Guild Wars 2

To whom it may concern,

I recently was asked by friends to join the game Guild Wars 2. I have found the graphics to be both visually stunning, and wonderfully lifelike. Gameplay is smooth and generally flawless. There are many special drops, intense action events, and great special areas of interest. I find myself loving the game, and really wanting to spend much of my free time playing. Unfortunately, there is one aspect of the game that deters from my love of its design. The self-leveling aspect, that levels characters in each realm.

First, why take the time to write you about your game? I wanted to supply you with some input from a person who plays the game actively, and is not part of your pay staff. Myself, a veteran teacher, I am always looking for input to improve my classroom teaching, and value outside input to improve my performance. Also, I truly love your game, and do not want to forsake it, without sharing the reason that has made the game unplayable for me at this point. Just maybe there is a solution, and you can rekindle my love for your intensely wonderful game.

When I first started playing the game just two weeks ago, I made it my goal to level my character to the max (level 80) as quickly as possible. I am sure that many people that start this game do the exact same thing. The leveling was exciting, and the plot made it fun. Even with my fulltime job, I was able to complete the task quickly and easily caught on to the game play and options.

Upon completion of character leveling, I decided that revisiting maps for map completion would be the best course of action. Again, I am sure most of you active uses probably follow this plan. This is where I suddenly became perplexed by the leveling system. I returned to Queensdale to complete the area map. I had just a few points of interest and achievements to finish. Three hours later, and lots of cursing, some creative hand gestures, I completed the task. It was at this point, and with much frustration, I lost my desire to play the game.

How could such a fantastic game go sour so quickly? I vented to several of my friends who also play the game, and not surprisingly they expressed similar grievances. In fact, one of my friend’s, who plays online and occasionally joins our group, works for Arenanet, and also had similar comments. That player refuses to do dungeons because, “They are just too hard, and it makes the game no fun.” I have to admit we tried a dungeon (level 40) and it was really kittene of the other players in my group said he was near map completion, but had been playing off and on for two years to get to this point. TWO YEARS? I became perplexed by many similar comments from other online characters.

I know many people just want to complain, and do not want to pony up solutions. I however would like to suggest some ideas that have floated into my head, which would rekindle my love for your great game. First, once a character reached level 80, the character is made a few levels higher than the area he/she is actively engaged in. Basically, the level 80 character is given a 2 level bonus: If the leveling guidelines say the character needs to be leveled at 20, they get a bonus of 2 for a level 80 character. This would allow the completed characters to gain a small advantage when going for map completion.

Second, the character leveling rule could remain as the game is currently designed, but the weapons and armor would not be affected. This would again give the player a small advantage. Both of these options would allow level 80 characters to return to past areas for map for completion without the unending struggle that is created by your current leaving system.

You do not have to give away the shop, but it would be nice not dying 5 times in Queendale after creating a level 80 character, and then having to spend 8 silver regenerating, just to go through one cave. To be honest, I want to go back and really explore the wonderful worlds you have created, but with the current system in place, I am constantly fighting for my life ever minute. It quickly losses it appeal.

In conclusion, I love your game. I want to go and enjoy the fruits of creating a level 80 character, explore the realms, and complete all the achievements. Unfortunately, if I am going to have to play at 110% every minute even in a level 5 area, I do not see any reason to continue. I find life requires me to run at 110% every day, and many days I just want to escape from the overwhelming reality of it all. If your quest was to recreate a realm like reality, and unending challenges that wear the user at every possible turn, then you have created it. I take of my hat to the players that have completed the game, and feel very sad that I will probably not do the same. I want to love your game, but I also want an escape from reality to a place of fun, not unending death and regeneration.

Thanks for your time,
AKA: neko of cica

A level 80 does have advantages in a low level zone such as Queensdale. Not only does he have access to a full build of traits but also to better gear. My main character, at level 80, generally one or two shots most foes when visiting Queensdale and doesnt normally die.

What you will find, if you stick with the game, is that your skill as a player and your character’s build will improve and negate the concern you are facing.

I really hope you continue to play long enough to see the situation change. If you do I believe that you are likely to look back on this thread and situation with a smile.

Good luck.

wall of text of which close to 100% simply sounds like a l2p-issue.
i’ve read some similar topics recently and i don’t even… i try to wrap my had around it but srsly …. whaaaat?
1. my last map completion from 0%->100% took less than a week. i wasn’t even playing much. if you play like 10 minutes a day, well it’s gonna take you some time but around 1/3 of the areas you can finish within half an hour.
2. you already have a great stat-advantage with lvl 80 exotics. those don’t get downscaled that much. except for lvl 80 maps you literally cut through armies of enemies while just running forwards and pressing autoattack. i don’t get how that can be difficult for you. especially the content you are describing could be played blindly by just pressing random buttons with your toes while your hands are tied behind your back.

i sorry for you that it’s so tough for you but from an average point of view 95% of this games content is so stunningly easy that my cat could probably do it if i teach it where to put it’s paws.

-> l2p, it might sound a bit mean but that’s actually basically it.

Ooguchi.3764:

In fact, one of my friend’s, who plays online and occasionally joins our group, works for Arenanet, and also had similar comments. That player refuses to do dungeons because, “They are just too hard, and it makes the game no fun.” I have to admit we tried a dungeon (level 40) and it was crazy kittene of the other players in my group said he was near map completion, but had been playing off and on for two years to get to this point. TWO YEARS? I became perplexed by many similar comments from other online characters.

Two things. One: that Anet employee must not be a frequent PvE player. Yes, there are definitely some difficult dungeon paths, but every single dungeon in the game has at least one path that is incredibly easy.

Two: I have no idea why or how it would take someone two years to do map completion unless they just don’t play all that often (or don’t play PvE all that often). I was done with map completion on my first character within six months, and that was without really even trying. I’ve obtained 100% map completion on five other characters since that time.

I know many people just want to complain, and do not want to pony up solutions. I however would like to suggest some ideas that have floated into my head, which would rekindle my love for your great game. First, once a character reached level 80, the character is made a few levels higher than the area he/she is actively engaged in. Basically, the level 80 character is given a 2 level bonus: If the leveling guidelines say the character needs to be leveled at 20, they get a bonus of 2 for a level 80 character. This would allow the completed characters to gain a small advantage when going for map completion.

Second, the character leveling rule could remain as the game is currently designed, but the weapons and armor would not be affected. This would again give the player a small advantage. Both of these options would allow level 80 characters to return to past areas for map for completion without the unending struggle that is created by your current leaving system.

This is already in place. In a majority of areas, you already are slightly above the minimum level designation for those areas. Plus, even if you’re downleveled to the “same” level as the mobs around you, you still have higher level gear and attributes (your power, precision, toughness, vitality, etc.) and will, thus, be more durable and stronger than said mobs. When I go to Queensdale on one of my level 80s, I’m killing mobs in 1-3 shots, with the exception of veterans and champions. That’s pretty much the norm for a level 80 character.

You do not have to give away the shop, but it would be nice not dying 5 times in Queendale after creating a level 80 character, and then having to spend 8 silver regenerating, just to go through one cave. To be honest, I want to go back and really explore the wonderful worlds you have created, but with the current system in place, I am constantly fighting for my life ever minute. It quickly losses it appeal.

I’m trying to not say this in a rude way, but this sounds like a simple “learn to play” issue. If you’re running through a massive group of mobs without dodging, healing, and even fighting as you go, you’re going to die. Obviously, sometimes things just get out of hand before you can realize it, but if it’s happening so often that you’re having to constantly waypoint then it might be time to rethink how you’re going about it.

Edit: Also, you didn’t say if you actually have gear for your level. To perform at your best (and stay alive more easily), you should have gear within 10 levels of you. Blues, greens, yellows, or oranges (exotics) would work fine. Also, you should make sure you actually have some traits set up.

To OP.

i have 10 lv80. I made a new character recently after the daily overhaul. My new character needs to finish the event daily along with 30+ lv80 players. If i am not a veteran, sometimes i can’t even land a hit so to score the event. The lv80 downlevel is not powerful enough to protect new players already. There is really no reason to give lv80 more advantage in low lv map.

If you keep playing. You will spend much much much more time in lv80 high tier gear than a lv80 mid tier geared toon. I know it is a bit painful at max level and not up to date gear. But you will move on and eventually understand what we are saying.

Couple things, OP:

How’s your gear? You’re a recent level 80, so is all your gear level 80? What quality is it? That can make a big impact.

What profession do you play? Have you unlocked all your traits yet? Do you have a decent grasp on your defensive abilities? Traits can take a while to unlock with the present system, and also make a big impact.

Nothing in Queensdale should be killing you if you get the above two things sorted out. I have a feeling one or both of these things is your problem!

Hi. Where were you having problems in Queensdale? Three hours is reasonable to complete the map in one go ( except skill points now on first characters, I guess). Hopefully without sounding rude, I think something isn’t being done right.

I say clear your mind out a bit and relax into your first 80. Spend a bit of time gathering some nice gear and playing around with whatever traits you have so far. You’re only two weeks old so don’t panic and let it all set in.

Grats on your first 80 by the way.

If you’re finding Queensdale too hard for a level 80 character, how did you manage to level to 80 in the first place?

Congrats on your first 80. Now here’s the most important thing to learn in this game.

Active Defense. No other mmo to my knowledge uses personal active defense as much as gw2 does. Dodges, blinds, Dodges. invulnerability, DODGES, etc.

Key bind dodge to an easy key for you to hit because it will be the most used key you have.

Welcome to the GW2 community and good luck and have fun.

Come back, OP! Come back and talk to us!

zenleto.6179:

Come back, OP! Come back and talk to us!

now that he has vented his anger for the game not having an “press this big red button to win everything instantly”-option there’s nothing for him to do here any more. i doubt he will come back.

zaced.7948:

zenleto.6179:

Come back, OP! Come back and talk to us!

now that he has vented his anger for the game not having an “press this big red button to win everything instantly”-option there’s nothing for him to do here any more. i doubt he will come back.

Yeah I know. I always think this can be a decent topic for discussion though, seeing how other’s play with tips and hints for new people.

I was sort of venting as well.

First of all, this isn’t an MMO where the good stuff comes at max level. This isn’t a destination but a journey MMO.

Second just about everything you can do other than standing around will give you XP. Exploring the map, gathering mats, rezzing fallen players or NPCs all give you XP. Going after critters off the beaten path will give you bonus XP relative to how long since they’ve spawned. Leveling is a lot quicker than in same games and the leveling curve is flat once you are out of the New Player Experience, which is very accelerated. 80-160 hours tops to max level but certain activities can decrease the time required significantly.

The game already allows you to play in lower level areas with no penalty to progression. Yes your stats are lowered but with traits and higher quality armor and weapons you are like a tiny God smiting critters left and right. In low level zones I don’t even slow down while dispatching critters there. I see some low level player over their head and my thief simply runs by and shoot the critter that’s attacking in the face and don’t break stride. So I’m not sure what you are asking for.

OP by leveling as fast as you possibly could, you cheated yourself out of learning how to play the game and learning how to play your profession.

There is no profession in the game that should have any problems at all anywhere in Queensdale. Group events generally do require groups, but Queensdale isn’t that hard, even on a character that doesn’t have elites and traits.

Most people complain this game is too easy. I’m not sure what you’re doing wrong. Perhaps you’re not paying enough attention to dodging when you need to, or you’re just running into huge bunches of mobs without thought to positioning, or your’e not choosing any defensive skills, which every profession has.

But you didn’t learn how to play your profession and now you’re blaming that on the game. This really is a learn to play issue.

proof that the NPE really doesnt help anybody, it only slows how people learn to play the game. smh

Knighthonor.4061:

proof that the NPE really doesnt help anybody, it only slows how people learn to play the game. smh

lol nice try. No matter what he’d have learned the same thing the way he did it.

As others have stated:
1. This solution of yours is already a system that is been in the game since beta.
2. The issue at hand might be about your character not the game, gear, traits, skills, etc.
3. Perhaps you need to read up on your profession and learn the in and outs of the class.

I personally do not have any problem on any profession on any map at any level in this game, I have a level 60 ranger with 0 deaths, granted, the double exp weekend, crafting and boosters. And only having 2 maps completed but no deaths. :P

Please come back take the feedback we’ve given and give it another go! Also map complete usually is not the first thing people do after 80 but I give kudos to you for picking that of all things to do first!

here are some links to get you started on your new journey in Guild Wars 2: being a level 80.

http://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki – Gives you builds for all profession and game types.
http://www.gw2crafts.net/ – Gives you amazing guides for all crafting for normal or fast methods.
http://dulfy.net/category/gw2/class-guides-gw2/ – Gives you guides to nicely written and well developed build and profession guides in full detail.
http://dulfy.net/2014/04/23/event-timer/ – Gives you a timer on world bosses, this can help you gain money without needing to much gear advantage so you can save up on the gear.

Ummm, am I allow to ask what is the OP playing as?

Improper gear combination, traits, and skills can make this game much more unreasonably harder. This game has not been choose anything combination you want for awhile now.

My experience of returning to lower level zones is so much different than the one you described that I had to wonder if you were describing GW2. Since I assume you are, I got to wondering why our experiences are so different. Here’s some thoughts, offered in the spirit of allowing you to enjoy the down-leveled experience. If you can use any of them to better enjoy the game, more power to you. If not, or if you already know all this, then please disregard.

• Gear: I’ve no idea what gear your character is wearing, but my guess is that it is not L80. If you are geared up in L80 Masterwork (green) gear, you should enjoy a significant stat advantage over mobs while down-leveled. If you can afford Rare (yellow) or Exotic (orange) gear, or can get this type of gear over time, but green L80 gear should give you some relief from the experience you describe.
• Stat choices are important. Gear stats serve two purposes in GW2. They determine whether you are building to be primarily a direct damage dealer, with Power as the main damage stat, or condition damage, with Condition Damage as the main damage stat. The other purpose is to determine whether you will be high-damage, high-defense, or somewhere in between. There are 3 stats on L80 gear. The damage ones are Power, Precision, Ferocity and Condition Damage. The defensive ones are Vitality, Toughness, and to some extent Healing Power. Gear with 3 offensive stats is squishy. Having 1 or 2 defensive stats makes for more survivability with the trade-off that you will kill more slowly. Conventional wisdom is that since GW2 offers a lot of active defense options, player stats “should” be offensive. It’s my belief that for open world play, players should find their own comfort level. However, if you do choose survival stats, avoid dungeon groups that ask for “berserker.”
• Traits: The trait system can be accessed via the Hero Panel (H is the default key). The traits are the second option on the left. If you have not already spent your trait points, then you should do so. Even if you did not manage to unlock any of the actual traits, the stat points will help, as will the minor traits that are free.
• Active Gameplay: Movement, positioning, and use of skills and active defense mechanisms make for a better combat experience. If you are used to more traditional, stand-and-cast MMO’s, and are trying to face-tank mobs (particularly groups of mobs), that might explain your experience. I’ll attach a video that offers some insights into movement and positioning in GW2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUKWeaXZeOY It’s an old video, but I’ve seen nothing better for transitioning for less active games to GW2.

If you don’t want to move, then your only real option is to gear up using defensive stats and try to find a bunker build for your chosen profession. (Google GW2 Bunker Build). A bunker is a PvP build designed to be highly resilient in Conquest for holding points against players. Using such a build in down-leveled PvE will mean low kill speed, but should allow for some face-tanking. The other option would be to pick a glass build and gear, and just kill everything fast — but that’s an option for someone who is willing to use those active movement and defense options.

Good luck!

Vayne.8563:

Knighthonor.4061:

proof that the NPE really doesnt help anybody, it only slows how people learn to play the game. smh

lol nice try. No matter what he’d have learned the same thing the way he did it.

there is no nice try.
The OP while playing the NPE never learned anything of value from the new system.

it only slows how people learn to play the game.

Pre NPE players had access to all skills and traits, so they could create a build that they learned to play with from early levels all the way to max level.

Now with the NPE players slowly build up their character and in the process learn each new element slowly and never really learn how to sync all of them together for a single build.

NPE=Failure.

Knighthonor.4061:

Vayne.8563:

Knighthonor.4061:

proof that the NPE really doesnt help anybody, it only slows how people learn to play the game. smh

lol nice try. No matter what he’d have learned the same thing the way he did it.

there is no nice try.
The OP while playing the NPE never learned anything of value from the new system.

it only slows how people learn to play the game.

Pre NPE players had access to all skills and traits, so they could create a build that they learned to play with from early levels all the way to max level.

Now with the NPE players slowly build up their character and in the process learn each new element slowly and never really learn how to sync all of them together for a single build.

NPE=Failure.

Wrong. The OP didn’t learn anything from the new system and wouldn’t have learned anything from the old one. He rushed to 80 without paying attention. Nothing was going to teach the OP.

The NPE wasn’t designed so that every single person in the entire world who ignores everything is going to learn. It was designed for a specific segment of the population. Saying it didn’t help the OP, so it didn’t help anyone is wrong, considering we have seen posts by people who claim they came back to the game and found it easier to get into.

It really is that simple.

Knighthonor.4061:

Vayne.8563:

Knighthonor.4061:

proof that the NPE really doesnt help anybody, it only slows how people learn to play the game. smh

lol nice try. No matter what he’d have learned the same thing the way he did it.

there is no nice try.
The OP while playing the NPE never learned anything of value from the new system.

it only slows how people learn to play the game.

Pre NPE players had access to all skills and traits, so they could create a build that they learned to play with from early levels all the way to max level.

Now with the NPE players slowly build up their character and in the process learn each new element slowly and never really learn how to sync all of them together for a single build.

NPE=Failure.

There are players who didn’t do any of this before. They might have access to everything easier but they didn’t do anything with them. Its one of the excuses for the changes. I don’t think the NPE has had anything, or very much, to do with the OP’s problems.

Knighthonor.4061:

Vayne.8563:

Knighthonor.4061:

proof that the NPE really doesnt help anybody, it only slows how people learn to play the game. smh

lol nice try. No matter what he’d have learned the same thing the way he did it.

there is no nice try.
The OP while playing the NPE never learned anything of value from the new system.

it only slows how people learn to play the game.

Pre NPE players had access to all skills and traits, so they could create a build that they learned to play with from early levels all the way to max level.

Now with the NPE players slowly build up their character and in the process learn each new element slowly and never really learn how to sync all of them together for a single build.

NPE=Failure.

Traits was not part of the NPE. Lack of traits is not part of any failure or success of the NPE. Traits was done in April 2014’s feature patch. NPE was done in September 2014’s feature patch.

If you’re going to gripe about something, at least get the facts straight so ANet takes your post seriously. Otherwise they may just brush you off as someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about.

Seera.5916:

Knighthonor.4061:

Vayne.8563:

Knighthonor.4061:

proof that the NPE really doesnt help anybody, it only slows how people learn to play the game. smh

lol nice try. No matter what he’d have learned the same thing the way he did it.

there is no nice try.
The OP while playing the NPE never learned anything of value from the new system.

it only slows how people learn to play the game.

Pre NPE players had access to all skills and traits, so they could create a build that they learned to play with from early levels all the way to max level.

Now with the NPE players slowly build up their character and in the process learn each new element slowly and never really learn how to sync all of them together for a single build.

NPE=Failure.

Traits was not part of the NPE. Lack of traits is not part of any failure or success of the NPE. Traits was done in April 2014’s feature patch. NPE was done in September 2014’s feature patch.

If you’re going to gripe about something, at least get the facts straight so ANet takes your post seriously. Otherwise they may just brush you off as someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about.

no I doubt that since even Anet admitted the NPE was a failure and scrapping this system in HoT.

And Traits were also apart of the NPE. the NPE wasnt just a one patch move. it was a move planned for a while to get the asian population popping in GW2 and that failed as well.

Knighthonor.4061:

Seera.5916:

Knighthonor.4061:

Vayne.8563:

Knighthonor.4061:

proof that the NPE really doesnt help anybody, it only slows how people learn to play the game. smh

lol nice try. No matter what he’d have learned the same thing the way he did it.

there is no nice try.
The OP while playing the NPE never learned anything of value from the new system.

it only slows how people learn to play the game.

Pre NPE players had access to all skills and traits, so they could create a build that they learned to play with from early levels all the way to max level.

Now with the NPE players slowly build up their character and in the process learn each new element slowly and never really learn how to sync all of them together for a single build.

NPE=Failure.

Traits was not part of the NPE. Lack of traits is not part of any failure or success of the NPE. Traits was done in April 2014’s feature patch. NPE was done in September 2014’s feature patch.

If you’re going to gripe about something, at least get the facts straight so ANet takes your post seriously. Otherwise they may just brush you off as someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about.

no I doubt that since even Anet admitted the NPE was a failure and scrapping this system in HoT.

And Traits were also apart of the NPE. the NPE wasnt just a one patch move. it was a move planned for a while to get the asian population popping in GW2 and that failed as well.

Link to where Anet admitted the NPE was a failure? Because I think you’re inventing that.

Anet said there would be trait changes, nothing more. As to the trait changes being part of the NPE, do you have a link for that?

Because I don’t believe it was part of the same system, I’ve seen no real evidence of it either.

Can you back up any of what you’re saying here?

I have no idea what the OP is complaining about.

I have the feeling the OP’s friends didn’t bother to explain to him what makes GW2 different from other games, as he clearly came into this with some wrong expectations. In addition, it doesn’t sound like they explained anything to him along the way ..and maybe he didn’t bother to ask many questions either, while being in such a hurry to level.

I also have to share the sentiment about wondering how it is he even made it to 80 at all. Did he spend a lot of IRL money or get donations from friends so he could afford to just craft all the way up? Did he just grind out EotM? How could he have possibly, actually, played through the game for all 80 levels, presumably including Orr, ..and yet Queensdale kicks his kitten? This simply doesn’t add up.

I think he’s gotten some good advice here and wish he’d respond and take it to heart. I’m sure people here would even be glad to play with him in-game and help get him sorted (since it seems his friends didn’t). But I suspect he will just go back to WoW or whatever other game apparently fits into his box of expectations.

Ooguchi, do you know why the designers made a level-down system for the game? So that even low level zones like Queensdale were a challenge to level 80s like you. I played WoW with a friend briefly, as part of the “free until level 20” deal. After we finally figured out how to talk to each other, he rode his eighty-something character to my starting zone, partied with me, and then proceeded to roflstomp every creature in my way. I wasn’t having fun. I didn’t feel I was doing anything. I felt like a VIP, protected behind an armed bodyguard, Sure, maybe some people like yourself enjoy the run to level 999, but I wanted to learn how my class worked before I got to the tough guys.

Here, the down-leveling mostly fixes that. If your level 80 buddy comes down and parties up with you, he won’t suck up all your XP (so long as you try to fight), he won’t totally pwn that level 10 mob, and you both can still have a lot of fun in the area.

So if that was what you were expecting, to just cleave through the low level content because you’re bigger than everyone, throw that away. Welcome to Guild Wars 2, where we do things differently.

Ooguchi.3764:

To whom it may concern,

I recently was asked by friends to join the game Guild Wars 2. I have found the graphics to be both visually stunning, and wonderfully lifelike. Gameplay is smooth and generally flawless. There are many special drops, intense action events, and great special areas of interest. I find myself loving the game, and really wanting to spend much of my free time playing. Unfortunately, there is one aspect of the game that deters from my love of its design. The self-leveling aspect, that levels characters in each realm.

the problem is, learning and understanding the game/systems wasnt required to get to 80.
some things you may not know;
1)your gear matters, when you get downleveled, you gear is down leveled, to have an advantage, use good gear for a level 80
2)your traits matter, it gives you extra stats AND special abilities
3)the game probably didnt teach you how to use your powers to their fullest, do you use combo feilds? do you change your skills around? did you unlock traits? do you understand what the various boons available to you do? do you understand when to use your conditions on your enemies?

it seems hard, but its actually not, once you combine these things it will come naturally and easy, and most things in the open world will probably require 50% of your attention at best.

Even if you’re max level you’ll always be scaled to your map event’s level + 2 levels, up to max lvl 80. this is done to make you do content the normal way instead of standing there and seeing all enemies melt each time you press a button.

So you are never really OP (ehmmm, you’ll oneshot stuff till lvl10-15 when running zerk meta though, also not helping friends in the process… Only way to help friends level is to follow them and kill whatever they tag….. and aid in buffing and boosts)

This is done purposely to avoid dmg figures like you get on critters (the lvl 1 beasts in maps, which tend to go to 500k dmg in frostgorge wen buffed, stacked and fed…)

I smell…

your first suggestion is kinda already in the game.

if you go to queensdale as a lvl 80 you will be lvl 11ish when there are monsters around you that are lvl 10ish

Your lvl 80 exotic gear also doesnt suffer when you go back to a lower level zone.
Try buying white lvl 80 gear from the npc and run around in queensdale and compare it to your full exotic lvl 80 zerker equipment….

The whole downscaling system is made so you DONT blaze trough lower content 1 shoting EVERYTHING in your path. Ending any sort of event that you see with 1 meteor shower for the lower leveled players..

Instead why dont you try a different kind of build?
Maybe play in a party with another friend,guildie or just people around you?

As for dungeons they are completely different than any other pve content in the game.
They work how they work and you can only ask around for a build that works best for your class in that specific dungeon and form a party thats prepared.

And once you go trough all of the dungeons a bunch of times its just going to be a easy routine (if you have others around you that know what they are doing)

Ooguchi.3764:

OP

No please. The low level areas are cool because the foes don’t die just by looking at them like in other mmos. And still, the really low level zones are dumbed down enough for a fully geared lvl80. I mean, my necro kills things with just two swings of her scepter, and thats in condition spec…

dungeons are indeed more difficult than open content and you have to step up to the challenge. most people however clear dungeons at an amazing speed. It’s not so difficult once you know what to do, both with your character and the dungeon.

this game doesn’t present too much difficulty. Just varying degrees of it. You can and will get better at it if you stick around.

Enjoy!

Dunno about you but on my level 80’s in a mix of rare/exotics I can 3 shot most mobs. My ascended engi can 1-2shot most things in low level zones.

this is what i would do if i were a new player :

1. level up as fast as possible to lvl 50 by doing events, personal story, , eotm etc.
2. once reach level 50, start doing exploration and the map completion.

really you don’t have to be 80 to have fun in this game. some of the nice event chains happen at low levels. of course you couldn’t participate in dungeons as much but you can do that once you reach 80.

Maybe OP is just a troll. The fact that he still hasn’t responded to anything suggests that this was trollbait.

It’s easy for veterans to shrug off a complaints and say “L2P”. Why, because we can’t be mind wiped and forget all that we already know. Just do a simple Key Farm without “our” gear and use the white crud everyone starts with. The game is a much different experience then.

To the OP, as much as I’m defending your position, this does sound like a knowledge issue. Lucky for you, there are SO many players willing to help you on this. Youtube alone has hours of video tutorials on the combats systems and how to do certain content.

zaced.7948:

wall of text of which close to 100% simply sounds like a l2p-issue.

“Because I do not understand or can play this game, it must be changed. There is nothing wrong with me.”

Knighthonor.4061:

Vayne.8563:

Knighthonor.4061:

proof that the NPE really doesnt help anybody, it only slows how people learn to play the game. smh

lol nice try. No matter what he’d have learned the same thing the way he did it.

there is no nice try.
The OP while playing the NPE never learned anything of value from the new system.

it only slows how people learn to play the game.

Pre NPE players had access to all skills and traits, so they could create a build that they learned to play with from early levels all the way to max level.

Now with the NPE players slowly build up their character and in the process learn each new element slowly and never really learn how to sync all of them together for a single build.

NPE=Failure.

So you honestly believe that the NPE simply existing somehow gets players to absorb information?

So if someone, like OP, decided to level “as fast as possible” and just clicked through every tooltip without reading it, didn’t follow any of the suggested content for a new player, that somehow it is a failure on the NPE?

For what you’re saying to make sense, you would have to legitimately believe that he would have learned more somehow in the old system, than with NPE. And if you believe that, then you’re clearly just stirring up trouble to troll, because prior to NPE he would have done the exact same thing and been in the exact same boat, but with less random items from the level up rewards to show for it….

DeWolfe.2174:

It’s easy for veterans to shrug off a complaints and say “L2P”. Why, because we can’t be mind wiped and forget all that we already know. Just do a simple Key Farm without “our” gear and use the white crud everyone starts with. The game is a much different experience then.

I’ve leveled several alts recently, some after the April changes, too. It’s still easy as pie.

You are amazingly confusing, what exactly is your issue? One can only guess.
- exploration past 80: downleveled characters are already a lot more powerful than at level characters for a map. Beside group events, PVE is tremendously easy in this regard. Also, why would you want to stomp through the low level maps anyway? This is content you will miss having at some later point in your game career.
- dungeons: Yes, they seem to be hard at the beginning. And why shouldn´t they be? You as a self proclaimed teacher should really know about the incentives of challenge and self-improvement.

So, to summarize your wall of text, does it indeed basically just say “game´s too hard!”? In that case, no, it is by far the easiest game of its genre I have ever come across – mindnumbingly easy in fact. l2p

Algreg.3629:

You are amazingly confusing, what exactly is your issue? One can only guess.
- exploration past 80: downleveled characters are already a lot more powerful than at level characters for a map. Beside group events, PVE is tremendously easy in this regard. Also, why would you want to stomp through the low level maps anyway? This is content you will miss having at some later point in your game career.
- dungeons: Yes, they seem to be hard at the beginning. And why shouldn´t they be? You as a self proclaimed teacher should really know about the incentives of challenge and self-improvement.

So, to summarize your wall of text, does it indeed basically just say “game´s too hard!”? In that case, no, it is by far the easiest game of its genre I have ever come across – mindnumbingly easy in fact. l2p

i think the thing you guys are forgeting is nmost of that poer comes from better gear, and better traits.
With the new trait system, a new level 80 may have little to no concept of their value, and no access to traits that actually help them much. As for gear, they may not have exotics, or even full greens/rares

phys.7689:

Algreg.3629:

You are amazingly confusing, what exactly is your issue? One can only guess.
- exploration past 80: downleveled characters are already a lot more powerful than at level characters for a map. Beside group events, PVE is tremendously easy in this regard. Also, why would you want to stomp through the low level maps anyway? This is content you will miss having at some later point in your game career.
- dungeons: Yes, they seem to be hard at the beginning. And why shouldn´t they be? You as a self proclaimed teacher should really know about the incentives of challenge and self-improvement.

So, to summarize your wall of text, does it indeed basically just say “game´s too hard!”? In that case, no, it is by far the easiest game of its genre I have ever come across – mindnumbingly easy in fact. l2p

i think the thing you guys are forgeting is nmost of that poer comes from better gear, and better traits.
With the new trait system, a new level 80 may have little to no concept of their value, and no access to traits that actually help them much. As for gear, they may not have exotics, or even full greens/rares

hey, i did not forget to ask for his current set up. I am wondering because I might as well try it to see if it is difficult to kill some mobs. I will probably assume that it is

phys.7689:

i think the thing you guys are forgeting is nmost of that poer comes from better gear, and better traits.
With the new trait system, a new level 80 may have little to no concept of their value, and no access to traits that actually help them much. As for gear, they may not have exotics, or even full greens/rares

You can buy a complete armor+weapons+trinkets rare level 80 on the TP for around 4-5 gold.

Anyway, the best is to find a nice guild to help you through all these early step, this can make all the difference. I started the game at launch with my friends so we had to discover the game by ourselves like everybody else at that time. We couldn’t complete some dungeon, we figure out CM by ourself and we explained it to random ppl. Other random ppl figure out other dungeon and explained it to us. We try different build, wasting gold and tokens on different build that weren’t great. But now, with a nice guild you can skip through all that hard job of figuring stuff out.

I’m sorry. GW2 is one of the most casual-friendly games around, and has one of the lowest skill requirements in PvE. If completing Queensdale is “too hard”… then… there’s simply nothing anyone can say.

if you are wearing the best dps gear. All mobs die in less them 2 second. I’m not sure how hard queensdale is.

I’ve been wearing those exotic craftable handcraftable gear on low level, and monster die in 2 second even if I’m not lvl80.

and I’ve seen people completing map completion in less than 30 hours. So I don’t think it actually take that long.

Ooguchi.3764:

You do not have to give away the shop, but it would be nice not dying 5 times in Queendale after creating a level 80 character, and then having to spend 8 silver regenerating, just to go through one cave. To be honest, I want to go back and really explore the wonderful worlds you have created, but with the current system in place, I am constantly fighting for my life ever minute. It quickly losses it appeal.

Eh…
Honestly, a very common criticism right now is exactly that downleveled level80s are too strong, a result of gear not downscaling properly.
So basically, what you’re asking for is already implemented.

And it is quite obvious. Make a new character, go to an area which would downlevel a level 80 to 5, level the new char to 5, and compare them. The max-level char is significantly stronger, a result of traits, abilities, ability slots and gear.

If anything I’d want the downleveling to be more severe, as it’s currently not really doing all that much. It’s ok for small differences mid-leveling (lvl60 → lvl55 or so), but any big differences or scaling from lvl80s and you can just slice through the lower content like a hot knife through butter.

I’m honestly not sure how you are “fighting for your life” in lower level zones, sorry. Even my condition mesmer can just clear out groups of 5-6 veterans without having to ever worry about my own health in a lowbie zone, due to just how much stronger I am than an actual low-level character, and the content being balanced for them.

Oh dear god, no no no and no please.

The down leveled character is way too strong even now and should be down scaled even more, to make it challenging going against normal opponents. Most veterans and some champions can easily be soloed, even by rookie players if they do more than spam 1 2 3 4 5.

By the time you get to level 80 you should have enough karma or gold to get decent rare (yellow) or exotic (orange) gear. Of course if you still use level 65 blue’s on your level 80 character, you will be having a hard time in any zone. Your gear should always be as close to your current level as possible.

About dungeons, they really are easy (most of them at least) if you stop and think what is happening. Again, spamming 1 2 3 4 5 will not work in this game. You must move and dodge and keep your abilities ready to be used when you need them.
ie. If your group puts a full stack (25) of Vulnerability on boss, it makes no sense for you to try to spam more vulnerability on him, until some of the previous stack has dissipated.
Ask and learn about other classes and especially read about your own abilities and skills. It makes you a better player when you can anticipate what abilities others can and will use.

And again, pleas Anet do not make the same mistake every other MMO has done (and thus lost their customers) and make the game too easy and fast leveling. It is very fast all ready and about being easy? If you know your class, it is easy.

Thaddeus.4891:

phys.7689:

i think the thing you guys are forgeting is nmost of that poer comes from better gear, and better traits.
With the new trait system, a new level 80 may have little to no concept of their value, and no access to traits that actually help them much. As for gear, they may not have exotics, or even full greens/rares

You can buy a complete armor+weapons+trinkets rare level 80 on the TP for around 4-5 gold.

Anyway, the best is to find a nice guild to help you through all these early step, this can make all the difference. I started the game at launch with my friends so we had to discover the game by ourselves like everybody else at that time. We couldn’t complete some dungeon, we figure out CM by ourself and we explained it to random ppl. Other random ppl figure out other dungeon and explained it to us. We try different build, wasting gold and tokens on different build that weren’t great. But now, with a nice guild you can skip through all that hard job of figuring stuff out.

did you not get the part where the guy said he was new? Why would he assume he needs better gear to go back and be strong in a newer area?
His concept was, ok i just hit 80, let me go back and do the easier stuff, only to find out it wasnt any easier, and for some level ranges and your gear choices, may actually be harder.

Now im not saying it should or shouldnt be easier, im trying basically saying, yes if you want easier fights, even in lowbie areas, you need better gear, and you may want to look at what you have trait points in, and what your actual traits are. Which is counter intuitive for many people, Why would some one think that a peice of level 78 gear is actually worse than a piece of level 10 gear? and yet sometimes that is the case.

discussing this makes me also realize the gear system, in a game with worldwide downscaling, they probably shouldnt have designed it the way they did. Your gear is lying to you more often than it is telling you the truth.

gear should probably have been about stat spread and rarity only.
IE
Cleric armor blue = 20% increase in base toughness 15%base healing 15% base vitality
Cleric armor green=23% increase toughness 17% healing 17% vitality.

then there could have been a lot less junk and useless armor drops, and you would understand your gear is still average if your in a newbie zone with blue gear.

of course then there would be a lot less monster drops, which i am honestly very fine with.

“That player refuses to do dungeons because, “They are just too hard, and it makes the game no fun.””

what? I hope that they don’t nerf it like WoW did. Only hard dungeons that I found is AC P2 (the NPC behavior is frustrating), TA Aetherblade path and Arah. That’s all. CoF P1 for example you don’t even need humans to go with you. Monkeys can do it. We did AC story with completely new players in the guild and their reaction was “that’s it?”. We even took level 20s to fractals (end game content). The only way to make the game even easier is to remove mob and boss mechanics. In which point dungeons would be no fun.