Curse

asdar · Jun 30, 2006, 10:41 AM // 10:41

I've been trying to find out when they're going to unlock it but I haven't been able to yet.

I understand that the championships are going on and all, but GvG is awful without the ranking. 3/4's of the teams are just messing around, but it still takes a good 10-15 minutes to get through the NPC's.

I wish they'd have non-reward times where the ladder is just open for rank rather than have it closed down like this.

I hope I'm not reading the site correctly and it's not a month until it comes back up.

Wasteland Squidget · Jun 30, 2006, 10:46 AM // 10:46

I agree. The poor quality of GvG during the championships really hurts, especially for those of us who aren't really interested in much else the game has to offer. TA or HA can be good for an occasional laugh, but for me GvG is what this game is really about. Crippling the best gametype for weeks on end really sucks.

I'd much rather see a pre-season ladder instead of a frozen one. Just reset the ladder and let teams play for ranking without any reward at the end (unless they really want to add one.) That would at least would keep GvG interesting between seasons.

fatboyslimerr · Jun 30, 2006, 11:26 AM // 11:26

Yeh I agree with you guys, sure its a time to try gimmic builds but GvGs are often boring in this time with no real feeling of victory since you don't gain any rank.

I think they should keep the ladder going till a deadline, then freeze only the top 16 places or whatever they use for the championship so then everyone else can still play to be top of the ladder (which only goes up to 16). Then after the top 16 have finished, they rejoin in the position they came in the competition, so there is another benefit for doing well in the championship.

Yanman.be · Jun 30, 2006, 11:30 AM // 11:30

We just went pallyway yesterday..had fun...won some odd matches ( a rank 100ish guild beaten in 3 minutes )

fb2000 · Jun 30, 2006, 11:38 AM // 11:38

I like it, this is the only way for me to actually get a bit into gvg.. if it wasnt frozen id have much less opportunities

Greedy Gus · Jun 30, 2006, 11:59 AM // 11:59

Yeah, pretty much. You can get some good matches in, particularly from teams practicing for the playoffs, or cautious teams who play more when they're not 'risking' their rating. But there's generally an awful lot of teams screwing around farming faction, asking others to resign, etc.

Ventius Hozza · Jun 30, 2006, 12:05 PM // 12:05

Well, now pretty much every guild runs gimmic builds... I started a thread on the OP's issue last lockdown but got few responses i think. I have given up now because all season round gimmic builds are being played regardless of locks on the ladder. GvG is in a terrible state.

Patrograd · Jun 30, 2006, 12:08 PM // 12:08

Those guilds without smurfs should be using this time to practise new builds and strategies. However, it would be nice to see a date for the next proper season (I don't think anyone is going to take the upcoming 72 hour farmfest as being a proper season).

Presumably its quite some time away, after the actual Championships in leipzig

Quote:

The Guild Wars Factions Championship will be held in Leipzig, Germany August 24-27, 2006

So my guess is that some time after the silly 72 hour spike binge there will be another "fun" ladder like there was back in January with the next competitive season starting presumably in early September.

Neo-LD · Jun 30, 2006, 04:06 PM // 16:06

What I do not understand is why anyone would want to use this time to run gimmicks. Gimmicks are almost strictly less fun and satisfying to use than actual builds, and playing gimmicks does not improve you as a guild wars player, especially when its almost guarenteed that those gimmicks will be rebalanced after the upcoming tourney. In my opinion any serious guild should use the ladder lock time to test new builds and refine old builds for the next season. Thats what we are doing anyways.

And yet, every guild we faced yesterday, except iQ and KGYU, were running Triple Smite, FastCast Air, or SBRI. *sigh*

Lord Nibiru · Jun 30, 2006, 04:06 PM // 16:06

Yeah,that is very,VERY,nice.....school beggins in September and i will not have much time for GvG.
You know,you need study,go to school,many of your guild friends will not be online in same time....and my guild really needs me.
When i will play GvG? In 2 in the morning?
we dont have all the same time,that is big problem!
We are from the different country.
Now when is Summer we can play a lot of GvG,time is not problem....

My guild won 7 of 10 matches,we are new,not really good in ranking,but we won against some who are about 300 ranking.....and what we get?
One big NOTHING.

If we want some factions or exp we can go play team battles,but GvG is not about factions or exp....it is play for RANK!

kryshnysh · Jun 30, 2006, 04:28 PM // 16:28

I don't mind a week of downtime here and there, but this 2+ weeks of downtime after a month or so of a season is rather heavy as a percentage of downtime.

From my guild's perspective, its nice to have downtime where a bunch of us guest for significantly higher ranked guilds who are playing around and want more people to fill in slots.

Of course longer seasons and shorter breaks does encourage using smurfs, even if just for testing out builds and people or PuG GvGing.

Billiard · Jun 30, 2006, 04:34 PM // 16:34

Well I find that its a good time to farm faction and finishing unlocking stuff, as well as a good time to test out new builds and try out new people. Otherwise you really need to find work arounds for testing and tryouts if you want to do these during an unlocked ladder and don't want to tank your rating (especially when testing builds).

The funny thing is, when we approach a GvG seriously during a locked ladder, we run into teams that start hollering at us for doing so in all chat.

asdar · Jun 30, 2006, 05:51 PM // 17:51

I'd agree it's a nice time to test and work on stuff if it was a week or so. When it's a month of downtime, that's too much in my opinion.

romO · Jun 30, 2006, 07:08 PM // 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wasteland Squidget

I'd much rather see a pre-season ladder instead of a frozen one. Just reset the ladder and let teams play for ranking without any reward at the end (unless they really want to add one.) That would at least would keep GvG interesting between seasons.

Amen. Or maybe like a snowman summoner for a prize or something. That would rock.

Anyway, It's a shame that the competition sucks during the freezes, but all I can suggest is to enjoy the free faction. Massive GvGing with real or fun builds should grant anyone UAX by the start of the next ladder season (assuming you have a reasonable amount of unlocks already).

Wasteland Squidget · Jun 30, 2006, 08:11 PM // 20:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neo-LD

What I do not understand is why anyone would want to use this time to run gimmicks. Gimmicks are almost strictly less fun and satisfying to use than actual builds, and playing gimmicks does not improve you as a guild wars player, especially when its almost guarenteed that those gimmicks will be rebalanced after the upcoming tourney. In my opinion any serious guild should use the ladder lock time to test new builds and refine old builds for the next season. Thats what we are doing anyways.

And yet, every guild we faced yesterday, except iQ and KGYU, were running Triple Smite, FastCast Air, or SBRI. *sigh*

Yeah, we were one of those running triple smite. We don't usually run gimmicks and never got a chance to try it out in the main season, so we wanted to see how powerful it was before the inevitable nerfbat. Sorry it wasn't a better fight though, and hope we get a chance to play you guys on a balanced build sometime.

There's only so much you can test or practice when half of your fights are against Pallyway though.

Aiiane · Jun 30, 2006, 10:42 PM // 22:42

Ladder locks are a time to have some fun. If you're so competative that not getting points for winning a match makes it not fun anymore, oh well.

Byron · Jul 01, 2006, 12:39 AM // 00:39

Meh - ladder locks are fantastic after having taken the gvg season very seriously, IMO. Beware the fc fire team, you fc air-spikers.

asdar · Jul 01, 2006, 12:53 AM // 00:53

Did I mention even getting points?

I want competition, not 8 matches with 3 henchway, 2 pally teams and 3 crappy loser builds that take all night.

I don't miss the points I miss playing a real game. Faction is great, but I don't need any more, so that's all done for me.

master_of_puppets · Jul 01, 2006, 12:57 AM // 00:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wasteland Squidget

I agree. The poor quality of GvG during the championships really hurts, especially for those of us who aren't really interested in much else the game has to offer. TA or HA can be good for an occasional laugh, but for me GvG is what this game is really about. Crippling the best gametype for weeks on end really sucks.

I'd much rather see a pre-season ladder instead of a frozen one. Just reset the ladder and let teams play for ranking without any reward at the end (unless they really want to add one.) That would at least would keep GvG interesting between seasons.

Yeah I agree the ladder locks are lame, and they're so friggin long too

Dragannia · Jul 01, 2006, 01:19 AM // 01:19

I love ladder locks. It's a time to try out stupid, fun builds (5 IW Mesmers FTW), and time to train new members.