Greetings from the Mists! We’re happy to announce that the fourth beta event for phase one of the World vs. World World Restructuring feature will take place from August 12 through August 19. The beta event will begin with each region’s respective weekly World vs World match reset. If you’re unfamiliar with this feature or our plans for it, you can learn more about it here.
What’s the goal of this beta event?
As mentioned in our June 24 WvW update, this event will allow us to test several back-end changes that we’ve been working on over the past few months. Most of these changes won’t be visible to players (unless things go horribly wrong!), but they will allow us to gather new data and stress-test some code changes. It will also give our new WvW team members (myself included!) our first experience with running a WvW World Restructuring beta event.
What’s new in this beta event?
- We hope to test a new internal deployment system that automates many aspects of executing a World Restructuring beta, including the steps involved in team creation and matchmaking. It should simplify the internal process of hosting beta events and make it less prone to human error. This is a big step toward having the feature enabled full time on the live game servers without manual upkeep by our Platform Engineering team.
- We’ve reduced the likelihood that players will be placed on the incorrect team or realm (assuming they properly selected a WvW guild prior to the deadline).
- We’ve implemented bug fixes and mitigations for the “queue bug.”
A WvW bonus experience event will be active between August 12 and August 19 (100% bonus to World Experience, a 25% bonus to reward-track progress, and a 50% bonus to magic find).
Which changes are NOT in this beta event?
The Alliances component of World Restructuring and the recently announced Objective Scaling Rewards feature are still in development and aren’t ready for public consumption quite yet. Please check out the June 24 WvW update for the latest information on these features.
What do I need to do to participate?
You must select a guild to play with for this beta event. The in-game panel found in the WvW menu that allows you to select a WvW guild will be available on August 2. You must make your guild selection by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) on August 11 or you may be matchmade as an individual for the beta event (i.e., you and your guild will be placed on different teams).
As always, we’ll be watching the official forums and social media for feedback. So, sharpen your blades and get your spells ready! Let’s do this!
Floyd Grubb
Senior Game Designer
