First Impressions: WvWvW

Greetings Everyone,

I thought it would be fun to start a thread about your first impressions in WvWvW combat. Please feel free to share your stories here.

Only have played a beta weekend so far. Getting to WvWvW Not knowing as a new player was very hard to find where i needed to go. what portal i needed to use to get to where i needed to go to join the battle. Suggestion on this would be something like Warhammer did after awhile. HotSpots are here you click it and you were ported to the nearest warcamp and close to the action. that way you were always in the fight. Once in WvWvW The Map Pros: Huge lots of stuff going on this point to take that one to defend good stuff. Cons: You walk everywhere there is no mounts. some places took me 10-15minutes to get to. by then battle was elsewhere most of the time i was walking instead of fighting. Enemy Engagement Open field fights didn't seem very good. like everyone ran at each and whoever seemed to survive won. i understand that GW2 does not have primary healers instead they have supporter types. people may have been low level or the bolster wasn't working right not sure. but the open field just seemed like who could DPS harder. Keep defense Pros: Siege equipment, resources utilized from the caravans to repair good. Walls are not always safe which is good because like warhammer if you didn't clear walls hard to stay on keep. Cons: only one that i didn't like is the Oil when you use it it gives you a ground target that you can move around in a small area.. uhmm oil is oil in a big pot you can't aim it. you just pour it. Keep Take Was pretty straight forward no real complaints. Caravans Pros: good idea for contributing resources like it reminds me of runners from BO's in warhammer. Cons: SLOW! they take forever to get anywhere maybe tweak there speed just a tad not much but a little. Those are my impressions so far cause i ran out of time.

My first impression - better than warhammer because there is more to do and a three way battle. It's not always clearly marked on the map where stuff is happening and sometimes the crossed swords wind up as if a phantom had come by the spot. Having commanders and squads does help, but hopefully some of the kinks known in these systems get worked out based on testing and comments that occurred. It does take some time to hoof it across a map, but I rather like it. It fits into the scope of things for me. Also, armies never moved fast in a war either before the advent of motor vehicles, so you do have chances of not arriving on time to a call of help. It adds to the tension of the fight for me. If we can't stop them there, where will they go next? Will we wind up running into them as we redirect our own battle plans? Zerg? I think this will happen at times due to the difference of server population and who wants to WvWvW on each server. Hopefully we can get our WvWvW events, once this goes live, out there and known about to encourage some confrontation like we did in Warhammer with various events, especially Battle for Badlands once we merged onto that server. With how guards respawn and having enemy invaders around, I did not find it boring when others were slamming the door with rams or ranging the enemy on the walls. I do know it will take some work to figure out what to have setup for PvP on my character due to the various options I have that fit my playstyle. We even have people who say they hate anything PvP and they wanted to stay out in the WvWvW area rather than PvE last weekend. So that says something about it, too. Okay, sometimes it feels too huge, but I think I would hate it if it were smaller. I give it two thumbs up and I'm sure they can only tweak it to be better based on our input on the forums to them during the beta tests.

I do not have the experience that a lot of people have with WvWvWv or PVP in general, so I am not sure if my thoughts will help much, but here goes. It was overwhelming at first. I spent most of my time making sure I did not get lost because the world is huge and we kept running from place to place. I wish I had a printout of the map so I could study it. As Briseadh stated even people who really do not like PVP loved it, me included. Working together as a team to complete objectives is fun which you do not always get in a wf in Rift. I do not fully understand all the components yet so during the next Beta Weekend I will be going to the tutorials and educating myself. I am a big picture person so once I see the big picture the pieces will make more sense. I really did not want to leave but I could not keep my eyes open any longer being in an east coast time zone.

The impressions of those with limited WvWvW experience is just as valuable (if not more so). Those of us with alot of WvWvW experience can often start to take things for granted and fail to see what might be potential obstacles for introducing new players and ensuring their first impressions are good ones when Gaiscioch host events. Plus the game is still in Beta, so issues might change with feedback.

I think the guards respawn a bit too fast. I am unsure about the PvE content that is in there, it did not seem like it was important in any way, like it was just there. Yes there are events but do they affect the score at all? Movement was a problem, and I felt that the action was not fast enough, in a 1v1 fight the fight took a good 15+ seconds just because it took THAT LONG for both of us to burn 10k+ hp even on squishy targets. I was able to burst for 6k with my thief but that is not saying much when out of combat regen is insane(which means fat chance of running into someone with 50% health) and some outright "cannot be hit period" abilities, like block or smoke screen. My opinion of a lot of the open world battles was, who FF, who had more numbers, or whichever side broke first. ALso I was kinda urked when I could not pull people >up< when I used my thief pull, it just pulled them along the ground till then hit an obstacle, which was usually the wall or cliff I was trying to pull them above. Overall good 9/10

Lol. Master. You gave 9/10 but didn't compliment it at all lol. Did ya miss maybe the good parts? :D

yup i like wv3 gives a good warhammer online feel to it the maps are a big and u have alot to do with defending the keeps and with the siege equipment u are really able to defend zerg well only thing i dont like so far is group members should be shown on the map doesnt matter where they are had always issues finding the other group m8s ,also i would like to have some of the siege equipment bit reduced on the price so that everyone can take some an put em on the castles BUT there should be cap for certain siegs equpment aswell since players can make tons of siege golems too and just rush the castle down.But so far so good i like wv3 wished there would be pvp ranks but its fine as it is atm lets w8 and see the next changes on the next bwe

I knew i was missing something in my impression. XP!! For player kills. the xp you are granted for wv3 player kills is really bad right now in beta. i am on of those who likes to level strictly by pvp if i can, doing hours on end in wv3 i don't think i even gained a level. it didn't matter if you solo'd someone or was mass zerging the number stayed the same. now granted this is beta but i do hope they tweak that. xp for objectives is decent but same amount of time invested in pve you could progress faster and to me wv3 you need to progress in levels it seems because i could tell the difference in hitting people higher level then me versus someone that was low level like myself. i know the system bolsters but i could tell. it wasn't a huge difference and you had to be paying attention to notice it but yeah it was there.

Judging from the amount of sleep I DIDN'T get on the Beta Weekends, I'd say it's pretty wonderful (and addictive) already! I remember my jaw dropping and bouncing off the desk a few time the first time I saw trebuchets fire... wow! Siege equipment and the dependence on supply is great (and more less "on rails" than it was in WAR). Combat is fun too. :) Last Beta Weekend, we got to see what happens when the matchmaking fails to match up well. Also, it seemed like the outcome of the match was greatly influenced by a quick skirmish over Stonemist and the rest of the "land grab" a few minutes after midnight. I wish it took more time, work and competition to claim objectives when a new match starts. It wouldn't hurt to have a the match start at server primetime either! Lastly repairs. No repairs in RvR is something I ~really~ miss from Warhammer. It's bad in GW2 when we're outmatched because there's not enough income to offset the costs of repairs + siege. In WAR, I'd just throw myself at the enemy when we were outmatched and try to get a kill here or there -- fighting is still fun, right? In GW2 this last beta weekend I found myself having to go back to PVE to farm cash for repairs and siege. Ugh!

I really really enjoyed it even tho i felt overwhelmed bye the immensity of the area and not knowing where to go. To me watching the "siege machines was awesome. Mostly i tried to make sure i didnt get lost

Next beta weekend should be easier to keep track of me now that I have commander mode. I think several of you got the wrong impression on what I wanted from this post. A lot of this feedback is great but belongs on the beta forums not here. They need to hear what you didn't like. I simply can't do anything about it. What I was hoping for was some stories of fun times with the family and sharing your adventures with the family. This post is supposed to be our experiences shared with our family so that members that have not played know what they have to look forward to. If you've got complaints please post them on the beta forums so something can actually be done about it. Try to keep this post positive and more of an overview of the different activities you saw and participated in. What's new, what's cool, what's fun?

I loved the hour and a half keep siege. Better than Warhammer for sure. So much going on during that hour long siege and when it was over... almost everyone in Vent was or portrayed the feeling of being tired. I love that and love the fact that come launch there will be fights like this all the time.

First impression of WvW? Felt like I was home. Siege equipment you can drop anywhere? Keep walls being knocked down? Three factions fighting over the territory? Those three things, along with the speed of combat (I'm not a big fan of twitch "bang, wtf? DEAD?!?! What killed me?" gaming. All in all it reminded me how desperately I've missed DAoC!!! Like I said...First impression? Feels like I'm home...only someone redecorated while I was out.

I enjoyed the combat and the huge emphasis on teamwork. Would like to see the warhammer style autolooting instead of manual looting. XP was virtually non existent, need to fix that. Still highly experimenting with class styles and what my favorite setup would be for Wv3. Would like to see an XP tick for EACH round trip on the resource escorts rather then getting bored to death for over an hour.

» Edited on: 2012-06-21 21:11:43

By far my favorite part of the game so far... Nothing like running around with a group of friends capturing keeps, harassing enemies... man, I've never felt like I was playing DAOC as much as I have in these beta weekends

Have really enjoyed the PVP/RVR so far in the beta weekends. Brings back fond memories of Old...Old DAOC... before New Frontiers.. I am only hoping it will bring the same enjoyment factor on release. I think being able to run with friends and family will provide many hours of fun and frivolity for us all. The only thing missing is OldRoar.:( Congo

I liked what I saw. Didn't really get a chance to test it out with an organized group, but it looks like it'll be awesome once we start doing guild organized WvWvW!

I missed the betas. From what you guys played, did range dominate the fights in the sieges? I'm thinking back to WAR where in large scale RvR it was the ranged that killed things...especially at the beginning with Bright Wizards and Sorcs stacking AOE. I am imagining that in a siege there is once again not much for melee (thinking tank archetypes in particular) to do except wait for a siege engine or present ones self as a target....hoping that isn't the case.

I think melee has it's place in battle. There are a lot of CC effects plus buffs that can be given by melee plus a wealth of pulls and knockdown/back. I enjoyed playing my Guardian even if his heals were localized. Every class can switch to a ranged weapon if need be.

That's good news about every class having some kind of ranged option. Not that I minded sacrificing my Swordmaster's body in the meat grinder that was a well defended keep door but being a tank and having nothing to do during sieges got old. I keep telling myself that I will try out a ranged or a mdps as my main this time but, truth be told, I'm going to roll some kind of tank....b/c I'm stubborn. :) See you on the battlefields in a few weeks.

The not seeing names /rank or classes thing doesn`t bother me as it was the same way in DAOC . In fact i`ve been wishing more games did pvp that way , as a lot of the times knowing what class or lvl you are about to attack one takes away from the fun of pvp plus it allows people to avoid certain people who they would have normaly attacked had they not known what class or lvl they were etc . Large zones and travel time not really a factor either , having played daoc frontiers the long run to get back isn`t a issue . however the everyone on your team armor being server color is odd , they should just put names in red to see who is a enemy or not . Simlar to Daoc where you see a person on either of the other two factions you see them as red but not their actual name ie. in DAOC the other faction had races like here but all you saw when you targetd or read the name in red was what race they were . But that was enough to know they were the enemy lol . having all your armor be blue red or green will look funny at first i suppose . Also i love both large scale and small scale rvr ie. 6 mans roaming around the lake . just hope it`s not like it was on dark crag where you have 1 guild sooo large they have 3 or 4 guilds with different spellings of the guild to get past the guild cap , while having them all zerg rvr at same time . I remember fighting Ruin , rhuin, ruined, rhuined, ruination, rhuination, ruinous, rhuinous etc zerglings in warhammer on dark crag . while they had a lot of members and did well in rvr , they were the joke of the server at the same time , due to having to outnumber the other faction 3 to 1 in order to win lol .

» Edited on: 2012-08-08 10:21:04

» Edited on: 2012-08-08 10:24:13

» Edited on: 2012-08-08 10:25:10

Id love to give some first impressions on my WvW experiences. My FIRST impression during BWE3 was... Oh man I need a new pc, haha. New PC built, I only had the stress tests to really run around and try WvW. So far Ive REALLY enjoyed it. It feels familiar coming from WAR. The frontline moving back and forth over terrain. As soon as the front starts to fall back its over. I loved that. A few badasses putting pressure in the right spots could really start the retreat, which generally lead to a quick and gruesome slaughter from behind. The downed state. Its... perfect... for WvW. So awesome. It really reinforces the line of battle. Those who overextend get chewed up and stomped. You really have to fight with your team. And beyond that... the crazy ranged focus dps spike of death isnt really that effective unless you are already overextended, bringing someone up from a downed state is nothing if you have three Gaiscioch at your back! Barely a few seconds. Loved it. Also I noticed some of you disappointed with the travelling. I was too, especially on the limited time stress tests allowed us. I just wanted action! I didnt have as much trouble because I had a warhorn to blow on every so often. With a couple in the mix, we can have almost permanent swiftness, not to mention other utilities that offer it. And it stacks duration, which is amazing, so no cast is wasted. This is definitely something we should try to do in WvW, it will be a major advantage. Also, keeps are upgradable with waypoints to spawn at, they just werent used in the beta much. This will GREATLY alleviate the running through empty landscape. I enoyed the PvE elements of it as well. The guards were actually challenging, unlike the guards in early WAR. It makes upgrading them a solid option. The monster npcs, if you look at the bigger picture, are in specific area between the major pathways. Some of them can be friendly too, if you take over the camps between the colors areas. This is also the best path to take to the other territories without approaching Stonemist in Eternal Battlegrounds. Controlling them makes the npcs friendly to you and aggresive to others and also send out groups to guard or attack objectives. They can make a big difference. I had some great fights in those canyons filled with mobs, fighting players while fighting the npcs, eventually overcoming both and changing the loyalty of thr npcs, allowing us easy passage next time through, but effectively denying our enemies the same comfort. I enjoyed that element a lot more than I thought I would. The siege weaponry. So well done. Destructible walls! Ahh! This is what Ive been waiting for since DAOC. Its balanced very well. You need it to succeed, making supply very valuable. Supply camps remind me a lot of BOs from WAR, but the siege mechanics just make it so much more rewarding than it was in WAR. WAR was basically the same siege battles constantly. Being able to place siege weapons freely will really make every fight unique, and reward good strategy. Well done! The synergies between classes for WvW is amazing. Combo fields on chokepoints were absolutely brutal, and I used them every chance I got. Applying conditions and damage that rapidly can really allow coordinated players to overcome crazy odds. I started calling for combo fields in say when it was opportune. Let me just brag about my build for a sec because its going to be awesome and has been so far, even without the traits. My support warrior weilds a rifle and a sword/warhorn, and is based on shouts. Shouts give AOE boons. At one time I can aoe buff swiftness that breaks snares, double dodge regeneration, stacks of might, and 7 seconds of fury like 20% crit chance I think. My elite banner has a long cooldown but grants area stability for a looong duration, grants might, and some other stuff I think... It also rallies everyone in a pretty decent area instantly. On top of this, every shout will offer you guys regular little heals, constant condition removal, even removing three at once with one of my shouts, and an aoe fear to interrupt stomps and give us a second to get you up or even to break frontlines in a charge used offensively. Stability on the banner makes it impossible to interrupt our stomps, or our resses, and stops anyone from getting knocked down or pushed about. Looking forward to running with you guys with this build. :-)