So here's my input on the whole Sacrx thing.
He's angry and looking for someone to blame. He saw issues with WvW coming and those are the issues that people actually have complained the loudest about throughout the first year of the game, presumably without his input. Stuff like skill lag (too many people in one map), server loyalty (if you don't handle transfers well then everyone is going to try and transfer to a super server), and even queue problems (if you have guesting anyway, make more servers for people to choose their WvW "faction").
He rants and in my mind he unfairly blames any and everyone who put their hands into trying to make PvP the best it could be, to what he feels is the expense of both PvP and WvW modes of the game. But he makes a few valid points.
I mean, people have always wanted WvW to be a bigger deal in this game. I was hoping that at the very least for it to be like the Hall of Heroes in GW1, where having control of key structures or being the team leading in points or points per tick would open up a dungeon or some other major reward for the PvE folks.
But ANet went with the route of trying to keep all three modes separate. Unfortunately we weren't even at that point at launch considering the reward structures in WvW that took months to turn around.
PvP also had problems considering that they wanted us to pay money for tournament tickets before they even had private servers and spectator mode out the door, which also took months.
I mean, I get it. There were server problems. And on top of that they went on a valiant crusade against culling and related back end problems, especially after the Lost Shores event put it in everyone's face. Then came the Living Story team transitions, and after that the work for the China launch came in.
But it doesn't change the fact that a year after launch, I've become a total cynic to any and everything that isn't PvE content.
PvP launched way too early. Back end problems that were never prioritized enough before launch (and if they weren't known then it means they weren't properly tested for) ended up taking many of the early months of the game that should have been used to finish up private servers. Solo queue at least came as promptly as possible but I wish it was there sooner as a replacement for GW1's random arenas.
WvW launched without enough care. You could barely get anything out of the game mode reward wise. I'm talking about rewards for winning, rewards for fighting, rewards for defending, rewards even in the form of achievement points. This mode oh so desperately needed a LFG tool instead of leaving it all on commander tags. And commander tags are to this day in need of more functionality beyond "group up here!"
Finally, the number one thing they could have done for both modes is add content as frequently as they are for the Living Story. The LS is a tool that constantly keeps people watching the PvE content, but we don't really have that same fervor for PvP and WvW. For PvP this would have meant more frequent map additions, more armor and weapon skins (I have no idea why there is no glory-only method to gain even half the skins added through the LS), and even more game modes (even if it's just adding PvP activities like Sanctum Sprint and Snowball Fight to only be accessed from the Mists in a rotation). WvW needed it's own array of skins beyond the Invader and Crafted sets, more map diversity instead of three mirrored borderland maps (if you're going to make EB asymmetrical...), and more things to do in the downtime based on how well your server is doing (basically, more cordoned off dungeon-like areas similar to the EB jumping puzzle, and at least one for each borderland).
At the very least, if players at the top of your game are leaving as a direct response to certain decisions, I can't help but think that where there's smoke there's fire.
If they all just believed in what we thought GW2 was going to be, rather than what they missed the developers saying GW2 was becoming, then yes it was their fault. But then those players can't do much for their happiness other than leave the game.
On another note, I never ranted about this on GAF, but I'm of the opinion that WvW abilities are the same as Ascended tier, i.e. vertical progression that probably never should have existed. Ascended just grinds my gears more.
Edit:
https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/game/gw2/October-15th-balance-skills-updates-preview/first
I feel like it's some what of a PR move to get in front of the fact that PvP balance won't change for another month. Still nice to have though.
