Guild Wars 2

Disregarding the abhorrently low chances of getting anything nice from ToT bags, I quite enjoyed Halloween this year as well.

Everything except for one thing: The Lunatic Inquisition.

1. It’s a PvP mode that encourages people to idle. If the score doesn’t matter then no one’s gonna care about it. All the events, the item pickups, the Mad King Says, everything is pointless if people don’t care.
2. The game doesn’t give you credit for participation if you actually play it as intended. To get credit you either have to win as a villager (which is impossible) or you have to get points as a courtier after getting killed. Now the latter is extremely hard if you don’t get killed as soon as possible because around the 8:00 mark, every villager will have died and you will have no way of getting any points.
3. It lasts for too darn long. I know that there needed to be a set minimum time to avoid everyone just committing suicide and ending the round in 10 seconds, but the result of the current method was everyone standing around for about 3-4 minutes, scratching their behind because there were no villagers left.
4. The map is too big. Running through the whole maze, looking for that 1 straggler, and hoping you’re fast enough to get credit, is not fun in the least.
5. People were playing it just for the sake of the achievement and the achievement demanded over 12 hours of wasting your time in the most boring game mode you’ve ever designed. It’s not an achievement, it’s a test of who’s got the most free time to wait around and do nothing.
6. The rewards were horrible at best. Yeah, there were 50 AP involved, but I doubt even the people who managed to push through all of 80 rounds (minimum) were satisfied with that. I was sick of it after the first 8, to be perfectly honest. If the real rewards (the tangible ones) are not comparable with other activities, then why should I bother with this one?

Yeah, I think it’s entirely possible to address some, maybe all of these issues to make the game less of a chore, but as soon as you tie AP to it, people are gonna do it just for the AP and not because they want to. At that point it’s never gonna be fun, not for them, and not for those might actually enjoy it otherwise.

What I would much rather see next year is the return of Reaper’s Rumble. That minigame was infinitely more fun, people were actively participating, and rounds lasted a reasonable amount of time. Yeah, it had some problems, but I don’t see why it was removed in favor of Lunatic Inquisition, even if the problems would have taken a little longer to work out.

agreed i didnt joint it this year at all

was such a bad and confusing memory last year

I almost felt dirty hunting villager down or hiding like a coward

I guess it is intended as that the villagers will never win – and since they’re turned into ghosts in the end everybody wins – so take this as a “troll game”.
The points you’ve mentioned are true but I’ve been the last villager alive some times and got the highest points – I hid at a normal place, not something ghosts usually can’t reach or have been feared endlessly to get high points – it was usual play.
I don’t know how to make it better but I’m for keeping it.

I liked it.

The only thing that should be changed is the time and the villagers actually getting credit for living, whether or not they got into combat. and the duration of Mad King says.

Here’s the basic problem.

While the concept of weak villagers running away from strong courtiers is good, the game starts the villagers out with too much of a disadvantage.

While one player starts as a courtier, if the game is not full (and no games are all full at the start), all additional players hot joining into the match will start as courtiers.

If the Courtiers have 4 players 30 seconds in, the game is over before it starts.

I am not in favor of neerfing courtiers or giving players additional abilities to run and hide, but I don’t want to see normal hot joiners screwing up the game balance for everybody.

What ought to happen, is the villagers should get a minute to complete events before anybody gets turned into a courtier. This allows the villagers to build up defenses before the courtiers start coming, and takes 1 minute away from the courtiers race against the clock (& it also allows players to join the game without screwing up the balance in the first minute).

Nobody is forcing u to play it. Many people enjoy it.

I wouldn’t mind if the game mode stays in the game next year, assuming they make some considerable improvements. But if it does, I definitely think that they shouldn’t tie 50 AP to it so carelessly, so that it doesn’t attract droves of people who only want to play it for the AP. Leave the dailies and maybe add some specific inquisition achievements, but scrap the time-consuming participation grind for AP so that people who don’t enjoy it can move on in a reasonable amount of time.

I do understand that there are people who like it. But literally everyone I’ve talked to this year agreed that it wasn’t fun at all. Anecdotal evidence, I know, it doesn’t mean much, but since the developers aren’t polling people for their opinions anymore, all they have is raw data and these posts on the forums.

nymph.1658:

Nobody is forcing u to play it.

That’s not an argument. If you don’t have anything to say on the matter then don’t say anything at all. These kindergarten retorts don’t contribute to the discussion in any way.

Some people honestly enjoy lunatic inquisition, I see no need to remove it. Tweak it? Sure.

Still, I have fond memories of banding together with other villagers, grabbing the hammers and hunting the courtiers while watching each others backs. Made for some interesting games.

Sure, when you get into an instance where someone wants to cheat via an exploit, or where people only care about getting it over with as quickly as possible for the bags, then it’s no fun. However, if you get into a group with people that want to play it in the spirit it was meant to be played, it’s a lot of fun. It’s not Anets fault that people are lazy kittens.

Keep it. Its a fun mini-game for a lot of players. Getting rid of options like LI just because some people don’t enjoy it would be silly and counter productive. Halloween could use more events, not fewer. How about a Halloween themed variation of crab toss or polymock. More not less.

Like I said, I don’t mind if it stays. My intention was more that they remove that horrible achievement grind which was counterproductive to the whole idea of the game.

And yeah, it’s not Anet’s fault that people are lazy. But it is their fault that the game caters to lazy people. Every game aspect, especially PvP, should reward effort, not laziness.

I’m all for more games. Like I said, I’d love to see Reaper’s Rumble again next year.

I enjoyed it, but it does need some tlc.
As has already been pointed out, The mad king says on villagers; the channel is too long and needs to be shortened. I would keep the teleports in for the ghosts, but lengthen if not entirely remove the radar blips of villagers. The reason being, at late game stage its brutally hard to stay alive as a villager, plus it encourages inter team play of the ghosts, instead of them (and I was as guilty as anyone) standing on tele pads waiting for a tel tale blip.
As for AP, well, seems a lot of jealously about AP yet again. AP is simple, you want it go for it, you don’t then don’t. When I hear arguments about AP it reminds of the same arguments about precursors. Others have them so we demand that we should have them! Sorry doesn’t work that way.

Shadey Dancer.2907:

As for AP, well, seems a lot of jealously about AP yet again. AP is simple, you want it go for it, you don’t then don’t..

There’s no jealousy on my part. It’s not the first achievement I’ve skipped because of unreasonable grinding that was required, and it certainly won’t be the last one.

My problem with this particular set of AP is that it ruined the experience. I guess the upside is that it painfully obviously pointed out the parts where the minigame needs to be improved.

It’s a kid’s game.

No, seriously.

When I was young, we played a game called Ghosts in the Graveyard, a variation on the basic Tag. Essentially, home base was the back yard. The ghost (It) ranged around the front and sides. The players would count out loud from 1 o’clock to midnight, then shout “Ghosts in the Graveyard, here we come!” Then they would attempt to make a full circle around the house while the ghost attempted to tag the runners. Anyone tagged joined the ghost’s team. They’d continue to do this until only one runner was left. The objective was to be the last person untagged.

Yes, it’s weighted towards the Inquisition’s side. It’s SUPPOSED to be

Too bad it doesn’t work anything like that in Lunatic Inquisition.

I think the important point that almost everyone is missing is this:

“The game doesn’t give you credit for participation if you actually play it as intended. "

WHICH IS 10000% TRUE AND MADE ME SUPER MAD because all I wanted was the stupid achievement points but if you are good at surviving but not quite good enough and don’t manage to catch anyone before the timer expires, your time has been wasted and it doesn’t even tick up the achievement and that just kittened me right off

Agreed, villager scores should have counted for participation. There also need to be some methods of acquiring points as a courtier without directly engaging villagers, although I don’t know how to implement that without further encouraging passive gameplay.

Keneth.6490:

That’s not an argument. If you don’t have anything to say on the matter then don’t say anything at all. These kindergarten retorts don’t contribute to the discussion in any way.

First let me start by saying Calm Down. Second your title is “Please scrap Lunatic Inquisition next year”. Like I said, nobody is forcing u to play, I enjoy it and I would love to see it come back next year . It’s not just me but many other people.

The kindergarten comment was hilarious since u are the one complaining about how unrewarding Lunatic Inquisition is and since u don’t like it, they should scrap it.
Maybe next time give your thread a better name or make one suggesting new activities .

nymph.1658:

First let me start by saying Calm Down.

I am entirely calm. I have no idea where you got the impression that I wasn’t.

nymph.1658:

Like I said, nobody is forcing u to play

And like I said, that is not an argument. It’s a kindergarten retort. It doesn’t contribute anything of value to any discussion.

Most people are completionists. So, if Anet is gonna introduce an achievement for it, people are gonna feel the need to play it. Me included.

nymph.1658:

Maybe next time give your thread a better name or make one suggesting new activities.

I agree that the title is somewhat deceptive, but unfortunately the title length is extremely limited, so I titled the thread in the way I thought would best express my dissatisfaction and attract the most readers.

If you read through any of my posts, including the original post, you’ll notice that I don’t mention anywhere that I would like the game entirely removed. I only point out its obvious flaws which would warrant drastic action. And I did in fact suggest a new activity. Well, an old activity, but it was better than this one.

So maybe next time you should read the posts instead of just the title. But I guess I can’t expect much from someone who feels that “you” is too much work to type.

Keneth.6490:

Most people are completionists.

prove it

The rewards were similar to sanctum sprint. Being a villager was a waste of time. The other annoyance were ghost players camping in the village spawn point, downing anyone spawning.

I read your post. I know exactly what U mean and why U made a whole new post instead of searching the forums and commenting on one of the million posts – “suggestions on how to improve the Lunatic Inquisition”. That’s what U wanted, to create and new post and complain how the game isn’t treating U well, which explains that title. Usually when I read something I read both the title and the content and what I get from your title and content is that U don’t like Lunatic Inquisition, U prefer
Reaper’s Rumble so U want Anet to completely scrap one and bring back the other.

U not liking my argument, does not mean it’s not valid. I don’t like certain things so I just don’t do them. If U dislike/hate something so much then just don’t do it, simple as that.

As far as U being angry or not, judging by the way U insult people I’d say U are. Next time U feel like complaining don’t come here and expect everyone to agree with U.

Agreed, villager scores should have counted for participation.

According to my experience (I did the 50ap and often went afk once I became a ghost), they do count, if you make points that are not awarded by survival time. -> doing the events and running around avoiding ghosts. (which is much more fun than simply hiding till the timer runs out)

This game needs tweaking. I love the idea but it was just no fun for me. Each time I tried it I zoned in as a courtier with other courtiers just afking around me. I have never gotten to play as villager. I think maybe half the time I was playing I even saw a villager. I know their job is to hide, but I was checking the hidey spots, porting around the maze for faster travel and just nothing. I ended up wandering around the maze setting traps and wondering what I was missing about this game.

I’d mainly like it if they just ditched the mad king says commands off the courtiers. They have more then enough abilities to hunt the villagers down without something with that much range, especially when they’ll always have one available, so the cooldown on it is pointless. It doesn’t seem like you can dodge it either.

The fact that it forces the villager to drop whatever they are carrying just makes it worse. I’d have to throw the ranged ones immediately or lose them and the melee ranged ones became largely useless. Never mind that if you happened to get the ripper you’d never get close enough to use it before someone makes you drop it.

In my 80 games the villagers won fairly twice, one of those being early on in the games when not everyone knew all the hiding spots well so they didn’t find me in time.

The rest of the wins I saw were at the very end where people jumping up in areas exceedingly difficult for courtiers to get to.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Sure, when you get into an instance where someone wants to cheat via an exploit, or where people only care about getting it over with as quickly as possible for the bags, then it’s no fun. However, if you get into a group with people that want to play it in the spirit it was meant to be played, it’s a lot of fun. It’s not Anets fault that people are lazy kittens.

It is Anets fault though, that you can’t group together with Guildies or friends and create your own instance in which to play.

I personally hated the minigame at first but I grew to like it. I’ve had both sides of fun games where people communicated and worked together and also bad experiences where players stood idle for whatever reason or grew frustrated at villagers who hid well. Either way, it is not impossible to win as a villager; the game naturally weighs more towards the ghosts with their teleports, Mad King Says skills, traps and weapon skills yet I do believe villagers CAN be just as equally dominant but more in terms of teamwork…

I’ve had experiences where I’ve spawned as the first ghost only to find a villager and get hammer-smashed by a group of them because they had good planning. But generally as the days roll by and people grow more accustomed to the various hiding places in the game be it reachable, reasonable spots or ridicously debatable difficult to reach ones villagers will more often than not go hide there lengthening the game time till ghosts find and kill them which is what ghosts are supposed to do. But yes, I agree villagers could’ve been buffed a bit more.. During my time or seen some excellent players as villagers using various escape methods, really have no idea how they manage to last so long sometimes.

As for the game time – it’s lengthy indeed. Grindy. I don’t think it’s necessary to have it play for that long.. Possibly cutting it down by 2-3 minutes would be alright.

Don’t have much time left, on the go atm, will post what I’ve got here and come back later to add more if possible.. But needless to say this minigame is content ANet made and scrapping it entirely is a waste of time, effort, money etc. I believe the best we can do is give feedback on said problems, ideas too to improve the gameplay and hope that it can be implemented next year to make things more enjoyable.

Keneth.6490:

I wouldn’t mind if the game mode stays in the game next year, assuming they make some considerable improvements. But if it does, I definitely think that they shouldn’t tie 50 AP to it so carelessly, so that it doesn’t attract droves of people who only want to play it for the AP. Leave the dailies and maybe add some specific inquisition achievements, but scrap the time-consuming participation grind for AP so that people who don’t enjoy it can move on in a reasonable amount of time.

I do understand that there are people who like it. But literally everyone I’ve talked to this year agreed that it wasn’t fun at all. Anecdotal evidence, I know, it doesn’t mean much, but since the developers aren’t polling people for their opinions anymore, all they have is raw data and these posts on the forums.

nymph.1658:

Nobody is forcing u to play it.

That’s not an argument. If you don’t have anything to say on the matter then don’t say anything at all. These kindergarten retorts don’t contribute to the discussion in any way.

Except it is.

No one is holding you at gunpoint to make you play the game. You can go play the labyrinth, the clock tower and do the normal activities instead if you want to. I and a few other people like the game if only in concept – it might not be perfect and be imbalanced but the game isn’t bad in terms of conceptual idea.

Don’t ask devs to delete things just because you don’t like them for any number of reasons. Deleting the game won’t improve it at all, yet you’ve got the arrogance to come along and tell that person that they’re providing nothing useful, as if deleting it would.

The game can be fun if everyone plays as intended.
I would still make a few tweaks here and there (specially around mad king says) and the issue with participation counting towards the achievement absolutely should be looked at.
The biggest flaw, however, is on the rewards, which don’t promote the intended playstyle. This is my proposal:

- The initial courtier gets 2 bags for every conversion achieved + 20 bags if courtiers win.
- Villagers converted into courtiers get 1 bag for every minute survived as villagers + 10 bags if courtiers win (this includes new players that join an already started match and spawn as villagers)
- New players spawning as courtiers get 1 bag for every conversion achieved + 10 bags if courtiers win
- Villagers get 25 bags if they win.
- If the inquisition wins and the last villager alive has the highest count on minutes survived, he gest +10 bags. If he’s not at the top, he gets +5 bags.

Current bag rewards are so lackluster (3/5 bags for courtiers/villagers if they win iirc) that APs seem to be the only meaningful thing reward wise, and since those depend only on the number of played matches, almost every single match get a few (or even a lot) completionist that don’t really care about the game itself and just want to end it as soon as possible and move on.
With a decent amount of bags (still less than what a player would get from any decent labyrinth farm, which also has regular loot on top of it) and a reward system encouraging players to do their best the whole time, I truly think that it would be possible to have a much more pleasant time with this minigame.

I skipped this entirely because most minigames in GW2 are terrible, the only one I consider half decent is keg brawl but I never play that anymore either cuz minigames are on rotation now and I never even check to see what it is anymore.

kitten .9460:

I skipped this entirely because most minigames in GW2 are terrible, the only one I consider half decent is keg brawl but I never play that anymore either cuz minigames are on rotation now and I never even check to see what it is anymore.

Keg Brawl is always (and only) on Sundays.

I have only two concerns:

1) Remove achievement for repeating it. It is same problem as dragon bash arena, people just stay AFK and farm. Did not you learn it a year ago?

2) Spam of “mad king says”. I don’t know what to add here. Did you even try to play as villager, devs?

This mini game suffers from participation problems. There’s a lot to like about it, but it’s one of those things that doesn’t play like it was probably planned. I skipped it this year.

I remembered hating this game last year because it was boring and annoying, but the Labyrinth was like that too last year and was obviously fixed, so I gave this game a try again.

It wasn’t fixed.

Joined a match with about 4 minutes left on the timer, was a courtier, ran around trying to find villagers fruitlessly. Found what was apparently an NPC who was invulnerable, had no idea why she was there but was annoyed by it standing there acting like an enemy. Couldn’t even tell if villagers so much as existed, because everyone in the game was apparently just on a big long list with no team differentiation, so long that it scrolled past the edge of the window and was unreadable. I was actually in a match with my friend who’d joined a minute or two earlier and I had no idea until it was almost over because I couldn’t see his name on the player list for several minutes. He told me there was actually a villager or two left when I joined, but I have no idea how he knew this other than the fact that he caught one, because there is no roster. Got no achievement credit for the Festival achievement and basically no loot for this waste of time running around an empty labyrinth.

I tried again several days later when the daily was up again despite this incredibly boring and distasteful experience, and despite having been told by my friend that villagers can be seen on the minimap by standing on the portal spots, it was no better of an experience. Still no way of telling if there were actually villagers in the game, and when I used the portal vision and went after a red dot, it turned out to be that same blasted invulnerable NPC, not a villager. And still no achievement credit/loot. So I still hate it. I’m sure it could be fixed up to be a decent game but since I never even got to experience what is supposedly supposed to be happening…

Those invulnerable NPCs can be abused for points to get credit as a ghost without villager kills.. That may be intended.

insanemaniac.2456:

Keneth.6490:

Most people are completionists.

prove it

op’s claim remains unsubstantiated

the minigame was idd bit anoying:

• minimum of 80 games needed for max AP
• ghost = win → vilagers suicide to be a ghost
• everyone is dead with 7-9mins left, have to wait till 5:00/4:40
• villager could use some trick jumping to hide (and win if ghost couldn’t reach)
• for AP hunters it was wasting time, waiting for villagers that didn’t die before 7min, but also couldn’t do anything cause villager was in a hard to reach spot and unable to kill