High Level WvW Overview of Potential Fixes
Posted on 10. Jan, 2013 by Craig Schupp in Game Design, Guild Wars 2, Theorycrafting
I have detailed posts written out for most of these bullet points, so If you would like to spend time reading my thoughts on them I’ve provided the links to the respective arguments for them. These bullet points were provided as means to an end, to make a more enjoyable experience in WvW for EVERYONE (I’m inserting the caps lock for emphasis for a reason).
- Breaking up the Zerg; Need to introduce content that encourages small group or solo play in WvW. This can be accomplished through a variety of approaches, but should primarily include more capture points (more points = one force becomes less effective). Current game play almost forces players into zergs to deal with opposing zergs. Leads to a feeling of 2V1s and very uninteresting mass scaled combat. In Detail
- Change supply camps (NOT supply); Supply camps should be changed from a capture point to a static source of supply. Instead of automatically generating X supply per second, tie the supply generation into 5-7 NPCs that “work” at the camp. These NPC’s would mine/chop wood/farm/cut stone. Like any NPC they can be killed (and revived like any other downed NPC). This would be a serious point of contention requiring dedicated players to defend/attack to cut off supply from your enemies. In Detail.
- Scoring System: Encouraging players to show they are having a meaningful and immediate impact on game play should be a priority. Change the scoring system to include player kills. Undermanned buff would include a bonus to the number of points awarded per kill (negatively reinforcing the player farming that occurs at entrances during lopsided combat. Scoring for taking a capture point, defending a capture point (failed sieges should have a consequence), and other misc game play will award players playing right now. It returns the feeling of control to players who feel frustrated by night capping.
- Siege Warfare: Siege combat takes place far too quickly. All structure HP’s should be increased dramatically. A siege should take an hour, not 3 minutes. Louder warning messages for your team should also occur, should your structure become under siege. A siege should feel epic not how it has become, a trade tit-for-tat with an opposing enemy server or a place where undermanned servers lose structures in 3 seconds. Siege weapons should be expanded and improved (i.e: rams should provide protection for players within a radius around it) and new weapons introduced (deployable canons and mortars).
- Population Indicator: I really feel a population counter would encourage more organized WvW play. Most people are more willing to join a sPvP server when they see its full (though it is possible the reverse is also true). By showcasing where your players are at in WvW, guilds and organizations attempting to contribute can see best where to go.
- Night Capping: A contentious argument exists for stopping night-capping. I disagree with them. I think you can fix the problem with one small change. Prevent enemy invaders from being able to upgrade structures in enemy territory. Give the defenders a chance to get back their holdings, and make holding on to the forward-soil near impossible once a server regains its population. It doesn’t stop the issue with European/Oceanic players playing on a US server (which is the source of your problem), but it goes a long way towards enabling servers to overcome a night of being obliterated.
- Scouting System: The little dots that show up on a mini-map showing where your friends are at? Improve this. Show enemy dots if a player can see them. This introduces the ability for players to contribute to the team effort even while solo. Having rangers and thieves scouting the outskirts of your territory and automatically having enemy positions updated for your whole team is a huge impact on strategy and tactical game play.
I truly believe the success of Guild Wars 2 WvW game play is by ensuring a single player can join the fight and contribute meaningfully. Right now the best that one player can do is to try to gank other single players or hope to infiltrate behind enemy lines and kill a dolyak (maybe?). The only result of this lack of solo and small group play is the Zerg mentality and it really limits the amount of fun you can have as a player. This is not mentioning the fact that players will frequently create class builds that are only appropriate for zerg conflicts.
By changing the flow of WvW away from zerg game play, you introduce a breath of fresh air into a stagnant mass verse mass battle that WvW has devolved into. All of the strategies that have come from tPvP are unlikely to ever grace the WvW community because strategy means (next to) nothing, pure unadulterated numbers are everything.