What's going to happen to Alliance battles?

"Don't forget, in the real thing, alliance battles will be played with people from your own alliance, not people from ppossible 12 different alliances as it is now."

I've heard reports that, upon launch, Alliance battles will no longer consist of your team of 4 and two other randomly chosen teams--but rather.. well.. a full team consisting of people from your Alliance.

Is this true?

And, if so, can we sign a petition somewhere to shoot this down?

I love the mechanics as they are now. A full set of twelve means Alliance battles will be as bogged down and predictable as HoH.

Just like GvG is bogged down and predictable right? No, I can see Alliance matches be where some serious competition is played out.

This is sad, if they deny the general public from participating in the 12 vs 12 Alliance Battles, many people will not be happy.

Oh well, back to the random arenas I guess.

this would be a good thing... I don't want the decision of what areas I can enter being decided by wammos who can't figure out how to leave spawn, thanks.

Yeah theres absolutley no tactics involved with those alliance battles and the tactics is what makes the gvgs fun.I hope you can do it so you have a party of 12 from your alliance would be much better.

Its people like you that makes Guild Wars so much less fun for the casual gamers.

organisation ftw...
...leavers ftl...
...playing with 12 ppl you know ftw...

hell i aint signing your petition to shoot it down if there was one :P

Quoted for truth!

Should make it both then. Having random parties fighting random parties and organised alliances fighting each other.

If it was random, you'd still get Allied guilds coordinating their 'enter mission' to hit at the same time. It wasn't difficult during the preview, it would happen again.

I definately believe that these things will be organized. If not, then what the hell are Alliances for?

QFTx2

This thread shares a different sentiment with this thread.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...3000396&page=4

^ Not very good at linking topics.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3000396

You caught me, Gus.

It's my character flaw.

I'm not good at it at all.

Bolded for emphasis. In summary, Faction = Kurzick or Luxon and Alliance = your guild and whatever other guilds join with you. Alliances fight for a Faction. Only reason it was random this time is because you couldn't form any alliances. Who knows? They might keep some of the randomness by teaming unallied players with other unallied players or allowing random players to fill out an alliance team if the alliance doesn't have enough people.

Competitive missions (ie 8v8) may still be random, though. It sounds like once you hit enter mission there, you're teamed with players from your faction, not alliance.

Oh, well. ;(

Maybe they'll make a few of these domination-style arenas like they are now for people who like the current setup.

Atleast it will be much easier to get into an Alliance that plays alot, rather than a single Guild.

No organization? That's not entirely true, though I know some people want to pretend it is.

~You could team 4 people, that's a team of at least 4 competent players.
~By the end, maps were so well played, there was a general feeling of organized combat, 3-6-3 starting positions, small teams sneaking off to take points.
~I identifying MMs for immediate elimination.
~Assassins learning to go around the main conflict to the back and taking out softer targets.

I'm sorry but the Alliance Battles are FINE as they are, if you want HoH, go play HoH, if you want GvG, go play GvG. I'm tired of elitists trying to claim every battlefeild for thier kind.

I dispise PvP, specifically because of the type of people who want to "ORGANIZE EVERYTHING!" They take all the fun out of it. But, I couldn't get enough of Alliance Battles, there was just enough mix of tactics and chaos to make it feel like a real battle. Alliance Battles, as they are now, were the only PvP I'm ever really enjoyed since the beginning of the game.

agree.. ill be really disappointed if it changes from how it was. the beginning of the preview to the end the battles changed significantly in terms of skills and organisation. plus if its like the way it sounds u would need 12 people online at the same time that want to do alliance battles, many people dont care for em, dont want to do em right now, dont have a high level char, etc etc, so the only way i could play is that i have to wait? or organise certain days so people are prepared?

this is what i find frustrating about gvg's in that even though the guild has 40 people half dont come on half that do are low levels and half the rest dont really wanna play or wont put the effort in to get better or we jus dont have enough matches to get better.

After playing the battles almost constantly this weekend i know ive improved and cant wait for factions to come out so i can tweak my build the way i want with more skill options

also is there any actual evidence to support these claims of guild alliances only?? technically wouldnt we have to have only been able to play with people from our guild because that was an alliance in itself?

Then I'm sorry but you're setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. The Alliance system is, according to everything Anet has said about Factions, very important. It's the whole basis for the elite mission unlocks, for the town control, and for, more than likely, stuff we don't even know about. If it wasn't important, I don't see why they would be hyping it so much.

As was said by myself quoting the Factions FAQ, Alliance Battles are for Alliances. The most anyone that liked the way it was in the FPE can hope for is that you can still do random battles in addition to the organized battles. At the very least, it sounds like the 8v8 will stay random and it's pretty similar to 12v12.

If nothing happens, join the crowd that thought UAS and skill charms would be in the final game after the original BWEs.

Well if it does change then that will be very disappointing. It's one of the things I enjoyed most about the weekend was being able to get into the Alliance battles easily. It was more like the traditional online team-based FPS and console games such as SW:Battlefront, Battlefield, Halo, Quake III TA and Unreal - these are all competitive games which mostly cater to random grouping, yet still allow for high-end play through guilds and clans who want to do that. But if every time I wanted to play SW:Battlefront I had to spend an hour finding a 12 man group, then that game would collect dust on the shelf.

Removing the random element and ease of play altogether is an excluding decision, not an inclusive one. I hope they will find a way to strike a balance that caters to both hardcore and casual players.