My thoughts on what would make WvW great again! Vote for Clouded.


My thoughts on what would make WvW great again! Vote for Clouded.

I'm not usually the "write an article" kind of guy. Years of schooling and work have taught me it's usually more a chore than a joy for me. Sometimes though when you see a hotly debated problem and you think you may have something to contribute to it, I guess you've just gotta pick up the pen and write.

World vs. World

Ok, we all know there are problems here. If you like putting your head in the sand by saying "all is well" you probably should stop reading now. I'm not going to be overly critical here, but I am going to point out problems and offer what I think could be possible solutions.

Is ANet probably already working to fix these issues their own way? Yeah, I'd wager gold on it. They've said as much.

Is it how I'd do it? I don't know, but by writing this I can sit back later if problems still persist and say "See! Clouded's way would have been WAY better", and smirk to myself behind my computer screen with some feeling of lonely self fulfillment because I think I'm so cool. ;D

So we all (at least we all should) know the problems plaguing WvW. Night capping, server population, rewards, maps that provide for player preference, variety, etc. So the question is how can these problems be fixed in a way that results in both a quality result but also a low development time? Here's three things I'd like to see:


1) Megaservers
Now hold on! I know half of you saw this one word and were about to leave the page. Just simmer down now and here me out. Then if you still disagree, hit me up on Twitter and tell me why.
Ok, where were we... Oh, yes. Megaservers. Here's how they'd roll. First of all you would DESTROY ALL PRE-EXISTING SERVERS! (Dun, dun, duuuuun!) Now that everything is a big pile of smoking rubble we can rebuild into something much more sustainable: Factions (or groups, alliances, teams, conglomerates, pips, I don't care what term you use). Create 3 and only three factions. Use the current WvW population capping tech that you currently use when switching servers to help keep them relatively the same size. This won't be the only way you'd keep the populations even, but you'll just have to keep reading this wall of text to find out more.

Now the way these new factions will work is you keep everything the way it currently is with EB, the 3 other maps, EotM (makes things easier for the player and developer) except for 1 big difference. Based on the total population of players in WvW on the lowest faction, additional overflow maps (read below in the "New Map" section for details") will be created. Why this method? By basing it on the lowest populated faction, you keep the match ups fair and incentivize even population numbers between factions. No one wants to sit in queue, so people will move if there starts to be an overpopulation on one faction. These megaserver overflow maps will also reduce the damage night capping can cause to your faction's PPT. If no one is playing at night, there will be less maps open and less objectives granting points. With only 3 factions, players will be more concentrated meaning the previously existing maps will be populated more at off hours.

I imagine it working in game like this: you're taking SC, you notice your zerg is getting HUGE (spoken like Trump). All of the sudden an alert flies across your screen "New Map 'Blackgate' has appeared out of the mists". You say to yourself "Self, I'd love to get in on that action". You switch maps and find a bunch of others who join the same map who were earlier waiting in queues for other maps but noticed this one. It feels just like a reset night, only on a Wednesday, as you rush to secure your towers. Players come and go, joining your map or leaving to other maps. You play until you notice your population start to decline. A message appears on screen, "The map will re-enter the mists in 30min. Fight to earn the final reward!". At this point no one else can join the map. Reward rates are increased as you try to push your map PPT to the first position. Then after 30min, the map closes and you're left in LA with a nice parting gift based on your placement.
The real beauty of this megaserver system is it relies on pre-existing tech and they can save marketing face by calling it that instead of saying they are reducing the number of servers. It's expandable to large populations but serves the game even if there were few to enjoy it.


2) A New Map
In order for a Megaserver faction based server to work, you need a map that is designed in a way that is simple and fair. One that gives players what they're looking for regardless of play style. This is probably the hardest thing for ANet to do tho. Why?
2 Reasons: They just made a new WvW map and making a new one would possibly send the signal "Yay, we kinda messed up that last one. Here's something better..." Now don't be thinking I'm a hater. The new map is pretty cool looking, but let's be honest about it. The verticality and complexity it brings just doesn't belong in WvW. I like to call the Desert Boardland "Edge of the Mists 2.0". EotM was a failure in my opinion and ANet learned absolutely nothing from it as evidenced by DB. Some person at ANet must think verticality in PvP is like the coolest thing ever... (i.e.: Skyhammer, EotM, and now DB). That person isn't in touch with the game (sorry said person, I still like you as a person).
The second reason is producing a well balanced map is hard and time consuming for them. Just look at how long it takes them to produce PvP maps...

But in order for this to work, a fair and balanced (I hope Fox News doesn't sue me for using their slogan) map is needed. If only one map is generated at a time, those maps must be balanced for every faction. I've drew up a poor excuse of a map that illustrates what could work https://www.dropbox.com/s/pxdr459djppk4ec/Photo%20Feb%2023%2C%2011%2002%2056%20AM.jpg?dl=0 (I made it quickly, sheesh. Don't judge me :P) The main premise is you have 1 garri and 2 towers per side when the map spawns. It is divided in a way that makes it a push-pull set up against opposing teams. There should be ample flatish terrain for large Zerg battles, areas where siege can be set up and protected, Towers and Garrisons should be distanced so that they can treb the tower/garri next to them, and it should have supply depos that are diverse enough for zergs and small groups to enjoy. You know what? You could even design it so gliding has a place in WvW. Give the Garisons some slight elevation so you can soar down dropping bombs on invading enemies or get shot out of the sky by a ballista.

In addition, a tunnel/sewer system should be in place. This tunnel system should extend the whole underground of the map and provide an environment suited for small teams and individuals. There should be many places where a well placed fear will cause countless Zerg members to fall into deadly lava pools of death if they dare traverse its narrow passageways. In this underground there should be 6 equidistant capture points that offer stat bonuses to the Zerg and a small wxp gain to the capturing team/individual. The tunnel system should also provide access to the jumping puzzle at the center of the map were players can gank to their heart's content. You can also only enter or exit this system through your faction's protected spawn location on the map (you can obviously waypoint out though). This way there is no incentive for zergs to use it as a stealth method of transportation.

There should be no gimmicky shrines. On paper these are a cool idea, but don't work well in a balanced environment. Also, the keep Lords should be pretty basic in their attack patterns. If I want compelling PvE content there is plenty of that elsewhere. Remember the design focus is on enabling players to have meaningful battles. Everything else may be a cool idea, but can be done somewhere else in the game. Simplify. Simplify.


3) Reward Tracks
Is this article over yet? Ugh... I hope you're not bored yet (honestly I am, but writing is boring to me so... yeah). And we get to the juicy section which will drive up the population of WvW better than anything else I or any human could devise. REWARDS! Cause seriously, we all know why you play this game. It's called Fashion Wars 2 for a reason... (Wait it's called what? Guild Wars 2?... Ohhhh... What's the reason for that then? Kappa)

WvW can keep all pre-existing reward structures in place. This way ANet doesn't need to spend time on removing and drastically updating the whole loot structure. The just need to add a reward structure that rewards personal investment like in PvP. So what did PvP do that accomplished this? Reward tracks! Yay! While I'm not advocating a complete copy and paste, it should be pretty similar.

Let's emphasize again here that, simpler is better! The system should pull from existing systems to work to reduce development time and make it easy to understand. Therefore I suggest that you take the reward track system from PvP, and adjust it to work in WvW by progressing as wxp is earned. Obviously it would be separate tho and have it's own WvW centered tracks. A special WvW armor like pvp's glorious set could be one track. Progression towards WvW legendary armor or back pieces could be another. I'd avoid dungeon and world rewards because those are already had in PvP. Ascended crafting mats would be fair game though (Damask, linen, Elonian Leather, etc.) I'm sure you could think of more.

Let's take this a step further though and use it as further incentive to increase competitive play. What if your server is currently ahead in points or maybe PPT? I'd say that you should receive a slight bonus to your reward track progression if that's the case similar to how better players theoretically get more points in PvP. If you reward points more, you will have players doing the things that offer points to the server, namely taking and holding towers and keeps.


Ok, I'm tired of writing now. Probably didn't get all of my thoughts down and some areas may be left hanging but I'M DONE OK? I apologize for poor grammar spelling etc, but I don't really care. I made this just to get my ideas out there, not to win some writing award, lol. Let me know what you think. Retweet this for others to see and comment on. More discussion on things is always a good thing. It's my hope that we'll see some improvements to my favorite game mode soon, and if we're lucky they may even be good ones!

-Clouded Chimera (who is this nobody?)

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