Questions about the current state of PvP

[Luthan.5236]

I'm a returning player. Stopped end of 2013 (started at release) and I played mainly PvE. Sometimes WvW and PvP where I enjoyed PvP because WvW was too much zerging every now and then.

Now that I'm back I'm focusing on PvE first but trying PvP every now and then. (Seems you can also earn gold with it now.) Small problem is that I get killed too fast (need to re-learn my class again and buy the expansions because elite specs seem mandatory now and learning all about them and how to conter).

The bigger thing is: I read everywhere that PvP is dying (less players) and so on ... so how is the current state? I liked maps like Spirit Watch and Temple of the Silent storm cause of their setup (buffs or orb) but it seems people vote against them often and in the open arenas not many players are online. (Leaving the unranked/rankd as only option ... where you need to learn about the new maps there ... might annoy others if you are noobish because you just returned and need to learn the map as well as your class again.)

Then we have people wanting new expansion for PvE (which probably come with new classes or elite specs) - wouldn't that makve PvP harder as well - especially for new or returning players? I mean just learning your class is not enough. You'd need to learn about all the other classes/elite specs as well to be able to counter them and stay alive.

Actually doesn't really seem tooo appealing to me to get back into PvP now. (At least until I haven't bought the expansions and have tried out all the elite specs - or at least a majority of them - in PvE. For the normal classes I have played 5 of them a lot and mainly core engineer back then in 2013 in PvP whch already was considered a bit harder to learn especially if you like CC and damage instead of the condigion builds which seemed mandatory..)

Then: Why is everone complaining about capture points game mode? Seems more interesting than a "stupid" deathmatch where people only would look at their stats and k/d. (Then again teamplay is possible for both. I like how special mechanigs like the orb and buffs on certain maps give a nice addition. At least back then it was like that ... don't know if those maps got changed.) I think: A death match with perma death (for the match time) could be fun though. Could encourage to stay alive more and play together instead of "farming" for your own k/d.

[MissCee.1295]

Player population is definitely an issue. I play on both EU & NA server. From my observations, EU seems to generally more populated. But I can't always play at peak times. As you pointed out, Unranked/Ranked is your main option. However we also have tournaments available now.

Not sure if this will help, but doesn't hurt to take a look:

[DoomNexus.5324]

Concerning the playerbase: while not dead - as many are saying all the time - it's apparently not enough to sustain separate team Qs or other game modes, since the population would be split for example (at least that's the official statement regarding stuff like this - even tho I think more variety would actually attract more ppl as well but ye, what can you do about it when the devs don't want to, right?) but it's not like you have to wait 15min+ so it's rather okay-ish. I'm usually waiting around 2-4 minutes, depending on the time and day. But you always notice the impact of a PvE event too, so atm there's the dragon bash event which attracts a lot of players because of ez money and achievement points.

The balance unfortunately is pretty much garbage.. while admittedly there have been some improvements since a year or two ago, there are still a lot of imbalances between classes, especially since Anet keeps buffing underperforming stuff and trying to nerf broken stuff by reducing 10 different symptoms at a time, destroying other, viable builds as well, instead of the one core trait synergy this one op build is based upon. So they kept power- and healcreeping single builds (or rather, ppl pick the broken stuff and combine it in one build) to a really ridiculous point, while most decent builds in the past are no longer viable whatsoever. Some classes are almost unkillable and can even sustain into 1v3 by afk-ing on the node if played well (so you can't even (de)cap because they don't need to kite or anything) while some can burst down "normal" dps builds (not even glass cannons) within like half a second with one wombocombo.Literally every rework Anet did in the past led to some ridiculous consequences like the eternal bunker Scrapper, Onetrick Arc Divider Berserker (while not really viable and not seen a whole lot because core and spellbreaker are still overall more competitive, really annoying if encountered) and the current Revenant everyone is so sick of (apparently - I am not tbh but well just check the PvP threads lul - it's only just since the Herald rework a while ago actually)

So unless Anet starts understanding their own game, it's not really a good time to come back to GW2 PvP. The only reason it is still somewhat alive is that there are simply no good MMO alternatives for PvP. Every other MMO has either massive p2w or grind involved, a rather boring combat system, heavy server issues, an even more severe population issue (FF14 being one example.. it's apparently not unusual to have 30min queue time there) or a combination of those.

[Luthan.5236]

Oh yeah I see. I agree on the reaseoning about other MMO. I especially liked the knockbacks and stun mechanic and the doding vs. "click a skill button with the mouse" in other MMORPG where usually no doding is available and skills hit automatically or based on a percantage (hit ratio). Feels more "action"-like here in GW2. I'll try that scrapper build though. :D (My main is engineer ... but staying a bit with PvE for now until I buy the 1st expansion which unlocks the scrapper elite. :D Hopefully they haven't nerfed it by then. :D)