Gunnar's Hold Community

Thought this deserved a thread of its own

Gunnar's Hold has its very own community over at http://www.gunnars-hold.eu/ this includes forums and a gigantic mumble server for people to use, particularly when taking part in the regular WvW activities every Tuesday and Thursday evening.

To view the WvW stuff including Mumble details you'll need to sign up to the RPS group listed here http://www.gunnars-hold.eu/profile.p...editusergroups (I think you need to be logged into the site for this link to work)

I can then approve that I know who you are, so mentioning forum name would be helpful, and you'll then be able to see everything.

One note: if you join the community mumble please can you prefix your name with the guild tag. From memory it doesn't like spaces, so for us you'd want to use [RPS]yournamehere



PS I'm still interested in getting someone who's playing WvW a lot who would like to organise things there.

I just joined their forum yesterday and jumped into WvWvW with some people during the evening. Very nice and organised folks, joining and registering is highly recommended. I cannot say how much WvWvW I'll be playing in the future, but if people want to get strike team organised, I'll be happy to help out with that.

RPS Recon Team, this is your finest hour!

Yeah and I've just joined the group today on the forum thanks to Timofee, so I think I'll be on tonight to do some WvWvW with Mumble.

I'm in wvw pretty much every day but wouldn't like the burden of organising/comandeering :p

Seen a few more RPS in WvW & on the community mumbe today, nice to see more joining in :)

WvWvW is much more understandable with Mumble and a Team Chat Tab open!

Def recommend getting over there and joining!

My main is Sister Sophira, Mesmer in practise!

I've signed up to the RPS group with this username. Am Saphnabylni in-game.

Yeah guys last night as a lot of fun on Mumble in WvWvW. Thanks for all those siege weapons Mal. ;D

Good to see that people are interested in joining forces with the other GH guilds. This really is a great way to get things organised and in my opinion also the only way to achieve anything meaningful in WvWvW.

I'll be away until tomorrow evening, maybe we can get something going Wednesday night? Would love to see the Recon Team working in cooperation with the other GH groups.

Oh, one other thing. Please make sure to say hello in the introductions thread over at the GH forums:

http://www.gunnars-hold.eu/threads/1...uctions-Thread

Although some of you might already know this, I thought it would be a good idea to post some GH related news here on our forum. As of yesterday afternoon, the guild group [KISS] has announced that they will be leaving the server. [KISS] is believed to consist of roughly 1500 members spread across three or four guilds, so I have no idea if this decision holds true for every single member or even sub-guild. Without getting into any lengthy discussion about why these guys are leaving, one their members told me that a big factor was the current situation we are facing in WvWvW at the moment.

To give a brief summary of that situation: Basically, we are punching above our own weight against servers that have much larger numbers of players participating in WvWvW. Although the GH community is getting more and more organised (and has achieved some unlikely victories against overwhelming enemy numbers), we lack the dedicated WvWvW guilds of servers like Piken Square but also can't muster the huge numbers zerg servers like Abbadon's Mouth bring to the fight.

Usually the match-making system should provide us with equally strong servers (in theory), but for this to happen, we'd need to lose, and lose badly, in the current round, while at the same time, one of the servers in the WvWvW tier below us would have to win their round by a pretty big margin.

We'll have to see how things develop in the next days and weeks. Right now, a lot of people seem to be unhappy with the situation and a discussion is going on about how to proceed. On the one hand this all feels a bit like internet-drama to me, but on the other hand I also know how frustrating it feels to be either outclassed (Piken Square, at least these guys offer great fights) or overrun (Abbadon's Mouth, worse players than us, but huge in numbers) two weeks in succession.

That's somewhat bothersome news. Thanks for the heads up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by squirrelfanatic

Usually the match-making system should provide us with equally strong servers (in theory), but for this to happen, we'd need to lose, and lose badly, in the current round, while at the same time, one of the servers in the WvWvW tier below us would have to win their round by a pretty big margin.

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I can see how this would turn it around quickly, but would not this sort of thing happen over time if the winners and losers in each tier are more or less consistent?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by squirrelfanatic

Although some of you might already know this, I thought it would be a good idea to post some GH related news here on our forum. As of yesterday afternoon, the guild group [KISS] has announced that they will be leaving the server.

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Dang, that's not good to hear. I wish I could pop into WvW these days but I'm suffering from Error 7 (constant disconnects every five to ten minutes) since last patch so the game is pretty much dead for me right now.

A good night tonight everyone in WvWvW - both in-game and on Mumble. The turn-out of RPS was decent considering the size of our guild, especially considering it's a Monday night.

Thanks to everyone who tolerated my fumbling through orders but I think we had a good time hiding behind windmills and capping points.

Tim - I think some people did mention they're waiting for RPS approval on the server community forum? Although they did say that they only applied this past weekend...

- Seigous Bearheart

Only managed to play for the last hour in the AM borderlands, saw quite a few RPS guys running around through! Mumble was pretty well organised tonight too. You're a good leader Seigous :)

Was going well.. until BOON showed up ofc.. I honestly can't wait 'til we go down in the rankings abit - I think the servers below us will be a better match for us now, it's unfortunate that it's mainly due to the numbers game :/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by squirrelfanatic

Although some of you might already know this, I thought it would be a good idea to post some GH related news here on our forum. As of yesterday afternoon, the guild group [KISS] has announced that they will be leaving the server. [KISS] is believed to consist of roughly 1500 members spread across three or four guilds, so I have no idea if this decision holds true for every single member or even sub-guild. Without getting into any lengthy discussion about why these guys are leaving, one their members told me that a big factor was the current situation we are facing in WvWvW at the moment.

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Given how loose knit they were I'd be very surprised if everyone follows, but either way its clearly a further dent in server numbers which is a shame.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Krathor

A good night tonight everyone in WvWvW - both in-game and on Mumble. The turn-out of RPS was decent considering the size of our guild, especially considering it's a Monday night.

Thanks to everyone who tolerated my fumbling through orders but I think we had a good time hiding behind windmills and capping points.

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Good to hear, at some point I will get back into WvW but right now so many other games!

With a view to this sort of thing I have recreated the Baron rank who can claim keeps in WvW. I was wondering if you would like it if you fancy sorting our regular WvW contingent out a bit? I'm thinking the likes of Icepop, Malfious, etc as well - give me or squirrel a shout and we can sort it out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Krathor

Tim - I think some people did mention they're waiting for RPS approval on the server community forum? Although they did say that they only applied this past weekend...

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Only one, which I have now approved, so if anyone else is still waiting let me know as I dont see anything. PS Red was asking me about other people who could be added to the approver list - would you fancy that?

Similarly, squirrel shall I get you added?

Think someone said this in Guild chat a while ago, not sure if anything became of it.. We could all (active 'WvWers') chip in and put some money in the guild bank for WvW upgrades & such, I have been spending what little money I have on supply camps, but the bigger towers & keeps become quite expensive for the later upgrades. This could be useful for keeps we claim

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timofee

Similarly, squirrel shall I get you added?

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Yes, please! I am around the community Mumble quite often and almost exclusively playing WvW at the moment, I'd like to help out a bit.

In other news: We had a GH server meeting on Mumble yesterday evening where the current situation the server is in was discussed. In brief, a list of the results of the meeting:

- Nearly everyone stated that they and their guilds will stay on the server.
- We aim to increase the WvW part of the GH population. To this end, there will be an increased effort to get people interested in this play mode:

- Since many people seem to be confused about what to do in WvW and bounce right off of it, introductory events are being planned where some more experienced WvWers will act as guides for the basics (like tactics, map awareness, communication, siege placement, jumping puzzles) of the play mode. Video tutorials have also been mentioned but I have no idea how long it will take to get those done.
- Invitations to the community site / forum will be posted in /s chat in Lion's Arch and other larger hubs. The idea is not to recruit players into guilds, but to inform people that there is an organised community where everyone is welcome. Guilds that are trying to recruit players can do so in a subsection of the community forum as well, which is a great way to present themselves.
- A free trial weekend is coming up where players can invite their friends (or foes) to try the game. This is a great opportunity to show people around and give them a helping hand. During the weekend there will be lots of possibilities to get introduced to WvW.

In other words: Gunnar's Hold is looking forward. We've got a great community going and will try everything to keep it alive and kicking.

If you would like to join in the fun, visit the Gunnar's Hold server forum, post in here, or send me (or the other RPS WvWers) a PM.

In reverse order...

Squirrel: Thanks for the update. I missed the meeting last night due to getting home from work late, but it's good to see that morale has not been affected too much by the recent changes in the server's roster.

Going on that, then, it seems that many of the guilds are now 'locking' into the server and we can continue to work on the community, which will be a great benefit to us once we move down a bracket or two inevitably - but that will simply be because Gunnar's does not have the same numbers as the other servers in our bracket at the moment.

I have seen even RPSers introducing their friends and giving them a guided tour of the WvWvW areas. I also think that these sorts of introductory sessions are worth doing; newcomers can have fair exposure to what actual WvWvW is supposed to operate like, instead of just being thrown in there and expected to follow the zerg. Even if they decide that they don't like it, we've given WvWvW a fair presentation.

Squirrel, I know that you have been doing more than your fair share to promote the community forum and I think uptake by outsiders will increase over this weekend. I'm assuming that, because there's this upcoming event on, there's going to be a lot of people stood around Lion's Arch just waiting for something to happen (like during Halloween). So they're just sat there, ready to be publicised to.

You are the reason that I joined the GH forum myself and I'm glad that I saw the advertisement for it.

Mal: Thank you for your kind words about leading. :)

I remember the first time that I did a proper session of WvWvW on GH and you were a giant of siege-dropping gifts. Even then I was a little like 'eh? Surely he didn't spend his own money/badges on that'. However, I've since tried to do the jumping puzzles in our current bracket and I know for pretty much certain you didn't get those weapons through the puzzle. That sort of personal sacrifice and initiative is exactly what Jessopia talks about and praises.

But...

RPS is a big guild and we now have an active WvWvW base. I don't think that any one of us should individually spend extravagantly on siege weapons, when a few of us can chip in with a small fraction of the overall price each. In your post you do talk about using a small selection of guild funds to upgrade buildings and camps, but I think that the direction of what we should be spending the money on should be dictated by how the guild is going to approach WvWvW in future. This leads onto...

Timofee: I'd also gladly take Baron status and I agree that quite a few of the other WvWvWers should have the capability to claim buildings too. In terms of the actual rank, do what you want with it obviously - but the key thing of being able to claim and manage camps/towers/keeps is what is important - not any internal powers within the guild.

Having a few people as 'Barons' also means that we can be claiming things if necessary around the clock - the RPS WvWvWers are logged in at all different times of the day, so if a handful of us have the rank we have more flexibility.

In terms of actually organising WvWvW events, unfortunately I have quite the hectic work schedule so I'm often on and off when I get time (although when I do get time I can often dedicate hours into playing) so organising bigger events for me is a bit of an issue personally. However, I don't mind continuing to be an ad hoc co-ordinator when required, like last night.

That said, I do have some ideas about what focus the guild should take when it comes to WvWvW. As Squirrel has suggested, I think introducing some of our PvE players into PvP is also important going forward. I'd also argue that we currently don't have the logistics to claim, sustain and defend a keep successfully as a guild without outside help and considerable investment by the comparatively small group of us who participate in WvWvW regularly.

Instead, I think that we should focus on building our resources (in terms of funds, siege weapons and people) and also showing our face a lot more to the community at large. A lot of us in RPS already have a good rapport with the people on the community Mumble, but nothing beats a show of force like last night when the numbers back up our hopes and goals. Plus, I think driving funds into siege equipment makes a more 'fun' experience for the newcomers that we are trying to get into WvWvW.

However, that's just my opinion. What do you guys think?

I agree that we would not be able to defend a keep without outside help. I'm not sure if you were playing 2 or 3 nights ago, but after we had claimed Hills in AM borderlands, Padmay stayed there all night upgrading it & keeping a lookout all by herself.. I don't think it got attacked at all in those hours, but everyone was prepared to map back to defend it were to happen.

Also, keep buffs help immensly.

I'd agree with the above- it was good running with a sizeable RPS contingent last night and Krathor led us to several victories and only a few cliff-based defeats.

Getting overrun by massed enemy forces is nothing new- we used to go up against servers like Kodash and Desolation who were way larger than we were. If nothing else it's good training and helps a lot against the quality of zerg you get from the likes of Abaddon who tend to run away more often than not. I will be glad when we drop a tier and don't have to endure the organised rushes of guilds like BOON though.

I think one of our strengths could be the large PVE population- if they check out WvW as they exhaust PVE content or for monthly completion we should do all we can to get them into an organised party and see the sights as people have already suggested. I find punching mobs just isn't the same after a good siege defense against real people.

What's tended to happen previously when we dropped a tier was that the poor servers we match against next get ripped apart by us as we work our frustrations out on the weaker servers, so next weekend might be a good time to get some tutorial groups going against the new opposition.

If we can get a stock of group siege blueprints together via donations that would be a great advantage as the game design relies on siege to make up population imbalances. Being able to quickly drop a ballista in the middle of an open fight can wreck a frontline if done well and is the sort of thing a small group can do to really tip the balance. If we're not numerous enough to claim and hold keeps then we could certainly look at providing engineering support with siege and supply. Defending positions is something we're slowly getting better at as a server.

I'm also on a hectic work schedule and at the mercy of the trains but usually on later at night and would be happy to help out organising groups and Representing.

Icepop

Also towers like Cliffside/Cragtop/Dawn's Eyrie are extremely defensible. Place some catapults and ballistae covering the door and able to hit beyond the far wall and you can hold it for a long time with a fairly small force. Even better if it's right opposite the enemy citadel as it really winds them up.

Claiming and defending a tower is a nice discrete task that a small group can focus on and is a good introduction into placement of siege, how supply works, use of AOE and the like. The server's much better at responding to mapwide threats and relieving defenders in time for heroic victories and lootbags and is one of the great moments in the game. If we were to try and hold a small RPS event I'd say we try and keep a small tower in our borders or possibly even EB and see how long we can last

Icepop