Create great matches [ ]Handle population fluctuations [x]Balance teams [ ]Diversify WvW experiences [x] Their goal list as i see it. I'm not sure they've thoroughly thought out the implications of an alliance system with this change, especially with the 500-1000 number they've thrown out there. The larger that number is, the more it counteracts what they're trying to achieve. This of course takes a very callous approach to how the playerbase feels about loyalty to their current home server. The longer anyone has played on their server, the more bitter of a pill this will seem. While we're trying to solve this problem strictly mathematically, the only way this can work, is if it creates a hidden MMR for alliances based on their performance the previous week. The top alliances get ground into dust by asking of them increasingly impossible tasks week after week. In the world of reality though, where this isn't going to exist, having a simple algorithm match up an even number of hours put in just won't cut it. If someone were in the number-one-big-dog-king-of-the-hill-and-everyone-better-know-it alliance, the opening week of this rollout is going to be glorious for them. For everyone else, when they don't see a commander they recognize, and they don't see an option for them to join in with said alliance, and they aren't particularly savvy to be run over by a buff stacking, support spamming zergball for a few hours a day, they're going to come to one conclusion: I guess WvW isn't a game mode for individuals anymore. I don't particularly see a reason why this change would be doing what ANet should have listed as their number one priority: bring players back to WvW. Over the years so many people have completely quit this game mode for one reason or another. These changes do nothing but isolate players from connecting to one another. As for the marks I've indicated at the top for the four main goals, I've marked them in such a way for one main reason. A strictly mathematical approach is being taken to solve this issue, but only two on that list can be solved with a mathematical approach. Diversifying WvW is the bread and butter for this new method. It's going to be new people you're facing every week, and even the seasoned players might end up learning something. Population fluctuations? Not on my watch. Throw more people at it until it works. As for great matches and balanced teams though, these aren't things that are going to be achieved in any realistic sense by operating under the assumption that all players only contribution to a week in WvW is how much time they spend with their time card punched. A 1000 player alliance of dedicated, skilled players can easily handle a group of mish-moshed randoms during all timezones, for the entire week. Isn't that what WvW is all about? Not to most people. Outsiders don't want to play with them, the entire map is one color. People don't want to play against them without a second monitor to keep track of their buff bar. And now those people themselves don't even want to play, because they won and it wasn't hard. The only way for this to work from ANet's perspective is for them to take a hand in the balancing themselves. The computer isn't going to be able to tell which matchups are going to be blowouts every week. It will take an actual person or team to actively balance WvW. As it stands, this change will cause more harm than goood to the WvW population. .02
