Guild Wars 2

Current Score Update:
Brought to you by [FEAR]

Thank you SBI and TC for the great battle at SBI Bay. I’m actually glad you gave up after two and a half hours of fighting. My bags were full. We will not forget the Alamo.

Kerithlan, I think your predictions are inaccurate and/or based on misguided information.

In my opinion, having the ability to drop blueprints for people to pick up is not an exploit nor is it bad by any means. The option to trade blueprints in WvW, by way of dropping it, facilitates the creation of superior siege by consolidating materials into a single crafter’s hands.

I do not expect to see a nerf coming to thieves any time soon. Sure they are a pain when more than one singles you out and drains your health in seconds, but they are not all that powerful in team fights. To my understanding, the designer of the thief class has so much seniority that most of the people at ANET are too afraid to stand up to said person, which in the end will result in other classes facing nerfs, the thief remains just as strong, and other classes begin to appear less viable in WvW. In the long run, the only way that perfect balance will ever be reached is if all classes have the same base stats, utility skills, weapon skills, and receive similar stats from equivalent traits. That is not a place any developer should want to go. Ideally, classes should complement one another to a point that makes every class not only viable for all styles of game play but wanted to be played by all styles of MMO gamerz. ANET attempted to push for class complementing through the implementation of combo fields. Whether or not combo fields were successful at inducing an urge to pair complementing classes, well I could not tell you.

Aneirin Cadwall.9126:

…No, I’d rather they be on their level 80 main character. I have no problem at all with someone who’s level 1 and brand new to the game jumping straight into World vs World from the tutorial. That was never the point…

On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea why a tiny vocal majority both approve of and defend not giving 100% and is doing all it can to destroy my willpower to give mine. Are you spies from another server or something? Good tactic. The thought that it’s actually coming from the people I have to depend on is disappointing. Thanks, then, for trying to demoralize me further, but I will continue to stay fully stocked on blueprints (and use them), always carry supply to build siege, always be on a level 80 character, always have equipment sets that apply to different situations, and always use do everything that I can (whether you anyone thinks it’s more or less than someone with the holy blue dorito of zerging +1) to make a difference… because those things are not difficult to do. If anything, chide me for not stepping up and organizing the hell out of our strategies.

Competition isn’t all about hugs and butterflies and getting a trophy for participation and I will not pat someone on the back and say “maybe next week” because they want to ride everyone else’s best effort. If you aren’t doing all you can, you just don’t care about your own contribution and the quality of your work… and again, I just cannot comprehend that mentality. If this attitude is representative of my generation in the real world, too, I have a lot more confidence about getting any job I want immediately after I finish my degree because there will be noone in the resume pool to compete against.

All I’ve learned from the persistent trolling in response to my efforts to improve our world’s overall effort is that wanting others to give their strongest possible effort in the spirit of strong team play — and saying it — is unreasonable and even tyrannical. Even when there isn’t a queue (especially when there isn’t a queue) you should be on your level 80 character… but some of you have made it clear to me that I can say anything, negative or positive, and you’ll all continue to do what you want because you are entitled to.

And being on TeamSpeak isn’t benefitting our world as much as you think. I listen in on TeamSpeak whenever I’m in World vs World (and sometimes while I can’t be) and it’s nothing more than “Hey there’s guys attacking x.” “Hey guys let’s gather at y.” “Hey guys we have too many commanders on this map.” More importantly, anything that can be said on TS can be typed in game. That would be better because not everyone is on TeamSpeak. The only reason I have TeamSpeak installed at all is because I know that it’s a source of information on enemy movement, letting me and anyone who’s with me who isn’t on TeamSpeak know where we can be most useful either alone or in a group.

First of all, I would like to say that our level eights wreck face when we move on a boarderland. CHOO, RUN, and CoR have dominated the IoJ boarderland so far this week. The problem is not low levels. The problem is learning how to not fight for second and mastering a counter for the breakout event. Not fighting for second is really a simple concept, but even SoR has a hard time moving passed the low tier strategies at times. I laughed at Bav’s post about the thief, because I thought, "man they are all going to think we are low levels. Then I remembered, we wreck face, and we constantly storm into lord’s rooms shacking pillars.

Secondly, I find it hard to believe that anyone would choose text over a voice communication system like TS3. Sure, text is great if you are not in the same TS channel, but it provides little to no use in the heat of battle. I, like many others, do not watch chat when I am fighting. We listen and communicate by voice which allows us to communicate in real time without having to take our eyes off the fight. In fact, some of the better commanders give movement and combat orders during fights that you would never know about if you were not in TS. Anyone that has to stop fighting to type a message is one less person in the fight. lol. What are you going to tell BG and IoJ, “hold on a sec; I need to type an order to my team, and by the way, give them a few seconds to read it?” I think not. Saying something on TS, instead of typing it, ensures that the message will not be missed. The few sayings you stated as being heard in TS can actually have rather profound effects when heard instead of read, because they allow people to react without the possibility of missing the messages and not knowing the current situation. I could really go on and on about the benefits of active voice communication, but I will not. The last thing I want to say about voice comm is that everyone should use it, plain and simple.

Like I said before, there is nothing wrong with thieves. The issue is people not knowing how to counter them. Someone gets rofl-stomped by a thief, and all of a sudden the class is OP. FYI, AOE hits stealthed thieves whether they are culled or not. The OP called for a nerf on Thieves, and that just makes me laugh. I guess the difference between me and the complainers is that I expect to find the thieves in a downed state when they reappear. That, or they are crippled and hobbling with a sliver of health remaining.

I love hearing about how thieves need to be nerfed and changed when there is really nothing wrong with them. I main a Necro, and I come across 1v1 scenarios with thieves from time to time. There are three types of scenarios that I typically see play out.
1. I get hit off guard by a glass cannon, and I’m down and dead in a matter of seconds.
2 and 3. I see the thief before the attack initiation and I am prepared for combat. The thief either ends up downed or running away with little to no health remaining, whether perma-stealth built or not.

The classes are well balanced and don’t need changes. The culling is an issue that needs to be addressed, but that will help everyone out. Learning to play your class better and or staying in a group will help you counter glass cannons any day as they sacrifice HP for DPS.

Bolder:
PvP and PvE are two completely separate animals. PvP presents dynamic opponents in that they are unpredictable, constantly changing, and use tactics that are not programmed into the game. PvP requires a different approach to combat than that of PvE. And like Berkut said, fighting alone in WvW can be a bad idea. Try researching PvP builds, guides, and videos related to your class type. Try out different Trait builds and see what works most effectively for you. You do not need full exotic gear to be effective in PvP. However, having exotic level gear stated for the specific build you want to use will grant you better stats and make you all the more effective. Also like Berkut said, find a group to travel with while you are in WvW. You are far stronger in numbers than you ever are by yourself. Lastly, listen to and follow your commanders. You can open your map while in WvW, and you should be able to see the blue commander icons. Many of the commanders have extensive experience in WvW, and they should be able to lead you into possible victory.

I want to ask a question. If the devs are on our side, why aren’t we face-rolling BG right now? Besides that, what about all the other match-ups that have a similar situation as you, Dariuzazep?

Arch, apology accepted. The message may have come across to me differently, rather than as it was originally intended.

First of all, I would like to say that GW2 is not the first game that ArenaNet implemented holiday events. The holiday events were some of my fondest memories of GW1. I will leave it at that.

Secondly, you can not put in a suggestion thread, ranting about how you want something now, now, now, and expect to receive all positive replies from the various readers of your post.

Lastly, I will go through your points and add my two cents.
1. Trading Post Preview Option: I feel that it would be a very good idea to implement the option to preview the item in the Trading Post before purchase. I have wasted in-game money on items to find out they were not what I wanted. However, the purchases occurred before I knew about the sPvP locker. There are three lockers to the right of where you stand when you first enter Heart of The Mists. The lockers are there to hold all the PvP armor you acquire, and you can also preview almost all possible armor and weapon styles that you can find in PvE.
2. More Towns Clothes Options: I do not see any urgency in releasing new clothes right this second. I am sure that more options will become available as more content is released, and urging to make this a priority over the hundreds of other things ArenaNet is working on is, in my opinion, a waste of time. Be patient.
3. A Slash Roll Command: Please do not make me laugh. The option serves no purpose in GW2 what so ever. @pizza I do not see a use for a slash roll command very useful in roleplaying, unless you want to play GW2 as a board game.
4. Last Logged in Section in The Guild Window: Sure, it is not a bad idea as long as there is a cap on the number of members a guild is allowed to have. Otherwise, it is not very important.
5. Guild Officer in Game Chat: I am not an officer in GW2, but I have been in other games that had the option. Honestly, it is a waste of time to implement the feature. Most guilds use services like Teamspeak and Ventrilo. Both services provide the options for channel creation allowing for channels dedicated to many purposes such as officer-only chat, and the channels can be password protected.
6. Dye Application Option in The Equipment Preview Window: I can the see the usefulness in having the ability to preview items as you might wear them with applied dyes. However, again, this is not a pressing issue.

@Arch You are making yourself look bad by attacking other players.

The problem that occurs too often is that players assume once a game is released the staff that created the game must have excessive amounts of free time. They also seem to think that just because a change in game is not implemented it will never be implemented or the developers are not working on the idea at all. I am sure the staff at ArenaNet are working hard to deliver high quality content as exemplified in high quality game that we so much enjoy to play. However, no one can expect to have implemented every little detail they feel should be in a game at the time they feel it should be implemented. I know that ArenaNet places certain things in higher priority than others. I have seen it first hand. Myself and other people noticed a serious bug in WvW one day, we reported the problem, and a patch was released within minutes of sending the report.

I would like to share the idea of using a hack/cheating detection service in line with GW2. I, like many people, hate cheaters. They detract from the gaming experience and tend to gain an unfair advantange over honest players who wish to play a game for what it is. May I introduce to you PunkBuster? Due to the fact that I am of no relation to the organization, I will let Even Balance, Inc. explain its product. The following information has been taken directly from http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=info.php, and further information can be found at www.evenbalance.com.

Even Balance, Inc. spearheads the effort to fight cheating in the online multiplayer gaming industry. Our flagship product, PunkBuster™, spawned the Anti-Cheat movement in online gaming several years ago and was the first system proven effective against cheating in online games.

Our PunkBuster™ Anti-Cheat software technology and services combat online cheating in some of the most popular games being played over the Internet today. We also serve the online gaming communities that surround the games we support by keeping in direct contact with players, server administrators and league officials always watching for new developments in the “online game cheating world”. We understand and appreciate the tremendous number of resources that game developers allocate toward game balance during game design and implementation. We take on the often burdensome task of protecting that balance out in the real online world where dishonest players (we call them punks) hack and wrongfully exploit the published game for their own benefit at the expense of the honest player who expects and deserves fun, fair competition. Too many online games and related communities have been destroyed by cheating activity over the past few years. Now, honest players have someone on their side … PunkBuster™!

Major Features in PunkBuster™
(some editions of PunkBuster™ do not have all of these features)

- Real-time scanning of memory by PB Client on players’ computers searching for known hacks/cheats
-Throttled two-tiered background auto-update system using multiple Internet Master Servers to provide end-user security ensuring that no false or corrupted updates can be installed on players’ computers
- Frequent status reports (highly encrypted) are sent to the PB Server by all players and the PB Server raises a violation when necessary which causes the offending player to be removed from the game and all other players are informed of the violation
- PB Admins can also manually remove players from the game for a specified number of minutes or permanently ban if desired
- PB Servers can optionally be configured to randomly check player settings looking for known exploits of the game engine
- PB Admins can request actual screenshot samples from specific players and/or can configure the PB Server to randomly grab screenshot samples from players during gameplay
- An optional “bad name” facility is provided so that PB Admins can prevent players from using offensive player names containing unwanted profanity or racial slurs
- Search functions are provided for PB Admins who wish to search player’s keybindings and scripts for anything that may be known to exploit the game
- The PunkBuster™ Player Power facility can be configured to allow players to self-administer game servers when the Server Administrator is not present entirely without the need for passwords
- PB Servers have an optional built-in mini http web server interface that allows the game server to be remotely administered via a web browser from anywhere over the Internet

Now back to my thoughts. Mind you, I do not know if the services provided by Even Balance would support GW2. Nevertheless, I think it would be a good idea for ArenaNet to look into the possibility of using a service such as PunkBuster.

This is how you should run the clock tower.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZHj2s6ePiY

My Thoughts:
We could all continue to go back and forth about many issues, but it will never do us much good. I am sure the developers are well aware of the concerns within the GW2 community regarding WvW. And, they are doing things within their interests to manipulate the game to make it as satisfying as possible to the whole. However, there are no guidelines as to what can and can not be done in WvW aside from cheating, exploiting, and hacking. I will not go into detail on the matter, but I will say that, in my opinion, pushing the enemy to their spawn, away from a tower, or away from a supply camp does serve tactical purposes. If you require details as to the purposes, you can shoot me a message.

I do not have the ability to control other people, and I lack the power to speak for others. I am nothing more than another player enjoying the game in which I have chosen to play. Having said that, I apologize to anyone that has been hurt, offended, or otherwise been a recipient of a negative action by someone from, what I call, my server, SoR. I am not apologizing for purely tactical actions taken in WvW.

I, like many others, enjoy the community, competition, and style of play that comes with participating in WvW. I have been in many competitive arenas throughout the years, and comradery and sportsmanship mean a lot to me. So much so, that I would like to share some points that I feel are key to being successful in WvW.

First of all, WvW is a team-based arena. People with an attitude toward being team players are catalysts for success. Cooperation and humility are two important keys to success. Cooperation does not require a long description as to why it is so important. Humility, on the other hand, may require a bit of explanation, because most people do not consider humility to be a characteristic of successful competitors. I will only use two points in my explanation of humility in the competitive arena.

How does humility pertain to success in WvW?

Point One:
Having humility means having the ability to accept criticism and losses while still keeping your head held high. Everyone losses at one time or another. SoR has experienced its share of losses. Take every loss as an opportunity to learn, grow, and develop new tactics.

Point Two:
We can not all be leaders. Have you ever heard the saying, ‘there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians?’ The saying refers to an instance in which too many members of a group try to lead instead of following. Many groups fail to succeed do to a lack of members’ willingness to follow others they feel to be equal to themselves. Often enough, a player’s ego or “kitten” will get in the way of coexisting in an organized environment. A player with a big ego may question a commander’s or guild officer’s decision, because they think to themselves, ‘who is this person, and what makes them better than me?’ To answer the question, no one is really better than the other person. Although, many guild officers may have been selected, chosen, or voted into their positions. Many guild members learn that being a part of a guild requires the willingness to accept the authority of the leaders, officers, and rules of the community. Having humility allows a player to easily obey and follow the directions of their guild leaders. The ability to follow the leaders within a guild is very similar to the ability of following commanders on the battlefield in WvW. Just a side note, a lack of leadership in WvW will most likely lead to chaos while too much leadership could lead to anarchy.

My last few thoughts on success in WvW:
Perform every order given to you without hesitation. A command you have been given could be a critical move that shifts the tides of war, and a delay in carrying out an order could effectively prevent you from winning a battle.

Always have fun. No matter how frustrating the constant battles can get, remember it is just a game. Never take out your frustration or anger on another team member.

I wish TC and ET the best going into next week. GLHF

No, spawn camping entails the act of fully denying you exit from your spawn. Due to the fact that you are still able to exit your spawning location, you are not being spawn camped. You are immune to damage while you are in your spawn. Also, it is called the front line. You put in place a front line in order to deny the enemy the ability to advance on strategic positions. If we only fought at the keeps, we would lose supply camps and other needed positions. We will not change our tactics, because someone feels they require a handicap. Try setting up your ranged offense on the hillside, and send in your melee. If your tactics are not working, change them.

@ those complaining about spawn camping the northern supply camp: It is a tactical location required for supplying keeps with upgrades. There are numerous other ways that you can exit the base allowing you to move in and overtake the enemy forces. I am sure you have heard the saying before that all is fair in love and war.

@ anyone from SoR that chooses to trash-talk someone from another server or our home-world: If you are incapable of not being respectful to other players, you are not welcome at SoR. There are other servers that may be more suitable homes for disrespectful players, but SoR is not one them.

This week’s match started some time after 8:00 PM PST. I was one of the first people in the Tarnished Coast Borderlands. I operated primarily on the East and North East parts of the map. I did not leave WvW until sometime around 6:30 A.M. PST. I will speak for all of SoR and say that our overall focus is not on any particular server.

We had an epic battle on the Tarnished Coast Borderlands last night. We managed to hold the Garrison from a three sided attack as our western and eastern outer walls were falling to trebuchet fire from the adjacent towers. We persevered in the face of adversity. Although the alter holding our orb was broken, we managed to secure the orb before TC could successfully remove it from the keep. While our forces converged on the Garrison to expel the invading forces, we successfully defeated the enemy in the Garrison and transported the orb to a more secure location. Our success is due to the hard work of every individual fighting along side me. However, we would not have succeeded without the precision and timely execution of our officers. Whether you are friend or foe, I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield.

Unless I’m mistaken, the orb cannot be moved from an alter unless the alter is broken.