Stealing Builds FTL

Dahl

Dahl

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

Ontario, Canada

Exalted Legionnaires [ExL]

I just want to point out.. people have to stop worrying so much about finding a godly build or anything of the sort.

Finding a great build on google will not win you GvGs, and will not let you hold hoh for long, if at all.

People go on observer, and watch top guilds and hoh holders, and try to mimick their builds.

If they have held hoh for a long time, or if they are one of the top guilds, they did not get that far by using other peoples builds. They made their own, and practiced. People think "hey, if they're rank --, maybe I can get there too if I use their build" No, it does not work that way.

Any guild that is worth.. well, anything, came up with their OWN builds and strategies and spent countless hours practicing it.

Gale warriors are the most common of these copycat players, along with boon-prot, energy denial mesmers, and blinding flash eles are on the rise ever since the top guilds began using it.

I come up with all kinds of builds, i brainstorm and look for things that people do not use. It's amazing how many great skill combos that are unused and are unexpected. I can't tell you how many times I've caught an enemy team off guard with my own build, and they had no idea how to counter it.

Stay fresh people, use your own brain.

I'd also like to point out that any fame/rank that any IWAY team (besides the pioneers of the build which date back to the spring and summer of 2005) received in hoh is completely false and was gained with no skill, only an overpowered build.

What are you going to do when IWAY gets... "changed"? You're gonna be sitting there with your thumb up your ass wondering what to do since the only build you can play has been taken away from you.

Stand on your own two feet people. The secret to this game is to be unique and different.

Effigy

Effigy

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Illinois, US

Heroes of Talia [HoT]

Mo/

I agree with your general message, but I also disagree on some points. Yes, creativity and individuality are important. Having a good build is important, but being experienced and knowing how to use that build is even more important. Copying builds from the top guilds isn't going to win any battles for you.

On the other hand, I don't see anything wrong with watching good players and getting ideas from them, so long as you don't just copy their builds without actually understanding how or why it works. Sometimes the top guilds develop strategies that you hadn't considered, and you can be stronger by learning from their expertise. Also, skilled players and guilds generally have a good feel for what is going on with the current metagame, so by watching them you can see what areas you might want to be focusing on. However, I definitely agree that just duplicating their skillbars and not giving it any personal thought is a bad idea.

Dahl

Dahl

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

Ontario, Canada

Exalted Legionnaires [ExL]

That's what people do though.
Gale warriors weren't around before observer mode in the general public.
Best thing for me to do, look at their build, try it out for myself, search for my weaknesses, and then make a build based on those weaknesses so that i can beat the original creators when I face them.

Vermilion Okeanos

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2005

The only thing I hate is something like "Someone bought this game for 2 days and discover gale warrior all on his/her own, but the moment he/she try it, he/she was bashed as copycat".

Dahl

Dahl

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

Ontario, Canada

Exalted Legionnaires [ExL]

Never really happens...
The majority of people who just start out just get bashed for being wamos, since thats what almost everyone starts out as.

Even I started as a wamo, but that was the first week of game release so nobody really bashed it due to the lack of experts at that time.

That was the best time for this game. Everyone did missions together, there would be like 12 different parties in a town. Now it's all about running and getting to Drok's at level 1 and overpriced useless items *cough* Sundering mods.

It was a lot friendlier back then too. People used to talk as if they were in the game. There was no annoying spamming or begging or cussing.

Vermilion Okeanos

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2005

I think you are using the wrong method to try to convince people.

If you stop one from doing something, you better be able to shift their attention some where else for them to focus. If not, they will simply go back to what their focus was. The focus have to go some where, you can't just take focus off of this and expect them to find another focus by themselves.

EXAMPLE:
1-
a. Where to eat?
b. burger king...
a. No, eat something else
b. like what?
a. ...
b. burger king...

2-
a. Where to eat?
b. burger king...
a. No, eat something else, what about fried chicken?
b. O.o haven't eat fried chicken for awhile, sure

To achieve something, there need to be a goal, a will, and a way.

So if you take off their focus on "finding godly build", you have to be able to put them on something equivalent.

PS: Teaching a man while he is eating his fish that was handed to him, generally don't work.

... so off topic...
===================
Things like that does happen. People also wrongly take/give credit for builds. Personally, I wish all these "Who discover what" all disappear, or at least not be that big of a deal.

One more thing... copying is human nature. Without copying, this whole society wouldn't exist.

Dahl

Dahl

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

Ontario, Canada

Exalted Legionnaires [ExL]

I did point them in a direction.
I said to come up with your own builds, entirely.
Experiment.
Put together builds that no one would expect.
Use skills that no one else ever uses.
If I shared my secrets to build-making, then my builds would become common and turn into google builds, which defeats the purpose.

Just do things that no one else ever does. There are some ENTIRE attributes that go unused. Take advantage of it.

Warskull

Site Contributor

Join Date: Jul 2005

[out]

You can get very high in the ladder stealing a build or running a single build into the ground. Come any sort of tournament style play you will be severely punished for it (as iQ did to EP.) In addition observing the top guilds is a good thing. You can learn a lot by watching good players. For example top guilds don't run tanks, don't use healing breeze, coordinate spikes, tend to run energy management, and use positioning to their advantage.

In addition studying highly effective build gives you insight into different playstyles and potential flaws in your own builds. Was another team trying to achieve the same goal as you, but came up with a better way to achieve it?

Players need a place to start. Adopting functional builds and learning from there is an excellent start.

JR

JR

Re:tired

Join Date: Nov 2005

W/

Build quality is more important than originality. You are playing to win, after all.

Yes some top guilds builds may be difficult for a less experienced guild to run, but they can practice. Eventaully once they get the hang of it, they could even start thinking about modifying it or finding a new build. I would much rather new guilds picked up on good builds to use from observer mode, than tried to run trash because they didn't know any better. It's an educational process.

Dahl

Dahl

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

Ontario, Canada

Exalted Legionnaires [ExL]

That's why you make a build that isn't trash.
Don't just throw it together and assume that it will work.
You're obviously going to be spending weeks perfecting it.
I'm still the owner of a wonderful and godly prot build.

A prot build that can even shrug off energy denial like nothing.

The Noble Savage

The Noble Savage

Academy Page

Join Date: Mar 2006

Chicago, IL

I'm Following You [Mush]

R/N

ahh yes the art of stealing and running another's build. In my opinion the irony behind this "problem" is that you can never become as good as the creator at his own build. This has exceptions though. For example if the build is simple to run and easy to apply like IWAY or rspike its a toss-up. Once you get creative with your builds its uncopiable. Other people simply cannot execute as well as you with your own build. In reguards to being able to win with another team's build I think of course you can! however their builds are made for their playing styles so you would have to copy those too :P

Effigy

Effigy

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Illinois, US

Heroes of Talia [HoT]

Mo/

When it comes down to it, I think few if any builds are "original." I mean, come on. There are over a million people playing this game. Just because you come up with a build on your own doesn't mean its never been done before, though it may not be common. Trying to be unique in a game like this is a vain effort.

The important thing is not being different, but being purposeful and self-reflective about how you play the game. Just copying someone else's build exactly without taking the time to wonder why it's even a good build, or if it could be improved in some way, is not a good strategy. But on the other hand, if you copy someone's build because they came up with a clever strategy you hadn't considered before and, try as you might, you cannot improve on the build they use, there's nothing wrong with it. Being different just for the sake of being different is not the path to victory. If you're not concerned with victory, then carry on as you please.

Mesti Arcanus

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2005

Zealots of Shiverpeak

Me/E

I think Effigy nailed it. Copying is fine, so long as you actually understand what you're copying, why it works, and how to use it. I agree that too many people don't do this, and instead assume they can use the build just fine.

But on the other end, it is difficult to come up with an original idea that is actually effective. The game has been out for quite some time, so this is to be expected. Honestly, I came up with a Bond build before while I was deciding to run a monk, and I hadn't seen the thing before. Then I saw it online, and was actually quite happy to have found it, because I could look at what other people had done with the same build and see what solutions they had developed to the same problems I was facing. With some analysis of other's work, and some experimenting of my own, I'm now quite happy with the buid I run. But that doesn't mean I'll stop there, as it, and all my builds, are works in progress.

Wait for Ch. 2, when new skills (and entirely new classes) add a whole new dimension to the game, and open up completely new posssibilities for a while. Those of us who are creative will have new grounds to explore, and people who aren't will continue to Xerox our results.

Effigy

Effigy

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Illinois, US

Heroes of Talia [HoT]

Mo/

Oh yeah, I'm all about Factions. Should be very interesting to see what crops up.

Warskull

Site Contributor

Join Date: Jul 2005

[out]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dahl
That's why you make a build that isn't trash.
Don't just throw it together and assume that it will work.
You're obviously going to be spending weeks perfecting it.
I'm still the owner of a wonderful and godly prot build.

A prot build that can even shrug off energy denial like nothing. How are players susposed to know what is good or not without any PvP experience?

007Bistromath

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2006

Death Over Flowers

The problem I see with this whole mindset is that there is a certain number of combinations which just objectively work right now, and anything else will be sub-optimal at best. Somebody making their own build without doing something off the wall that doesn't work only has maybe two skill slots which are actually variable, because the rest of the bar is taken up by staples which are necessary to remain competitive. So, the problem is less with the players and more with the current state of skills. We'll have to hope that rebalancing and new skills help to make up for that, though what I've seen of the Chapter 2 skills so far mostly seems like a pretty bad omen.

PS: For the record, I made all my own builds myself. I didn't know until after I had already played each one for a little while that they are all just like a million other chars, and some of them are now outdated FotMs. So, that should tell you what I mean here.

Senator Tom

Senator Tom

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2005

California

[Dark]

W/

and remember, if you have sucky boon prots that forget to cast divine boon and never remove conditions, your gonna lose, even if they have the best boon prot build out there.

4runner

4runner

Banned

Join Date: Oct 2005

Cali!!!

cdxx/the420th.com

Mo/N

how does one become original in a game were originality is flamed or frowned upon! This thread is for NOt! Mute! If you want original build, go back to playing D&D!! THere is no original or unique build, they are all in one way or another related to each other! If skills are not improved across all attribute lines and profession then you will continue to have the Fotm or copy cats builds!

People use whats effective, there seems to be only a handfull of builds that are truly effective, so this will continue to be!!

d3kst3r

d3kst3r

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2006

Brisbane, Australia

Winning PvP is 40% build and 60% personal skill.
Why are some IWAYs defeated in the first round and others go on to win HoH? It all comes down to personal skill.

Juicey Shake

Juicey Shake

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2005

CA

in it for the trimmmm

R/

observer mode is good for semi-copying too... starts you off on the right foot for some build ya wanna try out, weee...

I ... [insert uncalled for flame here ~_~, decided not to put it..]

reboot

Banned

Join Date: Nov 2005

Te started running EnS pressure build near the end of last season, and PrP used EP build to beat them...

stop whining

Yanman.be

Yanman.be

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2005

Belgium

[ROSE]

A/

let me give an original build EaSy once used:

a warrior, 6 necro's with max soul reaping, a spirit spammer

the spammer spams spirits, they die, necro's get soul reaping energy, spam all the fancy spells they can, heal and ele etc., and they just "outlive" their opponent...


i think they stopped using it after observer mode got out...they don't want many people to know it

also easy once used an invinci monk...ladder was frozen back then though ;o

Linkusmax

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2005

God what a silly statement, the use of others ideas is not a bad thing, mindlessly copying builds yes. Watching a build and determining how it works is a good thing.

Personally I have taken Rifts Pet preassure build, improved and fiddled with it but used the general concept to produce my own version and ran it effectively in a 500 rank guild. In fact I messed with it more and created a tombs version which has a few totally new style chars as far as I am aware. Is what I am doing wrong? I don't think so but from you apparently think yes it is.

Bleidd

Bleidd

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2005

E/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dahl
I just want to point out.. people have to stop worrying so much about finding a godly build or anything of the sort.

Finding a great build on google will not win you GvGs, and will not let you hold hoh for long, if at all.

People go on observer, and watch top guilds and hoh holders, and try to mimick their builds.

If they have held hoh for a long time, or if they are one of the top guilds, they did not get that far by using other peoples builds. They made their own, and practiced. People think "hey, if they're rank --, maybe I can get there too if I use their build" No, it does not work that way.

Any guild that is worth.. well, anything, came up with their OWN builds and strategies and spent countless hours practicing it.

Gale warriors are the most common of these copycat players, along with boon-prot, energy denial mesmers, and blinding flash eles are on the rise ever since the top guilds began using it.

I come up with all kinds of builds, i brainstorm and look for things that people do not use. It's amazing how many great skill combos that are unused and are unexpected. I can't tell you how many times I've caught an enemy team off guard with my own build, and they had no idea how to counter it.

Stay fresh people, use your own brain.

I'd also like to point out that any fame/rank that any IWAY team (besides the pioneers of the build which date back to the spring and summer of 2005) received in hoh is completely false and was gained with no skill, only an overpowered build.

What are you going to do when IWAY gets... "changed"? You're gonna be sitting there with your thumb up your ass wondering what to do since the only build you can play has been taken away from you.

Stand on your own two feet people. The secret to this game is to be unique and different. It can be argued in GvG it has more to do with the team build than the individual build. Otherwise I agree with you.

tymeless

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2005

Observer mode is there to take it, learn it, improve it/counter it and run it better than the original team.

This in turn makes PvP a much more challenging place and improves game lifespan and enjoyment.
If somone can run ur own build better than u, then they deserve to win.

If people didnt copy things then there would be no chance to improve things beyond the creator's knowledge and the world as we kno it would still be stuck making fire with flint and killing animals with stones. And i sure dont want guild wars to be stuck in a primitive state of PvP.

The secret to PvP is to kno ur enemy, steal his tatics, make them better, and use it against him.

yesitsrob

yesitsrob

Elite Guru

Join Date: Sep 2005

Manchester, England

SMS/Victrix

For new guilds learning to pvp - I think they should be looking to learn by playing what is already proven - coming up with an effective build is not easy, you need the experience to know what's going to be good and what isn't.

I sure as hell didn't make boon protting up but I still use it, and the whole boon protting thing is where my PVP really started... and now I'm at a level with it where I can tweak the build and try things out... but I needed to start with what was there originally.. and I think everyone should who wants to learn

Hell Marauder

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Why do we even go to schools? To learn what other people have created or discovered, of course. Human civilization is built on copying each other's inventions, good or bad. So there's nothing wrong copying others' builds, because it's what we humans do best.

LightningHell

LightningHell

(????????????)???

Join Date: Aug 2005

Hong Kong

Guildless

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hell Marauder
Why do we even go to schools? To learn what other people have created or discovered, of course. Human civilization is built on copying each other's inventions, good or bad. So there's nothing wrong copying others' builds, because it's what we humans do best. Adding a bit. We copy other people's stuff, then think about it and refine it and improve it. That's what humans do best.

holden

holden

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2005

[NICE]

Mo/

i steal all you guys' builds. if they're good

Hormus

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

DH

E/Me

My statement is that knowledge must be shared

I gain more by someone tellin me thank u , rather tellin me how and wow

LightningHell

LightningHell

(????????????)???

Join Date: Aug 2005

Hong Kong

Guildless

Mo/

I didn't really get the last post. Can you elaborate?

Minus Sign

Minus Sign

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Feb 2006

Mo/N

I have to both agree and disagree with the OP. While creativity is important, nothing can exist in a vacuum. It’s never a good thing to just grab a build cookie-cuter style and try to emulate what you saw someone else do.

You’ll never be as good as they are; only a copy.

But the best sports teams/coaches/competitive anything spend hours each week watching the competition, learning their moves, trying them themselves. If something works, it’s not uncommon for teams, pro and armature, to use the same plays. Wouldn’t it follow for Guilds to use strategies that are proven effective in certain/most situations?

Think American Football. Who hasn’t heard of a blitz? It’s an offensive attack by the defense on the quarterback on the other team.

Just because the one team used a blitz when they were on the defense side, does it then become “uncreative” of the opposition to use the same play when they are on D?

But those teams also practice for hours each day, plan and strategize their own plays. So too must GW players branch out…once they’ve learned the fundamentals. Think of Googled builds as training; you’re learning how to play in a different form, using skills that you might not choose yourself. Then, once you start to grasp the subtleties of how PvP works, leave the nest. Try variations of other skills; hit RA with the dumbest combos you can think of. Get messy; make mistakes.

But never ignore the opposition. “Know your enemy” is the first rule of combat, just...not the only one.

scamPOR

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2005

It's silly to say anyone is really copying almost any build at all. More importantly who cares. It's a competative game, if you can run build x better then the person/guild that made it too bad >.<

VGJustice

VGJustice

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2005

Tyria, cappin' ur bosses

Boston Guild [BG]

R/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hormus
My statement is that knowledge must be shared

I gain more by someone tellin me thank u , rather tellin me how and wow My, but isn't this a cryptic post? But, I *think* I know what you're talking about, and if I'm right, we hold the same ideal. Allow me to elaborate.

Let's take two players that have just started the game together. Both are of the same class, but with different secondaries. As they play through the game, they learn to use different skills and maybe even the same skills in different ways. After they've learned a bit on their own, they come together and compare notes. Both learn new ways to use what they already know, or learn about things that they didn't think about. They go off again to try new things based on what they learned from the other guy.

Yeah, it's a bit sappy and idealistic, and probably a bit far fetched and unrealistic. I like the idea of it, though, and I think that it does happen on a certain level. Like, Necromancers addapting the 55 Monk build, for instance.

Chaubii

Chaubii

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Dec 2005

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dahl
I just want to point out.. people have to stop worrying so much about finding a godly build or anything of the sort.

Finding a great build on google will not win you GvGs, and will not let you hold hoh for long, if at all.

People go on observer, and watch top guilds and hoh holders, and try to mimick their builds.

If they have held hoh for a long time, or if they are one of the top guilds, they did not get that far by using other peoples builds. They made their own, and practiced. People think "hey, if they're rank --, maybe I can get there too if I use their build" No, it does not work that way.

Any guild that is worth.. well, anything, came up with their OWN builds and strategies and spent countless hours practicing it.

Gale warriors are the most common of these copycat players, along with boon-prot, energy denial mesmers, and blinding flash eles are on the rise ever since the top guilds began using it.

I come up with all kinds of builds, i brainstorm and look for things that people do not use. It's amazing how many great skill combos that are unused and are unexpected. I can't tell you how many times I've caught an enemy team off guard with my own build, and they had no idea how to counter it.

Stay fresh people, use your own brain.

I'd also like to point out that any fame/rank that any IWAY team (besides the pioneers of the build which date back to the spring and summer of 2005) received in hoh is completely false and was gained with no skill, only an overpowered build.

What are you going to do when IWAY gets... "changed"? You're gonna be sitting there with your thumb up your ass wondering what to do since the only build you can play has been taken away from you.

Stand on your own two feet people. The secret to this game is to be unique and different. 1. It shouldn't matter if people 'steal' builds or not, in the end expereince will determine who wins.

2. Not everyone has time to spend countless hours brainstorming and perfecting their unique build. There's a thing called Life and most people do have one.

3. Even if people 'steal' builds from high ranking guilds, those guilds will in turn make a build to counter the one that was 'stolen'.

4. It's a game most people aren't trying to become the worlds best guildwars player, they're just playing for fun. I think you're a little uptight about it. It's a bit sad when people take the game too seriously.

With that IWAY comment, most other builds won't accept people who aren't like R3++ or higher. Unless you HoH with your guild. And the only way to gain rank/fame is to play HoH. In some cases people are forced to play IWAY cause no other groups will accept them since they're not 'good' enough cause they don't have the proper rank.

Arknow

Arknow

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Middle of Space, Corner of No and Where

Ell EFF GEE

R/

Quote:
It's a bit sad when people take the game too seriously
QFT

sorry 100% of online gamers can't sit in mom's basement with time to spare twinking builds

Corinthian

Corinthian

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2005

Why waste countless hours honing sub-par tactics? How do you know you can't play a build effectively, or it just does not work at all?

Inspirational Muse

Inspirational Muse

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2005

Legends of the Forgotten

Me/E

I have to agree with the original point this post makes.

I value originality above all else. I constantly try to develope new an interesting builds that work for me. I can't live with myself knowing that I went onto a website to get a build, or observed a battle to do the same. I am aware that there are builds out there that I'm sure are just like mine, but at least I discovered them on my own.

Ares982

Ares982

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Feb 2006

Lone Wolf

It would be nice to be original, but the problem is that noone wants you if you are original. I play Ele in PvP; I tried many times new builds and new combos, but in order to join any group you have to be Warder or Obsidian Flame spiker, stop. Noone wants an "original" or experimental character in his group, since everyone thinks that most used builds are the best ones.

defrule

defrule

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2005

Volcano Insurance Salesmen [scam]

It's really something that cannot be avoided. People play to win in this game so going for builds that are successful is only natural. There really are some skills I wouldn't dream of using.