Guild Wars 2

It appears that ArenaNet has too much staff making arbitrary changes to things which do not affect — or worse, negatively affect — my gameplay.

No investment is being made in the things which would enhance my gameplay, such as a traditional MMO expansion with new zones, new replayable content, new 5-player dungeons, where content is mine to explore, not linear.

I once worked in a billion dollar a year business which reached the conclusion that we were not going to attract new customers, and that we needed to do our best for the customers we already had. The R&D budget was cut in half, and a lot of my long time friends and colleagues had to find new jobs (all did, without trouble, they were good people). Customer satisfaction rose, noticeably.

It’s time to cut the staff at ArenaNet by two thirds, and the executive staff by a similar proportion, and to break the remaining staff into teams of no more than 10 people, each of which identifies with a specific segment of players and is rewarded (ie gets to keep their jobs) not based on objectives from executives, but rather based on how much play goes on in that segment (or, to be crude, how many $$ of revenue come directly from players in that segment).

Enough said.

All of necromancer’s elite skills are horrible and have been severly overnerfed.

new skill system is ridiculous, they managed to do something WORSE than the trait system

I wish Anet the best regardless. I hope this move brings in more new players than the vets they are gonna lose.

QoL changes to crafting UI and TP UI are fantastic.

collection achievements are a nice addition…not needed, but definitely a positive addition, that has so much potential for expansion.

oddly enough….new crafting back skins are kinda cool….another not needed thing, but definitely a positive (if you have your crafts maxed already, you’ll have them all in less than 5 minutes).

“new player experience” as a vet starting new character is complete kitten.
in two “feature packs” you turned the strength of the game (the leveling experience) into a massive weakness. shame. hopefully your research works out for you and new players like it more than i did. I’d have quit this game if this “new player experience” was what i got at launch.

balance is a mixed bag.

weekend will tell me if megaserver improvements matter or not.

Glov.5342:

new skill system is ridiculous, they managed to do something WORSE than the trait system

yep…they RUINED the leveling experience.
imagine trying to level a mesmer in this new system….

Ben K.6238:

Who would have known that people who’d been playing for over a year would care so much about the 1-10 levelling experience?

My feeling is that they care because it speaks volumes about what Anet thinks of the game as a whole.

If this is what we can expect from here forward, then what is there to look forward to?

That’s the real issue.

In isolation, I don’t care that much about the leveling issue itself – leveling is so fast, you’d hardly notice it anyway. Yes, it will be a little bit more boring than before, and it’s also a pointless change to begin with – but you can breeze by it so quickly, you wouldn’t even notice.

The problem is that Anet has shown us their true colors – played their hand for all to see.

This is the kind of move we can expect them to make – this signifies their outlook for the game more than anything they say to us.

The game is doomed to a slow, downward spiral of decreasing players and eventual obscurity.

All because they think they can get away with a tight fisted, short term, money grab style development.

All we want is a great game – we’re even willing to pay for it, whether through paid expansions, or by supporting further development through the gem store.

But Anet will have none of it – this “feature pack” is all we can expect to get from now on – maybe a kittened little LS on the side now and then.

It’s not worth it.

It’s not even worth spending time in a game that goes nowehere.

That’s what a lot of people aren’t getting – it’s not just the impact of one change, but how it reveals the direction of the entire game that determines whether it’s worth a significant investment of time, energy, and money. Because MMO’s aren’t like other games – they are massive time sinks. Some people pour their whole lives into them. What that says about those people, I don’t know – but I do know that people expect something in return for their investment.

And Anet is not giving that.

That is clear now. This is what we can expect for the rest of the game’s lifespan. And it’s probably not enough for most players – which means people will be abandoning it in droves now, which in turn means less money to develop.

It’s a death spiral for MMO’s, and we’ve seen it sooooooo many times now it’s sickening.

It just sucks to see it happen to GW2. But oh well.

There’s other games that have a shot now – Archeage, Star Citizen, Destiny, etc.

And then the Oculus Rift comes out next year, so we’ll see what games will be made exclusively for that. I bet an Oculus MMO would be ridiculous.

Relshdan.6854:

imagine trying to level a mesmer in this new system….

fun fact: Made a mesmer yesterday…
poor little gnome-rodent wont ever be played now.

My honest opinion :::

Pros
- uh……. We finally got balance changes….yay?
- New Runes and Sigils

Cons
- Almost everything in this update is a Quality of Life Improvement.
- Quality of life doesn’t exactly scream “Hey, come back and play me!”

My Opinion
It wasn’t the wardrobe changes that got me playing the game again. It wasn’t the changes to mini’s and finishers, and it wasn’t the collectible achievements. It definitely wasn’t the low level changes (which while I understand its for the new players that think Guild Wars 2 is too complex, it’s making me consider never leveling an alt)

It was the new stuff that expanded the ways I can play the game. That is the one thing that I, as a veteran player, is interested in. Even with very little new stuff added to the game (Three new rune sets and a few new sigils), I immediately went to crafting, and working builds around them. The Runes of the Trapper are, kind of, awesome with a Ranger. Even though all our utilities are wasted on traps and takes away almost all our survival, it doesn’t matter, since we get a decent spike in survival and movement speed thanks to the runes of the Trapper. It literally changed the way I played my Rabid Trap Build, and offered me another option to play instead of the same old, tired builds that I’ve been using since literally day one of the game’s release.

That’s what these feature packs, content packs, living world releases need more of. Its not the Game improvements. While game improvements(like the mini/finisher changes and new player experience changes) are awesome, they aren’t awesome if its all that’s worked on at the expense of content(living world), which also isn’t awesome if that’s all that’s worked on at the expense of gameplay additions (like new runes or new skills, etc.).

Anet, you need to find a good, happy medium between all this stuff. Its great that you are attracting new players by making many much needed improvements to the earlier parts of the game. Now you need to get your collective heads out of whatever focus group you are running these tests on, and start making gameplay addition that keep your loyal Veteran Players coming back for more!

I would give this Feature pack a 0/10 because I don’t collect mini’s, I don’t collect finishers, I don’t collect skins, and the new player improvements actually make me want to not level an alt at all….

Instead, I give it a 7/10 for the Rune/Sigil additions and 3 month overdue balance changes, which I still don’t think should ever be advertised as a ‘feature’ in any feature pack since balance is one of the most essential things an MMO could have. Its a requirement, not a feature. (and yeah, I’m weighing the actual gameplay stuff way more heavily than that quality of life improvements)

Here are my 2 cents…

Pros-
1.The new Achievements makes it more rewarding for exploration/grinding if your into it.
2.New Backpack crafting is added; If you like flavor, its a good addon.
3.Minis changed to Wardrobe and easy to manage, but it doesnt change anything to gameplay though.

Cons-
1.I thought New players would get a nice experience; BUT LEVEL-UNlocking system is really pathetic. Very bad change sorry to say.
2.Veteran players has almost nothing to play with(just a few new achievements); makes it a ‘Bundle of changes’ instead of ‘Feature pack’ IMO.
3.New colors here and there(Like Commander icons), how is that supposed to be a new feature??? Its just flavor!
4.Trading post is view-changed but all in all functions the same, just need to get used to new windows n tabs.

I am not a PvP player, so I cannot comment on anything new/changed via the PvP n WvW aspects!

Osiris.9217:

FireproofHeretic.3860:

First of all, I think it’s pretty funny that you didn’t include “leveling” as one of the categories in your patch feedback threads, since you totally redid what leveling means. So I’m posting this here because it makes the most sense out of the available options.
I have been playing this game for just over a year now. VERY few mmo’s hold my attention for that long. This was a rare and welcome exception. I liked the combat, I liked the world, I loved the personal story quests.
But this patch makes me so angry, I’m tempted to ignore all of that and play something else. Forever. My biggest complaint is how you’ve changed the levels at which skills are unlocked. Weapon skills unlocking with use made a lot of sense, since anyone will get better with a weapon with mere practice. Now, instead, you unlock skills across ALL weapons, according to your level, no matter what you have equipped. I now have to get to level 10 before all of my skills are usable. And the utility skills are even worse! You have discouraged every player you have from making new characters. Sales on character slots are going to drop really quickly, you watch. You called it being “rewarded” for leveling, but it’s not a reward if we used to just HAVE it.
And then there’s the story quests. This was the big thing that set you apart from other mmo’s: your rich story mode. And now, new players won’t even get to enjoy that until level 20! So before they get to see the most important aspect of your game, they have to GRIND for it. Honestly, what were you thinking? I’ve heard that it did well in China, and that’s how the game was released there. But if that’s true, let me tell you something: They haven’t seen OUR game! They’re not comparing! WE are, and we want it back. I loved this game because it never felt like grinding. I leveled when I crafted, I leveled when I did story missions, I leveled when I gathered, I leveled when I did literally anything. It was so nice to find an mmorpg that didn’t just make me kill the same enemies over and over again to make a little number go up. It never felt monotonous And by adding these level restrictions, you have taken that away.
I may or may not continue playing, but I can say this for certain: I’m not buying any more gems while the game looks like this. You will get no more money from me. I hope that mistakes are learned from, and reversed.

AMEN TO THIS! Although in my case, i can’t see playing this atrocity anymore until it is reversed.

I probably wouldn’t be either, if I wasn’t invested in roleplay.

I have a strange feeling that they are just getting ready to make the game F2P.

ipan.4356:

That’s what a lot of people aren’t getting – it’s not just the impact of one change, but how it reveals the direction of the entire game that determines whether it’s worth a significant investment of time, energy, and money. Because MMO’s aren’t like other games – they are massive time sinks. Some people pour their whole lives into them. What that says about those people, I don’t know – but I do know that people expect something in return for their investment.

And Anet is not giving that.

That is clear now. This is what we can expect for the rest of the game’s lifespan. And it’s probably not enough for most players – which means people will be abandoning it in droves now, which in turn means less money to develop.

So much this. Instead of improving the sense of progression via additional weapon types for each class, or introducing more utility skills and traits, they gated what little we already have. Instead of adding new chapters to the personal story so we can play throughout the game without awkward pauses, they are now arbitrarily locked. Instead of adding new items, they just clump the old ones into collector achievements (and even gated a supposed improvement on our QoL via karma sink behind them).

It’s a matter of disillusionment for me. I now see where their priorities lie.

Fernling.1729:

I have a strange feeling that they are just getting ready to make the game F2P.

Quite possibly. Give levels 1-10 as a free taster and then put the personal story chapters and extra levels into the gemstore. The only problem is that nobody will want to continue playing after seeing levels 1-10 with no skills!

So I just went through using a level 20 scroll after I tried to log into my level 7 Mesmer. Every level unlocked something really important, like Asura gates (they came really late in the process, like.. level 18?!) Skill points! Vistas? This is terrible. Those were all the things I loved doing as a fresh noob. Being able to do those things right away, to go to different starting zones, to earn weapons skills by using the actual weapons… those are what made me love this game. It really set it apart. It feels more confusing and boring now, and more like you are being punished for being new, than being “rewarded.” The rewards came from being bold enough to explore, not afraid to die learning your weapons… so sad.

Ruhue.6582:

So I just went through using a level 20 scroll after I tried to log into my level 7 Mesmer. Every level unlocked something really important, like Asura gates (they came really late in the process, like.. level 18?!) Skill points! Vistas? This is terrible. Those were all the things I loved doing as a fresh noob. Being able to do those things right away, to go to different starting zones, to earn weapons skills by using the actual weapons… those are what made me love this game. It really set it apart. It feels more confusing and boring now, and more like you are being punished for being new, than being “rewarded.” The rewards came from being bold enough to explore, not afraid to die learning your weapons… so sad.

So they pretty much strip you naked, give you a dull blade\pistol\whatever, put you into a starter zone, ducktape your free arm to your back, your mouth closed and a fishing pole on your shoulder that shows you your arrow where you better go to and give you a kick? Yea.. good, let me reconsider trying the ranger class out…

I read a lot of stuff in the forums, but I never actually post. I logged in today just to submit my vote of no confidence.

I remember waiting years and years for this game. From the moment it was announced, I clung on to every bit of news about it, waiting for the day it would be a reality. Then it launched, and for a while, I really liked it. It had enough to keep me going, even though it never felt as good as it could have been. I’ve left and come back over and over, waiting for things to get better. I hated the first living world season. HATED it. I hated the way it was implemented, I hated the story… pretty much everything. I was hopeful things would improve, and overall I feel like season 2 has been an improvement… but it still is disappointing. I want content that feels big, and so far I just haven’t been satisfied by the way they do updates. I would rather just have a big paid expansion if I had to choose between that and what they are doing now, to be honest. New classes, new weapons, new big zones (non-instanced) and maybe some story/solo-gameplay that is actually compelling and immerses me in the lore and culture of the world… unlike the STUPID heart system that doesn’t give me anything at all. Ugh. I have so many friends who have been turned off by those kitten hearts.

This feature pack never seemed like a good idea to me – even though I do think there’s a lot to be fixed. Now that it’s here, I know I’ll be leaving again, only to keep waiting for things to MAYBE improve… some day far away from now. The new leveling experience is absolutely ridiculous. It is not fun at all. And, I have no scrap of hope that anything I will like is coming down the pipeline any time soon. I know that this is just one post in a sea of feedback, and I don’t have any faith that they are actually listening to what people are saying, but there it is. There’s no way to please everyone, but I’m just not sure who they are pleasing anymore.

I love the Feature Pack, for the most part, but so far there are two things that I am bothered by.

1. Minis. After adding them all to my wardrobe, I selected the one I wanted that character to display, only to be told that minis were turned off due to high population. With the great job that Megaserver does at making maps populated, I will never see my minis again except in instances :/
- Are there plans to set up some sort of culling system similar to character models, so that maybe only some minis are displayed to each player at a time?

2. Missing feet. This is a lesser issue, more of an annoyance, but in my Hero Panel, I can no longer see my character’s shoes, making it difficult to preview shoes in the Wardrobe.

Tonight I played an ele from level 4 to level 11. I tried to think like a new player.

Dramatization (actual sequence of events may have been slightly different due to poor memory)

Logged in, was in Divinity’s Reach. Got some kinda chest. Whatever. What’s this arrow thing, now? Wait, Fields of Ruin? Isn’t that a little high for a level 4 ele? To heck with that, I’m going to Queensdale.

Okay, here I am. Say! I’ve got all skills for scepter/focus. Except for air and earth. Whatever. Follow, follow, follow the arrow. ‘Entertain’ the cows? Heh, they really did do that. /e smh. Well. Okay. Learn to dodge? Okay, I dodged. Oh, what generous loot. Go to this scout for more renown hearts – wait, now it’s changed. Go over here for… wait, it changed again. kitten. Can I turn this thing off?

Screw it, I’m just going to play. Hey! Why can’t I commune at this skill challenge thing? Is it level locked? Does it say so, somewhere? Maybe it’s broken? Meh, go help Lexi. Follow the caravan. Whee.

Okay, let’s get some bait! There ya go, fisherwoman. Bait out the wazoo. Ooh, there’s the big fish! Don’t worry, I’ll save you. Splash! Dang, only one underwater skill. Hey, is this thing not taking damage? What’s up with that. Oh, thank goodness, more players. Ding, dong, the fish is dead. Might as well go back to following the arrow, it’s what they want us to do, I guess. Ding! Leveled up. What’s this? Unlocked underwater combat? Anet… /e smh.

Okay, through the troll cave to the skill challenge – woops, too many trolls, out the other side, run, run! Now let’s go back and get that skill challenge! Fight fight fight through mass quantities of trolls, here’s the vet, attack! – oh, it’s going well, it’s going well – wait, one of the others has respawned – kitten – die vet, die! Oops, not enough juice left to fight the other… two other… respawns. Downed with only two downed skills – attack and heal. Well, that really helps. Dead. kitten, anet. If you are so all-fired concerned about new player experience, why is this rapid respawn kitten still in here?

Lots of colorful commanders out and about. Very festive.

Wander off elsewhere. What’s with this commune thing? Grr. Hey, I’ll go fight the skritt guy. Cool, here are some like-minded folks. Whop, pow! All right, skill challenge complete, got a skill point. Maybe I’m past the level lock on them? Let’s see – nope, this commune thing still says come back later. Bah.

Where to next? Over here – hey, collect some skale eggs. Why not. Ruh roh, skritt thieves! Now, to the monastery. Pull grub tails. Fight centaurs. Yay, level 10. I’ve unlocked… vistas? But… I’ve been viewing every vista I’ve passed by, so… well. Whatever. All staff skills now available. Except for air and earth. WTF, anet.

Some pygmy moas seem to be afk. Bah.

To Beetletun. Blah blah. Can’t fight the skill guy here. How was I able to fight the skritt skill guy? Because some other player initiated the fight, maybe? Who knows. Wander, wander. What’s down here in this pool, have I been here before? Nothing. Gee, it got awfully quiet. Where’d everybody go? Oh, here’s the Vet formerly known as Champ Oakheart. Anybody want to fight it?

crickets

And then! “WP?” Here ya go. Wait. Wait. Oh, here’s the guy. He says, “Looks like we might need more help!” Hey, maybe he’s a new player. I say, “Nah, let’s go for it.” Whop. Pow. It’s dead. The vet without the funny skull over its head is tougher. Good job, anet. Another one bites the dust.

Wander some more. Hit 11. Meh. Enough excitement. Log out.

Verdict: after leveling 11 characters to 80, it’s difficult to think like a new player, but I tried, and as a result I am of the firm opinion that this New Player Experience is not an improvement over the Old Player Experience, and furthermore, it kinda sucks.

Edit: They were actually ettins, not trolls. Oops.

This feature pack is lacking any qol or improvments that enhance my gameplay whatsoever. Wvw and pvp changes features seem insignificant.

The game has not recovered from megaserver debacle. The lack of new content other than living story is disappointing.

Archeage launches in about a week, looking at dropping gw2 altogether.

Dear Anet,

If the focus groups you bring in house find feeding the cows in low level area’s difficult and confusing, you are aiming at the wrong kind of people.

These people will never play a game like this.

well.. seems i atleast just found a task thx to Tachenon…helping the poor newbies to level so that they atleast unlock their darn weapon skills. (dead serios)

The new leveling system is a travesty. It’s unweldy, helps no one, and delays the very ‘sense of power’ they were hoping to instill. It’s unchallenging and borderline insulting, from a game I rather spend a lot of time and energy playing. They did the absolute opposite of what they should have done, which was challenge players rather than limit them.

Much of the rest of the feature pack is great, but the massive, glaring flaw that is this level gating system sits in the middle of it like a hissing wasps nest. This flaw makes it so no one will WANT to have a second character after this, that’s a fairly massive problem. If the goal was to make the world more welcoming to new players, Arenanet should remember that even the basic game comes with five character slots, and they’ve ensured that filling two through five is now a chore rather than a joy, and number one is no cakewalk either.

This in no way removes obstacles to new character entry, either for new players, returning players, or veterans. This just creates more barriers, and not in a fun manner. You don’t remove obstacles by building walls and gates, and you don’t ease a path by adding brambles and pitfalls.

I like it. Dont understand the whining over level gated skills. Not like youre going to stay level 10 forever and my experience tonight seems to indicate a much faster overall leveling experience.

Ok now that I’ve actually had a chance to play it my initial thoughts are as follows:

Pro: The new leveling system actually makes sense. Getting to level 10 was fairly easy and didn’t feel like a grind at all. The level up rewards actually made it feel like I was accomplishing something. The hints and tips, although a bit annoying, were helpful, but could easily be dismissed. The story not unlocking until level 10 didn’t feel awkward. The letter asking how you were doing, and to come stop by, felt more natural. (human story) The compass directing to the next heart/POI/scout made it easier to see what I needed to go without always having to check the map and see where to go. It flowed very well.

Con: As a vet trying to level a new alt. Extremely irritating. I know how to dodge, the main class mechanics were locked until a higher level, and I realize that I have different weapon skills, and don’t need to wait until I am level 9 to use them all. Map skill points being locked is lame, and not being able to farm nodes is just not cool.

Overall: The leveling could be great for new players, but too much for those rolling an alt, and kind of defeats the purpose. I think some changes could be made, especially for vets, and this update could be great for new players and vets alike.

pdavis.8031:

Map skill points being locked is lame, and not being able to farm nodes is just not cool.

Overall: The leveling could be great for new players, but too much for those rolling an alt, and kind of defeats the purpose. I think some changes could be made, especially for vets, and this update could be great for new players and vets alike.

Yes.

I think that when they say that they had feedback from tens of thousands of “testers”, what they meant was that they took feedback from people in NA, EU, and CN that played in open beta tests but did not continue on to purchase the game.

I think they have mis-interpreted the data. I think people left because it wasn’t engaging enough, not because they didn’t understand it. They understood it all to well after fifteen levels and complete unlocks, that it didn’t get any more complex. All of my guildies left because of that. Not as engaging or mentally stimulating or challenging as wow, for example.

pdavis:

Are you sure about the “gathering locked until Level X”? I’ve heard reports that is not locked any more than it was (requiring certain levels for certain tools). Similar to salvaging not being “locked”.

Might be a minor thing but:
The achievement panel does not seem better organized for me. All this subcategories crunched into the general tab just makes it confusing and unclear. I would be very happe if you could at least seperate that into two categories, the general one and perhaps explorer where you put the dungons, fractals, explorer, dry-top… Ah yes and while I see that you wanted to make fewer main categories I would also appreciate having the mini games in a seperate one again since it just feels wrong to put them with PvP and WvW.

Completely ruined the leveling system. Elite at 40? What bullkitten is this? Devs need to stop changing what isn’t broken. First the trait unlock kitten and now this, its beyond belief.

Also jeez, that key farm nerf. Anet, we know you wanted to nerf that for ages, don’t hide it behind “creating a better new player experience”, that’s just insulting to us.

TP change was neat though, same with the minis change, it was annoying to have them get sent to bank everytime I hit “deposit collectibles” so I welcome those changes.

Anet really need to get it’s act together and realise why people play GW2 over other MMO’s instead of trying to be like other MMO’s.

Level 80: Great, QoL improvements and collection achievements give something new to strive towards.
Levels 40-79: Meh, OK. The personal story got destroyed with several plot holes, but I can deal with that.
Levels <40: Miserable chore and grind to play now.

Though I suppose now I have more incentive to play Skyrim, FC3, SC2, Civ5, Fallout 3/NV, KOAR, and all the other “new” games I have that I’ve been neglecting for GW2. Thanks, ANet!

OK! I really enjoyed the new game-play. I’m just at lvl 14 but I really enjoyed the trip.

I was really kittened about the Copper-Fed-o-Matic change (and still think is beyond stupid) but, since leveling is obscenely fast, I don’t see too much problem.

Of course, some changes are bad or pointless, other just plain stupid. But there is also many good things, small details/changes/fixes that make me think someone in ArenaNet really care for the game.

And finally, lets be honest. Most complains are from kitten key farmers. If they leave the game I can assure no one is going to miss them.

daimasei.4091:

And finally, lets be honest. Most complains are from kitten key farmers. If they leave the game I can assure no one is going to miss them.

Actually, out of the plentiful complaining topics on this matter, I have seen little complaints about key farming and much, much more about the tediousness of it all.

Vayne.8563:

Moonsphere.4295:

This new update really makes me want to stop playing this game, since this game feels like every other game. I feel bad for spending my money to this and all those gems.
I actually felt good to support devs and buy gems. Since I thought: Hey I’m helping them.
And now this…changing the whole game. I thought this supposed to be new and different mmo not like any other.

How is it like every other game? Because it slows down the way people get new stuff. Dynamic events are still there. Scaling still exists. The active combat really isn’t any different.

All this system does is make it so leveling feels rewarding to people. That’s why they did it. To return to the game for new players a feeling of progression that’s been missing.

That doesn’t make it like every other game. No one can steal my node, still. No one can steal my kill. I still get experience and loot if I participate.

Putting in a tutorial (which this game lacked) isn’t making it like every other game. It’s putting in a tutorial.

Your argument fails because the leveling changes treat low level characters created by brand new players and low level characters created by vets who want to start a new character for whatever reason identically. The two are not the same thing.

This is, of course, also assuming that the length of time given is actually needed to learn all the basics of the game, and that a Forced Tutorial is a good thing in the first place.

Evans.6347:

daimasei.4091:

And finally, lets be honest. Most complains are from kitten key farmers. If they leave the game I can assure no one is going to miss them.

Actually, out of the plentiful complaining topics on this matter, I have seen little complaints about key farming and much, much more about the tediousness of it all.

Mmh, can you make a simple list of complains not related to the key farm nerf?

daimasei.4091:

Evans.6347:

daimasei.4091:

And finally, lets be honest. Most complains are from kitten key farmers. If they leave the game I can assure no one is going to miss them.

Actually, out of the plentiful complaining topics on this matter, I have seen little complaints about key farming and much, much more about the tediousness of it all.

Mmh, can you make a simple list of complains not related to the key farm nerf?

People play alts for other sakes than key farming you know. This affects a far larger amount of players than you make it out to be.

But I’ll give you a short summary of what I’ve been reading: “Lv1-40 is terrible.”

Evans.6347:

“Lv1-40 is terrible.”

Yep, all the feedback ArenaNet need to change things :/

Force tutorial on new accounts, but not ones that are making a second+ char !!!

Why would you force tutorials on ppl, at least 5 times ? I have 5 char slots from the get go and the cool thing about this game is to play it with different characters together with different stories. Now you’re making us “learn” new chars in 40 levels ?? Elite at 40 ????

I have tried getting to lvl 15 yesterday in Queensdale and it was boring ! Feeding cows → dancing to cows ?? I always thought this game was mature unlike some other games which try to be funny. Now its just, brain off → hit f where ever you can.

“But man, these changes are not meant for ppl who know how to play” – Then don’t force it on those ppl who know how to play ! Make it optional.

daimasei.4091:

Evans.6347:

“Lv1-40 is terrible.”

Yep, all the feedback ArenaNet need to change things :/

You could of course just read what people write instead of chosing to be smug and uninformed.

daimasei.4091:

Evans.6347:

daimasei.4091:

And finally, lets be honest. Most complains are from kitten key farmers. If they leave the game I can assure no one is going to miss them.

Actually, out of the plentiful complaining topics on this matter, I have seen little complaints about key farming and much, much more about the tediousness of it all.

Mmh, can you make a simple list of complains not related to the key farm nerf?

weapon skills earned via leveling only
weapon swap pushed to level 15
personal story requires 10 levels of grinding between each part.
utilities pushed to 35
skill points in starter areas that you cant access
confusion on non skill based unlocks
underwater combat with 1 skill
certain proffessions make little sense without unlocks (dual wield on theif disabled) locked proffesion skills.

basically makes leveling feel like a race to get unkitten, with little actual specific golds other than grind exp

I really don’t see the point of this update. Who in their right mind as a game dev would “sign off” on this? A few of the cosmetic things are nice in that they tidy up some of the interfaces but not all that important compared to some of the issues in game play that have existed for ages. Its like re arranging deckchairs on a ship when the engine is struggling. Priorities ANet!

Im also annoyed that my current alt has LOST features. As a low level ele, I logged in to find HALF of my attunements have gone and I cant get them all back until L30!! Why strip out features? Do you think that as a 28 year old, IT systems designer and long time gamer im suddenly too dumb to press the F1-F4 buttons in a rotation? I spent time grinding mobs with all the ele weapon combos to unlock all the attacks. Now, im genuinely not sure I can be bothered.

Also, locking my personal story behind a level cap is also a stupid idea. Guild Wars 2 was meant to be as much about skill of the player than about their level. I have the skills to do L20 story instances when im L15! Iv been playing for TWO YEARS! Part of the challenge and attraction to GW2 was taking on things bigger then yourself and winning.

I rarely post on the forums as I don’t believe that it ever really achieves anything. But ANet, you have royally annoyed and alienated your community, especially the vets. And your game is meant to be all about community.

phys.7689:

weapon skills earned via leveling only
weapon swap pushed to level 15
personal story requires 10 levels of grinding between each part.
utilities pushed to 35
skill points in starter areas that you cant access
confusion on non skill based unlocks
underwater combat with 1 skill
certain proffessions make little sense without unlocks (dual wield on theif disabled) locked proffesion skills.

basically makes leveling feel like a race to get unkitten, with little actual specific golds other than grind exp

First of all: Thank you.

Now,

1. weapon skills earned via leveling only

You unlock all in no time. There is not real underwater combat at low levels so no need to unlock underwater weapons ASAP.
Also, there is no need to unlock every single weapon one by one.

2. weapon swap pushed to level 15

One single weapon is already too strong for lvl -15 areas and again, you hit lvl 15 in no time.

3. personal story requires 10 levels of grinding between each part.

Ha! Key farm kitten.

4. utilities pushed to 35

Same as point 2

5. skill points in starter areas that you cant access

Stupid yes, but it break nothing. Did people really need those skill point right away?

6. confusion on non skill based unlocks

I don’t get this one :/ (sorry, it’s a little late)

7. underwater combat with 1 skill

See point 1

8. certain proffessions make little sense without unlocks (dual wield on theif disabled) locked proffesion skills.

Kind of dumb but see point 1

9. basically makes leveling feel like a race to get unkitten, with little actual specific golds other than grind exp

To each his own I guess.

daimasei.4091:

…………………..

So you’re one of those “Press 1 to win” people who keep insisting all you need to play GW2 is your auto attack. Well, you are entitled to your opinion, but it appears that quite a bit of people do not share that sentiment and are being pretty vocal about it too.

Where you used to have to option to dumb your game experience down to just that, it has now become mandatory for the early game. And that is not ok for me either.

Also, you’re clutching at straws with your random Key farmer arguments.

daimasei.4091:

5. skill points in starter areas that you cant access

Stupid yes, but it break nothing. Did people really need those skill point right away?

Map completion.

zenleto.6179:

daimasei.4091:

5. skill points in starter areas that you cant access

Stupid yes, but it break nothing. Did people really need those skill point right away?

Map completion.

Yes, but I know my first time many of those skill points I’d not been able to complete. And I routinely would run into people in Queensdale trying to do the bandit skill point and getting their clocks cleaned.

- Lackluster. Offers almost nothing of what people that played this game for years wanted or offered things that SOME people wanted but even those people didn’t consider as important as other lots of things this game needed. Nothing major just scraps and bones. Improvements that literally took 2 years?

- Filled with updates that benefit (or not) only NICHES of the community

- Made all minis go up in price some dramatically. Thanks ANet. Keep it up and ppl will heavily consider third party sites to get their stuff seeing as how impossible it’s becoming to get anything in this game if u play like a normal human being..not a lifeless farmer u want us to become.

- Only good thing out of all their hard work is the Tradepost..other then that falls under the niche brand.

Overall, again except the TP changes, i am very disappointing that 2 years + beta has brought just these “scraps&bones” changes to the game…and it’s literally horrifying thinking how much it will take to actually improve major stuff.

This patch is overall a tipical “What ANet thinks is best for u”

- Where are the guild changes? The guild system&ui in this game is so archaic it makes minesweeper look like having a decent guild system.

- Where is the GvG? Most of the GW1 community was built on GvG

- It literally took u 2 years to add 3 new colors to the WvW tag? ARE U SERIOUS?!? no other commander improvement?

- Where’s improved SQUAD UI and info?

- Where’s improved PARTY UI? How about the option to unite multiple parties to make a mini-warband like in Warhammer? Or do u still expect us to archaically leave/dismiss a party then try to join another party and risk not having space, instead of letting people unite easily.

- How about u start releasing whole areas of maps instead of parts of a map i can bet the whole firm worked on for 2 years day and night to make, at the rate u give us stuff.

- 2 years and no new race/class/levelincrease or any type of content that makes us think we are actually progressing ? I get the feeling our time is not important to u ANet (and yes i know u barely started with Dry Top…..a “2 by 2” map that has been unlocked in 4-5 stages? JUST 1 MAP. By the end of the season i should have ATLEAST 5 maps opened.

- Where are the new dungeons?

- Where are raids? WE HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR RAIDS SINCE BETA!

Want me to continue?

The game at the moment honestly looks to me like it’s really DESPERATELY struggling to get out of beta….and it’s just now taking the steps to do so.

Hell even after that fiasco with “let’s hold hands and communicate better” after which u promised us a CDI strictly about Guilds…we still didn’t get it. Wonder how much it takes to write 3-4 lines of text in a thread and pressing a button to post it.

Evans.6347:

So you’re one of those “Press 1 to win” people who keep insisting all you need to play GW2 is your auto attack. Well, you are entitled to your opinion, but it appears that quite a bit of people do not share that sentiment and are being pretty vocal about it too.

Where you used to have to option to dumb your game experience down to just that, it has now become mandatory for the early game. And that is not ok for me either.

Also, you’re clutching at straws with your random Key farmer arguments.

I just pressed #1 for minutes before unlocking all the others

And I only mentioned the key farming in 1 of 9 points -_-

zenleto.6179:

Map completion.

So they are gone like forever? I had the impression you had to hit certain level to unlock them… In this case, it have to be a bug.

I was looking forward to this update until i logged on and checked it for myself.. Within the first five minutes of getting on to the game i was already annoyed and angry.

I know ArenaNet was trying to make the game easier for new players but personally i think they have made it harder and more annoying. I don’t think that just by making players waiting a 20 levels to do anything in the game!?

I’m especially annoyed at putting a huge level cap on doing my personal quests. i liked doing my personal quests when i want to not having to wait 10 levels to even start it!?

I would always suggest to people to play this game and even though i still love this GW2 but this update has made me rethink.

I really don’t know what they were thinking when doing this update.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

zenleto.6179:

daimasei.4091:

5. skill points in starter areas that you cant access

Stupid yes, but it break nothing. Did people really need those skill point right away?

Map completion.

Yes, but I know my first time many of those skill points I’d not been able to complete. And I routinely would run into people in Queensdale trying to do the bandit skill point and getting their clocks cleaned.

Stuff like that is nice and hard and good to do with people.

I have a 29 character that has one sp to get in Wayfarer for map completion and can’t get it. And its the kitten one in the ice worm cave. Its either bugged or he has to get up to some other level to finish the map off.

daimasei.4091:

phys.7689:

weapon skills earned via leveling only
weapon swap pushed to level 15
personal story requires 10 levels of grinding between each part.
utilities pushed to 35
skill points in starter areas that you cant access
confusion on non skill based unlocks
underwater combat with 1 skill
certain proffessions make little sense without unlocks (dual wield on theif disabled) locked proffesion skills.

basically makes leveling feel like a race to get unkitten, with little actual specific golds other than grind exp

First of all: Thank you.

Now,

1. weapon skills earned via leveling only

You unlock all in no time. There is not real underwater combat at low levels so no need to unlock underwater weapons ASAP.
Also, there is no need to unlock every single weapon one by one.

2. weapon swap pushed to level 15

One single weapon is already too strong for lvl -15 areas and again, you hit lvl 15 in no time.

3. personal story requires 10 levels of grinding between each part.

Ha! Key farm kitten.

4. utilities pushed to 35

Same as point 2

5. skill points in starter areas that you cant access

Stupid yes, but it break nothing. Did people really need those skill point right away?

6. confusion on non skill based unlocks

I don’t get this one :/ (sorry, it’s a little late)

7. underwater combat with 1 skill

See point 1

8. certain proffessions make little sense without unlocks (dual wield on theif disabled) locked proffesion skills.

Kind of dumb but see point 1

9. basically makes leveling feel like a race to get unkitten, with little actual specific golds other than grind exp

To each his own I guess.

its not about what you need to kill monsters, its about how boring it is.

level 1-10 used to be more exciting than level 1-20 is now. that is the problem. its boring.

its not that the game is impossible now, its that its boring, i was constantly watching my level bar the whole time. It didnt used to be like that, leveling would just happen before i realized it.

Spiderbite.8049:

Relshdan.6854:

imagine trying to level a mesmer in this new system….

fun fact: Made a mesmer yesterday…
poor little gnome-rodent wont ever be played now.

I know the feeling, I made a mesmer the day before this ‘patch’ came out and now I’m actually struggling with doing anything with him. The fact that they changed it from being able to switch weapons from lvl7 to lvl13 is a serious hindrance when playing a class that relies on kiting.

The skill level locking, the weapon swap locking, the level restriction in general has made me look at the idea of making any more alts and laugh sarcastically. The fact that you don’t even get your elite skill till lvl40 is dumb, unnecessary and (once again) a hindrance.

Well, if I ever needed a reason to go and seriously check out a new game that’s recently gone live (or nearing it), this patch is it. They took a fun game that I could easily sink hours into playing and made it into a tedious grind fest for any kind of content it used to have.