Guild Wars 2

Fractals of the Mist introduces something ‘new’ to GW2 but not new to generic MMORPG #3,454,563. It’s been a staple since EQ1 It was mandate in WoW and it was used, later removed AND APOLOGIZED for having been included in LotRO (hint here?!) There ARE problems with gating content behind resist stats such as Radience in LotRO or Elemental resists in WoW or soon to be ‘Infusions’ in GW2.

The single biigest bit of badness is that they are ultimately step #1 in the game becoming a chore instead of a game. Havint to log in and grind out gear upgrades just to see the next bit of content, to grind out another upgrade to see another bit of content ad nuaseum. This was ultimately the reason I gave up WoW after 12 tiers of Raid progression. It wasn’t a game to “play” anymore. I wasn’t playing because I enjoyed it I was playing becuase I had to progress in order to keep playing alongside my guildmates/freinds and such. The games no longer were about having fun and enjoying the content. They became treadmills to fill time instead of enjoying. Vertical progression is all well and fine however gating content behind said progression (espicially in the form of some magical arbitrary resistance number) is not only emersion breaking but detracting from the gameplay itself. Following on this path and we’ll be playing WoW’s endgame by the end of next year. I gave WoW up because it was monotonous and there was too much I “Had to do” in order to actually play the game beyond a certain point. I’de hate to see GW2 end up the same way. Instead of building and implementing something we’ve ALL seen and done and gotten sick of already. Why is ANet not focsuing on the aspects of GW2 that SETS IT APART from the rest of the generic MMORPG landscape?

They never stated that the content would require the infusions, it would just be made easier by them. It is an awful lot like(if not exactly the same as) the infusions against spectral agony used by the Mursaat in the original Guild Wars. Was it impossible to play the content without it? no. Was it more difficult without it? yes.

For some people this may read as “gating it off” so that only people with the infusions will be able to do the content, does that mean this will happen? All I have to say is wait and see. Patience is a virtue, you’re complaining about a mechanic that you have yet to see in action and assuming it is exactly like something you don’t like, It may turn out to be something completely different.

It is pretty much stated in the blog post that it is NOT necessary to have infusion for the new dungeon. You WILL need to get infusions eventually if you want to go to the “deepest” part of the dungeon. Depth here is misleading. Fractals of the Mist is a set of 9 mini dungeons, when you enter you get a random set of 3 of those mini dungeons. At the end of the 3rd you fight a “big boss”. That is equal to one cycle/run of the dungeon. After that you get back to a sort of hub where you rest/take a break/etc. Then you can continue deeper. I assume the deeper you go the higher the intensity of Agony. The depth that you will start to need Infusion gear will depend on your team’s setup. When entering the dungeon you can also select the depth/difficulty. You may or may not have to beat each difficulty before you can select it but this means that you won’t need to or be expected to complete all the levels in one go.

I don’t see how this is gating. Everyone gets the same content but some people get to do it at higher difficulty level. I assume there is better loot from higher difficulty but there is nothing wrong with greater difficulty giving better rewards.

Since the condition deals damage based on percentages an obvious counter is to minimize your vitality and maximizing your healing power. Alternatively or in addition to that you can eat one of the food items that give health regen.

That is my interpretation based on Linsey’s blog post and http://www.guildwars2hub.com/features/previews/lost-shores-preview

that’s a bit of an unfair assessment. I’d say it was relatively impossible to progress normally through the prophecies campaign without becoming infused.

Darknass.1903:

They never stated that the content would require the infusions, it would just be made easier by them. It is an awful lot like(if not exactly the same as) the infusions against spectral agony used by the Mursaat in the original Guild Wars. Was it impossible to play the content without it? no. Was it more difficult without it? yes.

And therein lies the problem. Anyone who was around in that other MMO at the end of WotLK knows exactly what will happen.

“LFM VoA 5k GScore Required!”

To elaborate, VoA was a very easy instance that only existed as a loot pinata. However, that didn’t stop people from insisting that the run go as smoothly as possible by requiring outrageous amounts of gear. If you had 5k GScore, then you had no business running VoA in the first place. So what’s my point? It doesn’t matter if the infusions will be required to beat the instance or not. Nobody, unless they are EXTREMELY desperate to find a group fast, is going to even allow anyone without infusions to join a group. And why would they? Even if its the greatest GW2 player ever, they’re still only making the content harder for the group as a whole by not having those infusions.

Arenanet is running dangerously close to starting a gear treadmill, and I personally don’t like it one bit.