Meet my ranger, Shin Wanderer. She looks pretty damn excited to be in WvW, which is a good thing. You see, she better be excited, because she is going to be spending a lot of time in WvW, for I am going to level her all the way to level 80 (after the intro that gets you to level 2, obviously) just in WvW. It is something that I have wanted to do ever since Anet announced it was possible many moons ago, and now that I have gotten my main to 80, I figured I would give this a shot. I have laid out a few ground rules for this challenge that are as follows:

• No EXP may be earned outside of WvW (no personal story, no exploring in PvE, nothing)
• sPvP is ok because no regular EXP is earned
• All gear used must be acquired in WvW
• Trading Post is ok provided the money is earned in WvW by this character
• If I think of anything else, or if any other good rules are suggested, I'll just add them here

I plan on keeping this little blog going as I level this character. I won't be playing this character all the time as my warrior is still my main, so posts might be few and far between. If anyone else wants to join me on this adventure, just hit me up in-game! Maybe if enough of us commit to it, we could make a little side guild to help set up runs or something. Anyway, wish me luck, and I will see you on the battlefield!

I've never tried WvW, and the game itself didn't really seem to lead me towards it or tell me anything about it. Apparently it was pretty bugged not long ago?

I think I'll get to 80 and try it out as well, I'm 3/4 of the way there and might as well keep my momentum going.

If only the queue wouldn't make it so damn hard to get into it. Currently, it's impossible to get in during prime time. If you want to play during prime time, you have to be in WvW way before that. Even now, at 3 AM, there's still quite a lengthy queue to get in. Really hope they'll find an agreeable solution for this problem. Other than letting time sort it out.

@Seppli said:

If only the queue wouldn't make it so damn hard to get into it. Currently, it's impossible to get in during prime time. If you want to play during prime time, you have to be in WvW way before that. Even now, at 3 AM, there's still quite a lengthy queue to get in. Really hope they'll find an agreeable solution for this problem. Other than letting time sort it out.

Right before I posted this I picked a random Borderlands and got in right away. And this was at roughly 8:30 Eastern, so pretty much prime time.

I've never tried WvW, and the game itself didn't really seem to lead me towards it or tell me anything about it. Apparently it was pretty bugged not long ago?

I think I'll get to 80 and try it out as well, I'm 3/4 of the way there and might as well keep my momentum going.

@Seppli said:

If only the queue wouldn't make it so damn hard to get into it. Currently, it's impossible to get in during prime time. If you want to play during prime time, you have to be in WvW way before that. Even now, at 3 AM, there's still quite a lengthy queue to get in. Really hope they'll find an agreeable solution for this problem. Other than letting time sort it out.

Right before I posted this I picked a random Borderlands and got in right away. And this was at roughly 8:30 Eastern, so pretty much prime time.

@Seppli said:

@shinboy630 said:

@Seppli said:

If only the queue wouldn't make it so damn hard to get into it. Currently, it's impossible to get in during prime time. If you want to play during prime time, you have to be in WvW way before that. Even now, at 3 AM, there's still quite a lengthy queue to get in. Really hope they'll find an agreeable solution for this problem. Other than letting time sort it out.

Right before I posted this I picked a random Borderlands and got in right away. And this was at roughly 8:30 Eastern, so pretty much prime time.

Europeans are going crazy for GW2. It's topping sales charts in 10 countries over here. Not just PC charts. All charts. On a busy server, and pretty much all servers are busy, there's always a queue - and during prime time, you won't ever see the end of it. Isn't Yak's Bend full to the brim too?

Yeah it is, so maybe I just got lucky. I tried the Eternal Battlegrounds and that was full, so I just picked a random borderlands and got in right away.

I think this is a really cool project. Not having done WvWvW though I have to ask, are there creatures to tame in there? If not then Ranger was a very interesting choice to make.

I think this is a really cool project. Not having done WvWvW though I have to ask, are there creatures to tame in there? If not then Ranger was a very interesting choice to make.

I think this is a really cool project. Not having done WvWvW though I have to ask, are there creatures to tame in there? If not then Ranger was a very interesting choice to make.

@shinboy630 said:

@DarknessMyOldFriend

I think this is a really cool project. Not having done WvWvW though I have to ask, are there creatures to tame in there? If not then Ranger was a very interesting choice to make.

Honestly, no clue, although I would think there are. The main reason I picked ranger is cause I like how medium armor looks and didn't feel like doing WvW with a thief, who doesn't have as many good ranged options as a ranger.

That could be a good side goal, since 2-80 is quite a hill to climb. You could put together the definitive resource on taming in WvWvW.

Sounds like a neat idea. I was going to wait until I was much higher to do any WvW myself but I might poke in with an alt to see how this might go.

@Giantstalker: It was only ever 'bugged' in early beta events. The real issue was the queue times.

@Seppli: Queue times have been sub-5 minutes over the last few days.

@wemibelec90: I created an alt specifically for WvW just like @shinboy630. Been a ton of fun playing a mass-scale support Guardian in the chaos that is WvW, I must say.

Interesting idea. I planned on doing this as I wasn't enjoying PvE but the queue times put me off. Another issue is that some of the events I ran into required a group of people (and most areas are barren in WvW). I look forward to hearing how this goes though (I'm mostly interested in how the EXP gain compares to PvE), and I might go back to it as well.

@project343 said:

@Seppli: Queue times have been sub-5 minutes over the last few days.

That's great for you Jak's Bend fellows then, because WvW isn't just great fun, it should also prove to be the most lucrative and quick way to level up, especially if you get a steady group of players together to go after small and medium sized targets.

For many of us on filled-to-the-brim servers, that's just not the current state of the game - our WvW queues are gamebreaking, for during prime time, there's just no getting in. So heed my words, if you get the game new and intend to roll with WvW - don't join a full server.

This seems like a real interesting project. I noticed that when I'm in WvW and just going with the flow, I lost complete track of time and don't even realise I've gained a level. Hopefully it'll go fast for you.

I totally caught you on this character for a few minutes the other day, Shin. Then you ran the other way and I was slaughtered almost instantly by a mob of enemies.

Trying the same right now with a lvl 3 memser. I had a real hard time learning weapon skills, so I had to cheat a bit and learn them in PvE.

Just checked. I'm on the absolutely most busy server in Europe. Maybe even the world. Guess I'll have to transfer to something more reasonable.

Just checked. I'm on the absolutely most busy server in Europe. Maybe even the world. Guess I'll have to transfer to something more reasonable.

@konig_kei said:

@Seppli

Just checked. I'm on the absolutely most busy server in Europe. Maybe even the world. Guess I'll have to transfer to something more reasonable.

You should be Yaks bend defending the motherland!

Did a short transfer, but I'd lose all my influence on my solo-guild, so I did turn right back - I won't transfer before I've unlocked my own personal guild emblem and armorer. If worst comes to worse, 1200 gems aren't costing the world - in-game gold and otherwise wise. Anyways - once 'the real' guilds have established themselves, it'll be time to find a good fit for me - if I am interested in getting really deep into it.

I'll stick to European servers though. I prefer to play during local peak hours for full-on peak gameplay, which should always be rather evenly matched due to WvW population caps.