World Restructuring

[JackDaniels.1697]

@Raymond Lukes.6305 said:

@Rojay.1726 said:Will there be new Borderlands?

Not at this time.

I was hoping that all the current maps would be deleted and new map designs would be created for this revamp. As it is right now, the old BL is just really bad, and the new one is too big. Less verticality and better placed towers and keeps would be nice, plus the main map should be another theme and not the same as one of the BL.

[TheGrimm.5624]

ANet, this might be a good time for a notice on the game landing page and an official poll once word of mouth of this spreads and people can take a look.

[Foghladha.2506]

Greetings,I felt it was important that I comment on this. Many of you know me as the Leader of Gaiscioch, the community that campaigned for several months to have a server named after a member who loved this game deeply and never had the chance to play it. Roger "Oldroar" Rall is the reason Gaiscioch came to Guild Wars 2 in the first place. His passion for this game and the development team behind it inspired many of us to fall in love with it as well. ArenaNet answered by naming a server Sanctum of Rall in his memory and we turned a common man into a legend.

This wasn't the only place ArenaNet paid tribute to him. They knew servers may not last forever and in the email exchange we shared even mentioned that servers are not permanent and may be removed in the future. We knew this going in. They did however surprise us with the Historian GoshKia in the Black Citadel who shares the legend of Oldroar.

Now I know some of you love us and some of you would sooner pour salt on anything I say. The fact is Guild Wars 2 needs this. It's long overdue and even Sanctum of Rall will benefit from this system in the long run. We've had "Alliances" come to our server and "Drag us kicking and screaming to T1" and as quickly as they came, they left taking with them a good chunk of the community. What didn't fall out then would leave over the next year. Sanctum of Rall has been small and tight nit for a few years now and all of us Rallians still band together week after week. It doesn't matter if our server is no more. WE are the legend of Rall and will form a Sanctum of Rall Alliance with the guilds that remain. I suspect other server loyalist communities will do the same for their server.

This game has always been about Alliances. There are circles of Guilds that band together and transfer from server to server over and over again. It's always been that way. What this system does is match Alliances, Guilds, and Players up with others that compliment their weaknesses. Gaiscioch for example can rally a giant pugzerg full of random people who might be great and might be learning. Pair us with a composition group and you find total destruction. We draw attention, they kill everything. It's a perfect balance that ArenaNet sees the potential to create.

I for one Support this idea 200% and believe ArenaNet is heading the right direction. Our time on Sanctum of Rall has been filled with epic moments we wont ever forget and it will live on in us. A memory is not bound to a server. It's bound to people. Those people will still be there by my side when this battlefield changes.

That said, Gaiscioch will be forming up the Sanctum of Rall Alliance and will be looking to rally up the rest of our server community to form a tight nit alliance.

My Wishlist/Ideas for this Revision:

1. Leaderboard of Guilds based on WvWXP, Captures, Kills, Time on Field, Etc.
2. Viewable Players WvW Stats for players and guilds.
3. Intra-Guild and Intra-Allaince weekly leader board for commanders and soldiers (Nothing gets people on a battlefield like statistics)
4. Alliance Chat Channel
5. Guild Finder
6. Updated Guild API for Statistics to stream to our websites.
7. Guild WvW Progression that is based on performance / effort not on scribbing.

[Norbe.7630]

btw, since it would take this a long time better think carefully if you are gonna apply the same 1v1v1(3s), or a pvp style 1v1(2s), or somewhat a 1v1v1v1v1(5s) B)again, make the alliance system "dynamic"and lastly make the matches progressive not linear

[Puma.5461]

@Rojay.1726 said:Wow....... So will there be a max to the amount of players in a specific world /Guild for seasons?

Yeah if you read the article it says that.Creating AlliancesWe also want to make sure that existing WvW communities can play together in this new system. A WvW guild will be able to invite other WvW guilds to their WvW Alliance. WvW Alliances function as a party for guilds. When World Restructuring happens, the system assigns all members in the WvW guilds that make up the WvW alliance to the same world. These WvW alliances will have certain restrictions on them, such as a finite number of guilds or number of players. Our current plans for alliance size are somewhere between 500-1000 members, and we are still considering the technical and match-making ramifications of the number that we settle upon.

[ToffiKeks.6385]

Sounds really good! (Please do not forget the "International" option regarding language)

[Rampage.7145]

@Doraen.9718 said:Is there any chance that people who paid for server transfers will be given a refund? At least in in-game gold or gems? I switched to my current server a couple of years ago and convinced a whole lot of my friends to do so as well, by either completely emptying our their banks to convert gold to gems, or just spending money for gems. One of which just transferred last week, and we're all a bit annoyed that it was just a waste.

You paid for an in game service that will no longer be supported in the future (many months), why would they give you the money back? i don't see it they are advertising this right now so people is aware of it for future transfer and such. It is not like they rolling this update next week.

[Ronin.9376]

I think this is a great idea my guild is new and its been hard to get everyone into wvw as a group we have a few mems who really wanna try wvw and this would solve a lot of problems ive had running the guild I say ignore the negative wvw needs that change to get new ppl into it

[Akeldama.4738]

I'll miss the epic server wars but will now welcome some epic guild wars, too. Something drastic needed to be attempted to relaunch WvW, and the resultant redefinition of a "GW2 community" may, to some, end up being well worth the labor and effort behind its implementation, salvaging and renewing the WvW population.

Thank you for taking action!

Oh, and an Alpine Borderland with 4 spacious, well-thought-out tower designs such as in the Desert BL would be a nice minor change soon thereafter, perhaps, yes? :D

"Jade Quarry Guard" without the Jade Quarry

[SugarCayne.3098]

@CETheLucid.3964 said:

@"Keviin Snow.5760" said:I Hate it , been playing wvw for a long time , that's all I dobut what can I do they took the money , anet just put out what they likeppl who hate this are going leave , and play other gameits a good way for anet to make money , every 8 weeksppl need to PAY to transfer to the server he or she likesince u cant stay in the same server

Not how it works. You don't have to pay to transfer anywhere if you and your buddies come together and alliance/guild with one and other before hand. Paying to transfer is you changing your mind about it. You have months, maybe a year, to get it all figured out. Get to it.

Oh?

You're saying that you get put into one alliance, hate it, you can move freely elsewhere? Or will there be a transfer fee?

You get put in with a bunch of guilds you really don't like, and you're stuck or you move. They're not going to have a 25 person "alliance" .. they'll fill it up. You won't have a choice, unless you have moved your chess pieces and stacked your alliance

The alliance is just another name for a server. I don't think people get that. Only it gives guilds more power. Think about that. Then think about the history of this game.

And I'm also thinking there will be a transfer fee.

And lots of revenue, because very few people will be happy with first choices.

[Trajan.4953]

@"PookieDaWombat.6209" said:LOL, wow. And here I thought WvW couldn't be damaged more than it was by Megaservers. If this isn't the definition of lipstick on a pig, then I don't know what is. I get it, your hearts are in the right place, but this is going to make WvW a completely toxic excrement show, and this system will DEFINITELY be gamed from day one.

Quick break down: starting as of right now, there are talks no doubt between the largest and most avid (and "elite") WvW guild leaders agreeing to ally. Seriously. Its happening in anticipation of this. This is going to further breed the "my way or the highway" among those guilds. Now sure, those of us that don't ascribe to that can just deal with getting bounced around to where ever and with whomever for these match ups, but ultimately why should we care?

Literally nothing in this system is about being a part of a steady community. "oh boy, I have pride in my Pink Shoopuffs team for the next 2 months, then boom, guess I'm now on team Grumble Bear. Woohoo." It doesn't matter. In fact it will matter even less after this change. This game was already anti-small guilds and now this will kill them even more.

Why is that? Simple, a small guild has no hope of being as effective as a larger guild in WvW as it is with the changes you've made to guilds and now only large WvW guilds will be desirable for alliances to ensure proper map coverage and play.

Its bad enough now that I exclusively roam by myself most days because my server was gutted by the megaservers and our pairings already shift on reg to the point that I have almost no one that I know in WvW anymore, and now I have to hope some algorithm might place me on the same team as the people I at least still share a server with currently.

SMH. I guess I'll just stick to occasional veteran creature killing and a random dolyak or camp snipe. Yay...

Of course guilds are already rallying to form alliances, but in case you haven't been paying attention one of the beautiful things about guilds in this game is with alliances also come huge egos. How many times have you seen Elite fighting guilds form and then blow up a month later once the egos Clash. This will nowbe happening on a larger scale, this makes it more exciting if anything

[Caiti.3975]

Out of curiosity, will there be a chance for players who recently switched servers to join their guild to be refunded? I paid 1800 gems two weeks ago to switch to Jade Quarry, and there are at least five other people in my guild who did...I’m not sure how I feel about this. I do a bunch of roaming, I just feel like this is going to shaft me and players like me who enjoy roaming for more than just the rewards and gift of battle.

[Rampage.7145]

@SugarCayne.3098 said:

@CETheLucid.3964 said:

@"Keviin Snow.5760" said:I Hate it , been playing wvw for a long time , that's all I dobut what can I do they took the money , anet just put out what they likeppl who hate this are going leave , and play other gameits a good way for anet to make money , every 8 weeksppl need to PAY to transfer to the server he or she likesince u cant stay in the same server

Not how it works. You don't have to pay to transfer anywhere if you and your buddies come together and alliance/guild with one and other before hand. Paying to transfer is you changing your mind about it. You have months, maybe a year, to get it all figured out. Get to it.

Oh?

You're saying that you get put into one alliance, hate it, you can move freely elsewhere? Or will there be a transfer fee?

You get put in with a bunch of guilds you really don't like, and you're stuck or you move. They're not going to have a 25 person "alliance" .. they'll fill it up. You won't have a choice, unless you have moved your chess pieces and

stacked your alliance

The alliance is just another name for a server. I don't think people get that. Only it gives guilds more power. Think about that. Then think about the history of this game.

And I'm also thinking there will be a transfer fee.

And lots of revenue, because very few people will be happy with first choices.

You dont get "put into an alliance" you either decide to join a guild and that guild gets into an alliance and then u play with all those people, or you just RNG it as a pug cuz u dont care, either way u chose who you play with or simple u just dont care enough to actually join a WvW group u want to play with in which case there is absolutely no point on you posting this since you are the one choosing not to play with people you enjoy..

[Dayra.7405]

@Caiti.3975 said:Out of curiosity, will there be a chance for players who recently switched servers to join their guild to be refunded? I paid 1800 gems two weeks ago to switch to Jade Quarry, and there are at least five other people in my guild who did...I’m not sure how I feel about this. I do a bunch of roaming, I just feel like this is going to shaft me and players like me who enjoy roaming for more than just the rewards and gift of battle.

You'll have planty of time enjoying your investment, do not expect this change to happen before end of the year.

[Weez.6315]

can we get some nice rankings after each season?stuff like

commander who contributed the mostplayer without squad with the best k/dplayer who capped the most campscommander with the best k/dand so on

would be fun to see some stats after each season and it probably would be a nice goal to have for some people to get on the top 10

[Rampage.7145]

@Weez.6315 said:can we get some nice rankings after each season?stuff like

commander who contributed the mostplayer without squad with the best k/dplayer who capped the most campscommander with the best k/dand so on

would be fun to see some stats after each season and it probably would be a nice goal to have for some people to get on the top 10

THIS +1 definitely the next step, WvW leaderboards that actually mean something, it would be so nice to see stuff like this implemented into WvW.

[CharonXeno.4869]

A few issues come to mind:

1) If you (the player) are part of Guild A and enjoy playing with players from Guild X, Y, Z. Unless those four guilds manage to join the same "Guild Alliance" and manage to get assigned to the same "World" - tough luck trying to play WvW with your friends.2) Server identity: Some players strongly identify with their server (I've been on mine since day one), and this is part of the motivation for WvW - we fight for (Server name here). With fleeting "Worlds" that get destroyed every few weeks, why bother "fighting". Win or lose, there is nothing that ties you to the server, and there is no rank-up/rank-down to fight tooth and nail for.3) Language. There are quite a few language specific servers. (Spanish, French, German, etc.). With both text and verbal communication being VITAL in WvW, you now are in a mix'n'match situation where the most common language may be... English? or Spanish? or French? or German? Can't speak Spanish... too bad, the WvW mix'n'match system threw you into a 85% Spanish "World", enjoy no-hobla-espanol. Oh, you don't speak English either. Lol, good luck in 8 Weeks or so when worlds are re-mixed....

[Mana.6248]

Cool stuff. I don't like the whole idea, but whatever happens, happens.What made my blood boil is the fact that you're giving up on the old Worlds concept. I just recently got myself a fully expanded second account only so I can enjoy the WvW with a certain guild on a lower tier server, while keeping my "main account" on the higher tier one. Was happy with my decision, until today. After the restructure thing I will have no use for the mentioned second account, and, well, you know, money doesn't grow on trees. I'm completely uninterested in any other aspect (PvE, PvP) of GW2 at present, so, a serious question now - can I expect a refund?

[omica.6548]

Question: If the max size of a Alliance is 1000 players, and the max size of a Guild is 500 players. On day one only a half the players in four guilds designate their guild as their WvW preferred and they form a alliance. They meet the requirement for the max alliance size. Now another member of one the guilds wants to join the guild in WvW. Can they add the guild as their preferred WvW guild, if it takes the alliance over the max size? Will they be forever queued or cause their guild to be removed from the alliance?

My Guild has 300 members only about 100 WvW regularly, but we are constantly adding new members and others stop playing. How are you going to handle a dynamic guild population and alliance population caps?

Overall this looks like a possible solution to the current population problem, but the devil is in the details.

[XenesisII.1540]

First, thank you to Anet for bringing this discussion out to us this early in development.

The servers need a major re-balancing at this point, while the system proposed sounds good, there's good and bad about it overall.

Servers will fully lose identities, I know for the most part that has been gone for half the servers, but some like Maguuma have a unique identity that I feel will be lost in the shuffle. I don't know if I like the idea of entire random name servers every 8 weeks, instead of just link server players moving around and not the hosts, now it's everyone. With server names becoming temporary status for many, and no real side identity other than the usual blue green red, I feel players are not going to be very attached to worlds now, there won't be much to "fight" for. Hopefully these new names being used will at least have some wvw content or lore built around them to make them more meaningful.Today... we fight for the Elven alliance! YAY!Today... we fight for the Horde! YAY!Today... we fight for the Blue! yay....?

Alliances will be ruled by guilds, the big ones by powerful established guilds. They will dictate who are in their alliances, and with the limited player space and number of guilds, I fear many small guilds will be left out in the cold and many may have to merge into larger guilds to stay with friends. We may even see huge alliances like a Titan alliance that started the game, rule over servers around the clock.

At least current communities could keep their old server communities together through an alliance. Creating something like the "Blackgate Alliance Core" then have have all the BG guilds that want to be with it attached, and then a secondary guild called "Blackgate Legion" which has pugs in it. But then again the limited player and guild space may not make this entirely possible to do.

Guilds have some control of whom they want to play with, pugs will have next to no control, and going back to the point of server identity there won't even be a "Maguuma" to transfer to, so you can't even pick a server for your style of play anymore as none of them will be permanent either, you will have to try and get into alliances you want to play with.

Is there going to be any real reason to win for these new servers? or win a season? other than the world first or win streak alliance win achievements? because scoring will be the same, ppt will still be the same and boring to most. Overall this may have the new shiny effect links had the beginning, but eventually we'll get back around to combat and class balance are really what needs to be fixed, but I fear never will be.

[BlaqueFyre.5678]

@MaLeVoLenT.8129 said:

@vier.1327 said:Wait a sec...

Is it going to be always a world [sP]? Or i am going to be force to play in a world with a different lenguage?

the thing I'm not sure about the most within this system is the EU servers. under an alliance.

They stated in this thread language preference will sort players as well.

[Raymond Lukes.6305]

@ChaliElle.9137 said:Basically.. How will those changes support guilds that are mainly cross-region, cross-worlds communities, but sometimes group of members team up for some serious WvW?I think I gather what you are asking. In the event of a guild, whose members span regions the matcher would group members of the same guild together. The matcher would then calculate the guild value differently per region (based on the players that are in that region). Effectivly the system would look at this like there were two guilds, one in each region. The guild could only accept and be part of one alliance so unless that alliance also spanned regions this could be limiting.

[Creak.2013]

While I enjoy the changes, I have a request to make:Make the chosen WvW guild a stat we can fetch through the API so we can verify players in a similar manner as we can right now with checking which server an account is assigned to.

Lets see how this will work out!

[MaLeVoLenT.8129]

@BlaqueFyre.5678 said:

@MaLeVoLenT.8129 said:

@vier.1327 said:Wait a sec...

Is it going to be always a world [sP]? Or i am going to be force to play in a world with a different lenguage?

the thing I'm not sure about the most within this system is the EU servers. under an alliance.

They stated in this thread language preference will sort players as well.

sweet ty.

[Jinks.2057]

R.I.P. Maguuma

/15loves