Guild Wars 2

So now we’ve probably been running fractals here, there and everywhere – It’s still got a long way to go in terms of refinement of rewards, bug fixes with parties and the like.
In my experiences with fractals (which I admit, has been limited) I’ve seen some great things and some “no-brainers” on what they should have included when adding the new fractals. Also, on what impact this has on GW2 in general outside of the Agony Debuff/Ascended Armour debate.

1 – Dungeon Design Variations

Success: This is probably the single thing that has drawn me to continue doing fractals. Variation. Variation. Variation.
Each fractal has an outside element from “kill mobs, kill boss, repeat” that are completely missing in all other dungeons. Jumping puzzles, dodging lazers on stairs, using equipment to stave off conditions, using fires to keep warm from a chilled DoT, etc. I’ve seen more variation in one fractal (as in one map) than I’ve seen in 3 normal dungeons.

Failure: The bad side? it makes the current dungeons seem a lot more tedious and less fun than they already were. It almost makes me want to disregard all other dungeons. Fun with decent loot > Boring runs with tokens…. in my opinion it does anyway.

2 – Difficulty Levels

Success: Great addition to getting people that are new to pair up with people that just aren’t interested in wiping every time on something like difficulty lvl 4. Gives people a chance to try things out on lower levels too.

Failure: More segregation. Now instead of just getting “LF1M Fracts”, I’m already starting to see the separation “LF1M Fracts 2” or “LF1M Fractals Diff 4”
In the short term, it’s bearable, but in the long term the gaps will widen even more.
I’d have preferred to see something where everyone starts at 1. Where levels are super easy, and super short…they still increase in difficulty the further you progress, but you only get rewarded your fractal relics every 3rd fractal. These dungeons should be pushing for that ideal of “all inclusive”. It’s fine having people scale up, but what’s the point if you’re going to just segregate each difficulty level?

3 – Check-pointing (this one is pretty short)

Success: Good to see that there’s a progressions from WP. Progression is good. Perhaps this will lead to being implemented in normal dungeons.

Failure: No notice of when checkpoints are activated (Notification text in combat chat would suffice). Bad locations for checkpoints in some places – IE: I’d prefer if they put a checkpoint AFTER you did the jumping puzzle, not before.

Anyhow…what’s your take on the Pros and Cons of these new fractals now that you’ve had a chance to try them?

Major con: being unable to complete a single one because I constantly get dc’d. And, considering the monthly requires 7 fractals, I’ll never get it done. Terrible system.