am used to judging enemy size and intent to select the best approach for assault.

Talk to me about open field maneuver, actions on the objective for large force assaults ,use of terrain and line of sight. Refine some of the specific things you do as a open field commander / driver to make your large organized force more lethal and durable.

How do you add your own music to GW2? Trolling?

You want a team that will work hard to make your time in game fun. Look how much this post reflects commitment! Get in here and become part of the community on Devonas Rest with GVNC.

A map without a person sigiling up can function as long as there is communication. Better if it is in teamspeak but map chat can work as well as long as it is clear concise and timely. Of course if someone is directing through chat others have to be willing to follow instead of troll and whine.

Welcome to BRL Skee

I am on DR and got the WvW achievements first two weeks. Can’t believe there are tears over that. That is a not DR for sure in the first pic.

Everyone who plays WvW at a small population server will agree: it is disappointing and unrewarding hard work to struggle for the scraps the biggest server is not interested on.

OP- I am from Devonas Rest. We are one of the lowest ranked servers in NA bronze league. Our guild is a WvW focused guild. We have been along for the ride as we climbed tiers and during a population exodus as hundreds of WvW players left the server. We all know the mechanics of the PPT. Our WvW population has very few sheep. They are fighters, feisty, determined. You call the obtainable objectives scraps we look at them as opportunities. Our goal is not PPT domination but building our team. When we grow in size we know that each person is committed to the fight. The struggle is the environment we can grow the most in. If it was easy you wouldn’t have to think you could just follow along. If we wanted an easy time of it that is what PVE is for. As to unrewarding when we take a new member and train them to understand the tactics of maneuver, logistics, surprise, defense and see them executed there is great reward. When we watch new leaders grow and members take ownership of building the team, working well within the community that is a victory. I have seen a lot of posts about building a community and the community is strongest when we build teams / guilds that are effective.

This is a game but the reward isn’t about points, as much as a point win can be motivating and fun. The real reward is in the team you build and the people that fight hard and work together.

As to the recommendation to consolidate lower tier servers- NO thank you. I am very pleased to be part of the team on Devonas Rest.