Guild Wars 2

Chris Whiteside.6102:

Traveller.7496:

Chris Whiteside.6102:

There are definitely bugs and some external miscommunication with the system and I want to listen some more before discussing.
Chris

This is interesting.

Chris is saying there has been external miscommunication about the new system. Could it be that you guys realize you went too far with the removing of functions and level gating it too extreme, and it was not supposed to dumb down the game quite this much?

Hi Traveller,

No not really. I m referring to some videos etc that aren’t quite factually correct in all areas and thus there are some misconceptions being propagated by those that have not played the through NPE yet.

Chris

Don’t want to de-rail the thread this was in so I thought I would clear this comment up a bit by starting a new topic.

There is some misconception about a lot of things that are level gated videos/some comments don’t tell the entire story. A lot of things that people think is level gated actually is not. This is due to the UI shows a Unlock symbol on some of these items. But in reality just like WvW and sPvP you can still preform the actions at Level 1. You are just unlocking the hint about the items.

The following are level gated items:

• Weapon skill 2 (Unlocked at level 2)
• Weapon skill 3 (Unlocked at level 3)
• Profession skill F1 (Unlocked at level 4)
• Rally(downstate) (Unlocked at level 5)
• Off-hand weapon slot (Unlocked at level 7)
• Weapon skill 4 (Unlocked at level 7)
• Underwater Combat (Unlocked at level 8 with underwater weapon skills 1 and 2)
• Personal story (Unlocked at level 10 in chapters every 10 levels)
• Weapon skill 5 (Unlocked at level 10)
• Utility Skill 1 (Unlocked at level 13)
• Underwater skill 3 (Unlocked at level 14)
• Weapon Swap (Unlocked at level 15)
• Down Skill 3 (Unlocked at level 19)
• Profession skill F3 (Unlocked at level 22)
• Underwater skill 5 (Unlocked at level 23
• Utility Skill 2 (Unlocked at level 24)
• Profession skill F4 (Unlocked at level 24)
• Adapt Tier Traits (Unlocked at level 30)
• Elite Skill (Unlocked at level 40)
• Master Traits (Unlocked at level 60)
• Grandmaster Traits (Unlocked at level 80)

The following items are not locked but do not appear on the minimap until the specified level.

• Points of Interest (level 7)
• Gathering Nodes (Level 9) – Nodes may have been removed in areas before this level. No there is no potato famine there is plenty of potato in Metrica Province.
• Vista (level 10)

Please note I do not necessarily agree with all of the changes. Specifically the changes to unlocking of weapon skills please see my feedback at the following link.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Learning-Curve/first#post4389552

All other items that are being reported as level locked are likely not. If you have a question about a particular item feel free to discuss it.

If you think I missed some or my information is incorrect please feel free to tell me so I will research it then inform you the results. I currently have enough characters spaced out on levels enough that I can get to most of the levels in a somewhat timely manner.

The majority of my source is http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Level_rewards and me playing with the system itself yesterday to level 10.

EDIT: 09/12/2014
Please see the following posts regarding the systems current state.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Misconceptions-regarding-Level-gating/first#post4392666
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Misconceptions-regarding-Level-gating/page/4#post4396936
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Misconceptions-regarding-Level-gating/page/8#post4398760

THanks for the list. I’m still hanging out in low level areas trying to play traffic director on these things

Skill challenges are also level-locked + do not appear on the map until reaching a certain level (though I do not know the level off the top of my head). Diving goggles are similarly level-locked.

Thanks for the list. However, my stance on the level gating remains the same. It’s a garbage idea that should’ve never been done.

Nilkemia.8507:

Thanks for the list. However, my stance on the level gating remains the same. It’s a garbage idea that should’ve never been done.

+1
/15chars.

Diving goggles seem to have been level locked. -Another thread with in-game screenshot.
And forgive me if this has been asked but my lvl 34 Mesmer needs to know if she’ll have to spend more skill points a second time to unlock the elite skills that were already unlocked but are now gone until lvl40.

Infernia.9847:

Diving goggles seem to have been level locked. -Another thread with in-game screenshot.
And forgive me if this has been asked but my lvl 34 Mesmer needs to know if she’ll have to spend more skill points a second time to unlock the elite skills that were already unlocked but are now gone until lvl40.

I don’t think so, from what I heard. They’re unlocked but unavailable.

. . . I would offer to look and find out but my lowest active character with elites is 41

How helpful, it will give us some information about combos at level 52. I assume most people haven’t used any finishers or fields by that point. Or maybe they have used some finishers, since we get information about THOSE at level 34.

And at 76, it tells us about world bosses! Maybe that’ll help some new players go back to Caledon Forest and Queensdale and Metrica and Wayfarer Foothills and fight those level 15 bosses. This one is pretty reasonable, since probably 90% of players just start in Ashford and don’t leave there till around level 70.

Admittedly, it’s probably good not to tell people about the Mystic Toilet until level 69.

Also, information about the BLTC is listed at level 8 and at 59. Do they just remind us 51 levels after they first tell us?

This much gating in the leveling process is awful. I like the old system because of how much freedom I had.

Whose amazing idea was it to gate all your down skills? Have they been fired yet?

This new method highly discourages alts. I in know way want to endure this much gated content and hand holding after already leveling my main to 80. I mean I do have the level 20 scrolls, but still, I just don’t see the logic in this new method.

Gathering nodes still appear on minimap. I went to the bandit cave at lv 2, saw shrooms on my minimal and was able to harvest.

Zopeau.2539:

This new method highly discourages alts. I in know way want to endure this much gated content and hand holding after already leveling my main to 80. I mean I do have the level 20 scrolls, but still, I just don’t see the logic in this new method.

Ye I agree. I have no motivation to go through this process after reading through patch notes and viewing videos of people trying out the new leveling process.

McBearson.3412:

Whose amazing idea was it to gate all your down skills? Have they been fired yet?

More likely promoted.

My level 32 engineer has access to her elite skill, which was equipped prior to the patch. It is still equipped and usable. I am not seeing any gathering nodes in metrica on this character.

I do see gathering nodes.

Thanks @Tobias Trueflight & @Guhracie for the information. I did log on last night but forgot to check on the mesmer. It’s one of the few classes I neglected to lvl all the way to 80 and regret that now.
Even with the traits grandfathered prior to April that Mesmer is already a slog to level but I’m so close to 40 and was loving the elite.
I am certainly not excited to start anything with both traits and skill/weapon skill unlocks involved.

SkylightMoon.2098:

This much gating in the leveling process is awful. I like the old system because of how much freedom I had.

“You loved your freedom, but sometimes we have to give up a little freedom for our own safety.”

USA, post 9/11
ArenaNet post September patch

Guhracie.3419:

My level 32 engineer has access to her elite skill, which was equipped prior to the patch. It is still equipped and usable. I am not seeing any gathering nodes in metrica on this character.

I do see gathering nodes.

That might be a bug. My guildmate last night was able to make a new character, use a birthday scroll to get it to level 20, then unlock all of the utility + elite slots by equipping an ice bow.

Things you can do at level 2: use the bank; use the Black Lion vendor; start on trades; purchase harvesting and salvaging equipment, and use them; use the gates to get to Lions Arch.

Of course this doesn’t make up for the elite skill coming at 40 and underwater skills coming late but we aren’t crippled. The game still works.

SkylightMoon.2098:

This much gating in the leveling process is awful. I like the old system because of how much freedom I had.

Makes me want to, if I ever make a new alt, level up simply by mapping cultural cities… Oh how fun.

Moyayuki.3619:

SkylightMoon.2098:

This much gating in the leveling process is awful. I like the old system because of how much freedom I had.

Makes me want to, if I ever make a new alt, level up simply by mapping cultural cities… Oh how fun.

You don’t get enough XP to hit 10 just by map completion of the major cities. :/

ShadowDragoonFTW.3418:

Moyayuki.3619:

SkylightMoon.2098:

This much gating in the leveling process is awful. I like the old system because of how much freedom I had.

Makes me want to, if I ever make a new alt, level up simply by mapping cultural cities… Oh how fun.

You don’t get enough XP to hit 10 just by map completion of the major cities. :/

…kitten . Well, guess I won’t be making that Charr Mesmer I’ve been wanting to do. And all my other characters are under level 20 haha. Don’t necessarily want to play my two 80s all the time because sometimes I need to play another class for a few hours, but guess I can’t do that without wanting to bash my head against a wall (metaphorically).

Moyayuki.3619:

SkylightMoon.2098:

This much gating in the leveling process is awful. I like the old system because of how much freedom I had.

Makes me want to, if I ever make a new alt, level up simply by mapping cultural cities… Oh how fun.

… you mean people don’t do this normally…? >.>

Have you guys sat down to make a new toon yet? I watched a friend of mine do it last night and it literally only took him an hour to get to level 15. Do we know yet exactly what level you can start doing skill challenges and diving goggles? Something to note – we no longer gain skill points every level. I just took a toon from 55-56 and gained 7 SP. I guess I hadn’t gained any for a while previously?

I’m going to make one tonight and see how it goes.

McBearson.3412:

Whose amazing idea was it to gate all your down skills? Have they been fired yet?

They should’ve been fired out of sheer principle, or simply for stupidity. How these ridiculous changes got past testing is beyond me…oh wait, they probably didn’t test them!

I have one point to make on this thread. What you’re saying is these changes, which are supposed to make things easier to understand for newcomers, are confusing the hell out of veterans. As a veteran player, how am I suppose to teach a level 2 newbie about the game systems when they are no longer consistent for all levels? Even worse, how am I suppose to show them where to go and what to do in Queensdale when their game’s client won’t show all the icons? In essence, how do I help the blossoming community when the game no longer cooperates with me?

felessan.9587:

Moyayuki.3619:

SkylightMoon.2098:

This much gating in the leveling process is awful. I like the old system because of how much freedom I had.

Makes me want to, if I ever make a new alt, level up simply by mapping cultural cities… Oh how fun.

… you mean people don’t do this normally…? >.>

Have you guys sat down to make a new toon yet? I watched a friend of mine do it last night and it literally only took him an hour to get to level 15. Do we know yet exactly what level you can start doing skill challenges and diving goggles? Something to note – we no longer gain skill points every level. I just took a toon from 55-56 and gained 7 SP. I guess I hadn’t gained any for a while previously?

I’m going to make one tonight and see how it goes.

But at level 15 you still can’t do everything, right? More things remain restricted to you, from what I hear. Sure, they are things that maybe not every player does early on but, still…. freedom of choice, of how you want to play the game, is what made this game great.

I’ll try to make a new character soon, too, but i sure hope that Anet fixes some of the glaring issues with the changes they made eventually. Heard that Personal Story has been turned into a real head-scratcher near the end of it.

Iam sorry this might seem a bit rude but please anet can you reverse most of these changes? or at least dont force them on players? I am veteran player so of course my opinion isnt exactly in place here but even these new players are laughing bcs of these “new player features” your so proud of tiered personal story makes gameplay boring slow skill unlocking means for most clases being stuck with autoattack till lvl 30 sure you can get lvl 30 in a day or two but still its just boring and why does this lvling guide feel like school for kittened children? i realise i might get some bad points for this reply but i must say that iam starting to be woried where all these handleading updates are going just please dont change gw2 into some stupid asian MMo where you just turn on auto everything and watch the screen.

ColinJohanson.2394:

I just want to quickly add, there are some errors on this chart of how stuff is unlocking, as well as 1st character vs. account unlocks when some of these systems were carried between regions. We’re trying to identify what happened and repair those things assigned the wrong account/character fields, as well as levels.

Don’t suppose maybe you might look at the account/character fields for trait unlocks at the same time would you ?

Leveling alts(s) to level 10 and then unlocking all weapons skills by equipping each weapon is convenient. The rest really seriously do need a good looking in to.

ColinJohanson.2394:

I just want to quickly add, there are some errors on this chart of how stuff is unlocking, as well as 1st character vs. account unlocks when some of these systems were carried between regions. We’re trying to identify what happened and repair those things assigned the wrong account/character fields, as well as levels.

Mr Johanson. I wish to submit my resume as a QA tester for future patches, I agree to be paid in in-game currency (gold) and can GUARANTEE that I can identify more bugs and issues than others in my position.

just revert this kitten to how it was before…. why would you destroy a running system

Immortal.3647:

just revert this kitten to how it was before…. why would you destroy a running system

The million dollar question.

Colin you need to revert the changes to leveling you introduced in to this game. They do not solve the issues new players have, they insult the veteran players, and were not thoroughly tested and properly implemented.

- A 2 year, incredibly disappointed supporter of ArenaNet

Why even hide the vista markers until level ten? What’s the point? Isn’t the fun part of being a new player seeing all the markers on the map and going to check them out? I thought it was the coolest thing when I started out; right at level 2 as I wandered out into my starting area as a norn, I was like “whoa, what’s that red thing on the map? Where is it? I should find it!” and then I looked around and did this short little detour to get to it and suddenly I had the most amazing view of the area I was going to be exploring that night.

Why take that out?

The leveling isn’t terrible – but it also wasn’t necessary in the first place.

If you want to help new players, level gating isn’t the answer.

Providing better tutorials and tooltips is the answer.

My kittens me off is seeing them spend so much time on this kitten while avoiding more important issues, most of all: putting out fresh new content.

It’s a clear indication of where their priorities lie, and an indicator of how they want to proceed with the game going forward.

Which is to add needed, but ultimately lackluster QoL changes that should simply be patched in every month, and not act like these ‘feature’ packs are a big deal, or a substitute for substantial content, because they’re not.

It’s time for an expansion.

This ‘patch’ isn’t really that noteworthy, it contains a couple good changes, and a few more bad ones, but at the end of the day it’s not content, and that’s the biggest issue.

Selendra Shaldreth.8104:

Why even hide the vista markers until level ten? What’s the point? Isn’t the fun part of being a new player seeing all the markers on the map and going to check them out? I thought it was the coolest thing when I started out; right at level 2 as I wandered out into my starting area as a norn, I was like “whoa, what’s that red thing on the map? Where is it? I should find it!” and then I looked around and did this short little detour to get to it and suddenly I had the most amazing view of the area I was going to be exploring that night.

Why take that out?

They haven’t been taken out at all! I just created an alt to see what was up, and Vista markers were all over Wayfarer Hills. The spread of misinformation is getting out of hand.

i mean pretty much everybody hate this crap so pls anet give us back the game we love so much a get rid of this stupidity

zenleto.6179:

Things you can do at level 2: use the bank; use the Black Lion vendor; start on trades; purchase harvesting and salvaging equipment, and use them; use the gates to get to Lions Arch.

Of course this doesn’t make up for the elite skill coming at 40 and underwater skills coming late but we aren’t crippled. The game still works.

Are you talking about underwater weapon skills. I went to the TP at level 4, bought a harpoon gun and could use it underwater. What you DON’T get is a free underwater weapon at all.

i just wanted to say i dont like the new leveling system at all.

I absolutely despise the leveling changes.

/2 cents

The NPE is insulting. What happened to the stance that the China release wouldn’t affect us?

These are, as many have said, changes that almost nobody wanted or asked for.

As a veteran player since beta, I shouldn’t have to wade through a hand-holding-pile-of-garbage to level a new alt. And neither should anybody else.

Please roll this back.

misterman.1530:

zenleto.6179:

Things you can do at level 2: use the bank; use the Black Lion vendor; start on trades; purchase harvesting and salvaging equipment, and use them; use the gates to get to Lions Arch.

Of course this doesn’t make up for the elite skill coming at 40 and underwater skills coming late but we aren’t crippled. The game still works.

Are you talking about underwater weapon skills. I went to the TP at level 4, bought a harpoon gun and could use it underwater. What you DON’T get is a free underwater weapon at all.

You still get a free weapon, my level 2 warrior has his cracked harpoon. The skills are unlocked fairly late though. Except for, obviously, skill 1.

Errant Venture.9371:

Skill challenges are also level-locked + do not appear on the map until reaching a certain level (though I do not know the level off the top of my head). Diving goggles are similarly level-locked.

I confirmed skill challenges last night did not add it as I did not know what level you unlock it at. I will know this likely sometime tonight. Skill points are unlocked sometime between 11 and 23.

Diving goggles are unlocked sometime between Level 1 and 11. If I were to guess I would say around the same time the daily hints are provided. But then this could also be a bug.

Will update the list later tonight.

Also, for Elementalists:
F1 (Fire): Unlocked by default
F2 (Water): Level 4
F3 (Air): Forgot, but it was 12-13 I think
F4 (Earth): Level 20 and still locked.

TBH, this needs to change as well. Attunements are an integral part of the Elementalist and they do not get Weapon Swap like all other classes except Engineer. Having to wait that long until you finally get all Attunements is pretty unacceptable. I’d say level 15 for Earth, but that’s still a bit too late in my opinion.

The same can be said about Ranger Pet skills if I’m looking at the list (and the video). No controls until level 22 and no swap until 24? Then suddenly, it’s expected they start using them?
I main a Ranger and I wouldn’t want one in my party after this if they bring shoddy Pet controls like that…

oshilator.4681:

The NPE is insulting. What happened to the stance that the China release wouldn’t affect us?

These are, as many have said, changes that almost nobody wanted or asked for.

As a veteran player since beta, I shouldn’t have to wade through a hand-holding-pile-of-garbage to level a new alt. And neither should anybody else.

Please roll this back.

Or at least make an option to use the old leveling system for new alts. We already know how to level, we don’t need someone to hold our hands.

This could very easily be a choice for players to use the new system, or the old one.

I can accept the changes of like no poi till lvl 7, or vistas till lvl 10. Things like that, but the other stuff has to go.

zenleto.6179:

misterman.1530:

zenleto.6179:

Things you can do at level 2: use the bank; use the Black Lion vendor; start on trades; purchase harvesting and salvaging equipment, and use them; use the gates to get to Lions Arch.

Of course this doesn’t make up for the elite skill coming at 40 and underwater skills coming late but we aren’t crippled. The game still works.

Are you talking about underwater weapon skills. I went to the TP at level 4, bought a harpoon gun and could use it underwater. What you DON’T get is a free underwater weapon at all.

You still get a free weapon, my level 2 warrior has his cracked harpoon. The skills are unlocked fairly late though. Except for, obviously, skill 1.

Well, I didn’t have an underwater weapon (leveling a ranger Norn). Had to buy one. Bug maybe?

A lot of these changes just reek of china influence…take a look at china WoW.. same nonsense… if this is the path anet wants to go down, cya.

You get a free aquabreather and underwater weapon at level 8.

Selendra Shaldreth.8104:

Why even hide the vista markers until level ten? What’s the point? Isn’t the fun part of being a new player seeing all the markers on the map and going to check them out? I thought it was the coolest thing when I started out; right at level 2 as I wandered out into my starting area as a norn, I was like “whoa, what’s that red thing on the map? Where is it? I should find it!” and then I looked around and did this short little detour to get to it and suddenly I had the most amazing view of the area I was going to be exploring that night.

Why take that out?

Funny thing. It still showed for me early on before level 10. I put it there as I am unsure if that is a bug or not. I plan on confirming later.