Mega Server

[Fencers]

He made it quite clear that his list is subjective, see "As far as I'm concerned..." "As far as I can see..."
If anyone is stating their opinion in a way that comes across as fact it's certainly not him.

Were I addressing a specific post I would have quoted it directly. Rather I was speaking to a more general idea raised in a couple of posts.

It's all opinions...

Yes. What's the point you are making here? I just talked about differing viewpoints twice and twice you reply somewhat in hostility. To basically say, "yea totally different strokes."

It would seem you agree with me but in like a totally combative manner. Odd.

And just as one person's positives can be another person's negatives, so too can the "downsides" of the megaservers not match up with another person's viewpoint.

Which is what I was posting about- Anet might not see those downsides as negatives. Even if the "community" might see them in a manner contra.

It is even very possible Arena.net weight their systemic changes on a value scale apart from those of players. Where many player wrought concerns might be irrelevant to the game functions itself.

There are perceived upsides to the megaservers too. Which some other players might be more inclined toward.

Unless a system change breaks the game, makes it unplayable, there is likely to be a number of small factors any number of players are irked by. From UI placement to RPing to joining a guild in a particular zone.

[Zephyr Storm]

Yes. What's the point you are making here? I just talked about differing viewpoints twice and twice you reply somewhat in hostility. To basically say, "yea totally different strokes."

It would seem you agree with me but in like a totally combative manner. Odd.

There's that passive aggressiveness you are so well known for. I was wondering when it was going to come out.

[May90]

Well, I haven't played in quite a while (stopped playing shortly before they introduced Megaserver). I logged in to level a bit a week ago or so and was pleasantry surprised: in Brisban Wildlands where I used to wander completely alone now were hundreds of people running around, joining up to do some quests, a lot of chat activity... The leveling definitely changed for better!

[Zephyr Storm]

Well, I haven't played in quite a while (stopped playing shortly before they introduced Megaserver). I logged in to level a bit a week ago or so and was pleasantry surprised: in Brisban Wildlands where I used to wander completely alone now were hundreds of people running around, joining up to do some quests, a lot of chat activity... The leveling definitely changed for better!

Social experience while leveling = better.
Actual leveling experience itself (aka, traits, etc) = worse.

[Maarius]

Social experience while leveling = better.
Actual leveling experience itself (aka, traits, etc) = worse.

at least we can say that the trait-change isn't quite as they intended it to be; Anet replied this a few days after the release of the patch. We'll see if we get fixes to those high requirements of low level traits soon.

[Deleted]

Well, those "downsides" are highly subjective and often irrelevant to the game mechanics. For example, "RP-ing is going to die out" is not a value equally shared by players. Nor is "RP-ing" a core function of the gameplay in Guild Wars 2.

The state of "RP-ing" post mega-server couldn't possibly be a downside except in a limited, personal view. One can just as well claim an extra icon on the character screen bothers them so much it is a "downside" of the game experience. Which would be equally nonsensical and irrelevant.

Well this is the reply from someone who clearly doesnt understand RPing whatsoever.

Firstly, all RPG based MMOs have an RPing community, GW2 is no different, and in fact has one of the most vibrant and busy RPing communities of all RPG MMOs. These RP communities congregate on speicific realms, Piken in GW2 and Argent Dawn in Wow for example. The reason they collect in the same place is because they fully appreciate that what they do ingame can be considered a little weird and is always the target of abuse or trolling from the games general population.

Secondly, why couldnt megaserver be a downside to Rping? thats 100% a point of view, your point of view... and a point of view from someone who doesnt RP obviously. I stated very clearly whats happening ingame right now to the RPers, u chose to ignore that. Thats not my personal view, im repeating the complaints that RPers have been making since megaservers hit them. Ive seen in on the forums and ofc i hear these complaints every day on my realm.

Thirdly, your opinion that RPing is not a "core" part of the game hold absolutely no value, its yet another opinion. Ive already pointed out that every single MMORPG has an RPing community. On Piken there are more RP guilds than WvW guilds by a long stretch, theres probably more RP guilds than social and PvE guilds too. So your opinion that RPing is not "core" and is therefore is of little value is utterly misinformed.

Sure, Anet doesnt release excusively RP content, none of the MMORPGs do. RPing is a player-lead passtime and a valuable part of any MMO which wants to be social. Players make use of the games lore, world and mechanics to create their own fun... thats RPing.

How do i know this? ...playing on the main RP realm in the EU - Piken.

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My friend just got into RPing, says it's been great, so anecdotes are anecdotes.

A player new to RPing is very different to the veteran RPer.

The guys who have RPed their entire GW2 life are suffering badly from megaservers, thats a fact.

Im glad your friend had the opportunity to meet some RPers, and join in and enjoy it. But there are just as many people new to seeing RPing taking place who get their kicks out of trolling them.

[Karizee]

Got to say I do not understand RP-ing at all. It seems so freakin slow, like everytime I see someone doing it it's every couple minutes they do an emote like /e looks in her coffee cup and considers making another pot of coffee. And then 2 minutes later you have someone else doing something just as innocuous. I guess a lot of it happens in whispers or party/guild chat maybe?

[Maarius]

this problem about "destroying the RP-community" reminds me very much of the GvG-outcry. A relative small subgroup of players feels betrayed because they can't play the game like they want, even though it's not the core-gameplay design.

Well, Anet created a whole colloseum for GvG in a map seperate to the main WvW maps. Now those GvGers can have those little games without hurting the rest of the WvW community. Not everyone is happy with this solution, but it's probably the solution which is most healthy for the game.

I'm sure Anet will think about solutions for this subgroup: RPers and will come up with something useful.

[Svifnymr]

this problem about "destroying the RP-community" reminds me very much of the GvG-outcry. A relative small subgroup of players feels betrayed because they can't play the game like they want, even though it's not the core-gameplay design.

Well, Anet created a whole colloseum for GvG in a map seperate to the main WvW maps. Now those GvGers can have those little games without hurting the rest of the WvW community. Not everyone is happy with this solution, but it's probably the solution which is most healthy for the game.

I'm sure Anet will think about solutions for this subgroup: RPers and will come up with something useful.

It would be nice if there were some tools for RPers, not sure how much work they'll put into it though.

And I've come to the conclusion (especially with megaservers) that WvWvW shoulda just been GvGvG from the outset, but that would probably have as many flaws as anything and be quite exclusionary and stuff.

[Maarius]

And I've come to the conclusion (especially with megaservers) that WvWvW shoulda just been GvGvG from the outset, but that would probably have as many flaws as anything and be quite exclusionary and stuff.

Personally I'd hate that, I haven't played in a guild (except my bank-guild) for quite a while now since I'm playing mostly long after my friends have gone to bed - and the guys from WvW, not to forget our commanders, on our server are awesome - so no need for me to join one of those big guilds.

It's awesome to have this temporary community playing alongside you without the player having to group and/or join a guild to be effective.

[May90]

Got to say I do not understand RP-ing at all. It seems so freakin slow, like everytime I see someone doing it it's every couple minutes they do an emote like /e looks in her coffee cup and considers making another pot of coffee. And then 2 minutes later you have someone else doing something just as innocuous. I guess a lot of it happens in whispers or party/guild chat maybe?

Random RP is pure luck, I guess: the majority of players, even RPers, are not "devoted" players and they just want to have some fun, so, of course, they would keep cracking jokes and spam emotes, very often with the context of nudity. I guess, to have serious RPing, you have to join some guild that is relatively selective in accepting new members, so that only those who are really going to RP for real are welcome. Or just read about the events of other active RP guilds and come there.

[Zephyr Storm]

at least we can say that the trait-change isn't quite as they intended it to be; Anet replied this a few days after the release of the patch. We'll see if we get fixes to those high requirements of low level traits soon.

It honestly just goes to show their incompetence. I could have told them (as well as many others) that some of the specific things they did with the traits were a very bad idea. Would have done it free of charge too. But alas....another developer thinking they know what gamers want better than the gamers themselves do.

[Fencers]

Well this is the reply from someone who clearly doesnt understand RPing whatsoever.

Why would I need to understand "RP-ing"?

One need only understand the game mechanics of Guild Wars 2. None of which include "RP-ing" to any degree-- especially not the mega server system.

However, megaservers do support the actual game mechanics expressed in GW2.

Firstly, all RPG based MMOs have an RPing community, GW2 is no different, and in fact has one of the most vibrant and busy RPing communities of all RPG MMOs.

I don't see any relevance this has to the mega server system.

It is merely personal preference on some players part to enjoy the game in a particular manner. Which might not be shared or valued to same degree by other players or the developers.

For example, it is very possible a designer saw the value of mega servers as greater than RPing. That isn't a downside to the game in an objective sense or even a mechanical sense. It may be in a limited personal sense- to the player, but it couldn't possibly be to the designer.

The game is literally his/their design.

Secondly, why couldnt megaserver be a downside to Rping?

There is no game mechanism of RPing.

I stated very clearly whats happening ingame right now to the RPers, u chose to ignore that. Thats not my personal view, im repeating the complaints that RPers have been making since megaservers hit them. Ive seen in on the forums and ofc i hear these complaints every day on my realm.

I didn't ignore your issue. Merely I stated that one person's downside may not be the same for another person. Further, developers might weight the value of player concerns differently- artistic vision, feasibility, popularity, programming, et cetera.

Thirdly, your opinion that RPing is not a "core" part of the game hold absolutely no value, its yet another opinion.

This is a misunderstanding; RP-ing holds value for certain players. Perfectly valid modus of play.

However, RPing not being a core function of Guild Wars 2 is an object fact. Game mechanics are facts. Not opinions.

How one may feel about a game mechanic(s) is opinion. Those feelings can vary greatly player to player and even apart from developer/designer. This is normal and okay in many mediums.

In this case it so happens that the megaserver system may have infringed on an aberrant form of playing the game. A valid downside for those injured by the system change.

But we can also look at it in the light of say, a player who was pretty lonely trouncing around Dreadhaunt Cliffs. Or players actively interested in beating up some world bosses/events such as the Orr Temples or Teq.

The sweeping change of the mega server likely has(d) many unintended consequences to esoteric or eccentric forms of play. Yet for all we know, and we do because we can play the game, Arena.net felt the positives of the systems were worth inconveniencing or forgoing those esoteric or eccentric forms of play in favor of promoting their actual core rule set.

[Rhywolver]

this problem about "destroying the RP-community" reminds me very much of the GvG-outcry. A relative small subgroup of players feels betrayed because they can't play the game like they want, even though it's not the core-gameplay design.

Well, Anet created a whole colloseum for GvG in a map seperate to the main WvW maps. Now those GvGers can have those little games without hurting the rest of the WvW community. Not everyone is happy with this solution, but it's probably the solution which is most healthy for the game.

I'm sure Anet will think about solutions for this subgroup: RPers and will come up with something useful.

One button would help here: "I like roleplay" -> you'll get to servers where most roleplayers are, which would be at least one server for Divinity's Reach, maybe even for several languages.

It wouldn't only help the RPers, but also the Non-RPers. GW2 has two little problems with Roleplaying in my opinion (three if you count things like chairs in):
1. The emote text has a very large range. You can often read /emotes even if the players are far out of sight, which is annoying.
2. World events. Our server failed several times at the marionette because there weren't enough players in the lines. On the other hand, there was a dozen of players at the nearby dregde tunnels, /emoting how hard they slap the dredge in the face. Same thing happened in Lion's Arch against Scarlett's knights.

I'm not against Roleplaying and I choose an inofficial RP-Server because I like to run into people that vitalize the zones from time to time, but without joining such events, but turning the affinities on and off could be helpful.

[Deleted]

Why would I need to understand "RP-ing"?

U would need to understand RPing so u can discuss it.

Ur discussing something u dont understand and thats just like listening to someone trying to talk about the World Cup who never even saw a football match... u sound stupid.

One need only understand the game mechanics of Guild Wars 2. None of which include "RP-ing" to any degree-- especially not the mega server system.

If u bothered to read my post then u would know that NO RPG MMO releases exclusively RP content, its a player-lead passtime.

RPers do not ask for any RP specific content or do they expect any. They use the tools within the game to play their game... and megaservers has managed to destroy most of this passtime.

I don't see any relevance this has to the mega server system.

As i said above... u dont understand it therefore u will never see the relevance.

I suggest u stop trying to discuss something u dont understand AND LISTEN TO THE RPERS.

[nevermore]

Well I think Fencers was pretty clear in her post, and you're unwilling to understand the basic points of it.

RPing is not a part of GW2's game design. That's it. End of story. RPing is a player-driven initiative, so you basically come up with your own ways of having fun within the open-world setting an MMO provides. That, however, does not make it part of the game itself, you're just using the game for something it was not designed for.

Let me be crude:
When people at Oral-B design a new electric toothbrush, the only intended use that they discuss during the process is... cleaning your teeth. That's what it's for.
The fact that some people will end up using said electric toothbrush as a sex toy is of no relevance to Oral-B's design process, or the intended use of the product. Nor should they care.

The fact that you wish to use an MMO to RP is great. But you're expecting Anet to care about an aspect of gaming that was never part of their design concept. That's why they literally don't care about the megaservers ruining the RP community... because as far as they're concerned, you don't even exist.

Now they could obviously make a gesture towards the RPers and introduce an RP-friendly option... but would that time investment be worth it for them?

[Deleted]

Well I think Fencers was pretty clear in her post, and you're unwilling to understand the basic points of it.

RPing is not a part of GW2's game design. That's it. End of story. RPing is a player-driven initiative, so you basically come up with your own ways of having fun within the open-world setting an MMO provides. That, however, does not make it part of the game itself, you're just using the game for something it was not designed for.

My whole point is how Megaserver will destroy the community of GW2, and RPing is part of that community.

Megaservers will kill most apsects of social interaction within GW2. MMOs r socially driven and the game mechanics should be designed to encourage and nuture social interaction. Arguably the most important aspect of GW2 is realm community, this does not benefit whatsoever from Megaservers, it is in fact diminshed by Megaservers (as i listed in my original post).

If ur a solo player then u will enjoy seeing busy maps, if however ur a veteran player who is a strong part of your realms established community u can see very clearly the dangerous slippery slope that Megaservers is sending us down.

I did not in any way state that RPing is intergral to GW2, ive merely said there is a strong RPing community. A community which will take a big dent in players over the next few months if Megaservers are not redesigned.

[Arlee]

I think it definitely will change the way the community functions in some way, but I don't think it will destroy it. I mean I have met and gotten to know more people out in the world doing things than I had since the game started. That's not a symptom of a destroyed community.

[Fencers]

U would need to understand RPing so u can discuss it.

But I am not discussing RPing. I am discussing the mega server system and it's relation to aberrant forms of play. It so happens that RPing is one of those forms of play.

No matter what players chose to do in game. No matter what, Guild Wars 2's game mechanics are objective, distinct processes of their own. Processes independent from player chosen play.

There is no gameplay mechanism in Guild Wars 2 related to roleplaying. RPing is a form of play not supported by the game mechanics. It is not possible for RPing to be relevant to the game, it may be relevant to you. Which is fine. But that view may not be shared by others or the developers as demonstrated through the mega server system.

Try to see it from a different or overall perspective.

Ur discussing something u dont understand and thats just like listening to someone trying to talk about the World Cup who never even saw a football match.

I wouldn't actually need to have seen a football match to discuss the popularity of the Wold Cup.

Not sure where you are going with this line of though... it's not very logical.

If u bothered to read my post then u would know that NO RPG MMO releases exclusively RP content, its a player-lead passtime.

Correct. RPing is an aberrant form of play. One which may not have been weighted to have equal or higher value to the developers over the benefits of the mega server.

The mega servers do promote the actual game mechanics of Guild Wars 2. This is very likely of higher importance to the developers and the majority of players. This is seen in actual practice- observable evidence.

As i said above... u dont understand it therefore u will never see the relevance.

There can't be any relevance. RPing is not a game mechanics. Its just a way one may choose to imagine the game.

I suggest u stop trying to discuss something u dont understand

I understand game development, software programming, mathematics, marketing, corporate budgeting and agile, brigade and team led video game development of a product in active live development.

This is the only thing video games are. Like the only thing. We can't make and you can't play video games otherwise.

Arena.net has to weight the benefits of a new system against the potential and actual downsides. Even if it be unfortunate that a segment of the player base are extricated from play in some manner.

It would not be good business sense to allow deterioration of the core game mechanics for the sake of a small segment of unsupported play. Logically, RPing is not of the same value as providing players with the experience of play that mega servers offer to Arena.net.

If you simply look at the positives mega servers potentially offer to the core functions of the game as designed and the majority of players it is only logical Anet would weight the value of the system over a minor facet such as RPing.

You have the right to be upset about the loss of your enjoyment (if that is the case), but it is unreasonable and factually incorrect to assert RPing has any actual relevance to the game mechanics.

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I think it definitely will change the way the community functions in some way, but I don't think it will destroy it. I mean I have met and gotten to know more people out in the world doing things than I had since the game started. That's not a symptom of a destroyed community.

It is also the case that MMOs, in their varying sub genre, have been headed toward more insular forms of community. That is to say the trend of MMOs has been less for game design that promotes social interaction via happenstance.

The mega server system and third era MMOs in general are perfectly in line with this trend in MMO design. From Rift to ESO, Neverwinter, Wildstar and Tera and World of Warcraft-- the trend of more mobile server populations playing "cross realm" has become quite the prevailing design in socialization of online games.

[Karizee]

In my experience the prioritizing system is working pretty good, much better than the old overflow system for sure. If I'm on a low level map where you generally see more guild recruitment in mapchat, 9x out of 10 it's guilds from my home world.

But I guess if you want to be absolutely, positively sure that everyone on the map is from your server and your server only, all you have to do is go into WvW