Guild Wars 2

Im having a hard time finding fun things to do in the game now that I have 2 toons at level 80. The problem is two fold, #1 the community is absolutely horrible for PUGs, and #2 the LFG tool keeps locking me out preventing me from playing.

Ive been trying to get into Arah since I started using the LFG tool last week. I look for games that dont state any requirements except level. When I get in the group I generally tell the folks that its my 1st time there and so far my getting kicked rate is 100% without comments questions or consideration of actual experience (I am not new to the game). I suppose I could just stay quiet but that can be problematic. I remember my 1st time in Asc and several time getting absolutely lost as players rushed through the zones and ported to shortcuts. Everyone also knew exactly where to stand and what to do on every boss while I had no idea what was going on which one time did indeed end up wiping the group because apparently it uses a special attack if people are not standing absolutely still and stacked in one spot… Which bring me to the idea of group stacking… this is not strategy and has to be the lamest mechanic I have ever seen in any MMO since instant summons in EQ1. Please fix it so that we can enjoy the content properly and if that means toning down bosses so that they can be attacked properly then please do so. Right now they are trivial anyway due to the stacking mechanics.

Unfortunately between the LFG lockout and lack of groups going into Arah in my play time, it seems like the only way I will ever get in is if I pay one of those guys selling the dungeon for 5-6g… which is very steep given I only make about 5g a day and that assumes I get into other dungeons that day to make some gold to begin with. Otherwise I am going to have to grind and do some really boring stuff to make the money which is not why i play games… I go to work to do that.

The problem with the LFG tool is that after completing a quick 15 minute run in a dungeon, I disband and I cannot join anything for a while. I have no idea what the cool down on joining groups is and that is part of the frustration.

Please add some way for casuals to get access to end game without needing groups. Its simply not fun dealing immature people.

“The problem with the LFG tool is that after completing a quick 15 minute run in a dungeon, I disband and I cannot join anything for a while. I have no idea what the cool down on joining groups is and that is part of the frustration.”

Thats weird, i dont have that cooldown.

About stacking in the AC spider, it makes the fight easier and faster, if this was a traditional mmo you would have the tank in front of the boss and the dps members behind atacking the boss, since we dont have tanks its more effective to stack so you can share boons, condition removal, ress other people etc. And also when stacking in melee range the spider doesnt do the poison wells that can kill a player in 2-3 secs, but the boss does some melee atacks that stack bleeding and cause weakness, and also that web atack. Its not difficult to kill the spider in a “regular” way, but by stacking a high dps group kills it in 30 secs, while by spreading and ranging the boss it would take 5 minutes.

For arah i never pugged any path, but i started to practice solo runs in Arah p2 since i heard its the easiest one to solo, i recommend you to try that too, its easier to do it with a warrior, the most difficult things that you will face will be the trash mobs that are hard to skip and Lupicus, the rest are quite easy.

Watch some vídeos showing how to speed run dungeons and get yourself some berserker gear, then you will be more prepared than most of the “experienced” players we have pugging dungeons. Also watch out for some bad habits you might have that may annoy your group, like if you are a ranger using longbow avoid doing knockbacks when the group is stacking (or even better, dont use ranged weapons when stacking!), if you are a necro try to avoid spamming fears and so on

I hated pugging until I started making my own groups.

Want to avoid the dirtbags? Don’t join “experienced/level 80 only” groups, and make your own, stating everyone is welcome. OK so for Arah you’ll probably want 80’s only, but do under 80’s join those anyway? Maybe they do. So state 80’s only/any experience welcome. So far, using these words has only brought me nice, patient groups.

I’m not sure that there is a cooldown on joining groups, it’s just extremely buggy. It’s been like this since release… worst party sytem ever.

Your problems:

1. Getting Kicked: It’s endemic in MMO’s that players interested in dungeons rush through everything else to get to the dungeons, learn them, then repeat them as long as they are “profitable,” which mean that few of them — especially in a Pugs — are going to be willing to put up with someone still on the learning curve. The only solutions to this problem are: get in on the ground floor when the game goes live; or join a guild that does dungeons and is willing to take inexperienced players. Forming your own group, as Tomlin suggests, can also work.
2. Stacking: This mechanic in GW2 is absolutely by design. SPvP maps all involve capture points which are not that big (about the size of or slightly larger than the support boons, heals, etc. that characters can provide to each other). Group buffs and heals are mostly PBAoE with a small radius. This is why groups stack. Dungeons were supposed to be for coordinated groups of skilled players, and the only things worth coordinating are offensive and defensive buffs which are worthless if the group is not standing in each others’ shadows. It’s also easier to revive the downed if everyone is close.
3. Endgame in groups: Endgame in GW2 seems to be either pursuing the current Living World update or farming for Ascended/Legendary. Dungeons are a small part of this gameplay, and arguably the only one requiring a group. As far as that goes, see number 1, above.

If you use the LFG tool, you need to understand that you will get all sorts of people. You trade comfort and certainty for convenience.

I honestly had better luck finding an Arah story mode group through the old LFG website. I put up an entry, explaining that I’m looking for story mode Arah for personal story completion and that I’ve never been there before. I typically get a tell within 5 minutes and starting the dungeon within 20 min. I’ve done this on 3 or 4 characters.

Dont bother this game has like half a year of life left, i dont think ppl have enough patience to w8 for Anet to fix all these problems, they will just move to something different when the new mmos come out, just enjoy it for now and dont let the community ruin your experience…

Immensus.9732:

Dont bother this game has like half a year of life left, i dont think ppl have enough patience to w8 to Anet to fix all these problems, they will just move to something different when the new mmos come out, just enjoy it for now and dont let the community ruin your experience…

I can tell you that they lost me months ago due to their design decisions and I see that it’s getting worse. I agree, OP shouldn’t bother. But if he intent on continuing, I gave him another route to pursue.

Dark Catalyst.1028:

Immensus.9732:

Dont bother this game has like half a year of life left, i dont think ppl have enough patience to w8 to Anet to fix all these problems, they will just move to something different when the new mmos come out, just enjoy it for now and dont let the community ruin your experience…

I can tell you that they lost me months ago due to their design decisions and I see that it’s getting worse. I agree, OP shouldn’t bother. But if he intent on continuing, I gave him another route to pursue.

Yeah it is getting worse, i dont like complaining i really dont but lately they are disapointing me all the time..

I’d say… you need a good guild to call home.

I stay with my guild for 7+ years now.

I’m with you OP.

Will only do dungeons with my friends now, people that I can trust and count on. Won’t even do them with half the people in my guild. There’s just so many kittens everywhere. Outside of adjusting dungeon scaling, I’m not sure there’s anything ANdy can do about it.

Why don’t you start your own group? Several months after LFG release, groups still fill pretty fast.

Go to the wiki, read about the fights, keep quiet.

My guild is always willing to help out new players, so long as they listen. If we tell you how to do something, we expect you to follow. We will still not kick you, but will become frustrated if you don’t listen and follow directions, especially for Arah. If you still want to try it out, mail me in game, and I’ll see if my guild is up for some dungeons (usually we are at reset time).

Immensus.9732:

Dont bother this game has like half a year of life left

Where exactly are you getting your numbers from? lol

Ambush.9420:

Immensus.9732:

Dont bother this game has like half a year of life left

Where exactly are you getting your numbers from? lol

From the fact that in aprox half a year from now there are awesome MMOs coming out!

Why don’t you post you own LFG, clearly stating its your 1st Arah run?

Doing it around primetime, it should fill up and you won’t get kicked cause everyone knows the score…

I enjoy using the LFG tool…so easy to find a group now.

My LFG has no cooldown, that’s odd.

• As for dungeon, make your own group and state clearly what you wanna do (i.e. Lv80/newcomers welcome etc)
• You can do other stuff, A LOT of stuff here can be done without a group
• End Game are Ascended, Fotm, Legendary, and Living Story. So you can skip dungeon if you feel you’re not having a good luck lately. Other than FotM, these end game can be done solo. You can do champ trains too if you want to.

I’m on the diferent end spectrum of things, love the pugs… ger nervous when I’m in a guild grup. There is 50% chance I get kicked at last boss “to get a guildy”. I feel safe with pugs
LFG tool is super usefull, that cooldown is an anti troll safety.

Just wanted to update this. Right after I posted this some nice folks actually contacted me in game and I finally finished an Arah run. It was fun. Maybe the forums are better for lfg than the tool itself…

As for stacking… I understand the mechanic, I guess I just dont like it because it takes away from strategy. It feels like a mini-zerg battle rather than anything tactical. I go back a long way in MMOs, and I guess some of my fondest memories are of early EQ content where you really needed to play well to beat things. As you gained knowledge things became trivial. Of course it all changed when they went all out raid content with Planes of Power (which also spelled the beginning of the end for EQ1 as all casuals started leaving), but before that the game was insanely fun. Anyway I am just showing my age… I can deal with the stacking mechanic. I just wish people were a bit more patient… sadly, even without experience in places, I probably play better than 95% of them lol.

Well you will have to get over your personal opinion over how you think dungeons should be run and get with the program buddy.

clint.5681:

Well you will have to get over your personal opinion over how you think dungeons should be run and get with the program buddy.

Except that the “program” is not standing in one spot spamming 1 skill.

AntiGw.9367:

Except that the “program” is not standing in one spot spamming 1 skill.

how do you know that?

AntiGw.9367:

clint.5681:

Well you will have to get over your personal opinion over how you think dungeons should be run and get with the program buddy.

Except that the “program” is not standing in one spot spamming 1 skill.

He’s absolutely right. You just need to have auto attack on so you don’t have to hit 1 so much. Plus, dodge occasionally into the wall.

Why would you just stand there and auto-attack? Don’t you think it’s more fun to swap weapons/attunements, stack might, use your more powerful skills etc? I suppose classes other than Elementalist really are that boring.

spiritus.7983:

AntiGw.9367:

Except that the “program” is not standing in one spot spamming 1 skill.

how do you know that?

Game design 101.

Mark.5348:

Im having a hard time finding fun things to do in the game now that I have 2 toons at level 80. The problem is two fold, #1 the community is absolutely horrible for PUGs, and #2 the LFG tool keeps locking me out preventing me from playing.

Ive been trying to get into Arah since I started using the LFG tool last week. I look for games that dont state any requirements except level. When I get in the group I generally tell the folks that its my 1st time there and so far my getting kicked rate is 100% without comments questions or consideration of actual experience (I am not new to the game). I suppose I could just stay quiet but that can be problematic. I remember my 1st time in Asc and several time getting absolutely lost as players rushed through the zones and ported to shortcuts. Everyone also knew exactly where to stand and what to do on every boss while I had no idea what was going on which one time did indeed end up wiping the group because apparently it uses a special attack if people are not standing absolutely still and stacked in one spot… Which bring me to the idea of group stacking… this is not strategy and has to be the lamest mechanic I have ever seen in any MMO since instant summons in EQ1. Please fix it so that we can enjoy the content properly and if that means toning down bosses so that they can be attacked properly then please do so. Right now they are trivial anyway due to the stacking mechanics.

Unfortunately between the LFG lockout and lack of groups going into Arah in my play time, it seems like the only way I will ever get in is if I pay one of those guys selling the dungeon for 5-6g… which is very steep given I only make about 5g a day and that assumes I get into other dungeons that day to make some gold to begin with. Otherwise I am going to have to grind and do some really boring stuff to make the money which is not why i play games… I go to work to do that.

The problem with the LFG tool is that after completing a quick 15 minute run in a dungeon, I disband and I cannot join anything for a while. I have no idea what the cool down on joining groups is and that is part of the frustration.

Please add some way for casuals to get access to end game without needing groups. Its simply not fun dealing immature people.

I understand your frustration..it took me months to get into arah on the old gw2lfg. In gw2 you can join multiple guilds. There is a lot of posted guilds in forums that do regular Dungeon run tutorials. I have done 3-4 tutorials on different arah paths as they tend to be the most sort after. In all honestly there is some fantastic youtube video posted by various players on “How to.” If you watch those and read the wiki’s they pretty much give you all you need to know and that knowledge based experience is enough for you to be very passable. The only thing that will some times get you anger is if players elect to do something very specific, like jumping up the wall in p3 after crusher rather than stealth or fight your way. I have seen teams go about in all sorts of manner, but if they choose to want to jump up..then knowing where to stand so you jump up first pop is good and if it takes you 20-30 goes..then anger will begin to show. This is also true for things like melee on Lupi..unfortunately the only way to learn these is to do them and have a patient team.