Where Are Guild Wars 2's LEADERS? - With Sneb!

[@Enviously]

The amount of people I see roasting commanders for making even the slightest error is too damn high.

[@MisterNo1111]

Yeah, don't say that😝just frightening me out👻, joking but not really...its not so easy for jung leaders. I am just 'working' on my Legendary Backpack Warbringer, that demands to have Comander Tag. And i am not really there to lead...and that is not encouraging;) But yeah... slowly👻🎉👻

[@maxventunosei5017]

Agree. Insults are thrown too easily and for absolutely nothing... It's not because you have a tag that you Know Everything or want to do everything!

[@nixstyria723]

Yeah saw this at AB meta recently, comm who may have been new to the meta made a less optimal call to wait instead of burn their side, no biggie, ez fix, I was comm-ing south and tried messaging in chat to try and say 'nah we should burn' and it would have resulted in a kill. But instead of being helpful, some toxic person started flaming the comm in map chat and they kept repeating that last call in map chat sarcastically to sabotage their side, and some newer people on that side actually listened to those calls and caused vines to regen twice. Still cleared it in the end and called out this person but it shocked me how toxic this whole interaction was cause I'd thought this community was better than that. Not only was this person trolling the meta for the whole map, this comm is also going to have a super bad memory of this despite taking the initiative to step up and comm a lane. They'll be way more apprehensive commanding anything anymore even though we need more people to step up, to avoid getting humiliated infront of the whole map like that. It was also crazy how a whole map of players, some of which were propably decently expericed, just watched this toxicity happen for like 5 minutes and didnt say anything to be helpful or call this person out. Changed my perspective on this game even though i love this game and community, imagine if a newer player saw this, they'd never step up to comm anything again out of fear of this stuff happening.

[@MisterNo1111]

@@nixstyria723 you are totally right. I would be first doubtful in my self about commanding. Often people are just shocked and overant by bullies like that.💌💎💌

[@fahlur]

should never allow that to get you down. A leader is not made from only success but built from their own failures.

[@alexandrospapadopoulos4297]

Being the commander is like working a retail job for free. There is an insane amount of Karens in the gw2 community and you see it as soon as you pop that comm tag. Let me explain. Raids/strikes: "hi dps", you kick the dps because your lfg asks for supports, then the dps starts flaming until you block them. What these people don't see is that the instant I put dps in the LFG my group is full. People that come to the raid clueless and when you ask if anyone is new they don't say a thing for the first 5 attempts. Then they are mad you kicked them. You are in dragonstorm, you type 3 times "g2 Braham g3 Ryland" and people somehow still roam like headless chickens. Also you need to call out "kill them together" every single time even though the game literally says it out loud every time. Don't even get me started on Dhuum and Qadim. You end up locking your group behind an LI requirement or just join a static to spare yourself the misery. Now you're you're elitist and you're now removed from the active public commander pool. WvW: You just spotted a perfect opening to flank the enemy blob, you type 3-4 times "group now" but half the squad is busy collecting their 2 gold ores and 1 rosemary leaf. You lose the opening and you respawn on the other side of the map. You tell them to stack tightly for easier healing and better damage mitigation and they are spread across the map. You have to call for alacrity on the catapults every single time you place one because apparently it didn't stick the previous 10 times. You end up solo roaming or joining organized guild/server blobs. You are removed from the active public commander pool. Open world: thank God most of OW is a joke. We all remember the salt trains from Dragon's End. Even now, you open LFG. You ask for support roles first to ensure smooth sailing. self sorting ends up with everyone staying in group 1 as dps. You then try to lock the group and filter those who enter, and you get the pink brigade in your chat box soon enough. Not to mention that even if you kick them they already ported to your map, taking a spot from your squad and probably upscaling the endboss. Even the simplest tasks like "let everyone tag" in dragonfall need to be repeated every 5min. You end up setting your groups up when you can guarantee at least some decent players in them. You are once again, at least partially removed from the active public commander pool. All these without even touching on floor inspectors and people who think that 5k dps in any lvl 80 content is acceptable. Meanwhile, I have to memorize 30+ boss encounters and their special roles all on detail so I can help players that struggle, map rotations and event spawns that are hour long, what every single class and spec does so I know what abilities and roles to call in, provide ascended feasts, banners and waystations, write a guide on the fly in a digestible way for the new people, and take care of my own character to perform my best. I am doing my absolute best to enhance my fellow players' experience and give them the epic feeling of a group working together to bring down giants. And that's the heart of the issue imo. GW2 is a massively multi-player online experience. You are meant to work together with others and enhance the experience of your fellow players. There are A LOT of people that don't get that. There are commanders, there are knowledgeable people. We are just so fed up with the lower end of the player base and the rude players making everything so much harder.

[@yukopangestu3293]

In my experience, having commander tag is my way to "make group faster" rather than "waiting for commander" before I commanding I try to check every thing that the group wanna do in the content. After getting my tag, I started to tag several things also I always assuming that there will be at least 30% people didn't know what to do AT ANY TIME. I always rambling about what to do next, what is going on, I tried my best to explain and explaining things like this on chat is very challenging sometimes LOL. And then, some people actually praise me and even tipped me like it doesn't need to. Up until now, i am confident to commanding even LFG-ing by myself on fractals or strikes, i am still learning to strikes especially boneskinners. I am sure that 300g is really unnecessary or too high price for a commander tag, but having that will boost your confidence if you know what the commander tag can do and how to command each meta or any content you wanna tackle. I haven't mastered the DE yet but soon after i'm confident i will try to LFG and making the group myself.

[@nigh7ingale191]

Anak NA atau EU bang

[@Theheartslove]

I originally bought my tag cause a friend who is a guild leader asked me to, so I could host content while he was away for a few weeks. I have ended up using it to just "tag up" when I am in an over flow map for some metas to get a group going so I can get my rewards for doing said meta. It's then turned into me hosting strikes on occasion for some of my guild members to get a group going. I feel like it will eventually pay for itself from just doing little random things like that.

[@maxzett]

Answer:. I can't afford the tag xD

[@thaddeusgames9951]

I am with you there I just have other things I would rather spent the gold on.

[@UberAwesomeDewd]

Just yesterday failed the Dragon's End Meta and someone told the Commander they were the worst commander ever and it kinda broke my heart

[@Jay-sn7wu]

they should've led it then.. but probably never will and will continue to blame others for their failures

[@skollybob]

If the wankers were that good they'd be comming themselves. I saw exactly same thing in same meta and told them so.

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

i mean, idiots are everywhere, some ppl just have to insult others for their frustration. guy was probably just mad to have wasted 2 hours for a failed meta event and couldnt deal with it. wouldnt pay that too much attention.

[@SirGareth]

Funny enough, just yesterday I commanded my first open world meta (Kaineng Overlook Blackout) and the hardstuck meta guide helped me set that up. Started the squad 15 minutes before the event and didn't think people would join, but we actually filled up the map and even had an overflow. All through LFG. Even had an ANet employee in the squad which was pretty random haha.

[@thorne3827]

I actually bought my tag a few weeks ago, and since then I've been able to make meta maps out of nothing, and my farming game has improved drastically. I've actually almost made all the gold I spent back. I've even built a sort of name for myself in lfg, and it's been fun to see a few regular people hopping into my squads. I was hesitant for a long time, but I think it was an incredible investment.

[@MisterNo1111]

Great to hear it man! Congratulations👻

[@maxventunosei5017]

I agree! Being alone and being able to create squads for meta or bounties or even trains is so so good. It's a relief to be able to pull out the tag!

[@MisterNo1111]

@@maxventunosei5017 i am just working on my(Warbringer) and i now that with time i will learn leading aswell👻🎃👻

[@MoGaiinz]

I have over 2,000 hours in the game and do end game content regularly. The 300 gold is my biggest reason for why I haven’t bought it. And I make 30+ gold a day playing, it is an expensive investment. I’ve had 2,000+ gold on me and still felt it was too expensive for me to throw a chunk of my gold into that. If I get more gold I will eventually get it.

[@Tyler.8046]

I really don't understand why the only requirements for it are to play WvW a little bit and pay a huge sum of gold. It would make so much more sense to treat it like a legendary unlock, where it requires doing a bunch of game content across every part of the game. I think some gold investment makes sense, but you can easily get the commander tag without having a clue how to lead, or even how to play the game properly.

[@youtubeistryingtocensorme]

@@Tyler.8046 same here. Why spend 200 gold on tag when i could use that gold to work toward my legendaries or level up my crafting or buy cool looking skins or buy gem shop currency?

[@MoGaiinz]

Btw update, I’ve bought the tag and use it semi regularly :D

[@torkyn]

14:00 Sneb makes a point that relates to so many things in terms of professions in life. When people do a decent job they don't hear much feedback to give validation, but when things go poorly you are always going to hear the negatives. Make sure to let your commanders know you appreciate them :)

[@uniquename111]

This i totally agree on. In my opinion if your comander or comunity is making arrengements putting time and effort in and you feel that this was a really great thing then dont hold that back but make sure to tell about it. All people need to hear good things when there is good things done.

[@Snebzor]

So true. Positive feedback is so important for growth.

[@mintayree1363]

What a timing! It's been bothering me for a while now. To the point i had to make a video about it. I won't fully agree on a statement that we need more leaders. We need more people who CAN lead. Toxicity has been creeping in slowly for a while now.

[@blob_cancel_aftercast]

In general, it's better to lead even if you don't know exactly what to do. Most events the people can carry by themselves

[@Axetwin]

THIS! Commander tags are bought, not earned. Which means there are too many people out there that think because they spent 300g, the means people HAVE to start listening to them when they start barking orders in chat.

[@T0asty-]

@@Axetwin shoot ill command and just wing it, usually works out. no reason for people to be shiesty about it D:

[@Axetwin]

@@T0asty- Fair, but do you get pissy when people don't listen to you? That's the difference I'm talking about. ESPECIALLY in Open World chat.

[@alexandreb7032]

@@Axetwin only if End of Dragons hahaha

[@labdG]

I like to help newbies through dungeons because it's often pretty chill and relaxed. They just play what they want while I support as healer and explain mechanics when needed. That's basically as mush leading as I'm comfortable with.

[@Jmvars]

I would be comfortable leading strikes. I feel confident enough in my squad building to at least cobble together a functional squad, as well as my encounter knowledge. I'm just too lazy to farm the 300 gold. EDIT: 45:47 I was trying to teach noobs Whisper of Jormag. I kept trying to explain to them that when they are chained, they should try and move only towards or away from the boss. Obviously, every single pull someone would clothesline half the team and we would wipe. Every single wipe I tried to tell them to watch the chains. I'm with you, Sneb. I actually like teaching noobs but when there's no progression and we're just wiping to the same mechanic over and over and over again it becomes tedious after a while. On the flipside, when you see someone learn and do the mechanic correctly it does feel good. I try and give praise when they do do it.

[@Mutagenz]

I think it has a lot to do with the cost of a commander tag. It is really hard for players to get even 30 gold let alone 300 gold. Once you earn 300g the game wants to punish you if you feel brave enough to take on the commander tag mantle. I think players feel like if there’s a commander tag, this guy must know some secret tech or be super good at the game and there’s no way I’m on his level and I don’t want to humiliate myself so I will wait or find something else to do. Get rid of the cost for a tag, make grouping easier, guide players into the content through story or else it just feels exclusive and elitist even though it overwhelmingly is not.

[@niklasstahl98]

Yep. 300 gold is like a month of income for casual players that don't know or care about the meta, and they really want to get that pretty legendary weapon, so no way they'll spend that to make the game better for themselves and others. And that's the vast majority of players for better or worse

[@LLPTV]

It's not a punishment. It's a check whether you think it's worth having that tag for that price. If you don't think you can command shit, you don't buy it. If you do and you don't know what to do, ppl don't follow you, and it's not worth it. It is an investment and it pays itself off if you know what to do. You don't need to know everything but you need to know what needs to be done and where. Or that 300g was a waste. That's the point. You make it worth your while.

[@MisterNo1111]

I would not agree with you. Even if you're werry casual and playing 1-3h daily you will gather it in 1-3 months if you do events, world boses, Fractals1.tier, easy Strikes and Dungeons. I mean if you say i will keep all money fue months just from dailly-s 30 days is 60 gold and if you earning 5-10g. dailly wich is not much and posible for super-casuals you are there. I wos playing 2 years free-to-play base game(i am turbo-casual still) and now 2 more with expansions. And i am still not there to feel able to tag-up Beaucouse i don't play that good and don't anderstand the gameplay. But one day i would love to. But money is not issue hier, try it out. Leave all money for 1 month and see how much you will have.👻

[@Mutagenz]

@@MisterNo1111 you proved my point. In 1-3 months I can choose to progress gear and try builds etc etc OR I can dump it on a tag. 1-3 MONTHS for the opportunity to learn, maybe find success , but most definitely get shit on along the way. Imagine going into a new job and your boss say , Give me $300 before you start, and while you are here for the next 1-3 months while making your $300 back you may meet some nice people, but you will definitely be publicly shamed and punched in the nuts a few times. Why am I paying to make up for Anets short coming?

[@MisterNo1111]

@@Mutagenz CooL answer! You got your point. Meabe i have a bit different view as i playing just this game and still learn this game-still-sistem. 👻🎉👻

[@tegneren33]

I write this as a new player who is very afraid of failure and being seen as "that one player". One of the first things I've heard when it comes to the raids and high end content in GW2 is that people will just kick you if you are delivering on your dps. Due to this I never tried entering training strikes on raids, because it sounded like people were just toxic. Eventually, I joined a guild that has regular training runs of strikes for new players. The guild seemed friendly enough so I joined. It was nice up to the very point where one of the players in voice call started question my dps. Even though everyone else in the call said it was fine, that it was just a training and beginners had to start somewhere, it really put me on the edge and I felt that if I just did one tiny extra mistake I would have kicked then and there, because of what I had heard in regards to raiding in this game. The guild is nice and friendly and we did clear the strikes, but I feel more anxious about strikes/raids if some still demands high standard for runs for brand new players. I can imagine that a lot of players feel they need to overcome this fear before putting on the commander tag, since it is a leadership role, meaning more punishment for failure. As a new player, I also get the impression that the leader with the tag have more menus and such to watch over than someone who joins the squad. It gives the impression that if I were to spend the 300g on the tag, I would have to learn a lot of new things with a role that is more punishable for failure and fuckups.

[@PrismaticWolf]

In Final Fantasy XIV there are two systems that could maybe help? Maybe! 1) Commendation system where you commend someone you were randomly grouped with for instanced pve. Commendations are currencies that can be exchanged for things like outfits, titles, mounts, etc. Nothing that increases power. Commendations are given to people who are helpful, funny, etc. One could argue it makes people be nice for selfish reasons but in a MMORPG I will take nice for selfish reasons over toxic for no reason. 2) Additional currencies are gained when doing instanced PvE content with someone who has never done it before. In GW2 this could be doing metas with new people too.

[@CitizenSniiiips]

I was tagged up doing desert bounties on Sandswept isle today and someone actually tipped me. First time I've been tipped and they sent a lovely thank you message. I don't care about the gold at all but the thank you was very nice, especially because leading desert bounties is super easy.... I have found that tagging up more recently seems to be much more positive. I think the influx of new players is helping a lot. I would love to see a system like FFXIV brought into the game where there is some system of acknowledgement. Doesn't necessarily need to lead to rewards but some sort of incentive would be nice. maybe a back item skin and a title or something

[@Aereton]

might have been me haha, always leave a small tip to decent commanders even if it really doesn't make a difference gold wise :3

[@oliverclark8460]

Another super simple solution. You command enough different metas and instances you unlock unique tags and colors. Just put it behind achievements

[@astrobiolog]

I have the issues about tagging as well... Mostly fear. A complete guide on using squads would be an amazing addition :)

[@Gertryyd]

This!

[@MrHomunkulus]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKHTgnmYj7-Nb9k This is a great Guide

[@MarcelRiegler]

I think a big help would be easier management of groups. Esp. with Quickness/Alacrity, you have to just remember who was what. The ability to add custom markers or metadata to certain people in your group would help tremendously. Another thing would be overhauling LFG, making forming groups easier. You don't really need to lead low level fractals or dungeons, but there's still this inertia about being the guy that created the group.

[@puddi8817]

A bit late, but start with "group 1 kick, group 2 alac , group 3 quick, group 4 dps. Its very easy to setup from there by first assigning the alac/quicks.

[@RecoveringLoLAddict]

There's these 2 lies MANY veteran players like to tell new players : The lies that this game is casual friendly and that we don't have a trinity of roles. All endgame content and I mean ALL, have a healer and support dps in each subgroup. Preferably all geared with at least exotic gear and using a meta build for efficient dps output/ boon upkeep/ healing, you get the idea. Some content even requires a gimmick tank for either kiting the boss around or easing up a specific encounter mechanic. Nobody wants to be the guy that points this thing out for new players and I've seen commanders being chewed out by other players for pointing that out.

[@seagrey75]

Of course everybody wants experienced players all geared up, of course...

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

the game is very casual friendly, its actually the most casual friendly mmo out there, except for the fact that you have to pay 300g for the ability to effectively and efficiently make your own groups for instanced pve content. what youre talking about is most likely elitism, which has no correlation with the game being casual friendly or not. and ive never seen anyone getting sht for pointing out that gw2 has a holy trinity in endgame pve content.

[@j0rtsy]

I see some comments talking about the gold sink to command. I would almost argue to remove the gold sink and replace it with a set of achievements that incentivize commanding content, or at least doing content that requires understanding it. Gold is not hard to get. But getting someone who knows the mechanics is more rare.

[@oliverclark8460]

Mentor teq Mentor claw of jormag Mentor triple trouble It'd be pretty easy to put this stuff in to get a tag at the end of achievement. Maybe change mentor too and allow it to act as a tag

[@j0rtsy]

@@oliverclark8460 pair the mastery system in a little more, add tiers that add functionality to the mentor tag on central tyria. Smaller content up to larger content. Allow it in instances, 5 man up to 10 man next, etc. It’s not perfect and just spitballing, but this would also fulfill more on the promise of masteries feeling like…mastery.

[@missk1697]

To be fair, the commander tag is pretty expensive. And the catmander version is locked behind dumb JP -_-

[@SCaRaB6288]

Pug commander here, I have about 3k hours in the game. I train/clear raids/strikes/fractals regularly. Originally, I sunk the gold to buy the tag because I was fed up of waiting for people to create a group, and I wanted to create a group on my terms. Personally, I can see why there is a lot of stress placed on the tag. For example, I will willingly tag up any day for Octovine/Strikes and Wing 1-4 and 7, because I am FAMILIAR with the content, I know the win conditions, I know each event well, and I know the fail states. This makes me confident that when I lead, our group will very likely succeed. I will NOT tag up for something I am not familair with like Dragon's End because I am not yet familiar enough with the meta event. I am not sure of what the win conditions are, and I am not sure of what to tell people to look out for. I consider myself as someone very willing to put myself out there and can deal with the stress but ONLY IF I know the content. I suspect one of the key reasons why people are reluctant to tag is the lack of understanding of how encounters work.

[@Farwind]

So for point 3 -- it's hard to realize exactly how game-changing a tag is before you get one. It completely changes the game. Took me years to buy one because they're expensive and that was money that could go towards a legendary or other collection. I think there's a lot of cognitive load that comes with commanding, and recent changes to heal/alac/quick have really helped with that. When I form a squad, I ask for quick, alac, and people to state roles. When 10 people join at once and explain what they can do, it can be a bit overwhelming trying to sort out all the chatter to get an effective group -- and that's after the latest balance changes. Before summer, I had to know which each individual support provided (fury, might, prot, etc.), sort all of those, and then start the content. Now, at least every heal support pairs mostly well with every dps support, so you just need to know what's good on each encounter in kinda a vague way. I should probably start commanding raids instead of just IBS and EoD strikes. I've done it a few times, but all the niche ins and outs of each boss makes it really scary.

[@j255173]

I use the mentor tag whenever I am confident in leading metas and such, but the commanders tag is just too expensive and there are other things I would rather purchase in game than to spend money on it. Anet needs to lower the price tag on that.

[@raymacz1922]

I don't play much GW2 anymore due to work, but sometimes I still have time to listen to Teapot & his awesome GW2 content. Thanks mate!

[@flyinhawaiian9174]

I see a lot of video content on meta builds, but none on the different raid mechanics or instructional videos on how to kite for example. This kind of content has always been available for WoW.

[@Realblack_m0nster]

Well I do my part by doing daily T1 runs for fractala. I do HP trains sometimes and a little bit of map completion. If you got a reward for doing stuff like this somehow more people would do it for sure. As for why people don't do this often, I think it's the stress and anxiety and THINKING that you don't know enough to lead people.

[@Vilopus]

100% agree. While I'm not above tagging up when there is a lack of tags, I definitely don't take the initiative. My excuse(s) 90% of the time is: 'oh, I haven't done this meta in a couple of days, I'm a bit rusty, and besides, there are MR455s here that probably know this meta better', or I flat out am anxious about potential toxicity due to my inexperience in actual commanding (in PvE).

[@VII_Spiritual]

@@Vilopus what is MR455?

[@BorderFreak]

@@VII_Spiritual mastery rank 455 aka the current mastery cap

[@VII_Spiritual]

@@BorderFreak thank you.

[@mishking9547]

I have the capabilities to lead but i think the 300g for a commander tag is just not worth it among ALL the other things you can purchase and then when it all comes down to it i just dont want to lead/command, period point blank.

[@omegaweltall2001]

That’s the primary reason I don’t have a commander tag. I certainly have the gold, but there are many more things I want to spend it on.

[@tommik4872]

I literally want to lead but there's legendaries and bags and gemstore upgrades like bag slots or character slots which seem more worth it to me as a new player.

[@Lapouchy]

It is worth it for making lfg groups for anything alone. People don't join commander-less groups or take ages to do so. I saw this myself comparing making a tagless squad for strikes in LFG (normals) vs making a group in lfg for the same content, but with a tag. It can be a difference between filling up a squad in two minutes versus not filling at all or it taking half an hour. It's a ridiculous difference. It's not really about leading, I've made LFGs with tags for things I didn't mean to lead for shit, I just wanted to fill the group quicker and let people do their thing. On the point of price, I definitely agree. It shouldn't really cost anything - if ArenaNet wants to keep the gold sink in some form, make new colors and tag designs buyable with gold, like the catmander version.

[@CrazyDudeRecords]

The reason i shy away from getting a commander tag is 1. its expensive 2. when mentor tags came out i constantly got attacked for trying to run content with it so i figured why spend 300 gold if people are gonna gatekeep.

[@mintb3868]

I lead Strikes quite regularly but I don't have the Commander Tag. It's just really difficult for me to come up with the 300 Gold when I have a long list of other goals that cost Gold. I wish there was another way to earn it. Feel free to reply if there's another way to get a Commander Tag that I don't know about.

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

nope, only gold.

[@insanemang9983]

I think part of the problem is you can just pay money for gems and then convert them into enough gold to get the commander tag. The commander tag should be earned not bought.

[@itsxain4342]

My perspective in the problem is that there’s not any guides on commanding. I own a tag due to an impulsive purchase, and I do have the confidence somewhat (and can be built later on). However, I don’t have the time to play the game enough times to lead a meta. Metas by now have efficient routes and multiple ways to be done, and without guides, there’s much that I’m missing that is required to decently command a meta. I do hope that experienced commanders come together to make easy-to-follow guides that will give anyone the ability to start building their leading experience.

[@addamhall8214]

I really think it’s just the fact that the tag costs so much. You can be really good at a certain meta or event and want to lead it, but unless you can afford to shell out 300 gold, you’ve gotta go mentor tag or bust.

[@Koeras16]

200 gold is not a lot ! And if currently you think this is out of reach (for now) you might want to enjoy a bit the game more before thinking of leading any group.

[@omegaweltall2001]

@@Koeras16 200g IS a lot and I can afford it easily.

[@addamhall8214]

@@Koeras16 I’m well into the endgame already. It’s just 200 gold is a huge opportunity cost when it can get someone several sets of ascended gear, expensive fashion/cultural armors, progress towards a legendary, expensive mounts, etc. It’s basically choosing between something I may use occasionally vs something I’ll most likely be using 24/7. I have all those and my tag already I’m just saying it may not really be worth it for a ton of others

[@Silentstrike46_]

@@addamhall8214 Yeah, the price tag is definitely a big thing. On top of the things you mentioned already, 200g is what, 600 gems? Copper-fed on special is around that price too. I'm at the earlier parts of lategame (slowly getting ascended gear and unlocking all mounts), and while there's lots of times I've wished I had the tag and UI so I could help coordinate some people who were struggling, it's just hard to justify compared to the other QOL and unlocks I would like to get first. 200g is fine if you have a lot of gold, or very interested in having the tag, but it's definitely a large barrier to entry for anyone wanting to dabble in it. Edit: 300g, not 200g. Same argument then - can afford a lot more QOL for that price!

[@Aereton]

if you want people to join in on your meta without shelling out the gold you can always use the mentor tag i don't think making the com tag available to everybody from the get go is going to solve the problem, commanders need to be comfortable actually leading 50 people, there's too many coms already that never talk

[@affey]

In the absence of inspect, I wonder if Anet could facilitate new players' curiosity with a title like "Ask Me About My Build." Or some kind of badge next to a player's name to invite questions from new players.

[@LesbianAntFarm]

I'm not commanding because it costs too much gold to get a comm tag. I used to comm as an apple but it's harder to gather people and get everyone properly laid out without the squad.

[@Galastan]

Quick note for someone who's tried commanding in WvW before. I've pretty frequently gotten DMs from commanders from the bigger guilds on my server to tag down for one of two reasons: that I'm splitting the active population of the server between multiple maps, or they want to command the map that I'm trying to run. And these weren't always exactly politely-worded DMs. So even though I enjoy WvW and would love to command it, I really don't want to get flamed by big guild commanders. So unfortunately, I don't do it anymore except for briefly getting eyes on a simple objective that I'm trying to take by myself, like a tower, before tagging down again.

[@xezzee]

"W1 FC Know Mechs, Heal, Alac Quick" For new players that is Wing 1, Full Clear, Know boss Mechanis and stuff, Healer who gives Alac or Quick and DPS who gives Alac or Quick. DPS comes after I have the base set 👍 I have been running raids now weekly as commander for half year ^^ only asking KP when I want Quick Wing 5 ... Like "W5 FC 50KP, Druid(push/kite), HealTank, HealOffTank" tjen I wait with my 10kp ^^ I am confident I will do better than most people with 50kp in W5 CM or Normal as long I get to dps.

[@saewels]

A few days ago I celebrated my first year on GW2! There are a lot of thing I don't know (yet) but I'm helping with map completation, maybe it's not the same thing but I enjoy a lot helping people with hero runs and way points, just like they did a year ago with me. Once I feel confident enough I will try with WvW maybe and THEN who knows.

[@MightyTeapot]

I love to see it!

[@sussythescamurai]

our squad commanders train other commanders to run more raids and perpetuate our raid/training guild to be more autonomous. consider this -our guild is focused on training / raids , we recruit by running raid training in lfg . makes the whole guild have a common directive , keeps like minded people together - and that makes it easier to run the content we ALL like and fill our squads. the tunnel vision of our guild is what makes it work so well . guilds that claim to do everything generally do nothing , as they have nothing in common as a whole , or a directive

[@dagranpafury1166]

one solution to reward commanders could be: the active commander gets 1% of all rewards (items, gold, exp, …) from each squad member who is in the same zone and instance.

[@labdG]

This reminds me of when I tried WoW. I wanted to play tank in dungeons becaue I liked that playstyle. But I quickly realized that the tank was expected to lead the group and know the dungeons which was an issue because I was new and all dungeons were new to me. x)

[@cattysplat]

Tank is ironically the defacto leader in every holy trinity MMO. Big part of it is tradition, but also they tend to just have to focus on the boss facing and their rotation, leaving lots of mental and physical space to manage other players. However in casual content, it really shouldn't matter at all, most vets should be able to explain things, the fact they don't or would rather troll you says more about them being lazy or toxic. The unwillingness to help new players but ridicule them has been a problem with games since forever, but in WoW it is especially apparent.

[@labdG]

@@cattysplat In my case the people didn't communicate at all. As soon as we failed something because I didn't know where to go or what to do, some players just left. I suppose they had done that dungeon loads of times and just wanted their daily quick run. Still would have prefered that someone would be willing to help a new player. x)

[@Draconicrose]

A week or so ago I had to do Kaineng Overlook for the turtle so I watched Mukluk's GTTP video with it and went to LFG where there was already someone with a group. Great, I thought, I can just join and fumble my way through it! Long story short, I ended up taking over that group with my tag and doing callouts in chat cuz it turns out I was the player who knew the most about the fight from just a few minutes of video. We started by failing phase 1, but every try we got a little further, the numbers got a little snappier getting out of the group. It took a lot of wipes and some people quitting but we got through it and honestly it felt amazing! I helped those people get through it and they listened and improved so much on each go! 10/10 would recommend.

[@thequam64]

"Where Are Guild Wars 2's LEADERS?" Maybe the question should be, who is raising leaders? (and how)

[@anton022]

I feel like the 300g is justified since only people who are actually interested in getting leading a group. I don't want inexperienced people commanding a group since if they fail they will get flamed hard On the other hand, as someone who has a commander tag, I will avoid tagging up if I have no idea about the area that needs leading. There is also the fact that people are scared to take that first leap to lead a group and then getting hate for failing. We really need a channel or a guide that teaches us how to lead each certain meta as a commander.

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

ppl should be able to make their own groups and they cant do that efficiently and effectively without a tag. and to advertise the experience level of the group, players can use the lfg description. theres literally not a single advantage of this systemwhen it comes to instanced pve content.

[@anton022]

@@user-xo2og8kv1o that's why you grind the 300g if you really want it. you can make the same argument that you should give everyone a skyscale since it would make movement and map completion easier. If someone really want's the commander tag they will work for it. Whether its part of mastery or straight up gold its grind either way and its something to work towards to which gives you a reason to play the game. In fact I would rather pay up straight gold than doing the Pact commander 5/5 mastery again since that was a pain in the ass for autoloot

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

@@anton022 you lost me when you said the ability to make your own groups is the same as having a mount. like... what.

[@anton022]

​@@user-xo2og8kv1o What I mean is you dont need to have the comm tag to run a squad. I have personally run HoT meta maps except Dragon Stand on my alt with just mentor tag with group from LFG so while having a comm tag helps alot specially on the taxiing its not necessary. Sure it will make it more efficient and effective but if you want that tag and its convenience you have to grind for it just like how you would grind for everything in this game (mounts, HoT masteries, autoloot).

[@lisko1806]

@@anton022 Most likely most of those interested in exploring strikes with other newbies will just not bother ever trying to form such groups due to the inherent inconvenience, the few remaining either trying to snipe the rare training group or go out of their way to find horribly bottlenecked training discords. A mere handful will pursue the tag. Open world is a different matter, the gating is more necessary there, but private instance squads should not fall under any of this. No other game makes you choose between things like a fully geared character or basic raid functions (e.g. subgroup rearrangement). Even games that do automated matchmaking give you these functions at base for private groups. It's utterly baffling to me that so many people actually defend this system for instanced content.

[@AlexNight17]

This does not depend only on players. The way how our guild does that, as we are a PVE guild mostly - we train commanders ourselves. We are writing our own guides, take our guidies who want to become a commander, and run meta events with them. We show them how we do it, we let them run and give them a feedback. Once we are sure that they know the meta, know how to command, we give them the rank and let them run events for our guilds. Maybe other guilds should somehow invest a tiny bit into at least heir own players? Making 300g is not a hard issue, most people are afraid, or can't make a step, crossing this line of commanding. Knowing how the meta\event works, and leading it is a bit different, and most people don't know if they will be able to lead it. You understand this when you lead smt for the first time, the nerves it takes is quite something. We need to give new commanders a helping hand, help them overcome their anxiousness. And tagging up and commanding is different. No explanations, no directions for the squad, no markers - do not make people a commander. It helpes to gather people, and lets be honest, most players already know how things work, so meta can be done without any commanding at all if you have a lot of knowledgeable players. But we should not forget about new players, who are frustrated and have no idea what to do, and just follow the zerg. We are a helping community, so who wants, can simply train, or explain, or help in a way that they seem fit. And yeah, giving a bit of a boost for commanding is good, but it should not be big, or else we will see squads just for free shinies, hoping that players will do everyrthing for themselves.

[@shitori_1410]

Triple Trouble and Dragon Stand commanders are great,

[@jerod4036]

There are plenty of times on world bosses when I and others have put up mentor tags because we were missing some or all commander tags, but it's soo much harder to organize things. I did triple trouble once and we only had one commander tag so myself and another person put up a mentor tag. Since mentors cannot be in a squad, everyone joined the commander's squad and followed them instead of the mentors leading to us to fail TT. I would love to buy a commander tag, but by that 300 g is a major barrier for me. By the time I get 300 liquid gold, I've built up enough materials to craft a piece of legendary armor or trinket. When deciding whether to craft a new piece of legendary armor or trinkets or buy a commander tag, the legendary item's gonna win.

[@bokan800]

It’s human nature to pin point and put all the responsibility on the person that assumes the leadership position. People that usually have the most opinion and bitches the most is that same person that is too chicken to lead because they are afraid of the same criticism they are spewing out.

[@sweetfunkyloo1324]

That's a really good subject. I like the take you have, super interesting. I respect the Commanders so much. You make me wanna do it.

[@zeranomoly5425]

I've been playing the game for a while though have largely played solo for the most of it. I recently have decided to try and pursue things like raids and high end fractals for hope of getting myself actually kitted and while I do agree a fear of failure is probably common, I do also think it is because a lot of the time the public groups that you can find are not welcoming. While there are amazing communities that I've looked into like raid academy and the sort that help newer players get into things like this, getting into those raids are often times scarce and pugs are nigh non existent or unwelcoming in my experience. While pursuing CM fractal 100, upon mentioning I wasn't experienced players just left to join a different pug. On the flip side neglecting to mention it and pretending like I knew what I was doing and missing a tactic that wasn't mentioned in a video like mukluks or other would result in me being challenged whether I knew it and then leaving for another pug or flaming dps/skill before informing anyone of what the common strategy is. By the time I managed to find a group that remained silent through it, the final messages weren't ty or such they were "Don't join groups when you don't know the fight, harb" ( me playing harbinger qdps at the time) before any mention of support. The short of all this is I feel there isn't just a lack of commanders, there seems to be a lack of friendly people willing to help out new players as well and with the steam release so recent I really hope it changes before new players end up having similar experiences and drop the game.

[@ErgoProxy12345]

Stop talking about commander tag, start talking about the objectively superior Catmander tag!

[@El_Miel]

I agree with a culture change, I think you need the developers to role out a major reward/honor system. The more players consistently show and prove positive attitude they get rewarded greatly, all major games have some type of reward system for "trying your best".

[@TheRedGauntlet]

The tag is something i keep saving for, but then i see something else shinny and blow my gold on it instead XD

[@Insig385]

whenever i join a squad, at the end i always thank the commander, even if it failed i always than and appreciate the commander. i noticed that once SOMEONE started the appreciation, more ppl would jump in. im not ready to command yet but i can at least take the initiative to appreciate those who took on the extra responsibility! and in the few failure cases, it really seem to make a difference and lighten ppl's mood up. disappointment will be there of course but if ppl still thank everyone and the comm, it seems to curb the angry ppl to bute their tongue (at least publically) so yeah, thank you comm!!!

[@JediMind7rix]

Recently I joined a large squad for bounties, The leader left within like 2-3 runs, out of everyone that was there, I automatically became squad leader because I was probably the only one with a tag 😅 I ended up leading the whole group for maybe another two hours and I even helped a few people get the corrupted facet kill for their griffon! It felt good to help people and still get bounties done 👍

[@Wiltings]

The 300g is sucha climb for the new player, and not being able to drop markers even with a mentor tag is debilitating. Makes me wish I could raid lead but still doing that slow grind to 300g :/

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

and then when you have the 300g, which might take a while depending on what type of player you are, you have to ask yourself if u want to spend it on the ability to make your own raid groups, or if you want to get some items you always wanted. its ridiculous, that this is a thing in this game.

[@niqq2134]

its like $50 stop being poor

[@spineonthepine4933]

I've watched through a number of your leadership debates with Sneb now because it's fascinating and I want GW2 to thrive, it's large group level open world play is unique in the genre, it's what keeps me engaged and why to me it feels like a real actual MASSIVELY multiplayer orpg. I spent years in political organizing and there are some real similarities here - It's the rule of halves. 50 people will show up to an event, about half of those will have some interest in learning enough to be competent for themselves, about half of that would show some interest in going deeper into leadership, and about half of those will actually commit to something of whom half will show up - if you're lucky that's 3 people per group who'll buy in. But 3 people over maybe 10 dragon's ends per week? Let's say 20 folks because you'll get repeats in the events. That's real progress in community leadership. Now you still have to have a plan to keep them engaged, figure out how to communicate in the events to hook these people etc... But if the planning is there and the will is there, it's not at all impossible.

[@MattyPGood]

I've started commanding more in World versus World, and between communicating with the squad, placing markers, managing subgroups, watching the map, and (oh yeah) playing my character, that can be a very stressful experience.

[@xSaphiredust]

I think the game could do more to give rewards for leaders and posting in lfg or being great community leaders. It would be a great replacement for in game gold tips and let the game reward the leaders with exclusive skins. With that I think they'd have a great framework to encourage community participation.

[@TheLostCakeOfficial]

Agreed! Also it would be amazing to have some in game UI for tipping, like a button you can click to send a set ammount of gold!

[@anders8461]

Hands down to the patient commander who lead us in Aetherblad Hideout CM training for 2+ hours. I forgot your name but you'll always leave an good impression on my memory 👍

[@Fraser2k22]

i love tagging up, gets me the attention i so desperatly crave

[@grimvisionz91]

I don't think for many it is the fear of failure itself. It's the fear of how other people in the group will react to failure.

[@GrassStarTheGreat]

I'm just lazy. I like to tag when I have time but lately, I need to hop out of content early or pause for a moment, but I can't do that when I tag. I'm responsible for seeing a meta through or an entire event chain and to stay mobile and on the stuff at all points and answer questions. I think mentor tag is the tag used for quick 'hey here' tag but when you com, you are there to stay. But down to strikes, I usually expect tags to already be in there and when there isn't I'm too nervous to tag up because 'why didn't I earlier Hmmm HMMMM?', and I don't like stepping on the toes of the person who originally organized the squad. Tagging is a lot of work, more investment to be vocal, to keep people together and make sure they're having fun. I like to do it but rarely for strikes anymore.

[@vvhitevvabbit6479]

10:25 I don't hate you for saying it, but laziness definitely isn't a factor. If someone doesn't like to play tennis, are you going to call them lazy because they don't play tennis? They have no desire or incentive to play tennis. It has nothing to do with laziness. Most players have no desire to command and have no real reason to. They are just playing through the content, on their way from point A to point B. They have no desire to master specific pieces of content and lead a group through it on a regular basis, especially when a tag costs 300 gold. Imagine telling someone "You should start playing tennis and also give me $30. If you don't, then you must be lazy."

[@indigomontari9022]

Back when Drakkar was the new boss to put down I would pop my tag if there was no other commander on the map and add a few words on LFG to promote the map as it was a quick and easy event to do. For a bonus for the PvE commandeers I think maybe a boost to their magic find lets say maybe with a boost of 50% or more. Having the boost kick in after a there is minimum amount of squad members are your map [Just to prevent everyone on the map popping their tags to get a free bonus boost]. The minimum should be 6 squad members on a map for the bonus to activate as 5 or less should be grouped up in a party.

[@JustYetAnotherUser]

Great video! But yeah, I believe other than the 300g it's either mostly the fear of failure or the lack of patience to deal with toxicity. People rage so easily in a single unranked pvp match for the slightest mistake, let alone in wvw, etc. This is just sick behaviour, cuz who knows that noob you just humilliated could have become a top player and a great leader.

[@PuissantPeacock]

Plain and simple- people have misused/abused the Apple tag (originally intended as a "Mentor" tag) so badly that Anet gave up on enforcing it's intended use. Now everyone just uses the "free" Apple tag, get people to flock to you, and complete the zone content. And yes, a good portion of people still playing are so damn toxic that even I don't put up my commander tag during metas. “Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.” ― Carlo M. Cipolla

[@timberrecycling]

I bought a tag a few months ago and pretty much agree on all points. Being able to summon and direct a herd for any open world event alone is worth the 300g. It's nearly a prerequisite for some living world achievements!

[@yvindvego9404]

commander tag is too expensive. 300g is a lot and even if you have enough, you will probably have a lot of other stuff you want to use it on, like unlimited salvage kit or other qol stuff.

[@HolySl0w]

same. even if i had 10k gold i wouldn't want to spend 300g on a commander tag...

[@MoGaiinz]

Very true, however if I get 3k+ in my wallet next time, I will buy it

[@Kantharr]

I recently started commanding raid training because I wanted my friends to experience raiding. We managed to fully clear 4 of the raid wings. We didn't fully beat W3 because we struggled on TC & Escort and I was out sick for W5 and W6. I felt that starting to lead is helping me improve my leadership skills and my friends are enjoying raiding.

[@Celith]

Good video and conversation. I've been playing the game on and off since launch but have consistently felt held back due to not having had experience in a lot of the group content and not finding a good community to get into that wants to help people develop their skills and knowledge. I'm very familiar with a lot of the content creators and the material they've made available but watching videos and reading guides can only do so much. Personally I would love to develop my skills and knowledge to the point where I could start helping to teach things to others who might be feeling a bit lost like I have. Not sure if anything like that is available on NA though.

[@shyviolets42]

I would *love* a commander mentorship. I’d apply for that. I’d love for veteran tags to run under each other, and in different circumstances. To discuss what/how they tackle the group/instance dynamics. Not criticism. Discussion.

[@eerolz8758]

I have recently started doing Raid Trainings, with myself not being super experienced either. I feel like having some "commanders cheat sheet" that provided everything you need to remember for specific encounters would be good. Not only for training, for exp groups too, would give many new commanders who haven't done all the roles a checklist to make sure they're getting all the roles they need for that encounter.

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

and wheres the problem? the information is all out there, just look it up and make your cheat sheet if you want one.

[@cattysplat]

@@user-xo2og8kv1o The problem is none of this is ingame. If you're not perusing out of game guides you'll have no idea about anything, builds, group comp, strats and callouts. Most people are not going to do this without encouraging players helping and prompting them.

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

@@cattysplat "None of this is ingame", liek it is the case with almost every mmo. ive never seen a mmo that has strats or group compositions recommended in game for individual encounters. "most ppl are not going to do this", most ppl dont want to lead. if you want to lead u can put in the effort to look up some strats. im not sure where youre trying to go with this.

[@NextGenGamerss]

Based on the tittle, since I'm not watching 54min vid - as a newbie (~60 hours), there are at least 3 commanders on every map - either for puzzle or for some big/meta event. This is on EU servers. Also, lot of positive guys on Fractals, doing walkthrough and explaining the mechanics of certain fractals.

[@blaatadin]

I also want to point out that it can be hard to make a group if you don't already know what you are doing. It's gonna be a lot harder to get groups if everyone doesn't know what's going on.

[@chrisspray666]

I take lead in dungeons if nobody else seems to know what to do. the problem i encounter is that from time to time, i get players that dont want to follow, or lead. I try to explain mechanics, and they run ahead and cause problems. a great example: Caudecus Manor p2, the part with the kegs.

[@sceadumor]

My problem with commanding is specifically squad creation. Like I'm fine telling people the mechanics, telling them the visual queues, reminding people mid combat but making squads is absolutely exhausting to me. At least in 10 man content. I am too busy to do openworld stuff with what I'm currently doing. That's fine though

[@_vkn9507]

I do think that tipping commanders should be more common, I've always made it a point to usually tip commanders for their good work..

[@francoistestard3682]

Main reason for no commander tag is the price. I started raiding with my old guild and it was quite complicated but it gave me a first try on raids. Time passing, i ended doing a lot more raids in pugs who went quite well and i know the first wings quite ok. Moreover with the videos on youtube, and trying different builds i understand better how to make groups. However without a tag it's too complicated, for example when i make groups for strikes its always a mess (people not answering or not even saying their roles) And to conclude, trying to finish coalescence, it's almost impossible to join a group without a shit ton of kp even knowing strats and having a decent dps. So in some cases you cannot lead and on other you cannot even learn to then lead

[@GhastlyRemains]

If someone gives me 300 gold for a tag, I would gladly lead! I often throw on my mentor tag as a budget version and it's been great every time. My only barrier is the cost.

[@TehOnionGod]

There's to much pressure with leading in gw2. That's why most people just don't bother doing it.

[@humpiestcandy4419]

This is why I've donned my tag again after coming back. It's because it's hard to find groups for doing events, if you don a tag, players flock to you

[@Aereton]

the cost of the tag is fine imo, just give commanders a wvw-like reward track that ticks based on the amount of players in squad - give a few crafting mats or something when the track fills up

[@LAK9]

i dont know if it is fear of failure so much as it is someone with limited time 1-2 hours wanting to run something and not wasting their time and efforts. especially when its in progression towards a reward.

[@rorsine]

I used to tag up, but few days ago i was really wanting to revisit ascalon dungeon paths. Looking at lfg, I found a team with 2 players then joined. After few minutes, the team was complete. I was the only lvl 80 player (full viper renegade), the other guys were below 40 (the one higher was 37 to be more precise). Everything was going ok, even with the lack of dmg, until the part that we needed to get 5 pieces of the scepter. I told the guys "you dont need to go, let me get the parts, since you dont have stab and we dont fight there, but you can go if you want". They all got in and they tried to fight and died, but i got the pieces easily and then they all wpd and then I showed them the way back. 2 of the guys asked me for future reference what I did there and I told them and they thanked me, but one other guy started to rant saying "you are a terrible guide, you not even rez downed players" and then quit the party... I was like "wait, what?"... the guys were doing great despite the fact they were all lvl 30 to 37 and I was not leading them, I was there just to have fun and chill... That broke my confidence a little to be honest... The rest of that story? We lfg to find another player, then an elementalist at 70ish lvl came and we finish the last part, the final boss, very ez...

[@lordgrey5223]

What about a "new commander" checkbox in the squad forming window? It would subvert peoples expectations and maybe make more people comfortable with tagging. Also tagging needs a better incentive. As is there isnt really much of a point

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

it absolutely does not need an incentive. it needs to be removed from lfg. btw, im talking instanced pve content, its different for open world or wvw.

[@tomj819]

PvE is so easy in GW2 that 99.99% of the playerbase fully see clearing it as given. Then, if you tag up and an event fails people get really salty; usually towards the person who was prepared to do the thing that they weren't prepared to do themselves...

[@emosgowoof]

Imo, gw2's pve problem has always been this drastic and seemingly random expectations and implementations of difficulty curve in expected content, to the point where most players don't even know what to expect, when they sign up for certain content, and the lack of patience by the more experienced community to try to explain / help endure it when these difficulty spikes do occur. Hell take normal mode strikes for example, where slightly more than half of the normal strike content is exactly what you think is advertised, as an introduction to slightly harder group oriented instanced content. Then you get your teeth randomly kicked in by the few that aren't, and the game and community both somehow expect that you have to have already done your research on the entirety of the fight itself, fully implemented an optimized build specifically for these niche encounters and know exactly what to do, or they just disband / kick after 1 or 2 attempts, with 0 patience or understanding (and yes, I've seen this happen multiple times in the training lfg section). It's no wonder that most people who try it, don't actually stick around for long, when there's no coherent expectations to what they think should be a smoother curve to the actual content, and no incentive to actually get better, since most of the content they actually care about, doesn't require it, and are then put off even more, by the more toxic experienced community.

[@tomj819]

@@emosgowoof certain game-breaking builds, plus DPS meters don't help with this to be honest. I've seen "experienced" players leave Boneskinner squads without a Heal Scourge because they can't cope with not standing in the no-no circles; or getting smacked by EVERY knockdown on Fraenir because there isn't someone giving them Stability whilst they focus solely on rotation. They are rating themselves purely on the number they see in Arc, not their actual game performance and they are not willing to drop 2k dps to actually do the fight properly instead of be carried.

[@demizegw7461]

It's a game system issue and an audience issue. Other games don't need leaders due to role queue. Role queue wouldn't work in GW2 due to class freedom. GW2 caters to players that don't have to engage in group content. In fact, most players are actually terrified of other players and will do everything they can to avoid in game interactions.

[@KataiMakoto]

I used to lead a number of meta events and maps, in the beginning, it was fine, it was lovely, sometimes we failed, most of the time we did more than fine and got lovely rewards. Then, HoT happened, and Meta trains formed and things started to turn toxic because of "efficiency", the amount of vitriol and hate thrown my way if I did anything the slightest bit different to people expectations was utterly disgusting. It culminated in a run I had in Palawadan, where I started a meta run and things were going fine, a bit slow, but fine. A meta train joined us part way through, towards the end of the kill the leaders section, and instead of asking if I minded dropping tag to them so they could lead their train still, they collectively fired so much hate at me because it wasn't how they would have done it that suddenly my squad of 20 people filled with 30 people screaming abuse at me until I dropped com tag. I've never turned it on again for any meta chain after that, it's simply not worth it.

[@matheusmazzei4077]

It definitely has more to do with tag cost than lack of willpower. I several times make squads without tag for taxis, metas, some strikes and rarely to raids, because takes too much time to manage and a random troll can destroy it easily. I've been playing for 7 years, I have several legendaries, but I'm totally casual, I can play one or two hours a day, when I can log in. As much as I can gather enought gold, I don't intend to spend 300g of hard-earned money on a tag. Yes, maybe 300g isnt too much for people who can do all dailies, play hours a day, play on trading post or buy gems. But myself and the majority of the players,cant and dont will do any of these. Soo , even considering we can gather 300g in something like two week, i would rather spend on a gemstore cosmetic than a tag D= Btw the reason i dont buy gems is because dollar on my country is expensive as fck. 20 dollars is worth like 10 days of food, but i definitly think everyone who can and want should buy it to support the game...

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

yeah, ive played so many other mmos and gw2 is the first and only mmo that requires the player to pay for the ability to make their own instanced pve groups efficiently and effectively. its mind boggling to me and actually made me stop playing the game. im not grinding weeks just to buy myself the ability to make my own groups, its ridiculous.

[@TheKrepen]

I think Commanders should get their own reward tracks maybe one for raid, one for strikes and one from open world. And they could count how many encounters youve done with a squad ( at least half full ) and this would incentivise commander to do that job regularly. It also means that there is an incentive to do instanced content again even though you already have gotten the clear rewards.

[@atticusgalt10]

And the rewards could be super cheap. Like special commander tags.

[@mrbuster3106]

Commanding something larger (like Dragon's End meta) results me in me missing events and rewards for them. Because if i'm actively rearranging 50 ppl into 10 subgroups that make sense (healer, quickness, alac, dps) i gotta do it in a safe spot, away from heat of battle. Then at the end of the day most ppl just do events and claim their rewards while I might end up with ton of extra work (managing the map) for less rewards (lost events in favor of macro managing).

[@Mogglethesly]

I just got my commander tag about 2 weeks ago and I have used it to lead LLA! I am scared to command some other metas, but I am learning and trying to me more brave!

[@justinwatson2934]

Crazy thing is tag used to be 100g far cry from 300g. Bought mine then my work schedule changed for the worse

[@cattysplat]

Elitism existing in the GW2 dev team as it does the playerbase.

[@Leekyism]

Id say the easiest way to start leading is begin in fractals tier 1. Never played hfb before. So for extra fun im learning something new whilst teaching something old and its an absolute blast. Really re-invigorates the game. Would encourage others to do the same aswell

[@stonedruid]

Navigating through the Contacts and LFG window to find the zone I'm in to join a group, or to even list my own group, is such a pain. It doesnt even default to the map I'm on, and why cant I just list my own group from the window where I create my squad?

[@cronnie994]

I used to command metas much more often. Things went fast and smoothly. Nowadays I sit and wait for things to happen. I really need to get back out there and pop the tag more often.

[@shade0o]

i dont command as i dont have a tag, i dont have a tag because im not paying 300gold to get it and if i got 300 gold there are more important things to get before i get a tag

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

DISCLAIMER: This is the only correct opinion on the topic of tags and the lfg system, regarding instanced pve content (a distinction no one seems to make for some reason). if you disagree, youre a poo poo head and youre wrong. ive played so many other mmos and gw2 is the first and only mmo that requires the player to pay for the ability to make their own instanced pve groups. its mind boggling to me and actually made me stop playing the game at some point. im not grinding weeks just to buy myself the ability to make my own groups, its ridiculous. 300g is alot for the "non grinding player", a player who plays content as they want to, rather than regularly or doing a checklist of content every day and week. not to mention new players, who most likely want to spend their gold on other things anyways. but despite that, you simply should not have to ask yourself "do i spend 300g on the ability to make my own groups, or do i get those items that i was saving up for". like, making your own groups is a basic feature, available to anyone and everyone in every other mmo out there and its the way it should, bc there simply are no advantages of locking this feature behind a pricey tag. and in the end the price doesnt even matter, having to buy the ability to make your own groups should simply not be a thing. either separate the tags you need for making groups for instanced content vs open world content and remove the cost for the instanced pve content tags, or get rid of them completely for instanced content. its actually just a bad system that only has disadvantages and its insane how this is a thing in this game, or why anyone would even defend this system. i think removing the need and even possiblity to use tags, is the best option. just give the creator of the lfg the commander privelegs and a little crown or whatever next to their raid frame, but that shit has to go for the lfg system and the ability to form groups. edit: when i say "the ability to make your own groups", i obviously mean to do so efficiently and effectively, which is not possible without a tag.

[@lisko1806]

Completely agree with this. It's utter insanity to my eyes from a game development perspective, as if they are attempting to sabotage engagement with this type of content. It's almost infuriating seeing many long term players tell newbies to make their own strike groups, and then turn around and defend the current tag system and the associated cost. It's a factor that is constantly ignored in the "LFG doesn't work" discussions. And as you said, for open world this kind of gating is a wholly different subject and where I think the gating is very much warranted. But to have it extend to private instances has no reasonable defense IF your actual desire is better onboarding and more new player engagement with strikes and raids. These should be baseline features in 10 man content. No other game does this, and for good reasons.

[@user-xo2og8kv1o]

@@lisko1806 yes, open world and wvwvw should have this system, it makes sense for this content, but it doesnt make sense for instanced pve content. and its beyond me how the devs didnt make a distinction there and its even more beyond me how ppl can defend this in instanced pve content.

[@cattysplat]

The fact that Teapot rebukes this statement shows how out of touch he is with the average player. Instanced group content is only available for a tiny elite in this game and it will never grow if that doesn't change.

[@Mori-ey8wj]

Im actually thinking about gettting the Tag, i have leading expierences from other games but i lack deeply in the gw 2 knowledge department as im a returning player who just recently catched with most of the games new content its sounds like fun but 300g is alot more when you only have 700 and need to buy mystic coins for legendaries, i wish they'd lower the price for the tag a bit