Guild Wars 2

Before you all smithpile me hear me out.
I like how GW2 doesn’t have a gear treadmill, levels 1-79 should NEVER EVER be about grinding for equipment you’re just going to replace anyhow.

But level 80 is a whole new story. At level 80 there’s less to do and keep us interested.
What I’d like to see is gear with better bonuses (not nessicarily better base stats, maybe just better or more unique runes) available through grinding very specific World Events (such as Dragons and other lvl 80 World Events) and through grinding out WvW.

Just a suggestion to keep the game worth playing when we all are lvl 80.

I have to honestly completely agree, I’ve ran out of things to do besides get better “looking” gear, and I’d prefer to get some better stats to be honest.

To keep things balanced why not give us profession-based lvl 80 armor? This way the base stats can be the same but the bonuses from the gear benefit our chosen profession more directly.

Maybe even add some Legendary Runes/Sigils which rarely drop (it would be dumb if we had to make a full set of legendary sigils).

I’m sort of mixed on the idea.

At the moment people grind The Cursed Shore because it’s the most ‘profitable’. Making gear with better bonuses at specific events would just circulate people around them events.

I’ve always thought excessive gear-grinds are a somewhat lazy way of lengthening the amount of time people will spend playing. I’d rather an epic quest that takes me around the corners of Tyria, fighting hard bosses, solving riddles, that gets me the components for a piece of equipment (which is where I felt they could have gone with the Legendary weapons). They’ve shown they can make nodes exclusive for people, so why not chest spawns with the component?

At the same time, we do need content to keep us occupied at cap. I personally don’t feel a gear-grind would fit that, especially for bonuses and stats. We just need more content that gives incentive to do without making it required for higher stats.

P.S. Your name is BabelFish, not Commander Shepard. That’s just plain false advertising.

TheDaiBish.9735:

I’m sort of mixed on the idea.

At the moment people grind The Cursed Shore because it’s the most ‘profitable’. Making gear with better bonuses at specific events would just circulate people around them events.

I’ve always thought excessive gear-grinds are a somewhat lazy way of lengthening the amount of time people will spend playing. I’d rather an epic quest that takes me around the corners of Tyria, fighting hard bosses, solving riddles, that gets me the components for a piece of equipment (which is where I felt they could have gone with the Legendary weapons). They’ve shown they can make nodes exclusive for people, so why not chest spawns with the component?

At the same time, we do need content to keep us occupied at cap. I personally don’t feel a gear-grind would fit that, especially for bonuses and stats. We just need more content that gives incentive to do without making it required for higher stats.

P.S. Your name is BabelFish, not Commander Shepard. That’s just plain false advertising.

I’m honestly up for the idea of anything that lengthens the game, as it stands right now.. I’m desperately trying to get me one of the fancy dark skull Halloween shield skins. :C

Grind for skins because it looks good.

Grind for different kind of equipment to have a larger variety of stats in the equipments.

Grind to make a different kind of build.

OP’s suggestion is terrible and should never be considered.

Grimm.8236:

TheDaiBish.9735:

I’m sort of mixed on the idea.

At the moment people grind The Cursed Shore because it’s the most ‘profitable’. Making gear with better bonuses at specific events would just circulate people around them events.

I’ve always thought excessive gear-grinds are a somewhat lazy way of lengthening the amount of time people will spend playing. I’d rather an epic quest that takes me around the corners of Tyria, fighting hard bosses, solving riddles, that gets me the components for a piece of equipment (which is where I felt they could have gone with the Legendary weapons). They’ve shown they can make nodes exclusive for people, so why not chest spawns with the component?

At the same time, we do need content to keep us occupied at cap. I personally don’t feel a gear-grind would fit that, especially for bonuses and stats. We just need more content that gives incentive to do without making it required for higher stats.

P.S. Your name is BabelFish, not Commander Shepard. That’s just plain false advertising.

I’m honestly up for the idea of anything that lengthens the game, as it stands right now.. I’m desperately trying to get me one of the fancy dark skull Halloween shield skins. :C

I wanted the Greatsaw Greatsword skin after I saw a video of it. But alas, haven’t been able to play because of a busted GPU That’s why I’ve spent most of the time on the forums making posts on what I feel GW2 could improve on.

The problem with Profession-based gear that reflects our chosen profession is that it would impose an artificial “this is what you should be” on every profession. It directly conflicts with the interest of keeping the game Trinity-free.

However, certain drop-only armor pieces such as the Mad King’s Armor could have a cosmetic bonus only applicable if they retain their name/skin (which of course may call for a bit of creativity in re-skinning such holiday-related armor to be more unique) such as a 2% chance when hit to trigger the voice of the Mad King cackling and telling the player wearing it what to do, giving the player a 1 second self-refreshing Aegis or invulnerability until the player successfully inputs the simon-says command, like the first phase the Mad King dungeon right now (in a panic situation it would likely only prolong one’s fleeting life and if it were powerful enough to be a game changer, just make it a Town Clothes set and give that to it as an associated skill. It would make a fine contrast to the Gem Store outfit).

On general gear progression: I don’t think it’s necessary or even good for the game as it is. If players working to level 1-79 shouldn’t deal with gear that they’ll immediately replace, then why implement such a thing at max level? At worst it would cause artificial gear-locked content (ranging from new or re-tuned dungeons to whether or not a guild will recruit you or bring you to one, to say nothing of the PvP implications- hint: all of them would be bad).

The game makes no secret that it doesn’t center around gear or stats, and I don’t think implementing ideas that would force it to would be good for the overall game experience. And honestly with the way traits are currently set up, even with a reasonable gear ladder, re-adjusting traits and utility/elite skills makes far more difference. With the way the game is currently designed a gear ladder can only result in insignificant differences appealing only to the number-lovers or absurdly large differences that render the depth of the Trait system much less important or enjoyable to experiment with. The traits are really what the game is all about from a non-cosmetic perspective.

And as such those armors that are profession-based could offer bonuses to the traits.
It doesn’t need to have better stats then exotics. Heck, we already have some runes that do this indirectly such as Rune of the Infiltrator.

BabelFish.7234:

And as such those armors that are profession-based could offer bonuses to the traits.
It doesn’t need to have better stats then exotics. Heck, we already have some runes that do this indirectly such as Rune of the Infiltrator.

I can’t think of a reasonable way to implement this either. If there’s a pre-determined set of traits that the armor potentially improved it would still impose a “do this” mindset. The game could theoretically be programmed to detect your build and give your armor trait bonuses accordingly but I think that would be entirely too massive an endeavor for any developer when there are as many other things to put time into as there are as it is unless there were only a few potential outcomes, which would circle back to “do this.”

And I only seem stubborn on this because something as beneficial as a Trait bonus should never be on a single piece of armor, implying that it would be a set bonus for the physical armor itself (which would also potentially impose a “look like this” which would be like trying to stab the heart of the game).

Legendary Runes/Sigils are interesting. Still wouldn’t relate them to professions though.

There are currently 8 stats that can be improved via gear: power, precision, toughness, vitality, crit damage, condition damage, healing power, and magic find. There can be at most 3 different stats without considering upgrade components. There are still dozens of combinations that have not been implemented into the game as well as variations of the same combination but with one of the stats being given more points then the others.

As the game progresses, gear stat variety will increase with these new stat distributions being available on certain sets gained through specific methods. We have already seen an example of this with the Halloween event. The new Power / Condition Damage/ Magic Find stat distribution is available via Halloween Weapons and Mad King armor. Adding to stat variety will allow for more types of builds, because it will be easier to get the stat distribution you need without getting “junk” stats your build doesn’t use.

Archmortal.1027:

The problem with Profession-based gear that reflects our chosen profession is that it would impose an artificial “this is what you should be” on every profession. It directly conflicts with the interest of keeping the game Trinity-free.

If it’s aesthetic only, i’d be all for it. For example, a Guardian would have armour that gives a faint blue aura, while Thieves have armour that gives them a hood and cloak made of smoke.

Not only that, if you had a number of Profession-specific runes that cover a skill types, you could avoid the role thing. Bonuses would be applied for that specific skill type every 2 runes (as opposed to the end), since most players like to mix and match their utilities.

For example, the Warrior.

• Rune of the Flag Bearer would benefit a player who likes using Banners.
• Rune of the Brawler would benefit a player who likes using Physical skills.
• Rune of the Practiced Form would benefit a player who likes to use Stances.

Archmortal.1027:

BabelFish.7234:

And as such those armors that are profession-based could offer bonuses to the traits.
It doesn’t need to have better stats then exotics. Heck, we already have some runes that do this indirectly such as Rune of the Infiltrator.

I can’t think of a reasonable way to implement this either. If there’s a pre-determined set of traits that the armor potentially improved it would still impose a “do this” mindset. The game could theoretically be programmed to detect your build and give your armor trait bonuses accordingly but I think that would be entirely too massive an endeavor for any developer when there are as many other things to put time into as there are as it is unless there were only a few potential outcomes, which would circle back to “do this.”

And I only seem stubborn on this because something as beneficial as a Trait bonus should never be on a single piece of armor, implying that it would be a set bonus for the physical armor itself (which would also potentially impose a “look like this” which would be like trying to stab the heart of the game).

Legendary Runes/Sigils are interesting. Still wouldn’t relate them to professions though.

I see it more as a “you’re already doing this so have a bonus to boost your playstyle” rather then a “you should do this”.

Example:

I’m playing my theif with Executioner and a whole bunch of other damage boosts…I’m doing 35-45% bonus damage (25 at over 50% health, 45% and under 50% health)

So to augment this I’m getting 5 or 6 superior runes of the Infiltrator to raise my damage bonuses to 65% damage below 50% health.

I think you’re thinking in extreme specifics like +150 damage to backstab kind of stuff. I’m talking about augmenting traits and having a buttload of new armor to cover every trait for every class, all lvl 80 and all obtainable by doing end game content (personally I’d want the majority of it obtainable in WvW since to me that is the UMTIMATE end game content).

TheDaiBish.9735:

Archmortal.1027:

The problem with Profession-based gear that reflects our chosen profession is that it would impose an artificial “this is what you should be” on every profession. It directly conflicts with the interest of keeping the game Trinity-free.

If it’s aesthetic only, i’d be all for it. For example, a Guardian would have armour that gives a faint blue aura, while Thieves have armour that gives them a hood and cloak made of smoke.

Not only that, if you had a number of Profession-specific runes that cover a skill types, you could avoid the role thing. Bonuses would be applied for that specific skill type every 2 runes (as opposed to the end), since most players like to mix and match their utilities.

For example, the Warrior.

• Rune of the Flag Bearer would benefit a player who likes using Banners.
• Rune of the Brawler would benefit a player who likes using Physical skills.
• Rune of the Practiced Form would benefit a player who likes to use Stances.

I’d kill for a hood/cloak made of smoke…

BabelFish.7234:

I’d kill for a hood/cloak made of smoke…

I know.

I do believe we need more skins though, and a wide variety of unique and wacky ways to get them, since the game has based their end-game around it. I did do a topic about it, but alas, it got lost XD

runeblade.7514:

Grind for skins because it looks good.

Ok I got one skin I like in a relatively short time. What to do now? Nothing.

Grind for different kind of equipment to have a larger variety of stats in the equipments.

Cookie Cutter stat priority. What to do now? Nothing.

Grind to make a different kind of build.

Cookie Cutter builds. What to do now? Nothing.

OP’s suggestion is terrible and should never be considered.

Your posts are terrible and should never be posted.

Hopefully hey don’t involve crafting…I hate crafting…even with the discovery process I don’t level and I’ve found its cheaper to buy what you need to discover rather then constantly buy the tools and run around the world getting said ingredients…that’ll probably change once I start needing some of the rare materials.

runeblade.7514:

Grind for skins because it looks good.

Grind for different kind of equipment to have a larger variety of stats in the equipments.

Grind to make a different kind of build.

OP’s suggestion is terrible and should never be considered.

The 3 things you just listed are basically the problem, not his solution. Troll somewhere else and I agree with the OP. Currently everything is just an excessive grind for looks or purchasable by lazy people who buy tons of gold for the items to make those pieces. It is irresponsible for game developers to leave such a repetitive end-game when the whole time up till 80 was always different and unique. levels 1-79 was fun and challenging if you didn’t level in zones matching your level, always a few ahead. When I reached 80 it seems like the motto is grind for looks…

NinjaEd.3946:

runeblade.7514:

Grind for skins because it looks good.

Grind for different kind of equipment to have a larger variety of stats in the equipments.

Grind to make a different kind of build.

OP’s suggestion is terrible and should never be considered.

The 3 things you just listed are basically the problem, not his solution. Troll somewhere else and I agree with the OP. Currently everything is just an excessive grind for looks or purchasable by lazy people who buy tons of gold for the items to make those pieces. It is irresponsible for game developers to leave such a repetitive end-game when the whole time up till 80 was always different and unique. levels 1-79 was fun and challenging if you didn’t level in zones matching your level, always a few ahead. When I reached 80 it seems like the motto is grind for looks…

Not really, it is the solution. You could just grind your to make a new set of armor with a new set of runes or a new set of weapons combined with a new set of sigils and then discover a new playstyle. If you don’t like the solution, this is not a game for you.

The problem with PvE isn’t that there is no vertical progression. The problem is the lack of places to explore after completing it and the lack of motivation to go back. Going from Level 1-79 wasn’t fun because you progressed, it was fun because you explored and did whatever content there is by the area.

Vertical progression is very repetitive as well. Please go troll somewhere else.

runeblade.7514:

NinjaEd.3946:

runeblade.7514:

Grind for skins because it looks good.

Grind for different kind of equipment to have a larger variety of stats in the equipments.

Grind to make a different kind of build.

OP’s suggestion is terrible and should never be considered.

The 3 things you just listed are basically the problem, not his solution. Troll somewhere else and I agree with the OP. Currently everything is just an excessive grind for looks or purchasable by lazy people who buy tons of gold for the items to make those pieces. It is irresponsible for game developers to leave such a repetitive end-game when the whole time up till 80 was always different and unique. levels 1-79 was fun and challenging if you didn’t level in zones matching your level, always a few ahead. When I reached 80 it seems like the motto is grind for looks…

Not really, it is the solution. You could just grind your to make a new set of armor with a new set of runes or a new set of weapons combined with a new set of sigils and then discover a new playstyle. If you don’t like the solution, this is not a game for you.

The problem with PvE isn’t that there is no vertical progression. The problem is the lack of places to explore after completing it and the lack of motivation to go back. Going from Level 1-79 wasn’t fun because you progressed, it was fun because you explored and did whatever content there is by the area.

Vertical progression is very repetitive as well. Please go troll somewhere else.

I’m inclined to agree with the other guy. Your idea of end-game content is very warped and for the love of god, if you’re going to use the word troll please use it properly…

BabelFish.7234:

runeblade.7514:

NinjaEd.3946:

runeblade.7514:

Grind for skins because it looks good.

Grind for different kind of equipment to have a larger variety of stats in the equipments.

Grind to make a different kind of build.

OP’s suggestion is terrible and should never be considered.

The 3 things you just listed are basically the problem, not his solution. Troll somewhere else and I agree with the OP. Currently everything is just an excessive grind for looks or purchasable by lazy people who buy tons of gold for the items to make those pieces. It is irresponsible for game developers to leave such a repetitive end-game when the whole time up till 80 was always different and unique. levels 1-79 was fun and challenging if you didn’t level in zones matching your level, always a few ahead. When I reached 80 it seems like the motto is grind for looks…

Not really, it is the solution. You could just grind your to make a new set of armor with a new set of runes or a new set of weapons combined with a new set of sigils and then discover a new playstyle. If you don’t like the solution, this is not a game for you.

The problem with PvE isn’t that there is no vertical progression. The problem is the lack of places to explore after completing it and the lack of motivation to go back. Going from Level 1-79 wasn’t fun because you progressed, it was fun because you explored and did whatever content there is by the area.

Vertical progression is very repetitive as well. Please go troll somewhere else.

I’m inclined to agree with the other guy. Your idea of end-game content is very warped and for the love of god, if you’re going to use the word troll please use it properly…

First one used it because he didn’t like the opinion and the second one used it out of retaliation. Both were technically improper.

Moving on, the way Guild Wars 2 is designed is to be actively different from the typical MMO these days (WoW and its cookie-cutter games). It stands to reason that the vertical progression is different and can’t be understood when looking at it through the paradigm the market threw at us over and over for the last 7 years. runeblade is actually very correct in his statements.

I mean honestly the parallels are all there. Everyone is going to call it a grind whether it’s for stats or looks. The difference comes in where the stat ladder isn’t necessary to get what you want in GW2, whereas in a gear grind system there will always be a stat threshold to lock you out of something and incentive for people to dismiss each other if they don’t meet the requirement. I’ve heard from a lot of people that the community in GW2 is much friendlier, and it’s because of the lack of gear grind. Competitive players =/= unfriendly players, but that’s another issue for another thread.

You take what was said out of context. I’m not saying there should be better stats for end game gear, I’m saying the fact is you grind for them which is lame and not something that’ll keep people interested forever. Everything and I mean everything so far end game is just grind a dungeon for tokens or grind materials for Legendaries or grind rares to sell to buy the materials to make legendaries. Nothing is interesting and unique. Its just dull. I played GW1 and I know they have done a good job before but at the moment, things arn’t looking to well. Yes many things were just grinded out in Gw1 as well but there were some pieces as well as skills unique to a certain mini boss which they kinda left out here. Everything can drop any gear piece in its level range leading players to just search for the most veterans or most waves of enemies to better their chances at getting something worth selling.

GW1 had less to do end-game at launch than this by far in terms of PvE. I know a lot of people don’t take it seriously because “well that other game has [X] now and GW2 was being made for so long!” but let it get through the growing pains. All the actual mechanics of gameplay on their own merits are phenomenal, and probably took more effort than any other part of the game to create. The “game” itself is aces. The rewards for playing the game well aren’t quite there yet, but I like the direction ANET is taking with it, valuing cosmetics over stats.

Unique or semi-unique rewards (or at least a noticeably increased chance at a rare item) for bosses/certain objectives would help tremendously, though, I agree. However, the grind aspect is not going to go away because it’s an MMO. WoW has systematically moved away from Unique things over the years and so has every other MMO released that tried to succeed using the same formula. What GW2 has is a fantastic opportunity to capitalize on Unique Things that sadly didn’t quite get implemented beyond the prettiest dang weapons I’ve ever seen in a game. Judging by the Mad King armor set (not the Gemstore costume) they’re moving in the right direction… though admittedly they could have/should spare the time to give it a unique skin so it doesn’t get treated like a 60% chance to get a fancy rune out of your loot bag.

Grinds have a time and place, and it being the only path for end-game gear is what is depressing. Taking the time (And funds) to design a unique story line or armour set from a mini boss for everything just isn’t practical which is where grinds come into play. I don’t mind the grind as much as I get bored by only grinding. The story line lasted a long time and served its purpose but… now what? Grind for a Legendary?

good thing i don’t like mass effect, because this suggestion is just stupid.

“but level 80 is a whole different thing” no it’s not, and that’s your problem.

Hell no.

Something they could definitely do is add in some more runes and sigils though; I would love to see more especially some simpler ones that are super rare (but actually obtainable by playing the game and not “gold farming/making/whatever the game”). I would love for a rune/sigil that summons a flock of crows with a certain action without needing to equip all six of them (that give stat boosts that I personally do not want…).

lol I just though of a great one too; complete -insert insane number of jump quests- of jump quests and obtain a rune. This rune would grant the user several seconds of floating (when they walk off the edge of something, jump, etc…. or something). You slip and slide around while this is equipped (most people should get the reference lol).

NinjaEd.3946:

Grinds have a time and place, and it being the only path for end-game gear is what is depressing. Taking the time (And funds) to design a unique story line or armour set from a mini boss for everything just isn’t practical which is where grinds come into play. I don’t mind the grind as much as I get bored by only grinding. The story line lasted a long time and served its purpose but… now what? Grind for a Legendary?

It’s kinda like BrunoBRS said. Max level isn’t a whole different thing. In other MMOs it feels like it because of massive gear progression and stat/item-level lockouts.

But specifically the “grinds have a time and place.” What is the proper time and place? For that matter, what kind of grind would even be appropriate for a game designed around specifically not doing that sort of thing?

In place of the text wall I had, a slightly shorter wall of text!:
tl;dr – This game is a different beast that was conceived to avoid such things. Such things adhering to any kind of stat progression or standard of “do this every day or you’ll fall behind the people doing it every day” are not compatible with GW2 and its design philosophy. Are there other ways to make it seem like there’s more to do? Sure there are. There’s another thread talking about how increase the motivation to WvWvW and increase the longevity of interest in the activity. I’m sure there’s been discussions on how to increase incentive to sPvP as well, though I couldn’t link any for you off-hand. Adding dungeons, areas to explore, World Bosses, reworking existing World Bosses so they aren’t embarrassingly easy, reworking dungeon trash mobs to not be such huge HP sponges, reworking Orr to not be such a ripe target for mindless zerg grinds (incorporating new areas would assist with this, I imagine), perhaps tweak a few dungeon boss mechanics to be more effective at what they’re supposed to do, you get it. Imposing a grind isn’t going to create more things to do, it’s just going to create another way to get bored.

For example, re-tuning the dungeons a bit to appeal to more players would make them fun enough to increase incentive to do them without resorting to obscene rewards or imposing a gear grind, and that increased desire to do dungeons would then act as a shift of mindset into “wow, there’s more to do than I thought” as currently when people don’t enjoy the dungeons their mindset becomes “dang, there isn’t anything to do.” Obviously that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but if all the aspects I listed and more get that kind of pick-me-up the game as a whole will feel like there’s more to do without the number of things to do actually being increased.

There’s plenty to do in this game, there really is! To really appreciate all there is, one kind of needs to not stick to the old MMORPG paradigm of tirelessly trudging toward your carrot and instead do what you find fun, chillax, and go for it. There’s a circle of non-grind at work here:
-There is no special incentive to grind unless you really want that style
-There is no pressure to grind to feel like you’re not wasting your $15 monthly sub
-Given the first two points, the game expects you to hammer out what you want at your leisure rather than ASAP. It’s a slow burn rather than a quick espresso shot.

Blizzard may remind its players to go outside and get fresh air during loading screens, but ANET silently expects you to not spend all your free time on the game grinding away at it. The game isn’t built to be fun that way. It can be if you’re of the right mindset, but needing some kind of imaginary progress bar of epicosity isn’t the right way to approach it.

Archmortal.1027:

BabelFish.7234:

runeblade.7514:

NinjaEd.3946:

runeblade.7514:

Grind for skins because it looks good.

Grind for different kind of equipment to have a larger variety of stats in the equipments.

Grind to make a different kind of build.

OP’s suggestion is terrible and should never be considered.

The 3 things you just listed are basically the problem, not his solution. Troll somewhere else and I agree with the OP. Currently everything is just an excessive grind for looks or purchasable by lazy people who buy tons of gold for the items to make those pieces. It is irresponsible for game developers to leave such a repetitive end-game when the whole time up till 80 was always different and unique. levels 1-79 was fun and challenging if you didn’t level in zones matching your level, always a few ahead. When I reached 80 it seems like the motto is grind for looks…

Not really, it is the solution. You could just grind your to make a new set of armor with a new set of runes or a new set of weapons combined with a new set of sigils and then discover a new playstyle. If you don’t like the solution, this is not a game for you.

The problem with PvE isn’t that there is no vertical progression. The problem is the lack of places to explore after completing it and the lack of motivation to go back. Going from Level 1-79 wasn’t fun because you progressed, it was fun because you explored and did whatever content there is by the area.

Vertical progression is very repetitive as well. Please go troll somewhere else.

I’m inclined to agree with the other guy. Your idea of end-game content is very warped and for the love of god, if you’re going to use the word troll please use it properly…

First one used it because he didn’t like the opinion and the second one used it out of retaliation. Both were technically improper.

Moving on, the way Guild Wars 2 is designed is to be actively different from the typical MMO these days (WoW and its cookie-cutter games). It stands to reason that the vertical progression is different and can’t be understood when looking at it through the paradigm the market threw at us over and over for the last 7 years. runeblade is actually very correct in his statements.

I mean honestly the parallels are all there. Everyone is going to call it a grind whether it’s for stats or looks. The difference comes in where the stat ladder isn’t necessary to get what you want in GW2, whereas in a gear grind system there will always be a stat threshold to lock you out of something and incentive for people to dismiss each other if they don’t meet the requirement. I’ve heard from a lot of people that the community in GW2 is much friendlier, and it’s because of the lack of gear grind. Competitive players =/= unfriendly players, but that’s another issue for another thread.

Which is why I’m a fan of using the gear treadmill, not to boost base stats but to augment traits.

I mean can you imagine running into people who say “you must have +15% duration on bleed to party”? Not bloody likely…

BabelFish.7234:

Which is why I’m a fan of using the gear treadmill, not to boost base stats but to augment traits.

I mean can you imagine running into people who say “you must have +15% duration on bleed to party”? Not bloody likely…

Not yet, but if/once hardmodes start rolling out you bet I can. After vanilla WoW with all its messy mechanics nitpicked player raid eligibility because they were short one piece of tier 2 gear to get into the raid that drops tier 2, I can certainly believe that condition duration is something to dismiss others for in a small group environment where that condition staying up might seem/be more important than it should.

Dangerously close to a WoW clone suggestion for my taste because once these level 80’s -have- this better gear they will complain they don’t have enough challenging content all over again. Then what do we have….WoW, where it’s all a big treadmill of grinding uber gear then having to put out content that supports not only that uber gear but even harder content with even more uber gear and then it’s all about the gear race and unless you have it, you’re utterly screwed to be able to play the newly released content chains.

I vote a resounding and emphatic “no”.

No thanks- just the fact that the OP used the word grinding three times in his post put me off already.
I love the way this game frees you from having to do x to get y so that you can do z, rinse and repeat.
I cannot tell you how relieved I felt when I got to 80 and realized that I can do what I want and my gear will not out date itself 2 months down the road because I have a RL and don’t play games as a second job.
There are many many other games that give you a gear treadmill, gated content etc. Gw2 is not one of them thank the six!

I feel it needs pointed out that there are some runes/sigals that arent easy to get, infact some can only be had from using the mystic forge and playing the slots till you get one