Guild Wars 2

Hi guys,

I’m a working person (10hr daily) that still love to play this game when i have a free time.

When i decide to play this game and expend some of my time on it was because we were told that was not going to be any grind focus like most MMO out there.

I have seen people that craft an entire ascended armor in less than a week, they deserve it since they put a lot of effort.

I feel sad sometimes because i know i will never have the time to make a entire ascended set with weapons because of the time it requires.

Purchasing gems IMO is really good for people like us, that in 1 day we can get enough money to get items that took 1 month to us.

Dailies are great also, they allow people like us to expend 30-45 minutes at day to get laurels and then buy jewels with it eventually (slow but effective).

Dear Anet would you consider to make options (like jewels) for people like myself to at least have a hope that one day we will get ascended armor and weapons?

Thanks for your attention and excuse my bad English. . . i try my best =s.

So you basically want to buy the most expensive armor set out there even though Anet said that that is not the point of jewels.

Pay to win free to play korean MMOs are for you.

Laurels make getting ascended trinkets very straightforward, even if you can play just a little bit a day, but you can gradually work towards ascended armor/weapons, too. It will take a long time, but the individual parts (gathering materials, leveling up crafting, etc.) can all be done gradually.

And, if you don’t like the grind, you don’t need ascended gear to play casually. It’s a small improvement over exotic gear, so unless you’re playing a lot, it’s probably not worth the time. Yeah, exotic isn’t the best gear available anymore, but, if you’re playing casually, you don’t need the absolute best gear available.

(I say this as a person who plays a lot, and I only bothered giving any ascended gear to my main character. My alts do perfectly fine in rares and exotics.)

I’m not saying that i can directly purchase Ascended for gem store, was only a example of things like skins that we can access due to our situation.

I’m saying that the jewels method could by an option to us, people with jobs, wives, party lovers that want to play this game without being in the bottom.

Is cool for me that people that have more time to play and make a good effort are the ones to achieve this items, but IMO having a long term option like laurels+gold, Laures+ BH will not harm anyone.

Those other options will come eventually, and you already said that you want it some day, if you work at it a little whenever you play you’ll eventually get it.

Ok you a working man can afford to buy gems. Me as an under aged individual its expensive. Not to mention that those gems are worth more than my country’s currency…

You can buy almost all you need for the Ascended armor/weapons with gold, which can come from exchanging gems. The only thing you need to get yourself is the vision crystal (empyreal stars, dragonite ingots, bloodstone bricks and augur stone). Aside the skill points, the rest of the stuff can be gotten in just a few hours of playing. You can do it!

For me it will take a very long time as I have very little either gold or money. But that’s alright. It gives me something to do for the next year. In between dungeons, dragons, guild missions anyway.

If you want to shortcut the process, buy Gems and convert to Gold. If you don’t mind waiting, you can still get your gear. Basically, if you put in the effort, you get the reward. Sounds like you don’t want to put in much effort due to real life, and that’s fine. Play how you want to play. All Casuals have access to the exact same thing Hardcore players have.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

If you want to shortcut the process, buy Gems and convert to Gold. If you don’t mind waiting, you can still get your gear. Basically, if you put in the effort, you get the reward. Sounds like you don’t want to put in much effort due to real life, and that’s fine. Play how you want to play. All Casuals have access to the exact same thing Hardcore players have.

Try to be in my place . . . i have only 1-1.5 hr daily to play. . . i want to use that time to be in the action . . . WvW., Dueling on the mill, fractals (the only kind of dungeon i like).

Daily i can do it while playing WvW, fractals, or spvp.

But crafting . . . it is just too much for people like me.

Thanks all for the feed back.

And other ways are coming. Let ANet get those new ways designed in such a way that they will actually be worthwhile alternatives and not something just thrown together to please people.

And you could slowly work your crafting up. Maybe only do it on the days when crafting is in the daily. That way you get progress towards laurels and/or AP points for the chests which have useful things in them such as badges of honor.

SoLeciTO.3490:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

If you want to shortcut the process, buy Gems and convert to Gold. If you don’t mind waiting, you can still get your gear. Basically, if you put in the effort, you get the reward. Sounds like you don’t want to put in much effort due to real life, and that’s fine. Play how you want to play. All Casuals have access to the exact same thing Hardcore players have.

Try to be in my place . . . i have only 1-1.5 hr daily to play. . . i want to use that time to be in the action . . . WvW., Dueling on the mill, fractals (the only kind of dungeon i like).

Daily i can do it while playing WvW, fractals, or spvp.

But crafting . . . it is just too much for people like me.

Thanks all for the feed back.

Prioritize your time. You aren’t the only one with a family or real life issues to deal with. If WvW is important to you, then do it. If you like FotM, then do it. If you want to do Crafting, then do it. If you want all of the above, then you need to find a way to make use of the time you have. Do less WvW and FotM, and use the remaining time for Crafting.

Remember, once you level your crafting, you don’t need to maintain it. I would recommend that you consider doing a full day of crafting, just to get it done and out of the way. Then go back to your usual activities.

@Smooth Penguin.5294 . . . i do not have time to craft because i prioritize my time.

Most of my time i use it to be with my friends, go parties, work, and gf.

I do not like to expend my only free time to play crafting.

I was told . . . and others . . . that this game was not going to prioritize grinding and crafting to make top tier items.

Since ascended weapons came up (after almost a year) anet change the entire thing.

Again, i thing is fair that people that plays a lot get the items a lot faster than us . . . of course . . . i’m just saying there should be an option like jewels that players like me could get some day.

Before ascended armor, you could buy gems for money convert them to gold and get the full exotic armors and weapons, with 0 effort .
That was right and ascended is wrong ?

No one said you won’t be able to get your Ascended armor and/or weapons some day using a method like you use to get jewels(trinkets). In fact, that is precisely what the CDI thread is discussing and deciding right now.

I don’t see how ‘the whole thing’ changed after one year with Ascended armor. Each release of Ascended gear started off in a particular area. Remember Fractals and rings?

If you don’t want to spend 10 minutes crafting each day you play, you don’t have to. What you will have to do is wait for other methods of obtaining armor to be released. Other than through drops, of course. Good luck. =)

I’m a very casual player and understanding that I can’t have everything in game or get it as fast is part of what comes with casual play. Certain items like ascended are rewarded sooner for those that play more. That’s just the way it works. It may take someone that plays more 2 weeks to get something that will take me 6 weeks or longer. I’m fine with that. It’s the same with a lot of the living story rewards. I miss out on a lot of them because I don’t have time to do the achievements or don’t find the achievements fun so I just don’t do them. Those that dedicate the time to it get the reward and I don’t. No big deal. If you are going to play less, like I do, you have to understand that things will take much longer to get or will be unobtainable completely. Not everyone was meant to have everything as quickly or at all. Players that play more should be rewarded for that.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

SoLeciTO.3490:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

If you want to shortcut the process, buy Gems and convert to Gold. If you don’t mind waiting, you can still get your gear. Basically, if you put in the effort, you get the reward. Sounds like you don’t want to put in much effort due to real life, and that’s fine. Play how you want to play. All Casuals have access to the exact same thing Hardcore players have.

Try to be in my place . . . i have only 1-1.5 hr daily to play. . . i want to use that time to be in the action . . . WvW., Dueling on the mill, fractals (the only kind of dungeon i like).

Daily i can do it while playing WvW, fractals, or spvp.

But crafting . . . it is just too much for people like me.

Thanks all for the feed back.

Prioritize your time. You aren’t the only one with a family or real life issues to deal with. If WvW is important to you, then do it. If you like FotM, then do it. If you want to do Crafting, then do it. If you want all of the above, then you need to find a way to make use of the time you have. Do less WvW and FotM, and use the remaining time for Crafting.

Remember, once you level your crafting, you don’t need to maintain it. I would recommend that you consider doing a full day of crafting, just to get it done and out of the way. Then go back to your usual activities.

SoLeciTO,

Your desire does make sense and I support you completely. GW2 is a game advertised as “you’ll have BiS gear while you reach 80”. All this ascended crap was a big mistake and now devs are collecting feedback to fix it in some way. Just don’t rush yourself in buying something now and don’t loose hope in game in general.

Considering ascended design mistakes buying ascended is actually a viable idea. It will just bring you on par statwise. Legendaries and some skins should not be tradable instead and grinded. They are really not “needed” if you don’t have time for it but is an ultimate goal.

Ignore all this “you don’t need it to play” considering BiS items. It was discussed many times and is irrelevant because of initial game design.

SoLeciTO.3490:

i do not have time to craft because i prioritize my time.

Most of my time i use it to be with my friends, go parties, work, and gf.

I do not like to expend my only free time to play crafting.

To me this sounds like you want rewards without the work. Crafting is very quick, if you’re not willing to spend even 1 hour (1 day of your playing time) you don’t deserve to have access to the rewards.

I’m going to throw that excruciating word “entitled” out. Want the reward? Then put in the effort.

You’d have a good argument if the crafting took a long time … but it really, really doesn’kittens nigh on instant.

Baldric.6781:

Before ascended armor, you could buy gems for money convert them to gold and get the full exotic armors and weapons, with 0 effort .
That was right and ascended is wrong ?

What’s wrong with this ?
You cannot buy uber weapon to dominate without having skill. Even you bought exotics you suck because you don’t have skill (you need to spend time to master in any case). If you earned it you didn’t waste real money for it and it wasn’t a big grind, so you are not in disadvantage. ANET got some cash. Win/win/win IMO.

Legendaries should not be tradable though. So if you got it – it’s a status item.

Flissy is correct. If you feel spending time with your friends in WvW is more important than Crafting, then by all means play with them. What I’m trying to say is that if you truly want access to stuff available through a crafting discipline, then you must make the effort to prioritize your time further so you can do so.

If you feel taking away time from playing your friends isn’t something that you can do, then there’s nothing any of us can really recommend to help. With limited time to play, you have to make a decision on what you want, and how you want to do it.

I also am a casual…and I have made the conscious decision to forego the ascended armor for now. My crafters are all between 400 and 500 but I am not willing to grind to get them up there. I am outfitted in my exotics with a the obligatory ascended rings, amulets, and accessories am having fun. I do dungeons, open world stuff, living world (when it interests me), etc. All is okay. The point is, right now ascended armor is not crucial for playing the vast majority of the game…exotics work fine. If I reach the point where I absolutely, positively have to have the ascended armor, I will have to prioritize that and engage in activities that will get that for me…crafting at this point. Until then, I am happy for those that have taken the time and effort to do it…and am happy with my decision to play as I want and live with exotics.

As a fellow working individual, I’d say, “you can’t have the best of both worlds”.
I want ascended, but I realize it will take longer than usual players – and I have come to deal with that situation, since, I have other priorities..

…and remember that this isn’t temporary content. Ascended gear will be there one month from now, and one year from now. Casuals have every opportunity to make their own Ascended gear at some point.

WRay.2391:

Baldric.6781:

Before ascended armor, you could buy gems for money convert them to gold and get the full exotic armors and weapons, with 0 effort .
That was right and ascended is wrong ?

What’s wrong with this ?
You cannot buy uber weapon to dominate without having skill. Even you bought exotics you suck because you don’t have skill (you need to spend time to master in any case). If you earned it you didn’t waste real money for it and it wasn’t a big grind, so you are not in disadvantage. ANET got some cash. Win/win/win IMO.

Legendaries should not be tradable though. So if you got it – it’s a status item.

Cant quite say myself the answer to Baldrics question other than the fact that the devs in some way did thought it wrong. I thought the ease to get BiS items (when it was exotics) was one of the best thing about this game, but devs stated they didnt like players getting it that quick. Have to admit when I heard devs said that, i felt really really… sad.

Yknow I have to agree, legendaries shudnt be tradeable. if anything shud be grinded it ought to have been legendaries, which is always just on par with best stats of the time, never better. Easy to get BiS stats, grind for cosmetics. wud fit right with that concept. But thats gone now with so many of em on TP that it would cause a riot if they were removed from tp now.

But i think those who feel this way are probably the minority now.

i’m a casual player.
i have not crafted any ascended weapons or ascended armor yet.

highest crafting skill is 425 for huntsman. stopping leveling that after i realized trying to level it further higher will be a bit costly. i have 940 gold by the way due to playing rather casually since launch.

my warrior is using exotics armor, weapons, ascended trinkets. some cheap runes and sigils. using major sigils for those expensive superior sigils well because i like to hoard gold.

i am not in a hurry to get ascended weapons or armor. will wait for alternatives to get them in the future.

for ascended weapons, the alternative is fotm level 10 and above but it would be very, very nice if we can bought them directly using pristine relics too. makes more sense actually.

the same applies for ascended armor. if we can buy them using pristine fractal relics then it would be very nice.

on months with monthly 10/10 fractal runs i can do 3 fotm runs on those months and after many months i can finally have ascended weapons and armor for my warrior! and i get to keep all my gold and materials! happy!

i am really not in a hurry to get them.

i am still playing guild wars 2 casually everyday. maybe 1 – 3 hours per day. recently been playing a bit more sPvP with guild members and now we are discussing, pooling up gold to get our own custom server.

SoLeciTO.3490:

Hi guys,

I’m a working person (10hr daily) that still love to play this game when i have a free time.

When i decide to play this game and expend some of my time on it was because we were told that was not going to be any grind focus like most MMO out there.

I have seen people that craft an entire ascended armor in less than a week, they deserve it since they put a lot of effort.

I feel sad sometimes because i know i will never have the time to make a entire ascended set with weapons because of the time it requires.

Purchasing gems IMO is really good for people like us, that in 1 day we can get enough money to get items that took 1 month to us.

Dailies are great also, they allow people like us to expend 30-45 minutes at day to get laurels and then buy jewels with it eventually (slow but effective).

Dear Anet would you consider to make options (like jewels) for people like myself to at least have a hope that one day we will get ascended armor and weapons?

Thanks for your attention and excuse my bad English. . . i try my best =s.

No need rushing ascended set as current content can run with full exotics. I myself rfor example have the gold to buy all damask that i need to build my set if I want to but I dont. Like I said you can do content with exo gears so why rush it. Unless they add agony dmg to all normal mobs so yea rush my set but until then just chill and work on it slowly…

SoLeciTO.3490:

i do not have time to craft because i prioritize my time.

Most of my time i use it to be with my friends, go parties, work, and gf.

I do not like to expend my only free time to play crafting.

And we’ve already been told that one day other methods for ascended gear acquisition will come. Just be patient and don’t rush ANet or we’ll get some untested means of acquisition.

And we’re not saying you have to spend all your time crafting.

Just spend a small portion of it. If you have an hour, spend 5 minutes.

Heck only spend 5 minutes when it’s in the daily. Which isn’t every day.

I spend 10-15 minutes every day that it’s in the daily 90% of the time. But I stop as soon as I’m bored. The daily only requires I hit the craft button 10 times. I can turn 20 cotton scraps into 10 cotton bolts and be done. You don’t have to craft 10 full pieces of armor or weapons or meals or jewels in order to get the daily. So just craft 10 things each day that give you experience in the craft. Which won’t even take 5 minutes if you happen to have everything you need. 5 minutes tops if you don’t.

And who doesn’t have 5 minutes a day to spend crafting most of the days that it shows up in the daily?

Thanks all for the feed back.

I will try to craft 10-15 min as you told me . . . if many of you agree that it can be done like that i will give a try.

WRay.2391 thanks for your advise . . . it is cool that someone else has the same issue xD.

@ SoLeciTO

You may wanna put a post in the last CDI topic. Chris is exchanging idea with the community on a daily basis and presently the discussion is directly on that. Anet know about this issue and they are thinking about putting in place several others ways to get ascended gear. They don’t really want to make it easier to get, only give more ways to get it. Of course for now its only talk and there is no plan yet. But if you have some suggestion of how we should be able to get this stuff that would fix your way of playing feel free to explain it in the CDI topic.

I work as well and after 1500+ hours, I now play from living story to living story and can understand solecito. People like solecito fund the game in the long run, not the $60 one time purchasers that can spend 6 hours a day on the game.

I don’t think ascended gear means you’re skillful, and many examples were given for legendary as well. Maybe the idea is to get different ascended skin for people who support the game by $. So you can tell who’s supporting it by being there and populating the world and who’s there and supporting with $. If marketed and presented right, you’d avoid discrimination issues.

My playtime is very similar to the OP I’m out of the house 12 hours a day, 5 days a week for work and when I am at home I have a lot of other things I need to do so I get to play maybe 2 hours a day and not every day.

But I actually really like the fact that you can’t just buy the best gear any more. It wasn’t an issue when exotics were the top tier because you could get them relatively quickly and easily in a lot of different ways. (When I got to level 80 I already had enough karma for a full set of exotic armor.)

But if you could buy ascended armor with gems then instead of a relatively small number of people having it quickly because they planned ahead and put a lot of time into crafting and gathering materials almost everyone would have it – either from making it or farming gold to buy gems or buying them with real money. Then I’d probably feel pressured to buy it too.

This way it’s a relatively long process for everyone. (Including those who started stockpiling materials before the armor was actually released.) So no one expects you to have a full set of ascended gear, or even everything except the armor. They’re more understanding if you haven’t had the time to farm or craft it.

(It also helps a lot that ascended is only required for high-level Fractals so there’s almost no risk of ever seeing someone demanding it for dungeons or other areas.)

Games that do let you buy the best gear with real money are what’s called Pay to Win and they’re often the ones that give other MMOs a bad name. People often end up spending more than they ever intended or wanted to spend trying to keep up with the best equipment.

Same as always for me – they did a complete 180 on their core philosophy regarding gear. That betrayed every single paying customer who bought the game based on 5 years of advertising/interviews/forum talks and blogging. Having another tier of gear is wrong. Making it the grindiest thing possible is wrong. All around, they screwed the pooch.

Since it’s in-game, and not going away, they should at least make it something that is easy to get. Say, 500 of any dungeon token per piece, or 20 laurels. Anything, that’ll put us back on “You WILL have max gear by lvl 80.”

stale.9785:

Same as always for me – they did a complete 180 on their core philosophy regarding gear. That betrayed every single paying customer who bought the game based on 5 years of advertising/interviews/forum talks and blogging. Having another tier of gear is wrong. Making it the grindiest thing possible is wrong. All around, they screwed the pooch.

Since it’s in-game, and not going away, they should at least make it something that is easy to get. Say, 500 of any dungeon token per piece, or 20 laurels. Anything, that’ll put us back on “You WILL have max gear by lvl 80.”

The whole point of Ascended gear was that its something you don’t need to do anything in the game, and has a pretty minimal to non-existent impact on WvW, but takes a while to achieve so that progressions don’t get bored whilst the people who don’t want to grind won’t get steamrolled in PvP or kicked out of every party in PvE.

That would completely defeat the purpose of it and they then may as well just get rid of Ascended gear and go back to exotics (which will lead to a ton of complaints that there’s nothing to do).

Thaddeus.4891:

@ SoLeciTO

You may wanna put a post in the last CDI topic. Chris is exchanging idea with the community on a daily basis and presently the discussion is directly on that. Anet know about this issue and they are thinking about putting in place several others ways to get ascended gear. They don’t really want to make it easier to get, only give more ways to get it. Of course for now its only talk and there is no plan yet. But if you have some suggestion of how we should be able to get this stuff that would fix your way of playing feel free to explain it in the CDI topic.

Thank you all, i will indeed.

Is good to know Anet has not lost the focus.

I’m fine that people that farms and put more time in this game have this fast access, they deserve this.

I’m happy there is at least a hope =)

Casual player here, as well as a crafting hater. I actually did level crafting to 500, as well as made my ascended weapon. I’m also working on a second one to use as a skin for my original one (the iridescent is way prettier than red). It did take some time, either to get gold or mats. But it is totally possible. I don’t play the TP or anything, so my gold all comes from just playing. Whether I do a couple dungeons, or some world bosses. Sometimes some map completion.

While I understand people’s dislike of ascended stuff, I actually really do like it. Not having it doesn’t stop me from playing the content. But it’s still something I can work towards.

WRay.2391:

Baldric.6781:

Before ascended armor, you could buy gems for money convert them to gold and get the full exotic armors and weapons, with 0 effort .
That was right and ascended is wrong ?

What’s wrong with this ?
You cannot buy uber weapon to dominate without having skill. Even you bought exotics you suck because you don’t have skill (you need to spend time to master in any case). If you earned it you didn’t waste real money for it and it wasn’t a big grind, so you are not in disadvantage. ANET got some cash. Win/win/win IMO.

Legendaries should not be tradable though. So if you got it – it’s a status item.

You miss the point. The guy is a casual player without much time to play and obtain the best gear in the game, the freaking ascended stufff. Before, you could get exotics easily or with 0 effort buying them in TP for exchanged gems for gold. I didn’t saw anyone complaining that u could buy the best stat gear of the game so it was ok.

And then ascended comes and you need to invest huge amounts of time, and you can’t buy gems convert to gold and buy this stuff (and before u could buy the best gear with money). Before it was ok to be able to obtain the best stat gear with real money, but now it’s not ok because ?

I’m just trying to understand what will be so bad about buying the best stat gear in the game when some months ago u could do that.

^That last paragraph is exactly how I feel.

It’s not a “need”, but you can work toward it if you want to.

OP, if you don’t like the process to get it… don’t do it. You’re not really missing anything – all you’re “missing” is part of the game that you’ve stated you don’t like.

Lighter.5631:

Pay to win free to play korean MMOs are for you.

because this is game is sooooo far from that lol…. its 60$ far, nothing more.

Baldric.6781:

WRay.2391:

Baldric.6781:

Before ascended armor, you could buy gems for money convert them to gold and get the full exotic armors and weapons, with 0 effort .
That was right and ascended is wrong ?

What’s wrong with this ?
You cannot buy uber weapon to dominate without having skill. Even you bought exotics you suck because you don’t have skill (you need to spend time to master in any case). If you earned it you didn’t waste real money for it and it wasn’t a big grind, so you are not in disadvantage. ANET got some cash. Win/win/win IMO.

Legendaries should not be tradable though. So if you got it – it’s a status item.

You miss the point. The guy is a casual player without much time to play and obtain the best gear in the game, the freaking ascended stufff. Before, you could get exotics easily or with 0 effort buying them in TP for exchanged gems for gold. I didn’t saw anyone complaining that u could buy the best stat gear of the game so it was ok.

And then ascended comes and you need to invest huge amounts of time, and you can’t buy gems convert to gold and buy this stuff (and before u could buy the best gear with money). Before it was ok to be able to obtain the best stat gear with real money, but now it’s not ok because ?

I’m just trying to understand what will be so bad about buying the best stat gear in the game when some months ago u could do that.

Well this is a good point . . . people didn’t make a big deal with exotics in TP.

The only feel that hurst is not the pink color, or the skins, or the infusions, is actually the extra damage that could help in a duel.

I love dueling and WvW fights.

Do you think the stat increase do not worth it?

Xae Isareth.1364:

stale.9785:

Same as always for me – they did a complete 180 on their core philosophy regarding gear. That betrayed every single paying customer who bought the game based on 5 years of advertising/interviews/forum talks and blogging. Having another tier of gear is wrong. Making it the grindiest thing possible is wrong. All around, they screwed the pooch.

Since it’s in-game, and not going away, they should at least make it something that is easy to get. Say, 500 of any dungeon token per piece, or 20 laurels. Anything, that’ll put us back on “You WILL have max gear by lvl 80.”

The whole point of Ascended gear was that its something you don’t need to do anything in the game, and has a pretty minimal to non-existent impact on WvW, but takes a while to achieve so that progressions don’t get bored whilst the people who don’t want to grind won’t get steamrolled in PvP or kicked out of every party in PvE.

That would completely defeat the purpose of it and they then may as well just get rid of Ascended gear and go back to exotics (which will lead to a ton of complaints that there’s nothing to do).

What you don’t get is that the complainers are the ones who will disappear anyway. They’re game locusts and grinders, who are going to rush to whatever the next big game is – and the more grind it offers, the better.

This game was supposed to be the grind free, horizontal progress haven away from the locusts. NCsoft/Anet caved, in the desire to get the most cash now they could.

I’d be fine if they removed ascended altogether. It should never have been in the first place. If grinding for stats is your thing, there’s literally every-single-other game on the market for you.

Also, you’re delusional if you believe that ascended doesn’t give a large benefit over exotic – it will become the norm for dungeons, and the weapons alone already give large benefit in small scale WvW. This will only get worse as time goes on, and those without have to compete with the grinders.