Make it so changing GC's doesn't reset your PvP Rank

[Nekodar]

I agree 110% with the OP. They have to remove these GC restrictions in order to play with friends.

The entire point of group stuff in an MMO is to be able to play with friends. I just don't see why anyone would support a system that tries to break people up.

Plenty of games "prevent" people from grouping up at all because they're in different factions.

And really... You can change change GC affiliation to whichever your friends are in if you're so unhappy having to fight for the GC you're currently in.

[Taruranto]

Meh, it's a theme park, there is no immerse word here, it's not vana, let people do what the people want Yoshi.

[Tridus1x]

Plenty of games "prevent" people from grouping up at all because they're in different factions.

And really... You can change change GC affiliation to whichever your friends are in if you're so unhappy having to fight for the GC you're currently in.

Or they can remove GC restrictions. See what I did there?

I never said I'm unhappy with the GC I'm in. I said I'm unhappy not being able to play with friends(one of the reasons to stay in an MMO in the first place) that are in a different GC.

Please answer this question. Why do you support a system that breaks-up friends? What if this were for dungeons queues or coil?

[Namasu]

I know that the community rep and Yoshi's team are still tired from being hammered by post e3 interviews but it would be great to know what Yoshi's stance on this matter. Just a yay or a nay on separating pvp rank from GC would be enough (I'll take a "maybe" as a nay as well).

Why does this matter to me as a player? Well, at this point, depending on the community rep's response and patch note preview, I might have to start funneling my fc members and close friends into a single GC so we can all play with each other (because we are playing an MMO, shocking right?)
Personally, I don't mind switching and re-lvling my rank from scratch. As long as Frontline is fun in the long term, then the exp will flow naturally. Obviously some people will be unhappy. It would be great for me to know in advance what the plan is with Frontline so I can at least ease these people into transitioning to a new GC for frontline.

I feel like we owe at least an official reply on this matter because after all, way back in beta when we had no frontline, GC only affected PVE aspects. Things didn't even mattered with the Wolves' Den because you could queue with anyone regardless of GC.

Lastly, can I just reiterate how backward it is for pvp experience to be tied to a faction? Seeing as how GC is so tied down by lore then from a lore perspective, it doesn't even make sense how switching GC would make you lose the experience that you've earned by yourself, for yourself from all your battles. Is there some GC magician that brainwash you and turn you into a noob at pvp again when you switch to a new GC? I don't even know anymore.

[SDaemon]

True, it's not a complete reset. Just like XI, if you switch back to your old Company you are back to your old rank.

So you can in theory, with enough effort and masochism, reach max rank in each GC and not have to worry?

[AiChyan]

There's still a 30 day lockout between GC switches.

Does this apply to the switch or the switch back? Major ouch in both cases though.

[Nekodar]

Or they can remove GC restrictions. See what I did there?

I never said I'm unhappy with the GC I'm in. I said I'm unhappy not being able to play with friends(one of the reasons to stay in an MMO in the first place) that are in a different GC.

Please answer this question. Why do you support a system that breaks-up friends? What if this were for dungeons queues or coil?

With the Frontlines zone being an area that all three GC's want control over, if you mix people freely from the three GC's for each team, how do you determine which GC is currently in control of it after a match?
In what way does it make sense in-game to have mixed teams the way you want for this particular instance of PvP?

You just want PvP period, screw actually having GC's mean anything? Screw having the PvP actually mean something in-game?
Maybe they'll add what you (and others) want some day.

[Dhex]

Just pasting this in from a thread I started asking the same thing;

"Today's patch preview offers a closer look at Frontline, where adventurers will do battle to claim disputed territory in the name of their respective Grand Companies."

"Frontline is a new PvP challenge which engages three teams of adventurers, each team representing one of the three Grand Companies. Teams consist of up to 24 players in an alliance, allowing for a grand total of 72 players in a single battle."

Questions this brings up;

• Can we only party & queue with players that are members of the same GC?
• Will the queue sort people by GC solely or will ranking be involved??
• How do we play with friends if they're in another Grand Company?
• Will switching Grand Companies still cost 50,000 gil and reset our PVP Ranking?
• Example: too many Maelstorm players queue and not enough Twin Adders queue for Frontlines will the game balance the teams accordingly?
• Will we be forced to re-queue if the game cannot balance the queue according to Grand Company?
• Do teams simply get assigned to a Grand Company for the duration of the battle?

The last point is bold because I am hoping this is the case; as much as we all love our Grand Companies we can all acknowledge that a system that is stringently locked by your Company affiliation would be a nightmare & would likely lead to "trending" in communities where players will flock to whichever Company seems to win more frequently (thus further disrupting the balancing act that would be required to even enter a match)!

I hope that Square has answers for all these questions; I know these are specific questions and may not be immediately answered but please understand how absolutely critical some of these points are.

If it is locked by Grand Company allegiance I do hope the requirements for changing are not so stringent as to completely negate the possibility of participating with friends.

Could these points please be defined a little more clearly when you're giving us a preview?

Thanks!

[AiChyan]

You just want PvP period, screw actually having GC's mean anything? Screw having the PvP actually mean something in-game?
Maybe they'll add what you (and others) want some day.

This won't impact me personally in any way since I never bothered PVPing before. But I think the main problem is that the switch means the reset of PVP points, and no one wants to go through the horrible grind (due to long queues and low marks) to get points for the new GC.

[RegnumMagik]

So to play with friends and reset my pvp points or solo queue...