Possibility to introduce Spirit Watch to ranked next season?

[DeadlyBanana.3841]

I just want my achies from this map. Nobody votes for it :(.

[Mitch.4781]

I can't get over how you guys can play the same maps day in day out for nearly 6 YEARS! It's shocking that this game has received a pitiful amount of new pvp maps, let alone ANY NEW MODES! Yet they wanted it to be e-sports? No wonder its dead on its ass

[Cyric.7813]

Better delete Skyhammer from ranked

[Chilli.2976]

@"The Light In The Darkness.7364" said:OH GOD PLEASE DON'T ! REMOVE THIS GARBAGE MAP !

I mean its a beautiful map, just needs some rework to make it better.

[Liewec.2896]

@Chilli.2976 said:

@"The Light In The Darkness.7364" said:OH GOD PLEASE DON'T ! REMOVE THIS GARBAGE MAP !

I mean its a beautiful map, just needs some rework to make it better.

nah its a terrible map, overly complex, like the didn't learn their lesson from skyhammer having a thread with over as thousand negative comments before it was removed.we don't want huge game altering gimmicks,

FINALLY they've made a nice and simple map with no annoying gimmicks, coliseum!

honestly spiritwatch would only be acceptable if they remove the orb entirely and have it as a conquest ma instead of some lame attempt at CTF.

[Exedore.6320]

@Chilli.2976 said:I mean its a beautiful map, just needs significant rework to make it better.Fixed that for you.

Here's why (since someone asked earlier):

1. Orb doesn't work as a secondary objectiveThe secondary objectives are supposed to shake up the node control game and allow the team which is currently behind to have a chance at a comeback or to at least close the gap. Even if you don't win the secondary objectives, they pull other players away from the nodes long enough to allow de-cap or full caps. Going for the orb is a detriment if you're behind: the orb carrier isn't capping nodes, and if the leading team jumps and kills the carrier (easy to do with focus fire), they grab it and get an easy 25+ points and a decap for a short stroll to your node (or if you were running it to theirs, an easy 50 points). However, if a team already controls the map, they can easily grab the orb and walk it closer to nodes they already hold and defend, which gets them further ahead.

2. Orb isn't a fun mechanicYou walk slow and lose most of your class mechanics. Meanwhile the other team piles onto you and you can't use defenses. Or you drop the orb and fight them, but then what is the point of getting the orb; you don't make progress unless you win the fight. In earlier iterations when you could still use skills, the rules for which ones were allowed and which weren't was confusing and favored certain builds (warrior in particular) way more than others.

3. Map structure is poorThe platforms heavily favor builds with teleports; they can escape or engage way too easily. The side nodes are very open to ranged pressure. However, the bear side gives way more cover. The middle node has awful line of sight to the rest of the map, making it extremely hard to coordinate your team. The spawn outlets funnel teams into a cluster in the middle. For coordinated teams, this makes it far too easy to control the entire map while spawn camping.

[Vagrant.7206]

@Exedore.6320 said:

@Chilli.2976 said:I mean its a beautiful map, just needs

significant

rework to make it better.Fixed that for you.

Here's why (since someone asked earlier):

1. Orb doesn't work as a secondary objective

The secondary objectives are supposed to shake up the node control game and allow the team which is currently behind to have a chance at a comeback or to at least close the gap. Even if you don't win the secondary objectives, they pull other players away from the nodes long enough to allow de-cap or full caps. Going for the orb is a detriment if you're behind: the orb carrier isn't capping nodes, and if the leading team jumps and kills the carrier (easy to do with focus fire), they grab it and get an easy 25+ points and a decap for a short stroll to your node (or if you were running it to theirs, an easy 50 points). However, if a team already controls the map, they can easily grab the orb and walk it closer to nodes they already hold and defend, which gets them further ahead.

2. Orb isn't a fun mechanic

You walk slow and lose most of your class mechanics. Meanwhile the other team piles onto you and you can't use defenses. Or you drop the orb and fight them, but then what is the point of getting the orb; you don't make progress unless you win the fight. In earlier iterations when you could still use skills, the rules for which ones were allowed and which weren't was confusing and favored certain builds (warrior in particular) way more than others.

3. Map structure is poor

The platforms heavily favor builds with teleports; they can escape or engage way too easily. The side nodes are very open to ranged pressure. However, the bear side gives way more cover. The middle node has awful line of sight to the rest of the map, making it extremely hard to coordinate your team. The spawn outlets funnel teams into a cluster in the middle. For coordinated teams, this makes it far too easy to control the entire map while spawn camping.

Pretty much everything he said here. I'd add this though:

• Spawn locations are too close to each other, and the side exits are generally quite bad. A team that's dominating can very quickly move to spawncamp, locking the entire match in. In general, PvP maps need spawns that are farther away to prevent spawncamping and player misbehavior.
• Classes like thief and mesmer, already potent duelist and spike classes, have a severe mobility advantage on these maps. The rest of us have to take the long road, but these classes can even more quickly to decap or +1 a target. Meanwhile, your allies will be there in a minute or two because they have to take the long road.
• Because the map is so compact, spawns are so close, and the map favors teleporting classes, it's actually possible for a teleporting class that JUST DIED to stop you from capping a point across the map.

If I had to change the map, I'd make it more square with spawns on either corner, side nodes on the other corners, Orb in the center, very high up, requiring a long walk without teleports (blocked by walls or a platform), and Raven in a center cave.