Guild Wars 2

I didn’t come to play Guildwars 2 until last summer so I’m newer then many. The reason I came was because of the quality of the combat system and yet more casual play. One of the things touted by Anet was there was not going to be a gear grind.

I played the world’s biggest MMO and as we all know its a gear grind every major patch and each expansion. I didn’t mind the gear grind, in fact I enjoyed seeing how far I could go with my gear.

There is a major gear grind here in that yes there is less levels of gear, BUT it takes longer to acquire each piece. Between all the methods of gear acquisition I sometimes averaged a new piece of gear a day in the other MMO, in fact I reached top 5 gear score several times during my stint in that game. Not because I’m an ultra skilled raider, but I was skilled in finding out what gear I needed and how to get it.

Here in Guildwars 2, all but a few of my items were from crafting and to a lesser extent laurels. Like that other MMO I’m one of the better equipped, but really its a matter of grinding out the materials.

I dislike the RNG setup, because so many of the nice rewards are useless to me as a player. I go months between any loot that is useful as far as gear goes. I wish I could give all the ascended gear that isn’t useful away to friends or something. Or just don’t give it to me at all.

Oh wow an ascended chest! Oh crap its just locker bait AGAIN….

You can do all you want in this game in exotic gear,or grind and get 4.7% better stats and see it makes almost no different what gear you are using

Its the right build and skills that matter in this game not the gear!!!

So OP, what content are you, as a casual player, locked out of by not having that gear?

Killface.1896:

You can do all you want in this game in exotic gear,or grind and get 4.7% better stats and see it makes almost no different what gear you are using

Its the right build and skills that matter in this game not the gear!!!

Oh yeah ? and what if two ppl have “the right build” and if they both now correctly play their build, what if they duel when one is full exotic, and the other one full ascended ?
One will have " 4.7% " ( if its not more like 5-6% boost ) more chance to win because of that.

Yes, that’s not a lot, but that’s already too important in a game supposed to only reward player intelligence, and not the ability to farm durings weeks to have the right stuff – runes

Actualy, the game only reward hardcore farmer. Where btw, you dont need to use your brain to do that.

Is that really what GW2 is supposed to be ? i dont think so..

E Tan.7385:

Killface.1896:

You can do all you want in this game in exotic gear,or grind and get 4.7% better stats and see it makes almost no different what gear you are using

Its the right build and skills that matter in this game not the gear!!!

Oh yeah ? and what if two ppl have “the right build” and if they both now correctly play their build, what if they duel when one is full exotic, and the other one full ascended ?
One will have " 4.7% " ( if its not more like 5-6% boost ) more chance to win because of that.

Yes, that’s not a lot, but that’s already too important in a game supposed to only reward player intelligence, and not the ability to farm durings weeks to have the right stuff – runes

Actualy, the game only reward hardcore farmer. Where btw, you dont need to use your brain to do that.

Is that really what GW2 is supposed to be ? i dont think so..

Well yes GW2 is supposed to be like that because YOUR making it that way. The game is made to be played the way you want to and the way you want to play it is to max min a group it seems. Have you ran into any one who asked that you have ascended gear for a dungeon what about a open world event? Have you ran into any one for wvw?

They do say we make our own hells but i did not think or let say hope it was not so true.

E Tan.7385:

Killface.1896:

You can do all you want in this game in exotic gear,or grind and get 4.7% better stats and see it makes almost no different what gear you are using

Its the right build and skills that matter in this game not the gear!!!

Oh yeah ? and what if two ppl have “the right build” and if they both now correctly play their build, what if they duel when one is full exotic, and the other one full ascended ?
One will have " 4.7% " ( if its not more like 5-6% boost ) more chance to win because of that.

Yes, that’s not a lot, but that’s already too important in a game supposed to only reward player intelligence, and not the ability to farm durings weeks to have the right stuff – runes

Actualy, the game only reward hardcore farmer. Where btw, you dont need to use your brain to do that.

Is that really what GW2 is supposed to be ? i dont think so..

If two people happened to have the exact same build and the exact same levels of skill, and the exact same play style, and the exact same experience, and neither was more tired than the other, or suffering from a cold, and didn’t get difference amounts of sleep and didn’t have a slower system or a different video card, or different latency due to an internet connection, you mean.

This game was never meant to be balanced for one vs one no matter how much you want it to be. It’s balanced for 5v5.

Terrible example.

Guys my alts run exotics gear and I can do all the stuff with them as my main that have legendary/ascent stuff.

It all in your head if you think you gonna be better in ascent gear…

I’ve run every dungeon in this game and fractals up to level 34 without getting ascended gear. I strongly suspect no casual player is going to need exotic gear.

The grind for the marginally better stats will give people who play more something to work towards, without necessarily affecting the average player.

I’m not sure how many casuals are going to be playing level 40 plus fractals (and the rewards from those fractals can all be gotten at level 39 fractals anyway.

Jski.6180:

Well yes GW2 is supposed to be like that because YOUR making it that way. The game is made to be played the way you want to and the way you want to play it is to max min a group it seems. Have you ran into any one who asked that you have ascended gear for a dungeon what about a open world event? Have you ran into any one for wvw?

They do say we make our own hells but i did not think or let say hope it was not so true.

That’s just what GW is not supposed to be : giving stuff advantage over other players. AND not farm, nor grinding

My point is : Ascended gear is quite very long, and expensive to get, not everyone will have ascended stuff, so not everyone will be equal regarding the stat, so not equal regarding “power”

Even if its “only” a 4-6% boot, that’s still a 4-6% too much in a game promoting equality between player ( hardcore player, or casual )
And again I ( personaly, me, myself ) dont imagine that, that’s what GW1 started, and that’s also what GW2 sold.

There is plenty of mmo assuming that kind of grinding gear, and i dont criticism that, i know what to except if i play thoses kind of mmo. BUT i play GW2 BECAUSE Anet said their game will NOT be like thoses mmo.

After, i never spoke about gear segregation, i dont know if it will ever happen, and that’s not the point of my argument.

E Tan.7385:

Jski.6180:

Well yes GW2 is supposed to be like that because YOUR making it that way. The game is made to be played the way you want to and the way you want to play it is to max min a group it seems. Have you ran into any one who asked that you have ascended gear for a dungeon what about a open world event? Have you ran into any one for wvw?

They do say we make our own hells but i did not think or let say hope it was not so true.

That’s just what GW is not supposed to be : giving stuff advantage over other players. AND not farm, nor grinding

My point is : Ascended gear is quite very long, and expensive to get, not everyone will have ascended stuff, so not everyone will be equal regarding the stat, so not equal regarding “power”

Even if its “only” a 4-6% boot, that’s still a 4-6% too much in a game promoting equality between player ( hardcore player, or casual )
And again I ( personaly, me, myself ) dont imagine that, that’s what GW1 started, and that’s also what GW2 sold.

There is plenty of mmo assuming that kind of grinding gear, and i dont criticism that, i know what to except if i play thoses kind of mmo. BUT i play GW2 BECAUSE Anet said their game will NOT be like thoses mmo.

After, i never spoke about gear segregation, i dont know if it will ever happen, and that’s not the point of my argument.

But my argument answers the OP’s question better. You’re talking about a theoretical situation that can’t happen. Two people can never be exactly equal in everything. It’s not even possible. It’s a bad hypothetical.

It’s 100% true that there is a difference in power between ascended and exotic gear. It’s also 100% true that it’s far more grindy to get ascended gear. The question really becomes how this affects a casual player’s game.

Most other MMOs, almost all of them, have content that can’t be enjoyed if you don’t get up, but that’s simply not the case here.

It’s called a compromise. Anet gave people who wanted it something to work towards, while not ruining the game for casuals who don’t have the time or money or energy to get it.

If you think the Ascended grind is bad, just wait for the inevitable infusion slot grind. There’s no way Anet can resist increasing the infusion slot stats more and more. So even if you think the gear is not worth it at the moment (false, by the way), it will be.

So I’d recommend you get on the grind train now or be left behind.

ascended crafting is so easy for a normal, regular player. if you are extremely casual, then you can go for exotics. they don’t even make noticable difference for that gold.

Lord Kuru.3685:

If you think the Ascended grind is bad, just wait for the inevitable infusion slot grind. There’s no way Anet can resist increasing the infusion slot stats more and more. So even if you think the gear is not worth it at the moment (false, by the way), it will be.

So I’d recommend you get on the grind train now or be left behind.

or change game, as i’m not sure that it’s worth catching that train….that is going nowhere.

OP, give a look to the others post in this same section.
it’s been discussed in CDI about horizontal progression.,…3-4 posts about angry ppl like me that hate grind and farm and ascended.

i hope that this grind (at least that for BiS) will stop soon.
but we have no clues it will ever do it.

Umut.5471:

ascended crafting is so easy for a normal, regular player. if you are extremely casual, then you can go for exotics. they don’t even make noticable difference for that gold.

aaaaand.
no. it’s false.
ascended is not EASY. maybe it’s easy for you, if your threshold for casual player lies at 1000-1200h….and/or gemstore.

Kevan.8912:

Umut.5471:

ascended crafting is so easy for a normal, regular player. if you are extremely casual, then you can go for exotics. they don’t even make noticable difference for that gold.

aaaaand.
no. it’s false.
ascended is not EASY. maybe it’s easy for you, if your threshold for casual player lies at 1000-1200h….and/or gemstore.

Actually it depends on how much of a rush you’re in. If you want it NAO, of course it’s going to be a grind. What’s wrong with just playing and taking your time?

nothing wrong. de gustibus…

still the fact that:

ascended crafting is so easy for a normal, regular player. if you are extremely casual, then you can go for exotics. they don’t even make noticable difference for that gold.

is false.

and also

if you are extremely casual, then you can go for exotics. they don’t even make noticable difference for that gold.

is false, as a difference exists.

Kevan.8912:

nothing wrong. de gustibus…

still the fact that:

ascended crafting is so easy for a normal, regular player. if you are extremely casual, then you can go for exotics. they don’t even make noticable difference for that gold.

is false.

and also

if you are extremely casual, then you can go for exotics. they don’t even make noticable difference for that gold.

is false, as a difference exists.

A noticable difference isn’t the same as a difference. Ascended gear hasn’t made a noticable difference to me, even though I have it on one character.

So the statement you are saying is false is simply an opinion you don’t happen to agree with.

Vayne.8563:

Most other MMOs, almost all of them, have content that can’t be enjoyed if you don’t get up, but that’s simply not the case here.

It’s called a compromise. Anet gave people who wanted it something to work towards, while not ruining the game for casuals who don’t have the time or money or energy to get it.

This is inaccurate.

Umut.5471:

they don’t even make noticable difference for that gold.

As is this.

Please try doing fotm49 with no ascended items, or fotm49 with only ascended trinkets.

Oh, look…. another “Ascended Gear is too hard to get” thread…

I am a casual player. Until I come across something in the game that I am not allowed to do unless I have Ascended gear, I will not pursue it.

Notice I didn’t say “too hard to do without it.” I have yet to find anything that falls into this category either, however, I exclude Fractals because they’re not my thing.

If I ever come across something that is locked out to me because I don’t have (insert gear here) then I will be saying goodbye to the game.

In the meantime, while y’all are out “grinding” for ascended gear, I will be out having fun with my friends.

Cheers!

Vayne.8563:

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

Most other MMOs, almost all of them, have content that can’t be enjoyed if you don’t get up, but that’s simply not the case here.

It’s called a compromise. Anet gave people who wanted it something to work towards, while not ruining the game for casuals who don’t have the time or money or energy to get it.

This is inaccurate.

Nice detail in your reply. If you can’t share with us why you think it’s inaccurate, then it’s pretty much a pointless post, as there’s nothing to back it up.

There is content in the game, high level fractals specifically, that is designed to require Ascended gear. I suppose technically someone might enjoy failing and dying repeatedly due to not having the appropriate gear for a given fractal level.

For some casuals, myself included, the game was ruined by the addition of Ascended.

You may have a completely different definition of casual than I do, but casual players don’t generally do level 49 fractals. I think you’d find that that content wasn’t created for casuals.

My statement was certainly true for my definition of a casual player.

The statement about content that cannot be played without gearing up had no reference to casual players. It was a claim, pure and simple, that there was no content in GW2, unlike other MMOs, that required gearing up.

Even with just laurels and guild commendations (or laurels and farming ectos), you can have an ascended amulet, and two ascended earrings. You can then farm the fractals themselves to get an ascended backpack (well an exotic backpack which you can ascend) and two ascended rings.

Using just the basic 5 agony resistance avaiable for 75 fractal relics, that would give you 30 agony resistance.

If you ascend the rings you got or get ascended ring drops, you can bring that higher, though admittedly that might involve some grinding to get it very high.

You don’t have to craft ascended armor or weapons at all to do this.

But you know, even if you only have 1 of each ascended ring, you can still get all the way to fractal level 39, without doing anything else. I don’t have fractal armor on my main fractal run, and I have 40 AR, enough to do fractals easily up to level 39.

The highest level fractal I’ve run is 34, but that was before the update. I’m up to fractal level 25 for my personal reward level.

I’m just not seeing the problem here. I mean if you absolutely must get to level 50 in fractals, I’m not sure how you can consider yourself casual.

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

Most other MMOs, almost all of them, have content that can’t be enjoyed if you don’t get up, but that’s simply not the case here.

It’s called a compromise. Anet gave people who wanted it something to work towards, while not ruining the game for casuals who don’t have the time or money or energy to get it.

This is inaccurate.

Nice detail in your reply. If you can’t share with us why you think it’s inaccurate, then it’s pretty much a pointless post, as there’s nothing to back it up.

There is content in the game, high level fractals specifically, that is designed to require Ascended gear. I suppose technically someone might enjoy failing and dying repeatedly due to not having the appropriate gear for a given fractal level.

For some casuals, myself included, the game was ruined by the addition of Ascended.

You may have a completely different definition of casual than I do, but casual players don’t generally do level 49 fractals. I think you’d find that that content wasn’t created for casuals.

My statement was certainly true for my definition of a casual player.

The statement about content that cannot be played without gearing up had no reference to casual players. It was a claim, pure and simple, that there was no content in GW2, unlike other MMOs, that required gearing up.

Okay but you said my statement was incorrect even though I specifically used the word casuals. I used it for a reason.

The changes made to the game were there to give non-casuals stuff to work towards, which some of them apparently feel they need (not all obviously).

These changes shouldn’t affect casual players, which is, in my opinion, the bulk of the playerbase.

You said my statement was wrong, but I was talking about casuals and you’re not.

OP if you only started in the summer and already have most of a set of ascended gear then I’m not surprised you feel like it’s a grind. I’d consider myself somewhere between casual and hardcore and it took me 7 months just to get my first character to level 80. I haven’t looked into exactly what I need to make a full set of ascended gear but it took me about 2 months to get 500 Bloodstone Dust and Emperyal Fragments, which I think is enough for 1 piece.

So for people like you who want to get the best gear ASAP then yes, making ascended probably will feel like a grind. But the important difference to WoW, (or most other MMOs I think?) is that it’s not a regular occurrence.

When the game launched Exotic was the top tier, they added ascended because many players requested another tier that’s harder to get so they’d have something to work towards but it took them over a year to add the full set. There are no plans to add any more in the forseeable future. So once you’ve got a full ascended set you’re done, no need to worry about grinding for gear again unless you decide you want another set for some reason. (Some people do like to have multiple sets with different stats, but it depends on your build.)

The other important difference (which applies to everyone) is that there is no content which requires ascended gear except higher levels of Fractals. Everything else is balanced around players in exotics at best which means you can do it in pretty much whatever gear you want (there are even people who run dungeons naked but that’s an extreme example). Which means it’s entirely up to each player when and how they want to go about getting ascended, or if they even want to get it at all.

My post was deleted because I hurt anets feelings so I am back to offer constructive feedback.
Welcome to guild wars 2, I highly recommend the company stick to their words and not give players so much false hope. It’s not good for business.
Take note OP. Just giving a heads up. No need to delete again.

fadeaway.2807:

Please try doing fotm49 with no ascended items, or fotm49 with only ascended trinkets.

You do realize that people were doing fotm49 LONG before ascended armor/weapons came out, right?

Subdue.5479:

fadeaway.2807:

Please try doing fotm49 with no ascended items, or fotm49 with only ascended trinkets.

You do realize that people were doing fotm49 LONG before ascended armor/weapons came out, right?

How did jade maw go for you at 50+?

It was 9 ticks. 48 was doable, at 50+ the only way you could complete fotm (for fotm level kitten) was by hitting the odd numbers and avoiding the end boss an reward chest or attempting some funky mechanics like full heals. Current 49 with no ascended items would require infused backpiece, which many casuals can’t afford. Even with it, it can be dangerous. There is no doubt about it, if a new but fairly skilled player wants to jump into the hard content – they first have to grind for it.

fadeaway.2807:

It was 9 ticks. 48 was doable, at 50+ the only way you could complete fotm (for fotm level kitten) was by hitting the odd numbers and avoiding the end boss an reward chest or attempting some funky mechanics like full heals. Current 49 with no ascended items would require infused backpiece, which many casuals can’t afford. Even with it, it can be dangerous. There is no doubt about it, if a new but fairly skilled player wants to jump into the hard content – they first have to grind for it.

Just going to quote myself since you missed it completely.

“It did not follow the same agony progression that the rest of the levels followed because it was intentionally a block.”

“it was intentionally a block”

“intentionally a block”

“a block”

There’s really no need to get personal and start insulting me.
It’s quite obvious that there’s a grind, as per the original post.
You cannot do 49 without at least ascended trinkets and a high cost backpiece, which require a grind.

The block didn’t stop a lot of people.

fadeaway.2807:

There’s really no need to get personal and start insulting me.
It’s quite obvious that there’s a grind, as per the original post.
You cannot do 49 without at least ascended trinkets and a high cost backpiece, which require a grind.

The block didn’t stop a lot of people.

Actually, the block stopped everyone, except for those who made it through before the block, and those who knew them, since it was impossible to beat level 50. The only way to get above level 50 is to have someone open 51+ or some other odd numbered fractal.

And as for a grind, you would have to complete fractals a minimum of 48 times to even get to 49, during the course of which, if your goal was to do 49, you’d certainly have everything you needed for it by then.

Dead easy way to show that there is a grind in a non grindy game:

My friend starts playing, gets to 80, gears up (a grind in itself but let’s not talk about that part).
Finds he’s quite good at the game. Wants to tackle high level fractals, doesn’t care for the easymode low level ones.
Jumps in high level. Agony kills him.
I tell him to go farm laurels/trinkets/commendations, some hundreds of gold for the backpiece, and maybe some ascended gear if he doesn’t want to be instagibbed by the final boss using agony.
Friend asks “what happened to no grind?”.

What happens if he decides to swap spec for a change of flavour in this casual game? Or perhaps his build gets nerfed too badly? Grind again!

I honestly don’t really see any counter argument to that.

fadeaway.2807:

Dead easy way to show that there is a grind in a non grindy game:

My friend starts playing, gets to 80, gears up (a grind in itself but let’s not talk about that part).
Finds he’s quite good at the game. Wants to tackle high level fractals, doesn’t care for the easymode low level ones.
Jumps in high level. Agony kills him.
I tell him to go farm laurels/trinkets/commendations, some hundreds of gold for the backpiece, and maybe some ascended gear if he doesn’t want to be instagibbed by the final boss using agony.
Friend asks “what happened to no grind?”.

How do you in one breath argue about how the game was “intended” to be no grind, and in the next breath argue your friend should be able to bypass the intended progression of Fractals?

Easily?
The game was intended to be non grindy.
In the scenario above, the players don’t want to grind but want to do the challenging content. Of course they are going to want to bypass the progression which should in their eyes not be there.

fadeaway.2807:

Easily?
The game was intended to be non grindy.
In the scenario above, the players don’t want to grind but want to do the challenging content. Of course they are going to want to bypass the progression which should in their eyes not be there.

Do you remember when and more importantly WHY Fractals was implemented?

fadeaway.2807:

Dead easy way to show that there is a grind in a non grindy game:
My friend starts playing, gets to 80, gears up (a grind in itself but let’s not talk about that part).
Finds he’s quite good at the game. Wants to tackle high level fractals, doesn’t care for the easymode low level ones.
Jumps in high level. Agony kills him.
I tell him to go farm laurels/trinkets/commendations, some hundreds of gold for the backpiece, and maybe some ascended gear if he doesn’t want to be instagibbed by the final boss using agony.
Friend asks “what happened to no grind?”.
…
I honestly don’t really see any counter argument to that.

Fractals and ascended gear are directly aimed at players who like grinding for gear.

Everyone else can ignore it.

Its not really about gear % or being in better gear we all know its an unimportant value when it comes to content. The purpose of ascended gear is to give players something to strive towards, its an endgame. The issue i personally and i feel the OP is partially concerned about is the way the gear is given to players. So much of it relies on RNG and drops and less about earning the gear in game.

I don’t like to compare unless its necessary but if theres one thing i actually appreciated about WoW compared to GW2 is that atleast in end game i could earn my gear at a steady pace that i choose. I knew if i done x amount of dungeons or raided twice a week for four weeks i could get this or that. Here… there is no epic quest or difficult content i just kill mobs or do some events or random dungeons or fractals or anything at all ever in the game in the hope that i get the pieces i require to forge the gear. That’s not epic. Its not end game worthy. Its boring, non-directed and personally i dont feel like i’ve earned anything. Worst of all? If i have enough gold i can buy all the materials i need of the TP. Yay effort and rewards.

Apologise for the cynicism and tone of this post but I’m losing the will to live trying to gear up my character in ascended stuff… I’m sure as hell not enjoying the “journey” and if I’m not having fun playing it then why should I… unfortunately its really all there is left end game wise.

Wanting to play the most challenging content does not mean a player is okay with having to grind for it.

If you are that hardcore player which enters to l49-50 fotm, it wouldn’t be hard for you to craft all those ascendeds. Btw there’s no reason or a real reward to play fractals after having all ascendeds (boring to do the same thing over and over), this is just a paradox.

Umut.5471:

If you are that hardcore player which enters to l49-50 fotm, it wouldn’t be hard for you to craft all those ascendeds. Btw there’s no reason or a real reward to play fractals after having all ascendeds (boring to do the same thing over and over), this is just a paradox.

Weapon skins

Just because you want to do the most challenging content doesn’t mean you’re a hardcore player. It just means you’re half decent at the game and want something tough.

Killface.1896:

Guys my alts run exotics gear and I can do all the stuff with them as my main that have legendary/ascent stuff.

It all in your head if you think you gonna be better in ascent gear…

How is it in someones head? there is a very clear upgrade, it has more stats. Now you can argue those stats dont add up to much (you would be wrong), but you cannot say the stats have no impact, as they are higher and therefore have an impact.

OP: You dont need ascended gear until high level fractels, by which time you will have easily picked up a few pieces if you play that much. If you have no interest in high level fractels (trust me, they are not any better, in fact they are worse, most people pick lower level ones for a reason), then it doesnt matter.

The real problem area for the gear it WvWvW. I suspect those “players” who think Wv3 is actually PVP wanted the gated content to continue, because its easy to feel like you are good when you have BiS and your utterly murdering some upscaled blue armor dude.

In actually pvp the playing field is even on the entire stat front, everyone has the same options and that makes for a true pvp environment. Not to mention doing some actually PVP will train you up into a PVE beast. I can go to any dungeon or fractel, never having done it before or even seen a video, and know that I will most likely be fine. I know how to dodge, I know how important it is to avoid damage and the myriad of ways PVP forces you to learn, well those skills make for some beasty PVE play.

Got a guy in my guild who is cash rich but skill and progress low. We ran a fractal last night with him and some friends, we went in on level 1 for him because he had never done them before. He had legendary and the whole shebang (he does a lot of TP playing and Wv3). He even moaned that we should start at level 9 as he had better gear than two of the other players (me and me mesmer friend). We carried his nonsense through the whole thing, I think I spent more time ressing him and ordering him to stop picking up the god kitten boulders off of the god kitten vents then he did fighting.

Get your PVP fix from the mists, and PVE to your hearts content, never touch the broken mess that is Wv3 and its low skill play and the gear grind kinda stops being important.

E Tan.7385:

Jski.6180:

Well yes GW2 is supposed to be like that because YOUR making it that way. The game is made to be played the way you want to and the way you want to play it is to max min a group it seems. Have you ran into any one who asked that you have ascended gear for a dungeon what about a open world event? Have you ran into any one for wvw?

They do say we make our own hells but i did not think or let say hope it was not so true.

That’s just what GW is not supposed to be : giving stuff advantage over other players. AND not farm, nor grinding

My point is : Ascended gear is quite very long, and expensive to get, not everyone will have ascended stuff, so not everyone will be equal regarding the stat, so not equal regarding “power”

Even if its “only” a 4-6% boot, that’s still a 4-6% too much in a game promoting equality between player ( hardcore player, or casual )
And again I ( personaly, me, myself ) dont imagine that, that’s what GW1 started, and that’s also what GW2 sold.

There is plenty of mmo assuming that kind of grinding gear, and i dont criticism that, i know what to except if i play thoses kind of mmo. BUT i play GW2 BECAUSE Anet said their game will NOT be like thoses mmo.

After, i never spoke about gear segregation, i dont know if it will ever happen, and that’s not the point of my argument.

And my point is that a more sand box mmorpg like GW2 will become what you make it and by harping on this gear you have made this game into one of those mmorpg for your self.

vrannar.5618:

I didn’t come to play Guildwars 2 until last summer so I’m newer then many. The reason I came was because of the quality of the combat system and yet more casual play. One of the things touted by Anet was there was not going to be a gear grind.

I played the world’s biggest MMO and as we all know its a gear grind every major patch and each expansion. I didn’t mind the gear grind, in fact I enjoyed seeing how far I could go with my gear.

There is a major gear grind here in that yes there is less levels of gear, BUT it takes longer to acquire each piece. Between all the methods of gear acquisition I sometimes averaged a new piece of gear a day in the other MMO, in fact I reached top 5 gear score several times during my stint in that game. Not because I’m an ultra skilled raider, but I was skilled in finding out what gear I needed and how to get it.

Here in Guildwars 2, all but a few of my items were from crafting and to a lesser extent laurels. Like that other MMO I’m one of the better equipped, but really its a matter of grinding out the materials.

I dislike the RNG setup, because so many of the nice rewards are useless to me as a player. I go months between any loot that is useful as far as gear goes. I wish I could give all the ascended gear that isn’t useful away to friends or something. Or just don’t give it to me at all.

Oh wow an ascended chest! Oh crap its just locker bait AGAIN….

Well said. There isn’t enough difference between gear tiers to justify the mind numbing months long grind for it.

fadeaway.2807:

Friend asks “what happened to no grind?”.

Players happened, s whiny lot of players came whining on the forums about how easy it is, about how much they want hardcore content, how ANet needs to give them Raids and what not. So ANet gave them fractals, easy to get into but with scaling difficult thus they made high level fractals hard, so hard that if you really wanted to beat it you had to work for it. And now everyone’s complaining again.

I just read threw most of the posts and some good points were made. Yes I was doing level 49 fractals with just ascended amulet and rings as well. No ascended armor and weapons are not required.

I enjoy grinding to get better gear even if the stat increase is marginal, but I don’t want to see giant nerfs to my gear after putting in all the effort to acquire it. I’m only average skilled when it comes to play ability and with some of my personal limitations I’m about as far along that path as I can go.

Everyone plays for different reasons and I’m not here to look good by making someone else look bad. I like to minimize my liabilities by bringing all assets at my disposal to the table. I’m the guy that frequently uses the top of the line food, oils, sharpening stones, even in mid-level fractal runs. After completion of my sophir armor I’ll be working towards the omni-infusions.

Someone posted about me having an almost full set of ascended. I have a full set of Zojja armor, 4/6 of the Saphir set, and will most likely craft a power, toughness, vitality set as well.

I’d just much rather see other specs fixed then see crit nerfed, when both sets of my armor, all my trinkets and weapons rely on it. Remove the 25 stack limit.

There is plenty of discrimination against various classes and specs and it kinda sucks when you happen to be in one of those groups. Every day in LFG fractals you see “Heavys only”, “No thieves, rangers,eng,”," zerker only". And some people asking you to link gear.

I just read threw most of the posts and some good points were made. Yes I was doing level 49 fractals with just ascended amulet and rings as well. No ascended armor and weapons are not required.

I enjoy grinding to get better gear even if the stat increase is marginal, but I don’t want to see giant nerfs to my gear after putting in all the effort to acquire it. I’m only average skilled when it comes to play ability and with some of my personal limitations I’m about as far along that path as I can go.

Everyone plays for different reasons and I’m not here to look good by making someone else look bad. I like to minimize my liabilities by bringing all assets at my disposal to the table. I’m the guy that frequently uses the top of the line food, oils, sharpening stones, even in mid-level fractal runs. After completion of my sophir armor I’ll be working towards the omni-infusions.

Someone posted about me having an almost full set of ascended. I have a full set of Zojja armor, 4/6 of the Saphir set, and will most likely craft a power, toughness, vitality set as well.

I’d just much rather see other specs fixed then see crit nerfed, when both sets of my armor, all my trinkets and weapons rely on it. Remove the 25 stack limit.

There is plenty of discrimination against various classes and specs and it kinda sucks when you happen to be in one of those groups. Every day in LFG fractals you see “Heavys only”, “No thieves, rangers,eng,”," zerker only". And some people asking you to link gear.

fadeaway.2807:

There’s really no need to get personal and start insulting me.
It’s quite obvious that there’s a grind, as per the original post.
You cannot do 49 without at least ascended trinkets and a high cost backpiece, which require a grind.

The block didn’t stop a lot of people.

Yes, the fractals were designed to give people who like to grind something to work towards. It was the entire purpose. The grind was an intentional design decisions for the fractals.

This is why the level 48 reward and the reward for levels above that were equal.

CureForLiving.5360:

fadeaway.2807:

Friend asks “what happened to no grind?”.

Players happened, s whiny lot of players came whining on the forums about how easy it is, about how much they want hardcore content, how ANet needs to give them Raids and what not. So ANet gave them fractals, easy to get into but with scaling difficult thus they made high level fractals hard, so hard that if you really wanted to beat it you had to work for it. And now everyone’s complaining again.

You paint this like it’s a bad thing, and it’s really not. A casual player can play this game for months and never run out of things to do, just wandering about, enjoying the scenery, popping into the occasional dungeon, etc. I’ve got friends who are exactly like that, some of which after months of play have not yet reached 80, or are barely at 80. Then, there are hardcore players who breeze through the content at such breakneck speeds that they’ve already experienced everything the game has to offer within 2 weeks of picking it up.

Faced with the issue of being able to entertain both groups of players, A.Net chose a compromise. They added Fractals, which would still for the most part, be accessible to everyone, even the casuals (in fact you can do lower level fractals long before you reach level 80), but which the higher difficulties of which would require real, long term effort, even for the hardcore group, to prepare for and complete. It truly is an inspired solution to the issue that matches their core values with the realistic necessity of pleasing the hardcore group, which, given the amount of time they likely spend in the game, are likely the ones most willing to spend to support it.

The problem is that there exists this middle group that wants to feel hardcore, sitting around in BiS gear, but doesn’t actually want to be hardcore. These players play like casuals, a dungeon here, a dungeon there, some mapping, not really doing anything focused or hardcore with their time, but they want to be dressed in the best gear. Mind you, the gear they’re currently in most likely far more than enough for any content they’ve done or ever think of doing. That’s not the point for them though. The point for them is that they no longer feel hardcore, even though they never really were hardcore.

When people complain that GW2 is a “grind,” that “feeling” of having to grind is the player putting that feeling on their shoulders and it can hinder their experience and perspective a bit on the game.
It’s only a grind if you make it so…if you don’t like the “feel” of grinding for gear, then take a load off. Do something else for a change…