Guild Wars 2

AuldWolf.7598:

@Iruwen.3164

“Every other MMO out there has vertical progression […]”

That’s not the argument, though. The argument is that we accept that a game has to have some VP in order to keep people like you happy, people who need the placebo effect (and I do feel sorry for you because of that, that you’ll never be good at anything because you rely on stats).

The argument is that there are good games out there which have a power plateau, like GW2 originally promised to have. Except GW2’s power plateau has now been cast aside. To ArenaNet it doesn’t exist any more. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t games out there which did embrace it.

MMORPGs that do:

- Champions Online
- Star Trek Online
- Guild Wars 1
- Dungeons & Dragons: Online
- Marvel Heroes (out soon)
- Neverwinter (out soon)

Champions Online is one of my favourites. It never promised a power plateau, but it’s been true to that element of game design. And to be honest, the Nemesis Confrontation content at level 40 is far, far more interesting than anything GW2 has to offer. And that’s because it’s content designed around player builds and skill, rather than the “I have no skill!” placebo of vertical progression.

I guess for those who have no skill and want to stagnate forever, never having any skill, the placebo effect of vertical progression is fine. But I like having skill, blast it all! And I like getting better at things. And the only way that can happen is if a game challenges my skill, rather than opting for the placebo effect of vertical progression. This is why the best games out there, hands down, don’t use vertical progression.

There’s a reason that Grand Theft IV, for example, doesn’t do vertical progression.

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(Edit)

Let me explain this to you. The reason vertical progression is a bit of a cancer is because of the placebo effect which removes skill. Okay, take Super Mario Bros. What if you had stats which increased the length of the invulnerability star, that allowed you to take more hits before shrinking, and allowed you to double jump up to 8 times.

Now, imagine how easy Super Mario Bros would then be, since you’d often be invincible, you’d take a lot of hits, and you could double jump to save yourself from pits and dangers. Sure, you’d feel awesome, but it’s a hollow thing. It’s just mitigating the fact that you’re horrible at the game. So it’s replacing your need for skill with stats.

That’s the “placebo effect” of vertical progression. I’m not a fan.

That’s a nice long post, I’m just not sure why you’re addressing this to me, I’m arguing against vertical progression all the time? Did you actually read the rest of my post or just “Every other MMO out there has vertical progression”? I was clearly saying that GW2 is the wrong game for people that want this game mechanic and that it’s in almost every other MMO, so leave GW2 to the people that don’t want it.