ArenaNet have been detailing their plans for the future of their World vs. World mode in Guild Wars 2. WvW designer Devon Carver explains that he wants to push the mode towards a future where play is more balanced and fair; a future where victory doesn’t hinge on who has more siege weapons or the biggest zerg mob.
In his post on the Guild Wars 2 site, Carver paints a picture of the current state of WvW: “Large groups usually rule the field, and if that large group is rapidly building arrow carts, I’d suggest you get your affairs in order and send a note to your loved ones. World Abilities is a great feature, but it is one that takes a pretty dedicated player to take full advantage of due to the sheer amount of time required to gain significant rank. Support play is vital to victory but unevenly rewarded in terms of World XP, XP, gold, karma, badges, and other tangibles. While those players rebuilding your walls may be performing a vital service, theirs is usually thankless work.”
He goes on to explain that the game will soon introduce additions to a number of roles within the game to encourage players into adopting a wide range of tactics, rather than playing as the continually popular commander and thief. Carver believes that at the moment players feel undervalued when completing tasks in roles such as scout and defender, and he aims to rectify this.
In regards to zergs, whilst Carver realises they can contribute to a fun experience, holding the line against an overwhelming mob of uncoordinated players can frequently become a bit of a grind. “Our goal is to continue to encourage organized large groups while giving small, tactical groups the necessary tools to put a dent into larger mobs of less-skilled players. We think that it can be fun to run around in a zerg — but we also think that the game should be about tactical acumen and skill more than sheer numbers.” To encourage tactical play, the scoring systems will be altered to reward smart decisions and enable smaller groups to prevail over larger groups adopting weak tactics. New siege weapons will also be introduced to help throw the balance into the more tactical player’s favour.
ArenaNet are also looking at altering the effects of siege weapons. “Arrow carts should be deadly for players who get caught beneath their hail of arrows, but there should be a viable way to counter them with other siege — we don’t think that “MOAR arrow carts!” should be the answer to every situation… so we’ll be introducing balance changes that will give you a reason to use every piece of siege at the proper time.”
It appears that rather than going for a radical redesign of the World vs. World rulebook, ArenaNet realises it has a great diamond in its hand and just needs to work off the rough edges. Of course they now have the benefit of almost a year of live testing, and have had plenty of time to analyse predominant play styles in order to plan appropriate tweaks to the formula. I expect these changes to do nothing but good to Guild Wars’ fun but admittedly chaotic World vs. World mode.
Thanks to VG247 for this one.