27 replies to this topic

[Eclipses]

Mod Edit: Locked For:
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Petitions online rarely generate good discussion or results. Seeing as "/signed" posts would follow under the No Spamming rule, these are doubly discouraged and will be deleted. Your thread titles should include a brief description of the content of your post and not "@Anet/NCsoft" or something similar.

PETITION: Boycott WvW 10/19 - 10/26 To End Free Transfers

Enough is enough. For almost 2 months Arenanet has allowed free server transfers to seriously harm and degrade the WvW community. We've seen egregious abuses of their free server transfer system and how it has negatively affected WvW:

- Numerous servers and server communities gutted or drowned due to the free transfer system; this forms a vicious circle

- Outrageously lopsided fights that aren't fun for any of the servers in the matchup being decided in the first 2 or so days of a weeklong matchup

- Insane bloat of queue times on servers that previously had instant access to every WvW map

- Documented cases of guilds/players transferring to enemy servers to use up their supply and build unnecessary siege in order to weaken their efforts to defend critical objectives

- Degredation/corruption of the comeptitive mentality in the WvW community. Instead of building communities to be competitive, we can simply transfer to an already competitive community and coattail ride. Once servers start seeing their numbers being gutted, they want even less to go into WvW. Moreso, these mega servers own everything until they get bored and quit the game or start mass transferring leading to the very first point

I'm in a competitive WvW guild. We were a guild in the Titan Alliance on Henge of Denravi. All we really play GW2 for past 80 is WvW. If we do dungeons, it's to get gear to look good in WvW. If we do sPvP, it's to make our fighting squads better in WvW. For many weeks the guilds in TA and HoD were penalized for their success: 5+ hour long queues for WvW maps, plenty of coattail riders, enemies giving up by Monday and massive boredom as a result. Recently we transferred to the IoJ server (to get away from the queues and to focus on fun) which had a great community, instant queues and competitive, but not total blowout, matchups. Just 2 weeks later EB now takes hours and hours to get into, we own 95% of the map, it's monday and there is massive boredom once again.

If free server transfers don't end, this is going to be indicative of every server that gains any traction in WvW. Here is a list of the current WvW matchup. Notice how none are remotely competitive:

http://mos.millenium.org/matchups#NA

I'm asking you, the GW2 and WvW community to stand beside me and boycott WvW for the 10/19 - 10/26 matchup to send a firm message to ANet that this needs to end. If you'd like to stand and help send a message, please add your character name and server and I'll add your name to this list.

Here are a few solutions I think they could implement to attempt to remedy this issue:


- Allow guilds to transfer to any server with their earned guild benefits. Implement a cooldown of one month.

- Remove free transfers for accounts more than a week old (allowing new accounts a week window of transfers), implement paid server transfers with an increased gem price and a WvW lockout

- Stop arbitrarily playing with server statuses. Last week about 8 servers were listed as FULL and then suddenly all 8 went to HIGH for about 2 or 3 days allowing everyone to transfer to T1 servers and stuff them beyond capacity

Edited by Frozire, 16 October 2012 - 08:52 AM.

[Draxas]

I'm 100% behind this idea, hopefully this thread is not locked, as I'm not sure you're allowed to make a petition to Arenanet or anything like that.  This needs to happen for the health of the game though.  I've been in JQ since the beginning and watched it grow more organized week by week.  We've achieved #1 through an astounding achievement of getting a bunch of total strangers to strategize and work together, and now the community is being seriously endangered by all the freeloaders hopping over, not to mention having to endure a 5 hour queue this last Friday for a borderland.  One of our best guilds has already left and I'm sure other smaller ones have gone as well.

The HoD-JQ-ET matchup last week was a blast, full of intense fights and a very competitive matchup overall.  HoD still had the majority of their guilds left for the first half of that week and they gave us a run for our money, and ET gave us some good fights too.  Now it's a completely uncompetitive faceroll, and it's really, really boring.  I play all aspects of the game but WvW is essentially my reason for being here.  It's getting old real fast, and I may just take a break from the game until it gets its kitten in order.

PLEASE, for the love of all that is holy, remove the free transfers, there's absolutely no reason whatsoever for them to still be here.  It's just killing the WvW of the game.  What's the use of working your way to #1, if you're just going to give yourself a major parasite infection?

[Carbinedevil]

You do realise that "total blowouts" are more often the result of low morale and people not wanting to play WvW when their servers are behind instead of coattail riding don't you?

[MrZero]

1 in 3 servers deny your request.

[Corvindi]

Some of those score differences give me hope, though, maybe we'll end up with at least 6 very competitive servers with good coverage.  Anyway, I can sit here and be optimistic and tell myself it's not because enemy teams are giving up faster and faster each week.

[Hexenn]

You know the point of a boycott is to stop giving them money, right? What you're saying is akin to "I will continue to frequent this Deli, but am hereby boycotting the Turkey Sandwich." Ever think that maybe the guru-alarmist 1-3 tier WvW minority may not be the only demographic factoring into whether they close transfers or not?

Please continue to be morally outraged though, it amuses me.

[Scyn]

Hexenn, on 16 October 2012 - 02:23 AM, said:

guru-alarmist 1-3 tier WvW minority

Judging by que times and server pops, I'm not so sure the top 9 servers house the minority of players across the game.

Edited by Scyn, 16 October 2012 - 02:27 AM.

[Corvindi]

Hexenn, on 16 October 2012 - 02:23 AM, said:

You know the point of a boycott is to stop giving them money, right? What you're saying is akin to "I will continue to frequent this Deli, but am hereby boycotting the Turkey Sandwich." Ever think that maybe the guru-alarmist 1-3 tier WvW minority may not be the only demographic factoring into whether they close transfers or not?

Please continue to be morally outraged though, it amuses me.

It is kind of difficult (not to mention self-defeating) to boycott an all you can eat buffet when you've already paid for it.  However, I suspect a fair amount of gems get spent on gold that is then spent on siege, so.... it's not an idea entirely without merit.

[Nevron]

Corvindi, on 16 October 2012 - 02:29 AM, said:

It is kind of difficult (not to mention self-defeating) to boycott an all you can eat buffet when you've already paid for it.  However, I suspect a fair amount of gems get spent on gold that is then spent on siege, so.... it's not an idea entirely without merit.

True. We basically pay the admittance fee, and the goal is to keep us around to help generate income through merchandise and concession stands (cash shop). If players play mostly for WvW and they boycott, they're not potentially spending money in the cash shop. Not to mention that it's a major selling point of the game, so if any WvW boycott does take off and empties out the maps to any significant degree, gripes will be made ..though not necessarily heard.

[Archieballs]

IMO uncalled for. ANet has been working hard fixing a lot of stuff & I don't think they will end free transfers until guesting is available. I'm not a fan of the free transfers but it isn't all that bad unless you play on JQ, ET or HoD.

[Ezendor]

Archieballs, on 16 October 2012 - 02:47 AM, said:

IMO uncalled for. ANet has been working hard fixing a lot of stuff & I don't think they will end free transfers until guesting is available. I'm not a fan of the free transfers but it isn't all that bad unless you play on JQ, ET or HoD.

I think you should look at the scores of every NA matchup right now and see a complete blowout in each and every tier.

[Scyn]

Ezendor, on 16 October 2012 - 02:51 AM, said:

I think you should look at the scores of every NA matchup right now and see a complete blowout in each and every tier.

I think that's actually part of Anet's "self policing" plan. Those servers have gained from the fall of TA. They're not in the proper bracket, but the effect of the guilds spreading out is apparent.

[Ezendor]

Scyn, on 16 October 2012 - 03:07 AM, said:

I think that's actually part of Anet's "self policing" plan. Those servers have gained from the fall of TA. They're not in the proper bracket, but the effect of the guilds spreading out is apparent.

Then they should go back to 24-hour matchups to redo the rankings, cos what's the point of gathering ranking data if everyone who made that ranking what it is (players) can just move around freely and screw the rankings up?

Edited by Ezendor, 16 October 2012 - 03:15 AM.

[eviator]

How about when a commander transfers to your server intentionally leading your server-mates into ambushes.

Truth be told, I'm ready for this period to close so that I can start guesting.

Edited by eviator, 16 October 2012 - 03:23 AM.

[Scyn]

Ezendor, on 16 October 2012 - 03:14 AM, said:

Then they should go back to 24-hour matchups to redo the rankings, cos what's the point of gathering ranking data if everyone who made that ranking what it is (players) can just move around freely and screw the rankings up?

I really wouldn't be opposed to that, but I'd rather see 3 day matches. There's a huge potential for burn out when you have day after day of 24 hour matches.

[Sivorick]

Do you even really need to stage it? It's essentially happening right now. Anet has the statistics to see that participation in WvW after Monday is spotty at best. Most matches are decided by the end of the weekend and win or lose, the numbers reflect the current state of WvW. I think on one hand the developers braced for what would be rocky, QQ filled start, but had no idea of how things would really shape up.

What needs to happen now is that a date needs to be announced for free server xfers to stop & start to carry a cost and a temp wvw lock out. When that date is reached then we need to start the whole post launch process over. Let servers find their tier and go from there. I still fully believe that wvw needs a slight adjustment to the way the orb bonus & the outmanned buff work, but I don't think we are far from seeing the persistent battleground they envisioned.

[yahikodrg]

Scyn, on 16 October 2012 - 03:07 AM, said:

I think that's actually part of Anet's "self policing" plan. Those servers have gained from the fall of TA. They're not in the proper bracket, but the effect of the guilds spreading out is apparent.

So it was part of ArenaNets plan to kill Sorrow's Furnace? We were a middle of the pack server until our WvW guilds decided to take advantage of the free transfers and move to a more established server. Even now our WvW guilds are looking for new servers to move to.

[Eon Lilu]

Totally agree with OP, Arena Net should sort this out already. Deso server just had a US guild jump onto our Eu server and now they night cap everything in there own timezone. I feel sorry for the other servers were against. This free server transfers has broken WvW and guilds are taking advantage of it, instead of fighting on there servers they just jump whole guilds for an easy win server. This US guild was also using mesmer portal exploits to bypass keep walls.

Then they double our WvW que's and make all our WvW matches boring and easy.

I really hope they block free server transfers.

One transfer per month per account.

It costs alot.

If you do transfer you are locked out of WvW until the next match.

Edited by Eon Lilu, 16 October 2012 - 03:52 AM.

[applebeefstew]

Free transfers are still on because they haven't implemented the guesting feature yet. I'm sure they're going to get a backlash from other players if they don't provide guesting before they remove free transfers.

[ManJr]

I think my server has already been boycotting.

[Al Shamari]

My bet is that you will see some major changes along with the Shadow of the Mad King content release.

[Talamare]

Agreed that it needs to end

The longer it goes on, the more people are starting to hate wvw

between elite guilds switching servers and bandwagoners clogging Qs

Edited by Talamare, 16 October 2012 - 04:25 AM.

[Bottoms_Up]

I think it could be a good way of sending a message.

But then, how about next week we try a different strategy. Every single person (not guilds) should pick a server at random and transfer there. A pipe dream I know, but it could be fun. Couldn't be any worse than the current situation. Unless Anet then stopped transfers without warning

[Eclipses]

Thanks for your posts guys. If you'd like to abide by this boycott, please post your name and server, so if ANYONE from Arenanet sees this, they know the names of people who are standing up against this.

Free transfers do not have to wait until guesting is provided. Not only is it a falsity, it's unfair to everyone who plays WvW to have to wait on such a feature to be able to readily enjoy the game. If you're on different servers you can still enjoy dungeons and sPvP together. Meanwhile, by continually allowing these transfers - they're causing guilds and players to transfer off servers en masse; harming server communities and the entire game as a result.

It is now 2 months past launch. If you are NOT on a server to be able to partake in content with your friends, it is your own fault and ANet needs to stop catering to you. New accounts should be able to have a transfer window, but that's all. Everyone else should face a greater barrier of entry than a meaningless 24 hour cooldown.

The evidence against continuing free transfers is pretty blatant and it's outrageous that they've been continued thus far. We've all seen the threads. We've seen the communities harmed from either mass immigration or emigration. They don't even have a timeline for when guesting will be released...how much longer is the WvW community supposed to put up with this shit?

Edited by Eclipses, 16 October 2012 - 04:44 AM.

[Fiery Lily]

It's 2 months after release. They said this free transfer thing is going to be temporary and then they are gonna implement a longer cd on transfer and add gems to do it. You may think it's time to close it and it's fine that you think so, but imho the sky is far from falling.

And do you think adding cd and gems for transfer is going to stop guilds transfer and bandwagons? Sure it'll slow down but it wont delete human nature which is jumping on the chariot of the winner as we say in  Italy.

So all in all I agree it's time to do it but i also think this post is way exagerated in the tone and speaking about boycotts and stuff for something that wont even solve the problem completely is just "meh".

[Eclipses]

Fiery Lily, on 16 October 2012 - 05:08 AM, said:

It's 2 months after release. They said this free transfer thing is going to be temporary and then they are gonna implement a longer cd on transfer and add gems to do it. You may think it's time to close it and it's fine that you think so, but imho the sky is far from falling.

And do you think adding cd and gems for transfer is going to stop guilds transfer and bandwagons? Sure it'll slow down but it wont delete human nature which is jumping on the chariot of the winner as we say in  Italy.

So all in all I agree it's time to do it but i also think this post is way exagerated in the tone and speaking about boycotts and stuff for something that wont even solve the problem completely is just "meh".

Aurora Glade is in the EU so I'm not sure how it's like over there, but over here I can count several servers off the top of my head that have been adversely affected by these transfers in a great way:

- HoD
- SBI
- NSP
- IoJ
- JQ
- ET
- SF
- BG

I don't think you've ever seen a community get bloated/gutted, and thusly erode either way, so that's the reason why you think I'm being overly dramatic but the fact of the matter is that it's happened, it's happening and it will continue to happen so long as they're free and open. In an MMO community means everything, except for in GW2 when community just means a transfer button.

Edited by Eclipses, 16 October 2012 - 05:19 AM.

[Featherman]

Fiery Lily, on 16 October 2012 - 05:08 AM, said:

It's 2 months after release. They said this free transfer thing is going to be temporary and then they are gonna implement a longer cd on transfer and add gems to do it. You may think it's time to close it and it's fine that you think so, but imho the sky is far from falling.

And do you think adding cd and gems for transfer is going to stop guilds transfer and bandwagons? Sure it'll slow down but it wont delete human nature which is jumping on the chariot of the winner as we say in  Italy.

So all in all I agree it's time to do it but i also think this post is way exagerated in the tone and speaking about boycotts and stuff for something that wont even solve the problem completely is just "meh".

I agree with this post. No amount of moderation by ArenaNet is going to stop players from acting like they've always have, but it will slow down some things to a reasonable pace.

I'd like to add that most servers, their players and commanders still haven't matured to their potential. A lot of the issues that result in lopsided fights stem from WvW community itself so, alongside some reasonable moderation from ArenaNet, that's where they need to be addressed.

[Venereus]

Server transfering is currently the easiest way to get 100% map completion and other stuff that's bugged on your server. Those bugs need to be fixed first.