It happened with the last patch and the lack up any updates since April 15 for me.
I still feel pvp/wvw are both very imbalanced.
Some professions are just better for PvP than others, and some professions have no effective counter to certain builds of other professions.
WvW is literally a pair of servers preplanning to gang up on another server EVERY SINGLE WEEK. It’s not challenging or fun, the plans are made before the week even begins. Also, WvW hasn’t had any real change in actual gameplay in a very long time. The goals and methods of accomplishing them have always been quite shallow and basic, and they are still the same way. The maps are pretty much the same with a few minor additions, and the same main maps have gotten extremely old…
Ascended equipment (at least the stuff you want) is still a PITA to acquire for the marginal improvements. Dropping is extremely rare and even more rare to get a drop you actually want. Legendary gear is an even bigger PITA to acquire unless you buy it. At two years in, it doesn’t feel worth it.
There’s nothing really left to explore or try that would be interesting to bother with or hold my interest anymore.
I played thief mostly for the latter 2/3 of my gw2 time. I toyed around with other professions (including getting them all to LV80 and doing some pvp/wvw with each), but thief was still the most fun and challenging and dynamic. Thief had more potential versatility, but it has been constantly nerfed and it has grown less and less fun to play with each nerf.
The latest update nerfing crit damage output has been another nail in the thief coffin for me. It has literally forced me – just to try to keep the profession worthwhile/entertaining – to go with a 99% glass cannon build (6/6/2/0/0) for pvp and wvw because anything else just doesn’t do enough damage to counter the healing abilities of most professions (including ele, guardian, warrior, ranger, engineer) if they decide to do a bunker or semi-bunker build. People will say pvp wasn’t affected by the crit damage nerf, but it was affected by traits giving less crit damage AFAIK.
I previously ran many builds including 2/6/0/6/0, 2/6/6/0/0, 2/0/6/6/0, 4/0/6/4/0, 2/0/0/6/6, 2/0/2/6/4, etc…though 2/6/6/0/0 was probably my most consistent for wvw before the patch. Now, that build doesn’t do enough damage to anybody anymore to get the job done before they kill me or I have to run away. I didn’t have the problem nearly as often before april 15. The damage nerf has been huge.
The few “viable” pvp builds nowadays for thief depend on them NOT actually delivering enough damage to kill anybody, but simply being able to squat on points and be harder to kill (though still easier than bunk engineers, warriors, guardians, etc.). The thief no longer is really good for anything in pvp except mobility.
I feel pigeonholed more than ever playing the only profession I really enjoyed for a long time.
WvW still has no endgame purpose or meaningful satisfaction, and with the pre-rigging of every game it now doesn’t even seem like there’s a reason to bother getting on since the results are predetermined.
People have told me that the game isn’t balanced around 1v1, and I get that – however, it would be nice if a single person had more potential influence on the outcome of WvW or PvP…right now WvW is just about who makes a deal with who, and PvP is about just having a few good bunkers squat on two points and be virtually impossible to kill. This is the meta. It’s no fun, it’s predictable, it’s consistent and it’s the same old thing over and over.
I’ve just grown tired of this same thing over and over.
I don’t know how Dota2 has managed it, but despite having a much simpler design and being basically a graphically-updated version of a game that is over 10+ years old now, it retains some kind of appeal and interest each time that GW2 has lost.
I suspect it has something to do with the lack of ending with gw2 – it just goes on and on. And on……
So I’ve finally reached the point where I just don’t come on anymore because there’s nothing worth doing anymore. Over the last few weeks I’ve only been coming on for a few hours once every several days or so, and then I leave again and play dota2 when I remember gw2 doesn’t have anything interesting or new to offer or to keep my interest any longer.
I know I’ll get trolled, but I posted because I want to share my honest feelings in the hope that perhaps the mods will see my honest feelings, objective or subjective, and maybe improve the game someday. Maybe I’ll come back then.