hedix.1986

Rip scourge. I enjoyed it, it's a sad day. This.

Feedback on something that is becoming apparent after a few months of this: Casuals are left out with little chance of getting into / playing with a good guild to help them improve. I'm happy with our guild/alliance. But it's getting big and alliance spots are precious. Guilds have paused recruiting. So this link, we're not picking up new people or pugs who want to keep playing with us. Which is a shame. This will likely cause some gatekeeping. The best way to improve in wvw is through guild play, but if the guilds now need to be mindful of their numbers, this becomes taxing for players who want to get into wvw, be they new or returning. The issue is the shifting sands model. With a proper server one can choose instead of a 500-guild-cap, players could focus more on the game than on organisation that is now necessary to keep the alliances going. The myriad things that have messed up WvW since this ill-advised beta were already mentioned in the thread, this is just another emerging issue.

So far, putting all organisational responsibility on the players is making things really messy. I see guilds/alliances are breaking apart left and right. Mainly, there is no proper alliance option, just an option to join a guild. A handful of people who own those umbrella-guilds call all the shots. As a result, some guilds are reluctant to join somebody else's home guild. So there isn't an eagerness to join, especially if you think that some guilds might dominate the alliance. Due to all of that, active WvW players now have a number of guilds, for specific purposes. That plus the need for an umbrella-guild, 6 slots is simply not enough. Another issue rn is that a lot of players are away, it's summer, holiday season, people are taking a break. With guild reorganisation happening so rapidly and new alliances popping up where one has to actively join, a lot of players are left out. If somebody is coming back at the end of the summer, where will they end up if they haven't joined a new alliance-guild? This would be avoided by having a normal server system where you can simply transfer your account. This wouldn't be a problem if Alliances was properly introduced. So now, adding up to 10 guild slots would help with organization. Or simply, return the servers. They can be new compressed servers, as long as we have ground under our feet we can use to organise and not shifting sands every few weeks.

We dropped from 1 to 2 since last week, and it's been a bit quiet. Tumbleweed rolls across borderlands. Few open tags, and no enemy to fight outside of prime time. 'Content' (as much as I dislike that word) is pretty dead outside of most active cloud-links, so expanding tiers with a reducing population problem doesn't work well.

I couldn't disagree with the title any more. So far, this change really soured the game for me. This post hits at the heart of many issues, had to quote it. If there's need for reduced servers cause of declining population, so be it. But WR should have been linked or entirely new servers, that guilds could choose to move to or out of. Shifting sands model, with no Alliances implemented but only a 500-person guild slot, is not it.

So far, this really doesn't seem balanced population-wise. 11pm GMT used to have seen plenty of activity on our old server/link. Now, all borderlands empty apart from a few people standing in the keep. I ask in team chat if there's a group anywhere in and get subsequently ridiculed in chat for asking because "it's late and everyone's sleeping" (11pm isn't late and there are timezones). 6 tiers is not it. Also, what even is team spirit any more?! This isn't a guild issue; guilds only take up to 500 players, so not enough for the whole population of folks who would have played at different times. And alliances were never implemented. Secondly, with a solid server system, as opposed to shifting sands, we could transfer away to servers where we know population plays at similar times. This change is really soured WvW for me, and it was my favourite aspect of this game.

Anet did not yet provide an alliance option. It hasn't rolled out. Instead, they only gave a 6th guild slot, that takes up to 500 players. Too few for the server community comprised of guilds with different styles + roamers. Which is why the shifting-sands-every-4-weeks model sucks.

This post show the crux of the issue. A restructuring like this may have been feasible early on, but after more than a decade, the servers developed communities etc and this guild-based shifting sands ether is alienating. It makes a player choose one guild, whereas before they could have played multiple styles with multiple guilds. And this rolled out without proper alliances mechanics. It would have been nice if there was a survey of those who actually play WvW.

Feeling gutted at the loss of servers, so here's my 2 cents. This change kills the gamemode as it existed since the beginning. Especially for those of us who have enjoyed a variety of gameplay. WvW isn't PvP matchups or PvE metas; it relied on communities. I've seen people criticise this word here, suggesting to just guild-up. But servers were more than that. They offered space where guilds could come (or leave), and a space where you could play a range of things. You could have your wvw guild, and also invite pve guildies to join you. Big fights? Lets organise on a server discord. General defense when needed? Sure, join other guilds that are around, hop on the server discord. Leaving the game for a bit and coming back? That's ok, even if you guild is less active, there are still familiar faces. Leading pugs is hearding cats? Yes, but people improve over time, especially if there are patient open tag comms. Now, that will go poof every few weeks, too short a time to get to know other players (=forever random pugs). I'll stress that other players outside of a single guild are important, as guilds raid maybe a couple nights a week only, and people might play at various times and enjoy both fights and ppt. On a 'solid' server, I could have played a variety of game styles, with different guilds. This type of restructuring is making me choose a single guild, thus limiting the WvW experience. And the "alliance" is not helping because it is not implemented. Instead, we have an overall guild slot, which is limited to only 500. I understand the need for server restructuring as the population dwindles. But that could have been met through links, or by new servers (that guild could either choose or get assigned to) instead of ether that changes every few weeks, were we cannot grow new communities.

My one hope is that, since this will be 'beta', after some chaos there could be a chance they restore the servers. They did restore the Alpine Borderland after feedback. It could be new and merged servers, but some permanence would be welcome, as opposed to everything being guild-based ether and changing every 4 weeks. Coming back to the game after a few years, my WvW guild had become inactive, but it was still easy to find familiar faces and guilds on my server. With the new system though, it will be random. So with the community spirit gone, and defending capabilities nerfed, the drive to play this game mode is diminished for all who are not in top skirmish guilds. On a stable server, I have an option to join big fights when I want, and also to do smaller group guild run fights and ppt when I want. The way alliances are planned/advertised, I seemingly have to chose one. If latter, we'll likely be fodder for blobmanders. Because the servers were a stable entity, this allowed people to learn and adapt over time, to get to know people who are active in the same game mode. An example after playing with them for weeks, pugs that join an open tag on BT are seemingly more skilled in fights than our randos, and I'd guess it is because BT has a lot of commanders that encourage voice and run open tag. I don't see how this improvement opportunity will exist in a non-server system. You can say "well just join a guild", but you'd be underestimating the current number of unguilded folks that both 1) join big fights and 2) contribute to ppt. The serverless ether idea takes away a lot of what I enjoy about WvW.

Joy of yet another day of linking single-language servers with international ones. screen in link

Hello. I despise grindy content (and vertical maps) and can't bring myself to do it, so it would be nice to get a party or support to have company/support for annoying grindy things like skyscale hunt, or LW achi hunt. Lmk in-game if this is of interest! LFG tab is beyond useless for this; I had it up for hours on end without anyone joining.

WvW always had it's issues, but what is making it unbearable-for-weeks recently stems from being linked with a wrong server. Different servers have different cultures and that takes getting used to, which is fine. But we're (Piken Square) again linked with a German-speaking server, meaning a language chaos in the chat. 1) It's a challenge to find a commander on voice chat. 2) It's a challenge to find a commander willing to type, and then only in German. 3) There is less clear coordination in teamchat about cross map objectives. We will be stuck in this link up for 3 more weeks. Being linked to Underworld and later Blacktide was a lot of fun, but here, unless you're in a guild with dedicated own wvw raids, the situation is not enjoyable at all. This Tower of Babel came up multiple times, in the beta as well. Anet, everyone would have more fun if you link servers that speak the same language and don't force international servers with a single-language ones. I know this isn't a big deal for NA, but it is on EU, and it makes me not want to play until next linking. But I'll miss wvw. Before someone suggests to transfer servers, paying that many gems every 4 weeks is not feasible.

Same/similar issue - the crystals that need to be destroyed to kill the Lieutenants do not appear. I've run around the instance a bunch, but they don't seem to be visible. I should also say, crystals are not on the roof either. Or not visible. Bug reported.

Maybe a long shot, but I was wondering if there an option to skip steps in the story and still be able to progress with it? I can't for the life of me complete the Cleanse the corrupted Wolverine Spirit shrine event, part of the Icebrood Saga. I don't care to get the achis or rewards, I just want to see the story. I've done the other two, but that's not enough to progress the story. If the only option is to grind an annoying event, to me it's not worth it. If someone suggests 'git gud', that's fair, but also life is short and I'd rather be doing enjoyable things.