Guild Wars 2

Hello! First let me introduce myself, I am David, currently serving as editor-in-chief of a gaming web magazine here in the Philippines. I have had more than a decade of experience playing MMORPGs and have critically reviewed loads of them. Professionally I have been impressed by some of them but I have only personally played a handful. Guild Wars 2 is part of that handful and for that I thank ArenaNet for a truly masterful job. The game is exemplary in its execution but still has some problems (what game doesn’t?). I especially commend ArenaNet’s goal to keep us players running around in this beautifully crafted world. However, and if I may say so, the new Laurels and the dailies won’t push much of us out into the world as much as they may think. And this is why I write this post.

On to my suggestion. Instead of making Laurels a reward for dailies, I suggest you make them rewards for events. I propose we increase the number of Laurels required per ascended item and start rewarding laurels for each event one participates in. “But David, won’t that make people grind events instead?”, and you’d be right to say so. That’s why I also propose that when you complete 5 or 10 events (spitballing the number here) in one map, you are no longer rewarded laurels and you have to explore a new map and do events there. This may be a good way to keep people moving from one map to another. In addition, to prevent people from gaining their ascended gear in one weekend, I propose that we impose a limit on the number of laurels gained in a week and once you have earned your laurels on a certain map within that week, you cannot gain any more laurels until the next week from that said map.

In summary here are my suggestions:
1. Remove daily laurel rewards (dailies are boring if I might say so).
2. Make events reward laurels.
3. Increase the number of laurels required per item from the merchant.
4. Only 5-10 laurels per map per week. Laurel limits per map is reset after weekly maintenance.
5. Set a limit on the number of laurels gained per week.

This in my humble opinion will keep people going around maps all over Tyria in the hopes of getting more laurels and hit that weekly cap.

Comments? Suggestions? Violent reactions?

Thank you.

“laurels as rewards for events”

This would fix the thread I just opened earlier where I said the new system doesn’t promote exploration, nice.

An interesting idea, but it would feel too artificial for me. Right now, I can do the dailies pretty much anywhere. I’m in any zone, I can dodge. I can kill X number of things. Most zones (with the exception of Orr) have the kill types I’d need. Most zones have some water creatures, even if I’m just killing fish.

I am where I am, not running around after imaginary rewards. Even now people are complaining about seeing dailies on their screen and having to go out of their way to finish them. Imagine what they’d say if we had to zone hope for those tokens.

The other side is now, everyone gets tokens at the same rate. Token are, in part, there to allow more casual players who don’t have as much time to be relatively competitive, in as much as that’s possible.

By doing this, those who have more time will get more laurels and the difference between casual players and those who can spend all day playing will be increased.

But the laurals are only one possible solution to the in world stuff anyway. I’m interested to see what these guild events do, since they’re supposed to be happening in world as well. It might help.

Well….

Hmmm…..

Interesting indeed.

Vayne.8563:

An interesting idea, but it would feel too artificial for me. Right now, I can do the dailies pretty much anywhere. I’m in any zone, I can dodge. I can kill X number of things. Most zones (with the exception of Orr) have the kill types I’d need. Most zones have some water creatures, even if I’m just killing fish.

I am where I am, not running around after imaginary rewards. Even now people are complaining about seeing dailies on their screen and having to go out of their way to finish them. Imagine what they’d say if we had to zone hope for those tokens.

The other side is now, everyone gets tokens at the same rate. Token are, in part, there to allow more casual players who don’t have as much time to be relatively competitive, in as much as that’s possible.

By doing this, those who have more time will get more laurels and the difference between casual players and those who can spend all day playing will be increased.

But the laurals are only one possible solution to the in world stuff anyway. I’m interested to see what these guild events do, since they’re supposed to be happening in world as well. It might help.

I’ve taken into account that there will be players out there who will foam in the mouth to get these laurels pronto and that’s why I’m suggesting that we set a weekly limit. By playing casually, you can hit that weekly limit just exploring and doing events if you play often enough, thus putting everyone at equal footing, if that’s a big concern. If you don’t hit the weekly limit, you still have some laurels just by playing and doing events, sooner or later you’ll get your gear.

All this, by the way, will support ArenaNet’s play the way you choose philosophy. In fact, if this goes well enough, they can start handing out laurels for crafting, exploring, pvp, completing dungeons etc. So no matter how you choose to play, you get your rewards. I haven’t done the numbers, I’ll let Anet do that haha.

Again, it’s an interesting idea. But you’d have to change the way dynamic events work a bit too. What you’d have is what you have in orr. People tagging a couple of events, running off to the next event, tagging some stuff, without waiting for the event to conclude and tagging that.

I don’t just want bodies in the world. I want players. If you do this, you’ll end up with people running around farming, but not necessarily playing.

It’s really not a bad idea. But it would have to be implemented in a way that would punish people from hitting and running, which is what many do now. I think the best way to encourage more people to play in the world, is to have longer and more involved things to do in the world.

Quest chains that aren’t dynamic event chains. Stuff like they did in Halloween, when everyone was out trying to get the books from Mad King Thorn’s biography. That got players into the world.

But it didn’t get farmers into the world. It got the people into the world who enjoyed open world content.

raise the laurel’s required to buy stuff.
Make the daily reward 10laurells.
Make you get 1 laurell when you fill up the xp bar so you get rewarded for doing what you like!

Vayne.8563:

Again, it’s an interesting idea. But you’d have to change the way dynamic events work a bit too. What you’d have is what you have in orr. People tagging a couple of events, running off to the next event, tagging some stuff, without waiting for the event to conclude and tagging that.

I don’t just want bodies in the world. I want players. If you do this, you’ll end up with people running around farming, but not necessarily playing.

It’s really not a bad idea. But it would have to be implemented in a way that would punish people from hitting and running, which is what many do now. I think the best way to encourage more people to play in the world, is to have longer and more involved things to do in the world.

Quest chains that aren’t dynamic event chains. Stuff like they did in Halloween, when everyone was out trying to get the books from Mad King Thorn’s biography. That got players into the world.

But it didn’t get farmers into the world. It got the people into the world who enjoyed open world content.

That I didn’t take into account and I fully agree. I suggest that if you’re not within the vicinity of the event as it completes, no reward for you. Thanks for the heads up.

ThePaladin.2140:

Vayne.8563:

Again, it’s an interesting idea. But you’d have to change the way dynamic events work a bit too. What you’d have is what you have in orr. People tagging a couple of events, running off to the next event, tagging some stuff, without waiting for the event to conclude and tagging that.

I don’t just want bodies in the world. I want players. If you do this, you’ll end up with people running around farming, but not necessarily playing.

It’s really not a bad idea. But it would have to be implemented in a way that would punish people from hitting and running, which is what many do now. I think the best way to encourage more people to play in the world, is to have longer and more involved things to do in the world.

Quest chains that aren’t dynamic event chains. Stuff like they did in Halloween, when everyone was out trying to get the books from Mad King Thorn’s biography. That got players into the world.

But it didn’t get farmers into the world. It got the people into the world who enjoyed open world content.

That I didn’t take into account and I fully agree. I suggest that if you’re not within the vicinity of the event as it completes, no reward for you. Thanks for the heads up.

No worries, mate. I’m one of the idiots that always stays till the end of events, because I’m not just playing a game, I’m there in the moment. Like if I’m trying to save a town, I’m trying to save a town, not just get some karma. Anyway, maybe Anet will take a look at this.

the way i see it is this: you can do whatever you want in the game. what you consider an incentive to explore would be forcing for me. i like dungeons and like to play them. i already have to do daily to get laurels as it is, and for me it is wasting of time. please don’t force me to go out there and play DE’s if i want to spend my time in dungeons.

ty

@PetricaKerempuh
I understand that but this won’t take away from your dungeon experience. Since you’re already doing the dungeons and can get gear out of them especially if you’re doing fractals.

We could take this laurel rewards farther in fact if we provide laurels for dungeon completes as well. That way everybody gets a piece no matter how they play.

Theres already a system in place that rewards players for everything they do, its called karma. I dont understand why laurels were intoduced in the first place rather than offering us the same rewards but for a karma price. New karma rewards every so often is all the incentive people need to go out into the world and gather karma.

And before anyone brings up the point that people just farm the same events for karma until specific events were nerfed, the same thing is happening with laurels. People go to areas they know are likely to be populated with dead NPC’s just to get the daily healer done, or fling themselves from tall places for their friends.

If they’re making it anymore annoying than the dailies are now, they HAVE TO also allow ascended amulets to be purchasable with pristine relics, and also allow all ascended items to be acquirable from WvW.

I think there should be limits on the number of times you run 1 event that way people are discouraged from running the same events over and over.

I do agree that Karma should have been what laurels are now. They need to simplify things and yet try and encourage people to explore hence the limited reward per event suggestion on Laurels. This could also be applied to karma rewards.

Porque no los dos?

Why not have Laurels AND your system I mean the two are not mutally exclusive. As it is you need to do either 35 days of dailies or 25 + monthy. Its not like we’re going have too many options.

Not that too many options is a problem. Say I want a Rabid Scepter, I can buy one, dungeon one from 4 different dungeons or Mystic Wand. Why not have Ascended items come from multiple sources. Certainly promotes different playstyles.

@RikShaw

Agreed. Point here is choice but not to the point that people don’t see more of the game. There still should be some point of restraint so that players get encouraged to explore.

There are other ways of getting laurels, dungeons is one.

Budg.3064:

Theres already a system in place that rewards players for everything they do, its called karma. I dont understand why laurels were intoduced in the first place rather than offering us the same rewards but for a karma price. New karma rewards every so often is all the incentive people need to go out into the world and gather karma.

And before anyone brings up the point that people just farm the same events for karma until specific events were nerfed, the same thing is happening with laurels. People go to areas they know are likely to be populated with dead NPC’s just to get the daily healer done, or fling themselves from tall places for their friends.

Exactly, I farm 2 level 1-15 areas for all my laurels. I never move because it’s too hard to find the ‘job’ needed in unfamiliar areas.

I still think dailies/monthlies should be xp based not task based.

ThePaladin.2140:

I have had more than a decade of experience playing MMORPGs and have critically reviewed loads of them. Professionally I have been impressed by some of them but I have only personally played a handful.

this confused me… how have you ‘critically reviewed loads of them’ if you have ‘only personally played a handful’?

- also; i would like to see some incentive to actually getting back out and exploring; but i think itd be best if laurels where left where they are now and something new implemented instead

Linguistically Inept.6583:

ThePaladin.2140:

I have had more than a decade of experience playing MMORPGs and have critically reviewed loads of them. Professionally I have been impressed by some of them but I have only personally played a handful.

this confused me… how have you ‘critically reviewed loads of them’ if you have ‘only personally played a handful’?

- also; i would like to see some incentive to actually getting back out and exploring; but i think itd be best if laurels where left where they are now and something new implemented instead

Sorry let me clear that up. I did play all of them but I personally stayed and played, for my own leisure, a handful.

Any thoughts on these suggestions or better suggestions?