Guild Wars 2

My biggest regret in GW2 is not having bought the precursor when they were under 20g.

Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb of me.

I somehow thought they’d stay at those price range.

Really hope they change this part for crafting a legendary.

/signed due to stormy knight reference

Remember, the idea here is NOT to change the overall drop rate of Precursors. The idea is to hide the random number generator behind activities that feel like you are accomplishing something. If at the same time, player effort can be redirected into a wider variety of areas and tasks than Orr, all the better.

Give this a guy A Medal !

I think this is a pretty nice idea. I still probably will never bother trying to get a legendary, but it seems better then a bunch of people standing in LA throwing money in a hole.

/slowclap

Yes, yes, and more yes.

Brave Sir Ryan’s suggestion of precursor precursors, while a bit of a silly concept, could actually work. While I do think much of the legendary fervor is misplaced and based off of incorrect perceptions that they are the best weapon or the primary PvE end-game, I do agree that the current process may have too much variance. This ends up leading both to frustration and players thinking a legendary is a reasonable goal for them. Often, the thought process seems to go “all I have to do is combine 4 rares/exotics and get lucky, how hard can it be?” w/o regard to just how rarely this happens and the amount of money one will have to spend.

The call for less variance/RNG generally seems to be tinged with the hope that precursors are cheaper/easier to get overall, but Sir Ryan’s suggestion simply reduces variance w/o reducing difficulty/rarity. It just softens variance and allows players to make visible progress w/smaller investments, instead of the current all-or-nothing result. Best of all, it would reinforce just how expensive it is to craft a precursor from the MF once people realized how much it would cost for their first 1-2 out of 20 pieces, and would hopefully encourage these people to set more reasonable goals.

Horheristo.3607:

As one mentioned already – it’s all a conspiracy to make you buy more gems.
Just understand it admit it and move on.

Conspiracy implies secrecy :P. I don’t think it’s a big secret that Arenanet would want attractive money sinks in-game because it helps keeps inflation under control which maintains demand for currency. These things are good for the health of the game and for Arenanet’s business, there’s nothing really sinister about it. If legendary weapons were the best weapons stat-wise, I’d find more fault in it because then it would be a little close to pay-to-win for my tastes, but that’s not the case.

Verteiron.8734:

Remember, the idea here is NOT to change the overall drop rate of Precursors. The idea is to hide the random number generator behind activities that feel like you are accomplishing something. If at the same time, player effort can be redirected into a wider variety of areas and tasks than Orr, all the better.

While I appreciate the intent, I fear it may not work out this way in practice. I’m certainly not against giving boss mobs more identity or unique loot, but people determined to get their legendary will be just as upset grinding dungeons/bosses and failing as they are now dumping items into the MF and failing. The players for whom legendarys are the be-all end-all will not feel as though they are making progress until they actually get their precursor, because generally these types of “chase” items inspire tunnel-vision.

For that reason, I like Sir Ryan’s suggestion of keeping the MF mechanic and the current difficulty/rarity, but obtaining pieces used to craft a precursor instead. These pieces could also be sold on the trading post to mimic the market-bolstering effects of precursors. Even though they wouldn’t make legendarys easier to get, they would reduce variance, give players a clear sign of progress, and also make the average cost more visible to help dissuade players for whom legendarys aren’t a reasonable goal.

edit: Note that despite preferring Sir Ryan’s suggestion for legendary weapons, I do think more emphasis on unique weapons/armor from world bosses/events would be great. It’s no fun taking down a champion with a large group and getting grey trash loot.

Majorbooze.9620:

This isn’t Wow, this isn’t guild wars 1, it’s a new and unique mmo. Why do all mmo’s have to fit the mold why can’t be one be new and fresh.

The mystic forge is a Obvious gold sink, of course your going to feel like your losing.

Also the legendary’s aren’t meant to be obtained by everyone in a month. They are a long term goal, I personally like the grind, and would not wanted it handed to me.

I agree

Gold sinks are good. We need more of them to prevent inflation. Also there no monthly fee to pay for the game.

Many only complaint is to many players in Orr. There needs to be more of a ascentive to play in lower level areas.

My ideas here would help.

Make karma vendors also Collector NPC’s, like the ones in the first GW.
*NPC makes you something if you bring them what they want.
*Add a fee in silver to make it a cash sink.
*Should be unlocked when heart is filled
*Some Collector NPC’s might require items from more than one zone.
*Collector NPC’s will asks for trophies, items, karma items
*a new bank section just for trophies
*Collector NPC’s rewards would also be soulbond.

Drops for downscaled players:
1. Add better trophies for downscaled players
2. More chance of higher level item drops “1 out of 10 kills”

Do as he says and good thing will happen

The Mystic Forge is, frankly, a brilliant idea and it serves a very useful economic purpose, but it is most definitely not a gold sink; it’s an item sink. It destroys items, not gold.

Yes, if you spend 200g on crafting / buying rare greatswords you’ve spent 200g, but that 200g goes to other players, not to vendors – it stays in economy, whereas a gold sink is when money leaves the economy entirely.

The 15% tax on transactions on the Trading Post, on the other hand, most definitely is a gold sink – that money leaves the economy altogether. That’s one of the most important purposes the TP serves; it’s probably the biggest gold sink in the game.

Support, but not going to happen. If someone wants to buy a precursor and its 20G on the TP then they might buy 20G worth of gems, but say they want a precursor worth 300G on the TP then that person is desparate enough, they may buy 300G worth of Gems and ArenaNet gets the $$$. I don’t ever see the precursors being ‘fixed’ while they are being monopolized, more revenue is also being made and don’t forget the lazyness too.

Absolutely agreed. The Mystic Force is a really ill-conceived idea.

GW2 would be my first MMO that I’ve ever enjoyed playing, previously they’ve never kept my attention and I did not get any satisfaction or enjoyment from them. I have never played GW1 to be fair. SO- I guess I might have a unique attitude towards the MF:

I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. The fact that I can only get a precursor from it makes the very idea of them unappealing to me. I would much rather play the game a little stress free than mess with the forge. All pain and very limited gain.

I would much rather fight a boss 100 times and never get a legendary than sit there and struggle with the constant obtaining of mats/items and struggling with the forge.
Edit: I feel like the Why might not be clear enough here. Why would I rather fight a boss over and over than sit and do something uninteresting and tedious… well, actually that kind of explains it. Flashy boss battle and a sense of accomplishment VS combining materials, blood, sweat and tears.

lackofcheese.5617:

The Mystic Forge is, frankly, a brilliant idea and it serves a very useful economic purpose, but it is most definitely not a gold sink; it’s an item sink. It destroys items, not gold.

Yes, if you spend 200g on crafting / buying rare greatswords you’ve spent 200g, but that 200g goes to other players, not to vendors – it stays in economy, whereas a gold sink is when money leaves the economy entirely.

The 15% tax on transactions on the Trading Post, on the other hand, most definitely is a gold sink – that money leaves the economy altogether. That’s one of the most important purposes the TP serves; it’s probably the biggest gold sink in the game.

Perhaps this might be limited understanding but say, if you were to be buying/selling items on the TP with intent to use the profits to buy mats/items to use in the MF you are definitely contributing to both sinks.

Edit: And perhaps a flood of items on the TP should not necessarily only be blamed on bots but also on a users unwillingness to send their items into the void.

I don’t mind that the precursor is a chance to get. Makes sense. However someone posted what forging for precursors was like pre and post godskull nerf. Their guild would throw in about 1000 swords and get about 8 precursors in return pre-godskull fix. That seems like a decent number there. Not a huge number that’s game breaking. Ever since the fix for the godskull went in, it seems that something is messed up because even tossing in 1500 swords- you should at least get couple of precursors out of it. That’s where all the rage is coming from. I can understand and sympathize. If I threw in 1000 swords, give me at least 3 or 4 in return.

Then there’s the godskull exploiters to take into consideration. I personally understand that if I want something so rare without the gamble that I’ll work to buy it off the TP. However, as I’ve stated before, I simply refuse to purchase it off the TP from some exploiter who’s cornered the market. Take away their swords and gold and I’ll be more than happy to shell out the money to people who legit got it from a rare drop in an event or from the Mystic Forge.

To those of you people who preach about that there’s other things to do than legendaries, there’s a few things to take into consideration in the point of view from another person’s perspective.

Some people suck at PvP and avoid it like the plague. Don’t say that we should better ourselves. Some people just don’t have a the talent for it, just like some people are tone deaf no matter what. You can’t ‘fix’ the way a person thinks and reacts. That will vary from person to person.

Dungeons don’t reward nearly enough for the amount of deaths that goes into the run. Anet’s working on fixing that and I’m glad, but as it stands I see dungeons more as time consuming gold sinks. The only thing you gain are the tokens from explorer mode. The drops itself in there kinda suck.

World Completion is easy. I’ve only been doing it for like 2 hours a night for a week and I’m already at 80%.

I could keep going on and on about my perspective shared by many other people. I know there’s other things to do- I’m doing them. However I get tired of seeing people who are like do other things than the legendaries and start to patronize those who want to get a legendary. There’s nothing wrong for people wanting to get them.

Yes, there are other skins for weapons, and to be honest I only like the legendary bows and the greatswords. The other legendary weapons are just lackluster imo.

I want the greatsword for RP’s sake on my main. My alts who use other weapons are going to just get regular exotic skins and that’s fine by me. I believe that all players are entitled to wanting at least one legendary on their account for their main and that makes sense. Your main is the one that you’re going to spend the most time and effort on. There’s no reason to put people down for wanting to work on that goal.

I hated the idea of the Mystic Forge when I first heard of it. Of course, fanboyism was far more rampant during prerelease, so I was told to keep my doomsday prophecies to myself. Things like the MF exist only as gold sinks. They aren’t there for fun, no matter how desperately ANet tries to market it that way.

As far as the suggestion goes, I think people who didn’t play GW and only played WoW (shame on you) don’t really see where he’s coming from. In GW, you had to farm a boss to get his weapon, sure. But if you were clever enough to make the right kind of build so you could kill him 1v1 (since loot is spread out across the party or “eaten” by heroes), then you’d probably only need to kill the boss about five to fifteen times before you got it. Some were worse, some were easy. It wasn’t WoW, where you spend an hour getting to something, killing it and then giving up until next week, or whatever you people did in that awful game. You just walked outside, made your run to the boss (probably took a few minutes), killed it, waypointed to the town (for FREE I might add), then did it again. I had a few greens I wanted for my own characters, and went and got them after an hour or so. It was pretty fun, since you were grinding, but knew it wouldn’t take too long, and it never drug on so long you became aware you had reached a key efficiency in your run and no longer had anything to gain from the experience.

That may clash with GW2’s philosophy of physically abusing the player and spitting in his face for wanting things, though. I imagine ANet employees angrily stomping around the office if they hear that someone achieved something too quickly, and gathering together in a dark room to discuss how to keep players from enjoying themselves in the future. Not really, but jeez. Just leave us alone, and get rid of this grind. Aren’t you people supposed to be killing the worst parts of MMOs? Not making them worse? Guild Wars did it right. I don’t care if it’s NCSoft or whatever-her-name was people were throwing a fit about pre-release. Just whatever is the problem, just find some integrity and cut that tumor out.

My dream would be for the Mystic Forge to just cease to exist. Take whoever dragged that stupid djinn up to Lion’s Arch, have her executed, then burn whatever is left. Everything you’d use with the forge is now either craftable or a drop from a mob with at least a 5% chance of giving you the item. Get rid of that awful thing. It’s the worst thing in the whole game, by a large margin. It’s terrible.

Nice idea. IT would certainly help bring players back to some of the lower areas.

Hiding the RNG makes it worse, not better.

WoW hides the RNG behind raid boss loot.

Easy way to solve this “problem”: Stop trying to get a Legendary.

If you forget about ever getting one, maybe one day you’ll be out in the world and randomly drop a precursor from a chest or whatever. THATS when you start trying to craft one.

As it stands right now, Legendaries = Luck + Money. ( which gives incentive for players to buy gems from Anet then sell them )

Traditionally it should be = Luck + Skill.

The requirement for gold in not only the games economy right now but in crafting and alot more necessary objectives leads the discussion to how Anet are possibly hiding the p2w aspect of the game quite sneakily I might add.

I want to be proven wrong though.

Just to start off, this isn’t a direct response to the OP:

Why does everyone feel entitled to legendaries? So many people were so excited that legendary weapons were actually going to be… LEGENDARY in this game. They shouldn’t be the norm, the standard, or required. I’m not saying you’re completely wrong for disliking the mystic forge, but I see so many people who make half-hearted attempts to work towards it, and then ragequit because it’s not easy or cheap (or ‘fair’). I wish Anet made legendaries even harder to get so people wouldn’t be so disillusioned that it’s actually a commonly obtainable feat. Of course you want a legendary. Of course it’d be cool to have one, but you’re probably never going to have one. Find another skin you like and learn to live with it.

“But I have all the other exotic gear I want. I have 100% explorable and have done all the dungeons. I have nothing else to do but work for a legendary.”
I know some of you are not happy with endgame, but legendaries are not the replacement for endgame. They are a bonus.

I made a similar suggestion to Suddenflame about making Achievements more of a part in gaining the Precursors and Legendary weapons:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/Reworking-Pre-Cursor-Recipes/first#post348608

Yes, they should be a lot of work to get, but I disagree that RNG is the answer.

Although, something like specific bosses / chests (temple takeovers in Orr give a chance, maybe?) give a specific pre-cursor, or a component, would be a lot better that just grinding gold / mats to throw it away.

Plague.5329:

My dream would be for the Mystic Forge to just cease to exist. Take whoever dragged that stupid djinn up to Lion’s Arch, have her executed, then burn whatever is left. Everything you’d use with the forge is now either craftable or a drop from a mob with at least a 5% chance of giving you the item. Get rid of that awful thing. It’s the worst thing in the whole game, by a large margin. It’s terrible.

I’d say keep it, but only have specific recipies.

kipz.8701:

…how Anet are possibly hiding the p2w aspect of the game…

It’s not P2W, since Legendary weapons don’t give an advantage in any way.

BeardRex.6739:

Just to start off, this isn’t a direct response to the OP:

Why does everyone feel entitled to Legendaries? So many people were so excited that legendary weapons were actually going to be… LEGENDARY in this game. They shouldn’t be the norm, the standard, or required.

I wouldn’t consider sitting there all day throwing stuff into a wishing well until your gold runs out ‘Legendary’, personally.

I don’t consider it ‘entitlement’, but I can understand the frustration of some people where people who don’t want the pre-cursor, capitalise on the people who do. I feel that the process of getting a Legendary should be on the person’s own individual merit and effort, and not who got lucky.

At the same time, I don’t think it should be easily obtainable, but it should be an extremely difficult goal that can be achieved over a longer time frame.

Hell, make it so certain difficult holiday event bosses give a single minor component, and all the minor components form one main component. That some required bosses only spawn in the night or day cycle. That a certain number of achievement points are needed. That you need certain achievements. That there are minor components hidden well around the world that form a major component. Minor components at the end of every jumping puzzle.

There are ways to make a goal difficult without relying on the RNG mechanic.

Plague.5329:

My dream would be for the Mystic Forge to just cease to exist. Take whoever dragged that stupid djinn up to Lion’s Arch, have her executed, then burn whatever is left. Everything you’d use with the forge is now either craftable or a drop from a mob with at least a 5% chance of giving you the item. Get rid of that awful thing. It’s the worst thing in the whole game, by a large margin. It’s terrible.

I’d say keep it, but only have specific recipies.

For people who merely want the precursor skins, why not add in equivalents? I hear Dawn and Dusk have non-precursor versions of the weapon skins, so why not add it to others?

BeardRex.6739

Just to start off, this isn’t a direct response to the OP:
Why does everyone feel entitled to legendaries? So many people were so excited that legendary weapons were actually going to be… LEGENDARY in this game. They shouldn’t be the norm, the standard, or required. I’m not saying you’re completely wrong for disliking the mystic forge, but I see so many people who make half-hearted attempts to work towards it, and then ragequit because it’s not easy or cheap (or ‘fair’)

I’m sorry but i can’t see what’s legendary in buying gold with daddy’s creditcard (or farm hundreds of hours) throwing lots of expansive stuffs in a toilet hoping a shining valuable poop will pop out of it.

When you see a legendary weapon, you should think “WOW, he’s done that, he’s been there ! grats mate !”
Legendaries should be obtained after a long, epic, diversified journey. Not mostly from a fancy toilet :p

I totally hear you OP

Kain Francois.4328:

For people who merely want the precursor skins, why not add in equivalents? I hear Dawn and Dusk have non-precursor versions of the weapon skins, so why not add it to others?

I’m somewhat sure that they ALL got different skins somewhere:

Dusk – Naegling
Dawn – Khrysaor, the Golden Sword
Zap – Crystalline Sword

TheDaiBish.9735:

Kain Francois.4328:

For people who merely want the precursor skins, why not add in equivalents? I hear Dawn and Dusk have non-precursor versions of the weapon skins, so why not add it to others?

I’m somewhat sure that they ALL got different skins somewhere:

Dusk – Naegling
Dawn – Khrysaor, the Golden Sword
Zap – Crystalline Sword

Pretty sure they don’t. Unless someone can please explain to me how to get the Plated Sniper Rifle? (Tybalt’s gun)

Kain Francois.4328:

Pretty sure they don’t. Unless someone can please explain to me how to get the Plated Sniper Rifle? (Tybalt’s gun)

Could be a Mystic Forge recipe no-one has discovered yet?

TheDaiBish.9735:

Kain Francois.4328:

Pretty sure they don’t. Unless someone can please explain to me how to get the Plated Sniper Rifle? (Tybalt’s gun)

Could be a Mystic Forge recipe no-one has discovered yet?

It would be on trade post.

If someone could possibly confirm which rifle skin it is besides The Hunter (Vera? Azure Railgun? Sarraceinaceae?) it would be nice..

so i was farming cursed shore and killed a brood mother and http://i49.tinypic.com/33cvlg1.jpg

HAPPNED!

so its kind of what u talked about killing monsters and having a chance at precursors!

Headhuntar.5367:

so i was farming cursed shore and killed a brood mother and http://i49.tinypic.com/33cvlg1.jpg

HAPPNED!

so its kind of what u talked about killing monsters and having a chance at precursors!

^ Example of lack of anet’s 4 main goals: equality, fairness, justice, fun. A person can get it off a lucky drop or on the 1st try at the forge, while thousands of others who each 300g+ on the forge will get nothing for it, not even any progress:

SO FUN AND FAIR RIGHT?

+1
I have sunk over 100g into the mystic forge and have gotten nothing out.

Headhuntar.5367:

so i was farming cursed shore and killed a brood mother and http://i49.tinypic.com/33cvlg1.jpg

HAPPNED!

so its kind of what u talked about killing monsters and having a chance at precursors!

This would appear to be the first concrete evidence I’ve seen -anywhere- that precursors drop from monsters. Thank you for posting it!

Slic.2406:

^ Example of lack of anet’s 4 main goals: equality, fairness, justice, fun. A person can get it off a lucky drop or on the 1st try at the forge, while thousands of others who each 300g+ on the forge will get nothing for it, not even any progress?

I know someone who got The Legend on his very first MF combination. I have done close to 1000 and am yet to see a precursor.

I want justice!

Slic.2406:

Headhuntar.5367:

so i was farming cursed shore and killed a brood mother and http://i49.tinypic.com/33cvlg1.jpg

HAPPNED!

so its kind of what u talked about killing monsters and having a chance at precursors!

^ Example of lack of anet’s 4 main goals: equality, fairness, justice, fun. A person can get it off a lucky drop or on the 1st try at the forge, while thousands of others who each 300g+ on the forge will get nothing for it, not even any progress:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_-NgefsLyg

SO FUN AND FAIR RIGHT?

he uses only rares, it has been said by anet that the rarity and lvl of the time are the things that determine the chances… meaning using 4 lvl 80 exotics has a much higher chance… :P

This has been suggested a number of times OP, but kudos for keeping it up on the radar to force Anet to see it constantly.

Sadly the gemstore is Anets pride and joy, and while everything else may be bugged to heck and gone the gemstore works flawlessly.

I doubt we will see the previous flood of precursors removed and a level playing field made, one made from players, not people shoving their paychecks into the gemstore to buy gold so they can get a legendary or make precursors to make more gold, which is what Anet planned all along, for you to buy gold via the gemstore, and one of just many reasons we see no communication linking the two from Anet.

I think they should at least complete the set of Precursor-clone skins like Naegling.

This this this this.

Some people merely want the skin and paying 225g for a non-legendary skin is crazy!

Hughs.6549:

BeardRex.6739

Just to start off, this isn’t a direct response to the OP:
Why does everyone feel entitled to legendaries? So many people were so excited that legendary weapons were actually going to be… LEGENDARY in this game. They shouldn’t be the norm, the standard, or required. I’m not saying you’re completely wrong for disliking the mystic forge, but I see so many people who make half-hearted attempts to work towards it, and then ragequit because it’s not easy or cheap (or ‘fair’)

I’m sorry but i can’t see what’s legendary in buying gold with daddy’s creditcard (or farm hundreds of hours) throwing lots of expansive stuffs in a toilet hoping a shining valuable poop will pop out of it.

When you see a legendary weapon, you should think “WOW, he’s done that, he’s been there ! grats mate !”
Legendaries should be obtained after a long, epic, diversified journey. Not mostly from a fancy toilet :p

I don’t disagree with you (and you’d know that I’m not supporting the MF if you read more carefully), but what’s more important than “WOW, he’s done that!” is the fact that it’s rare. And that’s what I meant. it’s “of legend”. Meaning you’re lucky if you’ve even seen one on the battlefield, and not just in youtube videos.

Umm what? Don’t the dragon chests already drop the legendary precursors? :S