Ebonhawke - the last city of Ascalon

As you may know I have been levelling a new character, a Norn Elementalist. I have been trying to go to places I have not explored before and to take my time and explore the nooks and crannies of all the zones. A couple days ago I found myself in the Stronghold of Ebonhawke. I really have to say it is probably my favourite place in all of Tyria. It has so much character that I never noticed on my first pass through on my thief, and I never even went to Ebonhawke on my warrior. Today I want to share with you some of the reasons why I like this city so much as well as some of the things I discovered.

Finding Ebonhawke

Ebonhawke in southern Ascalon.

Firstly, where is Ebonhawke? It is in the far south east corner of Ascalon which is on the eastern parts of the map (see image). Look for the zone named Fields of Ruin, a 30-40 zone, then look in the South West corner of that map, and you will see a large fortress complex named the Strong Hold of Ebonhawke. You can also follow the dragonbrand all the way to Ebonhawke. The dragonbrand is that big red line that runs north to south in the eastern parts of Tyria. Ebonhawke is at the end of it's southern most extent in the explorable parts of the map. The proximity of the dragonbrand adds it's own bit of awesomeness to the setting. 

The portal to Ebonhawke.

The portal in Divinity's Reach.

Another way to find it is step through the Asura gate in Divinity's Reach (human home city). The gate is located in the district of Rurikton in the east side of Divinity's Reach. Just step through the gate and you will be instantly transported to Ebonhawke. If you do visit via this method make sure that you head outside the city to view the main gate to the strong hold known as the Hawkgates (pictured below).

Ebonhawke Story

The hawkgate, entrance to Ebon Hawk

Once you are in the city you can partake in events to begin to learn about the story that is going on here. Turns out the officials signed a peace treaty with the Char and some people aren't very happy about that. They would prefer to war on the Char instead of joining forces to fight the dragons. Why are the Humans in Ebonhawke so desperate to continue warring on the Char? To understand that you need to know that firstly, there used to be a human civilization known as Ascalon. It was located in the eastern portions of Tyria and can now be found to mainly be a desert full of ruins inhabited by ghosts. What happened to Ascalon? Well, the Char destroyed a good part of it during their war with the Ascalonians through conventional methods, the capital city was destroyed in an event known as the foefire, and the lands were made barren by the searing. All that is left of this once great civilization is Ebonhawke.The pretty picture that the main story line depicts of all the races getting along is contrasted by the story of Ebonhawke. The people of this city hold a grudge. Their homelands were turned into a wasteland and their heroes turned to ghosts. 

Sleeping Kralkatorrik concept art.

It's not like the threat of the elder dragons hasn't touched these people. The elder dragon, Kralkatorrik, formerly thought to be a mountain, woke up and caused a great deal of havoc. Firstly, it created the dragonbrand corrupting everything in its path. This corruption passes right by Ebonhawke, and in fact the city was assaulted by branded creatures just after the dragon woke. Logan Thackeray even left Destiny's Edge to return to Ebonhawke, during this assault by branded creatures, to save Queen Jennah. This led to some of the main pieces drama in the personal story including the dungeon story lines. On top of this Kralkatorrik was last seen in the northern parts of the Crystal Desert. Guess what the closest city to the Crystal Desert is? Ebonhawke. Suffice to say, these people know first hand the threats of the dragon, but would still prefer to fight the Char. Now that is a grudge.

The Details

It's this story, along with the awesome architecture, that gives this city so much character. In a world with so many details some of the really awesome things get washed out in a sea of awesomeness. It really takes something as epic as Ebonhawke to stand above the rest of Tyria and actually stand out. There are so many details to explore in this city. For instance, there are a series of twenty books scattered around the city, titled the Founding, that tells the story of a group of adventures setting out to found the city. It is a great little read if you have the time to track down the books, if not the wiki has the whole story for you. Reading them all is also good for an achievement. Here is the first bit to tease you in: 

A messenger from Ascalon arrived today, bringing the first word from home since the Vanguard were tasked with slowing the charr offensive, years ago. The Vanguard's deeds reached the ears of the king. The forces have been recalled. There's a quiet relief that can be felt throughout the unit. Their long, hard-fought struggle is coming to an end. Away from the troops, Captain Gwen Thackeray seems concerned, an unspoken question on her lips. Though Ascalon is telling them to return, is their mission really complete with charr still nearby? The troops leave a skeleton force to protect the Eye of the North as they set out in the black of night on their return journey. The captain won't let the charr know that we've all but abandoned the north. 

The dynamic events also seem especially well done in Ebonhawke. As I was writing this article I watched a bandit plant a bomb on a jail cell door, blow the door freeing a Champion Bandit, who then proceeded to rally his buddies, and start some havoc in main parts of the city (aka an event). These were the kind of events I feel Anet promised us. Many other events just have NPCs spawning out of walls out thin air so I was glad to see there are still some places where the world still feels alive and dynamic. 

I also spent a good amount of time getting chased around by angry chickens. Seems the Ebonhawke chickens have been talking with the chickens in Hyrule. When you attack a chicken and do enough damage to it a bunch of his invincible buddies spawn and begin attacking you. This was a fun little diversion. There is also a playable organ hidden away. Here you can play the organ much like you can play the choir bells, except the organ is stationary and not a usable item. The organ is found by the vista on the south side of Ebonhawke. Head up the stairs and get on the roofs. You will see a balcony with two NPCs named noble, just jump over to the balcony and head in the door. There is also a song you can play on the organ that will open a door for a chest.

The balcony with the two nobles outside the entrances to the organ.

My character standing in front of the organ.

Conclusions

Gate to the Crystal Desert.

The main take away from this is that Guild Wars 2 has some great content in its world. There are so many details in Tyria that some times you are overwhelmed or the truly awesome things are washed away in a sea of details. It really takes a place like Ebonhawke to stand above the rest of Tyria and shine as a beacon to be replicated. I haven't even mentioned all the nice things about this city, like the locked door to the Crystal Desert, the bank that is right beside an auction house, and the cultural weapon vendor (here is an image from dulfy of all the weapons). I really wish all the major cities were like this. Why can't there be dynamic events in a city? That would make things a lot more fun, especially in Lion's Arch.

There are not a lot of places in Tyria that really stand out like this. Compare this to the rich world of Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings: Online where having not played the game in years I can still vividly recall a number of epic landmarks and locations. Comparing Middle Earth and Tyria is another article though. Maybe it is me though. Perhaps I haven't spent enough time in Tyria yet to have discovered all the Ebonhawkes. The gate to the Crystal Desert also reminds me that Guild Wars is by no means a finished game. There is still a lot of work to be done and things to add. I hope Anet continues to build on the model found in Ebonhawke and make the rest of the world just as detailed and rich. Quality areas like this really stand out.

Encounter Design: Spotlighting

The more I right this blog the more I am realizing that old school pen and paper RPG's, Dungeons and Dragons, and World of Darkness mostly, influence my views on Guild Wars 2. When I played with my friends in high school I am usually took on the role of the dungeon master. This continues even now over ten years later. I follow and keep up with a couple RPG blogs, Gnome Stew for example, and I am especially fond of articles they right on encounter design. Those were also always my favourite bits in the dungeon master sections of the Dungeons and Dragons books. Designing good encounters is not easy. Arena Net has an even more difficult task of trying to make interesting encounters and then make them interesting multiple times. 

Today I want to look at encounter design and how it relates to Guild Wars 2. Specifically I want to look at spotlighting. Spotlighting is a term used for when a DM designs a particular encounter or task specifically for an individual within the group. You can do this based on the players class, abilities, or skills, or you can focus more on who they are as a gamer. The whole point, though, is to make that player feel like the boss.

Guild Wars 2 has a tough time doing this and it is what makes a lot of the encounters feel bland. The problem is that Arena Net decided to do away with the "holy trinity" of Tank, DPS, and Healer and then failed to replace it with anything. Massively recently wrote an article on the problems Guild Wars 2 has and the lack of roles was one of there chief complaints. The problem it causes is that people do not have roles to play, and thus there is no spotlighting and no structure. Most MMO's have this built right in. If you are an awesome tank then every time you have to pull a room of mobs and sit on that boss you are spotlighting. When you do your job well you are rewarded with that feeling everyone feels when you do something no one else in the party could have done.

Arena Net choose not to go down this path. They have specifically stated that they do not want the holy trinity in their game. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, it just needs something to replace it. Having not replaced it with anything most encounters in the game are a snooze fest, because essentially they are all the same. The vast majority currently fall into one of two types, tank and spank, or dodge the AoEs. A tank and spank can be a relief after an extremely challenging encounter, and it has its place, but the vast majority of encounters in this game involve fighting a massive HP well. This is not fun, and I often find myself spacing out during most fights. Dodge the AoE can also be a lot of fun. The first time I ran Crusible of Eternity I had a lot of fun fighting the Alpha boss. After the third time fighting the same NPC in the same dungeon with the same mechanics I was done and hate going to run this dungeon because I know no matter what path I do I will have to suffer through the same encounter three times in a row.

There are exceptions though and Guild Wars 2 does have some good encounters, specifically, the hammer fractal. In this mini dungeons there are a series of encounters based around a hammer. The hammer is the only thing that can destroy the seals which are central to each of the combat encounters. There is a trick though, the hammer places conditions on the person holding it, does damage to you when you pick it up, and will out right kill you if you hold it for too long. This is great! Roles are back, kind of. If you have the hammer it can be a lot of fun. Although this is a great little mini dungeon it is still not all the way there. Two or three people are normally responsible for passing the hammer back and forth and they normally get this role because they are the most competent or the quickest to grab the hammer. The others are stuck doing the same old stuff. It is also extremely frustrating to have to explain this encounters design to those that do not understand it. The mechanics are left up to the player to discover. Why not have the mechanics explained as part of the story?

While not completely there, this dungeon takes a step in the right direction. If you are not going to have specific roles at the outset, tank, dps, healer, then make the roles within the encounter itself. For example, in the hammer fractal they could add two other items, say the gloves that go with the hammer. Wearing one of the gloves grants the person wearing it the ability to remove conditions from the person carrying the hammer. It would be possible to continue this theme and add in a shield too. The person carrying the shield can create a bubble which protects the person with the hammer from attacks. Finally, they could add in a helmet which allows the wearer to buff and inspire the person with the hammer to do more damage. Now each person has a role in the party, and will need to work well together to succeed. When they perform their part they will know that they were integral to the success of the party and team and each time you run the dungeon you can try a different role to keep things fresh.

This is not the only way that Arena Net could add more spotlighting into the game though. They could focus on class abilities. In Citadel of Flame path 2 there is a part where you need to kite some mobs around in a circle while Magg plants a bomb at the door. Usually the party takes turns kiting, usually starting with a Warrior. The warrior has the ability to leap a distance and makes an effective kiter. This is a spotlight moment for a warrior player. In the same dungeon you have to cross a lava field with Magg to retrieve some materials to make a bomb. A thief can do this easily on their own using stealth making for a great thief spotlight. Similarly, in Crusible of Eternity there is a laser trap that needs to be crossed. A Mesmer can quickly cross it and set up a portal to get everyone through. These are the kind of moments you say to yourself, "I am glad I picked that class." Another great thing about these moments is that you do not have to have a person playing that class to finish these dungeons. It is just vastly easier with a good player playing that particular class. It sets up situations where other people in the party will say, "I am glad we had that guy in the party."

Spotlighting is something that I believe would add more depth to the encounters in Guild War 2. It would make me happy I picked a certain class, and it would make the dungeons more than what they already are. This is something I learned being a Dungeon Master for Dungeons and Dragons and it made a huge difference in my encounters and how they were enjoyed by my players. This is not the be all and end all of encounter design and not every scene needs to have a spotlight moment. Guild Wars encounters need something though. The Massively article says it perfectly;

...[Guild Wars 2]'s actual group dungeons lack much in the way of structure, and group combat feels more like a mess of people trying to overwhelm events and enemies with numbers instead of finesse.

And that is exactly it. There is no sense of accomplishment when you finish a dungeon in Guild Wars 2. You just go off and look for your group for the next slog through another dungeon. In the future I will look at other aspects of encounter design and how Arena Net could utilize them to bring new life to Tyria.

Wintersday: First Impressions

I won't be writing any guides for the Wintersday event. A lot of other sites already have guides for a lot of the holiday content already up. My favourite site for up-to-date guides for Guild Wars 2 is Dulfy's MMO Blog and Guides. He usually is among the first to have a quality guide up when new content is dropped. I also find he is the quickest to update his existing pages when new things are learned. With that said for guides, just head over to Dulfy's Wintersday page or his event page. Below I have my first impressions of the various activities that have been made available to us for Wintersday.

Jumping Puzzle - Inside the Snow Globe

Compared with the jumping puzzle for Halloween, the Christmas puzzle was a walk in the park. Like the clock tower, this Wintersday puzzle is also a race against time in an instanced zone across torturous terrain. A difference is that there are a number of different starting positions this time around. This has the effect of spreading the active players out. Clearly Anet has learned from Halloween that players like to be able to see there characters when running a puzzle likes this.

This is not the only thing that makes this puzzle easier. The race against the clock is not so frantic. The platforms do disappear behind you and your life slowly ticks away, but the amount of time you are given to finish the puzzle is more than enough. The jumps seem to be a lot cleaner than the clock tower as well. Most of the times I fell in the clock tower it was due to the often confusing and uneven surfaces or getting caught on a weird edge. In this new puzzle all the surfaces are flat and there are no weird edge to get caught on.

The reward at the end, a booster and some karma, felt appropriate for the challenge. I really enjoyed the dancing gingerbread men cheering for you in the victory area. The fact that you can repeat the puzzle each day is also nice. Being able to see other players jumping from the start area is also a cool addition. I do feel that Arena Net has made improvements since the last holiday. The puzzle could have been more difficult though. In the future though I would like to see a hard mode and an easy mode to keep all players happy. For example, the hard mode for Wintersday puzzle could include slippery surfaces, a faster timer, and/or more wind traps.

Snowball Fights

The first day I got into the Wintersday content I spent about 3 hours playing this game. It is a fun distraction, but that is about all it is. It is not terribly well balanced, and most people just fight each other as opposed to doing for the objectives. There are a lot of laughs to be had though. The support classes snowball move is hilarious. I trolled with just this move for at least half an hour. The scouts sniper skill was a hoot, and I used it to put down a good number of people. I did not enjoy the heavy gunner. I could not get used to the slow movement when your gun is pulled out. In the end I finished up my achievements for this game and moved on to something else. It is always neat seeing how easy it is for Arena Net to add new weapons to the game.

Bell Choir and Music

The Bell Choir event entertained me for another couple of hours, and I have since gone back and played it some more. It is basically Guitar Hero in Guild Wars 2 with bells. Timing the notes is a little different though. In Bell Choir you have to press the note after it has crossed the line. This through me off for a while, and I still find myself pressing notes early. If I could change anything I would make the songs longer. The short 10-15 second songs isn't enough to get into the grove.

Along with the Bell Choir they have also added a bell item into the game which lets you play music anywhere in the world. There are two varieties, an infinite use and a single use. I find this interesting since this is something I suggested they add into the game a little over a week ago. I hope this is just the tip of the ice berg, and I hope we move towards seeing something similar to what Lord of the Rings: Online has for music.

Dungeons

As of the writing of this article I have had the opportunity to participate in three of the five Tixx dungeons; the Asura, the Human, and the Charr events. The first two were fun and unique, but the third was just a rehashing of the events from the first two. I found this disappointing, but I have high hopes for more unique content in the last two days. The rewards were not that nice, at least, it was not as good as the Mad King dungeon. A lot of the fun I had with the Mad King dungeon was running it multiple times with guildies. The events in this dungeon were also kind of frustrating to repeat making multiple runs not on the top of the list of things to do.

The really nice thing about this dungeon is the map. It is amazing with a lot of details. Little castles, and towns, trees and forests all of which is breakable. Sometimes it was easy to forget you are inside a blimp, that is until you get to the edges of the map which are set up like a set from a play, complete with a back stage. You can even get up into the flight deck with Tixx and Toxx. I spent a good amount of time just looking at all detail put into this map.

Conclusions

Arena Net has added a lot with this patch. It is great to see that they have also learned from the things people did not like in the last holiday event. This gives me great hope going into the future that we will see better and better stuff in the coming months. The world in Guild Wars 2 continues to change, as evidenced by the half restored fountain in Lion's Arch. Arena Net continues to build a history within Tyria with its players. This makes it exciting to think about the future to the day when you can say, I remember when that statue was destroyed and they had to rebuild it, or I remember the day Karka walked the streets of Lion's Arch.

There is a lot to write about, and I can not talk about everything in one article. I have so many screenshots from all around the world. There are some many people in Christmasy outfits. It is great to see everyone getting into the spirit of things. The cities have never been more active. I am not sure this will hold out past the holidays, but if Arena Net keeps adding more custom clothing and things like the choir bell I am sure we will see active towns as a regular thing. As I have talked about in two previous articles this is something that I think Guild Wars 2 is lacking. I have played a number of other MMOs and the town areas are always full of activity with people duelling  guilds hanging out playing games, people chatting  etc. It is nice to see this changing, and hopefully it starts to last outside of the holidays. Keep enjoying the holiday events. I will keep trying to post more about what is going on and all the changes.

DnD teaches Guild Wars 2

A little over a week ago I wrote an article about what Guild Wars 2 could learn from LotR:O. Today, in a similar vein, I would like to discuss something Guild Wars 2 could learn from good ole Dungeons and Dragons. In fact, there are a lot of things I think GW2 could learn from DnD, but today I will look at just one, weapons and even more specifically I want to look at weapon variety. I feel this is one thing DnD does well. Guild Wars 2 weapon set is currently limited and I think by looking at DnD we could spice things up a bit.

Weapons in DnD

In Dungeons and Dragons there are a ton of weapons, nearly everything that you can think of. Some weapons are greatly different from each other and how they are used, for example a Bow vs a Sword, or a Spear vs a Whip. It is obvious that you do not use a bow or a whip in the same manner. There are different rule sets surrounding the things you can do with these weapons. A bow has a range, a sword is used in melee, a spear has reach, and a whip can trip and disarm. 

There are also other weapons that all fall under a certain category, such as Rapier, Sabre, Katana, or Scimitar  All of these are types of swords, and all act similarly, however, they each have something unique about them. A Rapier crits more often, a sabre has a bonus when mounted, a Katana hits harder, and a scimitar has larger crits. This is the primary area I think Guild Wars can learn from.

Guild Wars 2 meets DnD

In Guild Wars 2 we have a number of different kinds of weapons that each have their own rules surrounding them. I do think that GW2 needs more weapons in general, but a nice way to cheat would be to simply add some flavour to the already existing set. Swords could be divided up in the way described above in DnD. Each could have something unique about it, like a stat bonus, or a different attack. The whole weapon does not need to be changed up, it just needs some flavour. 

A Katana.

Take, for example, a thief and a sword in their primary hand. I have three abilities with the third depending what is in my off-hand, so lets just consider the first two for simplicities sake. With my primary attack I do Slice, Slash, and a Crippling Strike. With my secondary attack I do an Inflitrator's Strike. If say I was using a Katana, instead of Inflitrator's Strike, I could instead have a charge attack that deals vulnerability on hit. The ability stays mostly the same, with a different animation. The primary attack does not need to be changed.

A Rapier.

Then, for another example, I could use a Rapier and instead of Slice, Slash, and Crippling Strike I could instead do, Thrust, Lunge, and Parry which would mimic the fighting style of  fencer. The Thrust and Lunge would behave similarly to Slice and Slash, but Parry would give you Aegis for 2-3 seconds. The changes do not need to be huge, just a little something different would add that much more depth. And I could go on with more examples, Axes could be divided into, Tomahawks, Battle Axe, and Handaxe, Mace divided into Club, Flail, and Morning Star, Shield into Rounded, Tower, and Diamond, etc.

Conclusions

Little things like this could add a lot of spice to the game. This is the same conclusion that I came to in my LotR:O article. It seems GW2 has a lot of the big picture things, but is missing a lot of the little things that really add depth to a game. I have always found finding new weapons to be my favourite part of any game. This probably goes back to the days of playing the Legend of Zelda. I loved getting to the new area, figuring out the puzzle, beating the boss, then having this brand new weapon with new abilities. I think this is something GW2 is sadly missing. I think I unlocked all my weapon skills on all the classes I have played within 30 minutes of being in Tyria. I need something more out of this system, and I think this would be an easy way to get there while new weapons are in development.

WvW Commanders, Communications, and Balance. Oh, my!

The current situation in WvW for my server,
Gate of Madness

For the last two weeks my server, Gates of Madness, has been destroyed by the competition. This changed last week with the new match ups. Now we are the ones that are dominating. Turns out, neither of these situations is fun. Today I will be discussing some of the changes I would personally like to see in WvW. There is a major problem in the Command and Control department which I think comes down to commanders and communications. There is also a balance issue, both are the server level and the class level. Not all is bad though. I will also discuss the good side of WvW and how that can be built upon for the utmost success. I know not everyone will agree with me and I am probably not right about everything. My server is not a huge WvW server by any means. With that said, these are my thoughts.

Commanders

The 100g icon

The current system for becoming a commander in WvW is to collect 100 gold, walk over to a vendor, and ask for a promotion. The main problem with this is that spending 100 gold does not, even remotely, correlate to a persons actual ability to lead. This shows in game. Many of the commanders on my server do not even speak in chat. They just run around in WvW with a train of people following their icon. The ones that do speak up often struggle with simple strategic and tactical choices. For a while we had a commander that would simply cuss and swear and tell people to party at the gate.

WvW Token

Immediately, I think all commanders should be refunded their 100 gold and have their commander title taken away (maybe give them an achievement or title as a thanks). After this a new system for distributing command needs to be established. Personally, I can think of three or four systems that would be superior to the current system. Firstly, they could replace the gold cost with a cost in WvW tokens (1000+ imo). This way the commanders would, at the least, have some substantial experience in WvW.

Secondly, Anet could look at making commander as an option for guilds to purchase through influence. It would have to be a fairly large amount of influence and only an option for large (say 100+ members) guilds. Again, this way there at least some assurances that the commander is competent and willing to lead in chat. Perhaps guild commander's squads could only be joined by other guild members.

Achievement
Point

Another option would be to have a rank system based off of the WvW achievements. In order to rank up you would need to complete the various WvW achievements. The person online with the highest score would be offered command, which of coarse they could turn down. With this system, the commander would be the person with the most experience currently in the world. This system could also cap the number of commanders to a fixed percentage of the players currently playing. Too many commanders in one place adds to the confusion.

A final idea would be pure democracy. Starting with a "nomination phase" people would select those they think should be commander. Next would be a "voting phase" where those present would vote for a commander. Finally, would be the "offer phase" where the player with the most votes is offered command. Again this system could limit the number of commanders to a fixed percentage of the current players on the server. There could also be a "fire the commander" option, where if enough players vote to dismiss a commander it becomes a public vote of confidence. If it fails, a new commander is selected.

All of the options and ideas I have suggested move towards ensuring commanders are competent and willing to lead. Not all are perfect, and some are better than others, but I do believe they all are superior to the current system. Bad commanders can ruin the game for a lot of other players. I have personally led a group on a borderlands server without the commander tag, only to have my plans ruined when a commander logged in. Players stopped joining my group and started following the commander, even though he was issuing no directives in the chat. Everyone was just following the icon. In another situation, on Eternal Borderlands, I have seen successful groups starved of players by bad commanders leading doomed missions, say to camp a spawn. Something needs to be done, and I think all my suggestions are a move in the correct direction.

Communications

Bad communications are not always
a result of bad equipment as Radar
used to prove on MASH.

Communications is another key area of WvW that I believe needs some work. There are some easy fixes as well as some ideal situations that I would imagine would take a lot of work to implement. I hope to go over what I think could work. The main goal would be to fix one thing, zerging. Personally, I do not know anyone that enjoys zerging for an extended period of time. Sure when you first arrive in WvW being part of a zerg can be great fun, but eventually it grows extremely tiring. Even the term zerg implies a mindless mass. Mindless play is not fun and should not be encouraged. The way to prevent this is to improve communications between players. Also, commanders need a clearer way of issuing directives.

A couple things that could make commanders lives easier would be a streamlined way of getting messages to players. The first thing would be to remove the "spam" filter for commanders and those being productive in chat. I have been leading a group before only to have the spam filter kick in preventing me from issuing commands. Another idea would be to give commanders their own public channel that only they can post to which shows up in the chat in a different colour. Sure we have squads, but that is not a public chat, and a lot of players do not know how to join squads. Also, the commanders messages often get lost in the confusion of chat. Something just highlighting the commanders statements would help in the heat of battle. An upgrade to this would be to have the commanders messages show up in a transparent text in the middle of the users screen. From my experiences in WvW it is clear that a lot of users do not read the chat box, and this can cripple attacks and sap the joy out of the game for those struggling to bring order to the mass. Force feeding people might be required as the default option.

What events might look like
on the WvW map.

The absolute ideal situation, in my personal opinion, would be to give commanders the ability to create events. For example, a commander would select a tower on their map and a drop down menu would appear. If they control the tower options would be given such as Rally Here, Defend, Upgrade; however, if it is not controlled options would be given such as Attack Gates, Attack Wall. Then these events would appear on the map for all to see as well as in the events pane in the player HUD. This system could be vastly more complex than this if desired, but simply options like these would help a great deal.

Balance

Balancing act for Anet, is like being
between a rock and a hard place.

Balance in WvW is a controversial issue. The way I see it there are two levels that WvW needs to be balanced at; the class level, and the server level. Not all is bad though and I actually think balance is the easiest thing to fix in WvW.

Starting with class balance. A lot of the gripes about class balance in WvW surround the thief and the mesmer. With respect to the thief it is their incredible burst DPS which can down someone before the thief even renders. Part of this is the rendering issues which are a result of the games culling decisions. Anet is actively working on this as evidenced in the last patch. Thieves can also stealth large groups of players, and golems, for extended periods of time. Mesmers on the other hand have their portals, which can move large numbers of players, and golems, quickly across the map. Players feel these abilities make the classes over powered in the context of WvW. I tend to disagree as I think most classes have abilities that rapidly scale up in WvW (Warrior banners, Elementalist AoEs, Guardian bubbles, etc), but a lot of the effects are under noticed and under used. I think a lot of this could be fixed with an educational campaign on ArenaNet's part, or perhaps simply making these abilities larger than life in WvW.

On the other hand, with respect to server balance, things are a little bit more tricky. It is hard to tell, but a lot of people feel the main source of the problem is that it is currently free to switch servers once a week. What has happened and continues to happen is large numbers of players move to the winning servers for a given week to finish monthly achievements, jumping puzzles, and world exploration. There are two ways to fix this. One would be to remove the free server transfer, and the other would be to move the PvE stuff out of WvW. This means no monthly achievements for WvW, and world exploration inside WvW would no longer count. The jumping puzzle would than have to be made accessible from outside WvW, but could retain its PvP elements. Either of these, or both, would allow the server scoring system a chance to create the most fair matches possible.

Quick mock up of how linking maps going improve flow.

Another option to help server balance would be to add flow to the maps. Lately I have been toying around with the idea of linking the maps together so that front lines would be created. What I am suggesting is that on each of the borderland maps instead of their being a supply camp and two spawn points at the bottom of the map, there should be a single keep. Inside this keep would be an Asura gate which would be linked to a matching gate in one of the keeps in Eternal Battlegrounds (EB). With this setup in order to attack a server's Borderland, your server would first have to gain control of their keep in EB. And in order to repel invaders from your server's borderland you would have to capture the southern keep and push them back out into EB. Both keeps could be controlled separately from each other. The Asura gates could be inside courtyards in the keeps which would have to be broken out of in order to take the keep on the other side of the gate.

Adding the above changes would have a prominent effect of creating front lines of sorts as opposed to the chaos that currently exists. It would be much more obvious to players where the action is. It would also put added pressure on the winning server. If they controlled one of the other servers keeps in EB they would face the full brunt of both servers. A failing I see in this plan would be that the limited number of maps for players to enter. Currently, it is already difficult to get on to the popular maps during peak times. The above system would only add to that burden. Even so, I think it is a step in the right direction and worth mentioning.

The Good Stuff

Somethings in WvW deserve praise.

Now, not everything is bad in WvW. There are a lot of great aspects to it as well. Firstly, there are tasks that individuals can do, ie scouting, assassinating, harassing supply, and there are things that require small groups, ie camps and towers, and finally, tasks that require a large group, keeps, and castles. This variety tends to ensure that anyone can enter and find something they can take on. This is great and something I would build on top of. Create more roles and tasks for individuals to take on, and give them the tools and abilities to do them. For example, give rangers and thieves the ability to mark targets on the mini map for all to see, thus helping the scouting role.

Another great thing about WvW is the distinct advantage that the defenders have. I have played games with attackers and defenders before where the defenders were on the same footing as the attackers. For starters most people do not want to defend, and defenders are always out numbered by attackers. Secondly, it makes sense that the defenders have the advantage. They got to the battle first, and have had time to prepare, that is why they are the defenders. Now, the attackers should have options and tactics they can employ to level the playing field, but the fact of the matter is the defenders should always start with an advantage. I would like to see this improved upon with say, suggested locations for build siege marked on walls. Also, siege weapons should stay indefinitely and not disappear when they are not being used.

Next, team work is most definitely needed. This on its own is a great thing. It makes winning that much more fun, but it also makes loosing kinda fun as well. It creates a sense of community that I feel GW2 is lacking. Now, as I have mentioned above new tools are needed to help enable this team work, but at the fundamental core there is something unique and special about World PvP in Guild Wars 2, and I feel it is the teamwork.

A epic siege of Stone Mist Castle.

Siege weapons are awesome. The best thing about siege weapons is that they multiply intelligence. That is, a smart group of players can use siege weapons to hold off much larger groups of players. Siege can also be used to level the battlefield against defenders. Smart positioning of siege, and more importantly smart use of it can absolutely dominate. For example, my server had just finished mopping up our borderland and we planned out next invasion of a neighbouring borderland. Once over on the other side we built 2 golems with our supply from our borderland, and moved them directly to the gates of the enemies garrison keep. We took the keep in about 7-8 minutes without anyone defending it, simply because we had a plan, and the right siege of the job. Since this was the first objective we secured upon entering the map there was no way for the enemy to predict this stealth attack. ArenaNet should continue working on ensuring that players have options to consider and tactics to use in every situation.

Conclusions

WvW is far from the lost cause some players see it as. In fact I think it is still an awesome way to spend your time in GW2. There are a number of things that need fixes and tweaks and we know these things are coming. In fact as I was writing this post a developer posted a preview of the changes coming in the Wintersday patch. Those changes forced me to re-write a part of this article, thus the late publication. I will be posting about these changes shortly after I publish this article.

We have also heard that there will be massive changes coming in the January and February patches. Although, we do not know the details, I trust ArenaNet to listen to the community and work on the problems that concern them, all the while, bringing out new content. The suggestions I have made hear are by no means the be all and end all. They are just ideas that I have had in my head for a while. I think they would improve the game, but I also can not see down the path ArenaNet has already laid out for itself. Personally, I have seen enough good in the format to believe they will get it right.

Guild War 2 and Group Finder

In my opinion, the number one thing that Guild Wars 2 needs at this moment is a group finder. In my humble opinion, it should be considered a bug that one does not exist in game. There is not even a looking for group channel in the the chat. Spamming map chat in an attempt to find a group drives everyone up the wall, including the person making the post, especially after they are told by the game that they can not chat anymore as they are spamming. Guess what Anet? Nobody wants to spam, but you make us do it.

Alright, alright, so I found a guild and now I can do my daily CoF runs with guildies, okay everything is okay. Oh wait, what is this new Fractals of the Mist dungeon? Oh cool, different levels of difficultly, different everytime, this could be fun, lets see if guildies want to go. Oh, they do, but none of us are the same difficultly level, so we can not run together. I guess I am back to map chat to try and find a group...

gw2lfg.com main page

Does any of that sound familiar. It should because this is the current state of trying to find a group in GW2. A lot of people agree with my statement, so much so, that a third party has created a website where you can find a group for GW2 dungeons. The site is called gw2lfg.com. Anet should take note of this. This is the kind of tool that should have been included in GW2 at launch. Now we have a third party site which is great for those that know about it. Those that do not know about it are now in the unenviable position of having even fewer people wanting to join their group and even fewer people advertising in game for groups. 

The situation is deplorable and this is something that Anet needs to get on starting today. They need to tell the community that this is coming and reassure us that they actually play the game and understand what a large problem his really is. I did some research into the GW2 forums and previous "Ask me Anything" sessions on reddit and was able to come up with the following results. I have linked the source at the end of the quote.

We have a whole host of social features on our wishlist that we had to trim in order to ship, but we haven't forgotten about them, and I'm sure we'll revisit some of them in the future. I personally would love to take our LFG system further. - ArenaNetBraeden (Reddit AMA)

We’re very aware our LFG system is lacking, an it’s high on our list of things to rework. We have some other very pressing issues to handle first, but as someone who built/runs dungeons, and often PUG them, I dislike our current obscure and non-informative system, and re-building it is high on my list of things-to-flail-my-arms-about-to-talented-people-who-can-do-something-about-it, so that they do something about it. -Robert Hrouda (GW2 Forums)

We’re investigating and working on improving our group finding tool. While we certainly appreciate the thread, I’m just going to lock and close it seeing as how you’re voting on something we’re already looking into. -Robert Hrouda (GW2 Forums)

Anet is aware that a tool is needed, and they say they are working on it. Hopefully we will see one soon, or at least some sort of ETA on when it will be live in game. I find it hilarious though that they think they actually have a LFG system at the moment. What system? It is a chat bar where I can harass others into running a dungeon with me. This is not a system, it is anarchy. I do not know whether to take that statement with a grain of salt or to actually wonder if Anet thinks they have an actual LFG system, in place in game, right now. I wonder if Anet employees ever go through the LFG experience that we do. In game Anet employees show up with a fancy icon. If they were to post LF4M AC EM into chat they would have a group INSTANTLY.

Anyway, enough speculating on my part. Arena Net is aware that this is a major problem for the community and they are working on something. I will continue to cover this story as we get more information from Arena Net. Until then keep letting people know about gw2lfg.com, so that everyone can have a more enjoyable experience in game.

LOTRO teaches GW2: Part 1

In this series of articles I look at the things that I think LotR:O did well, which Guild Wars 2 should aim to emulate or improve upon. Why LotR:O? Well that is one of the games that I have experience on, having played for approximately a year. In this article I will look at LotR:O music system and how it could help bring new life to the towns, villages, cities, and resting stops of Tyria, and start a constructive community.

How it work in LotR:O

Depending on the class that you started the game with, you have access to a variety of instruments which you can play anywhere in the world. There are four ways to play the instrument. You can use the item at which point you can press different keys to play different notes. You can enter command  into the chat bar which would play a series of notes. Alternatively, and most usefully, you could write out "code" in a mark up language, save the code to a text file, then type a command in the chat bar to execute the file So far, that's three ways. The fourth is the best. You and your friends can form a group, each of you with a different text file saved to your PC, each of you with a different instrument. You type a synchronization command into the chat bar and once everyone is ready you start playing as a band.

A band plays a gig, Lord of the Rings: Online

Atmosphere

The atmosphere this created in the game was amazing. Imagine travelling by horse back at night into a brand new zone. In the distance through the fog you see a dark a shady tavern. As you approach you can hear music in the distance. You enter the tavern and inside is a 4 piece band, sure enough, they are playing "Stairway to Heaven". Three or four other players are standing around watching, while two more dance on the table tops. The band finishes their song, several of the audience applaud, while the others thank the band for a great number. Just as another player shout, "Encore," the band kicks into the Mos Eisley's Cantina song from Star Wars.

The Forsaken Inn, Lord of the Rings: Online

This story is a common occurrence in LotR:O. My friends and I spent several nights travelling around the map playing songs in various establishments. We were never rewarded, it was just a fun thing to do. This seems to fit in perfectly with the Guild Wars 2 mantra. It helps to build a community on a server. People interact during shows and get to know each other. Guild Wars 2's cities are really missing something that I have found most other MMO's have, and that is active cities and camps. Sure there are people running around in LA, but no one is ever talking to each other, or interacting. The music system could help to fill that void. The music system could also help to fill down time. Often times, while waiting for a party member in LotR:O our party would start playing songs for each other, or start a "name that tune" game. Just another great touch that helps round the game out.

Specific to Guild Wars 2, imagine an army outside a fort your control in WvW. They aren't lobbing stones at your fort with catapults, they are all playing Justin Bieber in an attempt to drive you from your home. Imagine your server's zerg rushing down towards a smaller group of enemies while a group of players plays the classic charge melody on a bugle.

Community

Asides from the community building that I have mentioned above this music system would create a community of players actively generating song files for users to use.  Guild Wars 2 currently lacks a community of creative people making stuff for the game. This system would help to create that community and hold them together.

Screenshot of the LotR:O music community site thefatlute.com

The community that developed around LotR:O's music system is The Fat Lute.  Unfortunately, it seems the site has now shut down.  Since I am not an active player in the LotR:O community anymore I am not sure if there is a replacement.  Here is a link to the site on the Internet Achieve from when it was last up.  Basically the site is a forum and database of text files for various songs.  It is a community of players working outside of the game to create something.

Conclusions

Sure this system was not perfect.  Dealing with the text files was painful, even with community developed tools. I would hope that a Guild Wars 2 implementation of this system would be much cleaner and easier to use, perhaps with the GUI directly in the game's interface. LotR:O had a bard class which has access to all the instruments at character creation and they could teach others how to use the instruments. I would imagine that GW2 would forgo this music class and instead just allow all classes to use all instruments, perhaps after talking to a trainer in town.

With that said, I believe that this music system fits perfectly in with the Guild Wars 2 mantra. It would bring players together, and give them something to do just because it is fun to do. New life and community would thrive around groups of players playing music in the towns, and cities of Tyria. No longer would players be bored while the wait for their friends to BRB from AFK. Next time you begin your Citadel of Flame runs imagine standing by the entrance as your party files in while one player plays the theme to Indian Jones.