The match that ended my whole career

[Anonynja.3172]

One match turned a switch in my head and broke my growing love for sPvP. 

For context, I've been working on The Ascension after a few years off PvP. I had been a solidly silver player, very mediocre. Constantly swapping classes, charging headlong into mid, learning little from my mistakes. But in the past few years I've improved my mental health, found my main profession, gotten into raiding and strike CMs, and beaten some of the hardest content in the game. I reentered PvP with a much better headspace and stronger class familiarity. I quickly climbed to g1, kept studying high rank players and trying to reflect on my matches, and eventually reached g3. For a brief period, I enjoyed a 50/50 win rate with much less toxicity than you see in lower ranks. People were generally trying their best, and losing fair matches didn't really feel bad. You learn and try again. 

Then The Ascension collection's final step kicked in and I needed ten wins on two other classes. I am not as skilled on my alts, so naturally I slid toward g1. Frustrating loss streaks, but that's the nature of account-bound rank. Got the wins on the other two classes for the collection and swapped back to my main. Started climbing, but am approaching burnout. Being back in lower rank matches is giving awful matchmaking again. We win by landslides, we lose by landslides, people AFK, people rage. Rare are the fair matches decided by skill. It's a slog with the promise of fairness at g3 the only motivator. So I'm slowly climbing, when one match just breaks me.

The teammate's account name is Afksales.####. Their character name is random jumbled letters. They aren't hiding it. We start winning the match by a wide lead. About halfway in, this teammate goes afk at base. Our team is understandably upset. Afksales.#### laughs and taunts chat. And I realize this means somebody on the other team has purchased this match. A switch goes off in my head and I just close the game. Take the deserter hit and save my teammates from losing rank. That's it for me. I cannot find joy in a game mode with so many different major issues. Buying matches was the last straw.

I think we all play sPvP for similar reasons. Every once in a while, you have a beautiful match. Win or lose, it feels good. You know you all tried your best. You respect the enemy team whether they beat you or lost. The outcome is earned, whichever way it went.

But those matches are far too rare. Balance issues, matchmaking, low player population, griefing, win trading, afk selling... there are too many things holding this game mode back from goodness, let alone greatness. So best of luck to you all. Maybe this is just burnout, but I can't un-realize this: Guild Wars 2 sPvP is more endured than enjoyed. You turn off chat, you check out during the landslide matches, you take deep breaths when teammates grief. All for the bright spots when ten people are trying their best. I hope ANet finds ways to improve it.

Edited January 18, 2023 by Anonynja.3172
naming match manipulators is not allowed on forums, i think?

[Sahne.6950]

On 1/18/2023 at 4:57 AM, Anonynja.3172 said:

One match turned a switch in my head and broke my growing love for sPvP. 

For context, I've been working on The Ascension after a few years off PvP. I had been a solidly silver player, very mediocre. Constantly swapping classes, charging headlong into mid, learning little from my mistakes. But in the past few years I've improved my mental health, found my main profession, gotten into raiding and strike CMs, and beaten some of the hardest content in the game. I reentered PvP with a much better headspace and stronger class familiarity. I quickly climbed to g1, kept studying high rank players and trying to reflect on my matches, and eventually reached g3. For a brief period, I enjoyed a 50/50 win rate with much less toxicity than you see in lower ranks. People were generally trying their best, and losing fair matches didn't really feel bad. You learn and try again. 

Then The Ascension collection's final step kicked in and I needed ten wins on two other classes. I am not as skilled on my alts, so naturally I slid toward g1. Frustrating loss streaks, but that's the nature of account-bound rank. Got the wins on the other two classes for the collection and swapped back to my main. Started climbing, but am approaching burnout. Being back in lower rank matches is giving awful matchmaking again. We win by landslides, we lose by landslides, people AFK, people rage. Rare are the fair matches decided by skill. It's a slog with the promise of fairness at g3 the only motivator. So I'm slowly climbing, when one match just breaks me.

The teammate's account name is Afksales.####. Their character name is random jumbled letters. They aren't hiding it. We start winning the match by a wide lead. About halfway in, this teammate goes afk at base. Our team is understandably upset. Afksales.#### laughs and taunts chat. And I realize this means somebody on the other team has purchased this match. A switch goes off in my head and I just close the game. Take the deserter hit and save my teammates from losing rank. That's it for me. I cannot find joy in a game mode with so many different major issues. Buying matches was the last straw.

I think we all play sPvP for similar reasons. Every once in a while, you have a beautiful match. Win or lose, it feels good. You know you all tried your best. You respect the enemy team whether they beat you or lost. The outcome is earned, whichever way it went.

But those matches are far too rare. Balance issues, matchmaking, low player population, griefing, win trading, afk selling... there are too many things holding this game mode back from goodness, let alone greatness. So best of luck to you all. Maybe this is just burnout, but I can't un-realize this: Guild Wars 2 sPvP is more endured than enjoyed. You turn off chat, you check out during the landslide matches, you take deep breaths when teammates grief. All for the bright spots when ten people are trying their best. I hope ANet finds ways to improve it.

Thats why alot of people have stepped back and are spending their 30 minutes a day in the FFA and then log off to play diffrent games that are actually alive and popular...

You want to know what hit me hard?

With p2 you are Easily in the top 250 players.....   meanwhile in other games you can be top rank, for example the new Gen9. scarlet/violet... you can be the highest elo (masterballclass=Legendary rank in gw2 pvp) and you still not even in the top 30.000.... I am playing alot of Smashbros online aswell in "elite smash" thats also relative to p3-legendary in gw2.... on my best charackter, there is still a whooping 750k people that have higher ratings than me, altho i am in the top 10% of players....   750k people..... 10%...... let that sink in.....  

meanwhile you have people in plat 1 that are in the top 250.....     just to put populations into perspective...

 

conclusion: gw2 pvp is dead af. Population is a literal joke. You can play it because you like the mechanics of gw2 pvp.... you can play it to have fun with your friends.... you can play it because of nostalgia....

But dont expect a competitive game with a future. Rank doesnt matter, no one cares. Even anet doesnt care. When you see someone wintrading you should honestly just laugh at them and go into the kitchen to make a hotpocket, because who in their right minds would actually pay to gain ranking in a game that is dead af.  Who would actually multibox, to go in the enemy team and afk so his main gains rank in a gamemode that is completly dead. Those people are sad and delusional. They think that they are actually achieving something... FOR REAL... how delusional you have to be, to wintrade in 2023, when the population is this low...  Dont let that ruin your day. The second you stop caring for rank, the second you stop caring if you win or loose... is the second you will begin to enjoy pvp again.

Edited January 19, 2023 by Sahne.6950

[Gotejjeken.1267]

The moral of this story is don't try to climb ranked and do Ascension at the same time. 

I did it in reverse, started out at silver 1, slowly climbed with 50/50 wins on the 2 alts then just went on main and climbed back into g3 (as at that point the competitive part of Ascension is done). 

I don't find g3 any less toxic though.  Maybe less rage afker's but people still whine and block for losing 450-500.  

Edited January 18, 2023 by Gotejjeken.1267

[Anonynja.3172]

9 hours ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

The moral of this story is don't try to climb ranked and do Ascension at the same time.

I agree. My approach was to finish the profession win reqs without paying any attention to rank. This happened after they were done, so I was back on my main, done with Ascension, and just climbing back up.

 

9 hours ago, Sahne.6950 said:

conclusion: gw2 pvp is dead af. Population is a literal joke. You can play it because you like the mechanics of gw2 pvp.... you can play it to have fun with your friends.... you can play it because of nostalgia....

The second you stop caring for rank, the second you stop caring if you win or loose... is the second you will begin to enjoy pvp again.

Didn't realize our population was THAT low compared to other games, yikes. I think this is correct. The only way I could sustainably play this game's pvp is to ignore key features (ie. leaderboard, titles, wins/losses) and accept many problems. That's why I said at the end, maybe I'll come back from burnout, but gw2 pvp is mostly endured, not enjoyed. If you can play it that purely, just enjoying fights regardless of everything around you, you've definitely gotten into a good headspace.

[Sahne.6950]

48 minutes ago, Anonynja.3172 said:

 If you can play it that purely, just enjoying fights regardless of everything around you, you've definitely gotten into a good headspace.

Its the only way to keep my sanity in this shitshow of a gamemode....

Edited January 18, 2023 by Sahne.6950

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

15 hours ago, Anonynja.3172 said:

Maybe this is just burnout,

No, what you're seeing is very real.

The amount of win trading for boosting to sell accounts is so ridiculously oversaturated right now, it's rare to be able to queue a clean game.

I also have not been playing much lately because the game feels "gone". It's no longer existent outside of messing around in unranked. Even AT population is so low lately, 50% or more of your games are AFK teams.

[greedywholesome.9081]

15 hours ago, Anonynja.3172 said:

And I realize this means somebody on the other team has purchased this match. A switch goes off in my head and I just close the game. Take the deserter hit and save my teammates from losing rank.

 

You seem like a nice and considerate person for taking the deserter hit to save your teammates losing rank. Sucks when folks like you leave the game. I hope you come back. I take long and short breaks from this game but always come back to it even if for a few days. Like you, I also try to see the positive in all and maintain pleasantries with teammates and opponents for an enjoyable experience win or lose. This mode would have been perfect if anet did something to help retain casual yet competitive players that it lost.  

[Luthan.5236]

Tbh: Ascension is the easiest legendary to get. Cheaper than the other back item. And the achievements are not tooo grindy. If one can get other legendaries that require crafting (not taking into account the free amulet from the return to achievements) they should be able to do PvP stuff as well.

Now I do not know about your mental health state. You mentioned mental health in the OP. Personally I have a bit of social anxiety problems and do not like to play in guilds or even in parties where you have to look for a pre-made party. I do not want to play raids cause of fear of toxicity. Got into easy fractals late with some "Fractal Rush". PvP ... never been a problem for me though. Cause it randomly matches you with similar strong people. And it is possible to just disable the chat. 😄

For the other professions (if you mainly only play one main) it is best to play them at a start of a season in ranked ... rank down ... lose a lot. Try until you get lucky. (More losing = easier enemies.) Then you can switch back to the main. Also certain professions are more noob-friendly I think. If I remember correctly I (main engineer) used Necro and ranger or something like that. Back then. (Was before EoD got released and other balancing back then.) Cause of the "2nd health bar" (shroud of the Necro) ... and ranger ... being ranged and having a pet.

I play usually at G1 though ... and then if worse more like lower silver. So probably like 200-300 points lower than you. The big landslide wins/losses mainly in the first 2 weeks after a soft-reset (new season) ... cause then the strong players get mixed with weaker ones ... until everyone gets to their correct rating again. (Still more likely to get weird matches closer to 1200 cause new players will start at 1200 rating.)

Using the top list + rating (and percentage the people in platin/gold usually have) as an indicator for active players: I also sometimes thought about this. You need to take additionally into account though: A limited amount of matches is required to show up in the top list.

Might be #250 in gold 3 or so ... but late in the season a ton of matches required and maybe people quitting after finishing the seasonel rewards (not going for the repeatable chest anymore). I usually do it like that: 3-4 matches per day. If last chest finished (I finished a few days ago) only one match for dailies. If it is a loss ... I have other PvE dailies usually already done and have the 2g. This is mostly for fun 1 match per day then. Eventuelly I would not even have enough numbers of matches played to show up in leaderboards even if I were better lol.

Edit: Imo leaderboards, wins/losses and rating ... aren't even "key features". Such stuff only leads to toxicity. (Elitists trying for rating.) And with GW2 already targeting the more casual adult with less of free time in PvE ... wrong thing in the first place to try this. They even tried Stronghold to bait for fans of DotA-style games. They should have went a unique way. Trying for fun matches mainly. Merge ranked/unranked. HIde ratings (use them in the background for matchmaking only). Spirit Watch back into the then merged queue (currently only unranked). And adding new modes that promote team play.

Personally I am not good at combat ... and I prefer the psychological think ... thinking on where the enemy might move next - trying to be able to counter when they even do not show up on the mini map yet. Stuff like that. It probably was better in GW1. (People that played GW1 PvP - never did this - often talk about how the 8 vs. 8 was so good back there.)

Edited January 19, 2023 by Luthan.5236

[Swagg.9236]

Feels bad, but gratefully nobody has ever made a career out of gw2, so at least you're actually safe in that department.

[Albert.3574]

check friend list so many plat ppl disapper ... some top player start  play another mmo   but i think no more game pvp like gw2 so diffenet maybe one day they will back

[Gladiotor.7561]

I feel the same OP. Taking a long break from sPvP and im not sure ill ever return. I just get mentally drained playing sPvP lately and a game is supposed to be relaxing, not frustrating. 

Im playing more pve and other games now. Its a shame cause i really like the combat in this game. 

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

On 1/18/2023 at 3:27 AM, Sahne.6950 said:

Thats why alot of people have stepped back and are spending their 30 minutes a day in the FFA-

Correct.

Quote

I am playing alot of Smashbros online aswell in "elite smash" thats also relative to p3-legendary in gw2.... on my best charackter, there is still a whooping 750k people that have higher ratings than me, altho i am in the top 10% of players....   750k people..... 10%...... let that sink in.....  

Fight me~

Quote

And I realize this means somebody on the other team has purchased this match. A switch goes off in my head and I just close the game. Take the deserter hit and save my teammates from losing rank.

The people with this mentality are being punished for attempting to enjoy the game the way it was meant to be played, and that is several kinds of travesty. 

Edited January 19, 2023 by Azure The Heartless.3261

[Sahne.6950]

1 hour ago, Azure The Heartless.3261 said:

Fight me~

UHH ❤️ pm me your Name and then lets roll

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by Sahne.6950

[Myror.7521]

@Anonynja.3172 I could only say how I feel it rn. I love GW2's comebad System so I'll never just left this game. Tho I where also going for titles but only for 2 Seasons (top 250 and top 100). Just got them in the season instantly I try to get them. After got them I saw what this tryhard playing done to me so I decided to left titles behind. Now I am more like a casual Player that try to make his own builds and play them just for fun. Also often search for duo just to have peops around me cause solo playing frustrate me in long terms (cause idk i want somone to talk with when im playing xD). 

After all I say go on and do your thing!

 Mine was simply:

- play for fun

- Make your own builds (thats what i love ... theory crafting)

- just play with friends cause solo play is meehhh over time 

[Anonynja.3172]

5 hours ago, Swagg.9236 said:

Feels bad, but gratefully nobody has ever made a career out of gw2, so at least you're actually safe in that department.

Hahaha true. I won't be selling my bathwater on Twitch anytime soon either. Just if you're curious, the post title is an old meme referring to a line from a youtube video "The Rap Battle [Parody]": "I'm about to destroy this man's whole career". 

3 hours ago, Gladiotor.7561 said:

I feel the same OP. Taking a long break from sPvP and im not sure ill ever return. I just get mentally drained playing sPvP lately and a game is supposed to be relaxing, not frustrating. 

Im playing more pve and other games now. Its a shame cause i really like the combat in this game. 

❤️ yeah. Combat is so fun. It has held me for much longer than other games with rich combat like open world singleplayer RPGs. As great as Spiderman, Horizon, and all the Souls-likes are... I put those on the shelf eventually and keep coming back to this one.

43 minutes ago, Pati.2438 said:

@Anonynja.3172 I could only say how I feel it rn. I love GW2's comebad System so I'll never just left this game.

After all I say go on and do your thing!

 Mine was simply:

- play for fun

- Make your own builds (thats what i love ... theory crafting)

- just play with friends cause solo play is meehhh over time 

Totally agree. I love theorycrafting. It's what sucked me into gw1 in the first place. And I deeply enjoy playing off-meta builds in high-pressure settings. I get a kick out of pleasantly surprising people in CMs with a heal core warrior or kicking butt in pvp on core revenant. Abusing the unblockable hits from Ancient Echoes combined with Jade Winds is *mwah*. There's so much to explore casually for fun. I just finished GWAMM and my legendary gear goals, so I am in GW "retirement" and it can be relaxing and fun. That's part of why the match manipulation experience was so disheartening in contrast. We just want to enjoy the game and that has to include respecting each other.

[pukish.5784]

I guess I enjoyed this game enough so I don't wish/expect anymore. What Sahne said is true. Most top/veteran players took break and enjoying other things. 

[Eudaimonia.8695]

On 1/18/2023 at 9:27 AM, Sahne.6950 said:

The second you stop caring for rank, the second you stop caring if you win or loose... is the second you will begin to enjoy pvp again.

 

Yep. This game isn't competitive anymore, playing for fun only is the best course.

 

[Sharen Graves.1276]

The AFK'er and trolls are really bad.   I am usually in G2/G3 every season but because of them I have dropped to S2 and can't get out.  For almost the past week and a half 8/10 matches are L.    I keep getting stuck in the same matches with the same catholes.    Once I get this last piece of gear.  I am done with the game mode.   Anet needs to get off there high horse and implement away for the players to rate each other. 

[doozer.7063]

My experience is as different as similar. I restarted playing recently after several years break. Second season with new ranks (as bronze instead amber) was the last i played. Did my placements on my alt to lose rust before seriously climbing on my main.

I thought after long break my hidden mmr might be reset because the skill level in my games overall was very low. I expected to finish last placement in silver or very low gold based on the skill level i experienced years ago from people in that rank. But i finished platinum 2 (i guess near legend mmr from years ago still counts) and the next platinum 2 games also felt like low elo (no off hour gaming)..

With my break i can compare the gamestate in pvp from years ago with now even easier than players who played throughout the years. And i am outraged. Population and its skill level decreased remarkable. Today people have more fun in being toxic or trolling matches. 

Also it seems they did not fix what they broke on matchmaker in season 2, where high mmr accounts got carried by onesided matches with insane winstreaks  to legend, because anet wanted high mmr accounts climb to their supposed rank faster. While lower mmr accounts had to suffer with artificial 50% winrate. If you won too many games you got very bad teammates, you could not win the next games no matter how well you played.  They reduced that match manipulating factor in s3 but never deleted it completely. At least they never announced the deletion after they announced the reduction of that factor in s3.

Most of my current matches i had a hard time to lose. Even with going afk my team probably could win because i was in the way stronger team.  Stomp matches are way to vast and lower population makes matchmaking even worse. The less it can built even strong teams the more it will carry high hidden mmr accounts to stay high by giving them a stronger team and a winrate around 70-80% (without wintrading). Crazy. This is no fun, no matter if you are in the stronger or weaker team. Wintrading is then another problem anet deals with very poorly.

Edited January 21, 2023 by doozer.7063

[voltaicbore.8012]

On 1/18/2023 at 11:43 AM, Anonynja.3172 said:

The only way I could sustainably play this game's pvp is to ignore key features (ie. leaderboard, titles, wins/losses) and accept many problems.

This is pretty much a requirement for ranked. I got out of ranked completely after finishing my legendary armors, and my life is that much better for it.

[Morwath.9817]

I will repeat it once again. It's all because of Conquest.

[Stalima.5490]

I really think they shouldn't have made you use other proffesions for this achievement because all it ends up as is people defaulting to low skill 1-shot builds because that is the easiest way to 50/50 the game, you 1-shot someone early and then your team snowballs.

[lotus.5672]

I agree with everything OP has said, with that in mind

remove duo q 🙃