Commander Tags Not Only Available To PVPers! (Title Edited)

Given the fact that all open-world PVE areas now have metas that need organising a lot of players like me are precluded from being able to get a Commander tag because we don't PVP and don't therefore ever get Badges of Honor.

I presume Commanders were originally conceived and implemented in PVP but content from SW/DT onwards has made that restriction silly, you don't need to be good at PVP to help organise a PVE map event!

Why are these tags still restricted to PVPer?

[edit]

I edited the title after it was pointed out I was wrong due to my confusion over the description of Badges of Honor being earned by participating in WvW.

They're not limited to PvPers. Anyone can buy one.

Pvpers have their own commander marks, Catmander.. Youve mightve mixed them up

Badges of Honor are also from achievement chests, so the alternative is 1000+ achievement points to afford a tag.

You can buy your tag for 300g in LA. How is that PvP-exclusive?

@"Raizel.8175" said:You can buy your tag for 300g in LA. How is that PvP-exclusive?

The first Commander's Compendium costs 300 gold and 250 badges of honor. OP is lumping "WvW" and "Structured PvP" into the "PvP" category. It's not clear if the OP is aware of the official jargon or not.

However, as others have noted, the 250 badges of honor are available via achievement chests, too, so one doesn't actually have to enter WvW (or, as the OP calls it, participate in PvP).

Additionally, all players with at least one expansion have access to the mentor tag, which is sufficient to help for the vast majority of meta and non-meta events.

tl;dr aside from some confusing with the phrasing, the OP exaggerates the situation.

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"Raizel.8175" said:You can buy your tag for 300g in LA. How is that PvP-exclusive?

You can't squad with a Mentor apple nor in the LFG. I don't know what the limit is for joining groups that are not Squaded. 5 maybe?

@Loosmaster.8263 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"Raizel.8175" said:You can buy your tag for 300g in LA. How is that PvP-exclusive?

Anyone can form a commander-less squad w max size 10.

I have one, and I don't PvP.

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@Loosmaster.8263 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"Raizel.8175" said:You can buy your tag for 300g in LA. How is that PvP-exclusive?

Thanks Tanner.

@"Loosmaster.8263" said:You can't squad with a Mentor apple nor in the LFG.

"Squading" isn't necessary for the vast majority of meta & non-meta events.

I don't know what the limit is for joining groups that are not Squaded. 5 maybe?

• Open world: 5 in a party.
• Commander-less 'raid' squad: 10
• Commander-ful traditional squad: 50

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"Loosmaster.8263" said:You can't squad with a Mentor apple nor in the LFG.

The tag is sure a help in organizing content, though, especially things like bounties. Running to the tag is vastly easier than running to a mentor mark, and the mentor mark is easier than "blah blah bounty near whatever waypoint".

I feel like this statement is technically correct, but not useful in the context. Like, I understand the OPs complaint.

I don't agree, and I think it is quite reasonable to require WvW participation to obtain the commander tag -- and I say that as someone looking forward to the WvW servers going away, because I'm stuck on a very serious T1 server, and so I die instantly should I stick a toe in that water, where I would much more enjoy running around against other players of my own skill level. :)

@SlippyCheeze.5483 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"Loosmaster.8263" said:You can't squad with a Mentor apple nor in the LFG.

I believe that I understand the OP's complaint; I just don't agree with it. There would be no point to having a commander tag if it weren't useful. But my point is that there is tons of content for which the mentor tag is more than sufficient. Bounty runs and Serpent's Ire meta? yeah, those are tricky to pull off without a true squad. But a single bounty? easily done with just a mentor tag. Getting people to the right spot for a hero challenge? Ditto.

In fact, on the whole, I find that people who pop mentor tags (for single-event or easy-meta scenarios) are more helpful. Lacking a squad, they know they have to communicate appropriate directions/advice. (Although, there are numerous counter-examples of unhelpful mentors and extremely helpful commanders.)

In other words: absolutely, commander tags are helpful, but they aren't often needed. I feel that the OP is exaggerating the importance, as well as the requirements.

It's easy enough to do the simple WvW Dailies, with which you will accumulate Badges of Honor (even if slowly). No PvP involved.

300g 250 badges? when I bought mine it was only 100g. Yay inflation? I assume the badges are just there to get more people into a dead mode lol, at least it was dead last time I tried wvw.

It moved to 300 when the tag became account wide.

What they should do is allow mentor tag in a 10man squad

@casualkenny.9817 said:What they should do is allow mentor tag in a 10man squad

That’s not what the Mentor tag is for.

I play both WvW and PvE almost exclusively.The WvW'ers here are correct that you can easily acquire the commander tag without ever entering the mists through achievement chests, and arguably faster since a good PvE'er will likely make the Gold faster. Now, the catmander tag is another story, but it's only cosmetically different than normal. I want one of those cool looking PvP rank icons by my name, but I hate PvP so I'll keep my catmander tag and be happyBut here is where i have to disagree with my WvW counterparts, It is absolutely unthinkable to organize meta's on the level of AB,TD or VB, And 10 man parties in DS, you're insane. Not to mention HP trains, world boss trains, or heck, even SW or DT. To even suggest it comes off as uninforned at best, arrogant at worstMy 2 cents

@Haleydawn.3764 said:

@casualkenny.9817 said:What they should do is allow mentor tag in a 10man squad

I mean that you can field a mentor tag while being in a squad, as a mobile map marker, as a visual marker for the squad to follow, while still being able to communicate with a 10person squad.

I'm assuming you don't mean that the mentor tag is meant to indicate that someone is mentoring, because it is rarely used in that way.

Besides, being able to run the mentor tag actually does help a bona fide mentor in mentoring up to 9 others in the squad.

Btw, to elaborate on my earlier post, I said 'allow', because you cannot be part of a squad and still hold a mentor tag. This is annoying when spearheading a small hp train or event train or even a bounty train.

Do you have any reason for objecting to mentors being part of a 5man party but not a 10man squad?

@casualkenny.9817 said:

@Haleydawn.3764 said:

@casualkenny.9817 said:What they should do is allow mentor tag in a 10man squad

The purpose of the Mentor tag is to mentor new/returning players, by flagging you so people can talk to you, not follow you.Just because it’s use has devolved into a poor mans commander tag, doesn’t mean it should be given squad benefits, which other players payed 100-300-450g for, like spearheading a 10-man squad.You can create a commanderless 10 man and have everyone place a target on you if they need to.

@Haleydawn.3764 said:

@casualkenny.9817 said:

@Haleydawn.3764 said:

@casualkenny.9817 said:What they should do is allow mentor tag in a 10man squad

Gets worse by the fact everyone can unlock it once they got an expansion, ppl just spamming apples.

That's why I want Anet to make Mentor Tag invisible (visible to party members) or much smaller on the map

U pay 300g to lead a 50man squad, place squad markers, appoint lieuts, do ready checks, make squad broadcasts, shift people into subs quads, kick nuisances, lend credibility to your taxis, and people are more inclined to listen to you because of your 300g decoration.

A 10man squad is free. Please don't overstate the freebie benefits of a mentor tag for lightweight content where there are no comms around.

Since we are on about the true purpose of a mentor tag, can you elaborate on how a true mentor would not benefit from being able to communicate better with up to 9 other people in a 10man squad, especially with the advent of mounts, such that a grouping would be more spread out?

@Kilamanjaro.2705 said:But here is where i have to disagree with my WvW counterparts, It is absolutely unthinkable to organize meta's on the level of AB,TD or VB, And 10 man parties in DS, you're insane. Not to mention HP trains, world boss trains, or heck, even SW or DT. To even suggest it comes off as uninforned at best, arrogant at worst

You can do a lot of stuff without a tag if people were to start using their brain instead of mindlessly following a tag around. The only real use is the easy map-switching.

@casualkenny.9817 said:U pay 300g to lead a 50man squad, place squad markers, appoint lieuts, do ready checks, make squad broadcasts, shift people into subs quads, kick nuisances, lend credibility to your taxis, and people are more inclined to listen to you because of your 300g decoration.

A 10man squad is free. Please don't overstate the freebie benefits of a mentor tag for lightweight content where there are no comms around.

Since we are on about the true purpose of a mentor tag, can you elaborate on how a true mentor would not benefit from being able to communicate better with up to 9 other people in a 10man squad, especially with the advent of mounts, such that a grouping would be more spread out?

You talk as if Anet didn’t intend its current behaviour.Anet intended its use to Mentor via Mapchat/Saychat. That’s why it’s free, and can’t be used to form squads, and can’t be used in WvW.“The tag and badge will make it easier for Guild Wars 2 players who take pride in helping others to reach out.”By allowing new players to see you and they then know they can message/talk to you about anything ingame and get an answer. That’s the point.Now back to the original topic; Commander tags aren’t WvW exclusive and Badges of Honor drop from achievement reward chests. Their original functionality was in WvW, until Anet allowed their use in PvE, then started to develop Commander tools to aid in open world and Raids.