I don't sPVP much. I have a perfect record in sPVP, but only because I've won all
five matches I've played. It's not that there's anything wrong with Guild Wars 2 or their PVP, it's more a holdover from doing Arenas back in WoW and
absolutely hating everything about it (the only reason I did them was because my brothers needed a teammate). I just have a bad association with straight Arena-style PVP; Battlegrounds / Edge of the Mists are more my preference. I guess I always figured if I wanted to fight other people in an arena, I'd do it in something like Halo or TF2, where it's all skill rather than stats and builds and the ever-shifting Meta that determines who wins.
But I'm excited about some of the new stuff there, and I'd say it's enough to coax me into playing PVP on a regular basis if it doesn't drive me away for reason above. The more there is to do in this game, the happier I am, and a lot of these changes invalidate the lack of rewards complaint that has always dominated PVP. Getting some new skins is always a good carrot for me.
I think one of the biggest points people may not have realized is that you can now effectively earn dungeon tokens while playing solo. Yeah, you'll have a team you play with, but for the most part you're doing this on your terms rather than with a group. That's interesting.
Anyways, I wanted to get all of that laid bare so when I inevitably start talking about how cool these changes are, you know where I'm coming from; someone who hasn't set foot in PVP more than half a dozen times, but now probably will. Take that as you will.
I like the rewards changes and the stuff to work towards, but man, some of these PvP changes...are such a step backwards:
I agree with pretty much everything you've said here. I think if they're going to make PVP have a "One Rune" rule, it should be that way across the entire game. For all their talk about unifying PVP and PVE/WvW, that's just creating an entirely new break. I can't say whether PVE should adopt the "One Rune" rule or PVP should go back to multiple runes, as the simplicity of one is appealing while the diversity of the other is appreciated. Likewise with the jewel change, though I think that won't be so godawful if the jewels and amulets are paired well enough.
I do not, however, agree that having to unlock new runes, sigils and traits is as bad as it sounds. Because of the new reward system, PVPers will see a whole lot more gold, skill points and such headed their way than they're used to, and these will likely offset the difference. It doesn't say it, but I'm fairly certain purchasing the unlocks in one mode will unlock them for all, so while straight PVP-only players will have an issue, it's not one for the majority of players who dabble in a little of everything.
I get that they want to unify the two aspects of the game, but man, this is a HUGE departure from what we're used to.
I would say that a huge departure was needed given the state sPVP seemed to be in.
I really hope Anet implements an Infinite Transmutation Charge thing into the game. I'd pay 4000 gems for one.
I would absolutely buy one of those. I expect to do a ton of transmutation in the near future.
though I am not broken up about them personally (I merely want getting into pvp to be as simple as possible), I wholly sympathize with the pvp build streamlining complaints. I'm sure it just feels like fewer options with nothing in return.
I think the reason for this is that PVP, being so disjointed, was a bit overwhelming for new players. Hell, I've been playing since BWE1 and I don't think I've ever properly set up any of my characters for sPVP. There's too many vendors spread out too far across the mists and things to keep track of for it to be something you just jump into. So by simplifying the hell out it, they make it easier for someone to just jump in and go, which has always been a strong point for multiplayer modes, regardless of genre. So while it's taking away build diversity in places, it's doing it in fairly skill-less areas; the stats on your jewel / amulet probably shouldn't even exist since sPVP is supposed to be all about a level playing field rather than gear. Likewise, runes are predominantly stat boosts with a bonus effect; it's the bonus effect people should be building for, not the stats. So in a way, I feel like they're trying to streamline sPVP for both simplicity AND to eliminate the uneven bumps that disrupt the otherwise smooth, stat-free approach.
