New player WvW -- what is wrong with people?

So I very recently purchased the game, entered a WvW and politely asked to join a large squad which was roaming around in the Eternal BattlegroundsThis is what I was greeted with ..

https://imgur.com/a/QO1Uw

Is the game really this toxic as to not allow me to play a specific character and enjoy group battles?

Shameful.

Well if you consider THAT to be toxic...then I'd suggest you turn off all chat and appear offline when you play. This is, if anything, a rather nice interaction in wvsw.I'm being serious.

That was fairly polite.If you want to experience large wvw combat nothing is stopping you from playing ranger. Just follow around the tag. If they had the space, putting you in squad would literally change nothing.

Tbh you can do better than ranger for zerging. They were not lying. Make a hammer rev and you can pewpew from the midline and crush noobs while dumping out boons to nearby allies with minimal effort. You might even find it more enjoyable.

That was exceptionally friendly imo. They were running out of invite space. You announced you had no idea what you were doing. You were on a Ranger, which 5 minutes of research would have told you wasn't super wanted/needed in zerg WvW. The guy spent time explaining classes that would have given you a more welcoming experience. Honestly you can't ask for much more than that, and you coming here, and trying to drag that guy down is pretty shameful.

You want to play Ranger? Play Ranger. You want to be wanted/needed in zerg squads? Do NOT play Ranger.

I'm going to add to my post, because I went back and reread what you took a screen shot of. You go into WvW and ask for an invite to someone's squad. The guy takes time to explain to you why he isn't giving you a spot. Not even that you are new, which is enough reason depending on the commander, but because he doesn't like Thieves and Rangers in his squad, and you call him out? There was NOTHING egregious about what that commander did. Go find a PUGmander that doesn't mind Thieves and Rangers. Go and roam to learn your class. Caps sentries and camps. Join a guild that lets you run what you want. There is NO need to call a random commander out like that. You are not OWED a spot.

If you are new, you learn. Stop expecting everyone else to change for you, and then getting upset when they don't, that is a bad attitude to have.

I will briefly explain it...squads are a tool for organizing players into parties. This is done mainly to setup preferable group compositions, some classes simply work better then others. This is not something created by players, it is a result of class balance.

Not being in a squad does not prevent you or anyone from doing anything...and it really gets annoying seeing the constant complaints from people who act as though they are entitled to be in someone else squad.

WvW is a competitive game mode, if a player is not willing to contribute what is needed, then do not act as though everyone else is the problem.

I think any class can be a good addition to any party but that depends on skill / team composition / what the group needs etc. being a noob ranger doesn't put you in a very good position for getting a squad invite and certainly not for a good party once in squad. that's the way it is. ranger doesn't have a lot of team support (druid does) and minimal damage compared to what other classes do. basically its not built for large scale battles, which sucks but again that's how it is. I advise visiting metabattle.com to get an idea of what builds are being used and how. you don't have to conform but you should at least be informed before you make any big decisions. a lot if not all the builds on there can be modified in both traits and gear and still be just as if not more effective, again depending on skill / team comp. I advise you to start tanky, build up some knowledge then put on more and more dps gear as a general thing you can do across all game modes.

ah also something I failed to mention: get on your servers voip. its extremely important and will improve your game experience by leaps and bounds.

I would say the commander (I'm assuming it was the commander) of the squad was fairly polite and calmly explained to you why they would not include you in their squad. This really isn't the problem or fault of the community but rather the symptom of poor class balance and neglect towards the ranger class by the developer. While I would love to see ranger become more welcome in the community as I main ranger its unlikely to happen even with the expansion coming up as the change notes are largely unimpressive and a pocket nerf to the new spec. So if you would like to find a place in the squad as a pug I would suggest following his advice. If you do want to continue to play the ranger class be aware you have an uphill battle in front of you and you will have to get exceptionally good at the class to earn a squad slot.

How's that even toxic?He gave you an honest answer.

/opens toxic barrelIf every damn ranger is going to run the forums and complain then please take it to general or your class forums, and ask Anet to fix your class and stop bothering other players with your class problems and throwing commanders under the bus, we've been over this a dozen times in the last couple months. Some classes are useful for some areas of the game some are not, it's the same whether it's raiding spvp or wvw. You don't have to be in the squad especially as a long range class, if you can't function without a squad then look on improving your gameplay, doesn't matter if you're new, you will need to survive in wvw on your own as well, find a guild and learn the ropes./empties toxic barrel

If it means anything I believe Soulbeast will be able to share Stability in the expansion...which is a desirable boon for Squads. I don't think it will be meta in the end however, but I did see some condi CC immunity in there as well. Problem was the demo version of Soulbeast was buggy and didn't give such boons to themselves so it could be good or bad if they fixed/nerfed it.

There are very nice people in wvw with about 10% lame trolls in my experience, but the mode has an extremely deep and complicated culture and an order of common operations. It might not seem like it, but as you become aware of these unwritten tendencies, it will begin to make perfect sense. It is worth thinking through all the strategy to have the fun though. I hope you have better experiences and try again. I still fail a lot at it, but I always try to check my ego in at the door before I play.

Ranger has many good uses, but you have to know its best place amidst roaming havocing and zerg ganking.

You can play whatever you want, but since a squad is formed by X parties and every party shares his boons with the party itself, you can understand why you couldn't join.I play mostly a thief, and i pretty understand why i can't be in a organized party.

Nah just show up doing whatever and get offended at the slightest challenge by those more knowledgeable.Good advice in any situation

That wasn't really toxic he was very helpful and explained to you which classes would work best for wvw. I love ranger it is my main but even I have to accept that for squads it is not best. Ranger and theif are made for roaming in squads they really cant do anything unless your a druid. Even then when it comes to druid a lot of commanders would rather prefer an ele. All the other classes have roles with in squads that help balance each other out and all help give each other support and so on. Ranger and thief while they are able to support themselves cant really support others. When your in a squad you are working with everyone as a team that is why they prefer classes that can work with that mind frame. The commander was honestly being helpful to you.

Welcome to the snobbery and elitism of WvW. For the record a) the squad leader was polite b) Anet does a poor job of wvw balance and c) just don't play wvw. just look at the replies. WvW is for people who get their self-esteem from playing a video game, it's a snake that eats it's own tail. Finally, if you want real toxicity go into a raid with your ranger and a long bow.

@Isanox.3498 said:Welcome to the snobbery and elitism of WvW. For the record a) the squad leader was polite b) Anet does a poor job of wvw balance and c) just don't play wvw. just look at the replies. WvW is for people who get their self-esteem from playing a video game, it's a snake that eats it's own tail. Finally, if you want real toxicity go into a raid with your ranger and a long bow.

I take it you haven't played sPvP?

Simply put WvW has many types of commanders, from those who are serious about their game and have structured squads for the best groupings so that they can play to win for their server - with players who run classe/builds designed for wvw, to casual guilds who field commanders who welcome new players and help them learn what's what in WVW and all the others in between.

As other people have mentioned you dont need to join a squad to participate, you can follow the squad around, but you must be alert as to when/where they move, wp, stack etc as the squads are very mobile and can often change borderlands too.Some squads will advertise their runs in map chat, and will often let you know their requirements, being on voice is often a primary one, so they dont have to type instructions etc, and some squad commanders will just invite you if you are running with them.

The commander you were talking to, wasn't toxic, and was probably running to or from a fight somewhere and so had to keep it short. There just isnt time to say anything more.Also if you must put a chat record up you probably should remove the name, as this poor guy has not even consented to having his name splashed around.

Group composition is just another handy excuse for mediocre commanders.

It's okay OP. You do not need to be in the squad to have fun in WvW. And it really doesn't matter what you play as, as long as you have fun with it. You will always run into people like that in competitive game modes. So don't feel bad about that kind of response. Instead, remember the phrase "Good players win with meta, great players win with anything." and then go do what you need to do while you cackle to yourself internally. c:

@Mitsuko.3162 said:Is the game really this toxic as to not allow me to play a specific character and enjoy group battles?

Yes.

It can get much worse tbh.

@Mitsuko.3162 said:So I very recently purchased the game, entered a WvW and politely asked to join a large squad which was roaming around in the Eternal BattlegroundsThis is what I was greeted with ..

https://imgur.com/a/QO1Uw

Is the game really this toxic as to not allow me to play a specific character and enjoy group battles?

Shameful.

hi,

you can play as you will. you bought the game. you will find others who share your sentiments. party with them, make your own team, and prove others wrong.

thats what i did with my team and we are flourishing.

=)

Actually that reaction is normal everyday reaction towards rangers within WvW. Get used to being pushed aside, kicked from group, cursed or ranted at, due to your choice of profession. Been doing Ranger for 7-8 years in gw1, and since Beta till today on Ranger in GW2. And it's been like that in Dungeons in year 1 and 2. It's been like that in PvP in year 2-4, and it's been like that since HoT launch in WvW.

The majority commander positions in WvW, + WvW guilds, is that Rangers do not bring any large scale bonus to the group as a whole, Skill or Trait wise. Anet doesn't run a lot of Rangers in WvW, so they wouldn't really know the stigma of playing ranger in that format. One of the reasons Anet made Druid was to slot a Ranger into GROUP play. However in the last 8 months, the WvW comm's havn't been wanting Druid, saying Guardians and Ele's can bring in more healing than Druid, and that those same classes can even do damage while healing, and removing conditions from the zerg in greater #'s.

Playing ranger in WvW has become a heavier stigma to bear as time has progressed since year one in GW2.

Basically if your still playing ranger in WvW after 5 years of crap talk, you got bark for skin, no matter the talk thrown your way. Either get thicker bark for skin, or just stick to PvE.

Ranger OR as the WvW community calls it, "CORE RANGER" is a stigma class in WvW. And Druid is starting to slowly slide into that same stigma class.

Like they said above, you bought the game, play what you want and how you want it. Although be prepared for some vehemence from those that piss on rangers.

Oh dear, is the definition of the word "toxic" this loose now?All I see is a person who is giving you their reasons in a nice and well explained manner. He could have gone into detail to explain why it is more effective to have you stay outside of the squad or to have you roam while the builds he mentioned take their needed places inside the squad. But the commanders or officers would do nothing else all day if they had to go into detail with everyone who does not understand.This is how the game works, how boon sharing and other mechanics work. Commanders go for effective squads. They and everyone else in their squads like to win .Something that seems to offend people nowadays. Excluding someone, even with good reason, seems to make you a terrible person now.

In any case, you can do just fine on ranger outside of squads or joining up with other thieves and rangers. Use your range to your advantage, pick off stragglers, use the fact that you do not have to be in melee or have to copy what the core does and play the ranger you want to play. That's what I do on my own ranger. You get just as much loot and I am alawys having a blast fighting the enemy thieves and rangers trying to do the same to us.

When I play a core class, I'm in the squad. When I play my Daredevil I follow the squad, listen in TS, but don't join unless the commander specifically asks me to. Why? Because Daredevils provide much less utility and synergy than other classes. I fight on the fringes and can't benefit from the boons and condi clears provided by the party. My venoms are typically out of range of the party so I don't do anything that benefits the party. Rangers are much the same. Doesn't mean you can't be with the squad, just that others should be given priority.

In any case, you can do just fine on ranger outside of squads or joining up with other thieves and rangers. Use your range to your advantage, pick off stragglers, use the fact that you do not have to be in melee or have to copy what the core does and play the ranger you want to play. That's what I do on my own ranger. You get just as much loot and I am alawys having a blast fighting the enemy thieves and rangers trying to do the same to us.

Yah, he/she can still participate. He just can't be in the squad to do it. Because....he can't bring more boons to the group as a whole? So that would explain why he asked to be invited politely, how he was rejected and kicked. And the answer to why he was kicked was because of the profession he was currently on.

Hatred....annoyance....disregard....

His class was unacceptable, even if it was politely stated that his profession was considered useless overall to the group.

Yah, it could not have been stated any more polite than, "I'm deeply sorry, but your on a profession that is firmly believed to not have any innate value to our group at this time. Once your profession has something more useful to contribute, maybe then you can be proudly added to our endevours and join our party/havoc/zerg on some future date in question...by the way, Would you happen to have any Gray Poupon?"

Yes, it was very polite indeed.

I must admit, his response in whisper chat was concise and straight to the point. Give or take, there are FAR worse salt flinging conversations in chat than that. If you do not like seeing that kind of stuff then I suggest to switch all chat off entirely.

If you like the playstyle of ranger longbow you should check out and (if you have HoT expansion) pick up Dragonhunter (guardian) since it too, uses a longbow and #5 skill otherwise known as babygates amongst WvWers is an excellent CC + decent dmg which your commander will appreciate alongside your supportive skill applications such as stability + protection and party-wide condi cleanses.