Guild Wars 2

Surbrus.6942:

Sporadicus.1028:

I have to agree with most of the anti-JP posters.
…

The JP isn’t a problem. It is a resource. Yes it would be nice to have capture points up there as well, but even without providing points they are still valuable to control in WvW.

Is it worth 30+ people to secure the JP?… no, just as taking a single supply camp with 30+ people is also a waste of time.

The WvW JP doesn’t need to be a scapegoat for disorganized servers and people who can’t jump.

I understand the point you are trying to make and the layman’s argument you are making. And I agree with the inference you are making. However, there is a certain absurd extremism in your argument that I find disturbing.

My fear is that there is an idiot out there that actually might take your argument too far.

There are times when it is appropriate to throw 30-50+ people to take a camp (with or without leveraging portal bombs or flanking maneuvers). The fact that you have not experienced such a need does not mean that such a tactic is a waste of time.

There are geographic, tactical, or speed advantages, or simply supplying up pugs that might be a bit disadvantaged in the personal responsibility (or still learning) department.

There are any number of reasons a seasoned commander may choose to throw 30+ people at/over/through a single supply camp. This is simply a bad argument and has only a tiny fraction of relevance to any jumping puzzle argument where there are ZERO point scoring (contributory) objectives.

This is an area where we are more likely in agreement than in disagreement. It is probably not worth contango… if you wish to disagree. I respect that.

StormWolf.7645:

I am predicting that with the addition of WM, Kaineng is at -least- a Tier 3 Server now. Possibly more. Based solely on numbers and how I’ve seen DR doing thus far.

This notion is certainly motivational. Unfortunately, reality is more of a wet blanket. Even a forgiving estimate of the numbers might project a minimum of 16 weeks for before Kain will have an opportunity to see T3. Unless there is a radical shift in ANet policy, speculating on their new capability (more than one tier removed) is sheer fantasy.

More than likely, the bandwagon momentum will continue to build in Kain countered by the boredom of running weekly 90-100% pie charts. People will get their map completions and Kain will learn new and innovative ways to dominate the JPs (while, if smart, building a HUGE — H.U.G.E.™ — supply of free siege and badges.

Kain’s new challenge is to not get complacent, lazy and bored (read: happy, fat, and stupid). Kain will need to learn how to manage the ticks while allowing the enemy onto the field. Otherwise, there will be no enemy to fight… ever. And Kain will become very squishy — and the awakening that comes with a “slap from yo mamma” can be very demoralizing to peakittening combat troops.

Stay focused. Play the long game.

Adaneshade.2409:

The intent is for badges to come from participation in PvP.

First, let me say, I support pvp in pvp zones.

• I have no problem with those that siege up JP.
• I also have no problem with those that want to “collaborate” with other servers to do JP.

I do; however, take exception with the badges argument.

Badge drops in PvP are horrid, unpredictable, and unfairly disadvantage support classes (that are absolutely critical for macro efforts).

I can easily get more badge drops on my aggressive spec’d toons via pvp than via the chest on any given day. However, this is not true for my support toons. This is a long, tired argument that crosses many games for well over 10 years. Where are the rewards and incentives for those that provide second line services.

Truth is, many games deliberately disincentivize <sp support roles because it prolongs battles and reduces the kill count.

I’m not sure that is the case in GW2… I honestly think the incentive system is wacked due to a complete disinterest on the part of the architects and devs to fix it and a total detachment from the reality of the “play experience.”

No… currently, for many, if not most, support spec’s… the JP chest offers more badge incentive than does raw pvp in wvw.

If badges were removed entirely from the JP chest (or if wvw “currency” were more fairly distributed), you would see a radically different population (and dynamic) in the puzzle.

The badge argument is simply strawman and ad nausium.

MiceElf.6897:

I have to disagree with this sentiment here. This is a game. Our commanders aren’t trained army leaders. They are people just like the rest of us, trying to help us all have fun, and maybe win once in a while. To expect that they have the outer crust of a seasoned warrior is unreasonable.

What is unreasonable is to ignorantly purchase a commander book without an understanding of the difficult responsibility that comes with the honor of serving.

A commander can’t pick his/her army. S/he must fight with the army at hand and train the army of tomorrow. Everyone resists change. People do what they know. And when what they know isn’t working, they will make every excuse to avoid change — they will blame every factor before looking inward.

If one is unaware of the challenges of leadership, then one is unprepared to face the challenges of leadership.

It is reasonable to presume that one would invest adequate time in wvw, develop a sense of the leadership landscape, and earn a starting reputation as a deputy commander or support leader well in advance of putting on the pin.

It is reasonable to expect commanders to be more than “people just like the rest of us.”

It is reasonable to expect commanders to be people with (above average) charisma, courage, determination, battlefield awareness, and/or guile.

It is reasonable to expect new or young commanders to be unprepared for all the challenges of leadership and that they would seek out mentors to shepherd them to a better place.

It is reasonable to expect more from a commander than from a non-commander.

And not everyone is cut out to be a commander. While anyone can buy a commander pin… leadership is not the end-game for everyone. The more people that realize this, the less painful will be the awakening.

No, I reject your premise. It is an honor to serve. Command (leadership) is a privilege… not a right.

Mindtrick.5190:

You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips.

And here I thought in the 21st Century, with all the Millenials, that our partnership was more based on necromantic soul-sucking and getting the golem into the portal than historical Hollywood notions of romance.

Could you hum the score while you do that?

hungryhippos.4980:

I suggest a change in map population or the inevitable server consolidation which will fill up PvE and WvW again. If T3 is like this I can’t imagine what its like in the bottom rungs of WvW in terms of numbers.

I am a huge advocate of server consolidation; however, I would prefer that it be voluntary.

Unfortunately, server loyalty, external assets (websites, voip, etc), and open threats from guild leadership change the economics of server mobility.

Let me toss in an additional twist to bake in your population brainpan for a moment.

I know ALOT of people (more than 100) that have dual or triple accounts (and I don’t suggest that my sample is representative of a larger population). They maintain a “main” account to retain their “loyalties” but the reality is that their operative mains (the accounts they really play more) are their secondary accounts.

This creates a shadow population that is free to move from server to server (and more often from Tier to Tier) unfettered by social, political, or economic constraints.

Most people I know of playing this way are playing cross tier to either be with friends or to seek out different “experiences.” The most classic example are those that play in both Tier 1 and Tier 7/8.

There are some that suggest that Tier 7/8 population figures are actually exaggerated by part time players that “burst” play in other Tiers. I have at least a dozen friends that play like this to experience the challenge and training of playing on servers that face devastating losses and overwhelming coverage disparity or that normally play on a losing server and want to also experience what it feels like to win occasionally.

^^^ I hope my language skills did justice to the convoluted logic. I apologize if my words don’t translate well.

There are some unfortunate and unpleasant population/coverage issues materializing. There are as many reasons ventured for this as there are people staying and leaving. The most startling observation is that so very many people seem to be willing to ignore the 800 pound gorilla.

I do think that “perma-swiftness” or the ability to self-swift (and swift others) to a high degree is an advantage to a commander that drives point.

Speed is a style element. That said, slow moving commanders face more challenges with faster moving pugs than fast moving commanders.

Other than that, know your class and play your class well. If you choose to run a glass build, then either face the challenges of downing a lot on the field or find ways to mitigate the risk of your death — a commander that is constantly running people around because (perception) s/he keeps dying and calling a WP rally is going to lose respect.

On the other hand, when there are total wipes and the only person left standing is the commander and s/he can go around and rez everyone and reverse an apparent group wipe — powerful leadership mojo to be had if handled heroically and humbly.

[ed2-After careful consideration, I have removed the first six (6) paragraphs.]

Throughout all this mess, the one thing that speaks louder than any word or deed is the lack of remorse… the stone silence when it comes to the apology due.

Warmachine admitted to treachery, but never apologized. They made excuses, blamed others and ran. That, is the greatest dishonor. They depart in a fetid cloud of stink that will linger, stick, and profane those around them.

[ed2-removed one (1) paragraph]

I truly empathize with my frienemies over at SBI. There are many that have invested an enormous amount of social and political capital to steer the culture toward a better place. There are some noble leaders and troops worthy of respect and admiration.

[ed2-removed one (1) paragraph]

And, of course, we embrace our SBI cousins that face these difficult times with dignity. We welcome each transfer to Jade Quarry as a brother or sister. We want you to know you will always have a home here. [ed1- my last paragraph should end with a wink ]

[Edit Notes: I spent some time with Warmachine. I revise, recind, and apologize for the harsh words (that I have since removed). I still hold that their lack of apology is problematic, but I do understand their point of view much better after investing time to get to know them better.]

While decidedly biased, you can always check out the Jade Quarry public forums

omnislakitten106:

And Welcome to Guild WM (Warmachine) to kaineng.

Although not unexpected, the Warmachine [WM] Announcement is certainly significant.

Congratulations!

The fact that you chose to grieve this publicly and then gave the FC community an ultimatum says more than your actual post.

If the server is, in fact, despicable (which I doubt), then why wait? How are your friends better off — deprived of your loving companionship — for yet another week?

If the server is not despicable, then you’ve certainly slathered it on thick with broad brushstrokes — that is unlikely to win you new friends or influence people to your cause, so why wait? How do you expect other people to “change your mind”?

Since your “mind” is apparently subjective, is it even reasonable or fair to expect anyone to know your mind well enough to help change it?

You’ve already made your decision. Own it and don’t deflect blame for a uniquely personal decision onto others.

Kerithlan.1659:

Wait isn’t ICoa on a different server than PiNK? Jadon’s on Tarnished Coast — this means that either I have no idea who our commanders are, or for some reason all of our commanders are in the same LA instance.

I was inclined to use this opportunity to prove that everyone was moving to Kaineng, but Kerithlan, truth is, overflow is not server exclusive.

Well, everyone is moving to Kaineng, but this isn’t the proof.

WrathOfGod.4695:

5. A comment to your “numbers” game, it doesn’t work like that if the commander is doing their job properly. Get to the commander and kill them? By the time you get through the zerg your dead. I as an elementalist, I command, get in, do my damage, get out, command again and repeat. You are right on 1 thing though, a zerg without a commander is pretty much dead.

In Tier 1, the notion of targeting commanders is simply unheard of…

Occasionally, we jest about the presence or positioning of a particular commander on the field, but a “chop-off-the-head” strategy is simply not pragmatic.

We generally have anywhere from 3-5 commanders in our primary zerg. At any given time, usually only two will typically have their pins turned on. Often the commanders are all in a “commander group” or party so we can always see each other on the map even when pin-off. This also has the side benefit of allowing the cmdrs to plan and execute in “layers” and marginalizes demoralizing tactical trolling (strategy debate) in open channel.

The map commander drives, the secondary pin (support commander) shadows the movements of the map commander and performs lead chat support (command relays). Special mission commanders can go pin-on at any time and ask for # of people to “x” up in chat and peel off the main force.

We don’t worry about the death of any commander. If the map pin dies, the secondary pin takes up point and one of the commanders that has been silent running (pin-off) goes pin-on. The map commander can literally lead from anywhere on the map. If he dies, he can go pin-off if he chooses, or if it was a nasty battle, he will might rally the dead to regroup. Dynamic conditions require dynamic reactions.

We have a “rule of three” where any command or directive is typically echo’d in chat by at least three people. There are several reasons for this but the detail probably exceeds reader stamina and is unnecessary to illustrate my point.

The map commander may ask in voip, “spam food pls” and at least three people will relay in /m and /t something like, “Refresh your food buffs… eat it if you got it.” Or he will say, “gimme TS spam” and at least three people will relay in /m and /t something like, “Join the commanders on the JQ server Teamspeak3 — jq.someaddress.com”… you get the point. We do the same for directives and commands too.

Another interesting trick…. if it looks like a wipe or for what ever reason the map requires a FULL rally, ALL commanders go PIN ON and WP (and everyone publishes the waypoint location in chat).

Do this often enough and you begin building a culture of continuity. Most zerglings are highly motivated to “not be different”, “to fit in”, “to be a roman in rome.” You condition them to tolerate (if not enjoy) the excitement of rapid state transitions. You should never fear the death of a commander or the consequences of a wipe.

Momentum allows you to exceed normal tolerances.

p.s. You may not always have 3-5 people on a map that have a commander pin. Performing leadership support doesn’t require a pin. In truth, some of the best commanders I run with perform better and deliver better results in a (pin-off) command support (shepherding) role.

I personally measure success by how often we don’t need to remind people about rule-of-three messaging. Sustainable pushes are rarely far behind.

Waffler.1257:

Wasabee.5031:

To be honest, I really have a lot of hopes for the patch in February.

Based on what? The great patches Anet has given us so far?

OMG, deadpan realism… hopetimism denied!

Are you seriously trying to take away his hopium pipe?

CHIPS.6018:

Tonight in Speldan Clearcut, a SBI team-mate of ours built 6 flame rams to block our yaks from transporting supplies. Since these flame rams were built by a team-mate, we cannot kill them to let our yaks though.

I only speak for myself when I say, no server should be forced to endure such a tactic. If kitten like this happens — msg me in-game, I’ll join your group and personally wack down crap like that…

I’ll come alone or bring one or two with me if it appears that we’ll need to kill the npc’s. If we do have to kill the npc’s, just hold the ring to your color — no stress.

If ram trolling is “legitimate strategy”, then collaborating to affect remedy must also be considered “legitimate strategy.”

If; however, your ram trolls choose to protect their siege then their inappropriate conduct will become obvious.

It’s the best solution I can think of… and it would make for an amazing screen shot.

@Cover Girl, don’t go building rams now in weird places just to get me to come visit you.

Amazing. Just amazing.

As some of you may already know, Tier 8 is under an ENORMOUS spotlight at the moment… there are a lot of people giving the “lil’server that could” a second look.

Kaineng used to be server that could eat a bowl of carpet tacks, and then with bleeding gums, thank you kindly for the iron supplement. Now you are bickering like toddlers that can’t decide who’s “it” — <boggle>!

If this kind of backstabbing and cannibalism is happening in the GW2 forums, what must it be like on the Kaineng server website? Do you engage in this level of fratricide in your server VOIP or do you reserve the self-loathing bitterness for here?

There might have been a time when you could frolic about showing the neighbors your sibling’s dirty underwear. But, you’re not that cute little runt of the litter anymore.

Sort out your growing pains.

If it helps, I make a fine target for your misdirected resentments. But kitten get your kitten together and be the change you want to see… you are after all, about to be a winner. Start acting like a winner. You’re likely to begin winning a lot…

What’s the score?

+1 Internets. Excellent argument. Well presented.

Are there any unrelated third-parties willing to confirm the math?

Now, where again is that silly little design manifesto?

Syeria.4812:

Rhyis.7058:

I like how this dude thinks he gets to determine what the subject matter of this discussion is.

You’ve failed to make a single argument as to why breakouts are bad.

^^^ qft. Attacking the messenger is the last best hope for hate mongers.

Thus far, arguments against breakouts present nothing other than speculation and hyperbole. The myopic rhetoric serves no purpose other than to act as a gravitational beacon around which the woeful can commiserate. The fear, uncertainty, and doubt is fueled strictly by willful ignorance.

Even among the most ardent supporters, I’ve yet to hear anyone reject the notion that there may be room for improvement.

But this all or nothing, love it or hate it kitty-kitten kittening is kitten kitty-kitty kitten.

Even the kittens are thinking the FUD argument is kittened up.

/tell elkirin.8534 Kill the Green Yaks. This week. With your pointy thing… GreenBad™ — Rinse and repeat until further notice. (!Red && !Blue) It’s science!

[ed – if for some reason the game prevents you from attacking green assets, immediately log off and let your internet connection reset for 28 days]

Hekatombaion.4320:

Even if it always took gems to move servers this would just inconvenience the low level (or fresh 80) players while letting the power gamers leave masses of players at utterly demoralizing odds as they spent several weeks dropping tiers with no hope of ever going back up.

There was much in your entire post that I found well argued and thoughtful. This last bit; however, stands out. Since I really dislike conflating the issues of recruiting, talent exodus, and server-to-server transfers, I like how you gave me something to think about without entanglements.

These thoughts will be assimilated. We will add this distinctiveness to our own.

I would tend to agree with you on your point of economic disparity. I know of several hardcore individuals and a few elite guilds that wouldn’t bat an eyelash at 2500 gems per transfer with no time limitations. Where as, I also know some who would find 10 gems to be an economic stressor.

Where is Scrooge McDuck when I need him? While [TW] can afford to pay their own way, we are going to need to factor in all the gems that might be required to get [SF], [MORD], [MERC], and [FANG] to transfer to the new Sea of Storm Quarry server.

Where did I leave my kitten pony?

Derk.3189:

Keep up the good work SoS, I think we can win this week!

Nu uh! How can you possibly think you are going to win? You have too many points at this juncture to make up the difference. It’s simple arithmetic.

C’mon… what? Are you afraid to post a score report? :P

Kodiack.2783:

You are attempting to justify what is commonly known in the gaming world as “poaching” . You are essentially stealing from someone else.

Or it is what the rest of the (informed) world calls “marketing” for the purpose of “securing market share.” Unfortunately, it is too easy to objectify talent (human resources).

To qualify as theft, ownership is implied. Ownership of people is illegal in most countries — or are you suggesting that players are slaves to the server they join?

If you hold or advocate a position of slavery, there is little value in debating further.

First, your fears are real. I respect that. However, your fears are also illusory — and this is a witch-hunt.

Second, I agree with and support Cover Girl’s message. This is the 4th thread on this issue spawned within two days.

Principle message: start thread topics responsibly.
Subordinate message: make your argument in a mature thread, don’t spawn new threads simply because consensus is against you.

To lump recruiting in with gold selling is argumentum ad absurdum.

I have tried to be plain spoken, if not humorous in my approach to this nonsense in other threads. While I don’t personally support or endorse cross-server (in-game) solicitation, I have no problem with those that do.

The impact on chat (and WvW) is no worse than the institutionalized LFG or Fractal spam that has corrupted chat since release(s).

We (the larger GW2 community) face a crisis of exodus. Belief that the problem is transfers to other servers is utter hogwash. There is a far more insidious type of transfer happening…

Free transfers are not the problem! The freedom to choose suitable substitutes in an economic basket of alternatives is the problem.

The sooner everyone accepts the truth, the sooner we can stop the horrid EFFECTS that cannibalism is reeking on our community.

For the love of all that is holy… close this thread or merge this thread with the others on this topic.

Cover Girl.2580:

Apparently the MERC guy told them that he was making a delivery of candy and they said ok go ahead.

Ugh… box-of-rocks MERC! We provided the package. And the contract clearly stated that if asked, he would say the stuff in the package was “brownies” — not candy.

We got him on sale! <eyeroll> I guess you get what you pay for…

I believe you raise some very good points. Clearly, the topic is very sensitive to some.

Neither I, nor the legion of minions known to me, are soliciting transfers in other servers’ chat channels. I don’t dare suggest it is not happening and I would hope that such less scrupulous tactics reflect appropriately on the recruiters (and are not generalized to tiers or servers).

Perhaps you have experienced the loss of friends or witnessed the flight of talent from your server. It can feel very demoralizing to play on a server with diminished participation. The disinterest that follows is both toxic and highly infectious. It is no wonder that many more people then take pause to reflect on their options…

Moving is a painful decision for some. Moving an entire guild can have catastrophic consequences. These are serious decisions. While I empathize, I don’t envy the struggle that brings you to the edge of such a painful decision…

Come to T1… we enjoy and appreciate a healthy culture of support for mature talent.

Transfers are welcome. Not only do we welcome fresh talent, but we discourage harassment. Anyone who is willing to roll up their sleeves and fight the good fight… becomes native. Of course there is the natural adaptation to the Jade Quarry culture, but you will face that at any server you move to. We; however, value the unique experience, strength, and hope you may add to our collective. Your DNA will mix with ours and we will all become stronger for the union.

There is no need to await some shady, drive-by recruiter to come along and lift you from the pit of your despair.

Jade Quarry has a dedicate, server-wide Teamspeak3 server for cross-guild communication and map coordination. We operate the server as an OPEN access server. This means we occasionally get lurkers. However, we do have a validation process where we verify residency. And all commanders enjoy elevated privileges to help manage the communications (or boot enemy infiltrators).
We lean very heavily toward a “leaderless” confederacy. While there are cliques — we passionately try to avoid the pitfalls of “alliances.” This means that (on occasion) our leadership will squabble a bit… but so far everyone has managed to remember that cannibalism and splash damage hurts everyone.

Why try to suck dust from the dessicated corpses of historical enemies? I know you are worthy of so much more! You deserve to drink from the chalice of triumph. You’ve earned the right to pilliage the booty of a robust enemy alongside honorable comrades!

Jade Quarry has a robust and active community website with over 2000 active (confirmed) residents: http://www.jadequarry.com And we have a dedicated team that is working on the next generation community site that will offer new tools and even better features.

We have a mixture of seasoned and veteran commanders and a pipeline of mentored talent.

It’s not all roses and pony’s… we have the usual petty bickering and qq’ing. And we face the same challenges of 24/7 commitment that all servers face; however, we do have outstanding (read HUGE and SKILLED) Oceanic representation.

But do not be misled, we barely have any queue times. And you need not fear a lack of opportunity. You can take your place among the immortal legends!

If you like Eternal Battlegrounds, we are always looking for some discipline and maturity on that map. A new guild could quickly and easily establish themselves if they chose to tackle the constant challenge of managing the more challenging map.

Admittedly, we are a difficult server to transfer to… but, I believe that everyone that has chosen to relocate here has appreciated the move. Any individual or guild that wants to dedicate themselves to JQ is welcome and their investments are appreciated.

Peace of mind awaits you. Please consider Jade Quarry your next home.

Your time is valuable, I honestly hope it is never wasted by less scrupulous solicitations. Be well.

CHIPS.6018:

Notice how far away JQ and SoS stood away from each other.

It was the plan, Marcus Aurelius Caesar had just died… Commodus took the throne and offended the Legion of Jade. Maximus, General of Caesar’s army (and no slouch in micro-equine husbandry), reveals himself before Commodus at the foot of a tower holding the lovely (and wickedly treacherous) Lucilla, in whom both leaders are greatly taken…

As a symbol of their passion, they signal their forces to burn the bridge to their heart’s gate and topple the structure to prevent the other from bluffing past chastity’s virtue or storming her isle.

This was no arranged marriage… it was a epic tragedy of quarried sorrow.

Urrid.4593:

At levels less than ten you will be getting ~10exp per kill. You will have to WvW for ages to get to 30 and that is when your class begins to shine.

Well, IMHO leveling in WvW is about 1% kills and 99% flippaging. You can earn from 4-6 levels in a casual evening if you get into the rhythm of some good zerg action. Swiftness (run) buffs are critical (oh yeah, I already said that)! YMMV.

Great points… well said.

It can feel very demoralizing to play on a server that has either experienced a flight of talent or experiences severe WvW disinterest. And moving an entire guild is a serious decision. I don’t envy the struggle that you have endured to reach this decision…

Come to T1… we enjoy and appreciate a healthy culture of support for mature talent.

Transfers are welcome. Not only do we welcome new talent, but we discourage “bandwagon” harassment. Anyone who is willing to roll up their sleeves and fight the good fight… becomes native. Of course there is the natural adaptation to the JQ culture, but you will face that at any server you move to. We; however, value the unique experience, strength, and hope you may add to our collective. Your DNA will mix with ours and we will all become stronger for the union.

Jade Quarry has a dedicate, server-wide Teamspeak3 server for cross-guild communication and map coordination. We operate the server as an OPEN access server. This means we occasionally get lurkers. However, we do have a validation process where we verify residency. And all commanders enjoy elevated privileges to help manage the communications (or boot enemy infiltrators).

We lean very heavily toward a “leaderless” confederacy. While there are cliques — we passionately try to avoid the pitfalls of “alliances.” This means that (on occasion) our leadership will squabble a bit… but so far everyone has managed to remember that cannibalism and splash damage hurts everyone.

Jade Quarry has a robust and active community website with over 2000 active (confirmed) residents: http://www.jadequarry.com

And we have a dedicated team that is working on the next generation community site that will offer new tools and even better features.

We have a mixture of seasoned and veteran commanders and a pipeline of mentored talent.

It’s not all roses and pony’s… we have the usual petty bickering and qq’ing. And we face the same challenges of 24/7 commitment that all servers face; however, we do have outstanding (read HUGE and SKILLED) Oceanic representation.

We have light queues (15 min or so) for all the maps on Friday night… but most maps are 1-5 min tops or instaqueue the rest of the week..

If you like EB, we are always looking for some discipline and maturity on that map. A new guild could quickly and easily establish themselves if they chose to tackle the constant challenge of managing the more challenging map.

Admittedly, we are a difficult server to transfer to… but, I believe that everyone that has chosen to relocate here has appreciated the move. Any individual or guild that wants to dedicate themselves to JQ is welcome and their investments are appreciated.

I hope you will give Jade Quarry serious consideration.

Thank you for your time.

I generally will start around 11th level. The earliest I’ve ever started was 2nd level; however, you really feel gimped at that point (because it’s likely that you’ve not even proven up all your minimum weapon skills).

The single, critical skill to have as a lowbie/nub is a swiftness (run) buff. And if you your class can share the swiftness love… all the better. You can be useful in a zerg if you can 1) keep up, and 2) help others keep up.

Beyond that, it’s all fun. I’ve run in 2-3 man gank squads as low as 11th level.

Unless you are a whale of a misanthrope or a kitten hat space cadet, you’ll be fine in WvW at any level. It is really more about your mindset than it is your avatar and kit.

Morningstar.6208:

Well only 1out of 20 ppl says its working fine maybe less than that so i think %95 percent of people hated is correct. In game everybody says it’s stupid in my server.

Well, two points:

• First, you are comparing apples, oranges, and bananas (“working fine” v. “hating” v. “stupid”)
• Second, you are parsing and spewing only the “data” that you find agreeable and are apparently oblivious to the rest.

Additionally, those that choose to participate in the forums are a tiny fraction… a vocal minority of the larger population and statistical sampling can’t be considered reliable when sourced from spleen venting qq threads.

However, since you are so inclined… from this thread alone and I start with someone from your own server:

TakeCare.3182:

Devona’s Rest (the server I’m on) usually has most, if not all, of the points on the map. Sitting around waiting to retake a flag or push opposing servers off a camp gets boring after a while. The breakouts are a nice change.

alanis.6094:

I like the event

ablebodie.5308:

I think the breakout events aren’t going to be a huge threat; they’re simply a force multiplier.

defrule.7236:

I think it works quite well, it’s suppose to be heavily favouring the underdog.

Wiredgunslinger.5480:

It’s given us more of a reason to camp the last camp on SOS. Were having a blast.

MrLT.6028:

I like it and I am sure it will be tweaked as we all experience it more.

Phantom.8130:

now, i’m all for helping the downtrodden out, the breakout event should provide a possibility for a group to take a tower.

Visiroth.5914:

I don’t see what the big fuss is.

Simonoly.4352:

It’s pretty darn useful.

Lensar.4920:

It’s not a big deal. Either way, it’s somewhat amusing

Pendragon.8735:

I don’t think the event has really changed much of anything.

Simonoly.4352:

I agree, more fighting is always better.

Ireniicus.2167:

I had about 7 hours of WvW since reset and enjoyed the change immensely.

Cymric.7368:

Thank you ArenaNet for the breakout event.

Raffie.7865:

I liked it myself.

Esoteric.5490:

I like it

kanikani.2430:

I did the event today and enjoyed it. Overall well done Anet.

Svarty.8019:

The break out event is all very nice

transtemporal.2158:

I was sceptical too but I’m actually quite enjoying the breakout events.

Rin of Rivvinda.4971:

I think its good to have these events.

Syeria.4812:

Basically, the breakout events give some small reason to actually go to more maps than just EB and your own BL.

Moloch.8013:

I find the Breakout Event a really nice idea.

OCDouglas.5401:

I like, the idea

Enenion.8127:

I love the idea and how it works

frostflare.6390:

I still love the event.

Niim.9260:

I think overall the idea is sound

Sureshot.6725:

Well from my experience the Breakout event has been well received by the majority on my server

That’s 27 — hmmmm. I think three pages of posts falls FAR short of the 540 post threshold of potential “hate it” submissions.

In this case, statistical bloviations are rubbish at best and deceptive at worst.

Morningstar.6208:

Just remove it %95 percent of people hated it. Just give the players who lost entire map a small buff on stats not a stupid magic find buff like outnumbered and all should be fine.

Your statistics are without basis and are rejected. There is nothing to suggest that you are qualified or that the data is adequate to support your premise. Your conclusion is without merit.

That said, I have no problem with your casual intimation that the buff applied by the outmanned condition is “stupid.”

Discussion is a double-edged sword.

Without the drama or lively engagement to percolate the discussion, the score only thread will tend to quickly sink to page three.

Try it for a week or two. It’s a journey. The dynamism won’t feel so bad when you reunify the threads.

yamaha.9234:

zortek.9607:

A lot of people honestly thought we were going to pull off a 1st place win. I’ve noticed a lot of those big talkers have just vanished — I mean gone gone. No sPvP, no PvE, no loggie — just poof.

It was a good push. It was great effort. But few understood the risk of failure. With the holiday enema… JQ just decided to pile into the kitten jalopy and go out into the sticks and play PacMan at some broken down Pizza Inn and shout, “Look Ma… I pwn’d that ghost!”

No excuses. There is just a respectable amount of cranial-rectal inversion going on in JQ this week.

The possible silver lining I can see is that I know a lot of people are creating new mess’rs.

Maybe the Acolytes could gank group the Jumping puzzles more often that really wracks up the points for us. Don’t miss the Acolyte zerg in the JQBL puzzle coming every thursday night

See… the difference between what I did and what you did — is personal. I internalized and took ownership, you externalized and pointed fingers.

The Acolytes can play how they wish. I may not agree with my brothers and sisters but we are members for life and how any Acolyte chooses to legitimately enjoy the game is that Acolyte’s business — not mine and certainly not yours.

If any Acolyte exploited or violated the TOS/EULA, report them. I don’t own the Acolytes. I am neither an officer nor leader among the Acolytes. If you have a problem with the guild or its membership, take it up with Casso or Hieru. Otherwise, STFU.

While I can’t jump… If ever there were a night that I’d encourage such behavior it would be Thursday nights. ESOL, AoS, FOO, FS and others have improved their siege stores in preparation for the next week’s match this way (and often will run puzzle events).

Further, if traditional PvE people get the courage or just gumption to rally around a friend to support them on a venture across the threshold into WvW who the hell are you to bloviate on quality of play?

No, you are kitten in the wind m’friend.
———

hoschi.8693:

What we do have is the ability to have fun, smack people around, and at times get smacked in return.

^^^ qft – This absolutely! Agreed. At present, all we have is the fun…

As a compassionate player, I hope you find your bottom quickly and with a minimum of havoc to your life and to those around you. I hope you seek help or that held finds you. I hope that your spiritual bankruptcy comes to an end and you connect with your higher power to fill that void in your life that you can’t seem to otherwise satisfy.

As a strategic competitor, I hope you continue on the path you are on! And know that your two opponents can can keep you stressed forever. This is Tier 1 and you are in the number one position. It doesn’t really matter who is 2nd or 3rd…really!

You haven’t figured it out yet! You do not control the pace — your opposition does. Get used to it… this is how it is going to be… every week.

Welcome to reality!

Sounds like you’re describing the slippery slope formula for completely disabling WvW in general. Why stop with portals? Since weapons can be used by unscrupulous people to temporarily remove health from people — we should disable weapons due to abuse and poor programming. Oh and armor, let’s not forget armor… it can be worn by unscrupulous people to avoid damage or bypass that clothing optional code the programmers forgot to conservatively cover. And those dern traits… so inappropriate and inconvenient. But then, why not simply remove the asura gates and be done with it. We can just sit in Lion’s Arch and play costume games with nerf toys…that is PvP right?

Epic fail on implementation trigger.

SmokeyNYY.7841:

Heres another post from a tier one server asking for transfers. Something is wrong here.

Ya think? I’ve been very vocal in my support for SBI recruiting efforts (even if it was snarky toward SoS and playfully subversive).

We (collectively) are hemorrhaging players from open amputations. Like many, I’m at my wits end with the fairy-dusted, pony poop about butterflies and flower-power community snugglies. The “community” is evaporating before our eyes. We are in post-apocalyptic, eyesocket sucking zombie survival mode.

And there is genuine (if not misdirected) resentment toward the PvE community — bordering on rage hate.

I’m not sure at this point that if we combined the WvW population of all the Greens, Blues, and Reds into three servers, we would have a single viable, sustainable tier of servers from now until February.

SBI has some really serious talent and good people. Anyone not considering JQ would find a fine home in SBI. Or (door number three), you can just continue to be an eyesocket sucking zombie.

OldRodKS.9758:

Definitely add a cooldown to it. The event itself isn’t that bad, but it can be exploited to run over and over and over and can be used to grief the team holding the map.

Definately, not. The event will not spawn if a team has/holds at least one tower/keep asset on a map. You want to control the spawn rate of the event, let the opposition onto the map. If they can’t defend their asset then take it back from them. This isn’t rocket surgery.

In Tier 1, there is currently a grief at work “not” killing the breakout commander.

There is a defense strat to blunt the initial breakout surge, wipe the siege, push the force and then just let the breakout commander languish while farming badges from the braindead that draw false hope from the NPC commander.

It is basically a spawn camping action that circumvents the NPC commander.

No additional cooldown needed. It has all the payoffs of camping spawn with the added protection of walls and protected siege. Keep fueling those false hopes. Unfortunately, it is just has demoralizing as original spawn camping… but with an insidious head fake.

Or if you want to look at it another way, flippaging is good for morale. In total dominance situations, hungry players are still looking for flippaging opportunities for karma, xp, and monies.

Oh, and my gosh… the siege drops are simply terribad on bay side aggressor maps… projectile vomit bad… hunga-bunga in the woodshed bad)! Did any of the hive-mind brainshare have any actual field experience when they programmed that siege placement? OMFG! Truly braindead.

If the breakout event is supposed to grant a genuine opportunity to establish a foothold, more beef is needed, the NPC commander needs to stay for 15 minutes (at least one tick) after “mission accomplished” and he needs to drop some defensive siege before he leaves.

It doesn’t really make a piddly-damn to me, but I happen to think the “concept” behind the design is right thinking. However, in order for the event to affect the desired results, I believe it needs some additional lurve. And I’d measure success by how loudly the opposition complains that the event is OP.

A lot of people honestly thought we were going to pull off a 1st place win. I’ve noticed a lot of those big talkers have just vanished — I mean gone gone. No sPvP, no PvE, no loggie — just poof.

It was a good push. It was great effort. But few understood the risk of failure. With the holiday enema… JQ just decided to pile into the kitten jalopy and go out into the sticks and play PacMan at some broken down Pizza Inn and shout, “Look Ma… I pwn’d that ghost!”

No excuses. There is just a respectable amount of cranial-rectal inversion going on in JQ this week.

The possible silver lining I can see is that I know a lot of people are creating new mess’rs.

Jedahs.2713:

Sounds good. Now coordinated guilds will destroy pugs.

Normal zergs no longer have a chance against guilds with 2 mesmers or more, lol.

Agreed. More mess’rs on the field. That’s the net effect.

Add /t inquiries: “Who has the messr group?” and “messrs x up in chat”

Old lingo: Stack up on me.
New lingo: Portal stack on me.

GOOD GRACIOUS ALMIGHTY — for the sake of all things on this planet and the sanity of every species of crafter! Please remove the confirmation dialog or give us the option to disable the ACCEPT dialog when we wish to salvage something!

Please, please, please, please, please, please…. please.

This goes beyond simple convenience… it is almost a repetitive stress issue of ergonomics! OMG… c’mon! Thousands upon thousands of additional movements and clicks… ugh.

Please.

Eventually, inflation will make the title cheaper to obtain (relatively speaking, in gem terms). This is already a material reality as the gem cost of gold has “halved” in the past three months — in part due to special events, holiday escalation and the evacuation of the initial release population.

But inflation is a reality that will continue as more and better things are introduced into the economy. The real question is… will “command” sinks be added to the top end to continue raising the bar or broaden the top end?

We patiently await news on command embellishments to pins such as colors and addon features.

Please add a (right most) timestamp column to the forum thread listings so that we can see the date/time of the most recent entry to a thread.

This is a “relevancy” or helps give us the ability to quickly have added “context” when cross referencing threads or dialogs without having to dig dig dig through pages of threads — searching through time/date headers.

While I’m aware that geography on the title bar is at a premium, I believe reducing the default fontsize slightly and adding the timestamp would more than offset the intrusion into the title space.

Thank you for your consideration.

Screen shot it, report it and move on. Otherwise, seek assistance from a therapist or your spiritual guide. Commiserating in the forums about botting or accusing a server of such solicits nothing but grief.

Jedahs, dude… there are other alternatives (besides going to EU). You can also join SBI or JQ. Or consider what you could do if you went over to SoR… good grief, you might make the tipping point difference and propel them into Tier 1.

You and your guild are well respected and would be welcomed where ever you go… It’s probably time to seriously consider throwing your weight where you can advance a team instead of sustain a team.

Consider your troops… just doesn’t feel right to kick a sick puppy… does your server really want to win a pity fight?

Do your server a favor and get off the field!

Jedahs, your posts are generally well thought and expressed. That said, if this thread derails and you again reintroduce the topic… just drop the whole addiction argument.

Respectfully (and with the kindest intention), you are ill informed and ill prepared to speak to the challenges of addiction (or recovery). You clearly do not have the experience, strength, and hope necessary to battle trolls (or well meaning associates) on the issue of addiction.

Why avoid the issue entirely?

The task of defining addiction has challenged physicians, judges, clergy, addicts, their families, and the general public throughout history. There are as many potential definitions as there are groups with an interest in defining addiction. These definitions emphasize such things as physiological dependence, psychological dependence, family dynamics, behavioral problems, and morality. This list could be expanded at length, and, no doubt, we could come up with our own GW2 community definition and add it to the list. Fortunately, we need not even engage in such unfruitful, public debate.

It is known… The message of recovery is best carried from one addict to another. The challenge is to carry the message of recovery to the suffering addict separate and apart from any social, economic, or political advocacy.

Leveraging addiction as an argument for or against consumer (game) advocacy universally undermines the efforts of all disaffected parties to a cause.

Lastly, in post script, I chose not to dance with you on the tort questions, I’m not sure you have a sense for the requisite music.

Champion recovery issues or champion consumer (game) advocacy issues… don’t conflate the two.

Vyrance.1723:

Slayer Lord, you mean the same thing that happened to us the first few weeks? Anytime we went to attack SoS, JQ would attack us and we’d just have to shift resources to you all. SoS will just team up with either SBI or JQ, depending on who is getting pushed back. They’re the only smart ones going so far.

^^^ This. I’m actually get sick of people talking about how SBI and/or JQ are playing for second place.

All things being equal and all supply camps being fair game, I’d rather attack meaningful SoS holdings. It’s not personal, I just find SBI commanders are willing to demonstrate a better sense of humor in the forums and occasional antics on the battlefield.

I lol’d the other day when an SBI zerg overran my ninja squad (behind SOS lines). Not one of them attacked us, all they did was literally run a huge full circle around us hopping and then ran on… it was rich. I wish I’d fraps’d it.

This didn’t diminish SBI epeen and it is certainly not a lurve fest… it’s just smart play and good stewardship of the larger objectives.

The invisible enemy is boredom, apathy, and dwindling numbers. Innovative engagement and willingness to be a bit creative helps us all bridge over the rough water.

The little things matter when our various forces spend more time with each other than with people at work, in school, or in bed. In the absence of REAL™ in-game incentives, the little things matter.

Perhaps its all nonsense, I just follow the guiding principle that I’d rather take points from the side I like less most and have the epic memory-making battles with those I like more mostest.

Bleh… back to the game.

Age.9320:

Hi all. My guild is having a bit of a dilemma of assigning our Commander’s Compendium so I’m posting this thread hoping for some helpful feedback.

First, let me confirm your fears. 99% of your concerns, both voiced and held private are very real.

IMHO, a single commander pin serves one purpose — influence. And you face two threats in this area:
1) Will the person you pin actively promote the interests of the server over the interests of the guild or their person agenda? (counter-intuitive: should be yes)
2) Will the person you pin have and maintain a determined presence on the maps through thick or thin, success or failure, win or lose?

It is critical that whomever you choose to pin fronts a significant portion of the cost. They should have already been raising funds on their own. They should want it so badly that they fully intent to self-fund their own pin. If they don’t want it enough to front at least 25% of the cost, then you need to understand that it is HIGHLY likely that you are throwing your money away. Odds are such a person will not be playing in 30 days (or not be commanding) and your investment will be a waste.

If you are just wanting to award a commander pin strictly to lead guild forces on the field, then you’re missing the point. Commanders are your guild advocates among the server leadership. If you only have a single guild pin, make damn sure that individual is a Type A, charming extrovert. If they are not willing to socialize, interface, coordinate with other commanders then your guild has wasted 100g.

Respect is earned. And any commander that doesn’t communicate well (or worse, communicates poorly) will not only have difficulty earning respect but will constantly be trolled and have a challenging time rallying support.

Commander pins come with vicarious liability. The actions, words, and deeds of your guild’s commander(s) transfer to your guild. If he or she delivers for you too much drama and/or baggage, you will find you are in quite a pickle.

It is best to assume the worst…

I have seen too many guild giveaways go south. If you are unsure in the least about your first choice, consider splitting the funds and award the funds only after your candidate(s) work to make up the difference. It is the least that a member can do to demonstrate their commitment. And it is no dishonor to the membership nor the individual to demand the highest standards from those with whom you are willing to invest with the highest possible award.

Personally, I believe it should be a goal to have every guild member “qualified” to lead and a part of succession planning. But this is very culturally sensitive. I believe you should build a pipeline of talent and nurture everyone to reach for brass rings that are just beyond each members grasp. A guild that is not “growing its members” (as opposed to growing its membership, note the distinction) is stagnating and dying. But this is a social philosophy that goes well beyond your basic topic.

I hope my ramblings have been helpful. I’ll leave you with this final thought:

Where ever you go there will be tigers and savages. Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and blaze a trail for others to follow!

Best wishes finding your footing…

Minoru.1237:

ZX aren’t hackers or exploiters and they aren’t nubs or retreads—whatever that means—Zortek of Aco, a guild with nary a footprint in WvW. You haven’t seen ZX because you either have been playing at different times or on different borderlands, or you are relatively new to WvW on JQ.

Derple,

You answered the question as to why they [ZX] are relatively unknown or maintain a low profile.

But all of that (including your wanna-be credible voucher) is not relevant. We don’t try people in the court of public opinion when it comes to exploitation. You are not a witness for the defense. There is no case.

I’m sorry if your delicate feathers got ruffled or you feel the need to publicly fly your colors or tuck your boots or shave your head or throw a sign or wiggle in a thong.

EXPLOITS: We discourage them, report them, and move on.

Zero tolerance for bad behavior. We can influence culture but we do not enforce it.

Glitches are just a fancy, handlebar mustache word for potential exploit. There are ways to handle glitches that are noble and those that are less so. Responsible gamers encourage the former (and yes, I’ll be explicit… irresponsible players are negligent about the later).

Real, actual accusations of exploitation is inappropriate.
Real, actual defense of those accused of exploitation is equally inappropriate.

You want to take up a concern… handle it subtly, preserving dignity and respect.

My words after, “I presume…” were a poorly expressed opinion. For that, full sorry.

My editorializing diluted the original intention of my post which was to agree with and support Wotah’s previous comment and add emphasis to reporting all suspicious activity — which, minus the presumption, is fully consistent with my position since release.

Wotah.2975:

sil.4160:

JQ was spotted exploiting at sunny hill. Guild tag ZX. They were seiging our tower, wall/gate still up, but some of them managed to get in and started attacking the defenders. Please do something about it JQ

There’s not really much that we can do.

I have never seen that tag, despite being in multiple BL’s at different times through out a night.

If it was one of the more known guilds it would be easy to name/shame them. But this guild I have never seen. So the best I can give you is to ask that you Fraps it and put up a link. Also do a Report on each person you see doing it.

If we see anything like that we report it as well.

I second that. Please report all suspicious activity.

I don’t recognize the tag and I’m fairly certain I’ve not seen a guild with the [ZX] tag registered as a resident at jadequarry.com.

I presume they are either transfers, retreads, or nubs (which in no way excuses the alleged actions you observed). On the other hand, if they are allegedly misbehaving, nub is unlikely. However, on the hand I chopped off a bot, nubbish behavior does often resemble misbehavior.

Cover Girl.2580:

LOL ya let me know. we had fun . I’m sure I blew his mind for not attacking.

You don’t think the clothing or what was inside the scant little fabric they consisted had anything to do with it? Or did you flash him your shiney blue badge and tell him he needed to simply submit to his new mistress? I understand those [MERC] fellows are secretly a matriarchal society…