Guild Wars 2

misterman.1530:

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?

Possibly. Colin said there some so this may be one as well.

edit: Doh. Unless it was because the particular character was created before the update. That’s probably it so scratch everything I’ve said.

OP: Diving Goggles are also level gated:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Diving-goggles-level-gated/first#post4391228

As well as bundle items.

the china influence is stronggg in this recent patch, and its a terrible path anet is taking… no one likes this nonsense, period. idk what metrics you guys are making up here, but its awful.. How many positive responses have we seen regarding these recent changes?

Moyayuki.3619:

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.

Yes, admittedly some things (like skill slot 8-0) are still locked. And, well, I question the wise of that decision (if that is in fact the intended choice). It’s just not actually that hard to get to 15 and out into the world is all I’m saying.

I have heard this about PS as well. I have a level 80 character who is still on the level 2 step of personal story, so I might just run through it and see what happens.

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.

Can you expand on this please, it’s extremely vague and unclear. Does that mean that the changes to the new leveling system were meant to be for first characters only and things will be reverted for all veteran players as far as the alt experience?

SkiTz.4590:

the china influence is stronggg in this recent patch, and its a terrible path anet is taking… no one likes this nonsense, period. idk what metrics you guys are making up here, but its awful.. How many positive responses have we seen regarding these recent changes?

There hasn’t been many but there’s a chance that the few people who do actually like it have been put off by the vibe of the forums. And I say “few” because I think the divide is more between people who regard the change neutrally and those who “actively dislike” it.

SkiTz.4590:

the china influence is stronggg in this recent patch, and its a terrible path anet is taking… no one likes this nonsense, period. idk what metrics you guys are making up here, but its awful.. How many positive responses have we seen regarding these recent changes?

Yes, we get enough things imported here from China, we don’t need our video games being taken over by their version. Just stop it, ANet!

zenleto.6179:

SkiTz.4590:

the china influence is stronggg in this recent patch, and its a terrible path anet is taking… no one likes this nonsense, period. idk what metrics you guys are making up here, but its awful.. How many positive responses have we seen regarding these recent changes?

There hasn’t been many but there’s a chance that the few people who do actually like it have been put off by the vibe of the forums. And I say “few” because I think the divide is more between people who regard the change neutrally and those who “actively dislike” it.

Well the majority is probably those who are just “i really don’t care, i’m already 80 and I have no intention on going through this kitten again”… I have a feeling this is only just the beginning though…if anet honestly believes this china GW2 metrics are a reliable way to gauge what the NA/EU playerbase, than we a kitten lol.

Obvious monetization and timesinks.
This patch reeks of a Chinese gaming company

As someone with 11 alts the new leveling changes are terrible.
I’ve had so much fun making new alts and learning and discovering things about races, classes and different Personal Story tracks on my own that were very rewarding.
That sense of fun and exploration is now stuffed.
The gods help new players coming into the game. This is what WoW did, grind levels until you get the changes that make playing fun. It was boring as hell and new players will find it boring as well.

SkiTz.4590:

zenleto.6179:

SkiTz.4590:

the china influence is stronggg in this recent patch, and its a terrible path anet is taking… no one likes this nonsense, period. idk what metrics you guys are making up here, but its awful.. How many positive responses have we seen regarding these recent changes?

There hasn’t been many but there’s a chance that the few people who do actually like it have been put off by the vibe of the forums. And I say “few” because I think the divide is more between people who regard the change neutrally and those who “actively dislike” it.

Well the majority is probably those who are just “i really don’t care, i’m already 80 and I have no intention on going through this kitten again”… I have a feeling this is only just the beginning though…if anet honestly believes this china GW2 metrics are a reliable way to gauge what the NA/EU playerbase, than we a kitten lol.

Obvious monetization and timesinks.
This patch reeks of a Chinese gaming company

Maybe, I don’t know. I’ve never played a proper Asian MMO so I really don’t have anything for comparison. Though, I have no problem with the monetisation in this game as it stands now (proper p2w = adios); and just playing the game itself is a timesink lol

Time will tell.

zenleto.6179:

SkiTz.4590:

zenleto.6179:

SkiTz.4590:

the china influence is stronggg in this recent patch, and its a terrible path anet is taking… no one likes this nonsense, period. idk what metrics you guys are making up here, but its awful.. How many positive responses have we seen regarding these recent changes?

There hasn’t been many but there’s a chance that the few people who do actually like it have been put off by the vibe of the forums. And I say “few” because I think the divide is more between people who regard the change neutrally and those who “actively dislike” it.

Well the majority is probably those who are just “i really don’t care, i’m already 80 and I have no intention on going through this kitten again”… I have a feeling this is only just the beginning though…if anet honestly believes this china GW2 metrics are a reliable way to gauge what the NA/EU playerbase, than we a kitten lol.

Obvious monetization and timesinks.
This patch reeks of a Chinese gaming company

Maybe, I don’t know. I’ve never played a proper Asian MMO so I really don’t have anything for comparison. Though, I have no problem with the monetisation in this game as it stands now (proper p2w = adios); and just playing the game itself is a timesink lol

Time will tell.

by timesink i meant unnecessary grind…all these ridiculous timegates… not a single person likes this kind of stuff…

mobtek.3075:

As someone with 11 alts the new leveling changes are terrible.
I’ve had so much fun making new alts and learning and discovering things about races, classes and different Personal Story tracks on my own that were very rewarding.
That sense of fun and exploration is now stuffed.
The gods help new players coming into the game. This is what WoW did, grind levels until you get the changes that make playing fun. It was boring as hell and new players will find it boring as well.

Have you tried it though? Just getting from 2 to 3 to 4 etc is pretty quick and harmless. If its the spacing of skills then yeah that may turn into a grind.

I’ll still be making characters though lol, its my thing.

zenleto.6179:

mobtek.3075:

As someone with 11 alts the new leveling changes are terrible.
I’ve had so much fun making new alts and learning and discovering things about races, classes and different Personal Story tracks on my own that were very rewarding.
That sense of fun and exploration is now stuffed.
The gods help new players coming into the game. This is what WoW did, grind levels until you get the changes that make playing fun. It was boring as hell and new players will find it boring as well.

Have you tried it though? Just getting from 2 to 3 to 4 etc is pretty quick and harmless. If its the spacing of skills then yeah that may turn into a grind.

I’ll still be making characters though lol, its my thing.

your crazy lol… you support anet waaay to much man

SkiTz.4590:

zenleto.6179:

SkiTz.4590:

zenleto.6179:

SkiTz.4590:

the china influence is stronggg in this recent patch, and its a terrible path anet is taking… no one likes this nonsense, period. idk what metrics you guys are making up here, but its awful.. How many positive responses have we seen regarding these recent changes?

There hasn’t been many but there’s a chance that the few people who do actually like it have been put off by the vibe of the forums. And I say “few” because I think the divide is more between people who regard the change neutrally and those who “actively dislike” it.

Well the majority is probably those who are just “i really don’t care, i’m already 80 and I have no intention on going through this kitten again”… I have a feeling this is only just the beginning though…if anet honestly believes this china GW2 metrics are a reliable way to gauge what the NA/EU playerbase, than we a kitten lol.

Obvious monetization and timesinks.
This patch reeks of a Chinese gaming company

Maybe, I don’t know. I’ve never played a proper Asian MMO so I really don’t have anything for comparison. Though, I have no problem with the monetisation in this game as it stands now (proper p2w = adios); and just playing the game itself is a timesink lol

Time will tell.

by timesink i meant unnecessary grind…all these ridiculous timegates… not a single person likes this kind of stuff…

Yeah fair enough. Its pretty much why people came to this game in the first place.

Nah, I support myself. I’ve not much else to do and I find it fun.

zenleto.6179:

mobtek.3075:

As someone with 11 alts the new leveling changes are terrible.
I’ve had so much fun making new alts and learning and discovering things about races, classes and different Personal Story tracks on my own that were very rewarding.
That sense of fun and exploration is now stuffed.
The gods help new players coming into the game. This is what WoW did, grind levels until you get the changes that make playing fun. It was boring as hell and new players will find it boring as well.

Have you tried it though? Just getting from 2 to 3 to 4 etc is pretty quick and harmless. If its the spacing of skills then yeah that may turn into a grind.

I’ll still be making characters though lol, its my thing.

it’s boring, I should be able to dual wield from lvl 1 and learn my skills based on my use of those skills like it did before. That was a sane way to do it, this timegating of skills is BS handholding.

A handy list I made after making a new character on a newbie account I bought during the sale.

What You Can Do At Level 1:
Dodge
Dye Armor
Harvest Materials (go into the city when you get outta the first story and buy some Gathering Tools form a crafting master)
Craft Items (just talk to the guy like before and learn the discipline)
Use the Trading Post
You can Visit Vistas AND PoIs you just aren’t directed to them.
WvW or PvP (Use Hot Keys to open the panels or go to LA from Home City to access the Asura Gates)
Can Use Wardrobe just open it up
Can use Minis
Can Access your Bank/Guild Bank
Can Access the Guild Panel Hit G
Can do Jumping Puzzles (I did Morgans Spiral at level 3 and the secret troll one at level 2 just to see)
Can Map Complete and get rewards for it.

What You Can’t Do:
The Combat stuff is true and locked behind a leveling curve that is significantly increased (It only took me 30 minutes to get to level 10 where all my weapon skills for ALL weapons were unlocked)
At level 13 about 45 min into a new character I unlocked my first Utility skill and as such unlocked Skill Point Challenges. Also, you can use Knowledge Scrolls at any level to learn new healing skills if you don’t like the first one.
You also unlock the 1-10 Personal Story at ten and can do the whole arc at once. I did that at level 13 and it got me to level 17 and have a LOT of nice goodies and included the Black Lion Key.
Diving Goggles in Starter Zones (Item bundle, this one is weird but meh)

mobtek.3075:

zenleto.6179:

mobtek.3075:

As someone with 11 alts the new leveling changes are terrible.
I’ve had so much fun making new alts and learning and discovering things about races, classes and different Personal Story tracks on my own that were very rewarding.
That sense of fun and exploration is now stuffed.
The gods help new players coming into the game. This is what WoW did, grind levels until you get the changes that make playing fun. It was boring as hell and new players will find it boring as well.

Have you tried it though? Just getting from 2 to 3 to 4 etc is pretty quick and harmless. If its the spacing of skills then yeah that may turn into a grind.

I’ll still be making characters though lol, its my thing.

it’s boring, I should be able to dual wield from lvl 1 and learn my skills based on my use of those skills like it did before. That was a sane way to do it, this timegating of skills is BS handholding.

ok.

Vlad Morbius.1759:

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.

Can you expand on this please, it’s extremely vague and unclear. Does that mean that the changes to the new leveling system were meant to be for first characters only and things will be reverted for all veteran players as far as the alt experience?

I would take that as anything not in the patch notes related to this system has a likelyhood of being a localization error. Expect a patch sometime.

They’ve added some new level gating, unlocked at very low levels. Some skills (utility/elite) has been pushed up a few levels. At the same time they drastically increased the xp at low levels. All in all, this is not a big change.

The increased level requirement for traits had a bigger impact on leveling alts.

Key-farmers may be affected, but they should have removed the level 10 key a long time ago. Shame they didn’t do it this patch. They could ramp it up to lvl 20, and make the lvl 30 key a lvl 40 key.

Weren’t most or all of these level gated things part of the chinese version…?

And weren’t we reassured many times that those things wouldn’t be coming to the rest of the world?

Anyone still think they will never add the VIP system?

Count me in with the group that does not see a need for all these changes.

When I started the game, the only video game I had ever played in my life was City Of Heroes. This game is a lot different from City Of Heroes , but I learned how to get around without all the hand holding this new patch offers.

If I , who is probably old enough to be a granny to most of you young whippersnapper players, can learn how to play Guildwars 2 without this Patch, anyone can.

Jumping puzzles, and jumping for Vistas….that is another story…I need lots of hand holding in that aspect of the game…feel free to dumb those down

SirJack.4760:

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.

At least you have nearly all the Attunements by 12-13. I’m surprised that Earth has not unlocked yet, given the remaining progression. Perhaps 25-30?

My L12 Mesmer still only has the first Shatter. Unfortunately the wiki has not been updated with the current level unlocks for these. I’m in no hurry with those though – I barely use them at this point, so hiding other Shatter options may have been a good idea.

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.

But my level 3 Ranger has nothing equipped for under water.

I agree that this new system needs some tweaks. Players should be allowed to learn at their own pace, but if they still haven’t discovered something by a certain level, then the game should point it out to them.

I agree that the level rewards are nice, and should stay.

Still haven’t tried out the PS system, so will reserve judgement on that.

Bellizare.5816:

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.

But my level 3 Ranger has nothing equipped for under water.

Keep reading through the thread.

Lisa scowls in thought at the Computer screen. Xenon, the way things are going, we just might get a VIP system. I was VIP in City Of Heroes, and if this VIP system is fair to the players, I will be a member here…but only if it is fair to the players….

Anet when it comes to the VIP system, please, please, please, do not listen to whomever drew up the plans for changing the trait system, and this kitten new fangled leveling system. I tell you this person has not taken their morning meds for a long long time, and is completely clueless as to what the Guildwars2 players want.

Truth.

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.

Oh man, some people like Vayne will be pretty upset when they hear some of these awesome changes were not intended. Hopefully they won’t be too upset about it.

This level gating is an awful idea that makes the game even more prohibitive to new players, not to mention completely alienating old players who dared to make any alts. I’m actually shocked that ANet thought this would be a good idea and, if it were possible, this is the point at which I would demand a refund on this game. I don’t appreciate the coddling early game and I don’t appreciate that ANet now expects me to experience the game on THEIR timeline rather than mine.

This is bad practice and this shows that you do not listen to your player base , ANet. This is not the game I purchased a year and a half ago, this is not the experience or treatment I was sold on, and I sincerely hope you have the awareness and humility to undo a whole lot of this before you start leaking players, and income, faster than you can say “Megaserver.”

The following are level gated items:
. . .

All of that is plenty horrible. Did they not realize that all of these things were unlocking later than they were unlocking before? If anything they should unlock faster, not slower. When has “slower” ever been a desired feature? If people wanted slower, all they’d have to do is take a break after killing each enemy, maybe go get a sandwich.

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.

Wait, are you saying that people who have leveled to level 80, when they make a new character, they won’t have to go through those unlocks like that? So what is supposed to happen for people with level 80s leveling an alt?

zenleto.6179:

Bellizare.5816:

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.

But my level 3 Ranger has nothing equipped for under water.

Keep reading through the thread.

So I have to buy one then. Thx.

LOL, I’m only trying to level as a lark because I had my key farmer slot. Obviously I can buy the best of stuff (actually have good stuff like Primeval Armor, Level 0 blues, sigils, runes, harvest tools, every sort of booster, food, skill and level scrolls and lotsa gold), but wanted the new player “experience.”

I’m actually having a good time, but mostly because it’s all so silly. If I had just bought the game, I don’t think that I would be enjoying the humor as much.

Sungak Alkandenes.1369:

SirJack.4760:

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.

At least you have nearly all the Attunements by 12-13. I’m surprised that Earth has not unlocked yet, given the remaining progression. Perhaps 25-30?

My L12 Mesmer still only has the first Shatter. Unfortunately the wiki has not been updated with the current level unlocks for these. I’m in no hurry with those though – I barely use them at this point, so hiding other Shatter options may have been a good idea.

According to the list at the start of the thread, 24 unlocks the final F4 skill. Still, for Eles, this is a quarter of their basic weapon skills that is locked until then.

For Mesmers, Shatter skills are nice, but there are builds that don’t need them, and most Shatter builds need Traits to be decent, so there’s an argument there to lock them away for a while.

Warriors and Thieves have full access to their class skill at level 4 (only F1).
For Necros, this means no Death Shroud until that level though.

Engies will have access to F4, but since the final support slot is at 35, it’s technically locked until then.

Guardians have their Virtues at 22, which is also kinda late.

Ranger Pet commands are locked until 22 as well, Pet Swap until 24, and according to videos, they don’t have access to Pet Management either at the start.

Ohoni.6057:

The following are level gated items:
. . .

All of that is plenty horrible. Did they not realize that all of these things were unlocking later than they were unlocking before? If anything they should unlock faster, not slower. When has “slower” ever been a desired feature? If people wanted slower, all they’d have to do is take a break after killing each enemy, maybe go get a sandwich.

When slower allows someone to learn the class.

NOTE: I do not like the way things were implemented I like the old weapon skill unlock method.

Ohoni.6057:

The following are level gated items:
. . .

All of that is plenty horrible. Did they not realize that all of these things were unlocking later than they were unlocking before? If anything they should unlock faster, not slower. When has “slower” ever been a desired feature? If people wanted slower, all they’d have to do is take a break after killing each enemy, maybe go get a sandwich.

I usually play with snacks close to hand myself.

Still upon occasion a bio-pause is needed.

Also.. if the China VIP system gets implemented here, I’m out.

That would cause me to /uninstall.

Bellizare.5816:

zenleto.6179:

Bellizare.5816:

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.

But my level 3 Ranger has nothing equipped for under water.

Keep reading through the thread.

So I have to buy one then. Thx.

LOL, I’m only trying to level as a lark because I had my key farmer slot. Obviously I can buy the best of stuff (actually have good stuff like Primeval Armor, Level 0 blues, sigils, runes, harvest tools, every sort of booster, food, skill and level scrolls and lotsa gold), but wanted the new player “experience.”

I’m actually having a good time, but mostly because it’s all so silly. If I had just bought the game, I don’t think that I would be enjoying the humor as much.

It has been sort of fun running around like a newbie. I’m pretty used to level 20 scroll now, though, so I can see it getting old.

The low level gating stuff is not that bad.

Let’s put it this way – unlocking Skill 2 took killing 2-3 enemies (or so). Now, killing 2-3 enemies (or so) gets you to level 2 (ok, actually, getting to level 2 just requires you finish the opening sequence – which is more like 6 enemies or so). But, more or less the same.

Getting Skill 3 is the same – kill half a dozen enemies, and you’re level 3, and Skill 3 unlocks.

You can’t dodge right away – not that you need to, either under the new system, or the old – because let’s face it, there was nothing challenging before lv 5 anyway. So, you don’t really need it.

However, I did find it strange not having it – it just felt weird.

So, I reinstalled the game just to test out this new leveling system so I could talk about it without resorting to hearsay and second hand knowledge.

I haven’t got very far yet (I had to take a break for rl stuff), but I don’t think it’s going to be lvls 1-10 that are annoying. That stuff goes by far too fast anyway.

But, I’ll also say again that I don’t think it’s necessary either. I played 7 characters to lvl 80, and I figured everything out as I went, without tutorials.

Certainly some really basic tutorials and better tooltips would have sufficed in place of level gating.

The later stuff – lvl 15+ is what I think is going to annoy me the most. Not getting my Elite until lvl 40, and so on.

So far here’s what I think: 1-15 level gating is largely irrelevant, because it took you about the same amount of time to unlock that stuff anyway, and a little sooner or a little later either way doesn’t make a difference.

Later on, pushing back other stuff like traits and elites is really going to make me mad. All of the level gating at 15+ is lame and tedious – and worst of all completely unnecessary, as it won’t even accomplish it’s “intended” purpose of helping out new players. They will be just as confused by these mechanics if they get them now, or if they get them later, so there’s no point.

And, overall my biggest criticism is that this is what Anet spends their time on instead of creating a full expansion.

Game is still not worth spending money on. Not until they make an expansion.

I really think level gating the profession F1-F4 skills was a terrible idea. Rangers will not have control over their pet until level 24. So every time a mob hits the ranger and the pet begins attacking, there is no way to recall it. When the ranger begins fighting something else, the pet will disengage, drag the previous mob with it, and engage the new target. Because most pets can’t handle 2 mobs at a time as a low level, it will die. Since rangers can’t switch pets until level 24, the ranger will become the new punching bag for the mobs.

Mental Paradox.3845:

“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

USA – No Child Left Behind
Anet – No Player Left Behind

GW2Bush!

I have been playing since the beta. My sister hasn’t been playing long, and focused on one character until we finished the personal story, which happened Monday. Tuesday night we created new characters (I create one with her to keep her company), hers was a ranger. She is pretty much a new player, I am a veteran player. Both of us hate the new leveling system. In addition, she asked questions about how to control her pet, because it kept attacking things she didn’t want it to. When I tried to answer from my ranger experience, she couldn’t find anything like what I was talking about because of the gating.

In addition, we are mapping and we came to a skill point, only to find we can’t do the skill challenge. Which means coming back to the same point much later to get it, wasting time and wp fees just to get a skill point we should have been able to get first time through.

I used to enjoy making new characters and learning their personal stories, seeing the viewpoints of the different races and what happens when you change one of the options in the personal story. I loved running my character around everywhere doing whatever I could in my own order, finding the weapons so I could unlock skills for each one and learn how the skills worked by actually using them to unlock the next one. Everything I enjoyed is gone. Doing a new character is now going to be a chore. I used to buy new slots all the time so I could follow along the personal stories. That won’t happen any more, unless this change is reverted.

As a new player (got the game exactly 1 week ago and have 1 lvl80 and 1 lvl48 character) i feel this change is pretty much a punch in the face.

When i first made my character and started fighting i noticed right away that i got weapon skills unlocked by using the weapon, this gave me the feeling of my character mastering the weapon which makes more sense than “after you reach level X you can do this”.

Having my character master the weapon simply by using it felt more like an accomplishment and it encouraged me to try out combinations and and unlock the skills for all the weapons and find my playstyle, it also gave me a more varied combat than traditional MMOs where i am not allowed to explore possibilities before level X.

I also enjoyed the fact i could jump straight into the action(story) from the beginning with a purpose, a goal instead of having to do chores to a certain level first.

If i were to start the game today as a new player my first impression would be “whats different with this compared to other mmos? its the same grind as all other games”
that impression would not encourage me to continue playing, in fact it would make me leave the game probbably before even reaching level 10 or 20.

For me the personal story itself was my level up reward, after i did a personal story i saw i was underleveled for the next part (me being maybe 4 levels lower than the recommended) so i would do some events and gold hearts for 2 levels or so and then be back into the action, now it seems more like a chore like in other games where i have a big gap between story progression and grind.

Now everyone is different and i do like the level up rewards but this is seriously too much, i would say split chapters into at least 2 parts at minimum, unlocked every 5 levels and they should give the exp to compensate for the grind gap between them.

The game was fun as the spread of the storyline and content felt good for a new player and it made me recommend this game to some of my friends but i now feel more like warning them about getting guildwars2 as the game gives a false sense of progression in the early levels (yes the faster exp from 1 to 15 is accepted but it just feels out of place with the story)

As for the changes in the utilities/elite gate locking i feel the new levels are too spread out and gives new players a feeling unlocking these is just tedious work, when i was about to unlock the second utility i was looking forward to that as i was in deep need of it as a new player, now they have to wait even longer?
Same with skill points, i always loved to explore and try to find them, even then i ended up being way to low level to do them, sometimes i got them just by helping someone else get them which was rewarding in it self.

Also i am regretting even getting the game now if this is how the leveling and story progression is going to work. And i certainly regret the fact i bought a new character slot as i wanted to roll some more alts after my mesmer reaches level 80

Lastly i would like to point out that the new dodging tutorial (which i dont really get why was added?) along with a combo tutorial (as i am still abit unsure how combos work) could instead be worked into the early story as part of a training mission or something that can be skipped but does reward you if you do it.

“Do not fix what is not broken, improve it bits by bits”

PS: i pretty much just got on the forums to voice my opinion about these changes from a “new players eyes”, i will however keep an eye on this thread.

eisberg.2379:

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.

Wait, are you saying that people who have leveled to level 80, when they make a new character, they won’t have to go through those unlocks like that? So what is supposed to happen for people with level 80s leveling an alt?

OMG I want to know too!

anzenketh.3759:

• Rally(downstate) (Unlocked at level 5)
• Underwater Combat (Unlocked at level 8 with underwater weapon skills 1 and 2)
• Personal story (Unlocked at level 10 in chapters every 10 levels)

• 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)

Can I just say… What the actual kitten? No downstate? Why?! Last time I checked there are areas in newbie levels with water, are you just supposed to instantly die?

No personal story until level TEN?! I just can’t even understand why it’s in anybody’s interest to block the actual story of the game until you’ve played up to level 10. If it’s a method of gating key farming, it seems like there are easier ways to do that. Like moving the first BL Key to the lvl 20 quest. Why would you purposefully gate the story content from new players?

I can’t even fathom buying Final Fantasy but not being allowed to start the actual story part of the game for the first 5-10 hours.

I’m without words, some of these things that are gated seem completely arbitrary and serve no purpose. Points of Interest and Vistas? WTF? Why would you purposefully limit either of those things from new players?

I didn’t go through all of the posts, but would like to add that if you unlocked the second utility before the patch, you can use that utility, however you can’t change it with another one. :P

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.

In the spirit of open communication, perhaps there might be an “honest moment” where someone might say this is what is not/was not intended instead of calling them “those things”.
There was lots of hype about what we veteran players were going to really like… so far my champagne tastes of… well, you know.

At launch, GW2 was not a difficult game to pick up, learn and play. The only downside that keeps people from getting into the meat of the game is the extremely lackluster UI, and the lack of basic information that ANY other MMO with a skill system has. This is an unacceptable state of affairs.

Players don’t as a rule like game aspects that are gated, regardless of how it is implemented. Especially for a game that was and still is billed as SKILL>TIME, meaning that a player’s skill is more important than time/grind investment, gating content and definitely core game features behind level constraints is, for lack of a better term, stupid.

The game was never especially alt friendly, and now is even worse. What player, having an account filled with 80s and playing since Day 1 is going to want to work through the new system? Have the devs tried playing for several levels with only auto-attack?

The game’s character system should be two things: discoverable and informative. Everything a player needs should be on the Hero UI, and unlockable at level 1.

I cannot fathom who at ANet thinks these changes are good in any sense of the word, and why said people are even listened to? Are you going to go to Minecraft style graphics because they’re cheaper to produce and code? Certainly wouldn’t have to pay as much to the art department for the wonderful visuals any more.

The only reason I’ve even logged in these past few months is because the playstyle of the Elementalist is as close as one comes to an Avatar style of element bending in a video game. Not for the lackluster Living Story, the cheesy writing, or the extremely obvious push to the Gem Store. IS GW2 just a GUI front for a money converting trade house?

I’m going to be cliche and say that if the game doesn’t improve (you know actually being fun) and SOON, I will be leaving. At this point, its about even on fun to grind Paragon levels in Diablo 3, and that should say something to ANet. ANet should feel guilty over all the people who’ve spent real money in the Gem Store, that keeps the game in development, when what we’ve received wouldn’t merit staying on the first several pages of any other game’s modding forum. I mean seriously what’s next, $9.99 Horse Armor in the Gem Store, with no intent to introduce mounts?

The restrictions from level 15 through 40 are the worst.

I feel bad for the elementalists. I have one, and I happened to really like the earth skills, it’s ridiculous they have to wait until level 24 to use them now. I also see no reason why I can’t swap a pet on my ranger. It’s one button and it helped me a lot to stay alive in earlier levels.

This “tutorial” phase is way too long. 10/15 levels tops. When it comes to skills and basic game mechanics you shouldn’t have to wait more than 15 levels to start using them.

Anyone know if buying gems is level gated? I only ask because my latest engineer just hit level 27, and I was apparently finally able to unlock my Currency Exchange in the TP interface.

agnostAnts.7065:

Anyone know if buying gems is level gated? I only ask because my latest engineer just hit level 27, and I was apparently finally able to unlock my Currency Exchange in the TP interface.

Its not…

yeah, thread bug