Guild Wars 2

So after months of restarting characters to find the build that I most enjoy – I set out and achieve level 80 – I think it took me about 100 hours.

I was comfortable with the progression format that you are rewarded for your in-game time with advancement in the form of experience (to be spent on skills) and lewts to buy shinny new gear.

Imagine my horror – when this format suddenly appears to change at level 80, where my experience bar freezes (because I have reach max exp at level 80), meaning all forward progress no longer rewards me with experience – there is some flashing message to tell me I need to go somewhere to start mastery’s – but I am in the middle of the level 80 personal story.

Because I am not getting any experience in exchange for my in-game time – I start to hate the game.

Nothing in-game shows a clear path forward from this problem.

So – I googled – finding lots of other people have experienced this disconnect – and all you have to do is start the HoT expansion (I had already paid for) by going to a specific destination.

In-game to be fair there has been this persistent flashing message bottom left – but it is just telling me about mastery’s.

More googling – and I eventually find I have to change the story-line I am on – which now gives me a compass to a destination.

This destination required me to travel across multiple maps – where I am loosing all the exp from WP’s and encounters (remember my exp bar is frozen)..

Then I get to the destination… and the game shuts down – and has to download content. I have limited bandwidth – so I usually schedule updates/downloads for when I am sleeping – but no.. I have to invest more of my precious minutes of real-life to watch a progress bar…

I could of made a clearer presentation and summary of all the points – but I don’t think I will – I will leave this post in the same condition I found the in-game transition from level 80 to Mastery’s —> time wasting and confusing.

Am I right in thinking you are playing this game solo? Not to say you can not, but GW2 does a poor job in explaining its own mechanics clearly, you will find yourself in these situations if you do not inform yourself externally.

One solution could be starting a literature study on GW2, but nicer perhaps would be to look for a general purpose, newby friendly/family type guild. There you can ask when something is not clear to you. They will likely also talk about things you haven’t heard about, so you will passively get to know more aspects of the game.

For guild recruitment, you can look on this forum: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/lookingfor
Contact one of the posters, posting a LFG (looking for guild/group) yourself will likely take much longer. And take care you join the right servers, if you’re playing on American servers join NA guilds, on European servers join EU guilds.

Even though it’s out of order, I recommend starting the HOT story, and doing the first two parts to at least unlock masteries.

Then you’d be getting your experience again and you’d be able to progress while finishing your personal story

This is not ideal, however at very least, this won’t give you spoilers to your personal story since it happens so much later

If you’re into story you can always replay the chapter later again…at least the first chapter. The prologue can not be replayed.

STINKFISH.8791:

Because I am not getting any experience in exchange for my in-game time – I start to hate the game.

If you’re going to enjoy this game, it is probably necessary to stop thinking about your play time in terms of progress bars. If you really are starting to hate this game based on not being to obtain tangible progress or experience points every time you log in, you probably won’t find much longevity in the endgame, where I feel a lot of the enjoyment is enjoying content at your own pace instead of worrying about progress or gear too much.

The quality of the content at 80 is significantly better than what you are currently playing through in the core game though (at least in my opinion). The story gets better, maps are more interesting, better open world pve content, elite specs, fractals, etc. all make the game a lot more worthwhile.

Also, the mastery system isn’t really a replacement for leveling. HoT and core Tyria masteries are separate, so you will only earn core tyria mastery experience while finishing your personal story. The Tyria mastery bonuses are nice quality of life improvements, and necessary if you want to go the route of crafting a legendary, but they really don’t change gameplay that much. I would not really fret about trying to get them as soon as possible.

HoT masteries play a big role in navigating the maps in the expansion, but you don’t need to worry about that until you get around to playing through that content, as experience you are earning in core Tyria doesn’t count towards earning those masteries anyways.

Be aware, you will eventually gather all the XP you can use (unless you participate in a Raid in some form), and the Mastery Bar will freeze. This only indicates you have reached Max Level, or run out of Mastery Points to spend.

Though, as long as you stay current in content releases, every 2-4 months a new Mastery Track is released, which you can fill with XP.

Good luck.

My post is NOT about the overall stop of progress, once you have exhausted content…

It is about the first time you get to level 80 – where there are no fluid indicators on how to progress…

Clearly you have to start the HoT storyline…

But this is not explained..

And THAT is where for the first time you start playing the game and losing experience, because your bar is full…

This exact scenario happened to me, the masteries are a little difficult to wrap your head around at first – it’s not very intuitive..
But with that said, I now love the system.

I recently (1 week ago) returned from Vanilla and never completed the old personal story.. I probably lost 2-3 mastery selections because I did the old story before going to HoT, but honestly it does not bug me anymore.

Actually, the next step would be Living World Season 2 (with the Season 2 maps, Dry Top and The Silverwastes). After that comes Heart of Thorns. At least, story-wise.

And for those that do not purchase Heart of Thorns (and its accompanying Living World Season ³) the next step would be Path of Fire (if purchased, of course) and Season 4.

Frankly starting HoT and getting masteries unlocked is not a tragic thing to do, get base gliding. You then go back to the story line and core map and earn things like true auto loot and fractal masteries if you want to do them.
After auto loot and story go get movement masteries in HoT maps. You may enjoy the maps you may not like them at all, up to you completely.
Just my opinion.

STINKFISH.8791:

My post is NOT about the overall stop of progress, once you have exhausted content…

It is about the first time you get to level 80 – where there are no fluid indicators on how to progress…

Clearly you have to start the HoT storyline…

But this is not explained..

And THAT is where for the first time you start playing the game and losing experience, because your bar is full…

I agree with your point. This game has always done a poor job of messaging. It doesn’t spoonfeed you at all, at least in most things.

That’s why joining a decent guild is beneficial.

Don’t fret, your not actually losing any exp at all, by not getting the mastery system started. When your capped at 80, your xp turns into spirit shards, so it’s still going towards something. Just like when we first started, and hit cap, our exp bar kept going to give us skill points.

As for a clear direction, it might be a bit murky but there is a direction to progress to next “level” that’s why you see that flashing mastery thing. You can still finish your core story first though 4 starting it as you won’t really lose anything since there is tonnes of xp. Specially since once you do start the mastery leveling stuff, it’s account wide so all your other level 80 toons benefit from it too.

It is gw2 though and everytime they change something or come up with a new idea. It’s always confusing at first then once that’s over it gets easier.

Odin the exiled.5764:

Don’t fret, your not actually losing any exp at all, by not getting the mastery system started. When your capped at 80, your xp turns into spirit shards, so it’s still going towards something. Just like when we first started, and hit cap, our exp bar kept going to give us skill points.

As for a clear direction, it might be a bit murky but there is a direction to progress to next “level” that’s why you see that flashing mastery thing. You can still finish your core story first though 4 starting it as you won’t really lose anything since there is tonnes of xp. Specially since once you do start the mastery leveling stuff, it’s account wide so all your other level 80 toons benefit from it too.

It is gw2 though and everytime they change something or come up with a new idea. It’s always confusing at first then once that’s over it gets easier.

No it do not if s/he dont open up masteries it is wasted.
Edit
If it worked like you say then why have people been complaining about raid masteries since hot launched they would have gotten spirit shards all along.

STINKFISH.8791:

So after months of restarting characters to find the build that I most enjoy – I set out and achieve level 80 – I think it took me about 100 hours.

I was comfortable with the progression format that you are rewarded for your in-game time with advancement in the form of experience (to be spent on skills) and lewts to buy shinny new gear.

Imagine my horror – when this format suddenly appears to change at level 80, where my experience bar freezes (because I have reach max exp at level 80), meaning all forward progress no longer rewards me with experience – there is some flashing message to tell me I need to go somewhere to start mastery’s – but I am in the middle of the level 80 personal story.

Because I am not getting any experience in exchange for my in-game time – I start to hate the game.

Nothing in-game shows a clear path forward from this problem.

So – I googled – finding lots of other people have experienced this disconnect – and all you have to do is start the HoT expansion (I had already paid for) by going to a specific destination.

In-game to be fair there has been this persistent flashing message bottom left – but it is just telling me about mastery’s.

More googling – and I eventually find I have to change the story-line I am on – which now gives me a compass to a destination.

This destination required me to travel across multiple maps – where I am loosing all the exp from WP’s and encounters (remember my exp bar is frozen)..

Then I get to the destination… and the game shuts down – and has to download content. I have limited bandwidth – so I usually schedule updates/downloads for when I am sleeping – but no.. I have to invest more of my precious minutes of real-life to watch a progress bar…

I could of made a clearer presentation and summary of all the points – but I don’t think I will – I will leave this post in the same condition I found the in-game transition from level 80 to Mastery’s —> time wasting and confusing.

I agree that the game does a TERRIBLE job of indicating “what to do next”. Very cryptic. In general you will encounter this over and over: the only way to easily figure out what to do in complex situations is to reference outside sources. Most developers don’t create their game so that to figure out the game you have to LEAVE the game…

Uhh, like literally everything in this game progresses you, you don’t have to get a guide to do anything when you cap just do something. Like that was the entire point of this game being made.

Geez…seems like you want anet to literally tell you want to do.

But its not like every bit of Exp is precious, nor are the resources tied to it at all scarce. I’m tempted to write this off as obsessive compulsion problem on the OP’s part; but most games go out of their way to train that behavior into their players… making it hard to let that mind set go.

But for your mental health….. you have to open your mind, and see where the real grind is. Its gold and Materials btw…… like LOTS of it. The average Legendary uses 36k units of Mithril and/or Elder wood in its construction…… and thats just one element of the process. Most gathering nodes only yield 3 units before exhausting. You get 1-2 spirit shards per hour as a random drop reward, can be gained by consuming Tomes beyond level 80, and can even be found as rewards for certain meta events…… and at most you’d need 200 to construct a legendary weapon. If went full bore on gathering mats, I can collect maybe 200-300 units per hour (unless I get super lucky with node spawns). Or I could get a lesser amount through salvage from loot drops, but also gain a decent amount of gold from events, rare items, and champ boxes in the process.

Having the mastery track frozen is an irritation at worst. And one that can be resolved by side tracking for 30-45 minutes out of the few thousand hours of play time I have in the game. So trust me when I say you have much more pressing matters to be “horrified” over, in our asinine quest for “progress”.

STINKFISH.8791:

So after months of restarting characters to find the build that I most enjoy – I set out and achieve level 80 – I think it took me about 100 hours.

I was comfortable with the progression format that you are rewarded for your in-game time with advancement in the form of experience (to be spent on skills) and lewts to buy shinny new gear.

Imagine my horror – when this format suddenly appears to change at level 80, where my experience bar freezes (because I have reach max exp at level 80), meaning all forward progress no longer rewards me with experience – there is some flashing message to tell me I need to go somewhere to start mastery’s – but I am in the middle of the level 80 personal story.

Because I am not getting any experience in exchange for my in-game time – I start to hate the game.

Nothing in-game shows a clear path forward from this problem.

So – I googled – finding lots of other people have experienced this disconnect – and all you have to do is start the HoT expansion (I had already paid for) by going to a specific destination.

In-game to be fair there has been this persistent flashing message bottom left – but it is just telling me about mastery’s.

More googling – and I eventually find I have to change the story-line I am on – which now gives me a compass to a destination.

This destination required me to travel across multiple maps – where I am loosing all the exp from WP’s and encounters (remember my exp bar is frozen)..

Then I get to the destination… and the game shuts down – and has to download content. I have limited bandwidth – so I usually schedule updates/downloads for when I am sleeping – but no.. I have to invest more of my precious minutes of real-life to watch a progress bar…

I could of made a clearer presentation and summary of all the points – but I don’t think I will – I will leave this post in the same condition I found the in-game transition from level 80 to Mastery’s —> time wasting and confusing.

Djinn.9245:

I agree that the game does a TERRIBLE job of indicating “what to do next”. Very cryptic. In general you will encounter this over and over: the only way to easily figure out what to do in complex situations is to reference outside sources. Most developers don’t create their game so that to figure out the game you have to LEAVE the game…

There are already enough MMOs in the market where Hand Hold is ridiculously over the top.

This is nothing more than a convenience.

Real life doesn’t point you in the right direction.

I like GW2 because its lack of hand holding. However, there’s more than enough of that for new characters now: I seem to remember far less tips at launch.

If you need pointers in what to next however, you’ve come to the right place!

I agree with you on the matter where there isn’t much guidance to further your progession after you have reached max level. If you don’t try to engage in HoT story, you will probably feel lost at well. At least that’s how I felt at first. But I think the problem here is if you only see progression as experience (as in exp in exp bar), you won’t feel much sense of progression later on anyway because it’s so much more than just exp bar. Exp becomes so easy to come by at lv 80 so try not to be obsessed with it.

Genesis.5169:

Uhh, like literally everything in this game progresses you, you don’t have to get a guide to do anything when you cap just do something. Like that was the entire point of this game being made.

Geez…seems like you want anet to literally tell you want to do.

If you actually READ the OP:

STINKFISH.8791:

at level 80, where my experience bar freezes

…

there is some flashing message to tell me I need to go somewhere to start mastery’s – but I am in the middle of the level 80 personal story.

…

Because I am not getting any experience in exchange for my in-game time – I start to hate the game.

Nothing in-game shows a clear path forward from this problem.

…

… persistent flashing message bottom left – but it is just telling me about mastery’s.

More googling – and I eventually find I have to change the story-line I am on – which now gives me a compass to a destination.

This destination required me to travel across multiple maps – where I am loosing all the exp from WP’s and encounters (remember my exp bar is frozen)..

Then I get to the destination… and the game shuts down – and has to download content. I have limited bandwidth – so I usually schedule updates/downloads for when I am sleeping – but no.. I have to invest more of my precious minutes of real-life to watch a progress bar…

Rhanoa.3960:

Djinn.9245:

I agree that the game does a TERRIBLE job of indicating “what to do next”. Very cryptic. In general you will encounter this over and over: the only way to easily figure out what to do in complex situations is to reference outside sources. Most developers don’t create their game so that to figure out the game you have to LEAVE the game…

There are already enough MMOs in the market where Hand Hold is ridiculously over the top.

This is nothing more than a convenience.

Real life doesn’t point you in the right direction.

There is a huge difference between handholding and being smart enough to show a player what he needs to do IN GAME when his XP bar suddenly stops. Most game designers want the player IN the game, not spending their time outside the game trying to figure it out.

Djinn.9245:

Rhanoa.3960:

Djinn.9245:

I agree that the game does a TERRIBLE job of indicating “what to do next”. Very cryptic. In general you will encounter this over and over: the only way to easily figure out what to do in complex situations is to reference outside sources. Most developers don’t create their game so that to figure out the game you have to LEAVE the game…

There are already enough MMOs in the market where Hand Hold is ridiculously over the top.

This is nothing more than a convenience.

Real life doesn’t point you in the right direction.

There is a huge difference between handholding and being smart enough to show a player what he needs to do IN GAME when his XP bar suddenly stops. Most game designers want the player IN the game, not spending their time outside the game trying to figure it out.

Oh come on Djinn.

You go from GW2 to HOT and you don’t expect any change to the game?
Do you really need someone SMART to show others a considerable difference in an XP Bar?
It’s pretty obvious as you can see.

Many of us do not want ANET to be like most game developers. They have held their despite what you believe.

Rhanoa.3960:

Djinn.9245:

Rhanoa.3960:

Djinn.9245:

I agree that the game does a TERRIBLE job of indicating “what to do next”. Very cryptic. In general you will encounter this over and over: the only way to easily figure out what to do in complex situations is to reference outside sources. Most developers don’t create their game so that to figure out the game you have to LEAVE the game…

There are already enough MMOs in the market where Hand Hold is ridiculously over the top.

This is nothing more than a convenience.

Real life doesn’t point you in the right direction.

There is a huge difference between handholding and being smart enough to show a player what he needs to do IN GAME when his XP bar suddenly stops. Most game designers want the player IN the game, not spending their time outside the game trying to figure it out.

Oh come on Djinn.

Oh come on Rhanoa, did you read the OP? He was doing his personal story when his XP bar stopped. He didn’t go from core to HoT (which is part of GW2 btw). Please read the OP.

Wait what, 100h to 80? Even if u do nothing but finish areas you should be 80 when there are 4 areas left and u can finish 1 area in 1,5h playing casual oO

It’s pretty difficult to argue that ANet didn’t drop the ball on this one. The storyline is a mess for new players.

You are barred from progress toward the mastery system unless you skip ahead to the HoT storyline, which makes no sense at all when you should be able to work toward the core masteries while completing the original storyline provided you have purchased the expansion.

Once you complete the storyline, you get to watch a recap of the events of LWS1. Better than nothing, but not by much! Then, if you wish to maintain any sort of continuity at all, you have to buy LWS2 from the gem shop. Only then are you able to pick up with the HoT storyline and LWS3 and have it make any sense.

I really think purchasing an expansion should unlock the entire storyline leading up to it (except LWS1 due to the “innovative” way they decided to handle that part of the story). With massive holes in the story and the feeling of being pressured to skip ahead in order to avoid wasting experience, players enter HoT with a “Why should I care?” attitude toward the whole story.

Djinn.9245:

Rhanoa.3960:

Djinn.9245:

Rhanoa.3960:

Djinn.9245:

I agree that the game does a TERRIBLE job of indicating “what to do next”. Very cryptic. In general you will encounter this over and over: the only way to easily figure out what to do in complex situations is to reference outside sources. Most developers don’t create their game so that to figure out the game you have to LEAVE the game…

There are already enough MMOs in the market where Hand Hold is ridiculously over the top.

This is nothing more than a convenience.

Real life doesn’t point you in the right direction.

There is a huge difference between handholding and being smart enough to show a player what he needs to do IN GAME when his XP bar suddenly stops. Most game designers want the player IN the game, not spending their time outside the game trying to figure it out.

Oh come on Djinn.

Oh come on Rhanoa, did you read the OP? He was doing his personal story when his XP bar stopped. He didn’t go from core to HoT (which is part of GW2 btw). Please read the OP.

STINKFISH.8791:

So – I googled – finding lots of other people have experienced this disconnect – and all you have to do is start the HoT expansion (I had already paid for) by going to a specific destination.

Rhanoa.3960:

Oh come on Rhanoa, did you read the OP? He was doing his personal story when his XP bar stopped. He didn’t go from core to HoT (which is part of GW2 btw). Please read the OP.

STINKFISH.8791:

So – I googled – finding lots of other people have experienced this disconnect – and all you have to do is start the HoT expansion (I had already paid for) by going to a specific destination.

[/quote]
Yea…He had to go start HOT to keep earning exp while he was still working on the base game story, thats the disconnect hes referring to and i can see why it would be confusing, they dont explain in any way shape or form that once you hit level 80 in game you will stop earning EXP UNLESS you go start HOT.

Well, it won’t be ‘go to HoT’-only much longer. Those new players that purchase Path of Fire (sans HoT) won’t have that option, or should we say…requirement.

Thus, the Devs wouldn’t be putting a tip in suggesting one ‘go to HoT’ to open Masteries. Still, the ‘flashing message’ could say something like “Masteries are expansion-specific content. Check your Story Journal”, or some such.

What the Devs really should do is disable that flashing message until a player actually sets foot in an expansion. Or, show it only once, and state that Masteries are available, if one enters expansion content.