6 replies to this topic

[Khalija]

Habib Loew, programmer, has reported that the orbs in WvW will be removed from the game in an upcoming build. He states that the orb-like mechanic might return in the future which makes it seem like the biggest issue stems from the hacking and cheating rather than the buffs that a server receives from them. Temporary or not, the community seems to be giving the thumbs up for ArenaNet making this decision. What do you think about it?

Quote

After a careful reevaluation of orbs of power we have decided to remove them from WvW in an upcoming build. As implemented, orbs tend to strengthen teams who are already winning and make it even more difficult for underdog teams to fight back. In addition, the current implementation seems to be irresistible to hackers/cheaters and will require significant modification to prevent cheaters from having an unfortunately large impact on the state of any given WvW game. Under the circumstances we believe that removing orbs completely is a better choice than attempting an in-place redesign/re-implementation as it will immediately put a stop to all orb hacking. It is likely that orbs, or some orb-like mechanic, will return at some point in the future, but only after we are confident that they will not exhibit the sorts of issues that we see with orbs today. [Source]

[Yabuki]

Finally, I always thought the out manned and orb bonuses were backwards.

[Dokem]

Bravo. This was needed. I hope they implement something orb-like in the future hack-free as he said, but right now this orb crap is bad for WvWvW. Kudos to Anet.

Edited by Dokem, 01 November 2012 - 08:06 PM.

[Aetou]

Yep, hopefully this will be implemented very soon indeed.  I disagree a little with Khalija's analysis though:  I think the quote makes it clear that there are two recognised problems with Orbs.

1) The hacking.  This is the reason for temporarily removing them completely.
2) The fact it gives an advantage to the team that already has one.  This is the reason for reworking them in the long term.

Removing them temporarily and then bringing them back in a much improved form is the right decision, the only real question is why did it take so long as people have been pointing out these issues since before we went to 1 week matches.

[Fallanx]

That a first step but most biggest guilds already gave up on RvR. Next fixes should be servers capacity to remove horrible queues,  lags at peak time, still tons of invisible invaders with terrible clip plane, ability to zone inside RvR with your mates.

Then things might change.

Almost forgot, remove ability to switch server for free at all. No timer whatsoever.

Edited by Fallanx, 01 November 2012 - 09:23 PM.

[st0rmie]

Yabuki, on 01 November 2012 - 07:45 PM, said:

Finally, I always thought the out manned and orb bonuses were backwards.

Couldn't agree more. If the orbs gave you a "rewarding" buff rather than one that made you more powerful, they'd still be highly desirable, but they would not "strengthen teams who are already winning and make it even more difficult for underdog teams to fight back."

Of course, the hax would have to be well fixed.

As for the undermanned buff.. well the current one is just dumb. I don't think there's a single player who would disagree.

[Tzu Qui Jinn]

Nice to hear they finally admit to the hacking and cheating going on in their game. Already, dungeons are forcing people into hack's cheats in order to complete them. As to the WvW hack cheating, Orb Stealing, etc. I don't see how removing the Orbs will resolve the real issue. Rather it's better to leave em be, and just have watchmen on the walls for the hackers then BAN them.

Speed hacks are more of an issue in WvW then Orbs. I can't hit them if they ran away at 100% speed.
Clipping hacks that put a Mesmer into a keep, to port an entire army into it, is a larger issue than Orbs.
Porting an entire army across the map while stealth-ed is a larger issue than Orbs.
Clipping attacks on monsters to clear dungeons are a larger issue than Orbs.
Teleporting Hacks are more of an issue than Orbs.

This game's economy was destroyed after 3 weeks from game release.


On the REAL ORB ISSUE... all hacks aside.
How about bad servers in WvW start using good tactics, instead of throwing all your badges at your enemy at your front gate... (Tarnished Coast). Ever hear of the word  FLANK?  How about learning how to secure a fortress and upgrading it with siege weapons before leaving it be.

How about protecting your Orb carrier?

Orbs are NOT THE ISSUE. The client side hacks are the issue.

Edited by Tzu Qui Jinn, 01 November 2012 - 10:12 PM.