Feeling like a little round of WvW in Guild Wars 2? Since the surprising feature pack patch on Tuesday evening, that has become hardly possible! Long queues torment those willing to participate in WvW, but the community is almost universally pleased about it! Our reader and guest author Erzkanzler explains why.
Surprise: Feature Pack Breathes Life into PvP
Feature packs are game updates for Guild Wars 2 from Arenanet that are not necessarily supposed to bring new areas or story expansions. They expand the game with features outside of the usual update rhythm, such as the wardrobe system or UI elements.
But after two feature packs, it fell silent about these updates and they were forgotten.
That changed abruptly with the unexpected blog post from the developers on May 31: “Get ready for the Competitive Feature Pack” was written, and even seasoned veterans couldn’t believe their eyes. Even more surprising was the schedule provided. The first fundamental changes were to go live just a week after the announcement, which they indeed did.
WvW in Guild Wars 2 – A Rocky History
To grasp the significance of it all, one must look at the history of the mass PvP system in Guild Wars 2. But to avoid turning it into a technical lecture, here is a vastly shortened version:
The inspiration for World versus World in Guild Wars 2 clearly lies in the server-vs.-server-PvP of the game Dark Age of Camelot. It’s about achieving dominance in a large area by claiming more map points for your server than the opposing troops. A self-sustaining system that generates much of its content itself.
There is a weekly reset of the system to allow different servers to compete against each other and thus avoid continuous dominance. A quite well-functioning principle. However, players whose focus was on WvW became increasingly bored with the same routines, lack of achievements, and absence of long-term goals.
Arenanet intervened, introducing queue WvW maps with the Borderlands, trying to engage more players for the game mode with cross-server WvW tournaments, and even awarding special weapon skins that could temporarily only be obtained there. Yet, even a complete overhaul of the battlefield map brought less success than hoped. None of this really took off.
No News in WvW
Gradually, WvW became a neglected playground with a few old veterans. Even the once-despised PvE players, who once had to get into WvW to complete their maps, were freed from this misery by a patch. No willing fresh meat for the aging WvW players, no budding motivation to have to deal with WvW.
Many new players encountered this game mode only through the weekly guild missions. They exchanged fortresses in WvW and reminisced about better times when French servers borrowed Canadian players from other time zones during night shifts to conquer the map for themselves or on their own night shifts to prevent this and at well-coordinated “zergs” in specially set-up Teamspeak. But that was the past.
WvW was in danger of fading away.
Rewards Aiming to Entice Players into WvW
The (possible) solution seems to be the newly implemented feature pack. Because it offers new incentives to enter WvW. Similar to the sPvP seasons, there is now a reward system that documents progress and grants rewards.
These rewards are far from the usual nice little things that WvW brought with it. There is an ascended WvW armor (Rank 3) with a distinctive skin, and a new legendary back piece can now also be obtained through WvW.
But nothing is handed to you, just like in the PvP seasons, you have to fight your way up through successful gameplay in the divisions, and at the end of the week, a reset awaits the player.
But it is not only the individual performance that counts, but also that of the server, because this influences – in addition to other aspects such as fighting against the odds or, for example, leading a whole raid as a commander – the number of points you are credited with.
Goodies for Newbies and Veterans
This new system calls players to participate much more actively in shaping the course of WvW and also promises attractive rewards for doing so. But those who hoped to jump around the world in shiny new armor and legendary backpieces in no time should be warned.
Although the Rank 1 backpack can already be acquired with WvW Rank 50, the legendary version requires Rank 350. That may seem a lot, but compared to the armor pieces, it’s still rather mild.
Those aiming for Rank 3 armor can unlock it at Rank 1500, and only at Rank 2000 will they fully possess it.
Thus, these most prestigious armors ultimately remain reserved for long-active WvW players. A clever move, as those who have ignored WvW until now receive an incentive and a motivating reward system, but veterans also get an acknowledgment of their merits. On top of that, Arenanet enhances group search and provides players with statistics on victory points, war score, or the K/D ratio, creating transparency.
Finally Life Returns to WvW!
The system works! Since the release of the patch, long queues have formed for WvW. Of course, not all players are pleased; who enjoys waiting?
However, for once, the community is almost unanimously agreeing: These changes have been a good step and can ultimately only benefit WvW. Whether through new players who find their way into this game mode or through renewed motivation of the existing player base.
Not everyone feels the changes go far enough, not everyone is happy about the influx of inexperienced players into WvW, and hardly anyone expects miracles. But after a long drought, WvW from Guild Wars 2 has once again become an active part of the game’s activities with this feature pack. Long-term effects are still hard to predict; certainly, the current hype will decline somewhat, but it is a step in the right direction.
Even sPvP Players Get Something New
Amid all these innovations, the further announcements from the developers have almost gone unnoticed because the sPvP players also have reason to look forward to it. The seventh PvP league starts on June 13, and from June 20, there will be daily automated PvP tournaments in which one can qualify for a monthly tournament. The rewards for this are still unknown but are touted as “prestigious.” And for a small skirmish on the side, a new arena map will be introduced that allows for a 2v2 battle.
This article comes from our reader Erzkanzler.
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