Guild Wars 2

I like playing multiple characters in games, like building multiple play styles and creating a little hoard of totally different personalities. The better the art in a game, usually the more character slots I want. GW2 art is awesome, and the game play is great, so I may possibly have gone a little over-board in purchasing character slots.

When I crate multiple characters in games, i also expect to spend time developing skills for each character, indpendently. This game is no different in that, and I have no complaints when I have to acquire the same skills twice for two different characters. To me they are separate, and if I have two of them, then I should spend twice the time to get them both to a top level as opposed to someone else only leveling one character.

My issue is then with making certain aquisition of materials and items account bound.

I have never felt punished in a game for buying extra character slots, except here. Once daily completion of a crafting ascended crafting materials… Time-wise, a person with multiple character has to put exponentially more time into outfitting each character at a high gear level because of account-wide time-gating. I understand not wanting to flood the market with a craft item when the item first comes out, but by now, would it hurt to increase the amount we can make per day? Maybe make the limit by each character that has the crafting skill to pull it off, as opposed to limiting by account? I put the time into getting those characters to level 500 crafting, so why can only one use it’s skills? All of them need armor and weapons!

Laurels are also limited by account and those are also needed for high level gear. There really aren’t many opportunities to earn laurels. You log in…you get them. If someone else has one character and I have two, why don’t both my characters get laurels when they log in? I have a greater need for laurels than someone with only one character because I have more gear to build. If I’m willing to take a few minutes to log into each character each day, then why should I not be as well rewarded as the person with only one character. If you are worried about cheaters, make it one laurel per day on account, and then an extra laurel for each level 80 character that actively logs in.

Finally, to add insult to injury, there is now briefly one way to actually earn laurels in the game (again, only one per day), but…seriously…Dragon Ball? This was the last straw. I had to say something. I feel like I’m being punished.

Arena.net will understand you are frustrated, but maybe the things you’ve mentioned in how to fix this problem can’t be done due to possible abuse for example.

So what else would you suggest?

I think that the primary way they’ve addressed this is by making ascended equipment account bound. I have 9 level 80s and all of them have full exotic equipment and I pass around my ascended equipment to the ones I play most at any given time. It takes a trip to the bank to swap the equipment but that’s quick.

If they gave me nine times the laurels that they gave someone with one character then I’d be rich.

As Pifil mentioned, some things are once per account/day rather than character/day purely because it would stop people from creating extra characters solely to farm these rewards and have unfair advantage over someone who wants to focus on one.

But when it comes to the ascended materials i think it is due to Anet wanting ascended to feel more like a personal long term goal like legendary rather than just another gear tier that is required for the harder parts of the game.

And as said before they are all account bound, so outfitting all your characters in the same stuff is redundant. I also have to clarify, all other gear tiers give a +25% increase over their previous tier, ascended on the other hand only gives a 5% increase over exotic. That shows that it is more of a bragging right rather than a necessity. So if you really don’t want to take the time to get it then don’t bother with it because nobody is forcing you and the actual benefit is marginal.

Solution, use exotics and only get amulets, rings and a back piece. If you REALLY want to, get a weapon. The armour is NOT worth it at all.

I don’t understand how anyone can be rich enough to craft so many ascended gear.

And that is from someone who crafted like 6 sets of ascended armor and like 30 ascended weapon.

Just make sure to refine everyday. Not only when you needed it. You should have more than enough by now.

Also you can buy deldrimore ingot or bolt of damask from the trading post. So you dont’ need to wait.

I also bought like 12 ascended amulet with laurel. I dont’ have a problem with laurel. There is a bank with reasons. Just go to the bank and grab it if you need it. I have 26 lvl80 right now. Dont’ mean I need 26 ascended amulet.

Not to be that guy, but you aren’t being punished. It really sounds like you want to outfit your characters as soon as humanly possible, and since it is time-gated you aren’t able to, thus you feel punished.

In reality, you can enlist the help of friends/guild members. I’ve made full Ascended sets in one day because I have guild members/friends who donate their cooldowns to me. I send them mats, they send me back the crafted component (bolts of damask for example).

If you want to do something faster than normal, they have given us the means to do it. If you don’t have any friends/guild members willing to help, then you will have to do it the long way.

And like laokoko said, you should have been refining ascended craft mats the minute you hit 450 crafting, every day. Even when you aren’t crafting ascended. That stuff adds up over time. If you simply wait until you decide you want ascended armor, then you will have to wait that much longer.

The time-gating is per account, but the Ascended gear is also per account. You just have to go through the trouble of moving your gear sets around to multiple characters. If they were character-bound, then you’d have a valid point. But they are not.

Not all gear works on all character builds, and it takes time to move gear around when all I really want to do is get in and play the game. I also have certain looks for each of my characters, so to move gear around means not only time, but my characters all look terrible. Part of the joy of the game is visual for me. Plus if I change the look on say my Silvari guardian to the cultural armor, I can no longer swap that armor to my Asura warrior.
My point isn’t that I want to do things faster than normal. My point is that I want to get the same results out of my time and effort as everyone else. Obviously, yes it should take longer to outfit multiple characters. However, in every other game I’ve played, if I have two characters it takes twice as much in game time playing, three characters takes three times my time, and four…. But, in GW2, if I have two characters, it doesn’t matter if I spend twice the time in game farming and crafting as someone with one character, I can’t reap the same benefits of that time spent. For each extra character that I have in game, I get less out of my time exponentially.

Being punished? Come on now. But on your big boy underoos. I currently have 12 character slots. I’ve never once felt “punished” by anything in this game. All of my characters look fabulous and have pretty decent armor, runes, weapons, etc. You shouldn’t get extra rewards just for having more character slots, and the way the game works shouldn’t speed up just because you are on your 9th alt and want to make that 9th set of ascended gear faster. And if you feel like you get less out of your time when you make alts, then stop making alts. Stop buying character slots.

You are feeling punished because you are being punished:

- Account bound items require constantly switching them in the bank instead being account unlocks that each character can get on their own as they should have been and must be.
- Extra inventory bag slots cost full price every time, no matter how many you bought or how many characters you have. If you delete a character that had slots, they are not returned, they are lost.
- There’s no reduction in costs for skills already obtained by other characters, and no way to unlock them cheaper like in GW1. Yeah, you an gather skill scrolls, but that’s beyond the point. If you already got the skill points for a 30 point skill with one warrior, all other warriors should not have do exactly the same. The cost should be reduced to 5 or 6 points for the others in PvE, and there should be no cost in PvP: One character unlocks a skill for a profession, all characters of that profession have it.
- There’s no way to know if a character has completed a story path of a dungeon other than walking to each door with each character and reading the panel.

And the alt-unfriendly annoyances keep piling up. So it’s not just one or two little things. Enough grains of sand make a desert. And deserts are nothing small.

The more character slots you have, the less you will enjoy each one because of all these things piling up.

For your specific problem, a new tab in the bank should be added from which you can get ascended equipment you have already acquired for free or at least a reduced price, like a token you can craft with materials such as vision crystals and dark matter.

Tibicia.8315:

My point isn’t that I want to do things faster than normal. My point is that I want to get the same results out of my time and effort as everyone else. Obviously, yes it should take longer to outfit multiple characters. However, in every other game I’ve played, if I have two characters it takes twice as much in game time playing, three characters takes three times my time, and four…. But, in GW2, if I have two characters, it doesn’t matter if I spend twice the time in game farming and crafting as someone with one character, I can’t reap the same benefits of that time spent. For each extra character that I have in game, I get less out of my time exponentially.

ascended armor is put in last year. If you craft everyday, you can make enough bold of damask to craft 18 sets of ascended armor.

I bet you dont’ have 18 sets.

Also you can buy the items directly from the trading post. Take damask for example you just need to spend 2 gold per damask if you dont’ want to wait.

Ascended armor probably take average folks like 50 hours of farming to get it. I dont’ see how 3-4 more hours more really matter that much to buy from TP directly.

The point is not how hard it is to make one set.

It is how annoying it is to equip many characters when they stuff is already account bound.

Once you have acquired once an item that remains account bound, getting more should be either free or have a greatly reduced cost.

Why? Because you already can swap them in the bank, and not having to do is not worth the full price.

But you put forth the effort to make 1 set. They put effort to make 1 set.

Just because they have characters that utilize the same armor and you do not, doesn’t mean that you should get more sets for less effort.

You want the ability to not have to go to the bank? Make another set. And it is cheaper to make a second set of the same gear as long as you don’t delete the character that made the first set. You don’t have to buy the recipe again. So really, the most expensive gear sets are the first of each type you make. But beyond that, no it’s not possible to do that. Trading Post is determined by players, not ANet. And they don’t want ascended gear to be obtained as quickly as ascended (their reason for adding it in according to them is that exotics were obtained too quickly), so I doubt they’d lower laurel requirements or remove/increase daily limits.

It’s why I’m bypassing the ascended weapon and going straight for the legendary. Short of the sigil, I can swap the stats.

You put the effort to make one set for then entire account. The items are account-wide.

Making another exact same set won’t give you that again. It’ll only allow you o use it with two characters at the same time.

And that’s not worth the full price.

Another stat combination, another armor class, that is worth the full price, but not being able to equip it with two characters without constantly swapping it in the bank.

If you crafted one ascended heavy armor soldier helmet, then all characters can use it. What needs o change is not that, but not having to constantly swap them in the bank to do so.

I get it. You bought enough slots that you could have just bought a different account. With time gating you could have made more progress with more accounts.

Ascended gear is account bond though. So in theory you only need 3 sets to out-fit all of your characters.

MithranArkanere.8957:

You put the effort to make one set for then entire account. The items are account-wide.

Making another exact same set won’t give you that again. It’ll only allow you o use it with two characters at the same time.

And that’s not worth the full price.

Another stat combination, another armor class, that is worth the full price, but not being able to equip it with two characters without constantly swapping it in the bank.

If you crafted one ascended heavy armor soldier helmet, then all characters can use it. What needs o change is not that, but not having to constantly swap them in the bank to do so.

Then make other sets.

Ascended gear was NOT meant to be fast to obtain. They slowed it down with time gates. Players making it high in demand, but low in supply is what makes it expensive. You want it to be cheaper? Go out and farm the materials needed. And even if you aren’t making a set, make the time gated materials. You want it now, you’ll have to pay. But otherwise, you don’t have to pay for any of it, short of the recipe.

ANet’s not going to remove or reduce the time gates. They aren’t that bad. And short of the recipes, you can bypass the time gates by paying gold.

You don’t have to remove or reduce the time gates.

You just make it so you don’t have to get multiple times somthing you can already use with multiple characters.

You don’t have to unlock dyes separately anymore. You don’t have to unlock separately skins, miniatures, finishers, outfits, mail carriers, newly added PvP upgrades, WXP rank points….

You already have them for the entire account.

The only differentce with account items that are not unlocks is the hassle.

You can already use them with multiple characters. But with them you have to choose between being limited to one skin combination and constantly swap them in the bank and obtaining them with all characters.

If you want a sldier heavy armor set and a berserker heavy armor set it makes sense to have to make two.

But you already can use a soldier heavy armor set with two characters, and it does not make sense to have to pay full costs for another one to use it with another character when you can already swap it in the bank.

But constantly swapping them in the bank is a hassle. So, instead of that, making more of the account-bound stuff you already obtained once should have a reduced cost or be just free.

MithranArkanere.8957:

You don’t have to remove or reduce the time gates.

You just make it so you don’t have to get multiple times somthing you can already use with multiple characters.

You don’t have to unlock dyes separately anymore. You don’t have to unlock separately skins, miniatures, finishers, outfits, mail carriers, newly added PvP upgrades, WXP rank points….

You already have them for the entire account.

The only differentce with account items that are not unlocks is the hassle.

You can already use them with multiple characters. But with them you have to choose between being limited to one skin combination and constantly swap them in the bank and obtaining them with all characters.

If you want a sldier heavy armor set and a berserker heavy armor set it makes sense to have to make two.

But you already can use a soldier heavy armor set with two characters, and it does not make sense to have to pay full costs for another one to use it with another character when you can already swap it in the bank.

But constantly swapping them in the bank is a hassle. So, instead of that, making more of the account-bound stuff you already obtained once should have a reduced cost or be just free.

So you want the entire game economy to collapse just so that you don’t have to craft another set of unnecessary BiS armor?

There are many people who have decided to make a set of armor for each character, regardless of your personal opinion that it is “not worth it”. If these people didn’t have to do that and could simply get a free copy of a full set of armor for every character just because they did it once already, you would be gutting the demand for ascended armor, which guts demand for nearly every basic crafting material in the game.

The decisions they make are bigger than your account. They have to consider the overall impact on everyone’s account.

The time gate is not a punishment, it is a necessity in maintaining a healthy economy.

It does make sense to have to make 2. They ARE different!

So if I go to a store and buy a blue shirt, I should be able to just take the other colors and not pay for them because I bought the blue shirt? Or even more blue shirts because I already own a blue shirt?

The different armors have different liners if their outside skin is the same.

There is a reduced cost for making the same thing over again. You don’t have to buy the recipe again.

Complain to the other players about the prices of the other materials. They drove it up. Silk was as expensive on the TP as leather was before Ascended came out. Players drove that cost up. And ANet only manipulates the market. Silk prices have come down overall. Thanks to Silverwastes.

If a player wants five sets of ascended armor for one character or one set of ascended armor for five characters it takes the person just as much time either way. Each account can only produce one piece of ascended material per day unless you want to buy that allotment from another player.

How many character slots you have does not change this equation. I do not think it’s a punishment. With the changes to skin unlocks you can have all your characters share the ascended look immediately, but the stats will have to be ‘earned’ by playing every day.

Seera.5916:

It does make sense to have to make 2. They ARE different!

So if I go to a store and buy a blue shirt, I should be able to just take the other colors and not pay for them because I bought the blue shirt? Or even more blue shirts because I already own a blue shirt?

The different armors have different liners if their outside skin is the same.

There is a reduced cost for making the same thing over again. You don’t have to buy the recipe again.

Complain to the other players about the prices of the other materials. They drove it up. Silk was as expensive on the TP as leather was before Ascended came out. Players drove that cost up. And ANet only manipulates the market. Silk prices have come down overall. Thanks to Silverwastes.

If they are different it makes sense to pay twice.

If they are the very same item, and they can already be used by multiple characters, it does not make sense to pay twice to use them with two characters without constantly trading them in the bank.

You are not paying for another character being able to use it. You already had that. The very oment you obtain an account-wide item, all characters can already use it.

You are paying for not having to switch them in the bank all the time.

The same way being able to have an everlasting minin pickin in two characters at the same time is absolutely NOT worth another full 1000 gem price, and people who gets them usually has one character to gather and they won’t buy any more, making two heavy armor soldier ascended helmets is stupid, when all your characters kittene that one.

The cost to make a second piece of ascended gear of the same type and the same stats should be balanced based on that.

Just saving the karma, gold and laurels of the recipe is definitely NOT compensating that. Making additional copies of something you can already use with multiple characters should have a price low enough that is better to make the copy than waste time swapping the stuff in the bank, which is not the case right now, specially for light armor.

Oh please. i have 12 characters i play, i dont feel punished with this system, rather because they are account bound. i feel rewarded. I move my ascended weapons between characters that i play the most, 3 of them. the rest are kitted out with exotics.

My 3 main characters are going to have their own ascended armor in time. I plan on making 3 sets of light armor, 2 zerker and 1 sinister, so that my three most played can have their own armor. Could i move one zerker set between the characters? yes, but im to lazy to run to the bank. Id rather make 2 sets. But i dont feel rushed, Ascended armor is not needed, so i dont have the feeling of “I NEED IT NOW!!” and can rather take my own sweet time making it.

Which…is a good thing because i refuse to buy crafting materials.

Another thing. if i go into a store and buy a blue shirt, you know what i still have to do if i want another blue shirt? pay for it! which ive done before!

I honestly doubt Anet will be making things easier.

Even though the game is casual friendly. But you still need to pay or play hardcore for convenient or cosmetic stuff.

If Anet make everything buy once duplicate on all character. I’ll be really happy (granted they give me refund of all m y duplicate first).

But I doubt it is happening.

MithranArkanere.8957:

Seera.5916:

It does make sense to have to make 2. They ARE different!

So if I go to a store and buy a blue shirt, I should be able to just take the other colors and not pay for them because I bought the blue shirt? Or even more blue shirts because I already own a blue shirt?

The different armors have different liners if their outside skin is the same.

There is a reduced cost for making the same thing over again. You don’t have to buy the recipe again.

Complain to the other players about the prices of the other materials. They drove it up. Silk was as expensive on the TP as leather was before Ascended came out. Players drove that cost up. And ANet only manipulates the market. Silk prices have come down overall. Thanks to Silverwastes.

If they are different it makes sense to pay twice.

If they are the very same item, and they can already be used by multiple characters, it does not make sense to pay twice to use them with two characters without constantly trading them in the bank.

You are not paying for another character being able to use it. You already had that. The very oment you obtain an account-wide item, all characters can already use it.

You are paying for not having to switch them in the bank all the time.

The same way being able to have an everlasting minin pickin in two characters at the same time is absolutely NOT worth another full 1000 gem price, and people who gets them usually has one character to gather and they won’t buy any more, making two heavy armor soldier ascended helmets is stupid, when all your characters kittene that one.

The cost to make a second piece of ascended gear of the same type and the same stats should be balanced based on that.

Just saving the karma, gold and laurels of the recipe is definitely NOT compensating that. Making additional copies of something you can already use with multiple characters should have a price low enough that is better to make the copy than waste time swapping the stuff in the bank, which is not the case right now, specially for light armor.

But you only made 1 set of the armor. Not an infinite amount of the armor. The amount of stuff you bought is what is used to make 1 set. Not an infinite amount of sets.

And same type of armor already has reduced costs. You only have to buy the recipe one time.

That does not matter.

You can already use them with multiple characters. And this is a game. The data is digital and it’s meant to be fun.

If you want to use the stuff with multiple characters, you already can. But it’s a hassle.

If the items are changed so you can produce replicas with greatly reduced or no cost, you keep being able to use them with multiple characters, remove the hassle, which takes nothing away as people who where swapping were not making more sets, but gives players more fun as they can also use different skins on each character instead having just one skin set (no one in their right mind would spend charges to transmute every time they swap gear between characters)

And if whether making replicas of account bound items is free or with a reduced cost, you will get more movement in the market with a new wealth sink, as instead having a few that makes multiple sets, then most sticking with exotics, you may get players going for unlocks of complete collection of stats since they no longer need to store all ascended they get once it’s unlocked, which would be a ridiculous waste of time otherwise.

Needless to say, replicas would not be sellable like the originals, nor usable for mystic forge recipes. They’ll have a “Replica” line where some ascended have a “Unique” line. Which would allow making replicas of even legendaries, as you won’t get the achievement for making two by showing an original and a replica to the NPC.

And you can avoid the hassle by making another set.

The reason Ascended gear was added to the game was because ANet felt people got to the BiS gear too quickly. So I do not think they will be making acquisition of the BiS gear cheaper to obtain. Because cheaper means quicker. And that would defeat the purpose of them adding it in, wouldn’kitten

Making another set is an even greater hassle and grind for something I’ve already done.

THe point I’m making is not about making this easy and cheap.

It’s making it so there’s no downside to have multiple characters over favoring just one.

For a single-character player with a “main” that barely plays with the other characters this is a non-issue.

For players who favor multiple characters it’s something to be fixed, the same way dyes and miniatures were fixed: Account unlocks.

MithranArkanere.8957:

Making another set is an even greater hassle and grind for something I’ve already done.

THe point I’m making is not about making this easy and cheap.

It’s making it so there’s no downside to have multiple characters over favoring just one.

For a single-character player with a “main” that barely plays with the other characters this is a non-issue.

For players who favor multiple characters it’s something to be fixed, the same way dyes and miniatures were fixed: Account unlocks.

maybe the whole reason this game dont’ have gear tier is because almost everyone have so many alts, and there is so many gear stats/upgrade combination.

I’m not arguing with you, I’m just saying do you really expect Anet to make things any easier.

Because this is probably the most alt friendly mmorpg already. I mean do you not have to grind your tier gear for every single of your alt in other mmorpg too?

But dyes and miniatures weren’t meant to take time to obtain.

Ascended gear was meant to take time to obtain. The cost to make it is part of that time it takes to obtain it. If ANet had an issue with that, they would have done something about it.

And I’m a person with multiple characters that I play with no real solid main. And multiple use the same armor/weapon type and build.

EpicHenchman.6594:

As Pifil mentioned, some things are once per account/day rather than character/day purely because it would stop people from creating extra characters solely to farm these rewards and have unfair advantage over someone who wants to focus on one.

But when it comes to the ascended materials i think it is due to Anet wanting ascended to feel more like a personal long term goal like legendary rather than just another gear tier that is required for the harder parts of the game.

And as said before they are all account bound, so outfitting all your characters in the same stuff is redundant. I also have to clarify, all other gear tiers give a +25% increase over their previous tier, ascended on the other hand only gives a 5% increase over exotic. That shows that it is more of a bragging right rather than a necessity. So if you really don’t want to take the time to get it then don’t bother with it because nobody is forcing you and the actual benefit is marginal.

I thought the same way regarding ascended… but as it turns out my swapping ranger and engi don’t quite use the same superior runes… just saying.

Seera.5916:

But dyes and miniatures weren’t meant to take time to obtain.

Ascended gear was meant to take time to obtain. The cost to make it is part of that time it takes to obtain it. If ANet had an issue with that, they would have done something about it.

And I’m a person with multiple characters that I play with no real solid main. And multiple use the same armor/weapon type and build.

And that time is already taken when you made the first one. That’s why I don’t agree with removing the time gating, but I want some sort of reduced cost to make copies of something you can already use with multiple characters.

As for the timers, although I would NOT remove them, I would tweak them to change the timed daily crafting to a daily earned max quota you can accumulate as you log in. Like this .

Instead only being able to craft once each day, you can login 28 days, and craft 28 times the 28th day if you want, or just use the quota daily as you get it. Giving peopl a little more leeway and less pressure without allowing them to craft more than they can already craft now.

So you have the same timers, but you don’t need to gather the materials and craft daily, and instead you need to login daily (up to a max quota of 28 days or so), accumulate both materials and quota daily as you play, then be able to craft the stuff more in bulk, allowing you to make use of crafting boosters and the like.

hildegain.2106:

Solution, use exotics and only get amulets, rings and a back piece. If you REALLY want to, get a weapon. The armour is NOT worth it at all.

Actually the gain in the armor attribute is quite nice. It won’t mean much if you’re already using tank gear, but I don’t use tank gear on any of my characters.

MithranArkanere.8957:

Seera.5916:

But dyes and miniatures weren’t meant to take time to obtain.

Ascended gear was meant to take time to obtain. The cost to make it is part of that time it takes to obtain it. If ANet had an issue with that, they would have done something about it.

And I’m a person with multiple characters that I play with no real solid main. And multiple use the same armor/weapon type and build.

And that time is already taken when you made the first one. That’s why I don’t agree with removing the time gating, but I want some sort of reduced cost to make copies of something you can already use with multiple characters.

As for the timers, although I would NOT remove them, I would tweak them to change the timed daily crafting to a daily earned max quota you can accumulate as you log in. Like this .

Instead only being able to craft once each day, you can login 28 days, and craft 28 times the 28th day if you want, or just use the quota daily as you get it. Giving peopl a little more leeway and less pressure without allowing them to craft more than they can already craft now.

So you have the same timers, but you don’t need to gather the materials and craft daily, and instead you need to login daily (up to a max quota of 28 days or so), accumulate both materials and quota daily as you play, then be able to craft the stuff more in bulk, allowing you to make use of crafting boosters and the like.

No, the time is not within the first armor. They wanted BiS gear to take time to get for all characters. Otherwise what was the purpose of adding it in the first place? Exotics aren’t cheaper to buy for my alts. Using your logic, it should be a reduced cost or free to gear my alts in exotics.

The day they put that in for lower tier items, is the day I’ll approve it for ascended gear. Until then, if you want multiple sets, then you’re going to pay for it just like the rest of us.

Seera.5916:

[…]

No, the time is not within the first armor. They wanted BiS gear to take time to get for all characters. Otherwise what was the purpose of adding it in the first place? Exotics aren’t cheaper to buy for my alts. Using your logic, it should be a reduced cost or free to gear my alts in exotics.

Exotics are much, MUCH faster to obtain, and they are soulbound on equip.

There’s a few exotic and rare items that remain account bound.
For those, and only those, it’ll make sense to have a reduced cost of re-acquisition.

That reduced cost is not for paying for gearing, because the account bound item is already obtained, but to save the time and hassle of switching the stuff cosntantly between characters.

The very moment ascended gear was made account bound, using a piece of that gear with more than one character was no longer something you do for one character, but for the account.

First, let me say that what follows is merely the approach and attitude that I have taken. It works for me but I do not suggest that it would work for anyone else or that anyone would be better off if they did it my way. Only that I have faced this issue and this is how I have dealt with it.

I too have a problem with alts. My account has twelve characters now, all level 80. My wife, who no longer plays regularly, has graciously allowed me to play her account, which has six characters, all level 80. In addition, during the recent sale, I purchased two additional accounts. So, yeah…I know about the alt thing.

So, ascended gear and alts. On the one hand, it is account bound, as others have pointed out and I can move it around (within accounts at any rate) as I choose. On the other hand, as the OP mentioned, this seems a pain the neck and, although I admit it should not be a big deal, I rarely, if ever, get around to moving the gear around. So, what have I done.

First …and most important…I really haven’t worried much about it. I made a strategic decision when ascended gear was announced that I was not going to jump on that treadmill with any degree of seriousness. My crafters, all at 400 at the time, continued to craft as the mood struck and materials were available. I saved my ascended mats as I got them and began to refine them when I could. I prioritized getting my weaponsmith to 500 first and, when he was there, he crafted the weapons that he could…and just continued to collect and refine mats. I began to do my daily time-gated duty but, again, I really did not and do not worry much about it.

All of my level 80 characters are outfitted in various combination of exotic and ascended gear. I use guild commendations for the accessories…and I typically have plenty of those. I use laurels for rings and amulets and I never have enough of those…so I default to exotic in those cases. I craft weapons as I can…outfitting my most active characters first. All others carry exotics. All of my other crafters (except armor smith) have since progressed to 500 and, as I am able and priority allowing, they craft ascended as well. I focus first and foremost on playing the game and I find that my gear…mostly exotic with some ascended, does me quite nicely.

I have, at various times, gotten the bug to get all of my characters “ascended outfitted” but it didn’t take a lot to convince me that this would be a formula for frustration. I could take the position that Arenanet should change the system to allow me to fully equip ascended in a more timely manner. On balance, though, I find that this is just not something that I am willing to worry about. My exotic gear does not seem to have adversely affected my enjoyment of the game and when I do get a new piece of ascended gear crafted, it is kind of like getting a visit from Santa Claus.

Again, this is not meant to minimize anyone else’s frustrations or positions or in any way suggest that others should “do it my way.” The topic was out there and this is simply my approach.

MithranArkanere.8957:

That reduced cost is not for paying for gearing, because the account bound item is already obtained, but to save the time and hassle of switching the stuff cosntantly between characters.

you act like no one is willing to pay those extra just to remove the hassle to switch gear.

I have like 5 zojja’s greatsword because I don’t like the hassle. I have multiple zojja’s heavy armor set and lightarmor set too.

Many people I know actually crafted multiple gear set eventhough they can just run to the bank.

I’m a partial mix myself. Some of the characters I played more often, I just craft a seperate set for them. The characters I play less often I just use the bank to swap gear.

Then make more. Like every single person has to do. The time gate is a good thing. It allows crafters to make money for once by selling those damask, ingots, leather. If you want more than one set of ascended gear, then you make it.

And you are wrong, it is something you do. I dont move my ascended armor between characters, why? because not all my characters use the same rune set up. Is it sort of annoying? maybe, but its a good thing to, plus the stats arent much better for ascended armor than exotic armor. There is a difference, but its not much.

You can only play 1 character at a time so why do you feel punished? You want rewards for toons sitting in Character select?

Take advantage of the next 75% off sale on the game and buy yourself 2 copies insteadof 1600 gems. This will solve the time gated issues and you’ll be getting the daily log in reward X3.

Lol… “punished” is my favorite thing to read on the forums. It’s so ludicrous, as if to imply that you have a divine entitlement to craft multiple ecto-refinement items per day, and ANet is infringing on your basic human rights by preventing you from doing that. Do you even hear yourself?? “Punished” COME ON!!

laokoko.7403:

[…]

you act like no one is willing to pay those extra just to remove the hassle to switch gear.

I have like 5 zojja’s greatsword because I don’t like the hassle. I have multiple zojja’s heavy armor set and lightarmor set too.

Many people I know actually crafted multiple gear set eventhough they can just run to the bank.

I’m a partial mix myself. Some of the characters I played more often, I just craft a seperate set for them. The characters I play less often I just use the bank to swap gear.

There’s people willing to get their heads chopped off and all sorts of gruesome torture.
There’s people willing to grind materials and gold in many games until their fingers literally bleed.
Just because someone is willing jump into a chasm doesn’t mean you can’t make a bridge over it.

This is Guild Wars, not another korean grinder.

You have to set your mind not with the point of view of all other bad MMOs, but the point of view of a game that tries to break with the bad designs and pointless waste of time and nonsensical customs and do things that are more fun for as many people as possible.

The stuff was already made account wide. The back-end that would allow unlocking the stuff is already there with the collections and skins systems.

You made 5 zojja sets. Are you saying everyone should make just Zojja sets and ignore all other stats?

If they were unlocks, instead making 5 times the same ones, people would be able to unlock zojja, then go for other stat combination, instead making another zojja. You could potentially go for every single stat combination for every characters, without worrying about where you are going to put all the items, which would allow you the freedom to try many more builds in the future.

People won’t stop making stuff. They just will be able to make the stuff for all their characters and then make other stuff without feeling they are spending time doing something they already did when they could be doing something different.

MithranArkanere.8957:

You made 5 zojja sets. Are you saying everyone should make just Zojja sets and ignore all other stats?

If they were unlocks, instead making 5 times the same ones, people would be able to unlock zojja, then go for other stat combination, instead making another zojja. You could potentially go for every single stat combination for every characters, without worrying about where you are going to put all the items, which would allow you the freedom to try many more builds in the future.

People won’t stop making stuff. They just will be able to make the stuff for all their characters and then make other stuff without feeling they are spending time doing something they already did when they could be doing something different.

He’s not saying that only berserker stats should be made. He said HE made 5 of them for HIS characters because HE did not like the hassle of swapping. He did not say that everyone playing the game should make things with berserker stats. I do not know how you can come to that conclusion based on what he said. I really don’t.

And you have still not given an adequate answer to why ANet should change ascended gear progression to go against the reason they put it in the game in the first place. Something that would take TIME to make. So that players who needed to have some form of progression to work toward for their characters would have it. Because while exotic was meant to fill that niche, it failed. Because it was obtained too quickly and easily.

You wanting to outfit 20 characters with Ascended gear SHOULD take you 20 times longer than it takes someone to outfit one. Sorry if that makes you feel “punished” but it’s actually quite FAIR to everyone involved.

To be honest, the fact that Ascended gear is Account bound (and can be swapped between your characters) makes the OPs complaint null and void…..you are punishing yourself. This doesn’t even address the fact that Ascended gear (unless you are running high level fractals) is completely optional.

Also, buying extra character slots has NOTHING to do with the issue of how Alts are equipped and the OP mentioning it smacks of some delusion of entitlement that simply does not exist.

Now if you want to complain about time-gated crafting in general (that effects everyone equally), go right ahead. But don’t bring your Alt-aholic tendencies and how many gems you have spent into the conversation…they are irrelevant.

NOTE: I have over a dozen characters myself.

Brother Grimm.5176:

You wanting to outfit 20 characters with Ascended gear SHOULD take you 20 times longer than it takes someone to outfit one. Sorry if that makes you feel “punished” but it’s actually quite FAIR to everyone involved.

To be honest, the fact that Ascended gear is Account bound (and can be swapped between your characters) makes the OPs complaint null and void…..you are punishing yourself. This doesn’t even address the fact that Ascended gear (unless you are running high level fractals) is completely optional.

This.

They were originally soulbound on use. Them being account bound at all is ANet’s compromise to those of us with alts. They went ok, you can share the set instead of having to make them for all of your characters.

That is your time and money saver. Thank ANet for the compromise that they did give you. They could have just left it at soulbound on use.

MithranArkanere.8957:

You made 5 zojja sets. Are you saying everyone should make just Zojja sets and ignore all other stats?

I actaully have a nomad set too. and for wvw I use soldier.

It’s probably getting off topic. But if a person never dies in pve, what’s the point about other set which kills slower.

I only use defensive set when I have problem surviving. and that dont’ happen very often in pve.

I think your pushing like everyone else who make multiple set of the same thing or buy multiple mining pick for alt is some weirdo.

Don’t get me wrong, I respect your opinion and suggestion. But I dont’ think the chance of Anet making the change is high. Mostly because ascended is the last gier tier.

And quite honestly, I doubt many people would use anything other than berserker in pve. Mostly because they dont’ have a problem surviving in almost all the pve content in berserker.

Back on November 2012 when the Lost Shores came out, was when I first noticed unique gear and of course the time gating. It was a simply solution to me, since laurels and Fractals were time gated, was to buy an additional account. Instead of going beyond 10 character slots I split my characters across accounts. Now multi-boxing has become my GW2 experience and I can’t imagine having only one account now.

Looking at how the game has progressed toward account bound items is both good and bad. Account unlocks are great, though having more items be tradable would be even better. For the Ascended Armor and Weapons, after buying the recipes, you can buy the Ascended mats on the TP and make more than one per day. It’s a great way to implement them in game. Now I believe where the game should go is to add the rest of the Ascended gear on the TP. Think about all the Ascended gear drop’s going to waste because we have duplicates, etc. They should have value still! Or, at least be salvageable for some form of materials that have value. For me, everything should be tradable until used. Then it can become an account bound item.

This is another of these “Both ways wrong” issues.
Some time ago Scores of players complained about everything being Character biased and soul-bound.
And so they made everything account biased, wvw, currency, Items(with ascended) and rewards.
Now that those people who want to use each of their characters to do once a day thing complain about everything being account biased.

To put it simply, you can make some of the people happy some of the time, but never all the people happy all of the time.

zerorogue.9410:

This is another of these “Both ways wrong” issues.
Some time ago Scores of players complained about everything being Character biased and soul-bound.
And so they made everything account biased, wvw, currency, Items(with ascended) and rewards.
Now that those people who want to use each of their characters to do once a day thing complain about everything being account biased.

To put it simply, you can make some of the people happy some of the time, but never all the people happy all of the time.

That issue appears to be that there are players whom wish to be inclusive and sharing, and then players whom wish to be exclusive and selfish. There are always a handful of players that are impossible to please. They’d want their characters with gear tailor made just for them. To have their character be double sized with Legendary icons. To have a glow effect emanating into a ray of light shining into the sky. Of course, instead of walking they’d float above everyone else on map. They wouldn’t even be #1 on the Leader boards, they’d have their name in bold two lines above above #1. As much or as little this is an exaggeration, this is what the dev’s have to deal with.

It is actually quite fair. Simply buying more characters slot doesn’t entitle you to have double or triple the advantage over those who don’t buy. We don’t want to turn this game into a pay to win game.

So you mean to say that if I have a blue shirt and my twin brother wants the same blue shirt and since we don’t want the hassle of getting it from the dresser that he has to “have a discount” on the store where we bought it since technically, we can “share” it?

I don’t even…