OK, so here’s my attempt at an editorial.
Guild Wars 2 is getting closer and closer daily and the more I read PvXWiki the more I realize we desperately need a better build sharing website. Every time I look at the site I find another reason that makes me wonder, “How many good builds aren’t being posted here because of [insert reason]?”
Let’s start with the least complex topic: the usability. If you want to post a build, you have to learn wiki syntax. Once you overcome that hurdle, you then have to go through the trouble of formatting the build page correctly, etc. How many players took one look at the work of posting a build and never looked at the site to share builds again? How many more builds would we have if a player could simply come to the site and paste in a template code then fill in some pre-determined fields?
Now let’s tackle the more complicated issue: the community. A build sharing site should allow users to post anything and everything they think can be useful to others and then have users rate it over time after (and here’s the important part) using the actual build. The community of PvXWiki has such an elitist attitude that they refuse to try most builds unless they live up to certain standards or expectations. How many people posted one build they’ve used extensively, got disheartened by the lack of acceptance, and never posted again? How many builds have we as a player community missed out on because the PvX community doesn’t think something will work?
Now I mentioned GW2 earlier. What will our build community be like for GW2 if we’re stuck with a build sharing site with the above problems? How many build combinations will we miss out on trying for ourselves because this community is incredibly good at ?
Now I know there are things like GW Shack out there but build browsing and searching is lacking. It’s good for making builds and handing them out to friends but not the community as a whole.
Why is no one commenting on here? With no one commenting
you must feel quite lonely just posting for no reason :/
People are definitely visiting according to the stats
Well, I doubt that a new build sharing site will change anything tbh. The problem is really not the platform, but entirely the community. A wiki perfectly fits the needs of sharing builds because it offers the opportunity to easily share ideas and stuff with a really big community. Hands down, wiki syntax isn’t rocket science or anything, and even if you really mess up your articles format wise, chances are someone else will clean it up for you.
What messes up all the beauty is just the fact that Guild Wars is a game, and games are often played by 15yearish old kiddos that desperatly want to prove how much they “r0x” and how everyone else “sux”. So, if you set up a site to share builds, these kiddos will join the community, and that’s exactly what happened to PvXwiki. At the very beginning of PvXwiki (and at the times when builds were posted on the guildwiki build namespace, from which PvXwiki evolved) everything was just great; there were (and still are) some really skilled GW players who know what they’re talking about and even some guys who actually took the time to test builds before they rated them.
But with time moving on, things got worse and worse, because more and more kiddos joined and PvXwiki became what it is today: basically nothing more than Observer Mode in HMTL format. That happened, because all these kiddos are just to simple-minded. They sucked up all the knowledge of the more skilled people around, but fail at judging new things. They know for sure that Shock-Axe is a solid GvG warrior build, but if someone comes up with a new build they won’t recognize its potential until they see it on Obs Mode in high-end GvG/HA. That’s why it’s practically impossible to successfully submit new builds to PvXwiki. Kiddos are the vast majority of the userbase, and they will rate your build straight zero if they didn’t see it on obs mode yet. The best example to show how things work on PvXwiki is probably the “Backbreaker Assassin” build. When it was first posted on PvXwiki a horde a kiddos joined the discussion/rate pages, spamming “omgz0rs, a sin using da hamma attacks, lolzlolz you build suckz0rz so much!!!” until finally some of the experienced users stepped up and protected the build until more people actually tested it. Now the build is rated as “great” btw, the best category a build can achieve on PvXwiki.
Long story short: Changing the platform most likely won’t change anything. As long as the new site also features build rating and doesn’t store any build ever submitted but only rather decent ones, it will evolve into the same piece of shit that PvXwiki has become.
Here’s my take on it.
As an older ” non kiddo “. I would most certainly find it easier to post my builds and suggestions on a platform where it doesn’t require me hours and hours to figure out the ” wiki foo ” and additional hours to set everything up. I’d like to login, plug and play and done.
Obviously what a community like PvX is lacking is proper moderation. Honestly, I’d personally go from post to post deleting all unintelligent comments that dumb ass youngsters make and leave only the posts that people who verified/tested and suggested something else.
Just to quote on what you said in your post makku:
” spamming “omgz0rs, a sin using da hamma attacks, lolzlolz you build suckz0rz so much!!!”
A comment(s) like that is unacceptable and proves just how much of a dumb ass someone really is.
If you look at all the most successful communities, they all filter out garbage daily to be able to maintain their great stature and content.
In lue of that, we can both certainly agree PvX is generally lacking moderation and ease of use to properly function as a useful site.
Its all about time/quality, and that is something hard to come by.
I support this idea because if its executed on a level that it offers a high level of QoS (Quality of Service), then it will offer both a high level of content with responses that are valid and justified.
I completely agree with both of you.
and Ren you need to start logging in