Guild Wars 2

The fact that 80% of a legendary’s components are gold sinks instead of reflections of mastery of the game make me look down upon people who wield them.

The first thought to go through my head is:
so, which one did they exploit:
godskull?
snowflake jewelry?
gold buying?
6,000 real dollars into the gem store?

then there’s the insult to the injury, every exotic worth having that has looks ranging from nearly-as-good to better on the skin scale is tied to either charged or corrupted lodestones, but mostly charged.
Ever tried to get foefire’s essence or volcanus? Have fun with those.. might as well buy a few precursors for that price. Thought you would farm the lodestones for yourself? Say hello to permanent account wide DR making sure you don’t see even one for a week while the bots continue to crash the market for T6 mats unabated.

It’s sad.

The best weapon skins should come from mastering aspects of the game.

Heck, they should be themed based on what you’ve done.

You should be able to achieve benevolent weapon and armor skins by raising downed and dead allies/using group-altruistic abilities in combat, or jumping in to save a pvp allie in critical condition. Maybe some dark and deathly looking ones for large numbers of pvp kills, or aggressive looking ones for boss kills or challenge modes, or very odd technological ones for completing puzzles or discovering easter eggs.

Each of these would be earnable naturally by “just playing the game” and reflect your playstyle in the process. Then you could make similar-styled items that are craftable for people who like the tone of an outfit but prefer some other playstyle.

The gold sink needs to go though.

plasmacutter.2709:

The best weapon skins should come from mastering aspects of the game.

Heck, they should be themed based on what you’ve done.

You should be able to achieve benevolent weapon and armor skins by raising downed and dead allies/using group-altruistic abilities in combat, or jumping in to save a pvp allie in critical condition. Maybe some dark and deathly looking ones for large numbers of pvp kills, or aggressive looking ones for boss kills or challenge modes, or very odd technological ones for completing puzzles or discovering easter eggs.

Each of these would be earnable naturally by “just playing the game” and reflect your playstyle in the process. Then you could make similar-styled items that are craftable for people who like the tone of an outfit but prefer some other playstyle.

The gold sink needs to go though.

This is it, exactly.

How difficult would this be to do? Well, certainly more difficult than programming in the recipes, setting the (enormously high) gold sink requirements and calling it a day. Certainly more difficult than that.

Imagine that, after playing for a certain amount of time, helping people out, experiencing the game, you unlocked these skins. Imagine if they truly reflected a dedication to playing the game, rather than just a dedication to prescribed gold farming and exploiting?

Anet knows better. Or they should know better. And we should demand better.

Guru.1582:

This is it, exactly.

How difficult would this be to do? Well, certainly more difficult than programming in the recipes, setting the (enormously high) gold sink requirements and calling it a day. Certainly more difficult than that.

Imagine that, after playing for a certain amount of time, helping people out, experiencing the game, you unlocked these skins. Imagine if they truly reflected a dedication to playing the game, rather than just a dedication to prescribed gold farming and exploiting?

Anet knows better. Or they should know better. And we should demand better.

I can think of several occasions where my presence in the battle was the difference between survival and defeat. Playing a variety of content in the game has made me a much better player, and making legendaries into a lore-based item with a massive quest behind it would only further improve upon the skills that the rest of the game has taught me. There is no doubt in my mind that if legendaries were made into a skill challenge, I could rise to the challenge and make the grade.

As it is? I can get a legendary, it’s certainly not difficult. But I’ll only get it if I’m willing to grind the game, and ANet said they didn’t want players to feel like they’re being obligated to grind.

You’re absolutely right. ANet should know better, and they can do so much better.

plasmacutter.2709:

The best weapon skins should come from mastering aspects of the game.

Heck, they should be themed based on what you’ve done.

You should be able to achieve benevolent weapon and armor skins by raising downed and dead allies/using group-altruistic abilities in combat, or jumping in to save a pvp allie in critical condition. Maybe some dark and deathly looking ones for large numbers of pvp kills, or aggressive looking ones for boss kills or challenge modes, or very odd technological ones for completing puzzles or discovering easter eggs.

Each of these would be earnable naturally by “just playing the game” and reflect your playstyle in the process. Then you could make similar-styled items that are craftable for people who like the tone of an outfit but prefer some other playstyle.

The gold sink needs to go though.

But their business model depends on players mastering the cash shop

Not exactly pay-to-win but this is monetization design not game design.

Could someone explain in plain English what Legendary weapons are for???

Zeldain.5710:

plasmacutter.2709:

The best weapon skins should come from mastering aspects of the game.

Heck, they should be themed based on what you’ve done.

You should be able to achieve benevolent weapon and armor skins by raising downed and dead allies/using group-altruistic abilities in combat, or jumping in to save a pvp allie in critical condition. Maybe some dark and deathly looking ones for large numbers of pvp kills, or aggressive looking ones for boss kills or challenge modes, or very odd technological ones for completing puzzles or discovering easter eggs.

Each of these would be earnable naturally by “just playing the game” and reflect your playstyle in the process. Then you could make similar-styled items that are craftable for people who like the tone of an outfit but prefer some other playstyle.

The gold sink needs to go though.

But their business model depends on players mastering the cash shop

Not exactly pay-to-win but this is monetization design not game design.

Legendaries are not a good motivator for the gem store. I need 200 gold just to buy the necessary lodestones. That’s nearly $250 on its own.

If you converted the total value of many legendary weapons into their value in gems, you’re looking at thousands of dollars in some cases. It’s ridiculous to imagine that any reasonable person can afford such extravagance. At the very least, it is a complete divorce from the idea that legendary weapons represent a “mastery of the game”.

They represent the ability to withstand constant, monotonous grinding and clever exploiting of the game’s systems. Not a magnificent, compelling fantasy adventure in a fully realized and engaging world. It’s crass, outdated, and lazy design.

ElixireL.5190:

Could someone explain in plain English what Legendary weapons are for???

Legendary weapons are extremely fancy weapon skins. They do not in fact possess stats that are better than any given exotic weapon. However, their skins are vastly, demonstrably more fancy and detailed.

Thanks for the explanation, I really feel sorry for some people now…. GET A LIFE people!!!

That so many people have made such a big deal out of this tells me I don’t realy belong in this MMORPG world… this is some weird fetish stuff.