What are the motivations for WvWvW for the player? (Beyone 'We Won')

Also what is there to prevent players from migrating to the strongest server?

My understanding is that WvWvW is based off servers and that generally players are free to switch servers when they like.

The other issue I wonder about is if server A has one or two very strong active Guilds it might be very successful in these wars, and I think they should get rewards, but I don't think other players on that server deserve to get the server wide buffs and perks especially if they never enter WvWvW.

The only prevention I can think of is perhaps Guild membership which I think are server specific and maybe some of the key rewards are specific to WvWvW or each Guild. 

I tried to find this information with no luck.  At this point GW2 is not well documented in many key areas.  I wonder if that is a 'tell' that this is part of the game design, that you can only find out how the important things work from other players.

Sorry if my questions sound stupid to fans and those with Beta access, as I don't have that access and never played GW 1.

I come from different MMORPG's, so I am sure some will think I am a flaming troll.

It will cost a certain amount to switch servers (in game gold or crystals) and you are limited to once every so often. So people won't be continually moving servers.

If server A is very good against 3 other servers it will be moved against servers of similar strength. Therefore, good guild will play against good guilds.

Here are their main blog posts about WvW:

http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-ferguson-on-guild-wars-2-world-vs-world

http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-ferguson-takes-your-wvw-questions-here-and-on-reddit

http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-ferguson-on-wvw-updates

As far as server hopping, its prevented in that it costs gems to actually transfer, and its rather expensive(currently) and I think it restricts you in terms of how often you can switch in a given amount of time.  I think I also heard that it may take a week or so after a transfer before you actually gain the buff benefits of server wins.  You can guest onto other servers for PvE with other friends or guilds, but you can't actually fight in WvW for any other server than your "home" server.

Another thing to take into consideration is that moving to a high pop/winnign server may backfire on you, in that you may have trouble getting into the WvW battles if those zones are already full of your servers players.

If the server is full it will be locked for transfers, and even if people want to transfer they will have to pay .

Server hopping was addressed by others.

WvW rewards? You gain XP and earn loot in WvW, so there is a reward on a personal level. Wining or Losing? Your server can win buffs for the entire server. It encourages people to aid in the war effort, but those who just aren't into PvP can still root for their server and benefit from the efforts of their warriors. Guilds? Guilds can claim keeps and other objectives for their guild and earn influence, (the Guild Perks Currency), and I believe can also earn buffs for their Guildmates while they hold a claimed objective.

Ther server hopping question has a slightly more complex answer than what was written here... There are two ways to change servers:

1) guesting

2) re-homing

In guesting you can visit any server you want to experience PvE with the people there, but you do not get to play PVP with them, and you get your home server's bonuses and not the server you are guesting on.

To re-home, you pay a certain amount(either by buying gems using real money, or buying them on the in-game trading) and change your home server permanently.

The up-side? You can visit any server and experience the community before paying for a server transfer!!

The down-side... ummm... nevermind.

1) 1-week lockout for transfers (it's shorter during the last 2 betas to test the feature for bugs)

2) Gem costs (roughly 1,200 gems.. maybe $15 USD?)

3) Full is locked from receiving transfers.

Ya, their system is pretty fool-proof.

Originally posted by Siphaed

1) 1-week lockout for transfers (it's shorter during the last 2 betas to test the feature for bugs)

 

2) Gem costs (roughly 1,200 gems.. maybe $15 USD?)

 

3) Full is locked from receiving transfers.

 

 

Ya, their system is pretty fool-proof.

Well fools will still screw it up, but its good for the average player :) .

The buffs don't give too much of an advantage and I think it's ok that the whole server gets them because it encourages players to join the battle front for their server. Also those not up to fighting on the warfront may still indirectly contribute to the success of the war.

Like others pointed out, the strong guilds on a server and server hopping shouldn't be much of an issue, the fight gets reset and rebalanced every 2 weeks so stronger servers will be matched against other stronger servers and server transfers cost quite some gems.

Originally posted by Siphaed

1) 1-week lockout for transfers (it's shorter during the last 2 betas to test the feature for bugs)

 

2) Gem costs (roughly 1,200 gems.. maybe $15 USD?)

 

3) Full is locked from receiving transfers.

 

 

Ya, their system is pretty fool-proof.

yap, system is actually very good.  

anytime i see nonsense posts saying WvW will not work because anyone can easy change server i will copy paste your post ok? xD

As per server hopping:

1) It costs money to transfer servers in this game. So there's an insentive not to right there.

2) Server lineups change every 2 weeks. You can transfer to a new server, but there is a timer on how frequently you can do it, and your new server will just end up being matched up w/ stronger opponents after the match ends anyway.

As per WvWvW insentives:

1) You gain exp, and gear (as others have said)

2) You gain server-wide buffs on top of this (exp boost, crafting boost, gathering boost, +dmg, +health, etc.)

3) Holding orbs of power further increase your server's strength in WvW. There's a certain amount of customization as well (both with guild, and on a personal lvl). You can custom outfit keeps w/ upgrades / placing siege equipment where you want. So there is a bit of a vested interest in protecting a keep you've spent money upgrading.

- Perhaps the biggest issue w/ WvW atm, is that outside of a few keeps in each zone, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of incentive to stay at a keep once it's captured. There's some concern that this may lead to keep trading (ie like we saw in WAR).

Originally posted by aesperus

As per server hopping:

1) It costs money to transfer servers in this game. So there's an insentive not to right there.

2) Server lineups change every 2 weeks. You can transfer to a new server, but there is a timer on how frequently you can do it, and your new server will just end up being matched up w/ stronger opponents after the match ends anyway.

As per WvWvW insentives:

1) You gain exp, and gear (as others have said)

2) You gain server-wide buffs on top of this (exp boost, crafting boost, gathering boost, +dmg, +health, etc.)

3) Holding orbs of power further increase your server's strength in WvW. There's a certain amount of customization as well (both with guild, and on a personal lvl). You can custom outfit keeps w/ upgrades / placing siege equipment where you want. So there is a bit of a vested interest in protecting a keep you've spent money upgrading.

- Perhaps the biggest issue w/ WvW atm, is that outside of a few keeps in each zone, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of incentive to stay at a keep once it's captured. There's some concern that this may lead to keep trading (ie like we saw in WAR).

you need spend a good time on a keep to fortify it, otherwise will be very easy to capture it

Originally posted by aesperus

- Perhaps the biggest issue w/ WvW atm, is that outside of a few keeps in each zone, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of incentive to stay at a keep once it's captured. There's some concern that this may lead to keep trading (ie like we saw in WAR).

I hope there will be no such thing as keep trading. It's just lame.

But as you also get rewards (xp, karma, coin) for defending a keep I doubt keep trading will be commonly used. Especially as it is much easier to defend a keep than to conquer one. And you need less people. So it's more effective to split your team. One part defends your keep against the zerg and the rest takes others keeps/supply camps.

Anyway, if keep trading will be commonly used I am sure Anet will find a way to prevent it. Unfortunately game developers always have to take measures because we the players just abuse the systems they provide for us to have fun.

I don't see server hopping as an issue currently. Reasons already mentioned.

Originally posted by aesperus

As per server hopping:

1) It costs money to transfer servers in this game. So there's an insentive not to right there.

2) Server lineups change every 2 weeks. You can transfer to a new server, but there is a timer on how frequently you can do it, and your new server will just end up being matched up w/ stronger opponents after the match ends anyway.

As per WvWvW insentives:

1) You gain exp, and gear (as others have said)

2) You gain server-wide buffs on top of this (exp boost, crafting boost, gathering boost, +dmg, +health, etc.)

3) Holding orbs of power further increase your server's strength in WvW. There's a certain amount of customization as well (both with guild, and on a personal lvl). You can custom outfit keeps w/ upgrades / placing siege equipment where you want. So there is a bit of a vested interest in protecting a keep you've spent money upgrading.

- Perhaps the biggest issue w/ WvW atm, is that outside of a few keeps in each zone, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of incentive to stay at a keep once it's captured. There's some concern that this may lead to keep trading (ie like we saw in WAR).

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the points distributed every 5 minutes or so depending on what each realm posseses at that moment? If thats the case holding a Keep for as long as possible will be important.

You might want to dissolve your ignorance by browsing the official wiki. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Wvw