GvG in Crisis.

Well , i was told to stop perpetuating myths about people smurfing in GvG . However , yesterday we lost the only 2 fights we did to N/A rating 1000 guilds which were smurf unfortunately. At first i didn't really know , but when i saw now that both did win C and A AT ( you can watch it right now at tolkano) and when i saw that all players were from [Inc] ( you can check that on B too) , i can hardly believe i was wrong .

I know their purpose is to not be known on GvG MAt and not get antibuilded , but it's still not really fair , considering that some people don't get that many fights at low ratings...

It IS a bit of a problem when people keep recreating guilds at rating 1k (which is pretty pointless imo, since the first couple of fights will just be steamrolls and not enjoyable for both sides). I wouldn't know what would be a good counter measure to it tbh. I played against the same guys you played proberly and needless to say we lost (we're a pretty bad rank 300 guild) but yeah, all you can do is just try again.

I presume that you're talking about iBot and nH?

iBot is a reform, nH is a new smurf of GG/Cake. Neither one featured "all players from Inc."

Besides, when smurfs are being ATed on, they're usually not being laddered on, and they definitely don't stay in the rating 1000 range.

tldr: Smurfs exist; they don't exist for the purpose of farming new players.

Yeah, but it's not like they don't ladder because they don't want to. They don't ladder because anno 2011, it's simply not worth it anymore.

When GvG was still active, 4 years ago, despite there being a shitton of -1100 guilds, there was also alot of smurfs in those days. People did it because there simply was so many people playing.

Point being:

If GvG were to become active all of a sudden (read: ladder), watch how many guilds will decide to smurf again. Be it to test new builds, or be it just to farm worse players.

ladder will never mean anything because ATs were relized.

GWFC wasn't responsible for the big player base. It may factor into the calculation to some degree, but in europe and especially germany, the number of pc players in relation to console gamers is higher than in other countries (in the usa it's the other way around). additionally for many gamers gw fills a niche and is a trendsetter on the other side of the mmo market (the other one is wow), which is also the least expensive of all mmos out there.

a german likes to get the most of his money - that's all.

Good guilds don't test builds on ladder (unless they are joke builds like a dancing daggers spike) and farming worse players is boring for most good players because they are highly competitive and beating someone who doesn't know what he is doing got old back in 06. People smurf because they actually want to play GvG because they actually enjoy playing GvG.

If you have the choice between playing and not playing, you are going to play. You aren't gonna say, well I want to play but I might ruin the day of some newer players so I better not. In fact the newer players should use it as an opportunity to communicate with those guys. Try PMing the guy on the other team who most closely represents the role you are trying to complete on your team and try to ask him for tips. If he is nice about it ask him if he'd like to guest for you in the future. Make a friend for crying out loud.

Again, this.

I have had several newer players PM me recently and they always seem surprised as to how friendly some of us are compared to the stereotype elitist that again, got old in 2006.

All of us want to play the game, and we want more people to play the game with.

My appreciation to those who GvG because of their love for the game. Being pragmatic, I think there is a dearth of competitive players simply because it is natural to seek fame and fortune in being the best that can be. Not taking away the current players, many very good players in their own right, many more will come on the scene if the rewards are attractive enough. If Anet can gather sponsors to provide tangible rewards plus those contributed by Anet, I am sure there is no lack of players. Anet should priced their products slightly higher for a PvP package to cater for those buying the game solely for PvP. In that way winners of competitions do get rewards available only for PvP players. In the past, winners did get real life rewards like Graphic Cards etc. Bringing the game Live to observers can add more flavour to the game. The Zaishen Predictions was sadly taken off but now Anet can do something similar for those who like to participate. Lastly, allowing various countries to host live competition will draw more customers and hence popularise the game even more. So fame and fortune I believe will be the key to having more players keen to participate in GvG.

Ah... Good old days...

Epic... So , if this is really right (and i'm sure it is) , basically GvG is only for those who do play it for over 2 years now , rest are just waiting their time. If there were many more guilds , smurfing wouldn't be a problem , because you get an oponent back in an instant ( i can remind you that from Hero Battles, people didn't care at all of smurf accs..). I agree with the point that in fact they want to play , but this just shows that the system was/is really bad...

And about the " pming other ppl" , i'm pretty sure 90% of time that guy will just ignore you , and also if you know players mentality , it's not a good thing to rely on to get better at GvG....

arguing with you is pointless for many reasons. i dont even know why do people even try.
You just try to get excuses every time without trying to improve. Therefore, you have no chances to get better and you are late for 2 years or even more.

Allow 2 guild changes per month. This won't hurt the many PvE'ers, and if anything it'll prevent all the guild hopping that happens in PvE aswell. (Faction guilds etc)

AT requirements are pointless, because PvP players are always going to find a way around it. (Like the 4 member requirement (2 now, I know), lulzy)

I do believe there should be no requirement at all for AT's. At the moment , there are what , 3 guilds playing , rest being sec guilds forfeiting to be sure there's an AT or just normal forfeiters..... With no restriction , people would still be sure they would easily get 20 qpts , but there would be also more guilds showing up in my opinion....

In other words : in both systems , players are able to " cheat " , but in the new one there would be much more players for sure.

p.s : not gonna answer to second post above except if i'm proved there are many guilds playing on non-euro evenings

Team Love was a good project for getting inexperienced players into GvG. Is it still active?

Also, I'd like to see open sealed deck games return. That's about as entry level as you can get, and it's fun for everyone.

Nope, kiSu is dead as the people behind it stop trying/caring.

We have an idea which we will be announcing soon that may generate some interest

So , now every non-euro evening tournament is turning to 1 guild playing and making register with sec guilds ( i.e you got example right now with [Boo] guild ). Could something in game be done ( maybe with GvG At req ) to not restrict those At's only to top players please? I remember those rawr cup mini tournaments were nice , why isn't something similar done....

wow... this is still an open thread?

We are on top of this, don't worry, there will be some news for everyone sometime soon once we get it done.

Looking forward to it!

Is there a better night/time for gvg?

My guild tried this the other night and were matched up twice in a matter of 45 minutes with much higher ranked groups. Both matches ended rather quickly.

No QQ here, but it would be nice to play against folks closer to our rank.

Maybe someone ambitious enough might roll up a poll to see when everyone plays (nights/times) and what rank they are? It'd be nice to try to condense folks into one or two nights where matches would come quicker.

-i

As a player that started GW in May 09, I already have quite the disadvantage. While I'm willing to get into pvp, the abuse I hear of is quite effective at killing what interest I have/had in it. Especially some of the stuff my guild leader has to go through. I'm in college now so GW time is even more restricted. I feel that I literally lack the time pvp to become good at it. Being in a small guild doesn't help things, or being unequiped for pvp format.

I honestly do want to get into pvp more. Not just for rank/prizes(Which are nice), but for the fun factor. I still find PvE fun, possibly because I'm still "new" compared to many players, and I just got EotN on the recent holiday. Though a main reason I want to be good at it is so that I'll be able to play alongside my guild leader in serious competition.

I have to say I rarely take any abuse during/after a match. It's been the most friendly *by far* of any pvp format I've played in. To the contrary, the two matches I was in the other day, our opponents 'gg'd' us.

I think the abuse gets blown out of proportion, but I can only speak for myself.

-i

As I understand it, GvG is the format where the least amount of "abuse" takes place. Most of the "abuse" is concentrated in RA.

from my experience, GvG is the best part of the game.

Just now with all the skill updates, it's probably the most balanced it's been since about '08 imho. You've not really got any "imba" teambuilds (apart from maybe 1 or 2 running invoke spike)

I've been in my guild [BAAA] since 07, and we've always had the mentality of "everyone's gotta start somewhere, no matter who you are." and we've had recruitment pages on guru and teamquitter for year advertising the guild.

TBH the main reason imo that nobody GvG's is there is no incentive. RA has glad points for winning, HA has a chest for winning, and PvE has all the cool items and "MONIEZZ!!11!!"

All GvG has is champ points, but only if your in a certain range, and you have to play other guilds in that range... Bring back what tehy do at wintersday where everyone get 10 pressies... or even if you win your gvg you get a zaishen key... maybe bring the intrest back.

/inb4deadgameisdeadpost

Euro evenings. I was told that between 8pm-11pm gmt there are a bit more guilds playing ladder , and it seems that you only have to wait about 15-20mn for a fight ( less when it's zquest). But well , it's quite hard to make a poll in my opinion , because it relies on pure luck , especially past 11pm gmt:
- Your guild is the only one in and waiting for 40mn
- Y guild just go in and get a match vs you instantly
-> So you will say : 40mn for a fight , Y will say we get fights instantly , whereas it's the same hour....

We take guildies quite often just so they can have fun. They have been around a long time, and although they play with their brains turned off, we don't mind. I am talking about people who guardian invoke spikes. We explained roles, tricks, and tips carefully and still people screw around like its pve.

With our semi flexible core gvgers, we were doing HA one day. The map was antechamber. 2 enemies ran in to capture our base as two teammates ressurected on our base with me. The two who ressed ran straight off. I was honestly confounded. This is why we only play lame. (not an isolated incident)

But its 2011 so who cares. The lack of competitive nature of pvp means that pvers can win also. And yes, I didn't check the post date, but ALL forms of pvp are dead, save RA which is less active.

/end rant

edit: I think if pvp was all 8v8 with no objectives we'd do okay.

I wanted to reiterate what others have said - the GvG community is extremely friendly and helpful for the most part - particularly if you approach some of the well known players politely. For example I sent Angra a message in game, just to thank him for his work on the recent GvG commentaries, and we had a nice little chat. When I played with KiSu Asp, Lemming, Demigod, and many other high end players generously guested for us, and were all very friendly and approachable (Many thanks to them all, and all the others who helped us out that I haven't mentioned here, as always).

Oddly, sometimes the worst behavior is actually from your own team - not that they're being abusive, but when a group of new players is trying to learn together sometimes tempers flare and patience runs out - people can get snippy. Just make sure you're playing with a chill group of people who are prepared to lose a lot but still have some fun, and it should be an enjoyable experience.

The issue with learning GvG is really that there's a mighty learning curve, and frankly it's most enjoyable when your team is doing well - the actual process of learning is pretty grueling, frankly. I don't want to turn anyone off it, though - if you stick with it, it's incredibly rewarding. Looking back I have nothing but good memories of my time in GvG - in hindsight none of it feels like wasted time or useless frustration, I was always learning something or having fun in one way or another, even if I wasn't always winning.

I would love to start GvGing, but I have one question that really worries me.

Is it ok if I just install Ventrilo/Teamspeak and listen to the team, or is it mandatory for me to speak? Because I don't have a mic and really am not too comfortable speaking over the net, even if I had one.

I think we should start a league of newer GvG guilds, and list some names of these guilds here or in another thread. I have zero contacts in Guild Wars and I need a place to start.

@ Shinta

its pretty much mandatory for you to speak, buy a mic because it makes gvg easier.

Ok, well, good game.

Good luck with your GvG

you don't really need to speak, it's just helpful. especially when learning, the only reason I can think of where speaking would be really important would be the team chat being the same place as the targetting spam, making it impossible to read.

If a player cannot speak, the team should not be running a split build (lol who does that anymore), and the player should not be put on a role that has major reponsibilities outside of the main team (flagger, ranger, base ganker, etc).

I have 2 or 3 guilds in my alliance that dont care about rank, we are looking for palyers willing to learn. PM relic Hellfire or Dayita Godess and we can get you with a guild needing players.

They are all waiting for gw2, thats why.

Some of us have just been left behind by the times. I'm in LOL (some of you may remember us from years back), and used to be in BBQ (the original, captained by Eve), played with iGi and was a founder of Fish (the original Euro farmers!) and tended to have lots of fun in PvP. I stopped for college before Nightfall release, and have just started playing in the last ~6 months.

What I have found is that it is nearly impossible to get back into PvP. I don't want to leave my guild, as venerable as it is, even though I'm the only active player left (our guild leader logs in every month or so, a couple log in every couple weeks- none have logged in in the past week). My friends list is completely empty- every PvPer I might have once hit up for guest invites is inactive. So, I'm shut out of GvG.

So, what about Halls? I'm only r5, as I was a serious GvGer only. I left at the same time as GvG titles were implemented, so I only have a couple of champion points, hardly enough for title flashing. r5 is not enough for any group in HoH- I only got that through our GvG groups going halls when we were scared shitless of WM or Te or the Finns and went to HoH instead. Won Halls plenty of times, but there's no way any of that will get me into a group that might later guest me for GvG.

Plus, I need to update my skillset- I used to play utility/cripshot flaggers/sin splits (never badass enough to monk or war at high levels, though I monked for Fish sometimes). Even if I do, my PvE toons are geared with PvP equipment from ages ago- I don't have a full selection of +10 vs. everything shields (though I could roll one as a PvP char, yar!).

So, I would LOVE to GvG. But how does one GvG without people to GvG with? It takes time and discipline to put together a decent GvG crew, and a willingness to say "no" to PvEers who just can't hack it. Most casual/PvE guilds can't handle that. And most PvPers aren't going to take someone like me along who hasn't proven themselves.

So, count me as another former PvPer who is simply grinding out (PvE) titles for a max HoM for GW2. And really wishes he could PvP again. Even with all the rage and drama.

As the serious player you might know that a friend list means much more then tittles so you have to build up it again.

It's still hard to rebuild a flist in a dying game , especially if it's for PvP. Most players are just raging after 1 lose....

Because putting a motivated 8 man party together is hard.
Because the casual players doesnt want to wait for this to happen.
Because every casual player gets their asses owned.
Because losing all the time isn't fun.

Most casual players just dont want to wait it out, but on the other hand, if you go in without too much preperation, youre just gonna get owned.

I also know how much harder it is to build up that flist (more importantly, to have other people put you on their flist). And the rewards (beyond the fun of owning people in tournaments) isn't worth that effort, in general. I've been obbing to get a feel for the meta, and it seems like the top GvG guilds have full tournament rosters anyway, and it doesn't seem like there's much competition the next tier down. If anyone is trying to create/train up a new GvG squad that wants to compete in the tourneys, I'd be down. But it just doesn't seem like anyone thinks the rewards match the effort involved. Unless you are the winner of the AT, at least.