Guild Wars 2

First of all I was glad to see that the Dragon Bash included activities for all levels of play. I think the idea of the event is great and this isn’t meant to critical of the event designers but the community participating in the event.

First we had the problem of L80’s camping the holos in starter areas and killing them so fast no one else had a shot. Okay, they make this problem less of an issue by increasing the difficulty of the holos. This worked to some degree but the holos were still a constant camp fest leading many players to head to more difficult maps to get their share. Not a big deal unless you are a new player and have only gotten to L15 or less.

Now that it seems that most of the high level players have gotten their holo achievements that problem is gone. Unfortunately, now that those achievements have been completed it has reverted to coffer farming. Since coffers drop at all levels guess where this goes on? Yep starter maps.

Here is my example. I have a friend that just purchased GW2 a week before the event and we were looking forward to enjoying the event together. She was in game a little before the event but mostly to look around because she didn’t really have time until this weekend. We log in so I can help her get started on hearts in Queensdale. Every place we go is a non-stop farm fest by players in exotic gear. We head to the bandit cave because she wants so coffers too. Hmmm…. No bandits at entrance. We head further in a few dead bodies and sounds of players spamming “1”. We wait a second because they respawn fast. 3 spawn she tags one and I help her kill it, this didin’t take long, but now the other 2 are dead before we could even target them with a flash of shiney gear “1” spamming as they fly by.

Okay we head to other areas, guess what? Pretty much every place where there is more than 2 mobs within target range is getting zerg rolled by high level players. Okay, lets try Metrica. Same thing. Lets guest to a low pop server. Same thing. She did a few hearts but they either took much longer than should be or they were ones that didn’t involve combat like that boring one in Beetletun where you run in circles stomping wasp nest and killing rats.

The event pops up to protect water pipes from bandits so we head there. About a dozen players camping the spots where the mobs run in and trashing them before most people even got in range. Thanks!

At one point I politely asked in /map if some of the higher level players would mind if we could use the area we were in for a short bit. Most ignored it but here are some of the responses I got:

“LOL”, “Newb”, “muahahahahaha”.

Needless to say she didn’t feel like playing for very long. While this was disappointing for myself and my friend, there were lots of non-scaled players in the same areas trying to play as well. So I imagine they experienced the same frustration.

Now I’m sure many could say well, go here or there instead, go work map completions in cities, go do personal story, go craft or what not. However, the point is that a new player shouldn’t have to limit their game play because a lot of high level players want to farm coffers to death in low level maps.

Between this, the holo camping, the “afk” in Dragon Ball, the event has really brought out the bad in what is a normally friendly community.

I was hesitant to make this post because I’m sure I’m going to get things like, “stop crying”, I just think that it is unfortunate that those that have been playing at least enough to get to high levels think they should go to the lowest level possible and make things difficult for the low level players who happen to be there for the very reason that they are low level.

I know most reading this are probably not the ones causing the problems. The ones doing this probably don’t read the forums or if they do don’t care. This was meant to be more of a commentary on how the event has brought out the ugly in a community that is usually much better than other MMOs.

tl;dr
Inconsiderate players ruin holos for several days
Inconsiderate players ruin Dragon Ball by perma-“afk”
Inconsiderate players ruin low level maps for low level players by zerg rolling it non stop to farm coffers.

v v v Insert “Welcome to MMO’s” Comments Here v v v

JustTrogdor.7892:

At one point I politely asked in /map if some of the higher level players would mind if we could use the area we were in for a short bit. Most ignored it but here are some of the responses I got:

That’s a ridiculous and very rude request first of all. Second of all I have a low lvl character that I used to farm in that area on the 1st and 2nd day of the event and had no trouble at all. In fact, it was a great way to lvl up. Lastly, if you were in a party with your friend you should have had an advantage over other players anyway if you properly coordinated.

BlueSoda.6297:

That’s a ridiculous and very rude request first of all. Second of all I have a low lvl character that I used to farm in that area on the 1st and 2nd day of the event and had no trouble at all. In fact, it was a great way to lvl up. Lastly, if you were in a party with your friend you should have had an advantage over other players anyway if you properly coordinated.

Why is it ridiculous to politely ask if we can finish a task in an area that is being farmed to death by L80s that are only there to roll over everything possible? I didn’t say get out of here or please get the F out of here. After all it is a community that seem to take pride in being a helpful community. Asking for help by requesting to be able to complete and event isn’t rude.

The first 2 days were not bad because everyone was camping the holos. Unfortunately my friend could not play until yesterday. Since then they are farming coffers by killing everything in site on starter maps. Even if low level just wanted to farm, good luck unless you want to kill the same moas over and over.

My friend is brand new and still learning the keys, skills etc. No level of coordination can keep up at that level with 4 level 80s speed running back and forth through caves.

See the thing is, before the event you almost never saw very high levels in the area unless it was for an event like SB and then when it’s over they leave. Now, that coffers are most easily farmed in starter maps the maps have been taken over.

the content was new for everyone when they logged in, everyone learned how to play dragon bash so just learn how to play the game yourself. the only real problem is with afk not being kicked after 15 seconds or at all. as for the holograms that you’re trying to get, it’s first come first serve unless people are being nice enough to wait for those in the area running towards them. coffers also drop from regular mobs as well as the holos. as for the places with hearts, it’s a shame that your friend can’t do them atm with so many players around the event.

Try grouping with others that you see in the area and follow them around. (Most) People on my server (Blackgate) have been kind and wait for other players to show up for the holo, then hit it. Granted there are still the players that will run up and hit it whenever but still, try grouping

Klonex.4562:

the content was new for everyone when they logged in, everyone learned how to play dragon bash so just learn how to play the game yourself. the only real problem is with afk not being kicked after 15 seconds or at all. as for the holograms that you’re trying to get, it’s first come first serve unless people are being nice enough to wait for those in the area running towards them. coffers also drop from regular mobs as well as the holos. as for the places with hearts, it’s a shame that your friend can’t do them atm with so many players round the event.

I think you missed the point entirely. The OP never once said they wanted to do the holos….it was just simple getting the bandit cave done for the heart. Did you read it at all?

“coffers also drop from regular mobs as well as the holos.”

Exactly…but not if EVERY MOB is being slaughtered in that cave or anywhere else. You cannot get anything done as a new player or on a new character that way. I have seen this happen too and can’t wait til the “L33T” level 80 players decide to get bored of hunting coffers. The epitome of lame right now…all this burning through low level as an 80 for the sake of it being easier. Man up and go to more unpopulated ares.

Gatsby.9250:

Try grouping with others that you see in the area and follow them around. (Most) People on my server (Blackgate) have been kind and wait for other players to show up for the holo, then hit it. Granted there are still the players that will run up and hit it whenever but still, try grouping

Again…not talking about the holos per say…read?

Klonex.4562:

the content was new for everyone when they logged in, everyone learned how to play dragon bash so just learn how to play the game yourself. the only real problem is with afk not being kicked after 15 seconds or at all. as for the holograms that you’re trying to get, it’s first come first serve unless people are being nice enough to wait for those in the area running towards them. coffers also drop from regular mobs as well as the holos. as for the places with hearts, it’s a shame that your friend can’t do them atm with so many players round the event.

I said nothing about getting holos. We were not even trying to do that. We were trying to do hearts and she wanted to do some small scale farming to get some coffers. I did say that coffers drop from mobs and from mobs at all levels. This is why starter maps are getting zerg rolled by high level players. This puts a new player at a large disadvantage since many mobs are getting killed by higher level players before the lower level players can even get close.

Here is a good example. The field outside the garrison has a heart where the player kills centaurs and destroys their equipment. The centaurs are getting rolled so fast that the lower level player has a big disadvantage trying to get to them first, no speed buffs and so forth. To compound the problem, the equipment that needs to be destroyed has centaurs by it. As they are being attacked by the high level zerg the aoe affects during the attack also destroy the equipment.

Is it really that much more difficult for a L80 to farm a L20, L40 area?

i guess one of the things i’ve noticed in gw2.. or, well, perhaps MMOs in general, though this is my first.. is that the way to efficiency always wins out. these also are IME, those who are more rude and have no regard to other players as well… though of course, i am may be biased.

it sucks that you and your new friend weren’t able to play the game as you wanted to. when doing hearts or killing mobs, the “zerg” usually moves together.. try going in the opposite direction fo them. sure you won’t get in EVERY single hit, but definitely more chances when there’s just one exo 80 rather than 5 of them.

i will say, requesting other players to leave a certain area would by no means be a good idea, ever. now you know. : )) and i know you asked probably in the heat of the moment, frustrated for your friend ebacuse you wanted to help them and have them have a good time…

or best bet, play during “off-hours” for your server. though i know that may be hard with IRL, what not. hope your friend willf ind ways to enjoy the game though!

akamon.2769:

i guess one of the things i’ve noticed in gw2.. or, well, perhaps MMOs in general, though this is my first.. is that the way to efficiency always wins out. these also are IME, those who are more rude and have no regard to other players as well… though of course, i am may be biased.

it sucks that you and your new friend weren’t able to play the game as you wanted to. when doing hearts or killing mobs, the “zerg” usually moves together.. try going in the opposite direction fo them. sure you won’t get in EVERY single hit, but definitely more chances when there’s just one exo 80 rather than 5 of them.

i will say, requesting other players to leave a certain area would by no means be a good idea, ever. now you know. : )) and i know you asked probably in the heat of the moment, frustrated for your friend ebacuse you wanted to help them and have them have a good time…

or best bet, play during “off-hours” for your server. though i know that may be hard with IRL, what not. hope your friend willf ind ways to enjoy the game though!

As I said low level players should not have to go out of their way to enjoy the game by doing such things as trying to find hours to play the game because of the “play” of other players.

The zergs are in every area where there are more than a handful of mobs and anywhere there is a decent respawn rate. Where there isn’t a zerg there are 1 or 2 high levels running mini routes to kill respawns. Trying to work around that is not easy. Trust me we tried.

Think what you want by asking a community that prides itself on being friendly and helpful to let someone complete a heart as being rude. Response such as “muahahahahaha” seem to indicate that the other players are the ones that take pride in making things worse for other players. I have been in areas and farming and have had others ask me to give them a few minutes and I didn’t think it was rude.

I’m not posting this because of my friend. My friend was an example as I have seen a lot of non-scaled players in these areas trying to compete for kills as well. A lot of the time you see them standing in one are waiting for the mess to clear, get their one kill before the other mobs are rolled as well.

Step outside for a bit and think back when you were brand new. You log in to try to play the game as it was meant to be played and you see the mess that is going on right.

Anyway as I said in my OP, it is more a reflection of how this event has brought out the ugly in a lot of players. Keep talking about ways a new player should go out of their way to play the game as it should be because “elite” players are rolling over the starter maps for easy coffer drops. Certainly don’t ask the high levels players to change how they play because according to a few if you do so it’s rude.

Are you trying to say that us “elite” players shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy content from low end maps? I think that aside from the other people on the map griefing you with name calling, you’re also being rude to suggest that we not play those maps.

Please realize that having other down-leveled players in the area can actually help make Heart clearing faster. All you need to do is tag the enemy a few times, and you get credit for the kill, and for the Heart quest. If other people are clearing mobs, follow them and join in on the fun. But if you miss out on an enemy, it’s not the end of the world since they do respawn.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Are you trying to say that us “elite” players shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy content from low end maps? I think that aside from the other people on the map griefing you with name calling, you’re also being rude to suggest that we not play those maps.

Please realize that having other down-leveled players in the area can actually help make Heart clearing faster. All you need to do is tag the enemy a few times, and you get credit for the kill, and for the Heart quest. If other people are clearing mobs, follow them and join in on the fun. But if you miss out on an enemy, it’s not the end of the world since they do respawn.

If you aren’t one of the player ignoring low level in the zone and killing everything is sight? Then no…not you. And it was already stated that the respawns were immediately demolished. Really isn’t hard to read…srsly

Gestankfaust.4216:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Are you trying to say that us “elite” players shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy content from low end maps? I think that aside from the other people on the map griefing you with name calling, you’re also being rude to suggest that we not play those maps.

Please realize that having other down-leveled players in the area can actually help make Heart clearing faster. All you need to do is tag the enemy a few times, and you get credit for the kill, and for the Heart quest. If other people are clearing mobs, follow them and join in on the fun. But if you miss out on an enemy, it’s not the end of the world since they do respawn.

If you aren’t one of the player ignoring low level in the zone and killing everything is sight? Then no…not you. And it was already stated that the respawns were immediately demolished. Really isn’t hard to read…srsly

We’re not talking about the Hologram enemies. It’s the normal mobs and tasks for completing Hearts.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Are you trying to say that us “elite” players shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy content from low end maps? I think that aside from the other people on the map griefing you with name calling, you’re also being rude to suggest that we not play those maps.

Please realize that having other down-leveled players in the area can actually help make Heart clearing faster. All you need to do is tag the enemy a few times, and you get credit for the kill, and for the Heart quest. If other people are clearing mobs, follow them and join in on the fun. But if you miss out on an enemy, it’s not the end of the world since they do respawn.

Where were all these L80 players rolling over the starter maps they must enjoy so before the event? I said that by doing so they are being inconsiderate of low level/new players by taking away a large amount of the kills from lower level characters.

I am aware of taging and how it works. That is a good part of the game. However if you are in an area where everything is getting killed before you can tag it then it doesn’t work.

Apparently the people defending this have not seen it themselves. New player sees mob and runs to get in range, high level player hits speed buff to get there first and kills it. Instead it should be high level players sees low level player head toward mob and lets low level player tag it and then helps finish the kill.

Look at it this way, if you had to take a break from the game for a month or so and your L80. Then you come back to see that they raised the level cap to 100. Not only that but they added some kind of drop that occurs in L80 – L100 maps. Great you think and you get to work. Suddenly everything in site is getting destroyed by L100 allowing you to get much less because you can only get the scraps. Okay you decide to work on leveling to 100. The task you need to do involve killing certain mobs which are also getting farmed to death by 100’s. Fun right?

Really is it so ridiculous that high level players extend a little bit or courtesy toward new players? I’m not new so this doesn’t affect me directly. Perhaps using my friends situation was the wrong way to explain what has been going on. There is a reason why they made the coffers available at all levels. New/low level characters should not have to change the time they play, guest to other servers, run around trying to pick up scraps so other players can get easy coffer drops running around one/two shot everything in their paths. It’s an observation and in my opinion is something that speaks poorly about the community.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Gestankfaust.4216:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Are you trying to say that us “elite” players shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy content from low end maps? I think that aside from the other people on the map griefing you with name calling, you’re also being rude to suggest that we not play those maps.

Please realize that having other down-leveled players in the area can actually help make Heart clearing faster. All you need to do is tag the enemy a few times, and you get credit for the kill, and for the Heart quest. If other people are clearing mobs, follow them and join in on the fun. But if you miss out on an enemy, it’s not the end of the world since they do respawn.

If you aren’t one of the player ignoring low level in the zone and killing everything is sight? Then no…not you. And it was already stated that the respawns were immediately demolished. Really isn’t hard to read…srsly

We’re not talking about the Hologram enemies. It’s the normal mobs and tasks for completing Hearts.

Ummmm yeah….. Same here. Just like the OP said. PPL are running around killing all mobs in low level areas hindering new characters/players.

We don’t have to keep repeating this do we? Lvl 80 marauding across newb areas so much so that you cannot get your normal hearts/event’s done. Not a huge issue on my server, but it has been happening.

No one hinders new players. Resources within the game are never permanently destroyed once killed. They respawn.

I sense a couple of mistakes you guys are making. If you follow a group that’s killing things before you can get to them, don’t follow them if you can’t keep up. Go in the opposite direction and take out mobs. Also, if you just stand there, and allow others to kill the enemy (without making a single effort to “tag” it), then the fault lies in the player’s actions. This is fixed by teaching the new player what “tagging” means.

Keep in mind that every Heart has a different objective. You’re not stuck with just killing a single type of monster for credit. Some have multiple ways to complete the Heart quest.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

No one hinders new players. Resources within the game are never permanently destroyed once killed. They respawn.

I sense a couple of mistakes you guys are making. If you follow a group that’s killing things before you can get to them, don’t follow them if you can’t keep up. Go in the opposite direction and take out mobs. Also, if you just stand there, and allow others to kill the enemy (without making a single effort to “tag” it), then the fault lies in the player’s actions. This is fixed by teaching the new player what “tagging” means.

Keep in mind that every Heart has a different objective. You’re not stuck with just killing a single type of monster for credit. Some have multiple ways to complete the Heart quest.

Seriously, if the starter maps are so fun for high level characters where were they before Dragon Bash?

By killing mobs in mass amounts and quickly they are making the game much harder for new players to also get kills that award things such as exp, loot, and hey guess what dragon coffers for them too.

We are not talking simply about hearts. Low level players should be able to farm as well.

Please read my posts completely because I have already discussed the spawning and tagging issues that are affected by this as well.

Stop trying to put lipstick on a pig. It is evident that high level players are trashing the low level maps simply for coffers. I have been playing for a while and I know how tagging and hearts work. I have seen this flood of high level characters in low level areas affect low level/new players in a negative way in pretty much all aspects of the PvE game.

High level characters in a low level area are not taking kills away from newbies, they are helping them (except for the holo’s which you stated is not the issue). There are massive areas in the 1-5lvl range, one for each race in fact. There have been several hours in the past few days where I have been the only one in the area when I went to those low lvl zones (and by that I mean I did not see any other players, and the map chat was blank).

Having high lvl characters around is part of the game because you need to do map completion to get your Legendary weapon. This means that these people will always be in just about every area, event or no event.

My Edit: Just wanted to add to this

Also, yes, high lvl characters do like to go to low lvl areas, and it happens quite frequently. Maybe for nostalgia, but I think mostly TO ROLE PLAY! This is a role playing game, and so yes, I as a high lvl, can be seen frequenting starter areas. (Those are just two examples).

And, Just Trogdor, your comment about low lvl characters farming, well, that’s fine, but if you don’t have the skill or ability to do it, then you should just do renown hearts and story line until you are more familiar with how the game works. You act like everyone should just step away and let you have your own creatures to farm and your own…well…everything. This is a community game, you will win and you will loose, but starting off as a newbie and farming for dragon coffers is not the way to begin.

JustTrogdor.7892:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

No one hinders new players. Resources within the game are never permanently destroyed once killed. They respawn.

I sense a couple of mistakes you guys are making. If you follow a group that’s killing things before you can get to them, don’t follow them if you can’t keep up. Go in the opposite direction and take out mobs. Also, if you just stand there, and allow others to kill the enemy (without making a single effort to “tag” it), then the fault lies in the player’s actions. This is fixed by teaching the new player what “tagging” means.

Keep in mind that every Heart has a different objective. You’re not stuck with just killing a single type of monster for credit. Some have multiple ways to complete the Heart quest.

Seriously, if the starter maps are so fun for high level characters where were they before Dragon Bash?

By killing mobs in mass amounts and quickly they are making the game much harder for new players to also get kills that award things such as exp, loot, and hey guess what dragon coffers for them too.

We are not talking simply about hearts. Low level players should be able to farm as well.

Please read my posts completely because I have already discussed the spawning and tagging issues that are affected by this as well.

Stop trying to put lipstick on a pig. It is evident that high level players are trashing the low level maps simply for coffers. I have been playing for a while and I know how tagging and hearts work. I have seen this flood of high level characters in low level areas affect low level/new players in a negative way in pretty much all aspects of the PvE game.

I’m guessing you don’t understand how the game mechanics work. When a monster is killed, they respawn after a short time. They’re not dead permanently.

The best way to go about this is to teach the new player how to attack the enemy to “tag” it. Consider using a Ranged type weapon if they are too slow to get into Melee range.

If the players in the map are killing things too quickly, then DO NOT FOLLOW THEM. Go in the opposite direction, meaning away from the group. This isn’t just for higher level “elite” players. You can have a zerg of low level players, their combined attacks and AOE can still take out enemies fast.

Going back to completing Hearts. Not all have requirements to just kill things. It’s good to read what each Heart quest requirement is, and do something other than killing stuff.

faith in humanity lost! JustTrogdor.7892 i get what you’re saying and will honestly stop farming coffers in the low lvl areas. hopefully more people can pull their head out of their as*

no need to judge. you haven’t seen me play. nor played with me. i wasn’t condoning these acts of “elitist” players. i didnt’ say you were rude either for asking them. i just said it wasn’t the best idea, beacuse you already know what kind of response you were going to get. in a sense, what i meant was that by asking, whether it is your right or not, will only serve to exacerbate the situation that you find the game to be in from a newer player’s perspective.

in fact, i act the same way you do. if i see upleveled players or seemingly new players and we’re after the same mob, i atually wait til they land their first few attacks first, and then generally i only use auto attack. if i am on the way to an event but see downed players or players that need help on the outskirts of the “event area”, i will go out of my way to help them, and more often then not, will miss out on events but it’s okay. i don’t mind. and most of the time i will get a ty or smiley and that’s, in a sense, what i play for as well.

from what i’ve seen on my server though, yours i cannot speak of, the low level maps are often more populated. and then come the high level maps. the mid level maps are the ones that are deserted. most “veterans” will be farming the low starter maps for events, since they are galore, easier to kill stuff as well. like Smooth Penguin said, don’t follow the “zerg”.

i too feel that our community can be better at welcoming “new players”, but that’s the thing. most people, by human nature, have a need to belong. they often won’t remember where they started.. and most will only do unto others what they perceived were done unto them. yes, it’s a vicious cycle. so what can we do to help? i will bet and say most people out there aren’t out to bully or bash new players, rather, they see them as a non-actor. which is worse? i’ll let you decide. but keep in mind, there are still more than a handful of players out there, that are like you, who want to help newer players. we can’t control the actions of others, so work on the ways that you CAN make a difference to those you want to help and welcome. and hopefully these new players will remember you helping them, and then be able to do the same. sure, it would be nice if the more experienced players allowed more room to grow with the newer players, but again, at the end of the day, we can’t control people, but we can affect them through your own play style. stay positive. spread that good kitten. and pray that it goes from 1 to 3, 3 to 5, 5 to 100. i will at this point also make note of your attitude and tone in your replies. i don’t think anyone in here is telling you that you’re wrong or that you’re a noob (and i hate using that word). most peolpe came in here to address the issue, share their sides of the story or just to offer some advice on hwo to avoid the situations that you’ve mentioned. yes, we can’t and most certainly don’t expect new players to go out of their way just to enjoy the game based on hwo they want to. on the other hand, we shouldn’t expect veteran players to go out of their way just so you can enjoy the game based on your preferences, should we? like most things in life, in game, it goes both ways.

i often spend time just /saying trying to talk to new players, but most don’t even respond to me either. everything goes both ways and everyone has a story. furthermore, i got on my alts that i rarely ever touch, and was helping a friend level in Queensdale. sure there were level 80 downscaled characters, as well as people like myself on low level alts, or even completely new players.. and what i saw was most people were getting kills, getting hearts done, calling out events and for e.g. at the champ troll, bandit events, centaur events, there were again a mix of 1’s through 80’s and dare i say, even people working together. i didn’t feel i was unabel to get kills or complete events at all. no one told people to go anywhere, from newbies to your so-called elitists…

i see where you’re coming from about how Dragon Bash added some unwanted attention to these areas.. but to be honest, it’s always been the case that starter maps are the most popular. to do events. to do dailies. i hope in the future ANet can bring some attention back to the mid-level maps.. some of them ar SO beautiful. i did all my holograms in Lonar’s Pass for e.g.

i wish you good luck with your continued adventures in Tyria! : )))))

really, the main point of why i decided to post here in the first place, is to let you know, don’t let the actions or words or others affect how YOU want to play the game. you told me to step back and think outside the box, i urge you to do the same. don’t let the players (in an MMO, yes ironic) dictate how you want to play. you are a player yourself. and it’s up to YOU how your experience in the game will measure up to your expectations.

[edit: crappy editing on forums XDD]

Gestankfaust.4216:

Klonex.4562:

the content was new for everyone when they logged in, everyone learned how to play dragon bash so just learn how to play the game yourself. the only real problem is with afk not being kicked after 15 seconds or at all. as for the holograms that you’re trying to get, it’s first come first serve unless people are being nice enough to wait for those in the area running towards them. coffers also drop from regular mobs as well as the holos. as for the places with hearts, it’s a shame that your friend can’t do them atm with so many players round the event.

I think you missed the point entirely. The OP never once said they wanted to do the holos….it was just simple getting the bandit cave done for the heart. Did you read it at all?

.

i skimmed through it, it was just a wall of text which i didn’t bother going through all of it.

Level 80 is a arbitrary number in this game. Players are downscaled two level above the area with their armor and traits.

No zone is considered obsolete. Players are encouraged to play all the content.

A dispiriting lack of empathy on these boards…

I’m not sure if this would wholly circumvent the issues you are having, but it may help: Try guesting on a low population world. I play on a lower population world and have never seen this farming to the extent you describe. Sure, we have our farming zergs, but they are small and infrequent enough that you can avoid them and all the hassle they bring with them.

I will agree with you on the point that the Guild Wars 2 community can be fairly horrendous at times. I think the anti-griefing incorporated in the game design lets people think they can play like poop-flinging goblins without any consideration to the newcomers. I’ve also seen players who single out one character, follow them around, and kill everything around them before they can even tag.

Webba.3071:

A dispiriting lack of empathy on these boards…

mind elaborating this?

akamon.2769:

Webba.3071:

A dispiriting lack of empathy on these boards…

mind elaborating this?

Sure, no worries. I mean the way so many replies to the OPs post are so downright hostile or indignent when what he actually posted does not seem to merit that sort of response at all. It seems that the majority of people replying have not tried to, or are not capable of, imagining being in a situation that the OP describes and what that might feel like.

Accusations that the OP is rude or making demands on higher level players, when his post would imply that he has been nothing but polite in his requests in game and on the forum seem to show that people either do not understand what he wrote, or are too busy being insulted by a perceived complaint directed at them personally (no such complaint exists) to understand that this is simply another player recounting his somewhat frustrating experience.

I am one of those lvl 80 players who has been tooling around the low level zones (and you are just being a kitten if you choose to ignore the well known fact that lvl 80 gear and build gives a significant/massive advantage in the starter zones) and if a player there asked me if I could possibly go somewhere else so they could finish a heart I would be happy to do so, I have 100% map completion after all.

Thats me though, and I tend to be very naive about these things. I assume people are misunderstanding the op when in actual fact they could just be being intentionally mean to them.

The reason those lvl 80s are there is because they can farm as fast as possible. Asking them to slow down to wait for someone with no swiftness isn’t going to work. If anyone in the zerg declines to slow down, then those who do slow down will miss out, so in the end, no one slows down.

You’re not going to change players’ behaviors. What you really should be asking for is better downscaling. Everyone is farming in lowbie areas because downscaling doesn’t downscale enough and level 80s massacre the mobs too easily. So it’s Anet you should be discussing this with.

I feel sorry for OP and all other newcommers, it realy ruins the experience I can immagine. I remember when I played trough with my main in the pre-release of GW2, almost every kill enemies tasks was so hard to compleate becouse there where so many other players around and now I can imagine to see lv80 insta-kill everything not even letting you tag a single enemy to compleate your task. It’s silly, it’s rude, it’s egoistical and much more but sadly it will rarely work to ask them to let you do your task, politely or not.

What would work would be if A-Net implements a code that killing enemies related to tasks won’t give you any coffers or the higher level difference between you and your enemy the lower chance of a coffer drop or a DR each 10 sec killing the same type of enemy of some sort.

If you can’t change the people, change the rules.

It’s questionable if those lvl 80’s would even be there if the jade ticket rate drop was increased. Maybe the devs will take notice if it’s ruining the game for newbies. Now that the coffer prices have dropped so much it might start to ease off as it’s pretty easy to get materials in devastation etc. and craft something simple that’s worth more than the coffers anyway but that won’t stop those who want to farm the coffers themselves until they get a ticket.

I suspect the drop rate for the tickets is also to blame for the negative vibe from other players. If I’d opened 2000+ coffers and still not got one I would not take kindly to someone asking me to go where they think I should be. The lesson is that bad game mechanics spoil the game for everyone and this could have been avoided if there were other ways to get the tickets or they could be traded. The good news is that the devs read these boards and may one day fix the real issues (too much RNG and account-bound & soul-bound stuff).

Simple fix make event items only drop for people in level appropriate zones then level 80s that are truly there to enjoy the lower level zone can enjoy the zone as they say, those just there to rampage the area for quick event farming there will not be a incentive unless their in a level appropriate zone …… of course then you would hear the cry that they took away the advantage of being a high level and are limiting their fun since they in all their glory would already be in the level appropriate zone for them if it wasn’t such a struggle for them to be there in the first place

p.s. just came back to the game from a long long hiatus to see if anything changed =( still the ….. selfish people only worried about getting theirs…. people buying tons of boxes then crying how it wasn’t worth it and they didn’t get anything nothing really has changed still the same cookie cutter event style with new graphics

This is a sandbox game at 80! There is no starter zones outside the instance at the beginning of the game. 80s still need to farm low level mats too.

Onshidesigns.1069:

This is a sandbox game at 80! There is no starter zones outside the instance at the beginning of the game. 80s still need to farm low level mats too.

No one suggested, or even inferred that lvl 80 players should not be allowed in low level zones, mate.

Downscaling pretty much needs to be doubled at low levels (1-30).

I’m with Trogdor on this one, I think level 80s should bow out of that zone if people actually trying to level up and do content would like to get some kills.

I have been guilty of farming low level zones, but generally while helping out a low level guildie. I can tell you first hand that tell him to tag things to get credit works for about 2 mobs. If it requires even a little bit of running to get into range it’s too late. I can 2 shot pretty much everything and I’m not even dps specced. On many occasions I would accidentally wipe a room and realize my guildie tagged like one thing.

The solution would be for people to be decent and if asked in /map chat to not get offended but to a) group up with those in the area and maybe work together, or b) if you are 80 and in a starter zone, actually look for another place to farm. No, you don’t HAVE to, but seriously, don’t be a kitten about it…

It might be just yesturday night that this is more apparent. Sicne you mentioned the bandits I’ll assume you are in Queensdale and yesturdays daily are GRoup event, events, and DAILY kills.
Some maybe specific to kryta, but Queensdale can cover all of these really fast so people come here often to finish their dailies and kill on sight if there is daily kills.

Events are finished fast, BUT on the map people will shout out events and people will go there. So you can find out where to go for event OR where to go to avoid. Usually intervals between the 2 fast sapwning group events, the Oak heart and Troll.

Just keep in mind if someone yells troll, there will be more people in that vicinity that might do bandit as well. Hopefully this way you can avoid them. If anything you can try other starters since queensdale is the MOSt popular starter for people to roam anways.

• also its the easiest placce for high lvl to farm holo wing as a rare drop fromm mobs. high lvls can kill starter map mobs easily and with queensdales abundance of mobss and events it is an efficient grind spot*

Hope this helps ~

It’s a shame that regular mob loot is such a non factor that people will just go for the easiest mob when farming coffers.

Why bother killing mobs in Frostgorge for greys+coffers when you can kill mobs in Queensdale for greys+coffers.

That is an unfortunate story indeed.

However, you and your friend can still get credit if they tag everything and the others kill them. Perhaps you should have showed your friend how to AoE so should could hit as much as possible to get credit.

I do not think it is appropriate for you to ask others to leave. Sure you and your friend do not want to limit your gameplay, but nor do other people. ArenaNet designed this game that everyone gets credit as long as you help out, so you and your friend should not have had such problems getting credit.

As for the responses in map chat, that is pretty immature, for sure. Not everyone is like that though.

It is funny, because so many people complain that low level areas are empty and that looks bad to newbies, but here you are suggesting the exact opposite.

Coltz.5617:

It might be just yesturday night that this is more apparent. Sicne you mentioned the bandits I’ll assume you are in Queensdale and yesturdays daily are GRoup event, events, and DAILY kills.
Some maybe specific to kryta, but Queensdale can cover all of these really fast so people come here often to finish their dailies and kill on sight if there is daily kills.

Events are finished fast, BUT on the map people will shout out events and people will go there. So you can find out where to go for event OR where to go to avoid. Usually intervals between the 2 fast sapwning group events, the Oak heart and Troll.

Just keep in mind if someone yells troll, there will be more people in that vicinity that might do bandit as well. Hopefully this way you can avoid them. If anything you can try other starters since queensdale is the MOSt popular starter for people to roam anways.

• also its the easiest placce for high lvl to farm holo wing as a rare drop fromm mobs. high lvls can kill starter map mobs easily and with queensdales abundance of mobss and events it is an efficient grind spot*

Hope this helps ~

Yeh, I think yesterdays daily had krytan killer in it, along with group events, plus it was a Sunday. I personally haven’t noticed the starter areas being swarmed during the short times I spend in them, maybe I’ll go tonight to see if there are as many people there as there was last night. Though, I have seen people just standing there camping holos.

Healix.5819:

Downscaling pretty much needs to be doubled at low levels (1-30).

Indeed. It’s a bit off-point, since Trogdor is talking more about rudeness than any particular game mechanic, but it’s the first thing that occurred to me as well. The particular issue with the hearts could perhaps be alleviated, at least somewhat, if the lower level zones weren’t quite so trivial for downleveled characters. I’m experiencing this a lot right now, as I’ve been getting my level 80 Mesmer and level 80 Thief world completion. There are some zones in which they more or less one-shot everything outside of champions and some veterans, unless I really, really badly over-aggro. I recognize that there is another side to this; I mean, the characters are level 80 and well-geared and an argument can be made that they should be able to roll over lower level opponents, and it can certainly be gratifying to do so (at least, for me). But I think the current state is a bit extreme; maybe a happy medium could be found where you’re not struggling like you did back when you were level 10, but you’re also not blowing enemies up with a dirty look.

It doesn’t help the problem that the holograms are distributed mostly in low and mid level maps and the low and mid level maps are the easiest to get to from the cities.

There’s like… 3 higher level maps that have holograms. Frostgorge Sound, Fireheart Rise, and Bloodtide Coast. Of those, Fireheart Rise is quite a bit out of the way, so if you don’t already have map completion (and thus the ability to waypoint) it can be a chore getting there at all. Frostgorge Sound isn’t quite as bad, but that also applies somewhat.

Switching maps will eventually become favorable to people because of DR, so if you’re a high-level player trying to stay on higher level maps, there aren’t many options.

I was on Bloodtide Coast farming holos earlier, but then DR started kicking in. This particular character that I’m using to farm (because he’s the only character I have with full MF gear) hasn’t been to Fireheart Rise nor Frostgorge Sound, so I ended up going to a lowish level map (Gendarran Fields).

They should have just thrown holograms into every single area in the game, IMO. Sure, inevitably many people are going to ignore options and just take the easiest, lowest-level area, but more options would at least help the issue some.

This isn’t really an easy issue necessarily, because if ANet stopped putting the festival related content in low level areas, then people would complain that they are being excluded. Only thing I can think of, is that the low level stuff is somehow not activated for characters above a certain level.

Another option is to guest on a low-pop server where there will be much less people running around generally, it’s not fair to ask someone to do that, but I do it if I need to.

Forcing the higher levels out of the area would be doing the exact same thing as they are doing to you – prevent content from being completed. To prevent users from receiving coffer drops while side-kicked will also result in the same, just in different areas of the game. There really isn’t anything Arenanet can do in the situation. Role Reversal helps none when the roles are the same.

I just need to say sorry to the OP and their friend. It sucks that he/she had that kind of introduction to the game. I know I was guilty of camping one holo spawn outside of la last week while catching up on E3. Also apparently I’m one of the few who feel remorse. I haven’t been farming the low level areas per say (though my 2 favorite areas to run around in are the norn starter and frostgourge sound). But, I still felt bad while waiting for SB to spawn the other day and I went around killing things on my way to resource gathering (gotta make that consortium sickle pay for itself eventually). I noticed only after I used my burst combo that a couple of other people near by were at level for the area and I unintentionally 2 shoted the enemies.

While I wouldn’t expect people to stop farming an area so someone else can farm, I would expect them to let you guys get the 10-20 kills to finish off a heart. I’m further saddened that some just laughed at you (also at some of the remarks here).

A non-ideal option would also be to increase the drop rates for higher level content. Increased effort to kill —> increased drop rate. But, the amount of effort it takes to kill things when you have full gear still isn’t that high. But there’s like 3 problems with that, if the drop increase wasn’t high enough the farmers would ignore it. If it was high enough then you’d have every high level farming the lvl 80 zones. You’d still have the map completion problem (just compare a masterwork lvl 75-78 to an exotic lvl 80 character) but I think the spread would be a little less, and they would at least have utilities and elites to help them get in on the action. And finally it wouldn’t be that fair to low levels either. Yes, presumably, they wouldn’t be competing with lvl 80s (or at least not as many) but it would skew the “fairness” of the rnd. Higher levels would have more chests and have better chances. Bleh, wish I had a suggestion that would actually be useful. Also hope that the OPs friend keeps playing the game despite a couple of bad experiences.

BlueSoda.6297:

JustTrogdor.7892:

At one point I politely asked in /map if some of the higher level players would mind if we could use the area we were in for a short bit. Most ignored it but here are some of the responses I got:

That’s a ridiculous and very rude request first of all. Second of all I have a low lvl character that I used to farm in that area on the 1st and 2nd day of the event and had no trouble at all. In fact, it was a great way to lvl up. Lastly, if you were in a party with your friend you should have had an advantage over other players anyway if you properly coordinated.

If he asked how was it rude? I don’t think it was rude at all.. And I have seen this crap go on. For the first two days of the event starting I never saw a holo, why? Cause they were farmed to death and didn’t stay up for very long.

JustTrogdor.7892:

First of all I was glad to see that the Dragon Bash included activities for all levels of play. I think the idea of the event is great and this isn’t meant to critical of the event designers but the community participating in the event.

First we had the problem of L80’s camping the holos in starter areas and killing them so fast no one else had a shot. Okay, they make this problem less of an issue by increasing the difficulty of the holos. This worked to some degree but the holos were still a constant camp fest leading many players to head to more difficult maps to get their share. Not a big deal unless you are a new player and have only gotten to L15 or less.

Now that it seems that most of the high level players have gotten their holo achievements that problem is gone. Unfortunately, now that those achievements have been completed it has reverted to coffer farming. Since coffers drop at all levels guess where this goes on? Yep starter maps.

Here is my example. I have a friend that just purchased GW2 a week before the event and we were looking forward to enjoying the event together. She was in game a little before the event but mostly to look around because she didn’t really have time until this weekend. We log in so I can help her get started on hearts in Queensdale. Every place we go is a non-stop farm fest by players in exotic gear. We head to the bandit cave because she wants so coffers too. Hmmm…. No bandits at entrance. We head further in a few dead bodies and sounds of players spamming “1”. We wait a second because they respawn fast. 3 spawn she tags one and I help her kill it, this didin’t take long, but now the other 2 are dead before we could even target them with a flash of shiney gear “1” spamming as they fly by.

Okay we head to other areas, guess what? Pretty much every place where there is more than 2 mobs within target range is getting zerg rolled by high level players. Okay, lets try Metrica. Same thing. Lets guest to a low pop server. Same thing. She did a few hearts but they either took much longer than should be or they were ones that didn’t involve combat like that boring one in Beetletun where you run in circles stomping wasp nest and killing rats.

The event pops up to protect water pipes from bandits so we head there. About a dozen players camping the spots where the mobs run in and trashing them before most people even got in range. Thanks!

At one point I politely asked in /map if some of the higher level players would mind if we could use the area we were in for a short bit. Most ignored it but here are some of the responses I got:

“LOL”, “Newb”, “muahahahahaha”.

Needless to say she didn’t feel like playing for very long. While this was disappointing for myself and my friend, there were lots of non-scaled players in the same areas trying to play as well. So I imagine they experienced the same frustration.

Now I’m sure many could say well, go here or there instead, go work map completions in cities, go do personal story, go craft or what not. However, the point is that a new player shouldn’t have to limit their game play because a lot of high level players want to farm coffers to death in low level maps.

Between this, the holo camping, the “afk” in Dragon Ball, the event has really brought out the bad in what is a normally friendly community.

I was hesitant to make this post because I’m sure I’m going to get things like, “stop crying”, I just think that it is unfortunate that those that have been playing at least enough to get to high levels think they should go to the lowest level possible and make things difficult for the low level players who happen to be there for the very reason that they are low level.

I know most reading this are probably not the ones causing the problems. The ones doing this probably don’t read the forums or if they do don’t care. This was meant to be more of a commentary on how the event has brought out the ugly in a community that is usually much better than other MMOs.

tl;dr
Inconsiderate players ruin holos for several days
Inconsiderate players ruin Dragon Ball by perma-“afk”
Inconsiderate players ruin low level maps for low level players by zerg rolling it non stop to farm coffers.

v v v Insert “Welcome to MMO’s” Comments Here v v v

Sad to say this community isn’t very friendly. Not saying there aren’t any friendly players, but there are more unfriendly and inconsiderate players than good ones. If you are able to try finding off times where there aren’t very many players on and holo farm. The thing is the game was build for higher lvls to be able to return to lower lvl. So you can play with your friends. Please don’t let others inconsideration discourage you from playing.. Just ignore them.

Webba.3071:

Sure, no worries. I mean the way so many replies to the OPs post are so downright hostile or indignent when what he actually posted does not seem to merit that sort of response at all. It seems that the majority of people replying have not tried to, or are not capable of, imagining being in a situation that the OP describes and what that might feel like.

Accusations that the OP is rude or making demands on higher level players, when his post would imply that he has been nothing but polite in his requests in game and on the forum seem to show that people either do not understand what he wrote, or are too busy being insulted by a perceived complaint directed at them personally (no such complaint exists) to understand that this is simply another player recounting his somewhat frustrating experience.

I am one of those lvl 80 players who has been tooling around the low level zones (and you are just being a kitten if you choose to ignore the well known fact that lvl 80 gear and build gives a significant/massive advantage in the starter zones) and if a player there asked me if I could possibly go somewhere else so they could finish a heart I would be happy to do so, I have 100% map completion after all.

Thats me though, and I tend to be very naive about these things. I assume people are misunderstanding the op when in actual fact they could just be being intentionally mean to them.

thanks for the response, Webba. : )) agreed. well, written in my post, i touched upon OP’s tone in his reponses. wasn’t telling him off, just pointing that out, which is one of the reasons why i feel he’s getting these type of responses here. i am on the same page, i feel his OP is being being midunderstood, or more likely, being lvl 80 themselves who “farm” starter maps feel “attacked”. and through that, the OP is feeling “attacked” as well. ://

once anyone brings labels onto the table, people will feel a need to side or pick a side they belong to. whether it be for 80’s for newbies, what have you.

Sorry to hear that, Trogdor. GW2 is quite good in general about promoting cooperation, but this is obviously a case where they’re failing. Hopefully, they’ll do a better implementation in the future. (IMO, stronger sidekicking in starter zones might be best.)

Also a bit sad that many of the replies display such complete lack of empathy and inability to read. Again, this community is better than most, but obviously not perfect.

Anyway, welcome to your friend! Please let her know that that experience was much more the aberration than the norm.

I know it’s frustrating and you probably don’t feel like you should have to do this, but try guesting. Every world isn’t as bad as what you’re describing. I consider that similar to changing channels in other MMOs when the areas were too crowded to accomplish anything.

akamon.2769:

thanks for the response, Webba. : )) agreed. well, written in my post, i touched upon OP’s tone in his reponses. wasn’t telling him off, just pointing that out, which is one of the reasons why i feel he’s getting these type of responses here. i am on the same page, i feel his OP is being being midunderstood, or more likely, being lvl 80 themselves who “farm” starter maps feel “attacked”. and through that, the OP is feeling “attacked” as well. ://

once anyone brings labels onto the table, people will feel a need to side or pick a side they belong to. whether it be for 80’s for newbies, what have you.

No problems, Akamon. I certainly wasn’t responding to your post, or any one post in particular really. Just an observation on the reasons behind so much of the unpleasantness around here that could be avoided by a little more consideration of each others points of view. Its nice to see that in the meantime the tone of this particular thread has at least improved a lot.