Guild Wars 2

The Clock Tower is one of the best MMO events I’ve done in a LONG time. At first the amount of people and large characters bothered me, but you get used to it. I’m actually really happy with all the people attempting at once, b/c throughout all of the trials and errors I made a few more friends that I can enjoy the game with. Keep up the good work ANet, and don’t let all of these whiney haters get to you.. If they really want everything handed to them they can go back to playing WoW and paying a monthly fee

I’m always amused by those individuals who can’t seem to grasp the idea that they don’t lose their achievement in game, nor a sense of achievement, for having done the clock tower puzzle IF it is made a bit easier and others get to achieve it too. It takes nothing away from you. Your “achievement” is nothing more and nothing less than it is regardless of it the difficulty is eased a little. It doesn’t in any way effect -your- self-centered little worlds nor does the fact that you were capable of jumping some pixels in a video game make you somehow a better person when you log off, ROFLOL!

If they make the puzzle less difficult then what’s it to you if you’ve already done it?Grow up. people.

mrsrachelm.7618:

nor does the fact that you were capable of jumping some pixels in a video game make you somehow a better person when you log off, ROFLOL!

If they make the puzzle less difficult then what’s it to you if you’ve already done it?Grow up. people.

If jumping on some pixels isn’t a big deal, why be so upset that you can’t do it?

I just watched the video above and thinking, ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? From this game, I now highly despise jumping puzzles because
a)the camera angles
b)the nausea
c) I’m NORN!

Might as well not even bother with this nonsense. Being new to Guild Wars, I had no idea Areanet has such an infatuation with Jumping Puzzles. If so much of the game is going to focus on them, then this will drive me away from the brand. Because there is certainly, no joy in futility.

Ryuujin.8236:

mrsrachelm.7618:

nor does the fact that you were capable of jumping some pixels in a video game make you somehow a better person when you log off, ROFLOL!

If they make the puzzle less difficult then what’s it to you if you’ve already done it?Grow up. people.

If jumping on some pixels isn’t a big deal, why be so upset that you can’t do it?

You just ignore what people write and pretend they wrote something you want to respond to don’t you?

Asum.4960:

Beat it 10 times in a row just for the fun. Met some amazing people while trying to beat it (we failed for 2 hours), but once we did, it just felt awesome, and so easy.

/E:

Making it solo would take away 90 % of the fun.

I did it with some strangers from different servers in the overflow, and it was one of the best times i had in GW 2 so far (playing since first BWE).

And yes, we really needed 2 hours to beat it for the first time (and except me and one asura we all where charrs and norns btw).

This.

The funniest event of this Halloween till now.

Took me like an hour to beat it, but after you get the hang on it, it becomes easy. I even tried on my Asura, thinking it would be much harder because he would be too small to see in the middle those big Charr and Norn models, but did it on my third attempt.

And I cant agree more with the fact that what makes this funny is the presence of other people. Sure they sometimes get in your way, but its not a big deal. 80% of them just fail to make the 5 first jumps, or are far behind to have a chance to complete the JP. Its the players interaction and failures along the way that makes this cool.

I like it that way it is – its fun and challenging (and infuriating). The best part is when you fail until you get it right – just like old school games that weren’t watered down for terrible players. If you are failing – get better, it will feel so much more meaningful once you’ve spent a lot of time failing.

I’ve been failing at this all day… took a break, came back a few hours later. After 10 more attempts…. I GOT IT! Christ sakes this ones a toughy, But it SHOULD NOT BE EASY! Easy Content ruins games. There NEEDS to be content that is out of reach of an “Average” player because if it was too easy, it wouldn’t be nearly as rewarding.
Advice:
- Don’t give up, if you get too frustrated, take a break.
- If you have the “Speed Boosts” from Black Lion Chests, USE THEM. They work.
- If you feel that framrates are an Issue, change your graphics settings to “Best Performance” Ya it’ll look like crap, but it helps. It worked for me.
Hope this helps at all, best of luck!

Ryuujin.8236:

mrsrachelm.7618:

nor does the fact that you were capable of jumping some pixels in a video game make you somehow a better person when you log off, ROFLOL!

If they make the puzzle less difficult then what’s it to you if you’ve already done it?Grow up. people.

If jumping on some pixels isn’t a big deal, why be so upset that you can’t do it?

Where did I say “I can’t do it”? I’ll wait…..

Clock Tower is a BLAST.

Leave it as it is, I completed it after about 1 hour of trials and errors, with an Asura surrounded by stinky Charrs and obese Norns, I didn’t see my character for quite some time during the puzzle, but then again, I did it.

Less whine, more jumps guys! After beating it, you’ll find yourself shouting KITTEN, YEAH! Like it was in the old days, when we went to school jumping uphill, in boiling lava. (cit.)

I don’t think i can do this. 3 hours now, haven’t made it half way yet.

Please solo instance it, i am an Asura….i have been trying for over 2 and half hours and i cant get past the kittening break!! WHCH IS LIKE 20 SECONDS IN!!! becuase i cant see myself

I keep trying to find where people are saying they want it to be “easy”. Those complaining about people wanting it to be easy must be reading posts I’m not in this thread. I’ve never seen one comment on this thread or the several others, where anyone has said “I want this to be easy”. There is a rather large difference between wanting something to be changed such as not having it be a forced group or timed puzzle and saying they want it to be “easy”. Why must people always read the extremes into everything. There is also a difference in saying they would like it be “easier” and “easy” and usually “easier” means not a forced group or timed puzzle…NOT in changing the difficulty of the puzzle itself.

Why are the elitists gamers soooo threatened by the very idea of tweaking the puzzle?

I disagree. They should slow the green stuff down a tad (not alot, something like 5%). Tried for 2 hours, and kept getting caught by the green mist stuff. REALLY frustrating.

Oh man this was so hard but SO much fun! Finally beat after countless tries – I loved the challenge, thanks for making something so satisfying to win!

Nothing fun about it. Finally managed it, but after the first half hour just despised it. There are some twisted people with a warped sense of what fun is on here. The game engine isn’t suited to precision plat forming, and I wish the designers would realise that.

Or you just lack patience? Yeah, could be that.

This event is so fun. Except it’s not.

The problem is that my camera angle goes mad and pulls in super tight at random places, after that it’s pretty easy.

My other problem is the massive norn who use full height and the fattest/most muscular setting. They’re brick walls, I can’t see where I’m going.

I’ll try again at like 4am when there’s no massive norn awake.

BTW: it’s no longer called a puzzle when you can’t think because if you do, you die. Call it something else please.

Leave as is, but make it a solo instance or something less detrimental to smaller players.

Same problem as many others. Get in a small group or one with no Norn or Charr and make progress. Large group with Norn and Charr, you’re staring up their kitten the whole time. How are you supposed to learn jumps you can’t see?

First run- 2.5 hours
Second run-1.5 hours
Third run-40 mins

It’s doable. No speed buffs during any of the runs, either.

Visibility is the only major issue with this instance.

Furthest I got was in a group with about 5 asura and size of only 9 people, about 3/4 of the way in. As soon as a charr or norn join and if they’re right on top of me, I waste precious seconds trying to locate my character – precious seconds that means acid covering platforms. Kept zoning to try to find a smaller instance with smaller characters, but haven’t been able to find another one with less than 13 players. The majority of my tries have been with full 15 players.

The first hour was fun and hilarious. After that it just becomes a grind, an annoying and frustrating grind. I’ll probably keep at it because I really want the achievement, and I’ll probably make it, but the joy has definitely gone out of this holiday puzzle.

Please make the option to do this puzzle solo. Sure I met some great people, but that in no way detracts from the frustration of what is supposed to be a fun event. I can still meet great people farming the labyrinth.

Edit: Nevermind, guess you nerfed the labyrinth. And also, why are people who dislike some of the mechanics of the jumping puzzle “complainers”? I’m voicing my concern. I’m fairly confident that I will be able to beat it…eventually, but as stated, it is no longer “fun” for me. I assume that while Anet wants this puzzle to be challenging, they still want it to be fun for the majority of players. Making the instance solo or max party of 5 would not detract from the achievement of completing this timed puzzle, but will greatly enhance the “fun” aspect for many players. Then again, maybe my assumption was wrong, in which case I am greatly disappointed.

brilliantly sadistic… definitely leave it as it is, i was laughing all the way round

It was amazing, but the cutscene for returner needs to be removed :p quite frustrating in my 2 hours to succeed having to watch that again and again and again xinfinite times xD And judging by the complainers, maybe add a option of difficulty if the new ones have a “timer” like the tower…as long as the complainers get to “complete” it at some level they should be ok with things

There are still so many threads being made trying ot nerf clocktower. its sad to see that there are still sooo many people/gamers who are still stuck in the EZmode Decade of gaming >.<

I can only imagin how much B*tching and whining there woulda been back in the day if these people were around. Woulda been chaos.

i could imagine those people creating threads at nintendo oficial forums

“OMG NERF SUPER MARIO BROTHERS ALREADY!!!!”

Sabin.4590:

i could imagine those people creating threads at nintendo oficial forums

“OMG NERF SUPER MARIO BROTHERS ALREADY!!!!”

Which NES classic shall I tell you how to complete from memory after not having played them in 15+ years?

Sabin.4590:

i could imagine those people creating threads at nintendo oficial forums

“OMG NERF SUPER MARIO BROTHERS ALREADY!!!!”

If you bothered to read, although there’s people who complain about difficulty, there’s even more people complaining about other issues.

Console arcade games like super mario have very few glitches, and they are easy ton control. You se a block ,you know that will collide with you. And the ‘camera’ was always sideways, so you can always see where you are and where you are going, with a few exceptions in some seckitteneas.

But in here, you se a stone and it might or might not collide with you. More than once people ended falling because they jumped to a beam or rock that will let them go right through it.

And since you are in charge of the camera, as it’s not automatized and will only stay behind you if you turn with keys (I turn with the mouse, as turning with the keys is extremely slow and uncomfortable) and for some people the camera behaves horribly, from jumping around to getting stuck in the floor to twirl and turn around in circles like crazy.

Not being able to do it because of lack of skill is acceptable.
Not being able to do it because of everything except lack of skill is not.

This challenge is utterly perfect for the whole Mad King theme. I hope it never changes

irinawds.9627:

Sabin.4590:

i could imagine those people creating threads at nintendo oficial forums

“OMG NERF SUPER MARIO BROTHERS ALREADY!!!!”

Which NES classic shall I tell you how to complete from memory after not having played them in 15+ years?

In all honesty i wasnt on TeamNintendo back in the day.. I was Team Sega.. mainly becouse i didnt like the ‘type’ of games nintendo had mainly. Most were to simple ..atleats the ones i played on friends consols.
Anyway i mainly played on a genesis. So hard games ..hmm let me think .oh yea…Shinobi, Vectorman, and Ecco the dolphin, to name but a few.
I cant really think of a game i’ve played in the past 10 years that has been as hard as they were. Though i know Dark Souls is very hard ..i really should get around ot getitng that.

Anyway ‘most’ peopel who played alot of those old games during the Atari and genesis days would agree games were tougher back then.

From a technical game design viewpoint, it’s flawed. If it was a single instance event with only yourself, or if it didn’t have the timer, it would be fine. But given that other players can grief you and cause you to fail, and that the timer makes it impossible to avoid the crowd, it is bad game design. Two easy fixes: get rid of timer or make it single player instance. Either will fix the problem.

I agree to not change it. It’s insane, I am terrible at jumping puzzles, it took me a half hour just to get to the first stopping point, and I have pretty much given up. But, I don’t need it to get the Emissary of the Mad King title (at least according to the wiki) so there is plenty of other things for me to do and enjoy. Leave it hard for the people who like jumping puzzles.

I still don’t understand why it’s so difficult for some people.
There are couple spots you can get caught on, but it’s intentional and easy to quickly get off of.
It takes minimal effort to hit jump and turn the camera. (for myself anyway, I should assume that for some they can not or are not used to using these things well).
You can look at the path while in the waiting area to determine where you need to go.
The only things that I can see MIGHT be an issue is number of people blocking view somewhat (more so if there are larger races in at the time), poor connections/computer, and anyone who double-taps to dodge (though it’s a mostly hold W hit space turn camera with mouse puzzle).

Too many games losing too much difficulty. Seems everything ends up way to easy or rarely way to difficult. Middle area is lacking. If they feel they need to change it, so be it, but I would agree that perhaps making 2 versions of it or some title for doing the original, more challenging version, would be great.

So, this took me quite a while to beat last night. A major sticking point was that I was playing as Asura, and at first it was simply hard to see my character in the frenzy. There were a few Charr, and that made it more or less impossible to see my character. I still had a blast because there was camaraderie there. Chatting while waiting for it to reset was crucial to my enjoyment, I think. You just can’t help but laugh and yell “TILTY GEAR WHYYYYYYYY” when you slide off the side of it and someone else got to watch you

I do not think it would work to change everyone to Ascalonian ghosts, or something like this, because in a large group it was important for me to be able to self-identify. But also, when you start to make friends (or have a notion of who is doing well), it’s nice to be able to identify them. As Asura, though, I think it would be a very nice to normalize everyone’s size. The puzzle is surely difficult, but the hardest part was making jumps with no direct knowledge regarding my character’s location. As I continued to try, people started to vanish, and when it was down to a field of 10-15 I could really start to see my character and make some real progress (although I had to make sure I stayed well ahead of the Charr still. This is possible by jumping early as the platforms appear during the first bit).

A comment about camera difficulties. This is one area where I don’t understand the previous comments. I did not have any camera troubles. Question to those with camera troubles: do you hold the right mouse button down while you do jumping puzzles? That’s what I do. By holding down the right mouse button, I use the mouse to turn. I can also swing it left/right and counter-balance by strafing so I can navigate some of the turns a little more efficiently. That might be a way to fix your concerns, because as noted, I never had camera issues and that’s the only thing I could think would be why.

And one anecdote: I spent the whole time in overflow. The first time I attempted the 3rd to last jump (onto a very thin bar), it asked me if I wanted to transfer out of overflow. The message window completely blocked my view and made me miss the jump. What unfortunate timing! Blast you Mad King!

Whoever calls this “easy as pie” or claim to have completed it in less than 10 tries must be either a cave troll or a jungle troll. Maybe a snow troll too.

It was the first event in recent mmo history that had an enjoyable amount of actual, not numerical difficulty. Thus, it is awesome, but will surely get nerfed to the ground as the people unable to complete won’t stop crying about it.

I support leaving the clock tower as is. It was incredibly frustrating but, at the same time, incredibly fun. I haven’t done many jumping puzzles but this was my favorite. Though I wouldn’t have minded the norn and charr being shrunk to mid-size… I fell so many times because a norn or charr would jump on top of my toon and I couldn’t see where I was >.<

This is one of my absolute favorite things in the entire game. I hope we get some more jumping puzzles like this in the future!

+1 for leave it as it is

I like playing with a group of people, it’s fun travelling and achieving a goal together. At first it was hard and frustrating but after practising and completing it I find it enjoyable to do repeats .. sometimes I purposely fail if I see no-one behind me anymore.

The only thing I want to change is the timer – you have to wait for someone to either die or enter the tower with the chest, or if you do complete it you have to wait a very long time due to the group just entering the game as you just exited the tower.

The Clock Tower jumping puzzle is a really funny place
I was trying to complete it the whole day, dying so many times on the start because of the norn and charr characters then I started to be faster than the whole zerg just to die many times on 2 or 3 difficult spots in this puzzle
So many cursed words have been told, but I finally managed to complete the puzzle – and quess what – it isn’t that hard
Just remember – practice makes perfect

The clock tower is a wonderful jumping puzzle, a great experience, and defiantly doing once (if you can spare the time or sanity). My problem is with the luckster reward. A lv80 with horrible stats, a unsalvagable rune, and untransmutable to boot.

The Clock Tower is, with a REALLY HIGH chance, the most memorable event I’ve EVER done after almost a decade playing MMOs in a hardcore and semi-hardcore style.

The creator was a GENIUS, and I honestly kneel before such a brilliant mind in the gaming business.

Keep it up, me and my guildies (Beyond Control, EU guild) congratulate you!

The tower is utterly broken. I’ve yet to actually miss a jump on my own, I either get caught on an invisible object or the camera zooms into my character so I can’t see where I’m going. And yes, I’m holding down my right mouse button to control the camera. Difficulty should come from the tower, not from broken controls. Imagine if in Mario the camera just randomly zoomed into a pixel on Mario’s foot, would that be fun?

Yaos.4528:

The tower is utterly broken. I’ve yet to actually miss a jump on my own, I either get caught on an invisible object or the camera zooms into my character so I can’t see where I’m going. And yes, I’m holding down my right mouse button to control the camera. Difficulty should come from the tower, not from broken controls. Imagine if in Mario the camera just randomly zoomed into a pixel on Mario’s foot, would that be fun?

You sir, need a thumbs down.
If you can’t control the camera, it’s your problem. On this jumping puzzle, you do need to be extremely skilled at it, but it’s doable as you do not need to “guess” where to jump due to camera issues.

I havent even done it yet and I want it left like it is. I wanna see what all the fuss is about

It took me about 3 hours of constant trying to beat Clock Tower and it was a lot of fun. Hard but fair. I really liked it. Thank you ArenaNet.

If they do make it easier, I ask they have two versions, and you choose. Original vs Easy.

THe main complaint I have (other than people playing Norn/char who ignore the requests for them to remove their BIG SPIKY ARMOR to help improve other’s view) is that it is as hard as it is, and it’s a seasonal puzzle. I think the seasonal stuff should be a little more achievable because part of what limits getting it is time.

The puzzle itself I’m (mostly) fine with (well, other than the groups of people making it hard to see)

If fixing technical design flaws makes something “easier”, what does that tell you?

All that should stand between you and puzzle completion is the puzzle itself.

The large number of players scrambling over each other in the beginning is my favorite part. It’s total mayhem trying to get ahead of the pack so I can see but not jump off the side. I really like this event the way it is, and would enjoy a larger group of players even more.