What's next for Guild Wars2

Check out the report on what's next for GW2. NOTHING in there about Alliances... However they do say something about WvW... and this is what it says:

"Further Down the RoadFor WvW, we’ve talked about changing the matches so that scoring matters in 8-hour intervals. This allows us to address gameplay in off-peak hours in a way that doesn’t invalidate the work of the most active populations."

Seriously? THAT's the future of WvW? Some sort of rework of scoring that doesn't matter anyway because of linked server bandwagoning? Man I'm so annoyed right now I could break something.

The full notice is here: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/72842/what-s-next-for-guild-wars-2

nothing about alliances because I think they have nothing. It has been metioned that in the past only one person was working on wvw (that's not enough). hope they can progress fast and add alliances in the game, because keeping the server linking system is not great.

Not commenting on what you should or shouldn't make of the announcement, but your assessment is inaccurate. Maybe don't break anything just yet.

"We’ve mentioned in the past how important world restructuring is to our WvW initiatives, and that hasn’t changed. While the Programming Team is focused on this initiative, the team is also focusing on smaller updates that can temporarily change the game mode, like the No Downed State Week we’ve done in the past. We’re also talking about different types of reward structures for events."

Agree I took it as they are working on architecture changes that allows them to modify the "rules" of the game and allow people to try out things. Don't know how I feel about the 8 HR periods, but also took it as a parameter that could be changed so we could try other groupings, like 4. Again it read more to me like, we are working on multiple fronts not just a single target for WvW like alliances. By releasing other things before the alliance it shows that things are evolving. At least IMO.

I’m not typically the negative note on the scale but sure you could read into this anyway that suits you.

To me it looks and sounds like a bunch of words to pacify but give zero in specifics at all... a year after the alliance proposal announcement.

Give me an olive branch with at least a bloom on it instead of telling me the tree is still standing and I’ll believe something is actually being done/planned.

@"Balthazzarr.1349" said:I’m not typically the negative note on the scale but sure you could read into this anyway that suits you.

To me it looks and sounds like a bunch of words to pacify but give zero in specifics at all... a year after the alliance proposal announcement.

Give me an olive branch with at least a bloom on it instead of telling me the tree is still standing and I’ll believe something is actually being done/planned.

There has been some PR talk the past month. I wouldn't read too deeply into it one way or the other.

@"Balthazzarr.1349" said:I’m not typically the negative note on the scale but sure you could read into this anyway that suits you.

To me it looks and sounds like a bunch of words to pacify but give zero in specifics at all... a year after the alliance proposal announcement.

Give me an olive branch with at least a bloom on it instead of telling me the tree is still standing and I’ll believe something is actually being done/planned.

I feel just like you...I can only say that it continues to be hilarious & COMPLETELY depressing...

LuL...predicted the below would happen almost 3 years ago:

To be “Efficient”…ANet has to be given free reign to Manipulate both Population & Score.Balanced & Fair Match-Ups will be an illusion based on ANet’s skill & speed at Manipulating these variables.

Manipulate Population - Server Linking & Alliance LinkingManipulate Score - 8 Hour Interval to make Scoring Matter - Illusion to Fix our "Off-Peak" hours...aka...Night Capping

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/wuv/WvW-Poll-21-May-World-Linking-Closed/page/3#post6172649

Server Linking has had a very negative Long Term impact on population growth.

Alliance Linking...that ANet continues to "Work" on...in my strongest opinion...will repeat Server Linking...because it focuses on using "Team Creation" mechanics to in-directly fix our Match-Up problems caused by over-stacked teams...instead of directly fixing the Match-Up mechanics.

Server stacking will always happen. Developers need to embrace this fundamental nature of players & design the game mode to use their behavior to power Healthy Competitive Match-Ups between ALL servers.

We need to get rid of the Fixed 3 Way Match-Ups stuck into Bronze, Silver, and Gold Tiers & Replace it with a Match-Up mechanic that allows players to directly pick their own Match-Ups with built-in Limitations that encourage Healthy Competitive Match-Ups between ALL servers.

There's a better solution...and I can't understand why we want to repeat the same mistake of Server Linking all over again.

Doing the same thing & expecting a different outcome...this is what Alliance Linking will turn into...imho

Yours truly,Diku

Credibility requires critical insight & time.

@"Balthazzarr.1349" said:I’m not typically the negative note on the scale but sure you could read into this anyway that suits you.

To me it looks and sounds like a bunch of words to pacify but give zero in specifics at all... a year after the alliance proposal announcement.

Give me an olive branch with at least a bloom on it instead of telling me the tree is still standing and I’ll believe something is actually being done/planned.

+1

See https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/71993/battle-royale-map#latest

@"Balthazzarr.1349" said:Check out the report on what's next for GW2. NOTHING in there about Alliances... However they do say something about WvW... and this is what it says:

"Further Down the RoadFor WvW, we’ve talked about changing the matches so that scoring matters in 8-hour intervals. This allows us to address gameplay in off-peak hours in a way that doesn’t invalidate the work of the most active populations."

Seriously? THAT's the future of WvW? Some sort of rework of scoring that doesn't matter anyway because of linked server bandwagoning? Man I'm so annoyed right now I could break something.

The full notice is here: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/72842/what-s-next-for-guild-wars-2

@"Balthazzarr.1349" said:I’m not typically the negative note on the scale but sure you could read into this anyway that suits you.

To me it looks and sounds like a bunch of words to pacify but give zero in specifics at all... a year after the alliance proposal announcement.

Give me an olive branch with at least a bloom on it instead of telling me the tree is still standing and I’ll believe something is actually being done/planned.

I agree. Maybe this was in response to teapot/deroir's recent video.

@Diku.2546 said:

@"Balthazzarr.1349" said:I’m not typically the negative note on the scale but sure you could read into this anyway that suits you.

To me it looks and sounds like a bunch of words to pacify but give zero in specifics at all... a year after the alliance proposal announcement.

Give me an olive branch with at least a bloom on it instead of telling me the tree is still standing and I’ll believe something is actually being done/planned.

You were 100% right, and it's exactly what I feared too. For those that did not follow your link:

Before you think it’s great to Vote Yes to Allow ANet to implement World Linking permanently.Ask yourself if you’re ok with the following questions:**Does ANet need to Explain How World Link Pair Ups are done?****Should ANet be Allowed to Change World Link Pair Ups without a Poll?**The WvW Community will need to depend on ANet to weekly manipulate the World Link Pair Ups to create Balanced & Fair Match-Ups – Long Term.Do you firmly believe ANet will excel at this task?Can you wait till the problems get fixed…if ever?Make the right choice & don’t encourage ANet to continue building something with Short Term benefits.Let ANet know you prefer a more Long Term Solution.Ask for a Long Term Solution where the Core Base Design CAN:1) Reduce the direct impact of Server stacking to Match-Ups2) Allow friends & family to play together from many different Worlds3) Allow Off-peak capping, but let players to work out a solution themselvesWithout having to do Complex mechanisms that manipulate Match-Ups Or ScoringRemember – Core Base design (Fixed 3 Way Battle Model) encourages Server stacking.Players basic motivation is to be PART OF the team that wins more.3 Way Fixed Fight (auto or manual arranged)…based on past history of WvW that I’ve observed…gets Stale & Players will take it upon themselves to fix things by Server Stacking to the Strongest in the 3…while Guilds will actively try to Game the system.We’re going to be back in the same situation once things settle again…imho…but sadly our Lower WvW Tier Ecology will be destroyed…Whole Communities of Lower Tier Veteran WvW Players will stop playing or convert themselves into Zombies in order to survive life while being part of the Blob Armies of a bleak future filled with Zerg vs Zerg Battles & a Mad Max Off-peak Capping World…imho**These Lower Tier Veterans that would have provided a safe place for noobs to learn, grow, and then to Migrate up into the Upper Tiers of WvW…will be lost.**(edited 2016-05-24 16:45:10 by Diku.2546)

Exactly like you said, links have allowed the Locust Alliance to go from server to server, steal players from them, and leave them a desolate wasteland. And I believe that ANet encourages it because those Gem sales are the most money WvW ever made.

I am almost guaranteeing that we won't see Alliances until they can monetize it.

At this point, we would be better off just getting rid of links and letting the populations settle.

@Kylden Ar.3724 said:At this point, we would be better off just getting rid of links and letting the populations settle.That would be like giving up on putting out a blazing house fire to save all the surrounding houses, until you realize that you're living alone in the woods and you dont have fuel for the flamethrower to start the fire.

@Dawdler.8521 said:

@"Kylden Ar.3724" said:At this point, we would be better off just getting rid of links and letting the populations settle.That would be like giving up on putting out a blazing house fire to save all the surrounding houses, until you realize that you're living alone in the woods and you dont have fuel for the flamethrower to start the fire.

I think a better analogy is that WvW is an unique ecosystem.

Better approach is to remove the factors negatively impacting the environment & Hope nature recovers over time.

Extinction is not a nice future to look forward to.

LuL...predicted the below would happen almost 2 years ago:

The Lower tier servers once served as a bedrock to eccentric WvW communities.These communities used to provide a constant stream of players that migrated on their own…like a moth to a flame…to the Top tiers for action.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/wuv/WvW-tiers-making-sense/page/1#post6581044

Some folks will never understand what an ecosystem entails & how it relates to our WvW game mode...but...here goes:

Some habitats appear to be dead, but life still exists & thrives in its own way...

In the case of WvW...before Server Linking...players would voluntarily choose to leave their "dead" Bronze Ranked Server.

Servers in the Bronze Tier provided a Community niche. Servers in the Silver Tier provided a shift between Community & Zerg niche. Servers in the Gold Tier provided an extreme Zerg niche.

The real purpose of the Bronze Tier communities was to provide a niche where noob commanders & players could grow up & later move to the Gold Tier.

When you over fish a habitat & don't provide a niche that protects the "small fry" to grow-up...you'll eventually run out of normal fish to co-exist & only encourage Piranhas & Sharks to thrive off each other.

The real purpose of the WvW game mode is to provide a consistent source of player foot traffic to return to & play Guild Wars 2...with the expectation that they'll visit their Gem Store to financially support ANet.

Successful shopping malls know this basic customer behavior that helps to attract customers into their shops.

When people stop coming to the mall...earnings for the shops at the mall tend to decrease in proportion.

Don't confuse these 2 different purposes that mutually benefit each other if both thrive.

I really wish that ANet would consider what I've proposed...which is to fundamentally change the Match-Up mechanics of this game mode so that it encourages a Healthy Competitive Match-Ups between ALL servers.

Doing the same thing & expecting a different outcome...this is what Alliance Linking will turn into...imho

Yours truly,Diku

Credibility requires critical insight & time.

@Diku.2546 hits it right on the head.

The problem now with population is the sandbox got taken over by the bullies.

Before links came in players had their own choice for 4 years, and they chose to super stack servers and made everything even more unbalanced and in some cases left behind broken worlds which they are still doing to this day. Lower servers were bedrocks of dried out rivers, they were dying out because players migrated to play with healthier populations and to get easy wins, there was no constant stream because the lower servers never got repopulated.

People are lazy and always pick the easiest route to win. The only way you can do a system to let players play wherever is to also not use any type of scoring system, that was actually their first mistake in making wvw since any competitive scoring relies on even teams, see real sports.

@Kylden Ar.3724 said:

Exactly like you said, links have allowed the Locust Alliance to go from server to server, steal players from them, and leave them a desolate wasteland. And I believe that ANet encourages it because those Gem sales are the most money WvW ever made.

You know, I just don't get all the shade you personally throw at Mal and Indo. They didn't take anything from Kaineng, there was nothing there to take. That was the reason they moved there in the first place.

If anything, they gave you a taste of life not in last place, what it's like on a more organized server.

@LetoII.3782 said:

@Kylden Ar.3724 said:

Exactly like you said, links have allowed the Locust Alliance to go from server to server, steal players from them, and leave them a desolate wasteland. And I believe that ANet encourages it because those Gem sales are the most money WvW ever made.

Where are they now anyway?

Please stay on topic & Please edit your post so this thread isn't closed.

We have a pretty good positive discussion going on...imho

Thank you,Diku

I'm 99% sure they didn't start work on HoT until just before they announced it, so it wouldn't surprise me if alliances are actually nowhere near ready for the same reason tbh.

@kins.3294 said:

@LetoII.3782 said:

@Kylden Ar.3724 said:

Exactly like you said, links have allowed the Locust Alliance to go from server to server, steal players from them, and leave them a desolate wasteland. And I believe that ANet encourages it because those Gem sales are the most money WvW ever made.

Indo took a breakThe rest spilt up

@"Diku.2546" said:Please stay on topic & Please edit your post so this thread isn't closed.

We have a pretty good positive discussion going on...imho

Thank you,Diku

Well, I can tell you what is in store for WvW.... Nothing

if world restructuring doesn't fix anything then nothing will. if you play this game primarily for the wvw, I would give restructuring a couple months then find another game if it doesn't pan out.

@Stand The Wall.6987 said:if world restructuring doesn't fix anything then nothing will. if you play this game primarily for the wvw, I would give restructuring a couple months then find another game if it doesn't pan out.Ray is already on record talking about how it alone will not fix anything and that it is merely a foundation from which they can better work with population figures in the future through other projects. The 8-hour split seems to be on of those other projects.

I've resigned myself for that World restructuring will bring about 2 things and those things only: the ability to pull scattered guilds together again without gems and some hype comming from the alliances that get formed. Hopefully some old groups will return just to check out the alliance forming features. That should last a few months of better content (and possibly that the first few weeks every other month provide some better content, same as relinks already do the first few days when they happen as people check out who their new friends will be, but to a higher degree). That will be nice even if it doesn't direct adress population balance.

The world restructuring project is at least a step in the right direction, however long it has taken or dead on arrival it will be. At least it comes with an understanding of what type of work is needed on WvW.