We have done some, not much, GvG in the past. We have not won any matches in a very long time. In fact we haven't attempted since our last round of losses over a month ago.
I think the biggest problems with our guild doing GvG are:
1) We don't have a consistent group of players on at the same time who want to PvP, let alone GvG. Without a consistent team we struggle to pull enough people, with the right types of characters together.
2) GvG matches, even if we are totally outclassed, take a healthy amount of time, once we actually get our team pulled together, which seems to take even longer. The last couple attempts we made, we got 1-2 kills at best. That's a lot of time for so little reward, and it's no fun to be sitting there watching our team loose while your character is lying on the ground.
3) Frustration when loosing in GvG. When we have come out, obviously outclassed, from a match some members are frustrated because we don't seem to do well or even get much of an even footing. GvG is a much more complex form of PvP than HoH or Team Arenas. Since most of our guild doesn't have much PvP experience, the whole strategy of GvG on top of PvP is a bit much. Many of the matches I have participated in, we don't even have a team strategy when we start, or it goes out the window and we all start doing our own thing and running in different directions.
So, moving forward, we need to:
1) Work on building a PvP team base of people who want to PvP/GvG and build up the experience/expertise/excitement.
2) Build the "team build(s)" up so that we can pull together a group in a reasonable amount of time and get started. Practice with those teams under a person or 2 focused on that particular build and looking to improve it. Practice using Zaishen Challenge/Elite Challenge/Team Arenas/Hero's Ascent, then refine the build for GvG.
3) Spend time as a team watching in observer mode and discussing what is going on to learn strategies and builds. ArenaNet has also been promising a way to have in-guild practice for GvG in the future, this would be another good way to learn. From this we can build our own team build(s) and strategies further.
Up to this point we have had a scheduled Friday PvP Night at 10pm eastern. The last few weeks, no one logged in at that time has been interested. We have eventually gotten a few people together between 11pm and midnight for a few rounds in the team arenas, but no more than that. The only reason we have done 10pm up to this point is that I cannot log on much earlier than 9:15pm most nights. If someone else could step forward to lead the PvP team for an earlier time, I would love to have more PvP activity as a guild.
Pastori, I'd love to test out your uber-pet build, but is GvG the best format for this? I would think that we'd want to have people learn the build first, then start worrying about the Guild Lord, Guild Thief, Flag Stand, Trebuchet, 2 minute rez, etc. Maybe if we could scrimage against GC, or should we try it out in Hero's Ascent, Team Arena or even 4 player in Zaishen challenge?
I agree though, let's try a new team build on Friday for PvP Night. Pastori, please post the basics of the player and team build and a sign-up call. I will likely create a PvP only R/Mo. We can also discuss the best format to test the build in that thread.
I would like to see us grow a good team build and start doing serious GvG, I just don't want to kill our motivation again by going in unprepared and having our characters eating dirt through the next couple matches. If we do test OK after a few rounds in Team Arenas and/or Hero's Ascent, I have no problem moving to GvG with the build after discussing match and map strategy.
Sorry about the length of this post and thanks for letting me get this out.
![[toj.cc]WildBillKickoff](/forums/data/avatars/m/1/1206.jpg?1442680067){kind=avatar}
