Guild Wars 2

Dunno what to tell ya.

GW2 is about open world content, not instanced, and that was a decision they made very quickly upon release. You’re not going to get what you want.

what the hek do you expect from content in the middle of a open world with Hundreds of people ready to go at it its gonna be either a zerg or a instance in terms of content in a mmo

I really wish they would add more instanced stuff. Especially since I’m more fond of the story rather than mindless killing of mobs and picking up loot.

Jeff.4680:

I really wish they would add more instanced stuff. Especially since I’m more fond of the story rather than mindless killing of mobs and picking up loot.

Yeah, but they’ve decided to expand on Living World content because Personal Story System was a flop. But sometimes I liked the calm, somehow challenging, and story driven (although story still needed improvement) of Personal Story Instances than zergy encounters.

I also wish they would have added some stuff for solo instances too and people can choose between the best of both worlds.

I wish they would do the personal-story style instances, with one, solidified plot. Just like Guild Wars was with the missions. I had sooo much fun doing those.

I’m already bored.

Mindless Zerg is not my idea of fun.

chemiclord.3978:

Dunno what to tell ya.

GW2 is about open world content, not instanced, and that was a decision they made very quickly upon release. You’re not going to get what you want.

Pretty sure Guild Wars 2 was advertised with dungeons and personal story, not just mindless zergblobbing. Some people want more of that content. Personally I think we’ve had more than enough of zerging by now.

Queen’s Jubilee, Scarlet Invasions and now this, it’s getting old and just makes me think that you guys can’t design anything better than mindless zerging content.

No one zergs anymore. It’s too crowded.

Ironically enough, all game maps are instances anyway. We enter them whenever we enter a new map.

So really the issue isn’t actually “instanced” versus “open world” content, but how many players are allowed into an instance and what they have to do to enter.

They just need to learn how to split people up.

1. Too many Events spawned in close areas

2. You awarded based on kills, not on event completion.

3. No depth to the fights. They’re just like the Scarlet Invasions. No interactables, not really interacting with NPCs.

Zabrios.6079:

Queen’s Jubilee, Scarlet Invasions and now this, it’s getting old and just makes me think that you guys can’t design anything better than mindless zerging content.

A good bit of people didn’t like gw1 cause it was completely instanced with that said go play a wold boss in a open world mmo like Aion or FF a realm reborn Its all a zerg GW2 is no different you can add as many mechanics to it as you want revamp it and change how its done it will still be a huge zerg cause its in the open world.

lol k so OP wants a small group to retake an entire city. Thank god he isn’t a game developer.

I wholeheardtely agree with this thread’s topic.

Wurm is crazy hard, marionette is okayish, scarlet invasions are old. So why did we get another scarlet invasion (again)??

Nausiation.1469:

lol k so OP wants a small group to retake an entire city. Thank god he isn’t a game developer.

It’s not just about being reasonable. It’s about fun. I don’t think many people will find lasting value in a mess of models, animations, and just numbers. I can’t help but find that during these huge zerg battles I lose my sense of uniqueness, my sense of being a hero, my sense that I’m doing something. That I’m not just another grunt.

I’m sure many people here will agree that we are find for big battles with lots of people. Though there needs to be more depth to the fights. Throwing 100+ players into a map and having them run at NPC zergs spamming F for drops isn’t that entertaining. Some of the mechanics are badly designed too. For example, the molten boss that does an AoE invurn thing for him and his allies. Just pull him out, right? Well sadly he’s going to have 50 stacks of defiant.

The turrets at tequatl are a great example of how they should use interactables. They need to not only do this, but also put in some NPCs to help and things like that. Spread the missions out more.

Deified.7520:

They just need to learn how to split people up.

1. Too many Events spawned in close areas

2. You awarded based on kills, not on event completion.

3. No depth to the fights. They’re just like the Scarlet Invasions. No interactables, not really interacting with NPCs.

On point number 2 and 3, that’s just pretty much what happens in a zerg. If you can’t tag a lot of mobs, you’re screwed. Which is basically a flaw in the gameplay mechanic of choosing how you want to play since if you’re specced for support with not much fir power, aoe or cleave damage, you are awarded with nothing. Hence the zerker dps zerg blobs killing everything and anything in a matter of seconds.

Agreed. Thought they learned with The Marionette fight…. Guess I was wrong.

Don’t play an MMO if you don’t like zerg content.

Do you complain about shooting and guns in an FPS?

Jeff.4680, just do not follow zerg. No one force you to do it. Today I ran exploring new Lion’s Arch, fought with mobs, ressed citizens. You are the one who make decision to follow zerg or not.

Hyperionkhv.1978:

Jeff.4680, just do not follow zerg. No one force you to do it. Today I ran exploring new Lion’s Arch, fought with mobs, ressed citizens. You are the one who make decision to follow zerg or not.

Yeah and get zero rewards out of it.

Gallrvaghn.4921:

If you can’t tag a lot of mobs, you’re screwed. Which is basically a flaw in the gameplay mechanic of choosing how you want to play since if you’re specced for support with not much fir power, aoe or cleave damage, you are awarded with nothing. Hence the zerker dps zerg blobs killing everything and anything in a matter of seconds.

And to compound matters, mobs are invulnerable for a for a few seconds after spawning. Any skill use that doesn’t involve dropping an AoE with a few seconds duration on them is wasted during this time, and people not running with such skills are left watching how the stacked AoEs vaporize the enemies instantly when they lose their invulnerability. Really awful.

eleshazar.6902:

Agreed. Thought they learned with The Marionette fight…. Guess I was wrong.

Beginning to feel that was a stroke of luck. I am so disappointed with this patch.

Like I said many times, these event should be in their separate instances to reduce the lag and overflow.

Here is my thread.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/lwd/Instances-will-Reduce-World-Event-Overflow

So… has anyone here played the content yet?

People have to cover the map and be ready to move on a moment’s notice for the next event. It requires groups to work in unison. The tri-kill mechanic does seem to get people to group up on cross-swords events, but to really kick kitten in this map, you need players all over the place.

This event is a terrible place to zerg.

Working with other ppl > then solo sry just the truth of the world.

If you zerg in this event you DO get punished for it.

Vol.7601:

Don’t play an MMO if you don’t like zerg content.

Do you complain about shooting and guns in an FPS?

Clearly; written by someone who didn’t play the first Guild Wars.

Gallrvaghn.4921:

Deified.7520:

They just need to learn how to split people up.

1. Too many Events spawned in close areas

2. You awarded based on kills, not on event completion.

3. No depth to the fights. They’re just like the Scarlet Invasions. No interactables, not really interacting with NPCs.

On point number 2 and 3, that’s just pretty much what happens in a zerg. If you can’t tag a lot of mobs, you’re screwed. Which is basically a flaw in the gameplay mechanic of choosing how you want to play since if you’re specced for support with not much fir power, aoe or cleave damage, you are awarded with nothing. Hence the zerker dps zerg blobs killing everything and anything in a matter of seconds.

Never mind that anything veteran or higher has crazy thick skin when they reach L80. End result is that you barely make a dent in them with anything but zerker. But when you go zerker you pretty much tear anything short of a champ apart…

Whoever it was that tried to claim you could tank and spank dungeon bosses in cleric, without glitching or stacking, is smoking Scarlet’s finest…

Nikked.7365:

So… has anyone here played the content yet?

People have to cover the map and be ready to move on a moment’s notice for the next event. It requires groups to work in unison. The tri-kill mechanic does seem to get people to group up on cross-swords events, but to really kick kitten in this map, you need players all over the place.

This event is a terrible place to zerg.

The tri-kill is fine on paper. But i found myself not seeing the aetherblade location on map at all while around the traders area. Could see the toxic and molten ones just fine tho. Unless it was inside that clusterkitten of a bank event. I wonder how many mass downs i spotted there from no discernible attack. Ended up staying outside and taking pot shots….

The patch left me with a mixed opinion of it.

On one hand, there isn’t much technically wrong with it. The Scarlet invasions (as some have already said), were alright. This patch isn’t anything special. Is it the worst zerg fest? Nah. It’s alright…

The events are easy. The loot is plentiful. It is pretty much impossible to pre-coordinate (as I’ve seen) but it doesn’t seem all that necessary.

It feels pretty shallow though and I’m not sure I quite like it. I don’t dislike it but it’s nothing I’ll remember for any long time to come.

Yeah, Jeff, I bet wars are more logical if there were only ten soldiers fighting each other than in a grand scale conflict.

The main problem is the core game mechanic where “everyone can do everything.” Because there is no “trinity”, all you’re left with is damage dealer that can also do “x” ability. Since everyone can deal damage.. all there is left is just mobbing up which, I agree, can get stale over time.

Fortunately, zerging is not the best way to complete this map

Nausiation.1469:

lol k so OP wants a small group to retake an entire city. Thank god he isn’t a game developer.

A city-under-siege situation shouldn’t be boring, regardless of how many people are running around in it.

andrew.1798:

The main problem is the core game mechanic where “everyone can do everything.” Because there is no “trinity”, all you’re left with is damage dealer that can also do “x” ability. Since everyone can deal damage.. all there is left is just mobbing up which, I agree, can get stale over time.

Fortunately, zerging is not the best way to complete this map

No, the best way is to not do very much at all while other people get you your achievements.

A major part of the zerg issue is the lack of any functional aggro mechanic.

I constantly see big bads simply up and run after someone nearby that is not even attacking them, while i am standing there doing my best to hurt them in melee.

End result is that there is no concept of front line, back line, or anything else that could turn into coherent formations.

It is just blobs smashing into blobs, and one of them being wiped out.

At least until WW1 and trench warfare, the concept was that front line formations protected artillery in the back, while cavalry tried to break through to take out the artillery.

Don’t the best rewards come from rescuing citizens?
In which case, its best to split up and find citizens around the city, and people obviously group up when events occur.
Of course we would group up; we’re waging war. This is a war with scarlet. This isn’t some small battle. I’ve never seen one person fight a war alone. If this were an instance, what would you have? You’d have NPC’s backing you instead of other players.

Honestly, I play an MMO for the interaction between players. The more interaction, the better. Zerging is fine in my book; I’m running around with a group and fighting with them. I can leave the group whenever I want, and face the consequences of playing alone in an MMO environment. If I wanted to play for story alone and reduced players, I’d play resident evil Co- op mode or something.

Nikked.7365:

So… has anyone here played the content yet?

People have to cover the map and be ready to move on a moment’s notice for the next event. It requires groups to work in unison. The tri-kill mechanic does seem to get people to group up on cross-swords events, but to really kick kitten in this map, you need players all over the place.

This event is a terrible place to zerg.

Yeah…I got my Tri-kill Achievement on the first over flow server I joined, with no one knowing what to do, and just zerging the events as the popped.

Already I’m sitting at 13/15 achievements finished through sheer force of zerging. Now that people are understanding how the miasma works, and how the instance doesn’t kick you out until 10 minutes prior to the hour, people are just zerging events as they pop up, and being very successful at it.

This map was designed with zerging in mind.

Nausiation.1469:

lol k so OP wants a small group to retake an entire city. Thank god he isn’t a game developer.

I never said that. I understand that many people could care less about story and do mindless killing of mobs in a zerg; it’s good that Anet is satisfying those players. I’d just like to see on top of that some story instances that take longer than 5 minutes for players like myself and the apparent many others.

Jski.6180:

Working with other ppl > then solo sry just the truth of the world.

I whole-heartily agree! But is button mashing in a zerg of zerkers really what you call working with other players?

Exosferatu.2961:

Yeah, Jeff, I bet wars are more logical if there were only ten soldiers fighting each other than in a grand scale conflict.

Again, not sure where you’re getting this from, because I don’t recall saying that?

What I wouldn’t mind is having a LA zerk-fest, but a “ten soldiers ‘storm the drill’” story instance on top of that.

Gallrvaghn.4921:

If you can’t tag a lot of mobs, you’re screwed. Which is basically a flaw in the gameplay mechanic of choosing how you want to play since if you’re specced for support with not much fir power, aoe or cleave damage, you are awarded with nothing. Hence the zerker dps zerg blobs killing everything and anything in a matter of seconds.

Exactly, I couldn’t have said it any better. This is hence why zerkers need desperately nerfed, supporters need buffed (not necessarily healers), and especially control needs buffed.

Well, maybe not buffed, but zerkers need to be rendered much less useful without support and control, and control needs to be overall much more useful.

Guild Wars 2’s “new and improved” trinity is a total flop at the moment. I like the idea of it much better, but in its current state I’d much rather prefer tank-DPS-heal. Though this is a topic for another thread.

Klowde.9876:

Don’t the best rewards come from rescuing citizens?
In which case, its best to split up and find citizens around the city, and people obviously group up when events occur.
Of course we would group up; we’re waging war. This is a war with scarlet. This isn’t some small battle. I’ve never seen one person fight a war alone. If this were an instance, what would you have? You’d have NPC’s backing you instead of other players.

Honestly, I play an MMO for the interaction between players. The more interaction, the better. Zerging is fine in my book; I’m running around with a group and fighting with them. I can leave the group whenever I want, and face the consequences of playing alone in an MMO environment. If I wanted to play for story alone and reduced players, I’d play resident evil Co- op mode or something.

This isn’t interaction. This is huddling into massive lag balls and mashing 1.

Thorn.7963:

This isn’t interaction. This is huddling into massive lag balls and mashing 1.

You would better contribute to the war by making using of your other buttons as well. This isn’t WvW where skill lag prevents that—I didn’t notice any skill lag at all on hard capped maps.

It’s an invasion. What were you expecting, organized duels? :P

not having holy trinity means zerg like this cuz solo combat is borring man

Jeff.4680:

Again, not sure where you’re getting this from, because I don’t recall saying that?
What I wouldn’t mind is having a LA zerk-fest, but a “ten soldiers ‘storm the drill’” story instance on top of that.

If you were the lead game director, how would you have done it?

Zergs don’t have to happen, they don’t need to happen, if people make the effort to do something different. If this is a zergfest, it is because the players aren’t thinking outside the zergfest box.

The first run in the new LA I was a part of, (in an overflow, mind you) immediately after the patch, there was no tidal wave zerg of people, running mindlessly around. There were several commanders who each focused on a quadrant of LA, and people joined them there. Even with the miasma being already half full, we saved almost 900 citizens, and got most of the rewards. We did awesome, without a major zerg in sight.

Each time since then, I’ve seen nothing but Wall O Players zerging, less than 400 citizens rescued every time, and most of the events failing, because the zerg is off doing something else.

Don’t want it to be a zergfest? Stop zerging all over the map. Actively resist just being a zerg. Split into smaller groups and kill, kill, kill. Rescue more people, because that gets everyone more and snazzier rewards.

I’m with OP. Lion’s Arch looks awesome, but the stuff going on inside feels like Yet Another Dogpile. There’s nothing wrong with it, per se, and I enjoy a nice zerg now and then, but it’s been done to death in this game already.

I really thought the Marionette struck a nice balance in that it split everyone up. I felt more like I made a difference, I could have a somewhat different experience depending on which lane I picked, it had some strategy to it.

I hope we see more fights like Mari or LS chapters like the Zephyr Sanctum in future, rather than “same zerg, different day”. I appreciate that ANet tries to mix it up a bit, I just wish they’d mix it up more.

Jeff.4680:

Why is it every patch has to require a zerg to play?

I guess it’s cool for everyone else, but personally I can’t even play this stuff. I’m on a university network, and my university hates zergs. I mean, I can’t even get skills off or talk in chat. Crazy lag. No, it’s not my frame rate.

Really getting nostalgic about Guild Wars 1 instances… :/

You know what funny, is anything that involves world-based content, even if they did their best to consult it into a divided structured system of phases, the players will find a way to zerg it. Cause it makes more in the game involved, and more chances for everyone to get loot. I doubt it was truly A-Net’s intentions for this update.

Marionette was a fine example, people were to respond to each Warden accordingly, the mechanics of GTFO-ing off red circles and black masses were there, the aiming from behind, the leading to its own bombs. All that were not zergy mechanics.

However, the more players wanted to play this world-based content, the zergier it got.

Now the double edged blade some from making things “instanced” for examples like this: It may alleviate the zerg, sure, then it turns into an invite only. Becomes exclusive few to those. Almost how the nature of the LF-Dungeon tool is responding now. I still haven’t had time to run the Arah story, and no one cares to come into a newbie-to-the-story’s dungeon often, leaving those who are waiting for a long time.

Not to mention they want to “change the world” with these content additions, meaning they want us to feel as if the world is changing on us all. Not just shown to those who can and those who can’t watch a cinematic and wish they experienced it.

Either way, there is pros and cons, and for their goal to reach the largest audience that will experience it, this method is the best way to go. Your experience may not be as grand to the idea, but hell… Maw, Shadow Beast and the like since launch of the game has become just as “zergy” as anything else, but we’re not somehow blaming the dev team for that slip-up, are we?

Thorn.7963:

Hyperionkhv.1978:

Jeff.4680, just do not follow zerg. No one force you to do it. Today I ran exploring new Lion’s Arch, fought with mobs, ressed citizens. You are the one who make decision to follow zerg or not.

Yeah and get zero rewards out of it.

If you can’t do the zerg due to your computer or network, I’m sorry, but that isn’t Anet’s fault. You can’t expect them to design most content in an mmo specifically for your computer/network’s ability. If you are simply unwilling to do it, then you don’t deserve the rewards. There’s just no other way to say it.

DeShadowWolf.6854:

Thorn.7963:

Hyperionkhv.1978:

Jeff.4680, just do not follow zerg. No one force you to do it. Today I ran exploring new Lion’s Arch, fought with mobs, ressed citizens. You are the one who make decision to follow zerg or not.

Yeah and get zero rewards out of it.

If you can’t do the zerg due to your computer or network, I’m sorry, but that isn’t Anet’s fault. You can’t expect them to design most content in an mmo specifically for your computer/network’s ability. If you are simply unwilling to do it, then you don’t deserve the rewards. There’s just no other way to say it.

I can do the zerg just fine. Its just absolutely boring. There’s no fun in just spamming skills against a group of HP sinks.

Qaelyn.7612:

It’s an invasion. What were you expecting, organized duels? :P

Exactly my thinking. I’m not particularly sure what you guys are expecting. We are on the defensive and trying to rescue citizens wherever we can find them. It’s not like marionette where we are on the offensive and trying to destroy a super weapon before it can be used. We were completed obliterated this time around, the zerg mentality fits perfectly well. It’s a war, the main city just got demolished, everything is chaotic, you wouldn’t be wandering around the city alone in this scenario would you? Even if you were, you wouldn’t be foolish enough to tackle a large group of monsters alone.