Guild Wars 2

Diku.2546:

@OP

Wow…well said about a capital sin from ANet.

They stand at the brink of being the sole provider of equipment, training field, amateur and professional playing fields…both national & international venues.

Imagine owning everything that is related to whatever makes the NFL Super Bowl what it is.

When I organized LAN parties at my house to my friends I was in the same position.

But that does not mean they have anything worthy.

Compairing NFL Super Bowl with it is beyond ridiculous, sorry.

Thank you for all the feedback.

Unfortunately, the present state of WvW speaks for itself.

When things go wrong, something needs to be done to correct them. If left unattended, all the issues plaguing WvW will push away more and more players and in the end you will have a different version of PvP played as WvW between a few dozen guilds and a few hundred players on other maps than PvP maps (within the whole player base of GW2).

Sorry, but this is not my vision for WvW. WvW should be a massive event with a massive player participation. WvW is War. PvP is skirmishing. Please do not mix both.

WvW is imho the part of GW2 with the biggest potential yet to explore.

PvE and meta events are nice but after a few runs is always the same and people just keep doing it because of rewards.

A lot of money has been invested by ANet trying to build up the PvP/competitive part of GW2 but I think that the investment has not given any proper return yet.

WvW with massive participation and appropriated rewards, both for character progression, gear and skins, could boost GW2 to an higher new level. WvW is always new, zergs never behave exactly like the last time, people find new ways of harassing and wining from their opponents.

To let WvW die because of inaction would be a capital sin from ANet.

Diku.2546:

Hope you can figure out a solution, or let me know that I’m misunderstanding the mechanic that you’re proposing.

I really admire you’re thinking outside the box…because things won’t change unless we try…which is what you’re trying to do…which in my opinion is no easy task.

Only respect here…

My idea is very simple: Do not change the present WvW server ranking system. Transform the whole WvW into a megaserver with 3 parties, as present: Green, Blue and Red.

Every week at WvW reset all world servers are grouped, 1 server from each tier, and assigned to represent 1 colour for the week. Each colour will have 1 server from tier 1, 1 server from tier 2, etc.

At the end of the week, the colour parties will have their overall results as they are calculated now but behind the present system ANet needs to introduce a system to calculate the different contribution of different servers to the overall result and feed these results to the server ranking system to keet it changing according to the server performance.

I hope this clarifies my idea.

Thanks for the feedback and questions..:)

Diku.2546:

I’m not sure the megaserver system can be used to group home worlds together.

Its basic function according to this article is to group players from different home worlds together.

NA & EU servers are kept separate using the megaserver system.

It’s the player’s choice of Home World that determines their Match-Up within the Tier based system.

---

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/April_2014_Feature_Pack#Megaserver_system

Players will no longer be segregated into separate copies of a map based on their home world selection.

Instead, all players will be placed into shared copies (instances) of the map, which will be instantiated as necessary to hold the current population of that map.

Overflow shards will no longer exist.

Maps are still region-based, i.e. North American servers are separate from European servers.

Upon entering a map, players will be placed in the copy of the map based on a set of heuristics which includes your party, guild, language, and home world.

This will dramatically increase the chance that you will be placed in the same map as your party and guildmates, or other players who speak your language.

The initial roll-out will affect PvP lobbies and low population maps.⁶

This will allow the system to be tested on low population densities before being introduced to high population maps such as cities and popular spots for farming or events.

The roll-out of the megaserver system was completed on April 21st, 2014.

Using the information you posted I will highlight the important part:

Upon entering a map, players will be placed in the copy of the map based on a set of heuristics which includes your party, guild, language, and home world.

The set of heuristics can be easily programmed in order to read:

“Upon entering a WvW map, players will be placed in the copy of the map based on a set of heuristics which includes your party, guild, language, and home world weekly WvW grouping.”

I suspect that the language factor is what lies behind ANet fear to introduce the megaserver system into WvW. But if it works for PvE complex meta events why not introducing it to WvW?

Chase.2798:

I think they should base it on guilds, make it actual guild wars…you challenge a guild set up a time (1hr) where you get a map basically attack and defend one of the old alpine maps and at 30 mins u switch leading team at end wins…would need a leaderboard with challenge messages…maybe be able to challenge 10 ranks above and 10 ranks below….not sure if this is actually doable or not but it could be a new way to implement pvp and guilds together…it would succk for smaller guilds but they could challenge other small guilds for better fight…they could gdt rid of eotm then and make wvw like eotm meaning making 3 factions instead of 24 servers…guild fights would reduce the number in wvw and would reduce the queue times…6 factions might be better tbh not sure on gw numbers

I do not agree with the creation of extra niches for WvW making it even more imbalanced.

The true glory of WvW will be achieved when the vast majority of GW2 players participate in it for the fun and the rewards.

For the guild vs guild challenges I think the PvP system is more appropriated to have it.
The PvP system is well balanced, allowing all players to fight with the same level equipment, and has always been the place for the more professional and serious players.

jdallen.5179:

RedBaron.6058:

This is the first step to fix WvW. All other fixes need to come after this issue is solved.

Balance WvW population using the megaserver system and grouping together all servers of a region using the server ranking as below:
<snippage for brevity>

With this proposed system EVERYONE will enjoy WvW because he/she will be fighting with balanced team numbers most of the time. Individual players will get their loot, will earn their WvW points to get abilities and so on, while enjoying WvW despite belonging to a low population server.

WvW is the best part of GW2 but its implementation was never given top priority by ANet because the company feels that WvW is played by a residual number of players.

If the teams have balanced numbers the players will fill WvW maps. With the right rewards and a few more fixes, GW2 WvW can be a great part of this awesome game.

Thanks for reading.

All feedback welcome.

Hat tip to you, Red Baron for thinking out of the box.

I’m not sure what you’ve proposed will work, mechanically, but functionally is moving in the right direction – trying to find some way to balance populations and match ups via the megaserver system, to create more even match ups and over-all better competitive experience.

As I said elsewhere, asymmetric match ups get boring, fast, and are part of the problem beyond that presented by structural issues with the maps.

Thank you.

ANet has all the tools to fix the servers population imbalance in WvW but never gave it the proper priority.

Weli.4568:

I don’t think this is good idea. It would simply ruin the last bits of what was called server pride. Some communities have been working hard to get where they were but free transfers and what not kinda kittened it up.

Sure it would be the be the fastest way to get more players into wvw. But would that be the best way. Don’t think so, reducing the amount of servers has been also suggested multiple times but that is also kind of question mark. Obviously it would cause an uproar from the servers that have been merged. Again it comes down to server pride I guess if there even is such a thing anymore. Some people have decided to stay on their server for a reason. Whether it’s good community, the “fights” server or the k-train server with 24/7 coverage.

But do you think this would would cause EotM effect aka uplvls everywhere and just a huge k-train running around the maps?

WvW server pride will remain with my proposed system. The servers ranking remains and people can be proud of their server contribution for WvW.

Chase.2798:

This wouldnt work…for one main reason…no guild raids….if 30-40 ppl from the same guild tried to enter wvw at the same time they wouldn’t be able to, either they would get split where some got in and some have to wait for other ppl to get pn or server fills and they get split. Id like to see it cut down to 9 servers and they work on scoring system and making a better map (more basic, flatter, lots of figjting areas, lil pve, very few events, base more off kills less on hitting a wall, better rewards)

GW2 players solved your problem since the megaserver system was introduced…its called taxi.

If a guild want to have 40 players on the same map needs to taxi its members as everyone does for the meta events, Dragon Stand as the best example.

The new 64 bits client never crashes.

Install it (read the post with the Q & A).

Illist.6349:

best fix imo would be cut it down to 6 servers and double each servers population the 3 server eotm style would be too much for ques but 6 would work well. I doubt many pvers actually care what server they are on so shouldn’t affect them, and I’m sure most true wvw’er would rather sit in a 10 minute que and actually have fights than to be on the new wvw maps w/o anything to fight but gates #savewvw

The megaserver system will open as many WvW maps as needed (with balanced numbers on each side, lets say for example 100/100/100), all contributing to the overall result.

Basically no queues.

Cogbyrn.7283:

My biggest concern with this system would be too many people trying to play per map. I’d worry about queues being insanity.

That aside, would it potentially be more fair to do a snake style color attribution? So it would be:

1. Green
2. Blue
3. Red
4. Red
5. Blue
6. Green

So instead of Green technically getting “1st” in every matchup of 3, it shifts it around. I don’t know if there is much of a disparity to warrant such a system, but it’s a thought.

Concerning queues the megaserver system will open as many WvW maps as needed (with balanced numbers on each side, lets say for example 100/100/100), all contributing to the overall result. Basically no queues.

Concerning the grouping of the servers, I agree with you. I just used a simple example to illustrate my idea.

This is the first step to fix WvW. All other fixes need to come after this issue is solved.

Balance WvW population using the megaserver system and grouping together all servers of a region using the server ranking as below:

(example of present ranking on 6th Novembr 2015)

1 Vizunah Square [FR] – Green
2 Kodash [DE] - Blue
3 Desolation – Red

4 Far Shiverpeaks – Green
5 Seafarer’s Rest – Blue
6 Jade Sea [FR] – Red

7 Riverside [DE] – Green
8 Baruch Bay [SP] – Blue
9 Gandara – Red

10 Piken Square – Green
11 Elona Reach [DE] – Blue
12 Augury Rock [FR] – Red

13 Aurora Glade – Green
14 Abaddon’s Mouth [DE] – Blue
15 Gunnar’s Hold – Red

16 Drakkar Lake [DE] – Green
17 Dzagonur [DE] – Blue
18 Miller’s Sound [DE] – Red

19 Ring of Fire – Green
20 Arborstone [FR] – Blue
21 Vabbi – Red

22 Ruins of Surmia – Green
23 Whiteside Ridge – Blue
24 Fort Ranik [FR] – Red

25 Fissure of Woe – Green
26 Underworld - Blue
27 Blacktide – Red

The weekly results can use the present system to establish the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, we just need a sub-system to calculate the individual server contribution to the overall weekly result to feed the servers ranking (Glicko 2 rating system).

Lets use the Green team as an example:

Vizunah Square [FR] – 30% contribution
Far Shiverpeaks – 20% contribution
Riverside [DE] – 15% contribution
Piken Square – 10% contribution
Aurora Glade – 8% contribution
Drakkar Lake [DE] – 8% contribution
Ring of Fire – 5% contribution
Ruins of Surmia – 3% contribution
Fissure of Woe – 1% contribution

With this proposed system EVERYONE will enjoy WvW because he/she will be fighting with balanced team numbers most of the time. Individual players will get their loot, will earn their WvW points to get abilities and so on, while enjoying WvW despite belonging to a low population server.

WvW is the best part of GW2 but its implementation was never given top priority by ANet because the company feels that WvW is played by a residual number of players.

If the teams have balanced numbers the players will fill WvW maps. With the right rewards and a few more fixes, GW2 WvW can be a great part of this awesome game.

Thanks for reading.

All feedback welcome.

I do not want to spoil the joy of everyone but I am worried with this Invitational Statement because to me it just shows that ANet realized that WvW is crumbling…

It seems a move to stop the bleeding of WvW players, trying to keep them playing even if the system is not good, waiting for ANet WvW improvements.

Everything pointed out in the letter is old news…we are complaining about it for 3 years…it seems a bit late to recognize NOW what we have been asking for such a long time.

I hope ANet fixes WvW but…the recent changes speak for themselves…they are a total failure, WvW is dead right now.

Congratulations ANet.

I did 4 DS runs with max settings (except shadows that I have OFF) and never crashed.

Well done.

Everytime I crash I send the report to ANet…I hope it helps to solve the issue.

Right now the crashes are just destroying all the new content because we can not finish long event threads.

ANet never understood that WvW is what GW2 is about.

ANet invests a lot of time and resources in everything else but not much in WvW.

WvW is the best feature of GW2.

Kill WvW and GW2 will die…

This crashing issue is really game breaking…please Anet work fast because it just draws players away from the new maps…:(

For every crash a few players quit the game for the day and the new maps become empty…playing at minimum graphic settings is not an option…if I want to play Minecraft I do not need to buy HoT expac.

ANet needs to address this crash problem..after HoT I crash like 5 or 6 times a day (once per hour in average)…

The implementation of a 5 minutes grace period after a crash/logout is really needed and I do not see how it can be abused.

Reserving the map spot for 5 minutes will solve 99.9% of the issues..:)

Hello,

As we all know the game crashes very frequently now. The crashes themselves can be handled except during very important events but what upsets me the most is that when we log in after a crash our hard earned 200% participation level is reset and back to 0%.

Can we have a grace period of 5 minutes after a crash/log out before the participation level is reset?

Thanks.

Samnang.1879:

I have like tons of classes.

I can’t spend time doing the same thing for all those classes… Please consider dropping the value of hero points needed… 250 is still a lot for someone who has like 7 or 8 classes, and want to play elite spec for all of them.

Or if you make hero points; make some hero points have 50 point value worth…. but more challenging or whatever.

Don’t want to waypoint everywhere doing boring things just to play elite spec :/

If 100% World Exploration = 200 HP is account wide then maybe I will do it…and at same time ANet will solve the problem of players with many many characters.

MHE Tiger.4875:

Bump because I would like to know when this is happening.

Me too…ETA for the changes?

Congratulations to all that strived for the upcoming changes and also to ANet for having listened.

Some never give up on grinding, others never give up on real life.

Best regards.

SelenaDread.2814:

RedBaron.6058:

SelenaDread.2814:

RedBaron.6058:

Megaserver is the excuse of some people that do not want to face the fact that maps are empty because there is not enough people in-game to fill them.

Thank you for proving my point stated previously

Sales have been so below ANet expectations that they will introduce changes to the expansion and will sell it with discount in 6 weeks.

Refunds are not helping either…

Wow……would really love to know where you are getting all your facts about sales, refunds and player base decline

Do you believe me now?

PvE seems to be the new direction imposed by ANet on GW2…

Pezz.4758:

Sorry if i missed it, but in the days of game devs using a million sites to post news i havent seen any response to the outcry of players.

Has it seriously not come 3 full business days after launch?

If so this isnt even just upsetting as an expansion, its flat out disrespect.

AT LEAST tell me nothing is changing and move on, if you want to make sweeping changes to the base philosophy of the game have the fortitude to look me in the eye afrer you stole my money as say “too bad”.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Elite-Specializations-Hero-Point-Feedback-Merged/page/66#post5671001

Nothing has changed…

Shen Slayer.3058:

Didn’t a big company get busted recently for paying people to write good review?
I’m just say.

All companies pay to shills to have good reviews.

Being a shill is a flourishing profession over the Web.

ANet favours outfits because they greatly decrease the rendering load. Many items armors with many different colours are a nightmare…

Thats why WvW players are all tinted with just 1 colour per side…

giovr.6538:

Atistheso.4657:

giovr.6538:

Originally crafting a legendary weapon meant to play both PvE and WvW, I mainly do PvE so making badges for the Gift of Battle was really hard for me, should I have complained about it? I know that making Hero Points is another matter but I don’t understand at all why the WvWers want to never do PvE…

Legendaries are just some shiny toys that noone needs. I have played this game for 5k hours and don’t have a legendary because it just isn’t possible to make this kind of gold in WvW. It’s not totally fair but ok, let’s leave legendaries to people willing to heavily farm PvE. I don’t complain too much about that.

But here we’re not talking about useless stuff, we’re talking about unlocking character mechanics, skills etc… This should not be locked behind PvE grind… This system is just horrible.

True, legendaries were a bad choice for an argumentation… but why WvWers hate PvE content?

PvE content is so boring…ZzzzzZzzzzzZzzzzz

12:00 AM in Seattle. What is happening at ANet HQ?

SelenaDread.2814:

RedBaron.6058:

Megaserver is the excuse of some people that do not want to face the fact that maps are empty because there is not enough people in-game to fill them.

Thank you for proving my point stated previously

Sales have been so below ANet expectations that they will introduce changes to the expansion and will sell it with discount in 6 weeks.

Refunds are not helping either…

Do not buy now.

Wait to see if ANet makes enough changes to improve the expansion.

Megaserver is the excuse of some people that do not want to face the fact that maps are empty because there is not enough people in-game to fill them.

11:00 AM in Seattle. What is happening at ANet HQ?

ChrizZcE.5981:

HoT is only aimed at the hardcore crowd.

It´s great.

“Hardcore” PvE…LoL.

shawn.4278:

I stopped playing GW2 a little over a year ago and I am considering coming back. However I just want to know from those who are playing HoT, is the expansion worth the $50 price? Do you feel like it has plenty of new content? Or do you feel like it was a bit pricey for the content you received?

What I am looking for is, should I go ahead and buy now, or wait a few months for a sale?

Read the HoT feedback in the big thread here before you buy anything.

Pixelninja.6971:

I bet half of the 10 stars reviews on Metacritic are written by Anet employees.
Yesterday the score was around 5 with almost 1 to 1 positive and negative reviews.

I checked some Tech-forum with active Game-sections and nobody talks about Guild Wars, nobody. If HoT flops, Anet will have to screw you even more to keep the NCsoft shareholders happy.

I have some great ideas:

Dungeons and Fractals cost 200 Gems per run.

Move all Worldbosses to the new Borderlandmap.

Players lose 1s per minute while playing game.

The 10 stars reviewers are not strictly ANet employees…they are shills paid to do it like in Amazon, etc.

They are a group of 25-30 persons that change email addresses and keep voting…if you check the number of people who liked their comments you will see the number is always between 23-26 likes.

HoT is also a move away from ANet profits…

BLTC and your credit card will solve all the problems.

MouseTrap.9813:

So, having bought the game when it was relesead for the price asked. I now have to spend another 50 euros on this game, even though what i originally bought is now free?

The only thing i supposedly get is an armor set? Or is there something else?

Shouldn’t we get a better pricing on the campaign or something?

Read the Heart of Throns expansion feedback before spending another 50 euros…

The only reason HoT launch was smooth is because the sales were really below the expectations of ANet…

Not enough players to hamper the servers…

Just buy the cheapest version of HoT and all problems will fade.

The expansion name explains everything…it is supposed to be Thorny…

logan.5846:

So impeccably designed its led to empty ghost town zones 4 days after launch.

Isnt it impeccable? Everyone achieved everything in just 4 days…

ANet is perfect. Will never change anything.

PvE is very boring…

WvW and PvP is what makes this game good.

Crappy cut scenes has always been a GW2 trademark.

Marcusb.9013:

Playing the spec with only 2-3 traits unlocked is kitten, I wouldn’t have an issue with that when I’m still leveling because then it’s still character progression. By not raising the level cap it sends out the false impression that you’d be able to get the traitline from the start.

Even completely ignoring that, there should be other ways to unlock the traits beyond grinding away countless hours. Like a person here before said, spirit shards to hero points conversion sounds like a perfect idea or letting people buy them with gold.

Lastly, shameless plug for a post that passionately voices the concerns of many like in this thread.
http://creeptheprophet.be/index.php/2015/10/26/gw2-beta-bait-and-switch/

Awesome letter about HoT present state on your link.
Thank you.