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Guild Wars 2 Launch Date announced: August 28th, 2012
- Thread starter Mr. Luchador
- Start date
Apologies for the longer than usual mega-post, I've been back and forth between my PC all day and there's some things that needed replies.
I didn't see anyone reply to this yet, but you are welcome to join GAF regardless of what server you join on. You can also multi-guild, so you can be part of GAF and whatever your old guildmates want to do.
And yes, friends of GAFers are welcome as long as they don't create Drama. That's GAF Guild Rule #1, 2 and 3. And #6, but that one just says "Read Rule #3 again".
Nice Spin. Doesn't change the fact that their "We're here to dominate WvW" attitude inspired their members to behave exactly as we knew they would. They create the environment that spawned the behavior.
The goal of GAFGuild has pretty much always been "Have fun with GAF members". That means everything from WvWing as a group to goofing off in guild chat. And everything in between. GW2 isn't the kind of game where you need a guild to have a mission statement or a militaristic outlook anyways; dungeons are 5-man affairs, World Events scale and are open to non-guildies, WvW balances based on population. There's zero reason to engage in rigid organization unless you like that sort of thing or you take the game waaaaaay too seriously.
You assume that there are only two possible outcomes; a full server and a dead one. There is a middle ground between hour-long queues and a ghost town, between a server that's packed to capacity and one that's quickly deserted. Server populations don't jump between absolutes like that, not even in other MMOs. The average server is a medium server, and that's our goal. We don't want to be the "King of the Server" or the "Big Fish in the Pond", and we're not going to actively search for the lowest population server we can find (which was a problem with Henge of Denravi, as you'll recall). We want to make sure everyone can play without getting stuck behind queues. That's what the server choice is all about and nothing more.
You're coming about this in the wrong way, because you're thinking of it like a traditional MMO. WvW isn't the immediate problem, it is the only problem. PvE and sPvP have no server restrictions. You will never ever ever ever take part in PvE or sPvP on a 'dead' server because any time you think it isn't meeting your expectations you can Guest somewhere else.
3. We discussed this in Mumble during the end of the last BWE. As we got our 100% for Hoelbrek and the Black Citadel, we noticed we were earning a lot more Influence than normal because we were grouped up and doing stuff together. This is definitely going to happen, maybe even on a regular basis ("Friday Night Completion" or something).
4. See my avatar.
5. I can see us having little contests and stuff for gems and such. Already been a few people wagering gems on a launch date, though that was mostly joking. But yeah, it's mostly up to us wanting to front some prizes.
I think he meant a big group event where we all meet up and complete POIs, Vistas and Waypoints to rack up the guild influence together, or do jumping puzzles and such as a group. Zerg is kind of becoming MMO parlance for any big group, not necessarily one that seeks to overwhelm through numerical superiority.
That said, if everyone wanted to roll Blue Asura and dress up as Smurfs and run around asking people for Smurfberries, that's funny too.
Oooh yeah, a couple arrow carts in the right place can completely turn a numerical advantage to nothing. In the first BWE some GAFers and I dropped an arrow cart at a supply camp (the only one this particular team controlled) just to drive them off the map. Must have been 10-15 to our five and we drove them out.
Siege was underused in the BWE because there wasn't much funding going on except for the people who bought gems and turned it into gold. Once people get in and they realize 10 silver isn't a lot of money, you'll see people dropping siege more often and not being afraid to put supply into building it.
Yes, because it inevitably leads to KEGBRAWL!
This has come up a few times before and we've always circled back to "It's a GAF guild so we should just use GAF as our forums." That said, a blog where events can be announced, polls can be set up, etc. would be pretty sharp. We'll discuss it next time we all get together (which will be soon considering the server discussion).
And yes, we did give thoughts to having regular Podcasts after launch, that's something everyone involved was interested in continuing.
Yeah, I haven't been hanging out on Mumble nearly as much as I was a few months ago. I'll try to make an effort to hang out in there more often and GAFers are welcome to do the same. If only to discuss the game or even ask questions.
Psh, nobody reads those. I write 'em and I barely read them.
Well, in that case, here's one more for you.
I didn't see anyone reply to this yet, but you are welcome to join GAF regardless of what server you join on. You can also multi-guild, so you can be part of GAF and whatever your old guildmates want to do.
And yes, friends of GAFers are welcome as long as they don't create Drama. That's GAF Guild Rule #1, 2 and 3. And #6, but that one just says "Read Rule #3 again".
Nice Spin. Doesn't change the fact that their "We're here to dominate WvW" attitude inspired their members to behave exactly as we knew they would. They create the environment that spawned the behavior.
The goal of GAFGuild has pretty much always been "Have fun with GAF members". That means everything from WvWing as a group to goofing off in guild chat. And everything in between. GW2 isn't the kind of game where you need a guild to have a mission statement or a militaristic outlook anyways; dungeons are 5-man affairs, World Events scale and are open to non-guildies, WvW balances based on population. There's zero reason to engage in rigid organization unless you like that sort of thing or you take the game waaaaaay too seriously.
You assume that there are only two possible outcomes; a full server and a dead one. There is a middle ground between hour-long queues and a ghost town, between a server that's packed to capacity and one that's quickly deserted. Server populations don't jump between absolutes like that, not even in other MMOs. The average server is a medium server, and that's our goal. We don't want to be the "King of the Server" or the "Big Fish in the Pond", and we're not going to actively search for the lowest population server we can find (which was a problem with Henge of Denravi, as you'll recall). We want to make sure everyone can play without getting stuck behind queues. That's what the server choice is all about and nothing more.
You're coming about this in the wrong way, because you're thinking of it like a traditional MMO. WvW isn't the immediate problem, it is the only problem. PvE and sPvP have no server restrictions. You will never ever ever ever take part in PvE or sPvP on a 'dead' server because any time you think it isn't meeting your expectations you can Guest somewhere else.
3. We discussed this in Mumble during the end of the last BWE. As we got our 100% for Hoelbrek and the Black Citadel, we noticed we were earning a lot more Influence than normal because we were grouped up and doing stuff together. This is definitely going to happen, maybe even on a regular basis ("Friday Night Completion" or something).
4. See my avatar.
5. I can see us having little contests and stuff for gems and such. Already been a few people wagering gems on a launch date, though that was mostly joking. But yeah, it's mostly up to us wanting to front some prizes.
I think he meant a big group event where we all meet up and complete POIs, Vistas and Waypoints to rack up the guild influence together, or do jumping puzzles and such as a group. Zerg is kind of becoming MMO parlance for any big group, not necessarily one that seeks to overwhelm through numerical superiority.
That said, if everyone wanted to roll Blue Asura and dress up as Smurfs and run around asking people for Smurfberries, that's funny too.
Oooh yeah, a couple arrow carts in the right place can completely turn a numerical advantage to nothing. In the first BWE some GAFers and I dropped an arrow cart at a supply camp (the only one this particular team controlled) just to drive them off the map. Must have been 10-15 to our five and we drove them out.
Siege was underused in the BWE because there wasn't much funding going on except for the people who bought gems and turned it into gold. Once people get in and they realize 10 silver isn't a lot of money, you'll see people dropping siege more often and not being afraid to put supply into building it.
Yes, because it inevitably leads to KEGBRAWL!
This has come up a few times before and we've always circled back to "It's a GAF guild so we should just use GAF as our forums." That said, a blog where events can be announced, polls can be set up, etc. would be pretty sharp. We'll discuss it next time we all get together (which will be soon considering the server discussion).
And yes, we did give thoughts to having regular Podcasts after launch, that's something everyone involved was interested in continuing.
Yeah, I haven't been hanging out on Mumble nearly as much as I was a few months ago. I'll try to make an effort to hang out in there more often and GAFers are welcome to do the same. If only to discuss the game or even ask questions.
Psh, nobody reads those. I write 'em and I barely read them.
Well, in that case, here's one more for you.
LumpOfCole
Member
Reading the WvW stories in this thread is so painful. It makes me want this game to be released right now. Waiting 4 weeks is going to be rough.
flyinpiranha
Member
Impossible. Unless he started reading two days ago.
AzureSkies
Member
Might as well talk about this in both threads.
How would you guys feel about a GW2 GAF IRC? One that would be accessible by client and a simple link to connect.
I already run a channel for PSO2, so I wouldn't mind running one for Guild Wars 2 GAFGuild or just GW2 GAF in general.
How would you guys feel about a GW2 GAF IRC? One that would be accessible by client and a simple link to connect.
I already run a channel for PSO2, so I wouldn't mind running one for Guild Wars 2 GAFGuild or just GW2 GAF in general.
Ive been spending my time looking at skill calculators and determining what utility skills I should buy. Im thinking Rocket boots, Throw Mine, and flamethrower would be a good combo for solo PvE
All I can think about is the last night of the beta on Gandara. We had Stonemist (the main central castle) and both servers had 50 ish player groups attacking us from both sides. One server eventually broke through, but we somehow managed to push them back out with much less people on that side of the castle. Then we forced the large French servers group all the way back down to their keep.
I can really tell WvW is going to be great to jump in and out of when you're looking for some fun!
I like the idea, IRC is nice for communication and idling if you are working or something.
FutureZombie
Banned
I've probably spent 5+ hours messing with skill/trait calculators. It's great fun because there are so many options and you can make many completely different characters out of the same profession. However, it's difficult to make sound decisions when it's impossible to tell what some of the skills and traits do, or how significant they are. "Pets heal for more." Okay... how much more? If it's 10% then it sucks. But if it's 30%, now I'm paying attention to it.
Edit: you know, this isn't even worth arguing because I'm not doing that. My humble opinion on the matter could be summarized as follows: Barring what ANET can do to alleviate queues, those of you guys most interested in WvW can find it better to suffer through a few queues at launch if that means mild interest in WvW in the long run. That is the only reason the server choice matters, and if we get a server that languishes behind in that respect it might affect you more when the server pops have settled.
flyinpiranha
Member
That's a really big and uncalled for oversimplification. A huge alliance on a server could negate our enjoyment of WvW. That seems to be a simple fact whether it be que's or not being able to enjoy the game.
I don't personally think the TA will affect us in a really meaningful way. But, in other games I played PVP, especially in WoW pre server, if you had one side dominant then people avoided que's and afk'd out. I know they server match in GW2 but that's going to be something we'll all have to see as while I have faith, I've seen 'matchmaking' in general and it can still throw you into mismatches.
I understand what you're saying but you're blowing the TA thing out of proportion. Replace TA with ANY huge alliance or guild and it will be the same question:
Do we want to be on a server that has a VAST MAJORITY of guild players solely focused on WvW?
I'm unsure. I don't think it's going to be a huge problem honestly but population-wise it could make the forming of our alliances more difficult and life on the server in general more difficult. If just GAF is sitting here thinking about the experience in BWE3 with TA what about all the other same sized average guilds that are thinking the same?
Only time will tell. I think you're oversimplifying what is being discussed honestly, it has nothing to do with them being 'bullies', it has to do with longevity and viability of THIS guild being able to co-exist with a huge alliance.
The dynamic events pleasantly surprised me in the beta as I at first thought that these were only the heart quests you do. I traveled to Metrica Province after some time in Sylvari starting zone and hung around the building where the Asura children are being taught. I took part in at least 4 different events that sprung up as the teacher was going over various lessons. Also the one more north that starts where you revive Janna (sp?) was great. I stayed around for a bit after completing it and got to experience the fail state when mobs of enemies came to dismantle the portal.
As an aside, I played on Maguuma server with some friends and it had a great atmosphere. I'm not sure how GAF plans to choose a server but just throwing that out there.
I agree with others that wouldn't really be a good solution, but I feel you on that sentiment. Besides full-on PvP servers, the level specific PvP areas have pretty much been my favorite part of past mmo's. I loved DAoC's Thidranki and Molvik, Warhammers various PvP battlegrounds... it's pretty much the only thing GW2 is missing. That said, besides skills/traits, there isn't the same type of progression that would make this type of PvP very relevant. After experiencing GW2 in the last beta, I can say I am alright with that though I will miss the more 'noobish' PvP experiences.
As an aside, I played on Maguuma server with some friends and it had a great atmosphere. I'm not sure how GAF plans to choose a server but just throwing that out there.
Shrennin
Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
I missed essentially every Guild Wars 2 beta weekend. >_>
I mean, I could have played this last one but Dark Knight Rises called among other things. Anyway, I really can't wait for this game to just release and hopefully by then I'll have a proper mouse. It's been ruining my fun in a lot of PC games (and it made playing what I did of GW2 a nuisance).
There was also part of me that wanted to avoid the dynamic events and questing in general so I could be surprised by the release of the game. I played mostly in WvW for the second beta weekend event, after diving a little bit in the questing early on.
I mean, I could have played this last one but Dark Knight Rises called among other things. Anyway, I really can't wait for this game to just release and hopefully by then I'll have a proper mouse. It's been ruining my fun in a lot of PC games (and it made playing what I did of GW2 a nuisance).
There was also part of me that wanted to avoid the dynamic events and questing in general so I could be surprised by the release of the game. I played mostly in WvW for the second beta weekend event, after diving a little bit in the questing early on.
AzureSkies
Member
I've created the web chat IRC channel for the GW2 NeoGAF Community.
Easy foolproof link to join the chat by browser
If you already have an IRC client:
IRC: irc.seraphimlabs.net
Channel: #gw2
Once people actually start joining I'll sort out op (admin) permissions on the IRC. I'm willing to give anyone like Jira or Retro admin positions pretty much automatically.
Easy foolproof link to join the chat by browser
If you already have an IRC client:
IRC: irc.seraphimlabs.net
Channel: #gw2
Once people actually start joining I'll sort out op (admin) permissions on the IRC. I'm willing to give anyone like Jira or Retro admin positions pretty much automatically.
As long as you are listed in the community thread, you are good to go.
Along with this there are a few good irc and mumble clients for mobile as well. I also have experience embedding an irc client directly into a cms page like blog/etc with login/guest privileges with optional popout. I did this with WordPress but I'm sure Joomla/Mambo would be just as easy. Again, if that's anybody's thing I'm here for help.
Edit:
It was also nice chatting with you, Vinci, earlier in Mumble. I apologize if I seemed distracted and couldn't land a semi-cohesive sentence as I often multitask at my machine - something my wife has told me I need to stop doing
Join GW2 controller GAF, you know you want to
Shrennin
Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
I've actually looked into it before and...I might actually do that!
With this "web app" would it be possible to have a live map of yourself open in a second monitor? It states you can see your friends, but does not mention your own character.
If true that would be a great addition for those of us who have two displays.
ComputerMKII
Banned
I had a lot of fun during the BWE and I can't wait for the game to come out. I'm not sure which class to play, though. Warrior, Guardian, Elementalist, Thief or Ranger?
Wardentiefer
I'm pretty sure the guy at ANet who was working on the extended experience stuff left a while ago and ANet has gone dark on it ever since. I'm thinking we'll be lucky to get a mobile authenticator app. I hope I'm wrong though.
I'm in the same boat as you. I'm torn between warrior, elementalist and guardian. Leaning towards warrior but guardian and elementalists are just so much fun. I'll play all three eventually but just can't decide which one to play first.
I spent the entirety of BWE3 hanging out with my friends, and I feel a bit guilty for taking up a GAF guild spot because of it. Because Gates of Madness had such horrible WvW queues, we ended up going back to Henge of Denravi for the last two days.
One little nitpick, I hope they give an alternate color for pets, minions, and clones, and only allow the player that spawned them to see the dots for them on their mini map. That would clean up a lot of clutter. If someone wants to revive your pet, they can look around for it with their eyes. This also means that pets and clones could be used to track people, both in sPvP and WvW.
Back to GAF guild stuff, the times when I do play with you guys are extremely fun. I would definitely be one to help organize PvE events for completionists and WvW gatherings at random times. Heck, I was doing it with random people while everyone was asleep during the BWE. GW2 just scratches my community outreach itch just right.
Well, I suppose this is a long an unnecessary post saying that I'm going to try and be more present and post more.
One little nitpick, I hope they give an alternate color for pets, minions, and clones, and only allow the player that spawned them to see the dots for them on their mini map. That would clean up a lot of clutter. If someone wants to revive your pet, they can look around for it with their eyes. This also means that pets and clones could be used to track people, both in sPvP and WvW.
Back to GAF guild stuff, the times when I do play with you guys are extremely fun. I would definitely be one to help organize PvE events for completionists and WvW gatherings at random times. Heck, I was doing it with random people while everyone was asleep during the BWE. GW2 just scratches my community outreach itch just right.
Well, I suppose this is a long an unnecessary post saying that I'm going to try and be more present and post more.
aramanKain
Member
That would be great! Thanks! Character name is Ara Kin.
What do you mean by "do better"?
Yeah there is no cutoff date. You can take your time with it.
Man, I'm using this thread to scratch my guild wars 2 itch, but like an actual itch, I think I am just making it worse
I need to find something to distract me... Like a good book or a 1 month coma
I've basically been going into the Mumble once a day since the Beta ended. If nothing else, I can at least talk about the game with people. Desperate, yes, but it sort of helps.
Same here, mine is bloody and hasn't even got a chance to scab.Man, I'm using this thread to scratch my guild wars 2 itch, but like an actual itch, I think I am just making it worse
I need to find something to distract me... Like a good book or a 1 month coma
Shrennin
Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
Well, Denravi did pretty badly server-wise (I mean, I think we were second most of the time but the winning server was pretty far in first place) so did we (GAF and the GoM server at large) either win or at least compete pretty closely to the other servers that we were pitted against in WvW?
Man, this thread has been moving so fast this last week. Every time I check on the thread I have 3 pages to catch up on, and by the time I catch up on those I'm another page behind. If I ever actually get to the end of the thread, I have no energy to do a Retro-style mega post, so I just post nothing. Besides, all of the important discussions are beaten to death to the point that everyone's sick of them by the time I get there.
No need to feel bad. Our guild was not at capacity anyway. And if it was, it wouldn't have been a big deal to upgrade it again to make more room. All GAFers are welcome, even if you don't plan on spending most of your time in guild chat or if you roll on another server. The only exception is, as Retro said above, no drama. That's the one thing we have no room for in our guild.
Gates of Madness was matched against other top tier servers by the end of the weekend, so "we" definitely did well this time around. I say "we" in quotes because very few people in our Guild even got to play WvW at all, much less contributed in any meaningful way. It doesn't really mean much to win when you are sitting on the bench (actually, at least you can watch from the bench).
No need to feel bad. Our guild was not at capacity anyway. And if it was, it wouldn't have been a big deal to upgrade it again to make more room. All GAFers are welcome, even if you don't plan on spending most of your time in guild chat or if you roll on another server. The only exception is, as Retro said above, no drama. That's the one thing we have no room for in our guild.
Gates of Madness was matched against other top tier servers by the end of the weekend, so "we" definitely did well this time around. I say "we" in quotes because very few people in our Guild even got to play WvW at all, much less contributed in any meaningful way. It doesn't really mean much to win when you are sitting on the bench (actually, at least you can watch from the bench).
We decimated everyone else. Though I'd say it's more like the Titan Alliance decimated everyone.
Shrennin
Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
Ahh, okay. That kinda explains the guild shenanigans that I heard about as well.
So, are we staying on GoM or moving off of it? I agree, it really isn't all that fun to sit on the bench, so to speak, and I would rather be able to have all of us as a guild fight in WvW than a few of us when compared to another large mega-guild (even if that means we get decimated haha).
Even if we stay, I'll be fine with it. I just wasn't sure based on what happened with TA.
The current plan is to pick a new server. Nothing has been decided yet, and the guild officers will continue to discuss it in the coming weeks. Its ultimately going to largely come down to where the mega-alliances decide to roll, because we want to steer clear of those. Also, we aren't exactly sure which servers will be available at launch. We'll get an update when more information is available.
The best thing they could do is have more servers. Doubling the amount of people that can compete in WvW is just going to make it more of a zergfest. They probably had too many servers during BWE2 (at least for the number of people that were in the beta), which is why the lower population servers barely had anyone participate in WvW (including Henge of Denravi). But there seemed to be way too few servers during BWE3, resulting in every server filling up way too quickly. They probably want to aim for something inbetween that, where servers don't get full on day one (except for those with mega-alliances), but no server is desolate and unable to field a decent WvW team.
Liferebooted
Banned
Any idea on how long it takes to reach lvl cap?
I actually heard that Saturday both GoM and Team Legacy's server lost because of the WvWvW population error problems. Basically, the third server flooded the game and filled their quota and it kept people from the other two worlds out.
I ended up on Henge, and Henge was in a close game for most of Friday and after that it was a losing matter. I didn't do much WvWvW this BWE, but it seemed Henge was struggling without GAF present.
I ended up on Henge, and Henge was in a close game for most of Friday and after that it was a losing matter. I didn't do much WvWvW this BWE, but it seemed Henge was struggling without GAF present.
Not long, but reaching the level cap isn't as important as it is in other MMOs. Once you hit 30, it takes the same amount of time to go from 30-31 as it does 79-80(level cap). ANet said the average player will take 90 min per level post 30, though it obviously depends on if you're an average player or not.
Yeah I was confused as to why GoM was losing on Saturday when Friday was just a rofflestomp and then Sunday we rofflestomped once again.
Henge struggles with GAF present too.
But if I were to compare BWE3 to the other times I've played the time on Henge was way more fun than all of the time on GoM. Even if we did lose almost every time except for one stress test and I think we got 2nd one time but memory could be fuzzy there.Weltall Zero
Member
I personally strongly disagree:
1) You'll never be crazy outnumbered in WvW anyway, not after the first couple of weeks. Server matching will take care of that.
2) With some assumptions (like this game doing well and not dying like all other non-WoW MMOs), population pretty much never drops, only rises. This means that even an initially "dead" server will become normal (exactly what happened to me in WoW), and a high population server will become literally unplayable (well, this being GW2, not in PvE, thankfully, but certainly in WvW).
3) Assuming the GAF guild is going to implode already is a bit pessimistic. Still, ArenaNet isn't going to allow any server to house a couple hundred players, so at worst they'll merge them.
4) (Yes, this is my own point). Moving to a low population server is about 6$. Moving to a hig population one is about 20$. If you meet someone, whether in-game or real life, and want to convince them to move to the GAF server in order to WvW with them, you're going to have a hell of a harder time with a high population server.
Eh... sure thing! Although, it might be indicative of my recall capabilities that I don't even remember giving out Engineer impressions!
But you're welcome all the same. 
DAMN, I still haven't sorted through/selected/posted mine from BWE3! :S See? I'm forgetful as all hell... :/
About reading a week's worth of posts... a friend of mine told me that he read the ENTIRE thread in an afternoon! I have trouble believing that's humanly possible, so I'm not sure if he read it when it was just a few dozen pages long...
Can't reply to the rest, gotta go to work... :/
Ferrio is just trying REALLY hard to get us to a High Pop/High Queue server so he gets all the W's he craves.
I tried this while I still had access to the Beta and honestly the only thing I didn't like about it is AutoHotKey's right click script felt unresponsive. Sometimes pushing the button to activate it worked fine and sometimes it didn't. I think I'll wait for official controller support myself...