Guild Wars 2

tigirius.9014:

I’ve played thru the content of this game. It gets to the point where that’s the only thing you login for anymore after you’ve experienced it all is for dailies or achievement completion.
snip.

Sure in Any MMO there comes a time when you did all there is to do in it and you have to repeat stuff Gw2 is not different in that, it is very different on how it handles that issue though. For one thing the maximum ammount of time you have to live without things to do is 2 weeks, in 2 weeks time there will be new stuff. Secondly and more importantly in most MMOs when that point comes the repeatedness is much much worst. You got to Max Level and did everything? Great here is this raid and this zone with its dailies go repeat that for a few months. How is it in Gw2? Here is 26 zones, 8 dungeons with 3x paths, 9 fractals, some guild missions over 1500 dynamic events, A bunch of jumping puzzles, some mini dungeons, a ton of mini games, some crafting, World bosses, champions, WvW, PvP, Achievements, Dailies and anything else you might fancy doing in the game.

How is saying Ascended gear is not necessary dishonest if its the truth? Where exactly in the game you have to have Ascended gear ? Because I assure you I did it all and I never had a problem even though I dont even have a single piece! Also keep in mind saying its not necessary doesnt mean you shouldnt get it anyway. I dont care about ascended gear yet by just playing whatever I feel like every single day I got enough laurels and guild commendations to buy a full set of trinkets for all my max level characters. Weapon will take a bit of time to get sure but again its not necessary so if it take a month to level up my profession to 500, is that a problem? 2 months?

I dont agree with your basic premise that hard content cannot be casual friendly. In other games that may very well be the case but it certainly is not here. Liadri was hard content, was it impossible to content without ascended gear? definitely not the case cause I beated her with a level 80 alt that barely had 1/2 of its gear exotic and not even a shadow of an ascended gear. Can a casual player that just plays a few hours a week not take part in tequalt? and if s/he does, does that mean the event will fail? of course not its not about the gear its about strategy and co-ordination. Plenty of ways how a casual player can be extremely useful in that fight and make a difference without having the best gear in the game.

Which appology are you talking about? and which part of the game turned out the opposite of what was advertized? that there will be vertical progression in this game? they said that was the case years before the game was released. They even said as far back as 2010 that they might even raise the level cap after release. Or do you perhaps mean Grind? Havent grinded a single second of my 1050+ hrs yet I have enough to get most things in game and definitely have all that is needed to enjoy any content in the game. You might say the game isnt as some people expected, thats fair enough, but not as advertized?

ohh please. How is the game advertised? Is a statement in a 3 year old manifesto thats extremely open to interpretation an advert? of course not. You want to talk how Gw2 is advertized, this is how its really advertized:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XnB0e9UONo
as taken from here:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/

any of that false?

Even if you want to focus on the manifesto and statements they did in past intereviews, keep in mind there is a huge difference between what is and the perception of what is. They said they dont want grind for some the game is a huge grind but guess what? for others there is 0 grind. They said they didnt want the game to be about the gear. For some Ascended gear takes so long to get that the whole game became about the gear since November but guess what? for others they never bothered a second about ascended gear at all. None of the things you mentioned are absolutes and they all have to do with individual players, their perceptions, expectations and how they approach the game. Those statements of intent done so long ago hold true for some, failed to deliver for others. They’re a lie for some, they’re the truth for others. Why should one group, any group be it the ones you love how the game turned out or the ones who hate how the game turned out be the ones to choose what the real truth is?

Ascended gear is required for fractals. Don’t play ignorant card.

The thing is, none of the stuff you mentioned you HAVE to do to be able to do the high end stuff. tequatl? Nope, he only has a shortcut to ascended weapons with unique skins. Ascended weapons? They’re not that much better than exotic. All this is for the hardcore players who has been complaining about the lack of hard and difficult content in the game. Guild Wars 2 is trying to be a game for everyone. 10 months ago when someone complained about the lack of hardcore content, they got the response “Then this game is not for you”, however now this game IS for them too! Or at least it’s going to be when they add more difficult content, which they are. And it shouldn’t be any other way. The ascended gear and the tequatl fight is just not made for you.

/Gammarik

gammarik.9426:

The thing is, none of the stuff you mentioned you HAVE to do to be able to do the high end stuff. tequatl? Nope, he only has a shortcut to ascended weapons with unique skins. Ascended weapons? They’re not that much better than exotic. All this is for the hardcore players who has been complaining about the lack of hard and difficult content in the game. Guild Wars 2 is trying to be a game for everyone. 10 months ago when someone complained about the lack of hardcore content, they got the response “Then this game is not for you”, however now this game IS for them too! Or at least it’s going to be when they add more difficult content, which they are. And it shouldn’t be any other way. The ascended gear and the tequatl fight is just not made for you.

/Gammarik

Adding new loot table to old content and forcing players to chop down holy trees doesn’t make it hardcore at all. Especially if that involves things like world bosses and orrian temples.

haviz.1340:

Ascended gear is required for fractals. Don’t play ignorant card.

Ascended gear is required for higher level Fractals. There’s nothing stopping players who don’t want Ascended from actually experiencing the different Fractals.

TheDaiBish.9735:

haviz.1340:

Ascended gear is required for fractals. Don’t play ignorant card.

Ascended gear is required for higher level Fractals. There’s nothing stopping players who don’t want Ascended from actually experiencing the different Fractals.

And that “higher” fractal level is completely worthless and just a waste of time. You can get the “max” rewards at a level easily doable just with Fractal Ascended gear (Rings/Backpiece) there is no reason to go any higher.

kbenton.4915:

I remember when this game was being advertised as being very casual and that you could jump into any aspect of it and have fun. I feel like Arena Net has drifted away from this in many ways. First, it was ascended items. We were told we would get our end game gear and never have to worry about it in the future. But no. More and more ascended items keep coming out. Next, it was spvp and tpvp and their attempts at making this so-called casual, fun mmo a certified esport. Now it’s tequatl. Arena net. If you think a random casual that plays this game for 2 hours a week can still have fun and remain in the swing of things through these changes, you are wrong. (I’m not even in this category, I play about 12 hours a week, but a few of my RL gw buddies are.) They simply can’t keep up.

Your games design is lovely. It’s beautiful, yet complex. A casual has a hard time retaining all of these complexities, while at the same time maintaining a grind to get better gear. A year ago, we chose a lower tier wvw server so we could do small group stuff and not just run around in a huge “competitive” zerg ball simply because it’s not fun. Cool you were world 1st teq kill and top wvw server? Well numbers are an amazing thing in this game aren’t they. Too bad that takes almost no individual effort (I transferred away from Blackgate, and have also killed teq.)

Please Arena Net. Stop going down this slippery slope that every mmo seems to go down. You guys are different. At least I think (hope!). We want challenging small group stuff that we can PLAY through now, with our current gear. That’s why we chose you. We love the gameplay. It’s time to cater to your beautifully crafted game and stop the useless progression by zerg game.

The game is casual, the game is laid back and not EVERY PEICE of content is going to be casual and just for you, they need to make updates for all people, similar to legendary weapons not being for casuals unless they want to SLOWWWWLY grind or get very lucky.

maddoctor.2738:

And that “higher” fractal level is completely worthless and just a waste of time. You can get the “max” rewards at a level easily doable just with Fractal Ascended gear (Rings/Backpiece) there is no reason to go any higher.

Wanting to complete something remotely difficult is a reason. Facerolling through content is not my view of fun. Maybe you prefer to run in zerg doing nothing beside pressing 1 but there are some people who find that insulting.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Ascended gear is required for higher level Fractals. There’s nothing stopping players who don’t want Ascended from actually experiencing the different Fractals.

Why fractal runners are forced to chop down wood in orr to be able to run higher levels? Does that make any sense to you? If ascended gear is only required for fractals it should be obtainable only in fractals or at least also in fractals. Weapon boxes are not something anyone with more brain cells than amoeba would consider a solution.

haviz.1340:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Ascended gear is required for higher level Fractals. There’s nothing stopping players who don’t want Ascended from actually experiencing the different Fractals.

Why fractal runners are forced to chop down wood in orr to be able to run higher levels? Does that make any sense to you? If ascended gear is only required for fractals it should be obtainable only in fractals or at least also in fractals. Weapon boxes are not something anyone with more brain cells than amoeba would consider a solution.

Please point out where I said that needing open-world content to do Fractals made sense, or that Ascended gear shouldn’t be available in Fractals.

I was merely replying to your statement that Ascended was a requirement for Fractals, which is false.

Anthony.7219:

snip…

Tried the new Tequatil in an overflow pug, killed the old one back in the day, but this new one was timed and had 90% health left… That was fun, so I don’t get wings on my back, big deal.
snip..

First of all welcome to the club and congratualtions

Secondly ohh you can still get the wings without beating tequalt as well…
you need to complete 8 achievements related to big bosses. There are 5 I believe that are available all the time which you can do. they’re just a little scavenger hunt in 3 zones. Just look for the boss week tab under achievements to get started.

Every day there is also a daily achievement that applies to that list of 8. Its generally kill any dragon, doesnt have to be tequalt or just simply participate in the tequalt fight no need to win.

So if you want them you can still have them really

haviz.1340:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Ascended gear is required for higher level Fractals. There’s nothing stopping players who don’t want Ascended from actually experiencing the different Fractals.

Why fractal runners are forced to chop down wood in orr to be able to run higher levels? Does that make any sense to you? If ascended gear is only required for fractals it should be obtainable only in fractals or at least also in fractals. Weapon boxes are not something anyone with more brain cells than amoeba would consider a solution.

It makes sense to me. Because people who do nothing but run dungeons, pretty much don’t contribute to the game Anet was trying to design with a living breathing world. The fractals were a bone thrown to grinders, like ascended weapons, nothing more.

The idea that you can just seclude yourself in a fractal and do nothing else ever and expect to progress is ludicrous.

I like this game but I’m ONLY going to do a fractal.

Anyway, a high level fractal runner can run all the fractals they want, get the money to buy mats and never chop down anything.

They’d just need to run a lot more fractals.

There’s a woman in my guild. She doesn’t like jumping puzzles, dungeons or PvP…then complains she doesn’t have enough money for repairs and waypoint costs. I don’t say anything to her (because she’s very nice) but to me, it makes no sense.

The game is a game, with goals. If you want the goals, you play the game. Playing one aspect of the game isn’t really playing the game.

Sentry.3691:

Thank you for that patronizing reply. I play on Anvil Rock. I understand imbalance just fine, thank you. And I have remained loyal to my server.

Fact: Wvw is poorly balanced. Fact: Wvw could be more balanced. The problem is that Anet appears to have given up on making it so. This new ascended gear along with a number of recent additions (perplexity runes) have made wvw players very frustrated.

At its root, again, the problem is that people simply WILL NOT play a competitive game, long-term, if the game designers refuse to fix blatant imbalances. An increasingly imbalanced pvp game is not fun or rewarding. If your contributions in wvw are increasingly negated by intrusive and frustrating game mechanics, why would you bother to play?

I, for one, know that my server, Anvil Rock, has little or no chance of winning from week to week since we sank to the bottom of the wvw rankings. As such, the fights are the only thing keeping me going. Now, with ascended gear, kitten -poor class balance, the bloodlust buff, and badly designed WXP upgrades, wvw is becoming a joke. Skill matters less and less. When skill is not rewarded, pvp players leave.

It is true that wvw will never be completely balanced due to the fact that it is linked to pve-land. The problem is that every recent update to the game has exacerbated the imbalance, and upcoming updates appear to be even worse offenders. It is an unpleasant trend. If it continues, wvw will be a ghost town within a few months.

All of WvWvW is imbalanced, and adding more more thing in the list of many things that imbalance WvWvW is not going to matter.

facepalm You know what? You’re right. Wvw is all about zerging in a giant karma train and mindlessly following a blue dorito around, right? Why do I even bother…

I am sorry you felt it was a patronizing reply, I assure you that wasnt my intention in the least. You can check my previous replies to other people and you’ll see I always try to explain and back my arguments with facts as often as possible just because there is a tendency for people to think some people are just “white knights” and defend arenanet on anything without reason. Hence I try to back my arguments with fact just so to avoid being dismissed unfairly. Its more so in cases like these where stuff is more subjective. If I had simply said its not a problem because it is very likely most fights you’ll end up with would be unbalanced rather then the whole 20vs50vs150 example people could just as easily dismiss that statement as a baseless option. I assure you I meant no disrespect.

As for the imbalance, WvW is a war. There is imbalance in battles but the war is balanced out. Think of it like chess. If I am trying to move a pawn and come face to face with a queen the battle will be unbalanced. I can only move my pawn a single square forward while the queen can move as much as she wishes in any direction. Does that mean that chess is unbalanced? no because if instead of looking at a single battle you look at the war I have the same advantages and disadvantages of my opponent. Same thing with WvW, WvW ist about me against them, its about my server against their server. I may lack any ascended gear, others in my server have ascended gear and the same is true for their server. The same goes for Siege weapons, consumbables, Buffs, etc… I may not be at my peak performance because I am a level 10 character with nothing but common gear does that mean I am looseless? Well is a pawn useless just cause it doesnt have all the flexiblity and power of the queen? plenty of games in chess get won because of pawns!

haviz.1340:

Ascended gear is required for fractals. Don’t play ignorant card.

Correction, Ascended gear is required for high level fractals. High level fractals are meant for people who want vertical progression by using an ever increasing amount of agony that can be countered by ever increasing better gear.

No one is saying there is 0 use for Ascended gear. We’re saying Ascended gear is not required for anything which is true. You can still play all the fractals with 0 ascended gear. What we’re saying essentially is dont play content in a way thats meant for vertical progression if you’re against vertical progression. Again please not we’re not saying dont play that content. You can still play every single fractal with no ascended gear. We’re saying dont try to reach the top of the vertical progression chain if you dont want a vertical progression chain. You can do both, its your choice which way you go.

haviz.1340:

Ascended gear is required for fractals. Don’t play ignorant card.

“Ignorance is bliss” is these people way of life.

They are called PR.

haviz.1340:

maddoctor.2738:

And that “higher” fractal level is completely worthless and just a waste of time. You can get the “max” rewards at a level easily doable just with Fractal Ascended gear (Rings/Backpiece) there is no reason to go any higher.

Wanting to complete something remotely difficult is a reason. Facerolling through content is not my view of fun. Maybe you prefer to run in zerg doing nothing beside pressing 1 but there are some people who find that insulting.

Cant you see the irony in what you just said? The biggest Irony is I actually agree with you. Facerolling through content is definitely not fun which is why I never got a single ascended piece. I also PvE in rares and when I could those rares had MF stats. The game is super easy as is why would you want to get BiS gear and make it even easier?

haviz.1340:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Ascended gear is required for higher level Fractals. There’s nothing stopping players who don’t want Ascended from actually experiencing the different Fractals.

Why fractal runners are forced to chop down wood in orr to be able to run higher levels? Does that make any sense to you? If ascended gear is only required for fractals it should be obtainable only in fractals or at least also in fractals. Weapon boxes are not something anyone with more brain cells than amoeba would consider a solution.

Why not?

Vayne.8563:

It makes sense to me. Because people who do nothing but run dungeons, pretty much don’t contribute to the game Anet was trying to design with a living breathing world. The fractals were a bone thrown to grinders, like ascended weapons, nothing more.

So, the initial design where you could do just wvw, dungeons or open world to get exotics were thrown out of a window. Makes sense. Living world has nothing to do with players but with constant dynamic changes.

There are people doing just open world and they can progress, there are people doing just dungeons and fractals and they could have progress, there are people doing just wvw and they could have progress. I see a contradiction here which is mostly due to incompetence and short-sighted vision of our dear developers who apparently want to turn pve to a place where you press 1 and win. I hope you enjoy that, I, on the other hand, don’t want to get a brain cancer.

The idea that you can just seclude yourself in a fractal and do nothing else ever and expect to progress is ludicrous.

The idea that you have 153 pages of white knighting every stupid design decision of our dear developers is at least amusing to me.

I like this game but I’m ONLY going to do a fractal.

Anyway, a high level fractal runner can run all the fractals they want, get the money to buy mats and never chop down anything.

They’d just need to run a lot more fractals.

Except that you get more money for cutting down a tree than for doing whole fractal level 79. Another great design by anet.

Galen Grey.4709:

Correction, Ascended gear is required for high level fractals. High level fractals are meant for people who want vertical progression by using an ever increasing amount of agony that can be countered by ever increasing better gear.

No one is saying there is 0 use for Ascended gear. We’re saying Ascended gear is not required for anything which is true. You can still play all the fractals with 0 ascended gear. What we’re saying essentially is dont play content in a way thats meant for vertical progression if you’re against vertical progression. Again please not we’re not saying dont play that content. You can still play every single fractal with no ascended gear. We’re saying dont try to reach the top of the vertical progression chain if you dont want a vertical progression chain. You can do both, its your choice which way you go.

High level fractals are the only thing remotely difficult in this game. There’s virtually nothing in pve that is hard to complete. I don’t want vertical progression, I hate it. I want challenging and rewarding content. Instead we have brainless activities that rewards you higher than doing something challenging. And to do something remotely hard you have to participate in those kinds of activities.

Galen Grey.4709:

Why not?

Because it’s completely relevant?

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

Correction, Ascended gear is required for high level fractals. High level fractals are meant for people who want vertical progression by using an ever increasing amount of agony that can be countered by ever increasing better gear.

No one is saying there is 0 use for Ascended gear. We’re saying Ascended gear is not required for anything which is true. You can still play all the fractals with 0 ascended gear. What we’re saying essentially is dont play content in a way thats meant for vertical progression if you’re against vertical progression. Again please not we’re not saying dont play that content. You can still play every single fractal with no ascended gear. We’re saying dont try to reach the top of the vertical progression chain if you dont want a vertical progression chain. You can do both, its your choice which way you go.

High level fractals are the only thing remotely difficult in this game. There’s virtually nothing in pve that is hard to complete. I don’t want vertical progression, I hate it. I want challenging and rewarding content. Instead we have brainless activities that rewards you higher than doing something challenging. And to do something remotely hard you have to participate in those kinds of activities.

Anyway if you do so many fractals why is it such a big problem to gear up in ascended items for you?

Doing fractals and completing Dailies which you should automatically do playing fractals most of the times at least is enough and to get you most the time. If you’re having trouble with dailies you could also do a few guild missions and get the items that you cannot get directly from fractals. Some of them are quite challenging as well so it should still be fun for you.

As for ascended weapons they drop in fractals as well no need to craft them. Sure you need to get lucky and get the stats you desire to have the best possible weapon I’ll give you that but any drop will be enough to provide you with agony resistance which should allow you to progress further at the same time leaving you another goal to achieve. Why is that a problem? sorry I dont see it?

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

Why not?

Because it’s completely relevant?

Sorry should have been more specific, I meant why is getting an ascended weapon through a drop in the fractals not a viable way to get an ascended weapon.

haviz.1340:

High level fractals are the only thing remotely difficult in this game. There’s virtually nothing in pve that is hard to complete. I don’t want vertical progression, I hate it. I want challenging and rewarding content. Instead we have brainless activities that rewards you higher than doing something challenging. And to do something remotely hard you have to participate in those kinds of activities.

Then why not continue to do high-level Fractals? Surely the higher level Fractals would be more of a challenge if you haven’t got the AR crutch?

And just out of curiosity, what level Fractals have you got up to?

Galen Grey.4709:

Sorry should have been more specific, I meant why is getting an ascended weapon through a drop in the fractals not a viable way to get an ascended weapon.

Because it don’t need 16 out of 17 of those statistics? What happen to idea of not getting something you don’t want. It was explained rather thoroughly by Eric Flannum and was the reason we have token system implemented in dungeons.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Then why not continue to do high-level Fractals? Surely the higher level Fractals would be more of a challenge if you haven’t got the AR crutch?

And just out of curiosity, what level Fractals have you got up to?

80.

Galen Grey.4709:

As for ascended weapons they drop in fractals as well no need to craft them. Sure you need to get lucky and get the stats you desire to have the best possible weapon I’ll give you that but any drop will be enough to provide you with agony resistance which should allow you to progress further at the same time leaving you another goal to achieve. Why is that a problem? sorry I dont see it?

The current design is a problem for me. It’s a 180 turn from initial design that still is present in dungeons.

haviz.1340:

So, the initial design where you could do just wvw, dungeons or open world to get exotics were thrown out of a window. Makes sense. Living world has nothing to do with players but with constant dynamic changes.

There are people doing just open world and they can progress, there are people doing just dungeons and fractals and they could have progress, there are people doing just wvw and they could have progress. I see a contradiction here which is mostly due to incompetence and short-sighted vision of our dear developers who apparently want to turn pve to a place where you press 1 and win. I hope you enjoy that, I, on the other hand, don’t want to get a brain cancer.

There are parts of the PvE world where you can pretty much just press 1 and win, but that would mean your level in that particular zone usually isn’t in tandem with the zone level. I just went through Orr with my level 80 main and there are many instances where I don’t just press 1 and win there. In fact, in one of the South Pact base defense, me and 3 other players were pretty much utilizing all our skill sets to repel the Risen attackers. And it was fun because we knew that we were doing our part in case the last leg on the Balthazar Temple run fails, we had a point midway to continue from.

If you’re gonna just champ farm in Queensdale/Frostgorge with a zerg in PvE, of course you’re self-imposing conditions where the game becomes substantially easier through gasp camaraderie.

There’s always adequately challenging content in the game. It’s dependent on the players if they wanna do it or not, is all.

Edit: Typo correction(s)

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

Sorry should have been more specific, I meant why is getting an ascended weapon through a drop in the fractals not a viable way to get an ascended weapon.

Because it don’t need 16 out of 17 of those statistics? What happen to idea of not getting something you don’t want. It was explained rather thoroughly by Eric Flannum and was the reason we have token system implemented in dungeons.

You have 0 alts? or all those alts use the same build? is it really 16 out of 17?

But anyway you have a valid point their either way even if it was 12 / 17 it wouldnt change the fact that you could get a sub optimal drop.

I dont know why they did it that way… I can only assume it was to limit the speed of acquisition for players who do fractals only but thats just my theory. Still while not ideal is it really that game breaking? You can still enjoy fractals, you can still have your challenge and still have it all until you get the drop you want. It is not really negatively affecting you in any way, there is no problem waiting for the drop you desire as far as I can tell. Of course if you cannot wait you’re always free to craft it.

I am sure that in the future like they expanded the way to earn rings and such they will make ascended weapons more accessible as well if crafting is not an acceptable solution to you. In the meantime you can still try to get it through drops, even if 16 out of 17 are useless it doesnt mean you cannot get the one you want with the 1st, 2nd, 5th drop after all!

ToPocHi.2480:

There’s always adequately challenging content in the game. It’s dependent on the players if they wanna do it or not, is all.

There is one for me. But I first have to chop down trees worth of amazonian jungle.

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

As for ascended weapons they drop in fractals as well no need to craft them. Sure you need to get lucky and get the stats you desire to have the best possible weapon I’ll give you that but any drop will be enough to provide you with agony resistance which should allow you to progress further at the same time leaving you another goal to achieve. Why is that a problem? sorry I dont see it?

The current design is a problem for me. It’s a 180 turn from initial design that still is present in dungeons.

Fractals themselves are a change in direction from the initial design and that change was made to give content to people like you who craved challenge and difficulty that dungeons didnt provide. Another problem they’re addressing is that of people who want ever better gear and they consider nothing else as a worthy reward. Thats the clash you’re experiencing.

You want the first but dont care about the 2nd. Its a bummer but its a necessary evil unfortunately. Consider that players like we are not really happy about ascended gear at all, I’d rather it didnt exist but then players like you would be robbed from the content they love and thats not fair. We have all to accept things that we dont like 100% for the good of the game. I dont like Ascended gear and would rather not have it, yet I defend Arenanet reason for implementing it simply because I understand that its necessary content for people like you. Like wise you have to compromise. You need it because it fuels the content you love yet you dont like the way its being given out. Fair enough but understand its needed as other players need to have a goal they work towards to enjoy the game.

Galen Grey.4709:

You have 0 alts? or all those alts use the same build? is it really 16 out of 17?

But anyway you have a valid point their either way even if it was 12 / 17 it wouldnt change the fact that you could get a sub optimal drop.

I have 2 alts. All of them are using one stat because there’s no point in using others if you play high level fractals. Unless I’d have necro or engy but unfortunately I don’t and I don’t intend to make more alts.

I dont know why they did it that way… I can only assume it was to limit the speed of acquisition for players who do fractals only but thats just my theory. Still while not ideal is it really that game breaking? You can still enjoy fractals, you can still have your challenge and still have it all until you get the drop you want. It is not really negatively affecting you in any way, there is no problem waiting for the drop you desire as far as I can tell. Of course if you cannot wait you’re always free to craft it.

I am sure that in the future like they expanded the way to earn rings and such they will make ascended weapons more accessible as well if crafting is not an acceptable solution to you. In the meantime you can still try to get it through drops, even if 16 out of 17 are useless it doesnt mean you cannot get the one you want with the 1st, 2nd, 5th drop after all!

You are rewarded with fractal weapon skins with exactly same way. Guess how many people got weapons they had wanted. And keep in mind that I could get almost every skin and it still could be useful. Weapon boxes should let you pick type of stats, not type of weapon.

They don’t have to limit the speed of acquisition since they blocked even fractals level from 50. Right now, AR simply allows bads to complete normal fractal runs easier.

haviz.1340:

The idea that you have 153 pages of white knighting every stupid design decision of our dear developers is at least amusing to me.

Glad I’m entertaining you. But where you see a stupid design decision, I see other things. Sometimes it’s a compromise and sometimes it’s a design decision that annoys a certain percentage of the playerbase while catering to another. Gamers are very self-centered. Everything that doesn’t fit their play style is a stupid decision and everything that fits their play style is brilliant.

I sincerely doubt any developer could make decisions that a percentage of their player base wouldn’t find stupid.

I came to a realization recently… essentially it boils down to this. GW2 is a casual MMO specifically in comparison to other, older MMO’s. It might not be 100% casual across its entire range of content. I personally feel that is a good thing because it gives you something to work on in the game without sucking your life away, but that’s just my opinion.

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

You have 0 alts? or all those alts use the same build? is it really 16 out of 17?

But anyway you have a valid point their either way even if it was 12 / 17 it wouldnt change the fact that you could get a sub optimal drop.

I have 2 alts. All of them are using one stat because there’s no point in using others if you play high level fractals. Unless I’d have necro or engy but unfortunately I don’t and I don’t intend to make more alts.

I dont know why they did it that way… I can only assume it was to limit the speed of acquisition for players who do fractals only but thats just my theory. Still while not ideal is it really that game breaking? You can still enjoy fractals, you can still have your challenge and still have it all until you get the drop you want. It is not really negatively affecting you in any way, there is no problem waiting for the drop you desire as far as I can tell. Of course if you cannot wait you’re always free to craft it.

I am sure that in the future like they expanded the way to earn rings and such they will make ascended weapons more accessible as well if crafting is not an acceptable solution to you. In the meantime you can still try to get it through drops, even if 16 out of 17 are useless it doesnt mean you cannot get the one you want with the 1st, 2nd, 5th drop after all!

You are rewarded with fractal weapon skins with exactly same way. Guess how many people got weapons they had wanted. And keep in mind that I could get almost every skin and it still could be useful. Weapon boxes should let you pick type of stats, not type of weapon.

They don’t have to limit the speed of acquisition since they blocked even fractals level from 50. Right now, AR simply allows bads to complete normal fractal runs easier.

Yes I agree it would have been better if they allowed players to pick stats as well as type.

But I disagree with the no need to limit speed of acquisition. Thats only valid for players who just want to play fractals, it would be a problem for players who want VP and their only interest in Ascended gear is not in fractals themselves but because they’re BiS. If you could easily get a drop and fast from fractals these players will simply use that as a means to acquire their ascended weapon and we’d fast approach the point where Anet would need to decide if they should do another tier of gear or not something none of us wants I would say.

Galen Grey.4709:

Fractals themselves are a change in direction from the initial design and that change was made to give content to people like you who craved challenge and difficulty that dungeons didnt provide. Another problem they’re addressing is that of people who want ever better gear and they consider nothing else as a worthy reward. Thats the clash you’re experiencing.

You want the first but dont care about the 2nd. Its a bummer but its a necessary evil unfortunately. Consider that players like we are not really happy about ascended gear at all, I’d rather it didnt exist but then players like you would be robbed from the content they love and thats not fair. We have all to accept things that we dont like 100% for the good of the game. I dont like Ascended gear and would rather not have it, yet I defend Arenanet reason for implementing it simply because I understand that its necessary content for people like you. Like wise you have to compromise. You need it because it fuels the content you love yet you dont like the way its being given out. Fair enough but understand its needed as other players need to have a goal they work towards to enjoy the game.

I don’t want better rewards per se, I want better rewards (skins) for completing harder content than people who press 1 all day can get. I’m perfectly fine with pure horizontal progression, in fact that would make this game much better.

Harder content -> unique skins
Easy content -> less unique skins

Which actually reminds me of gw2 at launch. You could craft terrible looking armours and weapons or do harder content and get arah gear for instance.

haviz.1340:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Then why not continue to do high-level Fractals? Surely the higher level Fractals would be more of a challenge if you haven’t got the AR crutch?

And just out of curiosity, what level Fractals have you got up to?

80.

So how does not having an Ascended weapon affect you?

I mean, surely the more AR you get, the easier it’d become at that point? All bosses at that point only do 1% per tick in Agony, apart from the Jade Maw.

Vayne.8563:

haviz.1340:

The idea that you have 153 pages of white knighting every stupid design decision of our dear developers is at least amusing to me.

Glad I’m entertaining you. But where you see a stupid design decision, I see other things. Sometimes it’s a compromise and sometimes it’s a design decision that annoys a certain percentage of the playerbase while catering to another. Gamers are very self-centered. Everything that doesn’t fit their play style is a stupid decision and everything that fits their play style is brilliant.

I sincerely doubt any developer could make decisions that a percentage of their player base wouldn’t find stupid.

Vayne is absolutely right here and spot on.

MMOs are about all players not just 1 player. Keep in mind that design decisions that dont apply to you might be very well vital for another type of player.

The whole thing is a compromise.

I for one for example dont like the idea of vertical progression in the least, so I was against Ascended gear. Even posted against it in the very first pages of the ascended gear mega thread.

Yet now a days I defend it. I still dont like the idea, still dont have a single piece of ascended gear so why do I defend it? because 1. I release that its needed for some players and 2. because they didnt forget about players like me when they implemented, they made sure that if I chose to ignore it I wouldnt be gated out of anything and that if I dont have it I can still enjoy everything including WvW

So why should I criticize them in some cases pretty harshly just for giving other players what they want?

TheDaiBish.9735:

So how does not having an Ascended weapon affect you?

I mean, surely the more AR you get, the easier it’d become at that point? All bosses at that point only do 1% per tick in Agony, apart from the Jade Maw.

What are you talking about? Bosses do 18% per tick while maw ~1000% per tick at that level. But once anet unlocks even levels 50+ you will have to get more AR if you ever want to complete daily which is the only rewarding part of fractals. You can’t avoid maw agony unlike other bosses’.

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

Fractals themselves are a change in direction from the initial design and that change was made to give content to people like you who craved challenge and difficulty that dungeons didnt provide. Another problem they’re addressing is that of people who want ever better gear and they consider nothing else as a worthy reward. Thats the clash you’re experiencing.

You want the first but dont care about the 2nd. Its a bummer but its a necessary evil unfortunately. Consider that players like we are not really happy about ascended gear at all, I’d rather it didnt exist but then players like you would be robbed from the content they love and thats not fair. We have all to accept things that we dont like 100% for the good of the game. I dont like Ascended gear and would rather not have it, yet I defend Arenanet reason for implementing it simply because I understand that its necessary content for people like you. Like wise you have to compromise. You need it because it fuels the content you love yet you dont like the way its being given out. Fair enough but understand its needed as other players need to have a goal they work towards to enjoy the game.

I don’t want better rewards per se, I want better rewards (skins) for completing harder content than people who press 1 all day can get. I’m perfectly fine with pure horizontal progression, in fact that would make this game much better.

Harder content -> unique skins
Easy content -> less unique skins

Which actually reminds me of gw2 at launch. You could craft terrible looking armours and weapons or do harder content and get arah gear for instance.

I understand that, I didnt mean you. I meant other players who think skins are pointless. I am sure you saw posts from people refering to cosmetic rewards as playing dress up. Not everyone things of cosmetic rewards as a goal worth pursuiting some people will not accept anything short of better stats and those players need content as well.

Galen Grey.4709:

I understand that, I didnt mean you. I meant other players who think skins are pointless. I am sure you saw posts from people refering to cosmetic rewards as playing dress up. Not everyone things of cosmetic rewards as a goal worth pursuiting some people will not accept anything short of better stats and those players need content as well.

That kind of content is present in bunch of other games. This game was advertised with different purpose. Or did anet sniffed more money from content locusts? Can’t blame them for that, but I can blame them for implementing ascended weapons they way they are now. Forcing people to do the most boring thing this game offers is surely the way to please your entire playerbase.

Galen Grey.4709:

Vayne is absolutely right here and spot on.

MMOs are about all players not just 1 player. Keep in mind that design decisions that dont apply to you might be very well vital for another type of player.

The whole thing is a compromise.

I for one for example dont like the idea of vertical progression in the least, so I was against Ascended gear. Even posted against it in the very first pages of the ascended gear mega thread.

Yet now a days I defend it. I still dont like the idea, still dont have a single piece of ascended gear so why do I defend it? because 1. I release that its needed for some players and 2. because they didnt forget about players like me when they implemented, they made sure that if I chose to ignore it I wouldnt be gated out of anything and that if I dont have it I can still enjoy everything including WvW

So why should I criticize them in some cases pretty harshly just for giving other players what they want?

It’s a bad compromise. They should implement different methods of acquisition than random drops.

Where is his post anyway?

haviz.1340:

TheDaiBish.9735:

So how does not having an Ascended weapon affect you?

I mean, surely the more AR you get, the easier it’d become at that point? All bosses at that point only do 1% per tick in Agony, apart from the Jade Maw.

What are you talking about? Bosses do 18% per tick while maw ~1000% per tick at that level. But once anet unlocks even levels 50+ you will have to get more AR if you ever want to complete daily which is the only rewarding part of fractals. You can’t avoid maw agony unlike other bosses’.

How is having something that can only be prevented by a stat ‘challenging’?

And I read the table wrong (was looking down instead of across) so my apologies.

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

I understand that, I didnt mean you. I meant other players who think skins are pointless. I am sure you saw posts from people refering to cosmetic rewards as playing dress up. Not everyone things of cosmetic rewards as a goal worth pursuiting some people will not accept anything short of better stats and those players need content as well.

That kind of content is present in bunch of other games. This game was advertised with different purpose. Or did anet sniffed more money from content locusts? Can’t blame them for that, but I can blame them for implementing ascended weapons they way they are now. Forcing people to do the most boring thing this game offers is surely the way to please your entire playerbase.

I am afraid you’re mistaken intent with advertisement.

What you’re talking about is intent. The intent is you can play the game without having to worry about gear ever. Thats entirely true. You can indeed play the entire game without having to worry about gear. I myself am proof of that having played the entire gear without owning a single piece of ascended gear. That intent though doesnt mean that players who like vertical progression have to be cut out, they can have their thing as long as the original intent (that which gear isnt crucial to the game) is satisfied.

Again they’re not forcing anyone to do anything.
You’re free to ignore ascended weapons and you can still play the content you enjoy and still eventually get the ascended weapon you want as a drop playing nothing other then content you play now. Sure it may take a while, most likely a while longer then the alternative but its none the less possible. With that in mind saying you’re forced to play boring content is wrong. To be forced that weapon needs to be needed (which it isnt) and you would have no other option to get it (which isnt even the case)

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

Vayne is absolutely right here and spot on.

MMOs are about all players not just 1 player. Keep in mind that design decisions that dont apply to you might be very well vital for another type of player.

The whole thing is a compromise.

I for one for example dont like the idea of vertical progression in the least, so I was against Ascended gear. Even posted against it in the very first pages of the ascended gear mega thread.

Yet now a days I defend it. I still dont like the idea, still dont have a single piece of ascended gear so why do I defend it? because 1. I release that its needed for some players and 2. because they didnt forget about players like me when they implemented, they made sure that if I chose to ignore it I wouldnt be gated out of anything and that if I dont have it I can still enjoy everything including WvW

So why should I criticize them in some cases pretty harshly just for giving other players what they want?

It’s a bad compromise. They should implement different methods of acquisition than random drops.

Where is his post anyway?

They did, crafting. You might not like crafting but some do. Since november crafting was useless for acquiring ascended gear, its about time they got some love in that department as well.

The Ascended gear mega thread?
I think it was deleted unfortunately.

TheDaiBish.9735:

How is having something that can only be prevented by a stat ‘challenging’?

And I read the table wrong (was looking down instead of across) so my apologies.

Have I said that maw is challenging? Because it’s not. But once anet unlocks higher levels, which should happen when they add 3 additional fractals, you will want to do dailies at higher levels, because solid ocean is the only rewarding fractal (even though its reward is still basically a trash).

This table is wrong anyway and presents how agony will affect you after even levels are unlocked.

Galen Grey.4709:

They did, crafting. You might not like crafting but some do. Since november crafting was useless for acquiring ascended gear, its about time they got some love in that department as well.

The Ascended gear mega thread?
I think it was deleted unfortunately.

Different methods, not different method for different gear (rings, amulets, etc).

Galen Grey.4709:

I am afraid you’re mistaken intent with advertisement.

What you’re talking about is intent. The intent is you can play the game without having to worry about gear ever. Thats entirely true. You can indeed play the entire game without having to worry about gear. I myself am proof of that having played the entire gear without owning a single piece of ascended gear. That intent though doesnt mean that players who like vertical progression have to be cut out, they can have their thing as long as the original intent (that which gear isnt crucial to the game) is satisfied.

Again they’re not forcing anyone to do anything.
You’re free to ignore ascended weapons and you can still play the content you enjoy and still eventually get the ascended weapon you want as a drop playing nothing other then content you play now. Sure it may take a while, most likely a while longer then the alternative but its none the less possible. With that in mind saying you’re forced to play boring content is wrong. To be forced that weapon needs to be needed (which it isnt) and you would have no other option to get it (which isnt even the case)

You can’t play entire game with your just exotics. And saying it might take slightly longer is not an answer.

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

I am afraid you’re mistaken intent with advertisement.

What you’re talking about is intent. The intent is you can play the game without having to worry about gear ever. Thats entirely true. You can indeed play the entire game without having to worry about gear. I myself am proof of that having played the entire gear without owning a single piece of ascended gear. That intent though doesnt mean that players who like vertical progression have to be cut out, they can have their thing as long as the original intent (that which gear isnt crucial to the game) is satisfied.

Again they’re not forcing anyone to do anything.
You’re free to ignore ascended weapons and you can still play the content you enjoy and still eventually get the ascended weapon you want as a drop playing nothing other then content you play now. Sure it may take a while, most likely a while longer then the alternative but its none the less possible. With that in mind saying you’re forced to play boring content is wrong. To be forced that weapon needs to be needed (which it isnt) and you would have no other option to get it (which isnt even the case)

You can’t play entire game with your just exotics. And saying it might take slightly longer is not an answer.

You can play everything with exotics bar a higher difficulty in one particular dungeon.

haviz.1340:

Galen Grey.4709:

They did, crafting. You might not like crafting but some do. Since november crafting was useless for acquiring ascended gear, its about time they got some love in that department as well.

The Ascended gear mega thread?
I think it was deleted unfortunately.

Different methods, not different method for different gear (rings, amulets, etc).

Its being added gradually they said when they’re done with ascended gear it will be possible to get any piece in different ways like it is possible to get exotic gear in different ways.

haviz.1340:

You can’t play entire game with your just exotics. And saying it might take slightly longer is not an answer.

Ohh come on, of course you can, You dont even need exotics really.

Which part of this game you cannot play in exotics?
and please dont say level 50 fractals cause you might not survive level 50 in exotics sure but you can still play those same fractals in level 1 – 10.. even up to 20 if you’re good enough wearing not a single ascended item.