Guild Wars 2

BlueCheez.4873:

Every time you hear the “pro” players brag about how good they are at the game.

Java isn’t in this one.

Evan Lesh.3295:

I looked into this and have updated character select to work with PvP equipment and town clothes. Whether it goes into this month’s patch is questionable.

I can honestly say you are a rock-solid DEV. Thanks for your support.

Nord.5360:

In regards to Sotg, I can’t really talk about it yet, but I should be able to soon. I’m listening to player feedback regarding the show, and we’re hoping it pleases the majority of you guys.

“But Grouch, you can’t please everyone!”

Fair enough.

Well, now I’m wasted. Can someone call me a cab?

Jacobin.8509:

True MOBAs and MMORPGs are two different animals, but spvp was sold as a stand-alone competitive pvp mode. A lot of people bought the game with no intention of playing PVE or WvW.

We thought Anet actually knew what they were doing based on GW1 which was a brilliant competitive pvp game, instead we get a game that is nearing 8 months out and it is still nothing close to what a company 1/5th of their size has been able to produce despite selling millions of boxes.

PvP in MMOs can go 2 ways:

1) GW1 or even WoW where people play it because it has systems that support actual competition and skill
2) SWTOR or Aion where pvp is not competitive and just another way to get pve rewards and grind gear

GW2 spvp fails completely in both areas which is why barely anyone plays it.

I purchased this game strictly for the “standalone PvP”. I was under the impression that this mode would be supported separate from other modes and would have rigorous development post launch to ensure that A) the game was fun and b) the game was progressing toward the esport scene. Boy, where I got those ideas from I may never know because that is most surely not what I purchased.

I just hope this game is the casual king. What I mean by that: I just hope this game is the game that all casual gamers flock to and thus, this game eats up the casual market. I totally respect your (casuals) desire for this type of game, I just have a taste for something more rewarding and challenging. If this game takes in the bulk of the casual crowd, hopefully other games will have to focus on the more “hardcore”.

They have the ability to hotfix things they determine are truly “urgent”. Unfortunately, nothing you can describe occurring in the SPvP universe is urgent to Anet. Remember folks, we are second class citizens in these parts. Anet barely remembers that we even exists.

Good luck on your bug fix quest. Due to previous handling of game breaking bugs, I can tell you: don’t hold your breath.

Edit: You should probably post this on the PvE forums and say it’s ruining events or something like that. Then, you’ll get a fix in around 20 minutes.

Evan Lesh.3295:

This is a good idea! In fact, we’ve already discussed this. It’s done and will be in the next patch.

Well, since we’re talking about the next patch, can you enlighten us on anything else that may be in it?

Is this the most casual AAA MMO ever? I know some of you will get offended by this question thinking I’m attacking the game, but clearly, it was a design decision that Anet went for. Just curious if there has been another with more casual elements?

Rump Buffalo.2594:

The same game mode isnt necessarily the problem, look at LoL.

The problem is the depth of builds and the combat. Traits dont REALLY feel like they affect very much for the most part, due to many of them being extremely bad. Weapons feel confining rather than defining, and since there are only a few viable builds each class is pretty stale at the moment.

If pvp in GW2 had the depth that LoL matches did (lane phase, mid game, team fight, roaming, etc) just stuff that makes it more than RUN AROUND AND BUNKER ON POINTS OR TRY TO KILL THINGS then the game would be a lot more fun because it would have levels to it. I actually think maps are currently too small. You don’t really have to strategize because you can pretty much get almost anywhere instantly. There isnt much of a risk in running to a point. Additionally I think that matches should be to 1000pts, give more defined timers on special objectives and make them worth more. Spread them out so that going for one risks a cap node more. Make it so that maps start with 1 node active, the mid one, then after a few minutes the second node is active, then a few minutes later have the third node go after. This forces CHANGES IN GAMEPLAY within the match, phases that adjust how something is approached. This is what makes LoL so interesting.

I’d also LOVE to see a map like TF2 capture nodes where each team owns 3, 1 in the very middle is neutral, and you fight to control all 7, pushing through different areas each time a different node is being fought over (THIS is much better IMO). Right now the combat depth is extremely shallow and so there isnt really any way to stop that but rebuild a few systems.

Condition removal isnt strategic, it’s just there for most classes. You kinda just remove conditions cuz you can at certain points. “Oh many i have a lot of bleeding and im poisoned, better clear it before I heal.” But that doesnt feel like its actually necessary or a big deal in any way. Conditions are applied SO readily in many cases that the removal HAS to be like this. Its a mistake on both sides of the design.

Boons are far too plentiful for how good they are. The majority of classes dont have any reliable way to remove boons. Strategic boon removal should be something EVERY class has ACCESS to in some way. This would heavily break down the bunker meta and allow for new builds to emerge.

Many weapons are confused in what they want to do. Swords for warriors are power and condi dmg but do neither well. Daggers for thieves are mostly power but have death blossom in there for some reason (although I’m aware of bleed builds using it and caltrops). Scepter for necro is obviously a condi wep but the #3 scales off of power and gains %power damage per condi applied…how does that make any sense?

There are no real BIG moments. I feel like most of the very powerful abilities have such fast cast times OR roughly NO real telegraphy that you can get lost in the stream of particles. EX Cloak and Dagger should have a BIG SWIRLING BLACK THING OF SHADOWS around the thief’s hand when they are casting it for how important of an ability it is. Otherwise it just looks like a dagger attack and its extremely hard to avoid. An example of this done well is CHURNING EARTH which doesnt even hit that hard(which to me is hilarious for the work you have to do to get it to hit compared to CnD). Stuff just doesnt FEEL like it has impact and things like cripple and immobilize are far too readily available to the point where it doesnt feel like you need to even think about when you use them.

Additionally stealth really just needs to have revealed go to 5 seconds and have the 1 second longer stealth trait reduce it to 4 seconds. Currently 3 seconds is not enough and allows for perma stealthing. Stealth is no fun to fight. It’s not specifically OP but it creates boring and frustrating situations. It is also TOO GOOD for how insanely available it is to use. Anet said, during pre-beta, they understand how powerful stealth was and that’s why they wanted SHORT DURATION stealthing as opposed to the more traditional permastealth prior to combat, come out of nowhere and nuke ur target. Well guess what we got….

Very poignant and well written reply.

EaGrimdarK.7849:

Sixe.5704:

@ “EaGrimdarK” In writing this post I tried to be very simple, lucid, and to the point, without pointing fingers or crying about who’s op in the game or what the Dev’s have to do to fix whatever. In doing this I never expected a reply such as yours. Sorry my 15+ years experience in MMO’s is not up to par, or to your standards. And in response.. ( here.. pull my finger!)

There are a lot of incongruities in your original post, if you played 15+ years lol. Just wondering why you wouldnt have mentioned any one of the 5 major PvP mmo’s that were out before/around the time of L1, which were all vastly superior to every MMO you listed. And why would your PvP opinion be worth anything in the first place if you chose to play L1 over those MMO’s back in the day? That alone states that for the last 15 years you have made terrible decisions on which MMO’s to play. (Im especially curious as to why you didn’t mention any MMO’s you played before Lineage 1 since you said you’ve been playing longer than L1 has been out and almost every MMO out before L1 was PvP based, wouldnt you want to include that in your PvP credibility?)

So yeah, your pvp experience is by far not up to par. And no, I wont pull your finger because I was born after 1954.

Eagrimdark played all of the “best” PvP games. Too bad he was terrible at all if then.

I’m on anvil rock. Lower population, still zerg based.

That’s all I’ve played since head start is SPVP. That whole facet of the game is a ghost town because of how under-supported it is. About 1000 hours of pure PvP here. Looking for something engaging and progressive.

I may be the vocal minority here but having everything account bound is so care bear. If you want something on another character, then earn it. It’s what MMOs are. This isn’t some IOS game that you play to pass the time between bus rides. It’s meant to engage you and have you coming back. Accoun bound items are the bane of longevity to MMOs.

so I have been a Guild Wars 2 player since head start. I’ve tried WvW and it just did not do it for me. Do you think that there will be any content in the March patch that will make it more appealing for players that don’t like to zerg?I also hate PVE so I am wondering if there will be more incentives to always stay in WVW.

Thanks.

Wow, I can’t believe you a really said the combat in this game feels clunky and SWtoR felt fluid. When I read that my eyes popped out of my skull. There was about a 500+ page thread on the SWTOR forums after release that went into great detail describing the ability delay and how clunky the game was. It was the reason I quit. I even made a video going into detail about where that game had major flaws in the fluidity. The game designers, after the thread grew so big they couldn’t ignore it, stated they knew there was a problem, thanked me for my video, and vowed they would work diligently to fix it. They never did, that game is now free to play.

Still can’t believe I just read that.

Nord.5360:

felivear.1536:

Also can the guests do most of the talking this time and not the host? Sorry Grouch, just being real.

It’s an open forum. Guests are encouraged to chime in whenever. =)

I hear ya. Maybe it’s less about your assertiveness and more about the extreme passiveness of the guests. IMO Helseth should be on all future SoTGs. That dude keeps it real.

We can still do eeeet.

Also can the guests do most of the talking this time and not the host? Sorry Grouch, just being real.

1) can we start being more transparent since your lack of it thus far has been crushing to the game’s success.
2) Since paid gear is a joke now , can we get new gear that is MMR tier based? Copper, silver, gold MMR tiers get that unique gear respectively.
3) what are you actively doing to ensure 4v5 matches don’t occur?

Acandis.3250:

• Punish those that leave or DC or die IRL before the queue pops. You don’t want to “punish those with a legitimate reason they left queue” yet, you punish 3 or 4 other people instead because they are now partaking in a 1 map molestation.

I don’t think they need to be punished, just booted from roster.[/quote]

I think a punish system is warranted. Most other games have it and it’s a great deterrent.

Seether.7285:

Yeah they are pretty close. Probably only need another 6months to a year to have solo queue and matchmaking working. Which is pretty soon in ArenaNet terms.

Anet develops in doggy years.

Rerroll.9083:

They wont add gem rewards to a free to join tournament.

Then something else, but you get the point. We need something to separate rewards between the tiers. Your MMR in itself is 1 incentive, but seeing Cognito the thief in Gear that looks like it was molded to his body by an alien life form, that will really push your motivation up another notch. Right now, basically you can be a terrible player at the bottom of the MMR and beating other terrible teams and still get geared out. Gear is far less important than the MMR rating, but just another little thing to add to it all.

Also, since paid gear has been cheapened substantially, can we get different loot chests for your MMR bracket?

divide the bracket into 3 tiers

Copper Tier: Copper chests with copper level gear
Silver Tier: Silver chests and maybe a chance for a gem or some other incentive
Gold Tier: Gold Chest, X gems and a chance for a dye and coin purse along with 1 QP.

So, after my initial reaction to the patch, I’ve played some solo queue and I can’t help to think we are so close to being at the mecca. I find these few things are all we need to be at that happy place:

• Show that MMR yo. I lift weights not for the fun of it, but to see how much my glutes are improving. Do you even lift?
• Get a system in that insures that I never face another premade in solo queue. 1s a company, 2s a crowd, 5 is a lopsided falcon punch.
• Punish those that leave or DC or die IRL before the queue pops. You don’t want to “punish those with a legitimate reason they left queue” yet, you punish 3 or 4 other people instead because they are now partaking in a 1 map molestation.
• Make Elementalist a bit less…um…godly? Atheists are starting to doubt they even exists.

Evan is a breath of fresh air on these forums. First, he actually talks to us; second, he’s usually pretty open and doesn’t seem like someone is standing behind him smacking his hands with a ruler every time he types something that sheds light on what the devs are doing.

asp.3784:

C’mon, what is it with everybody wanting to mix up PVP and PVE? Just keep those separate. About the visible rating system: hell no! There are some players at rank 15 who are better than players at rank 55. Rank doesn’t say kitten.

Rating is skill based where rank is just time played. Showing rating is vital.

Your MMR is account wide so you’re right, learning a new profession will destroy your MMR. Also, yes playing with a good team regularly, if you go solo you’ll most likely get matched up with a good team while you play with pugs. The whole system is silly.

Interpret Interrupt.3824:

Evan Lesh.3295:

leman.7682:

Larynx.2453:

Evan Lesh.3295:

So a Mega Dummy with 10x hp would be better?

Please add “Mega Dummy” as a title under its name if you do add it.

Why not just call it a “Evan’s Mega Dummy”?

That has a nice ring to it.

Evan, a solution would be like the gw1 test dummy in the Temple of Balthazar. A team could practice a spike on him, then it would spit out total damage, and your dps level, and it was a good way for teams to practice their coordination on killing things. I am sure more information on this guy can be found on gw1 wiki.

The “dummy” never died, but was interactive in a sense.

Having a few dummies in the mist that do this would be amazing! I don’t care about having DPS meters that you can take with you into dungeons or inside tournies, but having one that you can use in the mist to test, in real time, the changes that you made to your build and how they affect your damage would be awesome. Why this game doesn’t have it, or even worse, why some players don’t want it is beyond me.

Soyboy.3548:

I’d be happy if yall quit. The game has been out for 6 months. Get a life. I don’t like being stomped by people who have time to form powerhouse teams. Go back to WoW with your demands. The people this game is marketed to is people like me who aren’t hardcore. You knew that upfront so stop griping.

Yep, that’s exactly what they advertised to me. They said “we are striving for an e-sport where the best can shine based on skill and not gear. They will be rewarded accordingly and will be able to display their skill in ways for all to see”.

Clearly made for the carebears like yourself.

I knew we were making progress.

bomber.1540:

why dont you all have a cry and hug each other? then go and play wow and everyones happy. the whingers are gone, while the rest of us enjoy playing an excellent game which will consistently improve patch to patch.

this game is still in its infancy and from what i can see, the devs are consistently working on improving the game. Paid tournies didnt really work due to long q times etc, so they changed it. If ratings being invisible becomes an issue, they will change it. it is day ONE of the ratings and matchmaking system, a new interesting map and a better solo q function.

I’ll make you a deal, we’ll all just leave and you and everyone else that is left can hug each other. I hope you won’t be embarrassed when you are hugging yourself, but then again, it shouldn’t matter because nobody else will witness it.

DiogoSilva.7089:

The idea I get is that the pvp team, much like the wvw team, had to delay some of their plans for March. I also think that the devs’ current goal at taking a look at every single aoe skill in the game might be slowing down their balancing pace.

Nonetheless, we know that spectator mode and custom servers are currently in the works, and should they (and the aoe fixes) pop up in March’s patch, the devs will have plenty of time to implement new stuff before any expansion comes late year (IF it comes).

Again, my question then is: did we get delayed because you have all hands on deck and yet still couldn’t meet the deadline? Or, did we get delayed because the current PvP patches and updates are being done while also having some of the same team working on expansion content.

The first one is not great, but mildly acceptable, the second one would be an outrage.

So, recently there was a Korean firm that all but garaunteed based on NCSoft financial projections that Guild Wars 2 would be coming out with an expansion in Q3 of this year (which clearly coincides with Anet’s philosophy of creating expansions rapidly due to the lack of a sub model).

So, I have a question: Is PvP currently being developed for that? If this expansion is to be released in August or September (speculation) then clearly at Anet’s production pace, they HAVE to be actively working on content for the PvP portion of it.

Why is this significant? Currently we are getting patches that are coming at a snails pace with little to no content. We know that PvP has a limited number of DEVs. We have a new map in this “GIANT PVP PATCH”, but even JSharp once stated that “creating new maps take almost no resources and can be done with just me and a map designer”. Are we getting strung along with actually fixing the game because they are working on content that will net them profit? Are we being strung along because they are actively working on expansion content for them dollar bills? Will we get an expansion that we have to pay for that will finally fix all these issues?

I think these are legitimate concerns coming from a community member that is quite letdown.

I would just like to say that I believe, with all my heart, that Anet and their design and communication philosophy has created an unstable environment. Whereas, when the game first launched, the PvP community was thriving, helpful, and eager to compete; now, we’re a cynical and sarcastic bunch.

The game had so much hype before launch, and not just because of the potential of PvP or gameplay but the potential of the company creating the game. I told so many of my friends statements like this, “This game is going to be amazing, not because of the game necessarily but the fact that it will be polished and re-polished by DEVs that really understand the community”. Boy…was I wrong. I think the transparency, or a clear lack thereof, of this DEV team along with the hollow promises and the “just wait and see what we have in store” statements make me feel duped, not because I believed them, but the fact that I was so adamant before the game launched that THIS company would never do these things. They would be open, honest, and create an environment that would promote a thriving community.

I not only feel angry that the game that I had soooo much hope for is a letdown, but I feel like a gullible old lady being duped by a Nigerian Prince. So many of my friends told me I was naive going into this game, and now they look at me like “that poor gullible soul.”

Just my thoughts, but I feel like posting these on the forums can be therapeutic.

“cannot redirect you to the map because it hasn’t been flagged for testing”

HAHA

This patch has upset even the most level-headed among us. When you’ve even upset Xeph, you’ve done some major no-nos Anet.

Jareth.4813:

felivear.1536:

Jareth.4813:

dimyzuka.7051:

Jareth.4813:

Tbh I doubt there will be such a thing as “The big one”.

You’re going to get the features as and when they are ready.

This month you got Solo queue and matchmaking, plus a new pvp map.

Who knows what next month will bring to the table.

nup. no solo que, just yolo que.

aanet trolled us good.

Why is it not solo queue?

I’m genuinly curious as I’m still downloading the patch.

Do you not click a button and then get put into matchmaking as a single entry?

Yes, with the possibility of being matched against full premade teams. You could ALWAYS do this. The option to hit a button wasn’t there before, but you could easily click “create team” and then with only you in the party hit “submit roster” then it would queue you as a solo player. Really, this is just a cleaner way to do what we could always do.

Ah so a true solo queue would be if it only put you up against other solo players?

Ya, that is what much of the community is begging for. A way for a players without teams to play in a competitive way and be ranked for it, without the risk of playing against full premade teams using VOIP.

We sure are!! Too bad it’s the XFL

Help me, help you.

Jareth.4813:

dimyzuka.7051:

Jareth.4813:

Tbh I doubt there will be such a thing as “The big one”.

You’re going to get the features as and when they are ready.

This month you got Solo queue and matchmaking, plus a new pvp map.

Who knows what next month will bring to the table.

nup. no solo que, just yolo que.

aanet trolled us good.

Why is it not solo queue?

I’m genuinly curious as I’m still downloading the patch.

Do you not click a button and then get put into matchmaking as a single entry?

Yes, with the possibility of being matched against full premade teams. You could ALWAYS do this. The option to hit a button wasn’t there before, but you could easily click “create team” and then with only you in the party hit “submit roster” then it would queue you as a solo player. Really, this is just a cleaner way to do what we could always do.

daydream.2938:

Overall, my first impression is the patch moves us in the right direction. But, at a crawl, they need to realease another patch update and soon that continues to move us in the right direction.

A weeks feedback from this new patch should be all they need to take another look.

At this point, I would consider changes to the PvP locker (item stacking anyone?) as giant changes. That’s how my expectations have dwindled to nothing.

Jareth.4813:

“There is now a “Join Solo” button in the tournament browser that automates a single-player tournament entry.”

Looks like solo queue to me, but hey I’m still patching so what do I know.

Even then where did I say that what they had given you was significant? Still ways to go sure, but they are adding stuff as and when it’s ready.

Like I said, there won’t be a “Big” pvp patch. It’ll be slow and steady.

It is not a solo queue, it is the option for the game to automatically place you in a tournament as a solo player (kind of like the great Join Now Hotjoin button). Basically the game was so well developed before that new players thought you had to join tournaments as a team because the option to join as a solo player was cumbersome. So no, this is not a solo queue.

Jareth.4813:

Tbh I doubt there will be such a thing as “The big one”.

You’re going to get the features as and when they are ready.

This month you got Solo queue and matchmaking, plus a new pvp map.

Who knows what next month will bring to the table.

That’s where you are completely wrong. They didn’t introduce a solo queue at all. Matchmaking has been in since mid January (in a stealth patch) and in fact the only change to the tournament system was that they took out the feature (paids) that they added last year, even though last year we told them it was a terrible idea.

So ya, make no mistake about it, this is not at all giving us anything significant.

DXIEdge.2789:

Where is the leaderboard?

If matchmaking is in and good to go, an your taking QP’s, where is the leaderboard

To stay in line with their normal communication process you never heard that the leaderboards have been delayed and will be deployed in a series of future patches. Why did you never hear that? Because our PvP team never told us. Colin Brohanson told a random website in a random interview that I had to dig up.

TheBeedon.6031:

I’m pretty sure in the most recent gw2guru sotg, they said quite explicitly that this was not, in fact, “the big pvp patch”

They were saying that the one in January was NOT the big PvP patch and to expect the next one to be the PvP one.

March is supposed to be more of a WvW patch.

I just want to chime in with my disappointment, like everyone else. This one was touted as the big PvP patch that would change SPvP. I am going to log in tomorrow and test the depth of the changes, but I think I already know what to expect. To summarize our patch.

• Minor class changes (that really don’t appear to have changed much)
• A new map
• A new “feature” that is really just removing what we asked you never to put into the game in the first place
• Matchmaking (which has been in for a month now)
• A magnitude more of PvE changes

That was our huge PvP patch. It’s all downhill from here fellas.

I think it’s odd that the big PvP patch is basically just removing what you added last year even though the community told you it was a terrible idea last year.

So, we’ve gotten to the point where you implement a feature without asking the community because of your terrible “we don’t need community opinion” stance on communication. Then, once we have proved to you that the change was a bad one, you dress it up as a new PvP feature and give it back to us the way it was before.

This is precisely what I was expecting. Tiny changes to class balance, a new map, TONS of PvE changes (in a “PvP focused Patch”), and a feature that isn’t really a feature at all.

The 2 biggest changes to PvP recently that the community praised you for was removing the paid tournament 3 round format and then removing paid tournaments completely.

As a company, will you please remove your head out of the sand, stand up and realize that without community involvement in changes, you will go the way of SWTOR?

Please take this last sentence to heart: I loved your manifesto; it sold me on this game. I never played GW1 and somehow I became an Anet fanboy. Then, the launch hit and basically everything in the manifesto was either incomplete or just an outright lie. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.

Get your red lettered butts on the forums and let’s discuss changes next time? Stop being so proud.

This idea is the silliest idea that people come up with (no offense, it’s my opinion).

When you say that this game mode should be free to play you are implying that PvP would thrive if only there were more people to play it. I’m going to put 2 sentences together and you tell me what they add up to.

• GW2 is being touted by Anet and media outlets as “The Fastest Selling MMO of all-time”. Some saying well over 3 million copies
• PvP in this game is on the verge of extinction

Do I think they need to do something to get people playing? Yes. But those things need to be ways of incentivising PvP and KEEPING players in here once they try it. Currently, the problem isn’t that they aren’t trying it, it’s that they are, and hating it.

Lordrosicky.5813:

I reackon them scrapping QP means a visible ladder is coming in the patch. I could be wrong though.

You are wrong indeed. Colin Brohanson said recently in an interview that ladders will be coming in future releases as its own patch. He said soon, so I’m guessing sometime before the release of the PS4.