The StompCast is the new podcast on the block, hosted by yours truly. Join me and my co-host Cigs from Team Paradigm as we chit-chat with guests from various teams about pretty much anything Guild Wars 2 PvP related. In our first episode we’re joined by special guests Xee, sPvP Officer of Condemned, and liNk from Team Synergy.
Shownotes after the break.
StompCast Ep. 1
Date: 7/16/2012 – 6:30PM PDT
Hosts:
-Nord (GuildWarsInsider, News Editor) www.guildwarsinsider.com
-Cigs (Team Paradigm, Officer) www.teamparadigm.net
-Xee (Condemned, sPvP Officer) www.areyoucondemned.net
-liNk (Synergy, Captain) http://www.youtube.com/user/TeamSynergyGW2
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-BWE3!
-GW2 and E-Sports
-Does a meta exist in Guild Wars 2 currently?
-RNG in Guild Wars 2
http://www.teamparadigm.net/forums/General/175/An-attack-on-RNG-in-response-to-Jon-Peterss-Dismissal/
-Tournament maps: Battle for Khylo Y/N?
-Forest of Niflhel NPC discussion
-Weapon / trait swapping mid-match. (Macros)
-Focused class discussion: Thief
-The downed state
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Hey Finit, Wow thats some great feedback for Nord!
"That being said, they can be a little shortsighted. For example, they mentioned quite a bit about Guild Wars 2 not being ready by launch because of balance, lack of testing, etc. It was only when one of them pointed out that they were in the minority of the player-base and then suggested that ArenaNet does not necessarily need to have GW2 as a glorified e-sport day one, that they sort of re-balanced themselves and took a step back."
I think it was was of their goals to make the game an e-sport if I can quote "We consider it to be one of the primary goals of Guild Wars 2 competitive PvP to make it into an eSport." Im sure you can agree with this information you retract your statement"
"Most admitted to not having tried the thief first-hand, and yet are very quick to jump on that it is weak." Cigs actually played thief? But then again the thief in my team that played over 50 sPvP games with us and he concluded very quickly that thief was weak. EVERY team I have talked to sPvP wise has concluded thief was weak.
You gave loads of feedback though and for that, hugs and kisses :D
LiNk
Team Synergy
I reviewed the podcast in a recent blog article:
"All of the hosts are extremely knowledgeable of the state of PvP in the game as well as have substantial backgrounds in other notable e-sports. Although it should be noted, if you are looking for a casual, WvW podcast, this is not it. These are all guys who know their way around the structured PvP, and are members of some very notable guilds.
That being said, they can be a little shortsighted. For example, they mentioned quite a bit about Guild Wars 2 not being ready by launch because of balance, lack of testing, etc. It was only when one of them pointed out that they were in the minority of the player-base and then suggested that ArenaNet does not necessarily need to have GW2 as a glorified e-sport day one, that they sort of re-balanced themselves and took a step back.
Or the one guy saying "2" on the shortbow is useless. He obviously has not heard of 'shotgunning', and alas no one corrected him. (My true opinion is that it is a nice niche move for single target, burst damage on a shortbow, and fails when trying to use it as an effective AOE in PvP. It may not be working as originally designed, but it's far from useless, and I'm surprised at his comment.) Most admitted to not having tried the thief first-hand, and yet are very quick to jump on that it is weak. ArenaNet may have had a point a couple of weeks ago in one of their interviews stating that we do not know what is strong yet...That being said, I still believe thieves are a little under balanced and may be in need of a rework, but that is from my own fifty hours of experience. I think it's a little premature to judge something you haven't even taken the time to play. But I'll be the first to admit that even with fifty hours, I still have no idea what the profession is capable of. Consequentially, my own opinions are still clouded with my own inexperience.
To be fair, while I blathered on about some of my complaints a little too long, they really provided some excellent discussion on RNG, meta, thief balance, and downed state mechanics. I value their opinions fairly highly in the community, even if they have just started. I encourage you to take a look and listen to them for a while. The podcast is quite informative and entertaining.
Favorite moment " Guy 1: "Crit bullets....take that out of the podcast"
Guy 2: "Done."
and alas a grammar mistake on the very first sentence. Proofreading is key my friends....
There are plenty of match stats besides kills that could be featured post match other than kills. I routinely get awarded "Objective Neutralizer" by taking out enemy points, and I personally believe that it's worth way more than a player kill.
For any sort of eSport PvP environment, I keep coming back to Tribes Ascend. Absolutely everything that game does is fantastic. A very robust spectator mode, tons of statistics and medals, several game types, several game maps, classes which play out very differently, ability to multi-spec, and so on.
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MOBAs and eSport PvP games draw a pretty large audience, way beyond 1%. What is exciting with Guild Wars 2 is that we finally have a MMO which can tap into that game market and give them a corner of the game that can really appeal to their play style.
The trick is not letting that one facet of the game dominate how the rest of the game is balanced or structured.
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@Faelor @Centurion_GWI Ya'll seem to have this handled, but let me know if I need to ban someone, k? :D I'll get out the banhammer :D
@Centurion_GWI ... Oops. I meant to reply to @Alaka, as he was stating the game will not have an e-sports focus when the developers have clearly stated it will. Sorry @Centurion_GWI , I enjoy your posts!
@Faelor Great link! I think it's awesome to see this kind of vision stated up front for the game, and I hope they succeed. I also trust them to not make it the sole focus of the game.
I also have to politely decline your request that I stop posting. I find these discussions far too interesting, and I love participating and encountering opinions that differ from my own. That's how we learn!
Actually, I detest WoW's arenas. They're the opposite of fun for me, placing emphasis on gear over skill and what flavor of the month comp is popular at the moment.
GW2's sPvP is a ton of fun! I'll never play it at a hardcore tournament level, but I see nothing wrong with having a segment of the game that appeals to those players. Just as I think it is equally impressive that GW2 can appeal to people who love RvR or PvE or exploration or crafting or the economy... and so on...
Furthermore, those hardcore, rabid tournament players will potentially be some of the game's biggest champions! The amount of exposure and buzz they can generate is impressive. If GW2 taps into even a quarter of the League of Legends player base, that is a HUGE boost for the game as a whole.
Don't be so quick to dismiss something just because it doesn't appeal to you personally. Those same "script kiddies" may help the game as a whole succeed and flourish, and that's what we all want in the end.
@Centurion_GWI
http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=29213
ZAM: Speaking of competitive team-based PvP, eSports has been making a big push into the public sphere, with more players turning to streams to generate consistent revenue while playing in tournaments for the prestige and bigger cash prizes. Do you have any major plans to support eSports gaming in Guild Wars 2 that you can share?
Jon: Absolutely. We consider it to be one of the primary goals of Guild Wars 2 competitive PvP to make it into an eSport. We plan to have daily tournaments, monthly tourneys and a yearly world championship. I can't give out tons of details on these yet, but I just wanted you guys to know that we plan to have these things and support them.
Please, stop posting. Thanks.
it is called a pvp podcast for a reason. your idea of "fun" isn't the same with everyone. I enjoy the discussion and looking forward to more!
I do agree that the PVP side of downed state needs some rethinking and some balancing, for example the idea of having only 2 skills is a good one
skill 1 damage (throw rocks and small damage items)
skill 2 healing (while not in combat or receiving damage from any source)
all CC and special abilities should be removed from downed state, I mean come on you lost the fight already,
you should be thankful you're still alive.
@Latinkuro But you didn't lose the fight already. You've been reduced to a gimped state, but you haven't lost yet. If you can somehow turn things around while having such a reduced skill bar, that's pretty awesome.
What the downed state avoids is the "Critical Existence Failure" trope (google it, or just look it up on TVTropes.org). The game doesn't leave you fully capable no matter how damage you take until that last hit point, and then you're suddenly dead, instead you have transition where you take a bunch of damage and then you're reduced to a gimped state from all that damage but still alive and fighting, and only finally die after taking the rest of the damage necessary to really kill you. It's a heck of a lot more realistic, and it's a great mechanic.
Im so glad you don't edit out swearing i mean i really feel like im listing to fellow gamers.
Not that far into the episode and I'm digging it a lot. Great job guys.
@Faelor Thanks! Was my first time doing anything of the sort. I had a blast.
@Nord @Faelor Finished! I definitely approve. The co-hosts definitely worked well together. The knowledge about sPVP was definitely present; I think someone even new to this area of the game should be able to digest it well. I'm also very happy to hear other individuals who are in competitive teams have the same concerns I do. Let me know if you're in need of another voice!
*As an audiophile, thank you for the great quality of sound.