Alliances are a waste of time and resources

[Bast.7253]

Will still wind up with skewed servers and people evading other commanders during off hours. But it's a bullet point I guess. 

[pikalovr.4613]

16 minutes ago, Bast.7253 said:

Will still wind up with skewed servers and people evading other commanders during off hours. But it's a bullet point I guess. 

but guild wars in my guild wars 

[Kori Jenkins.9017]

It's probably a waste of time and resources? Idk really. 

 

Tbh, I would've rather seen them put more effort into the rewards and making them worthwhile. Lack of engagement for anything other than gift of battle grinds or things like Conflux contribute more to the imbalanced matchups than anything else it seems. My own experiences with WvW show there's a fair amount of people just flipping camps and afking, which obviously doesn't help the active commanders at all.

 

You might have more engagement per server if the rewards were actually competitive with literally any other content. In fact I think the devs straight up said some months ago that they're aware the rewards are terrible compared to, say, fractals, and were going to improve them. Still waiting. 

 

Trying to boost overall engagement across the entire game mode probably would've done wonders. Imagine if, in addition to the pips every 5 minutes, capturing a tower or keep rewarded 1 or 2. People might actually do more than just run yaks. 

Yeah pile in the confused emojis you toxic trolls. 

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Kori Jenkins.9017

[Sahne.6950]

9 minutes ago, Kori Jenkins.9017 said:

In fact I think the devs straight up said some months ago that they're aware the rewards are terrible compared to, say, fractals, and were going to improve them. Still waiting.

well... the devs turned our own meme against us...

 

quote on quote: "we are going to look into rewards, after alliances is ready to be permanently released."  

 

aka. NEVER. 

[Gorani.7205]

Are alliances a waste of time and resources?
We will only know, after the feature has rolled out. If matchmaking will create more even matches with an adequate population on each side, so that WvW feels more alive than now and is roughly as rewarding to play for each side, alliances could still be a decent investment in Dev hours and the waiting time we had to endure.

Should there be no palpable improvement to over what we have now, I assume it should be considered a waste of time and resources, because those Dev hours could have been better invested in tweaking existing features like reward tracks years ago.

[Swamurabi.7890]

1 hour ago, Gorani.7205 said:

We will only know, after the feature has rolled out. If matchmaking will create more even matches with an adequate population on each side, so that WvW feels more alive than now and is roughly as rewarding to play for each side, alliances could still be a decent investment in Dev hours and the waiting time we had to endure.

I think that initially you will see balanced populations with unbalanced skill levels which will look exactly like what you see today.

And then you'd wait another 10 years before Anet figures out a way to balance the skill levels of groups of players.

[Kozumi.5816]

Alliances are pointless as long as the game mode keeps its current terrible balance and lack of rewards.

[Blockhead Magee.3092]

Waste of time?    Not really, they've hardly put any time into it at all.

Waste of resources?  Maybe, but see above.... 

[Zaret.1450]

17 hours ago, Bast.7253 said:

Will still wind up with skewed servers and people evading other commanders during off hours. But it's a bullet point I guess. 

if it wasnt for how it is now maybe id say your right, but baruch bay for example allwais plays alone, while every week you allwais find servers fused together, if a loner server had as many pleople as 2 servers fused then ok, but there have been weeks that you saw one of the servers literaly abandoned, because one of the others just had a 50 people zerg in almost every map, and at the end of the week one server has double or triple the other servers points, like... how the heck is that fair? also theres people changing acounts because they just wanna be in the winning side and abandon the loosing sides, or changing servers whenever they want... wvw need a huge rework, aliances are something at least.

[aspirine.6852]

That one person working on it on saturday evening is not really wasting anything.

[enkidu.5937]

Player A: „Do you want to join our Alliance? It’s made for people that play mainly 2-4 pm, because we love to brain-afk dominate for ez loot and K-train. Only takes some clicks and doesn’t cost gems.”

 

Player B: “Sry, I’m already in an Alliance that spreads over off-hours. So we can totally dominate the war score. Only takes some clicks and doesn’t cost gems.”

 

Player C : “Hey there, nice to meet you two. Shall we do som….”

 

Player A + B: “Nope, sry. Private Alliance raid begins in some minutes.” 😏

Edited August 12, 2022 by enkidu.5937

[Bast.7253]

4 hours ago, Kozumi.5816 said:

Alliances are pointless as long as the game mode keeps its current terrible balance and lack of rewards.

Exactly. I think I’d rather them devote that time to creating better balance, better rewards, a new map, and finding ways to improve the game mode so that it isn’t just a complete steamroll defending on a dead sever at off hours. 
 

Improvements to siege, improvements to defensive ability via buffs or something. 
 

Removing toxic abusive skills like pull spam and making it less of a boon spam fest. 

[AlCapwnd.7834]

19 hours ago, Bast.7253 said:

Will still wind up with skewed servers and people evading other commanders during off hours. But it's a bullet point I guess. 

I think you are and most of the people in the comments are wrong. What i think we will see is that there will be more time coverage on all maps. I know our server is trying to get SEA, EU and NA coverage in our alliance. And if commanders are evading fights that's on your server. You could always start a fight guild if you wanted to and recruit. The people on these forums really like to hate on the Dev team (and maybe for good reason waiting so many years) But as the saying goes. You will catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

 

Put your confused emojis over there please. Lets see if i can get 20 of them 😃 --------------------------------------------------------------->

[iKeostuKen.2738]

Alliances wont do anything when we just have colluding and trolls. 1 server outnumbers you and a troll pulls all your defenses and wastes supply. Youd thing with no defenses that they would be vulnerable to an attack from the third server right? Wrong, 3rd server is also on your side of the map double teaming an already outnumbered force.

Fix that problem first. Alliance wouldn't be needed if we could effectively zerg bust and defend on our own turf. Then use actual tactics to outmaneuver blob comps while taking structures.

[Sean Wood.8902]

Had my guild selected in the alliance beta page for weeks, been placed on a completely different server to everyone else and the queues are not moving at all. This sucks kitten so bad, WvW is my favourite game mode, I'd like to play it with the people I've got to know on my server. This whole concept is just silly IMO. Reset night ruined (y).

[andrewobrien.1460]

11 minutes ago, Sean Wood.8902 said:

Had my guild selected in the alliance beta page for weeks, been placed on a completely different server to everyone else and the queues are not moving at all. This sucks kitten so bad, WvW is my favourite game mode, I'd like to play it with the people I've got to know on my server. This whole concept is just silly IMO. Reset night ruined (y).

yes this has also happened to a few from our guild so they lodged a support ticket and this was the response

 

"Hello,
 
Thanks very much for letting us know about the issue that you noted in Guild Wars 2, unfortunately, it is not possible for us Game Masters to alter/change a players team/guild. The next time that you're in the game and you find a bug, you can do us a favor by submitting an in-game bug report. This will send detailed information about your character and your position directly to our Quality Assurance Team and will help us assess the issue as promptly as possible. To submit a bug report in the game, simply click on the "Game Menu" button in the upper left-hand corner of the game interface, then choose the "Support" option on the Game Menu. That option will allow you to review known issues, report a bug, or contact Customer Support."

 

Very Poor ANET!!!!

Edited August 12, 2022 by andrewobrien.1460

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

The duality of WvW.
"Alliances when"
"Alliances are a waste"

[Beddo.1907]

So far the most equal teams since ages. (for me)

[Xenesis.6389]

1 hour ago, Bast.7253 said:

Exactly. I think I’d rather them devote that time to creating better balance, better rewards, a new map, and finding ways to improve the game mode so that it isn’t just a complete steamroll defending on a dead sever at off hours. 
 

Improvements to siege, improvements to defensive ability via buffs or something. 
 

Removing toxic abusive skills like pull spam and making it less of a boon spam fest. 

You assume they even have a full wvw team on this, when it's probably been one dev all along for the past 5 years..

 

29 minutes ago, Beddo.1907 said:

So far the most equal teams since ages. (for me)

Reset is usually equal teams....

Come back mid week and see how it is...

[Cyninja.2954]

1 hour ago, Bast.7253 said:

Exactly. I think I’d rather them devote that time to creating better balance, better rewards, a new map, and finding ways to improve the game mode so that it isn’t just a complete steamroll defending on a dead sever at off hours. 
 

Improvements to siege, improvements to defensive ability via buffs or something. 
 

Removing toxic abusive skills like pull spam and making it less of a boon spam fest. 

 

So your suggestions is to dress the issue up more nicely, put a nice bow on it and just pretend that unbalanced match-ups and pairings are a figment of everyone's imagination?

 

The current state of matchmaking and player pairing was/is near an end. Alliances might not be the only idea, but at least it is an attempt at fixing one of the root issues in the game mode: unequal player numbers.

[Kori Jenkins.9017]

3 hours ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

 

So your suggestions is to dress the issue up more nicely, put a nice bow on it and just pretend that unbalanced match-ups and pairings are a figment of everyone's imagination?

 

The current state of matchmaking and player pairing was/is near an end. Alliances might not be the only idea, but at least it is an attempt at fixing one of the root issues in the game mode: unequal player numbers.

The player numbers would be much closer to equal if the rewards were actually worth bothering for. You might actually manage to get close to full maps throughout the day if there was a purpose to the mode. 

[Cyninja.2954]

8 hours ago, Kori Jenkins.9017 said:

The player numbers would be much closer to equal if the rewards were actually worth bothering for. You might actually manage to get close to full maps throughout the day if there was a purpose to the mode. 

 

I'm not a subscriber to the "let's just increase the rewards and that will fix everything" pamphlet. On the contrary, increasing rewards does nothing to solving the underlying issues. It's a band-aid temporary fix which just exacerbates the problems. best witnessed every time we get a Call of the Mists weekend or week, followed by a mass exodus the week after.

 

Rewards are a separate issue and adjusting them to encourage more players to play the mode simply brings in to a large extent players that simply want the reward, not actually participate in the game mode. That is already the case with pip farmers but does not need to be increased even more.

 

"Fixing" the game mode needs adjustments and issues fixed at the very core, of which unbalanced sides a majority of the time is one. I've been very active in WvW for now over 5 years and the state of publics, guilds and total player numbers has been in constant decline. Players didn't mind the rewards 5 years ago enough to stay away, so I am unsure why that would be the issue. Unless the goal is to cater to a new type of player mentality of just gimme gimme gimme over actual quality content.

 

Once some of the core issues are fixed, I doubt we will see anything about balance, yes, rewards need to be looked at, but not only to increase them but rather design them in a healthy way around the game mode promoting a healthy interaction with the mode and other players (and in WvW that can mean encouraging actual confrontation between sides).

Edited August 13, 2022 by Cyninja.2954

[Diku.2546]

1 hour ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

Snip 8<

Once some of the core issues are fixed, I doubt we will see anything about balance, yes, rewards need to be looked at, but not only to increase them but rather design them in a healthy way around the game mode promoting a healthy interaction with the mode and other players (and in WvW that can mean encouraging actual confrontation between sides).

 

I totally agree & understand what you're trying to point out.

Alliances will not be able to achieve this healthy interaction, but will instead allow Guild leaders & officers to control others in a potentially toxic relationship of who's part of the in crowd. . . filled with high end gossip, secret agendas, and incendiary guild politics.

ANet is too focused on the short term fix of trying to piece together an "equal strength" team made up of mixed language, culture, and play styles of players. . . in their attempt to "balance server population". . . not realizing petty guild politics could literally burn down alliances & the WvW game mode in a consistent & repeating pattern.

Instead . . . WvW needs a better vision that encompasses 3 major concepts. . . imho

1)  Embrace Server stacking is a natural part of this game mode
2)  Allow Friends & Family to play together even though they're from different Servers
3)  Allow Off-peak capping, but let players to work out a solution themselves

See - Chapter 3 - for full context

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/61981-wvg-world-vs-globes-road-map-to-reboot-wvw/?tab=comments#comment-992631

We need a better Weekly Match-Up Mechanic.  Designed with 3 things in mind. . . imho

1)  King of Hill
2)  Allow Players to weekly pick ANY 2 servers to fight  - Use Server Raiding for WvW - Server Guesting Video
3)  Reward Players only when they attack Servers ranked higher than their Home Server

See - Chapter 4 - for full context

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/61981-wvg-world-vs-globes-road-map-to-reboot-wvw/?tab=comments#comment-992632

Yours truly,
Diku

Credibility requires critical insight & time.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Diku.2546

[Kozumi.5816]

17 hours ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

The current state of matchmaking and player pairing was/is near an end. Alliances might not be the only idea, but at least it is an attempt at fixing one of the root issues in the game mode: unequal player numbers.

If you want to fix player numbers, make the mode fun for more than an extreme minority of gvg players in their late 40's who lack the APM to play a skill based PvP game. Literally any random trash pay to win MMO on steam has better PvP than WvW does atm. Steam release is a great time to bring new blood to WvW but with it's current design it will never do that.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Kozumi.5816

[Cyninja.2954]

57 minutes ago, Kozumi.5816 said:

If you want to fix player numbers, make the mode fun for more than an extreme minority of gvg players in their late 40's who lack the APM to play a skill based PvP game. Literally any random trash pay to win MMO on steam has better PvP than WvW does atm. Steam release is a great time to bring new blood to WvW but with it's current design it will never do that.

 

You mean the gvg players which already left for EotM? You can hate all you want on gvg, those guilds are not the issue any more. What you are left with is blob guilds on border most of the time.

 

I agree though, making the mode fun is a priority. Balancing sides is a step in that direction.