Showing Posts For uberbandit.6413:
With getting rid of EBG, if only for a week at a time, we at least force these people to try other maps on all sides. Atleast these maps will have some life breathed into them, maybe even earn enough action to keep groups coming back. Back in the day most guild groups avoided EBG for a reason, and its about time for them to go back to it.
With EOTM, i really don’t know how it will turn out as a map thrown into the mix because with its size. I do think it would be an interesting Beta to try though. Respawns have difficulty getting back so enemy zergs really need to watch how deep they push because attrition will become a factor. What i’m really interested to see is how 2-3 tags on the map at once for each side would turn out.
For a long time now people have been yelling they’d quit over this change or that change. We are at the point now where those who would have left already did, and those of us left, have come to terms with the lack of innovation we’ve seen in our game mode. There still isn’t a better option for Realm vs Realm at the moment so arena net can afford to experiment more, just no more golem weeks :P
I agree with some of the problems you’re seeing, but you’re looking to treat the symptoms of a larger problem: lack of reward.
Right now there is next to zero incentive to care about anything but fights, and I think you’re correct in identifying that EBG is (right or wrong) perceived as the best place to get them most of the time.
I think the first step is to introduce a greater incentive towards winning your matchup, and see how the meta reacts before tweaking any further. It’s definitely not the end all solution to all of WvW’s woes, but it’s much better to start taking steps in the right direction than trying to make broad sweeping change.
As for what this new incentive should be, I’m unsure. I don’t think that denying people EBG is it, though. “Forcing” people to play a certain way through changes is, in my opinion, not the best design decision (regardless of Anet applying these techniques even now).
Looking at past games, DAOC incentivised by giving your realm pretty significant buffs while you held objectives. I’m not sure that’d work here though, as it’d lead to more grief about X server with Y many blobs holding all of the bonuses and how “unfair” it is (though to be fair, with the current state of server stacking it’s not the most illegitimate complaint, but that’s another thread).
If the problem’s root cause is simply population drop, then a possible answer is to lower the maximum players per BG. I don’t see this going well, as what I think will happen is that lowering the population cuts roamers/small groups out of the BG in favour of the blob moving around the map.
An even further stretch would be to try and establish gentleman’s agreements across servers/guilds. This is something that “somewhat” existed in the past, but it’s not impossible to reestablish. Try and get guilds to agree to limited size, limited groups per zone, or to focus a set of two maps on a given day. We have the ability to “create our own fun” with some cooperation, though the extent to which it can be ruined by uncooperative parties is a mitigating factor.
tl;dr- Forcing people off the map doesn’t treat the root problem: lack of reward for doing anything but looking for fights in EBG.
(edited by uberbandit.6413)
1. Please god no. Punishing allied players that hard for their ally’s mistake is not a good way to have fun. So called “rally bots” are enough, let alone the rally bots forcing me among them.
2. Server identity is what makes WvW fun, at least for me. While population is an issue, this is what the tier system tries to address. The idea being that your server should settle in with others of approximately equal WvW population. In the long run it balances out, but remember that the improving servers need to be allowed to win in order to move out of the poorer bracket.
3. Obsidian Sanctum is already being used primarily for GvG. Until a better system for organized GvG is in place, I would hope that OS is not changed in any way.
Countless times we’ve found bags1 taking a tower from bags2, only to scoop up bags1 after they bust through. Saves money on siege.
Two attackers at once doesn’t always mean an alliance, more often it’s just an attack of opportunity.
In a PvE setting, all you have to look at is the players and the environment. If the environment is not changing, then the players won’t change either. This is what causes the “stale meta” issue in essentially every PvE system. There isn’t a good way to fix this, at least not that I can immediately come up with.
If you mess with the environment, all that does is polarize the players to another build set. You will never please everyone in regards to what the optimal play style is, no matter if it’s a zerker meta, a condi meta, or a tank meta. There will always be a best way, and people will always demand you do it that way.
If you mess with the player, well then you are making nerfs and buffs in order to force people into another build. The people that were happy with how things were are now scorned, and upsetting the already satisfied isn’t a great business model.
If I had to recommend anything, it would be to change the environment to require tactics that are not damage related. These are the mechanics everyone hates and wants to skip, like kiting Mai Trin into red circles.
Whether or not there is a down state really doesn’t matter. If the boss is just a stick of health that throws things at you, the goal will be to throw back harder, faster.
Ticket 1358981, trying to recover a GW1 character name now 10 days after submitting the ticket.
Not sure what build you’re talking about (I only glanced over the sticky, because why am I searching for your build to answer your question?).
Not sure what setting you’re talking about; PvE, PvP, WvW, or otherwise.
I can say that in general the generic S/T, A/D: 2/0/6/6/0 (or something very similar) is definitely still a thing for PvP. Very powerful burns, bleeds, and poisons. Good condi removal and evasion. Condi builds in PvE are hardly a thing for Rangers if you’re trying to be “Optimal”, but that shouldn’t be much of a surprise.
Overall I like the spot that rangers are in. We have a viable builds across the spectrum, though I haven’t explored how close we can get to true bunker.
I’ve played around with something similar. This build is slanted more towards my personal playstyle, and is by no means finished being tweaked.
The fire field from torch can be replaced by just the flametrap with your great number of projectile finishers. Shortbow is also great for exploiting the effect on crit runes, and in fact I would be inclined to put a second one on it as my positioning gets better.
One note for WvW Rangers that recently came to mind: when performing might stacks out of combat we can cycle through pets to provide a good number of additional boons. It’ll be tricky to get more than one or two out at fist, but as muscle memory sets in you’ll be able to click through a good number of boon pets.
Running these sorts of builds my biggest problem has been guardians, or anything with reliable condi cleanse. I’ve also started preferring offhand axe to dagger, due to how powerful the pull and reflect is for our toolkit.
As far as mobility options, I have a few for Ranger.
Traveler Runes- Not ideal stat wise, but you can’t number crunch the value of the added mobility. I’ve used these in sPvP when I don’t want to carry Signet of the Hunt. I don’t think I’d use them when I had actual communication, but there is value in being able to move independently. Rune of Speed is an alternative worth looking at as well.
Signet of the Hunt- For condi, it is less than ideal in the slot. The 150% damage can make Sword 2 or Dagger 5 hurt, but otherwise there isn’t a lot of use for the active for condi.
Nature’s Voice- You’re passing up an excellent trait in survival of the fittest, but for a condi build it isn’t unforgivable. The permanent regeneration is also good for 1v1’s and bunkering in general. Not the best option, but not unviable by any means.
Offhand Horn- I would probably give up the dagger (A/H, S/T) if I wasn’t using fire trap for burning off of the axe. Horn 4 + Rampage as One is an excellent source of might, and the 5 is really the only blast finisher we have (outside of Drakes). You need around 55% bonus duration and Offhand Training to get a 100% swiftness uptime, which is doable with points in BM and the right rune set.
High mobility has slightly better harmony with a power build, and condi does tend to be more bunker by virtue of being damage over time. Rangers do have a lot of built in evade from their weapons, so I’m not sure if there is a lot to complain about there. What I would like to see is a trait for +25% movespeed with an active pet, hopefully replacing Agility Training in Skirmishing. The tradeback of having to keep your pet alive is slight enough for this to be fair and balanced in my mind.