Closed servers are demoralising much of the WvW player base.

I think the subject says it all but I'll expand further.

The T1/T2 PUG player base are being demoralised when their servers are losing guilds and gaining nothing back despite months of being locked down - these servers continue to bleed their best guilds and best pugmanders yet the lock status remains firmly in place. Leaving us with the dregs of what remains.

We have fresh guilds and fresh pugmanders keen to join our servers yet we can't get them on to drive our large PUG populations.

Our particular server used to be home to maybe 4 or 5 real fight guilds in our time zone and now we have 1 real fight guild remaining. Locked transfers is entirely responsible for this situation.

Fight guilds are being demoralised by having to fight the same boring opponents every single night.

Fight guilds are completely unable to recruit due to players being unable to transfer new players.

They are being forced to use link servers and be subject to random linkages that can ruin their WvW experience for months at a time.

Link servers concept is ONLY working because it is the only way to bypass the T1/T2 transfer restrictions.

The guilds that go to these servers don't actually care about the server they transfer to. It is a means to and end, bypassing arbitrary T1/T2 transfer restrictions.

Then there are the guilds that disband after leaving for a link server - you have a bunch of hardcore WvW players with no guild leader stuck in T6 unable to get back to their friends.

Have a guess what happens to those players? They quit the game.

People may say something silly like "The link system is working because it is populating the underpopulated worlds" but we all know that isn't true.

The link system servers don't even exist when they're merged into another world. Those servers lose their individual identity when they get linked. They are merely a pawn in he "Stay in T1/T2" game and no one cares at all about them.

Does anyone remember who was linked with Mag or FA or Dragonband? I certainly don't. They have no identity, no community - they are merely a +1 blow in.

We need regular (every 3 months) openings of the transfer window on all servers.

Given we aren't ever going to have WvW Seasons again I can't see any problem allowing players to transfer where they want to go.

If people want to blob, let them blob. If people want to roam an empty map then let them do that too.

Right now we're all playing for nothing other than the fights.

So, please Arenanet, let us choose where we fight by opening the servers.

TL;DR: OPEN THE SERVERS PLEASE!

Here is a typical exchange from a long term WvW players on our server: https://i.imgur.com/vY03Qxi.png

Are you saying that opening BlackGate would fix WvW? Here, have a Thumbs up!

BG still winning T1 in stride and full status with no pairing. I don't think this is for BG as much as Mag or JQ (JQ is rumored to be purposely tanking to get a partner just like Mag did weeks prior). And adding more people to BG just means more T1 #1 again so nothing changes.

Btw, PUGs are not demoralized. Dedicated WvW's who don't understand why guild leave servers/leave WvW entirely are demoralized.

Does anyone remember who was linked with Mag or FA or Dragonband? I certainly don't. They have no identity, no community - they are merely a +1 blow in.

Devona's Rest in both cases, and DR carried/is carrying both servers. :p

Open the servers up. That way WvW dies off faster and can be replaced with a better system.

You do know that Mag is open now, right? Fresh T1 blood incoming...

Every time I see someone saying "open servers" its basically the same as saying "open blackgate"...

@Vova.2640 said:Every time I see someone saying "open servers" its basically the same as saying "open blackgate"...

Yeah, and if they are so demoralized, why do they keep winning T1? If I was that demoralized, I'd be getting a $1 million bonus each year...:)

@Artaz.3819 said:BG still winning T1 in stride and full status with no pairing. I don't think this is for BG as much as Mag or JQ (JQ is rumored to be purposely tanking to get a partner just like Mag did weeks prior). And adding more people to BG just means more T1 #1 again so nothing changes.

Btw, PUGs are not demoralized. Dedicated WvW's who don't understand why guild leave servers/leave WvW entirely are demoralized.

JQ isn't tanking, they've just lost guilds/commanders and the ones that are left care more about getting fights then ppting to stay in a tier. They still have some pretty crazy coverage in like every tz.

@dzeRnumbrd.6129 said:Closed servers are demoralising much of the WvW player base.

No, they are not. Closed servers overrunning linked servers that are all open are. You appear to have a backward outlook on the matter.

@coglin.1496 said:

@dzeRnumbrd.6129 said:Closed servers are demoralising much of the WvW player base.

You don't speak for everyone and players do feel demoralized as the OP laid out in their post, guilds have transferred off servers since some of their guild mates can't join them so they go to a lower tier server so the guild won't be split up. No chance for perma locked servers to replace the guilds/players they have lost which is demoralizing for a server and its community.

JQ isn't tanking. It is dying for sure now. The one guy who stood up to take on the reins to revive it has conceded defeat and left. It is going the way of TC but we all know that is in the Dev's plans isn't it. To break open the former tier one servers. In fact I'm guessing the real reason why those guilds and leader left is because the server is locked.

@Roxanne.6140 said:JQ isn't tanking. It is dying for sure now. The one guy who stood up to take on the reins to revive it has conceded defeat and left. It is going the way of TC but we all know that is in the Dev's plans isn't it. To break open the former tier one servers.

That would ease the constipation that's been encumbering NA for years now.

@SugarCayne.3098 said:

@Roxanne.6140 said:JQ isn't tanking. It is dying for sure now. The one guy who stood up to take on the reins to revive it has conceded defeat and left. It is going the way of TC but we all know that is in the Dev's plans isn't it. To break open the former tier one servers.

I like your name but I hve no idea what you are talking about.

Poor BG barely holding on

@LetoII.3782 said:Poor BG barely holding on

Ikr?

Being on BG yeah, it stinks being closed, but when you are the largest pop server, based on the metrics used, there is nothing to complain about. If it's bad being on a closed server, people need to move their guild to an open one.

De stacking is what is slowly happening, and yes, some people will stop playing, but being ROFLstomped doesn't help the game mode either.

I think we actually (WvW population as a whole) has a chance to do it's own reset.

New players are coming in that are coming to smaller servers that can breathe new life into the game.

Two things that need to happen is:

1: guilds welcoming newbies in with training.2: newbies (or long returnees) need to be willing to adapt and accept help.

@Strider Pj.2193 said:I think we actually (WvW population as a whole) has a chance to do it's own reset.

New players are coming in that are coming to smaller servers that can breathe new life into the game.

Two things that need to happen is:

1: guilds welcoming newbies in with training.2: newbies (or long returnees) need to be willing to adapt and accept help.

What guilds? I think you missed that part of the OP's post.

@Tyaen.5148 said:

Does anyone remember who was linked with Mag or FA or

Dragonband

? I certainly don't. They have no identity, no community - they are merely a +1 blow in.

While most of us on FA enjoy having DR linked to us it has been both a blessing and a curse. Since the link we have way more random trolls pulling tacts and just a few hours ago 2 people wasted all of the supplies building shield gens and siege capping the keep in ebg both of which are from DR. This never happened while I have been on FA only started with the link. I am not going to blame all of DR because most of you guys are awesome and I enjoy fighting along side of you.

@Chaba.5410 said:

@Strider Pj.2193 said:I think we actually (WvW population as a whole) has a chance to do it's own reset.

New players are coming in that are coming to smaller servers that can breathe new life into the game.

Two things that need to happen is:

1: guilds welcoming newbies in with training.2: newbies (or long returnees) need to be willing to adapt and accept help.

He may not see them, and the number of them across servers are probably down.

I still think there are a number of them that are there.

Some though, can be not the most welcoming to new players.

But again, the new players need to be truly willing to learn,

The idea that population will somehow balance itself if you open up all servers is kinda weird. People want to "win" in a certain sense and a single server is doing all the winning lately. Blackgate has such large coverage that it simply doesn't need that many commanders at this point. And if people leave and spread out to other servers that should mean more servers are getting more balanced fights, which can't be bad after all right? I'm not sure where you're getting at here, you're even saying guilds are actually leaving the top servers to stay together with their guildies, which seems very nice to me.

so basically you're saying you have a huge ass blob but lack the brains to move it around?

@MasterYoda.8563 said:

@coglin.1496 said:

@dzeRnumbrd.6129 said:Closed servers are demoralising much of the WvW player base.

Err you dont speak for everyone either. My guild transfered out of BG because we were tired of the way we were winning every matchup and the just chaotic (read: crappy) level of fighting during our timezone (NA Prime). Even when Mag fight groups could easily tear through the BG blob during prime and school them for 3 hours, BG just has so much population and so much coverage that its totally inconsequential. This fact has led to other servers manipulating matchups through tanking PPT and other practices just so they dont have to deal with the annoyance that is fighting the BG zombie hordes.

And it doesn't seem to have changed at all: As of now (Friday 2PM eastern) BG has won 52 of the 55 skirmishes in this current match up, ending in second place 3 times. Its held its own side keeps in GreenBL literally all week, its own for garrison for 4 days, enemy keeps for up to 6 days (currently Fire keep, they had a few others held for 5 days last night. They flipped cause by thursday nobody gives a shit).

Its the "I'm winning, so i'll stay" + "more pips for 1st place" that keep BG closed, instead of the actual fun, or the good fights, or even the health of the game mode.IMO, BG should remain closed and that server alone should be allowd free transfers to anywhere they want just so they empty out some people. Yes, TC and Mag and JQ and the other locked servers will cry that BG gets free transfers out, but any real WvW player will shortly realize that its for the good of the whole community for BG to destack ASAP.

If any resources are invested in WvW going forward, setting up a tournament is waaaay waaaay way way way down the priorities list.

@Strages.2950 said:

@MasterYoda.8563 said:

@coglin.1496 said:

@dzeRnumbrd.6129 said:Closed servers are demoralising much of the WvW player base.

What people fail to understand : many BG players play as much as they can to prevent having a FAIL link server and open for baddies to bandwagon here. We are fine on our own. And noone here will pay gem (gold or irl money to move to another server for no reason at all nor incentive, period)