(edited by Mobious Cooper.2819)
Quality of Life Improvements to Traits
I was going to suggest the ability to partially reset traits, if you only want to change your build slightly, but it turns out resetting is much cheaper than I thought it was, so that’s not really necessary.
+1 for better Trait icons, though. Even something as simple as making it clear on the trait popup which tier is which, whether by putting each tier on a separate line or using a different shaped outline for each tier, would help. Using the initials of the trait’s name would be a step better than just roman numerals.
Thanks for the feedback!
I hadn’t thought of the Partial Trait Reset. It is a nice convenience, but as you mentioned, it might not be necessary.
I really do like the Trait Icon idea as well. It’s really bland looking at those numerals all the time.
Good suggestion, can fully support. The border color or other way to identfy waht tier a trait is avaliable in, is the least important i say and shouldnt matter too much if not, though still nice if it can get in
I agree that color coding the different tiers of traits would be very helpful. However, I think icons would actually be more confusing than roman numerals. With numbers, we know at a glance whether the trait selection pop-up should be read from top to bottom or bottom to top. Colors, initials, or shapes would not automatically impart the same kind of information, at least without having to memorize something game-specific, like “red is minor, blue is major…” You might be able to glean that information by studying the interface, but you learned to count way back in preschool.
Secondly, because the function of lot of traits would be hard to convey in icon form, you’d end up with icons just as disconnected from their trait’s function as a roman numeral. At best, you have the same amount of work (memorizing/reading that “5 is Purity” versus “Potion bottle is purity”.) At worst, the icons are a mess and dificult to distinguish from one another at a glance. After coming from WoW (which is not the only game guilty of this), where after 5 years I still couldn’t figure out what some of the icons were supposed to depict, I was impressed by the clean, unambiguous numbers of Guild Wars 2.
And on an unrealted note, I kind of hope they don’t add remote trait reset. Otherwise, it may get to a point where you feel pressured to reset between individual bosses, which is even more of a pain in the long run (and also very expensive.) It’s not like there aren’t vendors in every major city, usually in an extremely accessible place, and in WvW. You’d have to actively try to avoid them.
And on an unrealted note, I kind of hope they don’t add remote trait reset. Otherwise, it may get to a point where you feel pressured to reset between individual bosses, which is even more of a pain in the long run (and also very expensive.) It’s not like there aren’t vendors in every major city, usually in an extremely accessible place, and in WvW. You’d have to actively try to avoid them.
well i would LOVE to run a different build for open world vs dungeons vs wvwvw, however in dont bother since i dont want to HAVE to travel to LA just to reset traits first
Easy Trait Reset -* Currently, one must visit a trait manual vendor to reset ones traits. This is simply inconvenient, and actually costs more coin because of potential travel costs. Simply adding the reset ability on the hero panel page is much more convenient.
Not everything in the game should be convenient. I think traits are one of those things.
Because let’s face it, if you could swap out your traits with pre-made templates you saved while anywhere on the map, you would dilute the characters. The only thing that you would have as a permanent customization would be your armor. And as much as I like to experiment with builds, I don’t like the idea of people swapping out their build for every single specific situation.
Guess what would happen next? You would have people complaining that the reset of the traits costs too much, just like we now have people complaining about waypoint. If you could reset traits anywhere, they would be kinda like waypoints: a 3.5 silver cost that you can and will pay a lot.
Oh and let’s not even get to people asking about some kind of system to swap out the stats of their armor and weaponry.
Trait Icons - When selecting Major Traits, it is inefficient to link numbers to effects. Instead, simple icons can be used to better represent traits. Additionally, trait tiers could be represented by boarder color. For example, Adept Traits could have a bronze boarder, Master Traits could have a silver boarder, and Grandmaster Traits could have a gold boarder. Admittedly, this request may consume quite a lot of time and would require that many art assets be produced.
I disagree. I think the numbers are great. How the hell would I refer to a trait on a forum or in a text-based messenger if all they had was a pretty picture, a name and a colour? Right now, I can just say “Tactics IX”, but your system would make it so that I would need to say “Quick Breathing”. Of course, in most cases I already do that.
Also, the numbers have a distinct meaning. For example, just by looking at the numbers I can easily evaluate whether my choice in a specific trait line is based on a good Adept-Master-Grandmaster balance, or whether I’m using more Adept traits.
Trait Descriptions - Many traits lack simple information that is quite relevant to their use or potency. Take for example Symbolic Power, a Guardian Trait claiming to bolster the damage of all symbols. The effectiveness of this trait and others like it is left to question, as all that is stated is simply that it increases the damage that symbols do. This is should be a relatively simple fix to implement and would greatly improve the quality of the descriptions of many traits.
The whole thing with descriptions in the game is a bit of a weird thing.
There are some things which should be clarified to make things clear. Others should be left as they are, so that we don’t end up in a ridiculous, number-crunching game.
I disagree. I think the numbers are great. How the hell would I refer to a trait on a forum or in a text-based messenger if all they had was a pretty picture, a name and a colour? Right now, I can just say “Tactics IX”, but your system would make it so that I would need to say “Quick Breathing”. Of course, in most cases I already do that.
“QB” maybe?
I disagree. I think the numbers are great. How the hell would I refer to a trait on a forum or in a text-based messenger if all they had was a pretty picture, a name and a colour? Right now, I can just say “Tactics IX”, but your system would make it so that I would need to say “Quick Breathing”. Of course, in most cases I already do that.
“QB” maybe?
Well, that point is rather secondary to begin with. Of course, lingo like that will happen in the profession-specific subforums. Personally, I do a lot of talking with friends who don’t play Warriors, so I tend to just run with a description, in this case something like “A warhorn trait that speeds up CD and converts conditions to boons”.
And besides, I don’t quite get the OP’s point anyway. Why is it inefficient? It’s pretty simple, 6 traits for Adept, 4 for Master, 2 for Grandmaster, numbered 1-12.
(edited by Olba.5376)
On the subject of Trait Icons, I think it’s ‘inefficient’ simply because it is annoying to remember what each number does rather than looking at a picture. I understand that each number breaks into it’s own tier, but it becomes confusing when looking within each tier for a specific trait. I have to mouse over most traits when adjusting my build just to find the right one. I don’t believe that is more efficient than simply looking at a picture and going ‘Yep, that’s the one.’ Why should I have to memorize each number instead of it being an easy to recognize picture? If enough people liked the numerals, there could be an option to go back to them if need be.
On the subject of Easy Trait Resets, of course there would be location restrictions on resetting your traits, but it wouldn’t be nearly as restrictive as it is currently. For instance, one could reset traits at any waypoint that is not in a dungeon or in any entirely non-combat instance, like towns. I will update the OP to clarify this point. Thank you for bringing it up.
On the subject of Trait Icons, I think it’s ‘inefficient’ simply because it is annoying to remember what each number does rather than looking at a picture. I understand that each number breaks into it’s own tier, but it becomes confusing when looking within each tier for a specific trait. I have to mouse over most traits when adjusting my build just to find the right one. I don’t believe that is more efficient than simply looking at a picture and going ‘Yep, that’s the one.’ Why should I have to memorize each number instead of it being an easy to recognize picture? If enough people liked the numerals, there could be an option to go back to them if need be.
Well what makes for an easy-to-recognize picture? It’s all about memory.
After all, while you can give pictures to traits that do stuff like increase Sword damage or bleed duration, what about something like Furious Reaction? Or Focused Mind? Clearly you cannot have icons that would represent those traits just from the picture. Thus, you’re back to having to remember the picture that associates with the trait. And voila, nothing has changed.
On the subject of Easy Trait Resets, of course there would be location restrictions on resetting your traits, but it wouldn’t be nearly as restrictive as it is currently. For instance, one could reset traits at any waypoint that is not in a dungeon or in any entirely non-combat instance, like towns. I will update the OP to clarify this point. Thank you for bringing it up.
“Towns”? What about the encampments in Orr? Or the towns that get raided by events, like Nebo Terrace?
And still, I believe that if you granted the ability to change your traits anywhere, people would be asking for the ability to change the mods on their gear anywhere. And then they would be asking for Soulbinding to be removed from the game.
Please keep those icon border colors away from me. I dunno for other people but i absolutely LOVE the artwork used in trait panel and it’s pretty clean and lean to me.
I want my traits to be blue for guardian green for necro etc. Do not touch what is not broken visually wise.
I personally would just like to be able to preset 2, maybe 3 different trait builds and then have an icon that I can click to switch between them. Maybe I’m an Elementalist who uses one trait build to solo and quest and another trait build while doing dungeons. Rather than running to a trainer and then taking 5 or 10 minutes to re-trait before heading back to the dungeon, and making my party members wait around for me, I’d like to be able to simply click on 1 icon to switch to my “dungeon trait build” and away I go! And then, when the dungeon is done, I can click on the same icon to switch back to my “soloing/questing trait build”.
I personally would just like to be able to preset 2, maybe 3 different trait builds and then have an icon that I can click to switch between them. Maybe I’m an Elementalist who uses one trait build to solo and quest and another trait build while doing dungeons. Rather than running to a trainer and then taking 5 or 10 minutes to re-trait before heading back to the dungeon, and making my party members wait around for me, I’d like to be able to simply click on 1 icon to switch to my “dungeon trait build” and away I go! And then, when the dungeon is done, I can click on the same icon to switch back to my “soloing/questing trait build”.
On the same note, I would like to have this same ability with my support skills. Those doesn’t take nearly as long to changeout, but it would be cool if I could preset 2 or 3 different skill sets and click on an icon to switch between them.
I’d like to see trait and gear ‘builds’. Why is it spvp gets these things but WvWvW doesn’t? Why is it assumed that whatever PvE build and gear I’ve been running is the most appropriate for WvWvW? I’ve not bothered with PvP in many games, as on the whole I just haven’t enjoyed it. I really thought I might have enjoyed WvWvW in GW2, then possibly also tried the sPvP, but I really don’t want to have to manually switch traits and gear all the time, so I just gave up on everything except PvE. I’d like to be able to swap setups per encounter in PvE as I see fit (especially solo play vs group play builds), but I’m not going to do it manually all the time. Just feels so clumsly implemented.
Well what makes for an easy-to-recognize picture? It’s all about memory.
After all, while you can give pictures to traits that do stuff like increase Sword damage or bleed duration, what about something like Furious Reaction? Or Focused Mind? Clearly you cannot have icons that would represent those traits just from the picture. Thus, you’re back to having to remember the picture that associates with the trait. And voila, nothing has changed.
The original Guild Wars had a plethora of skills, each with its own unique image. The minds at Arenanet can create these images. Heck, I can. Furious Reaction? – A soldier bellowing, expelling pent up rage. Focused Mind? – A guardian with his head bowed with a blue bubble surrounding his head. These are just are just examples to prove a point, that it is very possible to make these icons. Secondly, I’m certain most people would have an easier time relating a picture to an effect rather than a numeral to an effect. Something has most definitely changed.
“Towns”? What about the encampments in Orr? Or the towns that get raided by events, like Nebo Terrace?
By “Towns,” I meant simply the main hubs like Lions Arch, Rata Sum, etc.
And still, I believe that if you granted the ability to change your traits anywhere, people would be asking for the ability to change the mods on their gear anywhere. And then they would be asking for Soulbinding to be removed from the game.
This is completely beside the point. Traits are something major to determining your role in your group, so the ability to change on the fly is rather important. If you need to change mods on your gear, you can buy different gear and re-equip easily enough, in my opinion. But again, besides the point.
Please keep those icon border colors away from me. I dunno for other people but i absolutely LOVE the artwork used in trait panel and it’s pretty clean and lean to me.
I want my traits to be blue for guardian green for necro etc. Do not touch what is not broken visually wise.
The artwork used in the Trait Panel is really nice in my opinion, it is only the actual major and minor traits that I am looking to get changed. What you like about the panel would stay the same.
On the same note, I would like to have this same ability with my support skills. Those doesn’t take nearly as long to changeout, but it would be cool if I could preset 2 or 3 different skill sets and click on an icon to switch between them.
This would be a nice addition, but there are few enough slottable skills to manage, in my opinion.
I’d like to see trait and gear ‘builds’. Why is it spvp gets these things but WvWvW doesn’t? Why is it assumed that whatever PvE build and gear I’ve been running is the most appropriate for WvWvW?
I think the reason that they did that was they wanted WvW to be a happy medium between PvP and PvE. Whether it is or is not is not up for discussion, although I agree it would be nice if they were separated.
Sorry about the 4 consecutive posts, I couldn’t figure out how to quote multiple people in the same post.
What I`d like to add (and maybe I`m wrong), but I`ve noticed that some traits which give +stats, lose their value on higher lvls. For example, guardian trait that gives him +90 toughness is very nice on low lvls(same goes for necro trait +20 toughness for every minion etc. etc.), but does it give the same advantage on higher/max lvl? My opinion that it would benefit more if it was calculated as a . Or better mixed, like for example +50 stat or 5 of total stat, applies which is better.