What could’ve been done is.
- Make a survey
- Post the link to it on the forum / send it via ingame mail
- See what the people who actually play the game have to say about itI’m pretty sure it would’ve looked different
Seriously. How can they have “metrics” they’re so proud of if they don’t ask their entire population about their content? You can track behaviors all day long, but you can’t establish motivation or feeling by behavior alone. Not just what, but why.
Once you’re used to events and stuff like that, you won’t likely need the arrow as much because you’ll have some idea of what the game is about. In fact, you might even see the arrow when trying to make decisions about what to do. Me, I’ll just turn it off.
That´s not really the point. The point is, that you have to find your own “endgame” in GW 2 which will be very different from leveling up to 80. And if he even doesn´t have the iniative to find out how to level up, how can he be expected to change his gameplay at 80 and find himself something to do?
There won´t be ingame-links popping up for an event-timer or for Dulfy when he stands in Lion Arch, wondering what he could do.
In the end there will be another ex-player saying “there´s no endgame in GW2” – while the forced changes have a good chance to disgust old players and new more engaged players.
There’s a difference between learning how to play and playing your own end game. Once he learned the game, he’d be in the guild and do whatever anyone else was doing. Trust me, the last thing this guy cares about is an end game.
So what happens when these players come to the game, slowly learn all the mechanics, and then discover there’s nothing to do at level 80? Maybe there should be a tutorial on that too? Perhaps once you hit max level Trading Post pops up with gem store sales?
Those testers come from a hidden association with the main focus on destroying all MMORPG in the world! mark my word!
Where is the logic in designing a game for people that do not like or enjoy it? In fundamentally changing the game you are alienating your current audience in favour of one that no longer has interest in playing.
Eve Online is a tedious overly complex grind, if they completely reinvented the game for players like me, could you imagine how popular it would be? Their current fan base would leave in a heartbeat.
Problem with Arena Net is they rely on metrics to make all their decisions, their is no common sense.
Just remove downstate completely and it’s solved. I understand why MMO players hate It. I dislike it in PvE and despise It in PvP but don’t break the game to solve an issue people who left disagree with.
Yes, for the love of all that is holy, YES!! No downed state would be so much less frustrating in WvW mode.
On the 5 or 6 people I made buy this game at launch, only two are still playing… the others stopped after like 4 to 10 hours. All came from other MMOs and I can tell that they were not interested by GW2 because they were not told to do anything and didn’t realise what levelling gave to them… you can call them 6 year old children or mentally impaired people if it makes you feel better but the truth lies somewhere else. If you are not informed beforehand it this game can be scary….
Also don’t forget that not every player speaks, reads or write English easily… this is a huge problem in game since megaservers but it was already before when you seek help. I personally had huge trouble to understand the first Guild Wars almost ten years ago and now it’s ok for me to play the majority of MMOs but I needed help of a lot of external english sources … and hopefully I had enough time and passion for that, but most people won’t put any efforts in understanding a game that doesn’t help them to understand.
If the forum users are considered in the minority (as in importance and userbase), I suggest everyone go onto social media and voice their concerns.
I don’t use FaceplantBook, or most other social media sites, for that matter. If Arenanet considers me to be a minority, that is their business.
I’d rather gain twenty levels on a Mesmer without unlocking a single skill than use FaceplantBook.
I’d rather gain twenty levels on a Mesmer without unlocking a single skill than use FaceplantBook.
Oh no, don’t give them ideas.
I’d rather gain twenty levels on a Mesmer without unlocking a single skill than use FaceplantBook.
Oh no, don’t give them ideas.
Twenty levels on an elementalist without unlocking a single….attunement?
What complete nonsense. Were these “thousands of testers” 6 year old children or people that drool and still need to wear diapers? I’ve never, ever, EVER seen players struggle to grasp the fundamentals of this game or even most other ones, and GW2 happens to be one of the easiest MMOs to get into and that’s even comparing it to some of the earliest ones.
This is a major upset. Either they are lying or they tested people with less than 70 IQ, and I’m serious about that.
A few angry threads cropping up is not always a cause for action; ALL the threads cropping up being angry? Map chats being filled with upset players? That definitely is.
Your testers were ignoramuses or nonexistent. The experiment has failed, that is all there is to it.
I’ve seen people fail to get this game, even a couple of smarter people. It’s designed for explorers, not follow the arrrows type. After years of being conditioned to follow an arrow, they end up thinking the only quest in the game is the personal story.
It’s not that rare to see a post where someone says I must not be leveling fast enough because I’m not up to my next personal story quest, what have I done wrong.
And if you see a few posts like that, you certainly know people who don’t come to forums are experiencing that too.
But is that cause to restrict weapons/utilities and traits from them? And do they immediately stop and not continue playing because they don’t have the recommended level?
I can understand they could be thinking they missed some quests or something, but the hearts are all over the place and so are the map markers for points of interest and vistas, not to mention in-game chat .. but to assume they don’t understand the basics of the game is insulting really, how did they get through the first story mission then if they didn’t understand skills/abilities etc?
You seem to think most people like and use map chat. I haven’t found that to be true. I think an awful lot of people solo MMOs as ridiculous as that might seem to us.
I also think that not everyone has the same level of understanding as others. As I’ve said in other places, I have a friend that was fine in DDO and even Guild Wars 1, but Guild Wars 2 confused him. A lot of it was lack of direction.
He wanted to know what he was supposed to be doing and the game doesn’t tell him.
Honestly I blame WoW clones for dumbing down the genre and training and entire generation of people how not to think.
Sorry Vayne, much of what you bring into these kind of threads makes a lot of sense, but being a long serving DDO:EU player, if players can grasp the mechanics utilised in DDO then GW2 is mere child’s play.
I accept that over the last 18 months DDO has also re-evaluated its QoL within the new player/expansion experience and as such the character builds, class trees, skills have eased on complexity a little but MMO’s with that kind of diversity in build, multi-classing and skill mechanics is still far more hungry on one’s IQ than anything GW2 throws at us. So I have to go with what seems to be the general consensus in this thread.. its either a smokescreen or the survey/testing was no where near adequate or worse never actually happened.
Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no issues with ANET trying out new ideas/concepts in order to try and extend content QoL, heck I don’t even care if some things are really just a carrot trail leading to the gem store (afterall its what has to happen to keep the bean counters fed), but that post the OP highlighted just smells a little to smokey for my liking, especially as they really have no reason to be – every MMO no matter what business model they put out, want players in game for longer, spending coin and at the same time try to bring fresh meat into the grinder routinely.
I’d rather gain twenty levels on a Mesmer without unlocking a single skill than use FaceplantBook.
Oh no, don’t give them ideas.
Twenty levels on an elementalist without unlocking a single….attunement?
Twenty levels on a mesmer using scepter without the possibility to change the weapon?
this can be a fun game, can we create a Thread giving them these kind of ideas?
They’ve also said they’re working on fixing some issues that causes the new player experience to carry over to alts
This would resolve most, but not all, of my complaints.
The patch has basically said to me that the way I play the game is wrong and I am going to be punished for it. If the changes are going to stay on alts, is it possible to get refunds from the gem store? Because I would return a couple of character slots.
Maybe the goal is to port this game to tablets and phones.
So what happens when these players come to the game, slowly learn all the mechanics, and then discover there’s nothing to do at level 80? Maybe there should be a tutorial on that too? Perhaps once you hit max level Trading Post pops up with gem store sales?
I have plenty to do. Maybe the game isn’t going in the direction you’d like it to. But some people do like how it’s going.
I guess us achievement guys got it made, huh?
Maybe the goal is to port this game to tablets and phones.
Or consoles…..xbox players incoming! Actually I KNOW this wont happen but it seems like this would be the sort of thing that they would do if that WAS the plan.
Twenty levels on a mesmer using scepter without the possibility to change the weapon
But, didn’t they buff the mesmer scepter? For it to be torture, you should really have to use the pre-patch mesmer scepter.
So they are just making this game
“My Childs first MMO” :/
But, didn’t they buff the mesmer scepter? For it to be torture, you should really have to use the pre-patch mesmer scepter.
Torture?
I think you mean…
B-)
Torment
/powerchord!
That’s the thing though, every MMO (and everything else) is someone’s first. I can see the logic behind this but I think the execution in of itself is severely flawed.
This.
I think that the solution was a real tutorial that did not change the already great game play. One of the forum mods suggested that a real tutorial was complicated and expensive to make and that introducing concepts in increments was the better way to learn anyway. I disagree. The tutorial did not need to explain every single nuance of the game but could explain the basics and give direction for those who need it. And the tutorial should definitely be optional.
I think I had an easier time learning the game than some people who had played other MMOs because I had no preconceived ideas of how the game should be played. (My experience with open-ended single player games was probably more beneficial.) So the tutorial would need to spend some time on dispelling those expectations of experienced MMO players.
But any tutorial would have probably been better than the hot mess we have now.
The optics of a little Asuran getting an assist by a Charr and turning on a mutual foe is great.
I like the concept of a downed state.
It isn’t just about you being downed, it gives allies(community) a chance to come to your aid, and rally against a foe.
What could do with improvement is how we are able to manage ourselves in downed state. Can we select our own skills, as we do with heals? Can we have more effective skills that can assist us and allies that come to help us?
Can we opt out of a downed state altogether and choose to admit defeat?
ANet, Please do not assume that confusion of new players means the rest of us won’t lend a hand and help them learn. Megaservers are tops. Let them create the environment to make a downed player feel that we are working together, rather than as rivals.
What could do with improvement is how we are able to manage ourselves in downed state. Can we select our own skills, as we do with heals? Can we have more effective skills that can assist us and allies that come to help us?
Can we opt out of a downed state altogether and choose to admit defeat?
Forget all that. The way it was before the update was perfectly fine. They don’t need to waste time creating new skills and all that when the current state of the game is the way it is.
I also like the downed state and for the same reasons as you do. It also adds another dynamic to the combat system. It’s something that was pretty unique to GW2. I don’t know why they would take these selling points away from a new character… discovering the downed state is part of GW2’s initial mystique. That initial mystique, or impression even, is very important. First impressions, remember people?
Why did they have to do all this??!? It’s like the ENTIRE staff of ArenaNet save for a few people was supplanted by fresh college grads that don’t even play games.
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