I’m not sure if this has anything to do with updates or the re-kajiggering of the Guild Wars scoring, but I have some serious curiosity about how brackets and teams are chosen.
Looking back at the past few wars, we’re running into multiple guilds in our brackets that have less than five players, or are “baby guilds” where it seems that all players are low-level, or are “dead guilds” who just don’t show up to play us.
How are brackets and ranks determined? Looking at the thumbnails of other guilds, it almost seems random on a level since there doesn’t seem to be a visible consistency between League Rank, Guild Wars Rank, or Guild Level. We’ve consistently gotten over 1M cumulatively for the past few wars, and the brackets have increased, but our opponents are… kind of all over the place.
And this applies even when we’re fighting the same guilds multiple times. (Yes, I keep track of all that, I probably nerd way too hard.)
So, what’s the logic/method to bracket and rank placement? Is there a threshold below which assignment is more random, or is there some sort of hidden algorithm that calls the shots in terms of activity or engagement or what?
My guys really come together for Guild Wars, as for most of the events (though the World Events are kind of a beat-down sometimes), and it’s nice to be able to provide a clear outline for how we can work together best.
Guilds were placed in brackets by their current trophy count at the time guild wars first started. Since then, they have been moving up and down the brackets after every war, depending on their placement in the bracket and the hidden algorithm that handles the movement between brackets. Devs never want to publicly confirm much about it, but basically the top 1-3 guilds in the bracket will move up, the bottom 1-3 guilds will move down.
Here’s an old post on that algorithm:
The path up the brackets is long and full of guilds that seem to have no business being in that bracket. Many are guilds who used to be active, but aren’t anymore and are on their way down the bracket ladder.
There’s a few threads around on the subject, here’s the most recent one:
What bracket are you in and how fast are you climbing? There isn’t much you can do to get higher faster unfortunately. Go for the highest score possible and hope for the best. Good luck!
I been playing for over two years now and I never bothered learning the bracket system nor did I care for them. All I know is every guild that I’m in the guild leader will throw fits if we miss even a battle in guild wars. So what exactly happens the higher we move up in brackets? Do we get like a reward or something?
I’m sorry that’s been your experience, Denthegod, I know it’s hard to stay motivated to fight when it’s required instead of just being for fun.
We do ask that our members participate because it’s no good having a bunch of folks just taking up slots, but we also incentivize for that participation. We run raffles every week for those who take part in the events, bonus raffles if the guild does well, things like that.
And we try to stay active in the chat and the Discord server as much as possible, sharing strategies but also life things. We have a list of people who’ve left the Guild for all kinds of reasons, and when they’re ready to come back (and we have an opening ), we send them an invite.
The community aspect for me is a lot more important than the performance, but those who have support performing well just make a better community.
Thanks for the insight, mitamata! That does kinda make sense, though it does beg the question (as many people have clearly already asked) why the dead guilds haven’t been purged/demoted faster.
I’ve kept track of our ranking for about two years now, and I think what was particularly puzzling was that about six months so ago, we were getting PUMMELED by our opponents. We were up against some SOLID guilds that had some amazing Defense teams, and their Attack side wasn’t so bad, either! And then, it just… went away. We haven’t lost a day in the last four wars (not counting this war yet), and most of those wins have been unremarkable.
Maybe it sounds weird, but winning this easily is kinda bad for morale. It would be nice to be able to tell my guildies that when we reach, say, Bracket 100 (we’re in 108 right now), we’ll start getting challenged again.
So I think I gave off the impression that I was disgruntled but I looked over my post and I swear I can’t figure out how I came off disgruntled. In any case my intention was not to sound disgruntled.
My intention was to say that guild wars is not something that is a big deal to me but I’m guessing it is to a lot of people. That is totally cool as maybe I don’t know or realize or even comprehend what’s at stake when it comes to guild wars. The thing is it’s not a big deal to me but since I’m in a guild I will always respect the guild leader and if they decree that I gotta do guild wars I will do them because that’s how it is.
Personally, I never really cared for guild wars as I find collecting Mythics a lot more fun. Does that make me one of the easily amused? Probably but I am also cool with that. I just enjoy the simpler things in this game. Nothing more and nothing less.
By the way, what exactly do we get for being in a high rank in a high bracket? Thanks
Got tagged, saw this post, and figured I would chime in.
I definitely agree. Easy wins are not fun. That victory feeling comes only with a challenge. That is what motivates people and gets them excited for the next time.
I am in a worse bracket than you and hearing you are still facing dead guilds…
No worries, I might’ve just assumed from the “guild leaders get bent out of shape for not guild war-ing”. I’ve seen a lot of people with a similar complaint, and it does bother them when guild leaders get hung up on stuff like that. I’ve been in community management for mumble-mumble years, so I am probably overly conscious of that kind of feedback.
Well, as far as “why,” for the top guilds, there are some pretty sweet loots, but it’s more than that, I think. Working together as a guild is part of what creates that sense of cohesion and community, and really, the Guild Wars is the only guild-level event that’s stayed consistent. The Raid Bosses, the Towers of Doom, and the Invasions (which are also Towers, so ???) all have fallen by the wayside of the World Events, and those are… I guess not as engaging for my members.
I suspect that because we/I as the guild leader also go so far as to provide some nice guidance for how to succeed in various events contributes to the “how can we do better” vibe. Putting together teams that work really well in the Wars also helps build better teams for Events, Delves, and so on - and when you do that, your guild gets higher stages of completion in World and Guild Events, and everyone gets more resources, and you can build and collect better troops…
Like, collecting seals. Doesn’t seem like a big deal to a lot of folks, but if everyone collects regularly, you get to Level 6 Guild Chests and have the best chance to get Mythics for your troubles, without having to be level OMG.
I really appreciate your feedback, it helps a lot.
We weren’t until recently. That’s the part that’s frustrating. Or rather… I think we’ve always had one or two in each bracket, but for the last three or four Wars, it’s been the majority. That’s just… weird.
You can see the rewards under “?” on the Rewards tab. Finishing first (first spot in bracket 1) nets everyone in the guild 1500 gems and 100 guild wars troops, which isn’t too shabby
Aside from the rewards, many are in it for bragging rights, the reputation, the challenge, the sense of accomplishment when you take out an equally matched opponent, … Guild wars is the only guild PvP we have and one of the only two events where guilds compete against each other - the other being Tower of Doom that has a guild leaderboard and for that one, it’s more a matter of “which guild spends more gems on sigils”. Guild wars is the only game mode where a guild can out-strategize, not merely outspend the others (in gems or time), by coming up with better attack teams, which many guilds keep top secret.
And as a guild, if you’re trying to recruit the best of the best, being able to say “Bracket 1 GW” can be a big draw.
It’s mainly about being in a higher bracket for a lot of guilds. GW is 0% skill and 100% luck so your GM will get pissed about battles not being played because the more battles done the higher chance people will get lucky and win some battles.
LOL. Just wait until you get to bracket 5 or higher. There is no proper challenge and no feeling of victory when you win and you probably will not get excited for the next week. When an empowered converter has alignment in 3 different places that you can not stop and they keep looping and win before you even get a second turn how is that a challenge?
LOL. Just wait until you get to bracket 5 or higher. There is no proper challenge and no feeling of victory when you win and you probably will not get excited for the next week. When an empowered converter has alignment in 3 different places that you can not stop and they keep looping and win before you even get a second turn how is that a challenge?
We use Freeze teams for that, or start with some Empowered mana generators where appropriate (Leprechaun or Moon Rabbit, for instance). Does it work every time? … well, no, but often enough that it’s worth trying because it frequently does pay off.
That still isn’t really a challenge or skill it is just hoping to have better alignment and more luck than the enemy.
Maybe it requires a little bit of skill but it is still mainly luck based. One of my battles this week I started with 2 empowered converters and cast the wrong one getting no mana out of it and giving the enemy a lot of mana and extra turns but I still won that battle. 3 of my battles on purple day I won on my first turn when Leprechaun filled my troops and gave me an extra turn.
Empowered converters took any skill out of this game and should all be removed or banned from GW at least.
Can anyone better clarify how GW ranks work? I read through this and don’t see anything specifically addressing how a guild is ranked in GW.
One of our guild members asked about a guild in our bracket this week, which seems to be out of place. We’re in a low bracket (251 currently), and most of the guilds seem to have a corresponding GW rank (in the 2500s), but one guild has a GW rank of 1030. Is this a bug? Seems like they should be in a much higher bracket.
