Guild Wars 2

Hey, I know it’s probably a bit late to start whining and making suggestions on this topic, since it’s already very much in the works (what with preview tags already floating around).

If ascended armor really has to exist, would it be too much if it were attainable through an in-game attainable stat increase, rather than having to grind for skins that may or may not be Arenanet’s best work and then buy transmutations from the gem store?

I feel like there are plenty of money sinks already (although someone can jump in and correct me on that one), and spending development time funneling serious players out of their preferred aesthetics and into a limited pool of high-tier stuff notwithstanding the purchase of up to 6 transmutation crystals just seems like such a waste.

What if a piece of armor could simple be ascended, via the mystic forge or some other consumable mechanic? Better yet, what if it could be done through active gameplay, perhaps as another use for fractal relics, dungeon tokens, or dragonite ore (without burning through so many crafting materials)?

I realize this was already somewhat of a problem with the ascended weapons, but I feel like the ascended armor is just taking it too far, especially as the current methods of attaining ascended weapons are by crafting them or rolling a random number on successful completion of Tequatl. Upon release, you could get exotic gear through naturally playing a significant amount of many single types of gameplay (dungeons, WvW, lucky world roaming, karma, crafting…), without having to really get into the stuff you didn’t like doing.

I hope the development team expands into any, if not all of these avenues as soon as possible. Crafting is honestly just one of the most inane parts of the game, in my opinion, and the current model doesn’t particularly show skill or dedication in any real way anyways. I’m not really asking to have gear and achievements handed to me easily, but a light at the end of the tunnel would be nice.

Sorry about any massive amount of passive-aggression in the above post.