Curse

TheOneMephisto · Dec 10, 2007, 09:52 PM // 21:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genova

Off-topic. I find that what makes guild wars a difficult game to learn is a combination of : switching targets quickly and efficiently, keeping track of what your teammates and the opponent are doing, and being good at what you do best (it's most anticipation and timing). If most players mastered these basic skills, the level of play in RA would be a lot higher. That's the fact of not being able to do this consistently which makes the difference between a player who can progress and one who can't.

I find that the hardest part about Guild Wars is gaining an awareness level of what's happening in the battle that will allow you to actually play. I mean, kiting, what skills to use in which situations, skill animations, reflexes, they're all needed, but aren't that hard to learn. Learning to understand the battle, to know what the enemy is doing/will be doing, is a much harder skill to learn.

Genova · Dec 11, 2007, 04:43 AM // 04:43

Getting the initiative

Maybe I didn't put enough emphasis on the word consistantly. Sure you can learn anything, focus on it and even master it given some time, but you see, doing not one, but all things at once, all the time, during 20 minutes is the difference between average players and better ones. Good players have higher apm, process informations quicker, hence they have far more time to think ahead, be proactive and set you in situations where you feel trapped. Sometimes it just ends up pressuring you enough to force mistakes, while they make none since they can anticipate more. Like chess it is all based on tempo, gaining the little momentum advantage puts you in offensive, from where you dictate the course of the game.

Ultimately you don't have to know what the enemy is doing/will be doing if you have the initiative. Getting that initiative can be made through threats, which death is the greatest. Caster spikes or sin splits have very strong initiative, because you are forced to react no matter what your original plan was. If we take this concept to the micro level, a mesmer will interrupt veil/cure hex after casting diversion because it poses a threat which needs to be answered (you can argue that the monk can fake the veil but that's still wasted energy). When you look at all these mini-games at the micro or the macro levels, Guild Wars isn't that hard. The point is that you accomplish nothing with guessing, stay ahead of threat generation, keep the initiative and you should not lose.

Barrier to entry, nobody will learn you how to be good

What we seem to not agree with however is that, most players do not know the basics of weapon swapping, kitting, interrupting, reading animations, and so on... (sometimes it's because they don't try hard enough). What seems obvious or very simple to most "true" gamers, isn't for someone new to the game. Most games have common features and strategies (nukes, aoes, snares, stuns, etc...), knowing them is really helpful to understand what happens in a game and why you lose.

But the common thought for most newbies is that when you lose, it's because of the build. I don't know how many times I had to fight to stick with a team build, and make everyone try harder to run it properly. In my head, I already know how much can still be improved and what mistakes we didn't capitalize on, missing opportunities, but yet people think that the build is to blame. It's like if some players can't grasp the essence of their failure.

Another example, the articles on the official forum about competitive play. While most of us don't agree fully with what is said there, at least there is some insight as to what works in this game or not and why. The knowledge acquired by the top players isn't easily accessible anywhere in game. You need to know somebody willing to teach you or come here and read stuff (if you can read english), then practice. Guild wars being a team game, if most players don't understand why they suck, it means it is hard to progress since you don't play alone.

Why targetting is a critical skill in this game

I will end there, bad targeting has a lot to do with being an average player. If you don't tab regularly you are likely to miss valuable information in the early battle for initiative. Losing initiative is bad, and to prevent that you scan the other team first and memorize where you need to focus your attention. Usually you can guess what is the bar based on primary/secondary profession but sometimes there are surprises.

Once in the thick of battle, the lack of targetting skills of players become obvious : the warriors stand still before calling spikes, the ranger can't interrupt aegis in time, the mesmer can't shut down both monks when the pressure is going on, the elementalist has trouble to gale that signet of return... All this, not because they don't know what they have to do, or they can't use the build, it is because they do not switch targets quickly and efficiently. Not being able to do this means you are going to lose initiative and be pressured.

What you call awareness is often greatly facilited by communication. Knowing when the opponent is pushing a flag, spliting, or when was the last defensive anthem. You also need a backline working together and not casting aegis at the same time. Other times on splits you might want to apply conditions in a specific order to surcharge mending touch.

Well, it is getting too long now... time to summarize. It won't help to list common mistakes, but the lack of efficiency in performing well at an individual level is detrimental to any team. Understanding the battle and anticipating is good and all, but when your team doesn't have what it takes to execute a counter-plan you are doomed. I know a lot of players who can't interrupt 3/4s - 1s spells at all, watch for low life or overextended targets and quickly call a spike, cancel-cast under diversion or to catch a spike.