Guild Wars 2

Given the haphazard way you gain traits, it’s hard to imagine anyone loving this. You might think the idea is fine, but then you hit that trait at the end of a chain of group events that don’t much happen.

Or, like me over the weekend, you participate in Balthazaar and don’t get credit…

PookieDaWombat.6209:

The trait changes, more than anything else, are a major gold sink. i think after the first Pavilion event, Anet realized that they injected a TON of gold into the economy and have been trying to find ways to bleed it and the materials from it out of the economy so they introduced the Bazaar and a few other things, but this wasn’t removing it fast enough. i honestly think these traits changes (aside from dragging out the leveling and growth of new toons) was meant to tear out more gold from the world and also make it near impossible for new players to hold onto vast amounts of gold as they leveled. Its honestly the only “logical” reason I can think of for these changes to still be here.

I seriously hope that isn’t true. I mean, it makes more sense than the reasons they gave when they announced it, but imagining that they would counterbalance poor distribution planning in temporary content by wrecking a core aspect of the game is just depressing.

That said, I’m not convinced that it’s useful as a sink. New players can’t afford to pay much. Non-alt players don’t need to. Actual alt players seem to be flatly refusing to pay because the costs are so ridiculous, and repeated on every character.

Obviously I don’t have the data there. If it is a good sink, then it’s a horrible one. If it’s a poor sink, then it’s a useless and horrible one.

The reason why I say this is because if there are altaholics out there willing to drop their gold on buying a vast majority of these traits instead of map opening for the 345786234 time, then they are going to quickly see their gold go away on traits for those toons. i think that makes it a fairly good gold sink as well as a good way to take gold away from new players in a way that keeps them from getting too rich too fast since they will be dropping more of their earnings on getting more troublesome traits even if they are world exploring for the first time. Like i said, its honestly the only good reason I can come up with for the traits costing that amount of gold.

I would like to see if those that do enjoy the changes, retain that enjoyment after they are done with their first alt character, or their 2nd, 3rd, and so on.
Even if Anet tweaks all the disparities in the requirements, I am not so sure players will enjoy the experience when having to repeat this for every alt.

EDIT: Pookie I think you are right about the gold sink. However the skill point cost is even more of a deterrent. I would wager a new player has a harder time spending skill points on traits when utilities are immediate needs than worrying over upgrading armor/weapons as they level. -Assuming they are spending gold on those two things above most other items.

What was done to GW2 with the new trait system, new NPE and nerfed starting areas would be analogous to a car company changing the design of the finely tuned engine of a sports car to try to get more people to buy the model. Because not everyone who test drove it bought it and some reasons given were because it was too hard to drive. Instead of maybe redesigning the console displays or making a policy that all potential customers would have a salesperson/instructor accompany them on a test drive they started mucking with the way the car ran and handled.

The new version of the car no longer displayed RPMs on the console until the odometer had reached 5000 miles because it would be too confusing for those who had never seen one before. (Of course suddenly having RPMs show up on the console at 5000 miles seems to be more confusing to me.) Until 2000 miles on the odometer no manual gears above 3rd could be used and reverse couldn’t be used until 1000 miles. A governor was employed to keep speed down below 40 miles per hour until 7000 miles. On top of all that they disabled 2 of the spark plugs so not all cylinders where being used and then tried to get their mechanics to get the timing right.

You don’t even have to drive the new version of the car to realize that it would not be as much fun as driving the old version. It doesn’t make sense to expect even new customers, who had never experienced the joy of driving the old version of the car, to like driving the new version.

i have never ever paid for even one single trait and refuse to do the lame objectives for traits, i ether get then for leveling up to lvl 30 or ill ignore it completely.
a trait is something that makes a profession different from others, this lame system makes every single profession the same and adds allot more chore.

warn ppl when making a feature pack Anet, we first need to approve of the changes before you screw things up.
you have done it in the april feature pack and you have done it in the september feature pack (screwing up level progress), stop screwing things up and start listening to players.

While i agree that the skill point cost on top of the gold is both annoying and atrocious, I think in the grand scheme of things its more “manageable” as by the time a new player has gotten to level 80 and might be looking to round out traits on their first toon, they have probably already bought most if not all of their utilities/elites and are starting to build up surplus skill points. The problem, unfortunately, is that they probably have under 100 spare skill points to spare and can’t just unlock their remaining traits either forcing them to play a toon with non-complimentary traits/skills or buying a specific meta and hoping it doesn’t get nerfed before they can buy more traits. I just think that the gold cost would be more prohibitive since they are also probably wanting to buy or make exotic armor and weapons along with runes and sigils for this toon which would also eat up whatever gold they made up until this point.

PookieDaWombat.6209:

While i agree that the skill point cost on top of the gold is both annoying and atrocious, I think in the grand scheme of things its more “manageable” as by the time a new player has gotten to level 80 and might be looking to round out traits on their first toon, they have probably already bought most if not all of their utilities/elites and are starting to build up surplus skill points. The problem, unfortunately, is that they probably have under 100 spare skill points to spare and can’t just unlock their remaining traits either forcing them to play a toon with non-complimentary traits/skills or buying a specific meta and hoping it doesn’t get nerfed before they can buy more traits. I just think that the gold cost would be more prohibitive since they are also probably wanting to buy or make exotic armor and weapons along with runes and sigils for this toon which would also eat up whatever gold they made up until this point.

I didn’t look at it from the point of reaching 80 but instead I was thinking about during the process of leveling to 80.
At the time a toon reaches 80 there will be some extra skill points and a lot less gold once they begin the process of outfitting them in exotics or crafting for ascended gear. It just seems the cost is excessive from what it was prior to the patch.
At the very least I hope Anet considers tweaking the requirements and/or making the process account bound. I would wager the hunt to unlock the traits after the first character is complete will not be as ‘fun’ the 2nd or 3rd time through.

Why don’t we keep traits unlockable from exploration and events as they are currently, but let the player choose which traits they get each time?

It could be as broad as a challenge unlocking “any Adept trait of your choice,” or a little tighter by specifying both tier and line, such as “any Adept trait in the Power line.”

This would give players a little leeway in choosing their own content and builds, instead of having one railroad the other.

Gulesave.5073:

Why don’t we keep traits unlockable from exploration and events as they are currently, but let the player choose which traits they get each time?

It could be as broad as a challenge unlocking “any Adept trait of your choice,” or a little tighter by specifying both tier and line, such as “any Adept trait in the Power line.”

This would give players a little leeway in choosing their own content and builds, instead of having one railroad the other.

Yet one more example how the Trait System could have been changed in a manner far more interesting and engaging than the change we got.

Just got a post-patch alt to 30. Probably just going to shelve him now after seeing all the absurd trait objectives. They ask way too much of new players. I find it odd how a bunch of stuff was level-locked in order to ease new players into the game, but the moment a player hits level 30 you’re suddenly asking them to journey to every tiniest corner of the world to complete super niche objectives that are all way above the player’s level. The juxtaposition between these two things makes me sincerely believe the new trait system was just an on-purpose gold sink to make people panic and buy gems → gold so they can actually fill out their build without massive tedium.

If anything, the traits should have been level-locked as part of the NPE just like everything else.

Someone mentioned that you have to kill Overgrown Grub to unlock one of the traits. That reminded me of that last time I was in WvWvW and someone was trying to get a group together to kill the grub. The chat went something like this:

Casual: Hey guys let’s kill the grub boss!
Me: Why would you want to kill the grub?
Random1: Go back to PvE, n00b.
Commander1: Everyone get to the keep!
Random2: Swords at keep!
Casual: We need more for grub, there’s only like 4 or 5 of us.
Commander2: If you aren’t on my tag, just uninstall the game.
Random3: Why are there a bunch of people fighting the grub?
Random4: More like, why are there a bunch of people dying at the grub.

Tulki.1458:

The juxtaposition between these two things makes me sincerely believe the new trait system was just an on-purpose gold sink to make people panic and buy gems -> gold so they can actually fill out their build without massive tedium.

This really is the only sensible conclusion. Especially considering that some of the events are either bugged out and can’t be completed, or simply pop so rarely you’d need to be unbelievably lucky (or patient – sitting around for hours is fun, right?) to catch it.

vana.5467:

Tulki.1458:

The juxtaposition between these two things makes me sincerely believe the new trait system was just an on-purpose gold sink to make people panic and buy gems -> gold so they can actually fill out their build without massive tedium.

This really is the only sensible conclusion. Especially considering that some of the events are either bugged out and can’t be completed, or simply pop so rarely you’d need to be unbelievably lucky (or patient – sitting around for hours is fun, right?) to catch it.

. . . “only sensible conclusion”?

I dunno, it’s more sensible to think they just plain goofed on the placement. Not like it wouldn’t be the first time really desirable things of this nature got stuck in the middle of nowhere or were incredibly frustrating to get. Go take a look at where some of the Elite Skills used to be located . . .

Specifically, “Feast of Corruption”, from what I recall . . . was really annoying to track down.

I don’t mind this system
I’m playing since August this year, but I like having to actually work a bit before you can use strong builds with good traits
Oh and I haven’t bought a single trait yet, and have bout 12 more to go before i got them all I think, maybe 15

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

vana.5467:

Tulki.1458:

The juxtaposition between these two things makes me sincerely believe the new trait system was just an on-purpose gold sink to make people panic and buy gems -> gold so they can actually fill out their build without massive tedium.

This really is the only sensible conclusion. Especially considering that some of the events are either bugged out and can’t be completed, or simply pop so rarely you’d need to be unbelievably lucky (or patient – sitting around for hours is fun, right?) to catch it.

. . . “only sensible conclusion”?

I dunno, it’s more sensible to think they just plain goofed on the placement. Not like it wouldn’t be the first time really desirable things of this nature got stuck in the middle of nowhere or were incredibly frustrating to get. Go take a look at where some of the Elite Skills used to be located . . .

Specifically, “Feast of Corruption”, from what I recall . . . was really annoying to track down.

Fair enough, maybe a slight exaggeration

But if they really did just mess up the location, their failure to fix the issue is massively disheartening.
If it’s intentional, it’s a douchy move but at least it doesn’t make them come off as completely incompetent.

vana.5467:

Fair enough, maybe a slight exaggeration

But if they really did just mess up the location, their failure to fix the issue is massively disheartening.
If it’s intentional, it’s a douchy move but at least it doesn’t make them come off as completely incompetent.

Hmm, somewhere buried in this thread is a red post about them looking at alternatives to this current and the older method. I suspect they’re a lot more focused on trying to figure out another option than trying to just patch over the cracks in this one . . .

Personally, I think there could have been a good hybrid of the two which could have been rolled out. Some Trait Masteries are default unlocked at certain points/levels which are easily accessible, and some others by doing things or similar to Skill Challenges.

But then, I expect there’d be just as much complaining if that system had gone live.

Every day this trait system exists in GW2 is a day when Anet could keep a new player, but they don’t.

And week by week their old players slowly quit instead of maybe creating a new character, but they refuse to, because of the torturous trait system. Honestly, no matter how hard I try to understand, I just can’t, whatever the game designers were thinking when coming up with this idea… I can’t.

It’s like replacing the wheels on a car from round ones to triangular expecting that gas consumption would go down and drivers (customers) would find it fun to drive… for whatever reason. Seriously Anet, stop introducing random changes that no one wants and listen to what your community ACTUALLY REALLY wants.

All I have to say.

My engineer I made to try the NPE is now level 59, nearly 60. How many traits does it have? A free +1 from me if you guess right!

But Anet isn’t listening, they don’t care, or they’d have acted by now. Nothing will change.

GuzziHero.2467:

My engineer I made to try the NPE is now level 59, nearly 60. How many traits does it have? A free +1 from me if you guess right!

But Anet isn’t listening, they don’t care, or they’d have acted by now. Nothing will change.

Pretty much same here. Level 57 engi made about a month ago. It’s got 3 traits. Got 2 from doing zone completions, then I just gave up. Pointless, boring and very very painful.

And yeah sadly, I agree. Nothing will change, I know them well enough by now, to know that they will never admit they did something wrong and revert. They might make some micro adjustments just so they could say “hey guys look, we listened, we fixed it”, but basically everything will remain the same steaming pile of kitten.

I gets better.

Short Fuse, essential trait for Bombineer build – CoF Story Mode when Im not in a guild.
Grenadier, also essential engineer skill – Risen Priest of Balthazar.

Now the last time I needed Balth for a build, it took 4 days of waiting before I could even fight him since I usually only have a few hours a day to play.

Sokia.3710:

Someone mentioned that you have to kill Overgrown Grub to unlock one of the traits. That reminded me of that last time I was in WvWvW and someone was trying to get a group together to kill the grub. The chat went something like this:

Casual: Hey guys let’s kill the grub boss!
Me: Why would you want to kill the grub?
Random1: Go back to PvE, n00b.
Commander1: Everyone get to the keep!
Random2: Swords at keep!
Casual: We need more for grub, there’s only like 4 or 5 of us.
Commander2: If you aren’t on my tag, just uninstall the game.
Random3: Why are there a bunch of people fighting the grub?
Random4: More like, why are there a bunch of people dying at the grub.

Last time I killed the grub it went something like this.

Guildie: Can anyone help me kill the grub.
Other guildies: Give me a sec, just finishing up this event…I’ll go…sure thing.

Five minutes later the grub was dead.

People say there’s no value to guilds in this game. I just don’t get it.

Its doable only if you’re blue

Vayne.8563:

Sokia.3710:

Someone mentioned that you have to kill Overgrown Grub to unlock one of the traits. That reminded me of that last time I was in WvWvW and someone was trying to get a group together to kill the grub. The chat went something like this:

Casual: Hey guys let’s kill the grub boss!
Me: Why would you want to kill the grub?
Random1: Go back to PvE, n00b.
Commander1: Everyone get to the keep!
Random2: Swords at keep!
Casual: We need more for grub, there’s only like 4 or 5 of us.
Commander2: If you aren’t on my tag, just uninstall the game.
Random3: Why are there a bunch of people fighting the grub?
Random4: More like, why are there a bunch of people dying at the grub.

Last time I killed the grub it went something like this.

Guildie: Can anyone help me kill the grub.
Other guildies: Give me a sec, just finishing up this event…I’ll go…sure thing.

Five minutes later the grub was dead.

People say there’s no value to guilds in this game. I just don’t get it.

Some people had guilds that dropped down to only a couple of people. The 3 guilds I was in went from huge to only a couple active in each one. Its not easy finding guilds that you fit in with and not everyone wants to be in a guild with players they don’t click with. Plus some of us are a little stubbornly loyal and don’t like hopping from guild to guild. I think the amount of people that find being in a guild has no value is very few.

I am happy that you personally have a guild that will help you with these chores when needed though. Its just not that simple for many others.

Edit: Plus you shouldn’t need others for personal character advancement. That’s just bad form.

Vayne.8563:

Sokia.3710:

Someone mentioned that you have to kill Overgrown Grub to unlock one of the traits. That reminded me of that last time I was in WvWvW and someone was trying to get a group together to kill the grub. The chat went something like this:

Casual: Hey guys let’s kill the grub boss!
Me: Why would you want to kill the grub?
Random1: Go back to PvE, n00b.
Commander1: Everyone get to the keep!
Random2: Swords at keep!
Casual: We need more for grub, there’s only like 4 or 5 of us.
Commander2: If you aren’t on my tag, just uninstall the game.
Random3: Why are there a bunch of people fighting the grub?
Random4: More like, why are there a bunch of people dying at the grub.

Last time I killed the grub it went something like this.

Guildie: Can anyone help me kill the grub.
Other guildies: Give me a sec, just finishing up this event…I’ll go…sure thing.

Five minutes later the grub was dead.

People say there’s no value to guilds in this game. I just don’t get it.

What I don’t get is the value someone gets by coming into yet another thread to be dismissive and patronizing to someone who is expressing frustration. This is a feedback thread about Traits and people’s experiences with it. Please don’t presume to trample over someone’s post just because you had an opposite experience. It’s baiting, and this thread really needs to stay on track.

Lobo Dela Noche.5127:

Some people had guilds that dropped down to only a couple of people. The 3 guilds I was in went from huge to only a couple active in each one. Its not easy finding guilds that you fit in with and not everyone wants to be in a guild with players they don’t click with. Plus some of us are a little stubbornly loyal and don’t like hopping from guild to guild. I think the amount of people that find being in a guild has no value is very few.

I am happy that you personally have a guild that will help you with these chores when needed though. Its just not that simple for many others.

Edit: Plus you shouldn’t need others for personal character advancement. That’s just bad form.

In relation to gathering Traits and asking for guild help, I agree with your sentiments.

Firstly, not everyone likes to join guilds. There are multitudes of reasons for that, they are all valid to the individual, and they don’t need to be defended. Secondly, not every guild is a cohesive, drop-everything-on-a-dime sort of environment. Many guilds are also small, with people living in various time zones and having real-life requirements. So, getting help isn’t as easy as some people might think, or others might let on to be.
—————————————

Given that many Traits require you to do group events, go into higher level zones, enter dungeons, or enter WvW for objectives, it’s not easy to acquire them. That is the general overtone of this thread: that the given objectives are not congruent with the Trait rewards.

Let’s keep on track and not be dismissive of other people’s experiences. The only way to get this fixed, and to not get this thread locked, is to try to remain constructive.

Anyori.4598:

I don’t mind this system
I’m playing since August this year, but I like having to actually work a bit before you can use strong builds with good traits
Oh and I haven’t bought a single trait yet, and have bout 12 more to go before i got them all I think, maybe 15

So how many alts do you have? Almost fully traited on all of them?

Anyori.4598:

I don’t mind this system
I’m playing since August this year, but I like having to actually work a bit before you can use strong builds with good traits
Oh and I haven’t bought a single trait yet, and have bout 12 more to go before i got them all I think, maybe 15

It’s great the first time around! But how many alts do you have? Try doing some of these things 11 or 12 times and see if it’s still as fun.

Vayne.8563:

Sokia.3710:

Someone mentioned that you have to kill Overgrown Grub to unlock one of the traits. That reminded me of that last time I was in WvWvW and someone was trying to get a group together to kill the grub. The chat went something like this:

Casual: Hey guys let’s kill the grub boss!
Me: Why would you want to kill the grub?
Random1: Go back to PvE, n00b.
Commander1: Everyone get to the keep!
Random2: Swords at keep!
Casual: We need more for grub, there’s only like 4 or 5 of us.
Commander2: If you aren’t on my tag, just uninstall the game.
Random3: Why are there a bunch of people fighting the grub?
Random4: More like, why are there a bunch of people dying at the grub.

Last time I killed the grub it went something like this.

Guildie: Can anyone help me kill the grub.
Other guildies: Give me a sec, just finishing up this event…I’ll go…sure thing.

Five minutes later the grub was dead.

People say there’s no value to guilds in this game. I just don’t get it.

How do I join this great guild?

felessan.9587:

Anyori.4598:

I don’t mind this system
I’m playing since August this year, but I like having to actually work a bit before you can use strong builds with good traits
Oh and I haven’t bought a single trait yet, and have bout 12 more to go before i got them all I think, maybe 15

It’s great the first time around! But how many alts do you have? Try doing some of these things 11 or 12 times and see if it’s still as fun.

Yes, the enthusiasm of youth.

Bellizare.5816:

How do I join this great guild?

First, got to make sure you’re on the right server to do the WvW alongside them. But there are some guilds who would likely be more than willing to organize “let’s get the Grub for our members on X night” if you talk about needing it.

. . . it worked when I commented about needing to finish Ascalonian Catacombs path 2

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Bellizare.5816:

How do I join this great guild?

First, got to make sure you’re on the right server to do the WvW alongside them. But there are some guilds who would likely be more than willing to organize “let’s get the Grub for our members on X night” if you talk about needing it.

. . . it worked when I commented about needing to finish Ascalonian Catacombs path 2

It is a bit unfortunate, in my opinion, that one would require guild intervention to obtain a trait.

Running a dungeon, yes. That makes more sense.

Bellizare.5816:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Bellizare.5816:

How do I join this great guild?

First, got to make sure you’re on the right server to do the WvW alongside them. But there are some guilds who would likely be more than willing to organize “let’s get the Grub for our members on X night” if you talk about needing it.

. . . it worked when I commented about needing to finish Ascalonian Catacombs path 2

It is a bit unfortunate, in my opinion, that one would require guild intervention to obtain a trait.

Running a dungeon, yes. That makes more sense.

I required guild intervention more than once in GW1 to master some missions. Or, in the case of Vizunah Square, to proceed at all on some of my alts.

So, yes, I know the pain.

I tried a new character and it was deleted today.. I will play my few other characters that was created before this new trait system was forced upon us.. If ANET thinks these types of updates will win over new players I have a feeling they was terribly wrong.

So, do we think any of the free week players got high enough level to even weigh in on the trait system? Do we think their feedback will matter?

Here might be points that other people have said before me but here goes:

My newest character got many traits rather easily from pve maps but it was all luck. Luck in a sense that I was in just the right map instance at just the right time where just right events happened to spawn in order to the event-chain boss to appear.

Why couldn’t trait points be like skill challenges so that you could a) solo them and b) start them instantly when you get to the map point where you can do them.

Also I think trait points could be distributed much earlier than level 30 to avoid that weird “2 trait points” -level reward at the end of level curve.

Grandmaster traits should be open at level 60 where endgame pve exploration start to happen. This is the point where you have familiarized your classes’ skills and it’s time to introduce possibly gameplaychanging elements.

Level 80 grandmasters change hurt my leveling experience maybe the most since I really liked how level 60 was before april patch. Probably because my first character was mesmer and mesmer changed rather much (to a funner class to play) after obtaining grandmasters.

Just bumping this thread, because it has to stay up there until Anet realizes that the new trait system makes new character experience beyond terrible.

I suspect the trait system revamp is being Cantha’d. As in, if someone mentions it in an interview, it will be the basis for a funny glower, but nothing will be said.

Then again, maybe today someone in a position of power at anet will see this thread and at the very least skim through it and slowly, grudgingly come to the realization that the trait system revamp was a bad idea, badly implemented, and that person will stand up and say, “This was a bad idea, badly implemented and we should darn well do something about it! Cantha! Cantha! Cantha!”

And all the guys working on all the stuff will take up that rallying cry: “Cantha! Cantha! Cantha!”

And they’ll revert the trait system revamp.

Or maybe not.

I just wanna hop in here and say this: I like making alts, I even bought 24 char expansion slots for it. Luckely 10 of my chars where made before the patch of traits needing to be farmed. To bad I deleted some of them to remake them cause now I gotta grind ultra much. Like I Used lvl 20 scroll + 60 tomes of knowledge for my ele sylvari (i have a human ele already). Guess what, he’s been sitting, doing nothing for 3 months already (your favorite system ‘the holy metrics system’, should be able to show this anet). Why? Cause even after burning away 60 skill points, for the most necessary traits, he still feels naked. He has exotic gear, and evasive arcane and such, but still feels a lot worse then my other ele. And because i had to spare skill points for the traits, i barely have my skills unlocked now wich also ain’t a lot of fun.

My math, says I need 230 skill points To unlock all traits Below XIII. XIII I don’t mind, since it are quite special traits, that are in easy to remember places, and give you something to do. But some other traits are so baseline, that having to resort to guides where to farm them, get them, loose time, still be weak while farming them because no access to the trait, really is demoralizing. I have 5x lvl 20 scroll and 120 Tomes of knowledge, and because of the trait system I litteraly don’t know what to do with them.

It would costs about 300 skill points, to get all traits (except XIII) and all skills (except 30 point elites). For a new char that’s incredible much. And there’s about 20g cost also for the traits, if my memory serves, could be less, but it’s definitely much more then the 1-2g trait unlocks in the past.

All I can say is, if it wasn’t for my luck that I have a lot of chars that were made before this change, I would probably even more annoyed. Lately i love ranger, and my norn ranger (had a sylvari already), was made JUST before this patch. JUST. So glad she got all traits by default. Been using here ‘happily ever after’. But for other alts? They’ve been eating dust, doing nothing.

Especially the skill point cost is to high imo.

Actually 45g if you want to buy all traits.

Tachenon.5270:

I suspect the trait system revamp is being Cantha’d. As in, if someone mentions it in an interview, it will be the basis for a funny glower, but nothing will be said.

Then again, maybe today someone in a position of power at anet will see this thread and at the very least skim through it and slowly, grudgingly come to the realization that the trait system revamp was a bad idea, badly implemented, and that person will stand up and say, “This was a bad idea, badly implemented and we should darn well do something about it! Cantha! Cantha! Cantha!”

And all the guys working on all the stuff will take up that rallying cry: “Cantha! Cantha! Cantha!”

And they’ll revert the trait system revamp.

Or maybe not.

I wonder if it’s possible to send the thread contents directly to upper management. Getting those doofs to understand how bad this is might get them to allow more team investment on getting them changed.

I think they are trying to get people to spend more time in the game by making it more grindy, some new players I know say they have been playing for a couple months with a lvl 80 that doesn’t even have all their traits, that is just sad, the big part of a character is experimenting with traits. Having to run around tyria with a kitten toon for a couple months is utterly absurd.

I like the idea of having a few new special traits you have to work for but locking the entire line? To be blunt Anet you failed hard with this one.

Y’know, if they wanted to shift from “whole game is endgame” and toward “wait until 80 for the good stuff” like Grandmaster traits, then maybe the locked portions should stay with Grandmaster only.

Anything else is too prone to over-leveled shenanigans and there apparently isn’t enough un-bugged, non-niche content to spread 65 trait tasks around while making the players feel good about it.

Gaile, the easiest (from the player view) way to fix this would be to make it so if you have already got characters with traits unlocked, make them, at the appropriate level, be account unlocks. Then, the new players get introduced properly, and the existing players get the traits the way they are used to. Is this not feasable?

If not, then make either an npc where you can buy scrolls of knowledge (for skill unlocking) for a small amount of karma, or give us enough skill points, early enough, to unlock the utilities and skills as we want them.

We have been screaming about the worst offending trait requirements for months!

Befriending Ogre Camp!
Priest of Balthazar!
Champion Overgrown Grub!
Dungeon Story Completions!

NOONE IS LISTENING.

The skill point costs are quite high.
Edit: Maybe make it so people who have completed/unlocked full trait lines can pay the old prices to unlock the lines on new characters for the old prices? But again, the skill point prices for new players are still too high IMO.

It’s like you’re asking us to offer suggestions about place settings and silverware while there’s a dead skunk in the middle of the dinner table.

What’s the most offensive trait unlock location? I find the trait system revamp in its entirety to be offensive. I don’t think it makes the game better in any way, shape, or form. I think it made the game worse. I think it takes all the fun out of trying different builds, which makes it something we have to get through to get to the ‘fun stuff’. I don’t think any tweaking or adjusting will help.

Please: just put it back the way it was.

Tachenon.5270:

It’s like you’re asking us to offer suggestions about place settings and silverware while there’s a dead skunk in the middle of the dinner table.

What’s the most offensive trait unlock location? I find the trait system revamp in its entirety to be offensive. I don’t think it makes the game better in any way, shape, or form. I think it made the game worse. I think it takes all the fun out of trying different builds, which makes it something we have to get through to get to the ‘fun stuff’. I don’t think any tweaking or adjusting will help.

Please: just put it back the way it was.

It’s an interesting system, but it really should be unlocked account wide or so for the work some of the stuff is.

Tachenon.5270:

Please: just put it back the way it was.

“Alright fine, since you begged enough we’ll revert an entire game system months later.”

- Said no game company ever

I dislike the system probably as much as you do, Tach, but let’s try to be realistic here: They’re willing to revise the system and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re working on it here and there as we speak, but they’re not going to simply revert it.

OK, I’ll play along. Again. (But to be honest, its getting a bit tedious. And that is about as kindly as I can put it.)

For Veterans with multiple Alts and who have already unlocked the traits (barring any GM ones still locked):
***All traits need to be unlocked on the account. Full stop. Do not pass Go. making vets run around the world and do events to unlock traits on alts is annoying at best.

For ALL Players:

Trait cost is abhorrent: Remove skill points as part of the cost completely and bring the prices down to half of their total cost as it is. it will still be a gold sink, but won’t be a character limiting one for new (mostly casual) players.

Trait Tasks: Remove all WvW/EoTM based requirements for obtaining Traits. Make all Traits that require more than 2 people change to events that at most require only 2 people. Anything that requires more than that is broken. Traits are things that are essential for CHARACTER development and should be earned by an individual’s effort and skill. it should never require a group to get the trait for one person. Make sure that Trait tasks are in LEVEL APPROPRIATE areas. Adept in 30-40, Master in 50-60, and GM in 70-80.