Guild Wars 2

Update of an idea i had (original comment below):
A spectator mode.
In some HoT instances, when you join another’s story, you fly around as this blue glowing ball since you’re not technically there according to the story.
So maybe similar can be applied here. You can interact with the npcs of the raid but are immune to damage, cant cast anything, and work outside the 10-person limit. That way youre there but “not” there. So you just hitch a ride. No rewards. I guess you can also watch others play and learn from that?

Original post:
So i was watching W.P.‘s videos about the lore of the currently released raid wings, particularly the latest one.. And it just makes me feel so sad that as a person who loves stories and lore, i’m completely locked out from the immersion and the tale because i cannot play this 10-man system which focuses on difficult and coordinated combat..

And i know that there’s a huge amount of people who agree with me (and quite a few who’ll argue against me), that there should be an easy-mode for these things. Like a soloable or maybe even a simplified, dungeon-party mode.

I mean, the first raid directly lead up to LS3’s blood mantle storyline, so it feels like the prologue was completely cut out for me in a “why are these guys suddenly relevant?” way..
And the latest raid wing deals with a cliffhanger from like 10 years ago.. Watching a video of someone narrating it and reading the wiki aint exactly as immersive as being in the moment.

I am aware that once a raid has been cleared, there is a roaming possibility, however, the dialogues wont be there anymore and you wont see the enemies..

Oh and before you say i should just stop whining, gear up and go raid, i have no intention on “training” for these bosses.. Most groups look for experienced raiders, and i know there are raiding guilds who help train new recruits… However I don’t want to spend so much time and gold on the combat when i dont care about the loot and only want the story.

TLDR; Raids need an ez-mode for noobs who dont want good loot but want story immersion.

He is requesting for easy mode for story exploration slightly different to easy mode raids xD lol

The difficulty is a big part of the immersion. If you can kill Deimos solo in like 2 min without it being hard, how is that immersive? The fact that it takes you so long and requires 10 ppl playing well adds to the immersion. Besides that, about 90% of the lore/story is in the instance and documents you can read in a cleared instance. Even cutscenes are rewatchable like that. The fights themselves have very little lore..

I personally not against this idea.. why not ? Only for story exploration

I can’t agree. Some people felt locked out of dungeons for the first few years of the game and there’s even more lore there.

This game has always included some lore in all sorts of game modes, including some modes that people don’t like and some that they find too hard. I think that is one of the things that stands out about GW2 and makes the game more interesting.

As long as the lore in raids isn’t critical to the Living World stories, I’m okay if I’m not able to experience it all directly.

If raids had story modes, they’d be the same as story instances with hardmode motes.
The two are already distinct. Raids are designed to be team challenges, and the personal story can be solo’d.

Let’s not force bigger production on side stories.

Hi, i want new easy raid mode so i can play it once and then forget it even exists. Also Mursatt is too hard even for a dps golem.

the game is there, add on to what it is there for greater community access for story exploration. I don’t see why not. making those who are not doing raids on weekly reset to have something to work on such as story mode. and possibly explore raids after .. its a good outcome I think.

Talindra.4958:

I don’t see why not.

There are only so many things that ANet can bring to the game. I’m not against having a story mode; I’m in favor of 532 other things being added first.

FWIW, I believe an ANet dev stated they were exploring alternative means for players who don’t want to raid to experience the raid story. If true, I hope whatever they come up with will fulfill the desires of those who want to experience the story.

joining a cleared instance on the newest raid is as good as being in the raid the time its cleared the only thing you really miss is the fight but the lore is all there

Anet would need to drop fr their current raid they are making (you heard it here first folks) go back to raids 1 and 2 and redo all the encounters and balance them for 5 ppl and also abjust the rewards or add none and then do the same for the next raid. This is just work that takes away from new content and no one really wants that.

Raids are such a big thing because the replayability value is high and the story is well told making content for those guys who are like “oh now that i did it once i’ll not do ot again since i experienced the story” aimt worth their rescources.

Suddenly it hit me that maybe there could be like a Spectator mode to raids? Could be a compromise if the “easy mode” aint working as a system..

In some HoT instances, when you join another’s story, you fly around as this blue glowing ball since you’re not technically there according to the story.
So maybe similar can be applied here. You can interact with the npcs of the raid but are immune to damage, cant cast anything, and work outside the 10-person limit. That way youre there but “not” there. So you just hitch a ride. Thoughts? (Btw no rewards in this mode obviously)

Andovar Edoras.2143:

Suddenly it hit me that maybe there could be like a Spectator mode to raids? Could be a compromise if the “easy mode” aint working as a system..

In some HoT instances, when you join another’s story, you fly around as this blue glowing ball since you’re not technically there according to the story.
So maybe similar can be applied here. You can interact with the npcs of the raid but are immune to damage, cant cast anything, and work outside the 10-person limit. That way youre there but “not” there. So you just hitch a ride. Thoughts? (Btw no rewards in this mode obviously)

That would be amazing & would help both raiders and others.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/A-Plea-for-a-Raid-Story-Mode/first

Also has a dev response.

Andovar Edoras.2143:

So i was watching W.P.‘s videos about the lore of the currently released raid wings, particularly the latest one.. And it just makes me feel so sad that as a person who loves stories and lore, i’m completely locked out from the immersion and the tale because i cannot play this 10-man system which focuses on difficult and coordinated combat..

Please explain why you cannot do this? Is there some extraterrestrial force that has control of your mind and body that is preventing you?

You can raid. Everyone can. If you choose not to, it is simply that, an active choice made by the player to not do some part of the content. Saying that you are “locked out and cannot do it” makes it appear like the player has no say in the matter and that by definition and random chance you are locked out of content you want. NO! You have the power to make choices that could lead to seeing the content in the raid, and you chose to not go down that path. It’s 100% on you.

Get a group and play wing 4, it is easy enough for anyone who can do mid to low level fractals. It doesn’t need to be any easier.

Wasabi Kitty.8247:

So you want to see the raid story, but you don’t want to put any time or effort into actually learning the encounters to do so?

Actual boss mechanics has a very weak relation to lore or story.

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Andovar Edoras.2143:

Update of an idea i had (original comment below):
A spectator mode.
In some HoT instances, when you join another’s story, you fly around as this blue glowing ball since you’re not technically there according to the story.
So maybe similar can be applied here. You can interact with the npcs of the raid but are immune to damage, cant cast anything, and work outside the 10-person limit. That way youre there but “not” there. So you just hitch a ride. No rewards. I guess you can also watch others play and learn from that?

Original post:
So i was watching W.P.‘s videos about the lore of the currently released raid wings, particularly the latest one.. And it just makes me feel so sad that as a person who loves stories and lore, i’m completely locked out from the immersion and the tale because i cannot play this 10-man system which focuses on difficult and coordinated combat..

And i know that there’s a huge amount of people who agree with me (and quite a few who’ll argue against me), that there should be an easy-mode for these things. Like a soloable or maybe even a simplified, dungeon-party mode.

I mean, the first raid directly lead up to LS3’s blood mantle storyline, so it feels like the prologue was completely cut out for me in a “why are these guys suddenly relevant?” way..
And the latest raid wing deals with a cliffhanger from like 10 years ago.. Watching a video of someone narrating it and reading the wiki aint exactly as immersive as being in the moment.

I am aware that once a raid has been cleared, there is a roaming possibility, however, the dialogues wont be there anymore and you wont see the enemies..

Oh and before you say i should just stop whining, gear up and go raid, i have no intention on “training” for these bosses.. Most groups look for experienced raiders, and i know there are raiding guilds who help train new recruits… However I don’t want to spend so much time and gold on the combat when i dont care about the loot and only want the story.

TLDR; Raids need an ez-mode for noobs who dont want good loot but want story immersion.

I believe there should be a storymode for the Raids.

Coconut.7082:

Andovar Edoras.2143:

Suddenly it hit me that maybe there could be like a Spectator mode to raids? Could be a compromise if the “easy mode” aint working as a system..

In some HoT instances, when you join another’s story, you fly around as this blue glowing ball since you’re not technically there according to the story.
So maybe similar can be applied here. You can interact with the npcs of the raid but are immune to damage, cant cast anything, and work outside the 10-person limit. That way youre there but “not” there. So you just hitch a ride. Thoughts? (Btw no rewards in this mode obviously)

That would be amazing & would help both raiders and others.

Yes, I’d like to see spectator mode for raids (as well as other areas).

Oh spectator raids is cool
Like HA in gw1 but how can they be possible it’s not like it’s one instance map.. its multiple .. :o this is one logic codes hard to solve I think lol

ButterPeanut.9746:

Please explain why you cannot do this? Is there some extraterrestrial force that has control of your mind and body that is preventing you?

You can raid. Everyone can.

If that was true, you’d find either raid difficulty levels adjusted, or most of the raiders screaming bloody murder.

…oh wait. No, you’re right. Everyone can raid. Not everyone however can raid succesfully.

OnizukaBR.8537:

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Mordy (especially in migraide mode) is equally immersive however. Too hard is as bad as too easy.

And the real problem with Arah story mode wasn’t that it was so easy. It was because it was mindnumbingly boring due to long periods of doing absolutely nothing.

OnizukaBR.8537:

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Then don’t play the Easy Mode boss, play your normal mode Raid.

Oldirtbeard.9834:

OnizukaBR.8537:

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Then don’t play the Easy Mode boss, play your normal mode Raid.

Thats the point. An easy mode boss has none of the immersion “story-mode”-advocates ask for, hence it is a waste of time to develop it.

Chris McSwag.4683:

Oldirtbeard.9834:

OnizukaBR.8537:

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Then don’t play the Easy Mode boss, play your normal mode Raid.

Thats the point. An easy mode boss has none of the immersion “story-mode”-advocates ask for, hence it is a waste of time to develop it.

That isn’t the point. The story people want to see/hear what happens AFTER THE BOSS IS DEAD. The fight itself isn’t relevant to the story, other than any potential dialogue that may happen during the fight.

mtpelion.4562:

Chris McSwag.4683:

Oldirtbeard.9834:

OnizukaBR.8537:

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Then don’t play the Easy Mode boss, play your normal mode Raid.

Thats the point. An easy mode boss has none of the immersion “story-mode”-advocates ask for, hence it is a waste of time to develop it.

That isn’t the point. The story people want to see/hear what happens AFTER THE BOSS IS DEAD. The fight itself isn’t relevant to the story, other than any potential dialogue that may happen during the fight.

Why not just watch a video if you just wanna see what happens after the death ? Besides, if the devs ever implement a story mode, here is what is gonna happen: players will look for LFG to do the easy fight, rush to the end because it is easy and then you will have toxic attitudes between those who really wants to see the cinematics and those who do not. Kind of like a dungeon story mode 2.0. Story is so much a one time thing, it has no replay value and by the time most of the players have completed and learned the story then you will have complaint about how story mode is not rewarding enough, unless of course you speed up the process of how many raids are released so that there is many story mode to complete. Which is really not the focus of this casual open world content where the BiS gear is available to the most casual because the game doesn’t force you to do hard instanced content to get ascended stuff.

mtpelion.4562:

Chris McSwag.4683:

Oldirtbeard.9834:

OnizukaBR.8537:

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Then don’t play the Easy Mode boss, play your normal mode Raid.

Thats the point. An easy mode boss has none of the immersion “story-mode”-advocates ask for, hence it is a waste of time to develop it.

That isn’t the point. The story people want to see/hear what happens AFTER THE BOSS IS DEAD. The fight itself isn’t relevant to the story, other than any potential dialogue that may happen during the fight.

Which means people can just join a cleared instance or watch a yt vid just the same if they want the story.

mtpelion.4562:

Chris McSwag.4683:

Oldirtbeard.9834:

OnizukaBR.8537:

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Then don’t play the Easy Mode boss, play your normal mode Raid.

Thats the point. An easy mode boss has none of the immersion “story-mode”-advocates ask for, hence it is a waste of time to develop it.

That isn’t the point. The story people want to see/hear what happens AFTER THE BOSS IS DEAD. The fight itself isn’t relevant to the story, other than any potential dialogue that may happen during the fight.

So why would they need a story mode? Im well aware of where the story is in raids, but this thread is all about a story mode because of the immersion you lose by not participating in the fight. Try reading next time

mtpelion.4562:

Chris McSwag.4683:

Oldirtbeard.9834:

OnizukaBR.8537:

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Then don’t play the Easy Mode boss, play your normal mode Raid.

Thats the point. An easy mode boss has none of the immersion “story-mode”-advocates ask for, hence it is a waste of time to develop it.

That isn’t the point. The story people want to see/hear what happens AFTER THE BOSS IS DEAD. The fight itself isn’t relevant to the story, other than any potential dialogue that may happen during the fight.

Just watch a video or enter a completed instance, because literally nothing happens. The only thing that happens after the boss dies in any wing is in wing 4 the last boss. Then a cinematic shows which you can easily find on youtube. That’s it. You’re not missing anything.

Astralporing.1957:

ButterPeanut.9746:

Please explain why you cannot do this? Is there some extraterrestrial force that has control of your mind and body that is preventing you?

You can raid. Everyone can.

If that was true, you’d find either raid difficulty levels adjusted, or most of the raiders screaming bloody murder.

…oh wait. No, you’re right. Everyone can raid. Not everyone however can raid succesfully.

You’ve completely missed the point. When someone uses words like “cannot” or “completely locked” it gives the illusion that the player has no say in the matter. The content has randomly chosen them to not be able to do it. By random chance or an evil force that they cannot control, they were left out of raids and those who do raid were lucky enough to be able to be chosen.

This is obviously false. Every…single…person who says they “can’t” raid really means “I have chosen not to raid”. It is always a player choice. That player may choose not to join a raiding guild, or choose not to start their own PUG group, or choose to play an “off meta” build, or choose to prioritize real life over late night raiding. The point is these are always choices that the player makes. There is nothing holding you back from raiding other than your choices.

Those choices may be valid. Someone with a newborn baby may not be able to stay up all night raiding! That’s valid. However, that doesn’t mean that you are entitled to have the content shift to meet your specific need. Adapt to the content, don’t expect the content to adapt to you.

My point is, as soon as we stop saying “I cannot raid” and start saying “Based on X reason, I’ve chosen not to raid” it becomes much more clear that the issues are based on BOTH the game design/content and the player, not just some arbitrary external force that has deemed them not worthy of experiencing the content.

If you aren’t going to take responsibility in actually experiencing the content, at least take responsibility in the fact that it was your choice in doing so.

There is a reason this thread keeps naturally reoccuring on both these forums and on Reddit.

• A story mode would not detract from the difficulty of the experience in regular raid modes. Something you don’t see, experience or care to do does not impact what you are actually doing – common sense tells us that.

• This would – most likely – not take away one second from the development of the regular mode or any other content in the game. We know this because of the inclusion of “challenge motes” in the last raid wing. They could have simply made the challenge encounters the baseline ones and used the motes for something people were actually asking for – story or training access (hopefully repeatable, but if not, that is at least a step in the right direction). Almost no raider I know likes the way the challenge motes work now – so why not use those resources on something people have actually been asking for?

• (Almost) nobody is asking for the same rewards. Of course the more difficult encounters should offer greater rewards.

It is inevitable. They can only ignore these continual requests for so long before realizing they are just pushing people away (people that were once their biggest fans/financial supporters, in fact).

Blaeys.3102:

There is a reason this thread keeps naturally reoccuring on both these forums and on Reddit.

Yes, and the reason its because some players feel that the content need to bend to their will and schedule.
Do you see topics like this “Please continue making new Maps with which LS Episode?” no? Its because when a player like something they dont make post asking for A-Net to continue making it, they instead play the game.
So this is why you see topic like this one and not topics like “Continue to make raids like these” because instead of posting people are playing the game and raiding.
So these topic dont show that anet needs to implement easy mode raids, it show that there are players that feel entitled to raid bend to their playstyle.

OnizukaBR.8537:

Blaeys.3102:

There is a reason this thread keeps naturally reoccuring on both these forums and on Reddit.

Yes, and the reason its because some players feel that the content need to bend to their will and schedule.

No one is asking for the content to bend. Pretty much everyone agrees that hardcore raiding modes need to be a part of any ongoing raid development efforts – in fact, they should continue to be the central driver in new development.

Simply replace the challenge mote concept with a story/training mode (or mote) and it’s a non issue.

You’re confusing the idea of entitlement with a simple desire to see more people gaining enjoyment from the raiding aspect of GW2 PVE.

Chris McSwag.4683:

mtpelion.4562:

Chris McSwag.4683:

Oldirtbeard.9834:

OnizukaBR.8537:

Remember how immersive is the Zaithan fight on the story mode? No? So yeah thats how immersive an easy boss is.

Then don’t play the Easy Mode boss, play your normal mode Raid.

Thats the point. An easy mode boss has none of the immersion “story-mode”-advocates ask for, hence it is a waste of time to develop it.

That isn’t the point. The story people want to see/hear what happens AFTER THE BOSS IS DEAD. The fight itself isn’t relevant to the story, other than any potential dialogue that may happen during the fight.

So why would they need a story mode? Im well aware of where the story is in raids, but this thread is all about a story mode because of the immersion you lose by not participating in the fight. Try reading next time

I’m going to suggest you return to the OP and read it this time…

OnizukaBR.8537:

Blaeys.3102:

There is a reason this thread keeps naturally reoccuring on both these forums and on Reddit.

Yes, and the reason its because some players feel that the content need to bend to their will and schedule.
Do you see topics like this “Please continue making new Maps with which LS Episode?”

I do see threads asking for more raids. In fact, i saw them long before raids were introduced into this game. I don’t see how threads asking for easy mode are any different.

OnizukaBR.8537:

So this is why you see topic like this one and not topics like “Continue to make raids like these”

…but i do see threads about making more raids…

Would be great if Raids have story 5 man or solo mode. Similar to dungeon. Where you fight against different, much weaker enemies and bosses, maybe even in different parts of the instance, which are closed in the raid.
Not easy mode, but pre-story mode!

Blaeys.3102:

• A story mode would not detract from the difficulty of the experience in regular raid modes.

First, we have a developer response on the topic here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/A-Plea-for-a-Raid-Story-Mode/first
Which says they are discussing it, nothing final, nothing actually being developed, but there is internal discussion about it. I’m sure when they have more to say they will and no amount of asking will make them discuss it faster, especially in threads that ask for an easy mode and stop there. “I want an easier mode” isn’t very constructive, nor useful for the developers. Actual suggestions on how to do it can expedite the process but a simple “I want” isn’t going to do a thing.

Second, the thread topic is about adding an easy mode for story, which means some way for all players to experience the story of Raids, removing Raid specific rewards.
The main issue with a story mode version is that it can become Arah story mode number 2. Worthless to run outside the story, so you run once and forget it even exists, then it gets hard to get people to run it with. I’m sure this is one of the most important problems with a story version, how do you make it not-useless while at the same time allow players of really low skills to complete? It’s a contradiction

There have been multiple suggestions on how to do this without being a waste of time:

Spectator mode

In some HoT instances, when you join another’s story, you fly around as this blue glowing ball since you’re not technically there according to the story.
So maybe similar can be applied here. You can interact with the npcs of the raid but are immune to damage, cant cast anything, and work outside the 10-person limit.

With this one, it will take the minimal amount of work to do (unless it’s hard to port the pvp spectator mode into pve, I don’t know how their coding works) and requires no reward balance at all. Also, some form of training can be achieved here as you watch how other players play in a live environment. This is probably the easiest method but is it worth it compared to watching a video on youtube?

Raid encounters as Fractals
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/Fractal-versions-of-the-Raids/first

Lots of re-work to balance the encounters for 5 players, however no balancing of rewards needed at all, the reward system is there. Aside from the serious tweaking of mechanics, this version that requires 5 players will have minimal, if any, kind of training value for the real Raid, as the mechanics would need to be toned down, or require far less things to do at once.

And this is my own suggestion:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/A-Plea-for-a-Raid-Story-Mode/first

The idea is simple: remove later phases from fights. It won’t work on all bosses, some can be problematic, but for the majority it can work really well. It requires a bit of tweaking to make it work well, mostly hit points and enrage timers, but there is little need to change the mechanics, and very little (if any) reward balancing either. Also, in this mode the story mode can work as training too

I am in favor of a story mode so that non-raiders can access the story (but none of the rewards). I don’t want it to detract too much from the production of new content however.

So I would say something easy. No rewards, and everything is just scaled down by a factor of 20. Bosses do 1/20 the damage, have 1/20 the health etc. You can still bring in 10 players if you want or you can solo or w/e else. Basically the fights are a joke but you hear the dialogue, see the cinematic, and get a feel for the characters.

I will warn all you non-raiders though, immersion arises partially from difficulty. The enemies feel immensely powerful because of their difficulty. For example, the powerful effects of bloodstone on Matthias and Xera is conveyed in their difficulty, having an extremely easy solo mode might not give you the full experience of raid storylines.

How about instead of a story mode, just create an NPC outside of the instance to replay all of the cutscenes?

Ayrilana.1396:

How about instead of a story mode, just create an NPC outside of the instance to replay all of the cutscenes?

I’ve always wondered why these weren’t a thing for other parts of the game. I’ve done HoT story enough times that I don’t feel a need to do it again (except to help someone unlock the dungeon explorable mode); I would, however, be interested in just being able to focus on the story part of it.

Ayrilana.1396:

How about instead of a story mode, just create an NPC outside of the instance to replay all of the cutscenes?

Been proposed and discussed. There is already access to cutscenes on youtube. Adding them in game doesn’t really do anything (neither does a cleared instance) – and more importantly, it doesn’t provide a gaming experience or sense that the player is living through the story.

In the game’s current form, part of the PVE end user experience – and part of the story experience (no matter how small or how secondary) – is currently limited based on playstyle and build/stat preferences. After 3+ years of experiencing a game that didn’t have that kind of segregation, it’s hard not to think things have changed for the worse.

Blaeys.3102:

Ayrilana.1396:

How about instead of a story mode, just create an NPC outside of the instance to replay all of the cutscenes?

Been proposed and discussed. There is already access to cutscenes on youtube. Adding them in game doesn’t really do anything (neither does a cleared instance) – and more importantly, it doesn’t provide a gaming experience or sense that the player is living through the story.

In the game’s current form, part of the PVE end user experience – and part of the story experience (no matter how small or how secondary) – is currently limited based on playstyle and build/stat preferences. After 3+ years of experiencing a game that didn’t have that kind of segregation, it’s hard not to think things have changed for the worse.

It shuts down the argument for easier raids on the basis of missed story content. I’m not at all surprised that it’s been discussed before since we’ve had how many threads? If players want to feel like they’re playing through the story then they can do the actual raid in the manner in which it was intended.

Things have not changed for the worst just because content was designed for a subset of the players that wanted something a little more challenging. No one player can say that the entire games revolves around their preferred way of playing. Adding aspects that apply to different types of players is a move in the right direction. It expands the breadth of the game and add to its appeal.

Ayrilana.1396:

Blaeys.3102:

Ayrilana.1396:

How about instead of a story mode, just create an NPC outside of the instance to replay all of the cutscenes?

Been proposed and discussed. There is already access to cutscenes on youtube. Adding them in game doesn’t really do anything (neither does a cleared instance) – and more importantly, it doesn’t provide a gaming experience or sense that the player is living through the story.

In the game’s current form, part of the PVE end user experience – and part of the story experience (no matter how small or how secondary) – is currently limited based on playstyle and build/stat preferences. After 3+ years of experiencing a game that didn’t have that kind of segregation, it’s hard not to think things have changed for the worse.

It shuts down the argument for easier raids on the basis of missed story content. I’m not at all surprised that it’s been discussed before since we’ve had how many threads? If players want to feel like they’re playing through the story then they can do the actual raid in the manner in which it was intended.

Things have not changed for the worst just because content was designed for a subset of the players that wanted something a little more challenging. No one player can say that the entire games revolves around their preferred way of playing. Adding aspects that apply to different types of players is a move in the right direction. It expands the breadth of the game and add to its appeal.

It doesnt shut down any discussion because neither a cutscene – or a cleared instance – offer an interactive video game experience. Using video or a partial piece is similar to telling someone the plot to a movie over the phone.

And, again, almost no one is advocating the removal of hard modes. They are critical to the raid experience. What I’m advocating for is using the mote mechanic (and the development time that when behind them), which most raiders even agree didnt really add anything to the latest raid wing, to offer a story mote or training mote experience instead – something players are actually asking for.

Blaeys.3102:

Ayrilana.1396:

Blaeys.3102:

Ayrilana.1396:

How about instead of a story mode, just create an NPC outside of the instance to replay all of the cutscenes?

Been proposed and discussed. There is already access to cutscenes on youtube. Adding them in game doesn’t really do anything (neither does a cleared instance) – and more importantly, it doesn’t provide a gaming experience or sense that the player is living through the story.

In the game’s current form, part of the PVE end user experience – and part of the story experience (no matter how small or how secondary) – is currently limited based on playstyle and build/stat preferences. After 3+ years of experiencing a game that didn’t have that kind of segregation, it’s hard not to think things have changed for the worse.

It shuts down the argument for easier raids on the basis of missed story content. I’m not at all surprised that it’s been discussed before since we’ve had how many threads? If players want to feel like they’re playing through the story then they can do the actual raid in the manner in which it was intended.

Things have not changed for the worst just because content was designed for a subset of the players that wanted something a little more challenging. No one player can say that the entire games revolves around their preferred way of playing. Adding aspects that apply to different types of players is a move in the right direction. It expands the breadth of the game and add to its appeal.

It doesnt shut down any discussion because neither a cutscene – or a cleared instance – offer an interactive video game experience. Using video or a partial piece is similar to telling someone the plot to a movie over the phone.

And, again, almost no one is advocating the removal of hard modes. They are critical to the raid experience. What I’m advocating for is using the mote mechanic (and the development time that when behind them), which most raiders even agree didnt really add anything to the latest raid wing, to offer a story mote or training mote experience instead – something players are actually asking for.

Exactly what story is provided with the actual boss fights? If you want an “interactive video game experience” then do the raid.

Crystal Reid.2481:

This comes up a lot so I’m going to jump in quickly since it’s a new post.

Tier systems for Raids come up a lot as a result of what Fractals did. I worked on the original Fractals team and a tiered system with increased difficulty scaling was always part of the original plan for that team. It was never a plan for Raids. They are, and should remain, the most difficult content in the game.

Accessibility in terms of difficulty is something we talk a lot about internally. We’ve made efforts to help players get in by delivering entry level encounters that ease you into the content (STK) and you’ll see more of that in the next release. You’ll still see encounters that live up to previous raid expectations for mid tier and final bosses. And if you think Matthias is a chump then we have something for you as well.

Accessibility in terms of “Hey, my 5 man Fractal group wants to try raids, but we can’t find 5 other players!” is also something we talk about. It’s just a much more difficult problem to solve.

Blaeys.3102:

This would – most likely – not take away one second from the development of the regular mode or any other content in the game.

Maybe you think if you keep saying this enough it will become true. It won’t.

Nokaru.7831:

Maybe you think if you keep saying this enough it will become true. It won’t.

It will, if they are planning to expand raids any further from now, and don’t want to be fired by NCSoft management after another year of atrocious revenue rates.

Rednik.3809:

Nokaru.7831:

Maybe you think if you keep saying this enough it will become true. It won’t.

It will, if they are planning to expand raids any further from now, and don’t want to be fired by NCSoft management after another year of atrocious revenue rates.

Do you have like, any idea what you’re talking about? Do you have any idea what businesses operate like or anything? Have you ever taken any sort of business classes? My guess is no.

Wasabi Kitty.8247:

Do you have like, any idea what you’re talking about? Do you have any idea what businesses operate like or anything? Have you ever taken any sort of business classes? My guess is no.

Yes, I do. Do you?

Rednik.3809:

It will, if they are planning to expand raids any further from now, and don’t want to be fired by NCSoft management after another year of atrocious revenue rates.

My advice for you is to read what you quote before posting a reply next time. What I said had nothing to do with your reply.

Rednik.3809:

Wasabi Kitty.8247:

Do you have like, any idea what you’re talking about? Do you have any idea what businesses operate like or anything? Have you ever taken any sort of business classes? My guess is no.

Yes, I do. Do you?

I have a bachelor’s degree in accounting. If you had any idea what you were talking about you would realize that Anet’s quarterly reports have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not raids have an easy mode.

Wasabi Kitty.8247:

I have a bachelor’s degree in accounting. If you had any idea what you were talking about you would realize that Anet’s quarterly reports have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not raids have an easy mode.

So when LOTS of people are disappointed and leaving, it have nothing to do with a major switch in endgame philosophy and direction. Allright.