Guild Wars 2

So to explain, I do not know if you guys/girls will agree, but in my opinion I feel as though there is a huge lack of cool bad kitten looking items for level 80. In particular armors like yeah some look alright but nothing really grabs you and makes you stand out and the only ones that do are limited time gem store items like black feather wings or grenth hood.
What I’m asking to Anet and to others if they agree, whether Heart of Thorns will offer maybe special events to get limited items every 2-4 weeks (e.g. a weekend event that by doing this you can get this) that is challenging. Limited edition items are very good for an mmorpg and i think that should continue, however the current armor sets are just so bland – for example a medium armor shoulder the only cool bad kitten ones are like rubicon even then that is questionable :/
I just feel this game would benefit with like weekend events something consistent like once a month things that can offer new armor/skins even weapon but armor is the main concern.
So if a Dev is reading this can we possibly be expecting anything like this in the near future?

I am always for new shiny things, but I disagree with the ‘limited’ (read: exclusive) part. I don’t get people’s obsession with having things other people don’t have. It’s actually a pretty low attitude to have. “Exclusive” is a BAD thing, ok? The word is derived from Latin and literally means “shut out”.

I do however agree that most armor sets are bland and look way too similar. Most medium armor still look like coats. Most light armor still looks like puffy bathrobes. Seriously, someone at ANet must have a puffy skirt fetish: With the sole exception of the Viper skirt, every single skirt in the game stands away a half-mile from the hips. Ugh.

This is an MMO. There shouldn’t be anything in the game that only certain people can access. It goes against the nature of the genre.

I’m sure they will release a fair amount of new aesthetic material in the expansion, but really we have a lot to work with now — the majority of the updates the past three years have been aesthetic.

~ Kovu

I don’t think skins should be exclusive as a result of a limited time release— but I do think there should be some skins (not all) that are tied to actual feats of skill (challenging content).

That being said, it is important that the challenging content is accessible to everyone, but still be difficult enough to make people feel accomplished for completing it. Right now, skill doesn’t net you much of anything in GW2. Everyone can get everything for mind-numbing busywork, and many items have so little sentiment attached to them because they aren’t acquired in a memorable or engaging way.

I remember feeling slightly frustrated a couple of years ago that the Emissary of the Mad King “achievement” / title didn’t include the actual most difficult thing to achieve in the halloween event— the Mad King’s Clock Tower. If anything, they could have added a separate title for people that did complete it— because completing it sure did feel like an achievement deserving of a title. Instead we got… 10 AP. Sure, there was an intrinsic reward, but when things that are undoubtedly bigger achievements net less of an extrinsic reward (cosmetic, at that) than achievements where part of it is to… attend a party, something feels off.

My 2c. I know plenty of people disagree and want everything to be attainable by everyone, regardless of merit. I would rather that everything is accessible to everyone, and everyone has a fair shot at getting everything— but some things will take more brainpower to get.

Ironically enough, both of the items you listed seem so…cliche, and not something I think look cool.

Kovu.7560:

This is an MMO. There shouldn’t be anything in the game that only certain people can access. It goes against the nature of the genre.

~ Kovu

I guess it depends on what you mean by “only certain people can access.” Since the dawn of MMOs there have been items that only certain people have access to. You want that raid armor? Gotta raid. Want that PvP set? Gotta PvP. Want that cool sword? Gotta do this dungeon or some long quest line.

It’s like people being upset about the fractal legendary back piece and how its not fair that people who do fractals get access to it and they don’t (everyone has access to fractals, which is why them being upset about it makes no sense).

Draknar.5748:

Kovu.7560:

This is an MMO. There shouldn’t be anything in the game that only certain people can access. It goes against the nature of the genre.

~ Kovu

I guess it depends on what you mean by “only certain people can access.” Since the dawn of MMOs there have been items that only certain people have access to. You want that raid armor? Gotta raid. Want that PvP set? Gotta PvP. Want that cool sword? Gotta do this dungeon or some long quest line.

It’s like people being upset about the fractal legendary back piece and how its not fair that people who do fractals get access to it and they don’t (everyone has access to fractals, which is why them being upset about it makes no sense).

So long as everyone has access to that content they have access to that item.
Whether they choose to execute that privilege is up to them. So long as it’s available to anyone.

~ Kovu

Kovu.7560:

Draknar.5748:

Kovu.7560:

This is an MMO. There shouldn’t be anything in the game that only certain people can access. It goes against the nature of the genre.

~ Kovu

I guess it depends on what you mean by “only certain people can access.” Since the dawn of MMOs there have been items that only certain people have access to. You want that raid armor? Gotta raid. Want that PvP set? Gotta PvP. Want that cool sword? Gotta do this dungeon or some long quest line.

It’s like people being upset about the fractal legendary back piece and how its not fair that people who do fractals get access to it and they don’t (everyone has access to fractals, which is why them being upset about it makes no sense).

So long as everyone has access to that content they have access to that item.
Whether they choose to execute that privilege is up to them. So long as it’s available to anyone.

~ Kovu

Well then we are on the same page

I certainly agree that getting nice stuff should take some effort in terms of people play the game for a while. But if you tie said items to content that only 1% of the players can ever hope to complete it, this item becomes “exclusive” because it’s out of reach for the vast majority of players (raiding gear in other MMOs is a prime example for that). The sheer fact that a super-hard dungeon has an open entrance doesn’t mean it’s accessible.

A good example for how to design hard to get items without locking out the vast majority of players are legendary items or Mawdrey. None of the individual tasks required to get these items is overly challenging, but it sure takes time and effort to collect all needed parts. So far, GW2 has got that right. If I wanted a game that locks me out of everything decent just because I dislike raiding content (and spending my time with elitists that tend to feel attracted by that sort of content), I’d go play one of the twenty competing MMOs designed that way.

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-light.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-medium.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-heavy.htm

I mean come on Anet look at these armors, in particular light and medium. This is a fantasy game yet why does some of the gear look like i can get it in a charity store?

There is little variation in level 80 armors and even then there is nothing that makes my jaw drop. Don’t get me wrong i love the whole wardrobe thing and personalizing a character but there isn’t enough good looking gear to create an overall good looking outfit with. The dyes are great however there just needs to be more armors/skins in the game that really stand out, like huge shoulder pads with massive green flames i don’t something that looks fantasy not real.
I hope a Dev sees this.

wolfgang.3471:

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-light.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-medium.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-heavy.htm

I mean come on Anet look at these armors, in particular light and medium. This is a fantasy game yet why does some of the gear look like i can get it in a charity store?

There is little variation in level 80 armors and even then there is nothing that makes my jaw drop. Don’t get me wrong i love the whole wardrobe thing and personalizing a character but there isn’t enough good looking gear to create an overall good looking outfit with. The dyes are great however there just needs to be more armors/skins in the game that really stand out, like huge shoulder pads with massive green flames i don’t something that looks fantasy not real.
I hope a Dev sees this.

Nothing personal, but if a Dev sees this I hope he discards the idea out of hand.

Kimyrielle.3826:

If I wanted a game that locks me out of everything decent just because I dislike raiding content (and spending my time with elitists that tend to feel attracted by that sort of content), I’d go play one of the twenty competing MMOs designed that way.

“…everything decent…” is completely subjective. In this game everyone has access to top tier stat gear. Now what we’re talking about are essentially skins. Now all of a sudden exclusive skins shouldn’t require completion of challenging content because some people don’t want to or simply can’t complete content that is above average difficulty?

That’s simply not fair to people who put the effort into completing that content.

It’s like the Liadri mini / title. I never use the mini or the title, but I worked towards it for my own satisfaction. I know how hard it was to get, and if I see someone with the title or mini it reminds me of the hard work that went into it and they get a bit of respect from me. If you could simply buy that title or mini then it would be as if all my and others’ hard work was wasted.

Ashen.2907:

wolfgang.3471:

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-light.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-medium.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-heavy.htm

I mean come on Anet look at these armors, in particular light and medium. This is a fantasy game yet why does some of the gear look like i can get it in a charity store?

There is little variation in level 80 armors and even then there is nothing that makes my jaw drop. Don’t get me wrong i love the whole wardrobe thing and personalizing a character but there isn’t enough good looking gear to create an overall good looking outfit with. The dyes are great however there just needs to be more armors/skins in the game that really stand out, like huge shoulder pads with massive green flames i don’t something that looks fantasy not real.
I hope a Dev sees this.

Nothing personal, but if a Dev sees this I hope he discards the idea out of hand.

I wouldn’t use the giant, gaudy green-flaming shoulder pads, but I’d also have no problem with them existing so that people who like such things could use them.

Draknar.5748:

Kimyrielle.3826:

If I wanted a game that locks me out of everything decent just because I dislike raiding content (and spending my time with elitists that tend to feel attracted by that sort of content), I’d go play one of the twenty competing MMOs designed that way.

“…everything decent…” is completely subjective. In this game everyone has access to top tier stat gear. Now what we’re talking about are essentially skins. Now all of a sudden exclusive skins shouldn’t require completion of challenging content because some people don’t want to or simply can’t complete content that is above average difficulty?

That’s simply not fair to people who put the effort into completing that content.

But its fair that 95% of the players maybe pay all the money for the devs, but the
devs create content mainly for 5% of the players ?

http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/24/the-soapbox-six-reasons-mmos-should-abandon-raiding-part-1/

Since in the last 1,5 years the only new armor skins we got were Carapace, since
ANet don’t sells armor sets in the BLTC anymore, i really fear that they now go
again over the top and hide all the new skins behind an enormous grind and
then put that obscure “challenging group content” on top.

Draknar.5748:

Kimyrielle.3826:

If I wanted a game that locks me out of everything decent just because I dislike raiding content (and spending my time with elitists that tend to feel attracted by that sort of content), I’d go play one of the twenty competing MMOs designed that way.

“…everything decent…” is completely subjective. In this game everyone has access to top tier stat gear. Now what we’re talking about are essentially skins. Now all of a sudden exclusive skins shouldn’t require completion of challenging content because some people don’t want to or simply can’t complete content that is above average difficulty?

That’s simply not fair to people who put the effort into completing that content.

It’s like the Liadri mini / title. I never use the mini or the title, but I worked towards it for my own satisfaction. I know how hard it was to get, and if I see someone with the title or mini it reminds me of the hard work that went into it and they get a bit of respect from me. If you could simply buy that title or mini then it would be as if all my and others’ hard work was wasted.

The difference between me and you is that I couldn’t care less about what items or titles you have. I play the game for fun, not to brag. The desire for “exclusivity” is ultimately bred by some people’s desire to brag and boast by shoving stuff into other people’s faces they don’t have. Otherwise they’d be happy to have nice and shiny things for the sake of having nice and shiny things. It’s like these guys who wear these ugly Rolex watches in real life. They almost always don’t do that because they like the ugly things, they do that to brag with their financial ability to afford one.

For the record, I will never respect braggers or elitists. Quite…the contrary, actually.

Unfortunately some dev made the commitment that the black lion trading store should only provide outfits, while armor pieces should only be given as in game rewards. As the black lion trading post has been the only meaningful supplier of new armor pieces for about 2.5 years, this is a real blow to future diversity.

The other problem is the price Anet attributes to high quality textures on armor pieces. Volcanus, zodiac armor, glowing carapace armor. Those don’t cost karma, those cost a fraction of your life. More troubling though is that all the really detailed equipment skins have been exclusively from the gem store. I’m not saying grinding 400 gems worth of gold is an issue, I’m saying that if armors are no longer to be sold in the black lion trading company, we may never see armor pieces of that quality ever again.

GW2 is surprisingly devoid of overly fantastical equipment. It is there, its just that it doesn’t cost a fraction of your life, you keep a fraction and hand in the rest of it -.-

Hellfire armor is really cool. Unless you a charr, in which unlike the other races, your neck does not turn to magma and your clawed feet turn into human footsies. But Hellfire charr are still pretty cool. We will probably get a corrupted thunder set if we ever take on the sparky dragon and I pray we will eventually get a partially mech driven armor when taking down the inquest.

But aye, I miss my wicked death knight attire from wow. That Tauren had style – and I was so close to obtaining the only lower section dress piece available to heavy armor users. Alas, that pulled a stunt so irritating it made the GW2 pre-purchase debacle look like a charity give away. So I left for “greener pastures” tm.

Jade Nekotenshi.8702:

Ashen.2907:

wolfgang.3471:

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-light.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-medium.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-heavy.htm

I mean come on Anet look at these armors, in particular light and medium. This is a fantasy game yet why does some of the gear look like i can get it in a charity store?

There is little variation in level 80 armors and even then there is nothing that makes my jaw drop. Don’t get me wrong i love the whole wardrobe thing and personalizing a character but there isn’t enough good looking gear to create an overall good looking outfit with. The dyes are great however there just needs to be more armors/skins in the game that really stand out, like huge shoulder pads with massive green flames i don’t something that looks fantasy not real.
I hope a Dev sees this.

Nothing personal, but if a Dev sees this I hope he discards the idea out of hand.

I wouldn’t use the giant, gaudy green-flaming shoulder pads, but I’d also have no problem with them existing so that people who like such things could use them.

Fair enough.

I would just rather that the limited amount of armor development resources be put into non trench coat medium armor designs.

Beldin.5498:

But its fair that 95% of the players maybe pay all the money for the devs, but the
devs create content mainly for 5% of the players ?

Nearly all armor pieces/skins/etc are available to 100% of all players. Is there more than one or two options (Liadri is all that comes to mind for me) in the entire game that fit the description of being mainly for the 5%?

One option (update to include others that dont come to mind immediately) out of hundreds or thousands.

More armour variety? Always nice. I’d like to see armor run the spectrum from realistic (as is currently the case) to unrealistic fantasy. Although to be honestly I’d be happy with more armour in general.

We can always use more variety. I don’t like that they made so many intentionally shoddy looking armour sets.

I’m strongly against any kind of limited edition rewards though. It’s frustrating to tool around in the wardrobe, experimenting with different combinations only to discover that the one piece that would really tie your look together is unavailable until further notice.

The legendary shortbow shoots unicorns with rainbows . . . . need i say more?

@Jahroots: I’m not generally against limited edition rewards. That said, other games tend to provide tons of new (easily accessible) skins on a regular basis. Because GW2 tends to go for months without adding any new skins, dangling a limited edition skin for a few weeks and then withholding it permanently is really salting the wound.

wolfgang.3471:

So to explain, I do not know if you guys/girls will agree, but in my opinion I feel as though there is a huge lack of cool bad kitten looking items for level 80. In particular armors like yeah some look alright but nothing really grabs you and makes you stand out and the only ones that do are limited time gem store items like black feather wings or grenth hood.
What I’m asking to Anet and to others if they agree, whether Heart of Thorns will offer maybe special events to get limited items every 2-4 weeks (e.g. a weekend event that by doing this you can get this) that is challenging. Limited edition items are very good for an mmorpg and i think that should continue, however the current armor sets are just so bland – for example a medium armor shoulder the only cool bad kitten ones are like rubicon even then that is questionable :/
I just feel this game would benefit with like weekend events something consistent like once a month things that can offer new armor/skins even weapon but armor is the main concern.
So if a Dev is reading this can we possibly be expecting anything like this in the near future?

You lost me when you said the big wings where “cool”. People in general.don’t like skins to be unobtainable. Much like the mad memories/complete. I quite like having it, as it shows I was there when. You don’t see it all that often. Also I don’t get to play weekends so I for one would be against limited items on the weekends for doing X.

If you haven’t found any cool looking gear in the game yet, time to move onto some other game I’m afraid.

yep armors are pretty repetitive and bland, they are probably going to make legendary armor cool

Ashen.2907:

Beldin.5498:

But its fair that 95% of the players maybe pay all the money for the devs, but the
devs create content mainly for 5% of the players ?

Nearly all armor pieces/skins/etc are available to 100% of all players. Is there more than one or two options (Liadri is all that comes to mind for me) in the entire game that fit the description of being mainly for the 5%?

One option (update to include others that dont come to mind immediately) out of hundreds or thousands.

You have noticed i was NOT talking about the current state of the game but
more about othher MMOs with RAIDS ? And maybe my fear that we can
go into that direction with whatever that obscure new “challenging
group content” may be ?

wolfgang.3471:

Limited edition items are very good for an mmorpg […]

What do you base that assumption on? If you look at Living Story S1 that’s pretty much ANet was experimenting with, but that they’ve moved away from that model in S2 suggests it didn’t work out.

That isn’t to say that repeatable time-limited events, such as the seasonal events, don’t serve a role in getting people to play during holidays when they’re more likely to spend money, but I don’t believe one-off time-limited content has demonstrated itself to be a “very good” long term model.

Pandaman.4758:

wolfgang.3471:

Limited edition items are very good for an mmorpg […]

What do you base that assumption on? If you look at Living Story S1 that’s pretty much ANet was experimenting with, but that they’ve moved away from that model in S2 suggests it didn’t work out.

That isn’t to say that repeatable time-limited events, such as the seasonal events, don’t serve a role in getting people to play during holidays when they’re more likely to spend money, but I don’t believe one-off time-limited content has demonstrated itself to be a “very good” long term model.

What I’m trying to say is:
1) Armors need either remodeling or new ones (skins) need to be put in the game some easy to get some more challenging (e.g. say getting 10,000 wvw kills + 10ap and a shoulder skin or something along those lines).
2)Yes I do think there should be in game events that if players participate you can get a certain item that may or may not come back, because players that having been playing since release look pretty similar to recent level 80’s. Like maybe a 2 week event so a lot of people have chance to get it whatever I don’t care I just want to see new armor designs come into the game with a way to get them and i feel a broad range of ways in doing this would be good (limited time items/challenging rewards/achievement rewards).
3)Alternatively they could use a similar concept to the black lion weapons and do individual armor skins.

Overall I am saying there needs to be more variation in the game i.e. no more trench coats for thieves and less dressing gowns for light armor – create more exciting gear with a way to get it.

Adding more medium armour that isn’t gunslinger coats would be just fine. More practically styled light armour would also be nice. Desert explorer gear, anyone?

I do like that a lot of the armour sets have only relatively subtle differences, though. Giant wings and WoW-y shoulderpads should be outliers. Makes mixing and matching easier, too.

I would also like more different lower-level weapon skins. Giving darksteel, bronze, iron and mithril weapons more substantial differences than colours would be nice. Nothing huge is needed.

Here’s an example.

There is only one droppable footprint particle item in the game.

Because of that, Vinewrath has a huge crowd at South every time, and Mid-/North- are 10 or less people, even if it’s only the bosses name perception that causes this and not a real loot table.

That is Crappy Itemization 101.

Kimyrielle.3826:

Draknar.5748:

Kimyrielle.3826:

If I wanted a game that locks me out of everything decent just because I dislike raiding content (and spending my time with elitists that tend to feel attracted by that sort of content), I’d go play one of the twenty competing MMOs designed that way.

“…everything decent…” is completely subjective. In this game everyone has access to top tier stat gear. Now what we’re talking about are essentially skins. Now all of a sudden exclusive skins shouldn’t require completion of challenging content because some people don’t want to or simply can’t complete content that is above average difficulty?

That’s simply not fair to people who put the effort into completing that content.

It’s like the Liadri mini / title. I never use the mini or the title, but I worked towards it for my own satisfaction. I know how hard it was to get, and if I see someone with the title or mini it reminds me of the hard work that went into it and they get a bit of respect from me. If you could simply buy that title or mini then it would be as if all my and others’ hard work was wasted.

The difference between me and you is that I couldn’t care less about what items or titles you have. I play the game for fun, not to brag. The desire for “exclusivity” is ultimately bred by some people’s desire to brag and boast by shoving stuff into other people’s faces they don’t have. Otherwise they’d be happy to have nice and shiny things for the sake of having nice and shiny things. It’s like these guys who wear these ugly Rolex watches in real life. They almost always don’t do that because they like the ugly things, they do that to brag with their financial ability to afford one.

For the record, I will never respect braggers or elitists. Quite…the contrary, actually.

Completely agree with you there Kimyrielle. I got my legendaries because I liked them. I use the skins because I like them. If someone else doesn’t like what I wear then that’s their problem, not mine. When people run around obviously showing off their “top-end” gear by switching between 6 legendaries and hopping around in front of me I lose all respect for them. People should get the skins they like purely because they like them, not because of any fake “prestige” that they think comes with it. I honestly can’t think of anything in-game that I consider prestigious at all. Possibly lumi armor, but even then people are paying others to get the cheevs for them now.

~~~~

As for OP, I’d love for more variety in skins to be added to the game. I believe that they will be adding in more in HoT (I found a blue dagger skin during the beta that I had never seen before). Let’s just hope that they listen to the community this time and put in a decent range of armor skins.

I just don’t want them locked behind a pay wall. As a few other people have mentioned, putting it behind content or achievements wouldn’t be a bad idea, as long as it’s not incredibly difficult to achieve. I don’t mind a challenge, but insanely difficult content turns me right off.

Kimyrielle.3826:

Draknar.5748:

Kimyrielle.3826:

If I wanted a game that locks me out of everything decent just because I dislike raiding content (and spending my time with elitists that tend to feel attracted by that sort of content), I’d go play one of the twenty competing MMOs designed that way.

“…everything decent…” is completely subjective. In this game everyone has access to top tier stat gear. Now what we’re talking about are essentially skins. Now all of a sudden exclusive skins shouldn’t require completion of challenging content because some people don’t want to or simply can’t complete content that is above average difficulty?

That’s simply not fair to people who put the effort into completing that content.

It’s like the Liadri mini / title. I never use the mini or the title, but I worked towards it for my own satisfaction. I know how hard it was to get, and if I see someone with the title or mini it reminds me of the hard work that went into it and they get a bit of respect from me. If you could simply buy that title or mini then it would be as if all my and others’ hard work was wasted.

The difference between me and you is that I couldn’t care less about what items or titles you have. I play the game for fun, not to brag. The desire for “exclusivity” is ultimately bred by some people’s desire to brag and boast by shoving stuff into other people’s faces they don’t have. Otherwise they’d be happy to have nice and shiny things for the sake of having nice and shiny things. It’s like these guys who wear these ugly Rolex watches in real life. They almost always don’t do that because they like the ugly things, they do that to brag with their financial ability to afford one.

For the record, I will never respect braggers or elitists. Quite…the contrary, actually.

I guess you don’t believe in trophies/ribbons/prizes or any kind of recognition for success in a given field IRL then either, as that would essentially be people getting things strictly to brag/impress people in your mind, rather than for their own satisfaction.

Why would anyone strive for excellence if they can achieve the same thing through minimal effort?

You know many other MMO’s use Mounts for this sort of thing since there purely a cosmetic item. There isn’t any difference if your moving 33% faster with swiftness or on a reskin of your toon on a horse.

We have items like Sunless skins, Queen Bee, and Wurm Armor but the problem with all of those are there loaded with RNG. You can get the items on your first kill but that’s not the problem I’m refering to as unlike other MMO’s we lack raids these bosses aren’t at the end of some quest to test your skills there purely bosses. Sure Aetherblade path fixes this by having unique skins in its end chest but its a 5 man dungeon the point of raids is that numerous people get a chance to open the chest to roll at the same time. Plus more people can make it harder for people to carry other people thus making everyone contribute to the end raid objective. Out of all of them the Queen Bee makes the least sense as you can’t equip jewels to ascended trinkets so you have to force kitten yourself into an exotic to even use the thing.

Draknar.5748:

I guess you don’t believe in trophies/ribbons/prizes or any kind of recognition for success in a given field IRL then either, as that would essentially be people getting things strictly to brag/impress people in your mind, rather than for their own satisfaction.

Why would anyone strive for excellence if they can achieve the same thing through minimal effort?

The difference between a bragger and an achiever is that the latter is completely happy to put the trophy on their shelf at home and take pride in having done whatever it took to get it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

In MMO terms: A person who wants to complete difficult content for the sake of completing difficult content is an achiever. A person who wants to have exclusive stuff for completing said difficult content to show off with in town is a bragger.

Nobody wants difficult content in an MMO for its own sake, this is entirely the wrong genre for that.

Hyper Cutter.9376:

Nobody wants difficult content in an MMO for its own sake, this is entirely the wrong genre for that.

Yes, I share the sentiment that a good approximation to 100% of those who ask for challenging content in MMOs do so because they want to brag, boast and belittle. Exceptions do of course happen.

Kimyrielle.3826:

I am always for new shiny things, but I disagree with the ‘limited’ (read: exclusive) part. I don’t get people’s obsession with having things other people don’t have. It’s actually a pretty low attitude to have. “Exclusive” is a BAD thing, ok? The word is derived from Latin and literally means “shut out”.

I do however agree that most armor sets are bland and look way too similar. Most medium armor still look like coats. Most light armor still looks like puffy bathrobes. Seriously, someone at ANet must have a puffy skirt fetish: With the sole exception of the Viper skirt, every single skirt in the game stands away a half-mile from the hips. Ugh.

ITA.

wolfgang.3471:

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-light.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-medium.htm

http://gw2armorgallery.com/human-heavy.htm

I mean come on Anet look at these armors, in particular light and medium. This is a fantasy game yet why does some of the gear look like i can get it in a charity store?

There is little variation in level 80 armors and even then there is nothing that makes my jaw drop. Don’t get me wrong i love the whole wardrobe thing and personalizing a character but there isn’t enough good looking gear to create an overall good looking outfit with. The dyes are great however there just needs to be more armors/skins in the game that really stand out, like huge shoulder pads with massive green flames i don’t something that looks fantasy not real.
I hope a Dev sees this.

Sounds like something more associated with the extreme end of the WoW aesthetic.

I’m not going to disagree that there needs to be more options (medium armour definitely needs more non-coat options, for example), but I think they should still tie-in with the existing GW2 aesthetic.

That being, at most, moderately flashy (as opposed to full-on garish).

I agree that there should be way more good looking and fun items (toys, mini’s, ranger-pets) in the game, the cash-shop should get way less focus, they can earn the money with the expansions. So we can get more and the best items in the game where they belong.

But I disagree that it has to be limited. If there are enough items in the game that are interesting, fun but hard to get (because of low RNG, or better because it’s hard to get or a mix) items, it can still be a rare item in the game, it does not have to be limited for it.

Let’s take an easy example from another game.
I will take WoW as example (Yes I know, for some reason, people seem to hate that game so don’t like it as example, however most people know it and it’s over 10 years old, so a great to use as example.). There is a range of whelpings (Azure Whelpling, Crimson Whelpling, Dark Whelpling, Emerald Whelpling) that have been available from the initial game (over 10 years ago). They are simple drops that are even tradable, but with very LOW RNG.. nonetheless you can directly work towards them (so no need to grind gold) because those Whelpling are all in one area with groups, so you can just kill them. This is btw not the best type of content, but again, it works good as example.

So there is an item you could buy from the TP and you could directly work for, it’s not out of reach for anybody. However, because of the way they put it in the game, even after 10 years it’s still a rare item that not many people have. You could, and should also implement items like that in challenging content.. Let’s say all JP’s get a special fun item (toy, mini, skin) for completing the JP in a very fast way (without the use of portals). Then it will stay rare items, but not limited so you can always go for it.

Devata.6589:

I agree that there should be way more good looking and fun items (toys, mini’s, ranger-pets) in the game, the cash-shop should get way less focus, they can earn the money with the expansions. So we can get more and the best items in the game where they belong.

But I disagree that it has to be limited. If there are enough items in the game that are interesting, fun but hard to get (because of low RNG, or better because it’s hard to get or a mix) items, it can still be a rare item in the game, it does not have to be limited for it.

Let’s take an easy example from another game.
I will take WoW as example (Yes I know, for some reason, people seem to hate that game so don’t like it as example, however most people know it and it’s over 10 years old, so a great to use as example.). There is a range of whelpings (Azure Whelpling, Crimson Whelpling, Dark Whelpling, Emerald Whelpling) that have been available from the initial game (over 10 years ago). They are simple drops that are even tradable, but with very LOW RNG.. nonetheless you can directly work towards them (so no need to grind gold) because those Whelpling are all in one area with groups, so you can just kill them. This is btw not the best type of content, but again, it works good as example.

So there is an item you could buy from the TP and you could directly work for, it’s not out of reach for anybody. However, because of the way they put it in the game, even after 10 years it’s still a rare item that not many people have. You could, and should also implement items like that in challenging content.. Let’s say all JP’s get a special fun item (toy, mini, skin) for completing the JP in a very fast way (without the use of portals). Then it will stay rare items, but not limited so you can always go for it.

I don’t think, without a sub, they’re going to think of that as a viable option.

There’s only so much money a (moderately priced) xpac, every now and then, is going to raise.

The cash shop and lack of fun things to farm, in-game (encouraging you to use that cash shop more),. is essentially the price you pay for having no sub.

Do I like that situation? No.

But, it is what it is.

Tigaseye.2047:

Devata.6589:

I agree that there should be way more good looking and fun items (toys, mini’s, ranger-pets) in the game, the cash-shop should get way less focus, they can earn the money with the expansions. So we can get more and the best items in the game where they belong.

But I disagree that it has to be limited. If there are enough items in the game that are interesting, fun but hard to get (because of low RNG, or better because it’s hard to get or a mix) items, it can still be a rare item in the game, it does not have to be limited for it.

Let’s take an easy example from another game.
I will take WoW as example (Yes I know, for some reason, people seem to hate that game so don’t like it as example, however most people know it and it’s over 10 years old, so a great to use as example.). There is a range of whelpings (Azure Whelpling, Crimson Whelpling, Dark Whelpling, Emerald Whelpling) that have been available from the initial game (over 10 years ago). They are simple drops that are even tradable, but with very LOW RNG.. nonetheless you can directly work towards them (so no need to grind gold) because those Whelpling are all in one area with groups, so you can just kill them. This is btw not the best type of content, but again, it works good as example.

So there is an item you could buy from the TP and you could directly work for, it’s not out of reach for anybody. However, because of the way they put it in the game, even after 10 years it’s still a rare item that not many people have. You could, and should also implement items like that in challenging content.. Let’s say all JP’s get a special fun item (toy, mini, skin) for completing the JP in a very fast way (without the use of portals). Then it will stay rare items, but not limited so you can always go for it.

I don’t think, without a sub, they’re going to think of that as a viable option.

There’s only so much money a (moderately priced) xpac, every now and then, is going to raise.

The cash shop and lack of fun things to farm, in-game (encouraging you to use that cash shop more),. is essentially the price you pay for having no sub.

Do I like that situation? No.

But, it is what it is.

Tigaseye.2047:

Devata.6589:

I agree that there should be way more good looking and fun items (toys, mini’s, ranger-pets) in the game, the cash-shop should get way less focus, they can earn the money with the expansions. So we can get more and the best items in the game where they belong.

But I disagree that it has to be limited. If there are enough items in the game that are interesting, fun but hard to get (because of low RNG, or better because it’s hard to get or a mix) items, it can still be a rare item in the game, it does not have to be limited for it.

Let’s take an easy example from another game.
I will take WoW as example (Yes I know, for some reason, people seem to hate that game so don’t like it as example, however most people know it and it’s over 10 years old, so a great to use as example.). There is a range of whelpings (Azure Whelpling, Crimson Whelpling, Dark Whelpling, Emerald Whelpling) that have been available from the initial game (over 10 years ago). They are simple drops that are even tradable, but with very LOW RNG.. nonetheless you can directly work towards them (so no need to grind gold) because those Whelpling are all in one area with groups, so you can just kill them. This is btw not the best type of content, but again, it works good as example.

So there is an item you could buy from the TP and you could directly work for, it’s not out of reach for anybody. However, because of the way they put it in the game, even after 10 years it’s still a rare item that not many people have. You could, and should also implement items like that in challenging content.. Let’s say all JP’s get a special fun item (toy, mini, skin) for completing the JP in a very fast way (without the use of portals). Then it will stay rare items, but not limited so you can always go for it.

I don’t think, without a sub, they’re going to think of that as a viable option.

There’s only so much money a (moderately priced) xpac, every now and then, is going to raise.

The cash shop and lack of fun things to farm, in-game (encouraging you to use that cash shop more),. is essentially the price you pay for having no sub.

Do I like that situation? No.

But, it is what it is.

Without going into a complete new discussion, I once compared the income of GW1 to that of GW2, where I put the initial income (from initial sale) as 100% (you can’t do this with actual numbers because GW2 has a much bigger scope).

Then I calculated the income GW2 would have made with yearly expansions based on how much GW1 earned with it expansions compared to the initial sale, and set that of to GW2 and what it earned with it’s original sale.

Result was, that based on these numbers, GW2 would have earned more money by now had it released a expansion every year (a €50,-) it would have earned more then it earned with the cash-shop. And even if you stretched it up to 1,5 year GW2 would have start earning more from I think the 3th expansion on (can’t remember exactly).

Of course this also means the game should be able to attain the number of players as GW1 did (again, compared to the initial game) but the fact that items like this in the the game will help with that as it creates an overall more fun experience instead of the grind the current way of doing things (that is related to the cash-shop approach) does.

Now I don’t think that at this point GW2 will still be as successful as GW1 was with it’s expansion (compared to the initial sale) because I think at some points GW2 already did some irreversible damage, nonetheless, it would be interesting to do this math again when we have the numbers from the HoT sales, what will be a little harder as sales have already started.

Anyway, so based on these numbers it is very much is a viable option when you go for a true B2P approach, and that is exactly how GW2 initial was put on the marked, but then it slowly moved to a cash-shop model that indeed results in what we see now. Maybe that with HoT we move back to a B2P model? Viable it is so do the numbers assume.

Now I will not go into this any more because I have in many other topics, and that would derail this thread to much. Some people will simply not understand the math but you can do the math yourself, all the required numbers are available here http://global.ncsoft.com/global/ir/earnings.aspx

Devata.6589:

Without going into a complete new discussion, I once compared the income of GW1 to that of GW2, where I put the initial income (from initial sale) as 100% (you can’t do this with actual numbers because GW2 has a much bigger scope).

Then I calculated the income GW2 would have made with yearly expansions based on how much GW1 earned with it expansions compared to the initial sale, and set that of to GW2 and what it earned with it’s original sale.

Result was, that based on these numbers, GW2 would have earned more money by now had it released a expansion every year (a €50,-) it would have earned more then it earned with the cash-shop. And even if you stretched it up to 1,5 year GW2 would have start earning more from I think the 3th expansion on (can’t remember exactly).

Of course this also means the game should be able to attain the number of players as GW1 did (again, compared to the initial game) but the fact that items like this in the the game will help with that as it creates an overall more fun experience instead of the grind the current way of doing things (that is related to the cash-shop approach) does.

Now I don’t think that at this point GW2 will still be as successful as GW1 was with it’s expansion (compared to the initial sale) because I think at some points GW2 already did some irreversible damage, nonetheless, it would be interesting to do this math again when we have the numbers from the HoT sales, what will be a little harder as sales have already started.

Anyway, so based on these numbers it is very much is a viable option when you go for a true B2P approach, and that is exactly how GW2 initial was put on the marked, but then it slowly moved to a cash-shop model that indeed results in what we see now. Maybe that with HoT we move back to a B2P model? Viable it is so do the numbers assume.

Now I will not go into this any more because I have in many other topics, and that would derail this thread to much. Some people will simply not understand the math but you can do the math yourself, all the required numbers are available here http://global.ncsoft.com/global/ir/earnings.aspx

Yes, but that’s the overall income?

So, it’s not, necessarily, taking into account the extra work that would be involved in producing an xpac every year?

So, quite possibly, in a $ per hour of work sense it would be less if they did that?

I would also prefer it if they did what you suggest, but surely there has to be a financial reason why they aren’t?

Tigaseye.2047:

Devata.6589:

Without going into a complete new discussion, I once compared the income of GW1 to that of GW2, where I put the initial income (from initial sale) as 100% (you can’t do this with actual numbers because GW2 has a much bigger scope).

Then I calculated the income GW2 would have made with yearly expansions based on how much GW1 earned with it expansions compared to the initial sale, and set that of to GW2 and what it earned with it’s original sale.

Result was, that based on these numbers, GW2 would have earned more money by now had it released a expansion every year (a €50,-) it would have earned more then it earned with the cash-shop. And even if you stretched it up to 1,5 year GW2 would have start earning more from I think the 3th expansion on (can’t remember exactly).

Of course this also means the game should be able to attain the number of players as GW1 did (again, compared to the initial game) but the fact that items like this in the the game will help with that as it creates an overall more fun experience instead of the grind the current way of doing things (that is related to the cash-shop approach) does.

Now I don’t think that at this point GW2 will still be as successful as GW1 was with it’s expansion (compared to the initial sale) because I think at some points GW2 already did some irreversible damage, nonetheless, it would be interesting to do this math again when we have the numbers from the HoT sales, what will be a little harder as sales have already started.

Anyway, so based on these numbers it is very much is a viable option when you go for a true B2P approach, and that is exactly how GW2 initial was put on the marked, but then it slowly moved to a cash-shop model that indeed results in what we see now. Maybe that with HoT we move back to a B2P model? Viable it is so do the numbers assume.

Now I will not go into this any more because I have in many other topics, and that would derail this thread to much. Some people will simply not understand the math but you can do the math yourself, all the required numbers are available here http://global.ncsoft.com/global/ir/earnings.aspx

Yes, but that’s the overall income?

So, it’s not, necessarily, taking into account the extra work that would be involved in producing an xpac every year?

So, quite possibly, in a $ per hour of work sense it would be less if they did that?

I would also prefer it if they did what you suggest, but surely there has to be a financial reason why they aren’t?

As far as we are aware, the team did not increase hugely for the development of HoT, so that does not seem to be the case.

Yes, there is. A true B2P model is more risky, a cash-shop model is pretty safe. When making an expansion you are investing money and then you need to hope the expansion will sell well while with a cash-shop you don’t have that risk so much.

I was just looking at a video of WoodenPatatoes. This subject happened to be in there, while then specifically about armor while I feel that is true for all ‘cool items’ from armor, to minis to toys, so I figure I would add it here.

The Video