Guild Wars 2

GoM, we drew you a picture

<3 from Anvil Rock

ET does love its nightcapping. If you look at Mos you can see we ticked 500 during NA against them almost every day after reset. They’ve lost every single serious wvw guild there for a reason. That server houses some really disrespectful players. Personally, I would never go back.

We have weaker spots but can be fixed by just a couple guilds moving down. Our strong roaming core, spvp/tpvp is pretty tight… but that’s the story of the lower tiers. I think each of us can be super competitive if we had 1-2 larger guilds join us.

Shoutout to Kain – respect the hell out of these guys. Always outnumbered never lose spirit. Honestly, I’d pay to see how these guys would fare if they had the population.

organized zerg =/= pug blob

I think and hope he’s talking about an organized zerg

Nuzt.7894:

No ET just whine, stop hiding in towers and learn to fight without letting your night crew get all your points via PvD.

shhh don’t give out their secret

or they’ll claim to wipe our 40 man zerg again they even have pictures of killing that 7 man karma train

lower tier math is awesome!

Pick me! I’ll trade you match ups. I like fighting GoM and I like being outnumbered

Virtute.8251:

Yep, that’s exactly how Dragonbrand gets every one of its transfers.

We’re even paying higher-tier guilds to move in. We have a warchest guild filled with thousands of gold, waiting impatiently to prey upon the lower servers with gilded stories of milk, honey, unicorns and cupcakes.

can i has unicorn?

oh quit the QQ, get a better skill group and go kill those zergs, I promise it’s fun and you don’t have to siegecreep to do it

Expiatus.4210:

I’ve been on AR since beta and have lived through the eternal AR/BP EBay campaign, the mass guild exodus, the plummet, the rebuild and now the rise back up. It has been awesome to see the sheer tenacity this server has in it WvW players. We have always given one heck of a fight and the small teams (5 to 10) are just amazing.

Transfer, you won’t regret it.

You sir win the internet today

Since no one has moved yet I can’t tell you for sure but I can give you a list of four guilds who have said they are coming to AR.

Oak -jq
Vex -piken square
(forgot the roaming guild’s name from SOR)
(roaming guild from BG) – just starting out only 4-5 people

This isn’t a server being “stacked” if you check out any guild’s fraps from AR you’ll see we’ve got the torch buff a lot of the time. Can’t wait to fight the same servers with more equal numbers.

Also, it’s pretty telling that a lot of the players who ask about AR are roamers who are also tpvp / spvp heavy since a lot of ppl on anvil are obsessed with that game mode :p

If you guys need a non bs assessment of AR I’d be happy to talk to anyone on TS or in game

I think it’s the type of server a lot of people are looking for

bump

wish thorin would move to AR though :P

DevonCarver.5370:

While I appreciate the discussion around the dolyak issue, it wasn’t my intention to refocus the discussion there so much as provide an example of a point.

To pivot from that discussion, however, would WvW be better or worse off if we removed dolyaks entirely and went with the setup we use in EotM or something similar?

I think there are good reasons to keep dolyaks, but I wonder if we might be able to solve many of the problems we’ve discussed here by eliminating that sense of the supply chain of battle? It might just have the effect of making supply far less limiting.

Would it instead work to go with a combination of the two and have a guaranteed minimum amount of supply from holding a camp and have dolyaks carrying the extra? I’m curious what you all think.

As for the discussion around how to more closely involve guilds it’s definitely something we think about and I think there are intriguing ideas in here.

As far as involving guilds, I’d like to say that WvW would really need a simple solution in so far as to allow guilds to customize the keeps / towers they claim in different building styles. The guards can wear your guild’s emblem / armor style and you can upgrade them (with whichever currency) to have better spells and effects and different #s of guards.

Killing Dolyaks has always been good for cutting some supply and/or good for the quick karma / exp for roamers. I think this idea should be expanded as well as having control points buffed or changed. You could allow those who claim camps to tell the dolyaks where to go with supply and or be able to build their own siege. Need trebs put up on a hill? Hire a few strong guards and tell the dolyak to build it up on the hill. Likewise, need supply to a different keep? Tell the doly to head there.

I do think, however, that sometimes sieging goes on for waaaay too long. No one wants to sit there at a fully upgraded keep shooting for hours just to have everything repaired back up and counter siege deployed just to go into a chokepoint with more arrowcarts and superior ballsitas than god. That’s a very boring and slow paced part of the game… Do I think it should be like eotm? No, but I do think there needs to be a change to speed up the process of siege and make it a bit more fast paced and/or exciting.

I’d say you could add siege towers as well in order to allow small groups (and remove the ability to port for mesmers) to enter walls etc to stir things up. You could also make it so players have the ability to hire NPCs to scale walls etc.

good to see you again bonz

Chris.3290:

Go wherever you think you will have the most fun, whether you are a loaner or as a guild. Just ask yourself if it’s worth 144 Gold or almost $30 if you are going to go to a server that’s FULL or does not want more transfers atm.

+1

ah… troll posts gotta love em

Some people on AR right now trying to start ALS back up but it’s not this guy. ALS as most people know it is effectively dead

Hopefully the actual players will get past this bad publicity and keep growing their guild

Let’s be honest guys. A lot of the lower tier servers are pve oriented with a lot of players just not that interested in WvW. The guilds / zergs you fight against are really fun because it’s not massive blobs (depending on the match up). On the lower tiers, you can find anything and everything you want for PvE (or via guesting). you can even guest to do all of your missions etc and get credit for them. A single larger guild can change the balance of some of these servers that have been fighting outmanned and even it up by a lot so that instead of just awesome fights, our ppters can be really happy shooting up ranks. Instead a lot of players decide to stack the top servers just to have a chance at winning or maybe they’re afraid that they won’t be just another person in a crowd spamming 1 don’t get me wrong I understand for the guilds that do gvg regularly and honestly there needs to be part of EOTM or OS that caters to cross server wvw

More even the servers the more fun it is for everyone.
That’s my 2c

As someone from a lower tier server, I want to thank anet for this. There hasn’t been much incentive to pay 1800 gems to go to the lower tier to try it out. I hope this lets people come down and see how fun the fights really are.

We’ll see how well this works but I really appreciate the effort.

Happy recruiting GoM and good luck. I’ve had nothing but respectful interactions with players from this server on their forums and otherwise.

Our fights with Worm and others have been great. Glad I could get back into wvw these last few days

I’d like to welcome Oak and Vex and a few others into the fold (don’t know the exact guild names but will edit them in). This season is going to be fun!

good luck kain would love to see you guys have more players

We’re getting quite a few transfers from near and far and I’m hoping we can really turn AR into a great server with the great guilds who are joining us.

We came here with 3 players and now we’re over 60-100 logging in daily with an amazing core. We run our main raids during Na prime for about four hours a night. This server is a hotbed for recruitment and fantastic for havoc. I hope other guilds can see that and realize how much they can grow on AR.

Kraag Deadsoul.2789:

Banzie.5248:

I’d just like to pop in and say 2 things.

1. I feel that with the presence of how strong 15+ golems can be and/or 3-5 Superior Rams, And with golem mastery on the way, That fortify should not only affect walls but doors as well. I know its not from “EoTM” but its absurd how fast measly gates drop with either of those combos.

I’d go one further and suggest that – once a tower or keep has been fortified – the gate can no longer be damaged by player skills. Completely neuters the auto-attacking karma train zerg meta.

if you do that, let’s fix the trebs on the other side of the gates that kill all rams

to add onto the idea of an OS in EOTM…

to fix the constant interference in the EOTM OS area, you could just get rid of OS and have different instances (similar to Spvp). That way, Guild X and guild Y could join the same instance regardless of being on same or different servers and fight each other. You could even sell private OS maps in the gem store similar to private arenas.

DevonCarver.5370:

I think there has been good discussion around the concepts of world pride and how the changes in EotM affect that. Let’s pivot to a different concept from EotM and how it could apply to WvW.

I’m curious what you all think about choke points as strategic ideas. I don’t think we’d ever want a map that was just a bunch of canyons, this isn’t Sparta or Thermopylae, but having areas that make it harder for large groups to get through if they are well-defended creates gameplay. Think of a tower that guards the only pass through a canyon, rather than bridges everywhere. Is that something that, in moderation, could provide for more varied and strategic gameplay?

For the purposes of the question, think in terms of building a new map from scratch, rather than retrofitting the current maps.

First I’d like to repeat my ideas for the record of a GvG area similar to OS on Eotm that allows for cross server GvG. Also I’d like to repeat my plea for free transfers to the lower tiers as a sort of bandaid to the population siphoning that the news of leagues has brought on.

That being said, chokepoints are amazing for wvw play. Many of the kills against larger groups are up and around chokepoints.

Each borderland map should be different. There should be a different type of terrain for red, blue, and green. Green could be a jungle/ forest terrain with destructible trees that can block different paths to towers etc. Red could be a scorched earth map in which volcanoes and landslides are activated by either team, and blue could be a port in which players waypoint from ships attacking some sort of cove. I think that’s a good foundation to work from. Just please please keep in line with the medieval-style castle/tower/keep themes of wvw.

As far as stomemist goes. It’s pretty hard to cap if the other team has sieged themself in with a similar sized zerg. The chokepoints are pretty intense. Could I maybe recommend some sort of rope climb or elevator to the top floor as well when attacking? That would add another layer of strategy imo

King Amadaeus.8619:

SniffyCube.6107:

Really what you guys should do is open transfers to lower tier servers and get some variety… after all, getting some variety in the match ups and some new faces would really keep people interested in the short term …it would allow some servers to get a bit of a boost and keep things interesting … add the current transfer fee and you can forget it

it’s a good idea for a short term bandaid

As someone who has spent a lot of time on a lower tier (like you), I can tell you that there is much less talk/intent on players on higher tiers to EVER transfer to lower ones now than even 1 year ago. Opening free transfers might get a few small guild groups and some random PUGs, but nothing significant enough to fix any of the lower tier issues.

With the lowered WvW populations (even in T2-T4) people are just flat out terrified it would be a ghostland in T6-8.

That all said, I would be behind them implementing free transfers, any help is better than none down there.

Totally agree. It would be a bandaid, but I would take a bandaid over nothing at this point. During NA some of the fights down here are absolutely awesome, but there’s no incentive for anyone to even try to come down here.

The mega maps are something I’m not a fan of because it’s zerg city. If we made wvw that it would be meh imo (and don’t know how we could do it without raising map caps)

I sort of like fighting for a certain server(whatever that server’s name is at the time).

Shorter matches are an interesting idea for sure!

Just my 2c

Really what you guys should do is open transfers to lower tier servers and get some variety… after all, getting some variety in the match ups and some new faces would really keep people interested in the short term …it would allow some servers to get a bit of a boost and keep things interesting

it’s a good idea for a short term bandaid

GvG Section in EOTM

Proposal Overview
A section of EOTM similar to that of obsidian sanctum where there are no annoying NPCs / buffs which allows for different guilds to enter and have GvG matches outside of their match ups
Goal of Proposal
This would solve the inability of certain guilds to have fair fights against one another in an isolated environment.
Proposal Functionality
Create an “add-on” section of EOTM similar to obsidian sanctum
Associated Risks
Griefing by non participants

any server in t6 t7 or t8? (in wvw)

Drakma.1549:

YtseJam.9784:

Being able to see the last time guild members logged in on the API (or in Game) would really be helpful for guild maintenance. As players leave the game, there is no user-friendly way of being able to see what members in a guild are inactive.

+1 and the ability to see the last time a member rep’d the guild would be nice as well.

Can’t add enough +1

I don’t mind map caps, but honestly after the eotm release people wanting the constant zerging and mass numbers have just gone to EOTM. Now with the release of season two, players have started moving en masse towards the servers they think will be winning the next season. The world vs world on the lower tiers has really been hurting. Don’t get me wrong, some of the most fun fights have been on the lower tiers when there are actually people, but since eotm and the announcement there has been a very sharp decline of players. Minus reset and Saturday, the borderlands are rather empty except for EB. I ask that we please get an anet employee down here on some of these lower tier servers (ET, AR, GoM) to see the state of affairs. It would be better if you came during any weekday so you can get a good measure of what an average day looks like.

If you think about it all of this makes sense. Why would players pay 150 gold or twenty dollars in order to head to a lower server. The matches are just the same old everywhere. From reading a lot of the posts / suggestions WvW just needs variety. I think shuffling up some of the players and giving them incentives and/or a week long transfer period would make a lot of people happy and, if people were to move, I think they’d have a really good experience down here.

With Eotm you removed one of the major reasons why people transferred lower and that was queues.

Could we please allow transfers to lower tiers? It would do a lot to revitalize wvw as well as make the match ups a lot more interesting. You would still have a few weeks data to see what’s going on. Opening transfers in the past didn’t make THAT much of a difference but it did make things a lot more interesting.

If you do… please open it for a week this time so guilds can coordinate and execute a move.

thanks blane – this is a great idea!

wtb mass blind lol

Bump – really fun fighting you guys – good luck with recruitment

Terms of Membership

A well-functioning guild must have some rules. Before we invite any member to the guild, they must agree to the following set of terms:

1)No Drama/Be Nice – This is TBT’s Golden Rule. We are pretty easy going, but something we 100% forbid is negativity such as constant whining. TBT members are also charged with proactively being nice and welcoming. Simply put, common decency is all we require.
2) 100% Guild Representation – While this may seem strict, it is absolutely necessary to creating the social atmosphere and WvW participation we want. Part of why our community is so strong is because our members are loyal to each other and the guild. 100% Guild Representation ensures that we all get to know each other and have synergy.
3)WvW Builds – If you are interested in running WvW with us, that’s great! However, please take note that we require our members participating in our nightly zergs to run particular builds and classes. In particular, we exclude rangers and thieves from joining our nightly zergs because of their low contributions to group play. If that’s all you have, fear not! We will help you level up another class. No uplevels during guild runs.
4)Raidcall – Member are required to download Raidcall, the VOIP we use. It’s a really great program, and it’s super easy to install and use. We have a private channel that’s PW protected.
5) Help New Players When You Can – While not a hard and fast rule like the first 4 terms, it is expected that TBT members help new players. This includes teaching dungeons, helping with map completion, advising on builds, assisting in crafting, and answering other types of questions and requests.
6) Show Up To Events – Like #5, this is also not a hard and fast rule. However, we strongly encourage TBT members to show up to PvE and WvW events, particularly WvW, which is where we need the correct builds to run effectively. TBT’s WvW strategy necessitates strong attendance and individualized strength through theorycrafting. Attendance during WvW is the best and highest way to give back to the guild.

Gallery
Below are some videos taken from the last weeks so you can see the evolution of the guild

Latest Videos (few days ago)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjqtJsLcCsw
http://youtu.be/hSxLGluhqBU

Earliest Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Xp9IjSAjg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu3FMDaXdhU

Executive Summary

The Black Tides [TBT] is an emerging power on Anvil Rock — US. TBT caters to a variety of game styles: WvW, PvE, and sPvP. TBT’s members are welcoming, respectful, knowledgeable, and generous. There are plenty of opportunities in TBT to advance your gameplay experience. Whether you are searching for a social guild, a powerhouse in WvW, or a group committed in helping each other along in PvE, look no further than TBT! We are recruiting committed players who are, at times, willing to put the group ahead of their own interests. Please contact Ovander (West Coast), Noirce (Asia/Oceanic), Telemachus Dreams (East Coast), or SmilingKnight (Midwest) for more details. Videos at the bottom.

Benefits of Membership – Why Should I Join TBT?

There are several reasons why you should consider joining TBT, including, but not limited to, the following:

1) Nightly WvW Excellence – Nothing is more satisfying that breaking up a larger zerg. This is TBT at its finest. Our biggest strength is our excellence in WvW. TBT’s members strive to run WvW-specific builds to optimize zerg busting. TBT runs WvW nightly under a highly experienced and knowledgeable commander. If you are a WvW junkie, TBT is for you.
2) Fun, Frequent, and Profitable PvE – TBT membership offers a rich and rewarding PvE experience. Several officers and guild members organize PvE events throughout the day. Whether you are looking for a 5-man dungeon run, a Fractals run, a World Boss tour, or a 20-man temple run (including opening Balthazar), look no further than TBT. Moreover, several of our members regularly train new players in PvE. If you’ve never done a dungeon or a Fractal run, TBT members are happy to help you, especially if you are looking for better gear. TBT is only as strong as its weakest link, so its in our best interest to help new players gear up.
3) Active & Knowledgeable Community – TBT prides itself on its community spirit. First, we place a high emphasis on collegiality. We facilitate a community of respect. Intolerance of new players is not tolerated. Second, TBT members are very knowledgeable about all aspects of the game. If you have a question related to anything about GW2, someone in TBT is bound to know. Third, TBT is active. We boast both a high overall membership and a high average of in-game attendance. Part of the reason for this strong community spirit is due to TBT’s policy of 100% Guild Representation, discussed below.
4) Guild Perks – There are many tangible benefits of TBT membership. We run Guild Missions weekly, enabling the acquisition of coveted Guild Commendations. We have several guild-wide buffs for our members. There is also plenty of merit-based opportunities for those who are interested in leadership positions in the guild. Finally, we purchase feasts for our WvW players!
5) Theorycrafting Sessions – GW2 is ever-changing, which means game mechanics and, more specifically, classes need to always be optimized. TBT members regularly discuss builds for all classes, sharing knowledge on what works and what doesn’t. If you’re not sure what type of gear you should acquire, what traits to invest in, or what utility skills to use, look no further than the expertise of TBT.
6) Website – TBT has a website! It’s a great way for members to stay in contact with one another, even out of game. Moreover, the website is used to make announcements for everyone to see, even without logging into the game. Finally, the website adds to the overall community spirit of TBT. Link.
7) Private sPvP Arena – TBT boasts its own private, password-protected PvP Arena. TBT members can use this whenever they want to test out a new build. Furthermore, guild officers run WvW training in this arena for new guild members and players.
8) No Crazies – GW2 is just a game. Real life stuff is always more important. At TBT, we understand that! We always strive for the best, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously either. Having fun is ALWAYS the number 1 priority.

this place is crazy. I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen from the server thus far

I recommend this server to any roamers and havoc groups especially

guys this is awesome it’s going to get people interested in WvW. Maybe it’ll repopulate the wvw maps since this EOTM crap has killed quite a few servers

“They have also been designed with the expectation that a player who spends the whole tournament in the Edge of the Mists can achieve the meta.

…And… back to reality

you’re going to want to look at TC and higher. If you read yaks and sbi threads they’re not a whole lot better. Oceanic prime is needed everywhere on NA and you can bet every server wants to pull you for PvDoor in order to win their PPT match up but you’re going to want to look at t1 and t2 if you want constant fights in your timeslot.

On that note, NA prime on AR is ridiculously fun (even up to 4am EST) because you never run out of players to stomp (in either zergs or roaming), but I can see why, until more players move down here, Oceanic would get stale.

Good luck in your new home.

Tongku.5326:

KrakerJack.8543:

It’s the new shiny toy. Give it a couple days/weeks and I think we will find BL’s populated once again.

Assuming you are on a server where PPT matters. Remember, half of the games WvW population is not in that position due to coverage / population gaps.

And if the main gameplay gravitates and becomes non-PPT based, what’s wrong with that ?

The only thing I don’t like about EOTM is that you cant enter/que as a guild or large organized group. Once or if that happens, its perma good bye to PPT.

Wrong. You can easily get a guild zerg in there. I’ve seen several already.

Here’s how

You have everyone enter eotm. Then 4 people join the same party and “join instance” so now they’re all in the same EOTM. After that, everyone in the same instance leaves the party and more players join their parties and “join instance”

Now you have large guild zergs.

You’re welcome (or I’m sorry).

Virtute.8251:

Didn’t mean to argue against EoTM promoting stacking. It does, unquestionably, but indirectly. After that tacit admission, the argument really comes down to whether or not you consider stacking to be an inherently bad thing.

EoTM doesn’t kill regular WvW. It changes it. EoTM is a new factor to the total equation. It’s not going to destroy normal WvW. It also will not be the last major revision of WvW.

you obviously havent seen the lower tiers

it was no fun fighting you either… we went and did a pve night because there was nothing but pvdoor

legitimately no enemies on any bl except …maybe you and two other guys

with the constant indig uptick in EOTM along with these stupid ledges / turrets / npcs / siege everywhere it’s not very fun

I tried roaming and got hit by a bunch of zergballing :/

really really hope this isn’t how things stay because it will indeed be the end of WvW on your server and kain’s

root.9415:

Did anyone even ask for this? There are 100s of suggestions concerning commander tags, and they add THIS?

http://i.imgur.com/6ourXPB.png

can’t agree with this more… at least make it see through honestly whoever thought of this should just quit because they’re so out of touch with the playerbase that it’s not even funny

so now I have this annoying blue dorito above my head whenever I turn on my tag… which also acts like an awesome blindspot

is there any way we can turn it off so we don’t see when we’re running it it or at least make it see through?

these threads always make me laugh so hard

Hey Anet… come play on ARbl today and see all the rubberbanding and bullkitten lag going on. I literally fell off a cliff then bounced back to the top of that cliff dead.

I’m playing a 12 mbps down and 2 up connection with a 17 ping when it happened.

http://www.speedtest.net/

everything outside of game the seems to be lag free so how about we get someone to look into this

Although I understand the reasoning, I don’t understand why anet couldn’t just permanently ban the same idiots that troll every thread in every one of their match ups. To go along with that, some of the moderation seemed a bit over the top as well.

I enjoyed reading the forums and even congratulating opposing players on good fights …this was a good way to talk to your opponents. It’s a shame that most of the player base that uses this has to be punished because for a few bad eggs. Now we all have to move to unofficial forums (often with little or no moderation). Prepare for things to get a lot more toxic.

RIP official forums

Faranox.4217:

Great battles at AR Hills tonight! I really wasn’t expecting to play for 3 hours straight tonight XD

Couldn’t agree more. Tonight’s fights in AR bl and EB are why I play WvW. Been commanding since 7pm and just couldn’t bring myself to log off till now :p

NSP and Ferg’s really brought the heat.