Guild Wars 2

Particle effects make it very difficult to read enemies. Two of the very worst offenders are blue burning and red burning particle effects. Just disabling these two would drastically improve my ability to read enemy tells instead of having to decipher their body within all the fire.

Please, Anet, I implore you to consider adding an option to at least disable these two effects if nothing else.

The problem with adding this option is that it would provide an advantage in PvP/WvW combat, which would mean everyone would have to turn off particles in order to stay competitive. From what I’ve seen, any kind of change that runs the risk of unbalancing the playing field for people who do and don’t select the given option (darker nighttimes, for example) tends to be a problem.

That said, I suppose we could petition for this option only in PvE?

I’d ask if we really need all those particle effects AT ALL.

I mean, is there a segment of the fanbase that LIKES their target to look like the gaddammed sun?

I don’t know about you, but flashy, dynamic particle effects are something I consider very important when choosing a game, and I am quite sure there are many others who feel the same. Not everyone plays just for the technical side of the combat. Some of us love the aesthetic side too. We love the feeling of casting flames and lightning at people. The flashier the effect, the more powerful we feel, which is for a lot of the reason to play the game. Real life is a little sad and unrewarding. GW2 makes us feel strong, and particle effects are an integral part of this.

It’s just particle pollution, should’ve been fixed 2 years ago.

Agreed, there should also be an option to turn off the damage indicators (numbers). I’d rather see a boss’s startup animations than how much damage I’m doing.

Smoke effects should also have a reduced/disabled graphics toggle. Smoke is the number one killer of framerates in this game for me, especially if the camera is at an angle where the smoke fills a majority of the screen.

Can’t believe I’m still having to ask for this after 14 months. Sure as hell not stopping though.

Meleeing bosses such as the Archdiviner is so difficult with burning effects blocking his animations.

I definitely think this should be implemented in PvE. It can’t hurt at all!

As I have said, though, it would be more problematic to implement in PvP.

There should be the option to turn off the skill effects of anyone who isn’t you, and to tone yours down to whatever level you personally desire.

stale.9785:

There should be the option to turn off the skill effects of anyone who isn’t you, and to tone yours down to whatever level you personally desire.

I’d be all over that option. Count me in.