Guild Wars 2

Yes, I have been whining and moaning but I don’t think the new patch is the world-shattering disaster that I, and others, thought it would be.

I’ll keep this brief:

Positives:
The new compass is very useful. It would have helped me when I first started playing, even if it does make the game seem a little linear. Being able to set it to help with map completion is also a boon.
Lots of loot. I mean, I haven’t had to buy anything and I am level 23 so far.
USEFUL loot! Often with selectable stats. This is a good way to introduce new players into stat combos. It would be nice if a tooltip was added when you select the stat to say, eg: “Berserker: This is a powerful attack set with little for defence”, or “Ravaging: Useful for increasing condition damage”.
The story system. If it had been like this from the start, noone would have complained. I did like doing story missions higher than my level previously, but it is no massive loss and helps the story feel less disjointed.

Negatives:
Anything where content is REMOVED is a big negative in my eyes. The Fear storyline, the crafting nodes and worst of all, actual reknown missions and tasks removed or unnecessarily altered in early zones.
The goshdarned weapon skill gating. Everything was fine before. You learned slowly bit by bit what each skill on which weapon did what. “Oh, new skill? Lets see if this is more powerful than the last one” and you look at the tip to see it in action. There was nothing wrong with this.
The pandering: Whats with the skulls? Tamini death markers have had skulls removed? We ALL know it is because the Chinese market have issues with skull iconology. Why don’t we remove the number ‘4’ because it is unlucky in China?
Carrot-on-a-stick and lying about it. We KNOW that the weapon skill and utility skill changes have NOT been made to help new players. New players are generally not stupid either, they work things out. The locks are in place to act as an incentive for the Chinese market to keep playing because it is traditional in games they know.

So, generally, things are not as bad as they first appeared. I can see why some decisions were made, just as much as I disagree with others.

When I took my new level 80 engineer to get 100% of Caledon Forest mobs melted like butter to her bombs and other weapons (thanks to the April nerfing of low level mobs). Too bad if there were any low level characters trying to get XP from killing mobs where she was. On the positive side she didn’t stay long in any area.

Well, I’m glad you’ve seen pass the initial rage vision (if I can call it that?).

Some things to note are that for your first complaint (stuff being removed and/or moved) I would agree that removing a part of the storyline may have been drastic and probably uncalled for (though it might just be to make each chapter of equal length? Not sure as I’ve not come across an answer from Anet amidst all the complaints in the forums), but moving the renown hearts and tasks around (don’t think or at least I didn’t realize they had removed any) may have been more of to accommodate the new tutorials and stuff. This shouldn’t be an issue. As for resource nodes, I dunno what to say about that aside from maybe it was a part of their plan to teach new people about them at a later stage so having them see those around immediately may not be the best idea? The starting maps still have nodes from what I can tell, just at the higher level areas.

I’ve not come across anything to suggest stuff have been removed to pander to Chinese market, so that might just be an assumption?

Nope. Still world-shattering. The longer this patch is out, and the more bugs we are finding out with it, the worse it gets. This is the buggiest patch since the LAUNCH of the game. So, yeah, it’s still the world-shattering Bug Wars 2 version of the game. Sorry to break the news to you.

1) Still horrendous level-scaling issues, unless Anet fixed it when I was asleep.

2) People in their mid to late 20’s are saying that experience is bugged, and they are only getting like 8 experience for doing things. Someone said they leveled cooking from 0-400 and only gained a single level.

3) There is apparently a bug with golems which shoot projectiles. Their damage is way off. I’ve heard that Asura are able to take down gates in WvW mode just by summoning Series 7 elite skill.

GuzziHero.2467:

Yes, I have been whining and moaning but I don’t think the new patch is the world-shattering disaster that I, and others, thought it would be.

I’ll keep this brief:

Positives:
The new compass is very useful. It would have helped me when I first started playing, even if it does make the game seem a little linear. Being able to set it to help with map completion is also a boon.
Lots of loot. I mean, I haven’t had to buy anything and I am level 23 so far.
USEFUL loot! Often with selectable stats. This is a good way to introduce new players into stat combos. It would be nice if a tooltip was added when you select the stat to say, eg: “Berserker: This is a powerful attack set with little for defence”, or “Ravaging: Useful for increasing condition damage”.
The story system. If it had been like this from the start, noone would have complained. I did like doing story missions higher than my level previously, but it is no massive loss and helps the story feel less disjointed.

Negatives:
Anything where content is REMOVED is a big negative in my eyes. The Fear storyline, the crafting nodes and worst of all, actual reknown missions and tasks removed or unnecessarily altered in early zones.
The goshdarned weapon skill gating. Everything was fine before. You learned slowly bit by bit what each skill on which weapon did what. “Oh, new skill? Lets see if this is more powerful than the last one” and you look at the tip to see it in action. There was nothing wrong with this.
The pandering: Whats with the skulls? Tamini death markers have had skulls removed? We ALL know it is because the Chinese market have issues with skull iconology. Why don’t we remove the number ‘4’ because it is unlucky in China?
Carrot-on-a-stick and lying about it. We KNOW that the weapon skill and utility skill changes have NOT been made to help new players. New players are generally not stupid either, they work things out. The locks are in place to act as an incentive for the Chinese market to keep playing because it is traditional in games they know.

So, generally, things are not as bad as they first appeared. I can see why some decisions were made, just as much as I disagree with others.

from what i can see, you like the shinies, and you like the guidance icon. Thats cool, thats not really what bothers people, its the unlocks. And honestly leveling is boring now, and you feel like you have to level, because you are still incomplete/weak.

I definately realize they did what they did more for progression and making people feel like they should keep leveling, however, i dont think their game design supports it. You feel incomplete without many of these things. And the timing feels slow. Games that use these methods, often have a lot more individual skills to give people, and many skills are power ups to old versions with similar functionality.

I understand their goals, but they probably needed new content to fill the gaps, instead of relying on the old system which is based of very basic level skills/trait synergies.

i think their best bet would have been to go with cosmetic upgrades to skills, and introduce new types of content with direct goal focuses at specific levels. Either that or just add elite level skills.

I also think they put too much focus on leveling. The game works a lot better imo, when leveling is what happens while you are doing other goals. Making leveling the primary focus leads to a very rote playstyle.

phys.7689:

from what i can see, you like the shinies, and you like the guidance icon. Thats cool, thats not really what bothers people, its the unlocks. And honestly leveling is boring now, and you feel like you have to level, because you are still incomplete/weak.

I definately realize they did what they did more for progression and making people feel like they should keep leveling, however, i dont think their game design supports it. You feel incomplete without many of these things. And the timing feels slow. Games that use these methods, often have a lot more individual skills to give people, and many skills are power ups to old versions with similar functionality.

I understand their goals, but they probably needed new content to fill the gaps, instead of relying on the old system which is based of very basic level skills/trait synergies.

i think their best bet would have been to go with cosmetic upgrades to skills, and introduce new types of content with direct goal focuses at specific levels. Either that or just add elite level skills.

I also think they put too much focus on leveling. The game works a lot better imo, when leveling is what happens while you are doing other goals. Making leveling the primary focus leads to a very rote playstyle.

You claim to realize that this is for progression and stuff, but I think you’re missing the whole point of the new system. From what you said, you seem to think this new system is their new hook to keep existing players playing the game, but it’s not. It is to help new players in learning the game and getting a better experience from it.

What I got from your suggestions were not things to help a new player but rather things to try to keep existing players around.

You as (what I assume) a veteran player of this game (and maybe many others) will see less value in it than say someone who just picked this up as their first video game.

Being able to select your stats for levelling drops is nice, but honestly they could have simplified that by just making zerker have a much higher drop rate. New players aren’t going to know what stats to pick, and giving them so many non-zerker options literally is confusing them. It is nice for vet players who know which stat distributions are useful and which are not though.

The one thing I am pleased about for the patch is the ability to block emotes from players you have blocked. This allows me to block very obnoxious, public pseudo ERPers from my chat window, greatly improving any RP experience.

Elsdragon.5109:

phys.7689:

from what i can see, you like the shinies, and you like the guidance icon. Thats cool, thats not really what bothers people, its the unlocks. And honestly leveling is boring now, and you feel like you have to level, because you are still incomplete/weak.

I definately realize they did what they did more for progression and making people feel like they should keep leveling, however, i dont think their game design supports it. You feel incomplete without many of these things. And the timing feels slow. Games that use these methods, often have a lot more individual skills to give people, and many skills are power ups to old versions with similar functionality.

I understand their goals, but they probably needed new content to fill the gaps, instead of relying on the old system which is based of very basic level skills/trait synergies.

i think their best bet would have been to go with cosmetic upgrades to skills, and introduce new types of content with direct goal focuses at specific levels. Either that or just add elite level skills.

I also think they put too much focus on leveling. The game works a lot better imo, when leveling is what happens while you are doing other goals. Making leveling the primary focus leads to a very rote playstyle.

You claim to realize that this is for progression and stuff, but I think you’re missing the whole point of the new system. From what you said, you seem to think this new system is their new hook to keep existing players playing the game, but it’s not. It is to help new players in learning the game and getting a better experience from it.

What I got from your suggestions were not things to help a new player but rather things to try to keep existing players around.

You as (what I assume) a veteran player of this game (and maybe many others) will see less value in it than say someone who just picked this up as their first video game.

they actually admited its not all there to help new players, and some of it is just for progression.
Do you really believe a new player cant handle a 2nd utility slot until they are 24? a third until they are 35? keep in mind 1 utility slot is exactly the same as any other utility slot, learning wise there is nothing more complex about picking a second utility than there was for picking a first slot.

they said the point was retention of new players, the progression system is to keep to new players playing by feeling they have new goals, and that they havent achieved full power yet. As well as tying a satisfied feeling tied to gaining a level.

i am not saying trying to do that is bad, i the implementation doesnt really fit the style of the game that well, it doesnt accentuate the game style.

also, as to the this is only for new players thing, i think that is the biggest flaw in judgement they made.
lets say 40% of people who play used to stop playing before experiencing most of the game, lets say the new system retains 15% more, making their drop off only 25%
however, the NPE effects about 50% of the 60% who stayed with the game because they liked the system for leveling and play their alts.
you now lose 30% for 15%.
not a good strat, and of that 15% that stayed longer, you will probably lose 5% of those who kept playing the first time, but lost interest because the experience was not that fun.

What you described was the same thing as I did, but it’s still disjointed with your previous suggestions. Also for the utility slots, I would think they are part of the progression system rather than the learning system as it is as you’ve said that the utility skills are the same ones you can choose from for any slot. Unlocking that utility slot will help players feel stronger. The reason they are pushed back (from what I can tell) is due to the faster leveling speed for levels 1 to 15. You need to take things into context or else everything will seem ridiculous.

Now based on that and your paragraph about letting players feel satisfied about gaining a level and having a goal to work towards, doesn’t it make more sense? They see they could have 3 utility skills, but only have 1 unlocked at level 15, wouldn’t they want to level up first rather than deciding to run into WvW thinking they can win against someone with applied strength and fortitude buffs?

I wouldn’t say 50% of the people they already have would leave. That seems to be very exaggerated especially since maps feel more full now than they were before (and not just because of all the commander tags). You really shouldn’t argue with numbers you make up since it’s hard to back them up.

Elsdragon.5109:

What you described was the same thing as I did, but it’s still disjointed with your previous suggestions. Also for the utility slots, I would think they are part of the progression system rather than the learning system as it is as you’ve said that the utility skills are the same ones you can choose from for any slot. Unlocking that utility slot will help players feel stronger. The reason they are pushed back (from what I can tell) is due to the faster leveling speed for levels 1 to 15. You need to take things into context or else everything will seem ridiculous.

Now based on that and your paragraph about letting players feel satisfied about gaining a level and having a goal to work towards, doesn’t it make more sense? They see they could have 3 utility skills, but only have 1 unlocked at level 15, wouldn’t they want to level up first rather than deciding to run into WvW thinking they can win against someone with applied strength and fortitude buffs?

I wouldn’t say 50% of the people they already have would leave. That seems to be very exaggerated especially since maps feel more full now than they were before (and not just because of all the commander tags). You really shouldn’t argue with numbers you make up since it’s hard to back them up.

map fullness doesnt mean much with megaserver.
progression systems and rewards make sense, but the actual gameplay doesnt support their current implementation.
aka, leveling now feels boring/painful. Games that build these systems generally have a lot of skills available and they tend to power up skills, so not having 4 skills isnt a big deal, in gw2 it is.
Other games usually design synergies in early then expand on them or create new rotations/synergies
gw2 doesnt work this way. The weapons are designed to work with all 5 skills, every theif weaponset for example feels incomplete with 3 skills, the synergy skills are usually in the 5th slot.
f1-f4 skills are integral to gameplay. rangers without pet abilities, mesmers missing half their shatters.
skill points that dont work until you come back to them later.
the personal story was designed to take you through level appropriate areas, now you go back to old areas.

the game itself just doesnt work well with the changes they put on top of the existing systems. This is why people say it feels boring now. They improved the desire to level up at the cost of good overall game design. When what they really needed was to make the game feel more rewarding and give new players more direction and goals.

my point is the current system may retain more of a specific type of player, but it they will probably quit later, with a feeling that the game just isnt that fun.
instead of quitting at level 10-20 because they dont know why/what to do, they quit at level 50 knowing that the game feels kind of boring.

the 10-20 guy may come back if he sees big enough hooks, but the level 50 leaving guy has decided the game is kind of lame.

another thing games with the heavy gating on skills, have is well developed endgames. People will not be satisfied when they slog up to 80 not enjoying it that much, when there is nothing really special at 80.

Is it my imagination or has XP gain from events/map completion been drastically reduced post level 15?

GuzziHero.2467:

Is it my imagination or has XP gain from events/map completion been drastically reduced post level 15?

They buffed the XP gain for below level 15. So it feels like a reduction afterward.

phys.7689:

Do you really believe a new player cant handle a 2nd utility slot until they are 24? a third until they are 35? keep in mind 1 utility slot is exactly the same as any other utility slot, learning wise there is nothing more complex about picking a second utility than there was for picking a first slot.

They have admitted in one of the posts that the Utility and Elite skills got pushed back too far level wise. That will likely get fixed when they have had time to have pow wows about all the changes and how we’ve reacted to them.

GuzziHero.2467:

Is it my imagination or has XP gain from events/map completion been drastically reduced post level 15?

I think you mean to say “post level 28”

Sokia.3710:

GuzziHero.2467:

Is it my imagination or has XP gain from events/map completion been drastically reduced post level 15?

I think you mean to say “post level 28”

I only levelled my new alt to 25 so far. Is it nerfed after 28?

I liked the patch but not all is sweet.

• The new compass is very useful.

Agreed. But it’s either bugged or bad designed. I was very excited about being able to see nearby events but this thing work when or how it want.
Sometimes, nearby events are ignored and events far away are announced. This thing could use some tweaks.

• Lots of loot

o_O..? I barely get anything besides garbage. And the gear you get when leveling is useless to me.

• USEFUL loot! Often with selectable stats.

Haven’t found any of those. I’ll check later.

• The story system.

Agreed. Many people ignore the old system until they hit lvl 80 or complain about the lvl gap.
Most complains about this are kitten key farmers. If ArenaNet revert those changes BUT, remove the keys, the same people will find another excuse to complain).

• Anything where content is REMOVED is a big negative in my eyes.

I don’t like when they mess with old content. But they already did it before and only few of us complain. I don’t see why everyone is complaining now.

• The goshdarned weapon skill gating

One of my favorite changes (to each his own) but c’mon! You’ll hit lvl 10 in no time.

• The pandering

WUT? I didn’t notice but are you sure is not a bug? Or maybe they just forgot this change is not necessary here.

• Carrot-on-a-stick and lying about it. (New players are generally not stupid either).

Never underestimate human stupidity. If people aren’t stupid, explain to me why people fail to dodge at Teq’s waves or run like headless chicken on the Triple Trouble event?

GuzziHero.2467:

I only levelled my new alt to 25 so far. Is it nerfed after 28?

I’ve heard that it’s glitched after level 28, or maybe it was level 29.

Apparently, it’s fairly difficult to get a new character to level 30.