Guild Wars 2

krookie.6378:

Lalabu.2097:

Sky.9347:

Lalabu.2097:

Has it been reminded that ArenaNet didn’t actually write either article? Today’s news was a sneak-peek provided by other companies…

If it was some sort of easily fixed misunderstanding, why are we on page 33 waiting for a blog post?

Because ArenaNet is not to be held responsible for something they did not write. Also all this turmoil happened the same day the news was released. We might get some news before the 15th, but having to wait until the new build is actually released is reasonable too!

So then why are they endorsing it if it’s wrong? You would think that if the information was wrong, ANet would be the first to correct it. But they are suspiciously quiet…

The articles don’t explicitly state a gear grind is being introduced. I am going to buy myself a cake if the Ascended gear’s “extra” stats are unrelated to the existing stats & only affect some new PvE mechanics!! Or what if Ascended is the only new tier they intend on adding ever. People are stomping and shouting before they know of any solid, written by ArenaNet facts.

This game doesn’t have a monthly fee. Gear treadmills will cost AN money because players will grind for their gear. Using up server bandwidth and not ever spending any real money in the cash shop.

fixit.7189:

I like to have news, it’s great. But when I read the ‘news’ and see that a gear treadmill is being introduced in a game that the devs proudly, if not loudly claimed they would not have in their ‘Manifesto’; I get a bit upset and feel betrayed.

This basically. It feels like a betrayal. I’m very disappointed in you Anet if this is true. It goes against everything you’ve been about. Maybe this all sounds dramatic, but when one of your main points is this lack of a gear treadmill and then you turn around and put one in…..well, it stings. GW2 was something different from your average mmo. The lack of the gear treadmill was a breath of fresh air.

And bringing up the fact that they already have our money and there is no sub so we should just “shut up”….that’s nice, except you’ll lose people when your next expansion comes out if you piss them off too much. Not to mention people can boycott buying from the gem shop. I regularly buy gems. Now I am not so certain….

But I suppose we should wait and hear an official response. It could be this article mucked things up.

gaming news outlets don’t just make up stuff. they aren’t fox news or the daily mail.

someone at anet told 3 different outlets, in two different languages, the same thing.

and that is why we are frustrated.

once is happenstance. twice is coincedence. thrice is a phenomenon.

and we are all still waiting for that anet bolog post that will clarify things.

what we can say for sure right now is, this has been an unmitigated disaster for the community team at anet.

I wish they did not implement the Ascended gear at all. This would be the first time I would disapprove of anything they have done so far. It would make crafting for armors worthless if it is only obtained through dungeon runs and it would disrupt balance in WvW. Most people would grind for the armor and the population of WvW would plummet.

Please do not cause this divide.

I know we don’t have all the information yet, but it certainly looks like this is a complete 180 on ANet’s vision for the endgame of Guild Wars 2. Disappointing.

It just seems like they caved to all those people from other MMOs who wanted gear treadmills, despite telling us they wouldn’t exist for the past 5 years.

Phy.2913:

Mr Crazy Moose.5760:

Phy.2913:

Mr Crazy Moose.5760:

This game needs gearscore so we can target and kick out people who don’t have ascended gear.

They’d just be dragging the party/guild/world down.

And then we’ll need a dps meter, and then Anet will have to give us proper trinity specs.

Yes! Combined with the treadmill grind, we’ll have ourselves a proper MMO!

YES! Screw innovation, we want the same stale games we’ve played for years.

Lawl, so true. I can’t stand it when people beg to make new games the same as all the rest…then they’ll be the first to complain about the game not being innovative.

33 pages of QQ and not even 24 hours.

Cmon, ANET truly wont create a gear treadmill, will they?

Uh this game has no sub but we still pay money. I have bought enough gems in the past few months that summed up would equal about 6 months of sub fees in other MMOs. It’s not like this is really a totally free to play MMO and they are not getting money at all when infact they are via cash shop.

So I won’t buy that arguement that since there is no subs we should shut up arguement.

Like to see some finacial statements on how much money they have made off gems so far.

Willing to bet it is not pocket change.

On topic: changing their stance a few months after release is a bit worrying, to say the least.

Didn’t Martin Kerstein say there would be a blog post on this today? What happened to that?

Lopez.7369:

Didn’t Martin Kerstein say there would be a blog post on this today? What happened to that?

i’d expect it before midnight pacific time.

so within the next four hours. when it’s the 13th for much of the rest of the world.

SLuG.3085:

For what it’s worth, I think bcbully is just here to cause drama and doesn’t actually give a kitten about this game at all, so don’t take him too seriously. If you look at his posts on mmorpg.com and compare them to the posts here, I think his main goal is to cause trouble for this game. For instance, look at some of his posts in this thread http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/369231/page/1

Reading a few posts there made me mad.

Why are all these people who think gear treadmills are the be all end all of MMOs even buying GW2 in the first place? Are they stupid? Can’t they read the stuff that was being said about the game?

Its these kind of people that poison game communities and end up destroying MMOs and with still no blog post to ‘clear this up’ it is looking more and more likely that Anet caved into their demands. GW1 lasted 7 years, GW2 won’t even last 7 months at this rate.

I know that in 33 pages whatever i’m going to say has been said already, i just wanted to add myself to the list.

“Ascended items will also feature a new Infusion slot that will make players even more powerful so that they can tackle new challenges that ArenaNet plans to throw at them as they continue to expand on the dungeon over the coming months and years.”

This is the wording that mmorpg.com uses. THIS is what scares me. A new slot so that we can tackle new challenges? That sounds like a gear gate. That sounds like making a dungeon where you NEED the infusion slots to “tackle the new challenges”.

THAT is the very reason why I play this game. To avoid games that use those mechanics. While I recognize that is mmorpg.com’s own wording..if that is the path that Arenanet is going on the very first patch of the game, I won’t be apart of it.

dirtyklingon.2918:

Lopez.7369:

Didn’t Martin Kerstein say there would be a blog post on this today? What happened to that?

i’d expect it before midnight pacific time.

so within the next four hours. when it’s the 13th for much of the rest of the world.

I didn’t think they work that late. I guess it has to go through Europe’s editorial team too.

Lopez.7369:

Didn’t Martin Kerstein say there would be a blog post on this today? What happened to that?

I dunno but anet also said there would be no vertical gear progression.

hopefully they’ll get that blog post out in the next 3 hours 20 minutes, and they also weren’t lying about the gear thing either. hopefully.

if not, whatever. one more MMO i’ve quit.

i mean, i enjoy the PvE in this game — true story. i hate pve, but it’s fun enough here because it’s optional, because at the end of the run i walk away with the fun that i had rather than “gosh that’s 1/3 of the way to 1 item of the 12 i’ll need to collect..”
but throw in some gear that’s better than the best stuff now, and i know that in a few months.. the same thing will happen. and then again. and again. and eventually the game is nothing but doing things so you can go get the newest bestest set of gear so you’re on a level for a few months until it happens again.

nah. that’s garbage.

surely there will be a blog post soon.

Lopez.7369:

dirtyklingon.2918:

Lopez.7369:

Didn’t Martin Kerstein say there would be a blog post on this today? What happened to that?

i’d expect it before midnight pacific time.

so within the next four hours. when it’s the 13th for much of the rest of the world.

I didn’t think they work that late. I guess it has to go through Europe’s editorial team too.

i’m just sayign what they said the last time they said “today” about something. except a lot more polite and less caps. but a little more cyncism.

Lopez – they said there would be a blog post on this 9 hours ago, I am guessing that we will likely see one tomorrow.

Don’t listen to the fan websites, they are just posting what was put out in the press statement, which was one line on this.

“New gear to acquire, ranging from additional weapons skins to item enhancements to an additional tier of items between Exotic and Legendary.”

I think what they are saying is this new armour will be the only armour to be upgraded with these new infusion upgrades, that’s what I am reading anyway… I am still against this.

I love the fact I can reach 80 and gear up and never need to worry about gear again, now I can just have fun. That’s what I want from GW2, I have enough other games to play if I want to grind.

MadelineMattyAngel.5403:

Lopez – they said there would be a blog post on this 9 hours ago, I am guessing that we will likely see one tomorrow.

Don’t listen to the fan websites, they are just posting what was put out in the press statement, which was one line on this.

“New gear to acquire, ranging from additional weapons skins to item enhancements to an additional tier of items between Exotic and Legendary.”

I think what they are saying is this new armour will be the only armour to be upgraded with these new infusion upgrades, that’s what I am reading anyway… I am still against this.

I love the fact I can reach 80 and gear up and never need to worry about gear again, now I can just have fun. That’s what I want from GW2, I have enough other games to play if I want to grind.

link to press release?

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/11/12/guild-wars-2s-lost-shores

One article and where I actually heard about this first when I came back home today then I came here to see what’s up. It was quite a shock.

Sadly, no blog as of yet for more clarity.

Even though there are a lot of people are raging and this thread is more or less crazy, it’s kinda nice to see how many support and stand by Anet’s original visions and manifesto. Vocal minority or not. : )

chasingfuries.9635:

on a somewhat unrelated note, what i hope is that they change wvw to put everyone on equal footing, rather than letting it be a place for the geared to stomp ungeared/lowbies. if this change was added then i dont see why there’d be any problem at all

I would love it if they did this.

fixit.7189:

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/11/12/guild-wars-2s-lost-shores

One article and where I actually heard about this first when I came back home today then I came here to see what’s up. It was quite a shock.

Sadly, no blog as of yet for more clarity.

What gives me hope is that the article does read like it was written by someone who doesn’t play the game.

sigh

I know I should wait and see until I give an opinion, but I’m worried and disappointed. I never liked the gear treadmill which is a reason why I don’t play a lot of traditional MMOs and enjoy GW1/GW2 style. Instead of increasing stats why not just add some flavor to the items? For example: Legendary weapons should have a unique twist to the weapon skills (no new skill sets and without becoming more powerful).

Tinfoil Hat
My fears of Nexon making the decisions for this game is becoming stronger and stronger.

Webba.3071:

What gives me hope is that the article does read like it was written by someone who doesn’t play the game.

Say what you will but Charles Onyet is an avid MMO fan and I respect his articles/reviews; he has never lead me wrong. Rest of the staff is a bit flakey and seems to be mostly only console fanboys though….but not Charles.

They gave GW2 a really good review, btw, so they are not just haters who have never even played it.

Anyways, having said that: just posting in response where I heard about this whole fiasco. It wasn’t here, that’s for sure.

New Ascended Gear & Infusions

Introducing Ascended items, artifacts of great power that can be improved by a special new type of upgrade called Infusions, which can be found in dungeons. Look for more information about Ascended gear soon!

Anyone else see how their main Lost Shores feature page seemed to be recently changed to the above? No longer says anything about the gear being better or above Exotics.

You guys know none of the details about Ascended Gear but make thousands of assumptions and rage comments over one vague excerpt from an article. What is this? Ascended Armor 2012?

McSlappy.1372:

New Ascended Gear & Infusions

Introducing Ascended items, artifacts of great power that can be improved by a special new type of upgrade called Infusions, which can be found in dungeons. Look for more information about Ascended gear soon!

Anyone else see how their main Lost Shores feature page seemed to be recently changed to the above? No longer says anything about the gear being better or above Exotics.

I don’t remember it ever saying it was better than exotics. That info came from the news outlets.

I said it earlier in this thread but I’ll say it again. This is about money. This game has lost a TON of people since release. It had strong sales at launch but a majority of those people left the game when they realized there was no gear treadmill and or raiding.

The fact of the matter is there’s more of them than there are of you. Them being the people that want raids like have been in the other MMO’s that have come out in the past 15 years. Most of the MMO community likes to have some form of power to chase. Those of you that say this is a symptom of WoW are wrong. MMO’s since they first began have always been about the carrot on a stick.

Reality is you can all threaten to leave and ArenaNet knows that if you really did like the game them adding pseudo raids isn’t going to make you leave if you really were enjoying the game. Even if some of you do leave and “quit”, the amount of people they gain by adding a gear treadmill will more than make up for those of you that do leave.

It’s all about money people. Every other MMO has had raiding and some kind of a gear treadmill. ArenaNet has realized that if they want to make money they need to offer what the masses want.

Looks like the blog is out.

And, in all likelihood, so am I. It’s just an additional tier past Exotics.

fixit.7189:

Webba.3071:

What gives me hope is that the article does read like it was written by someone who doesn’t play the game.

Say what you will but Charles Onyet is an avid MMO fan and I respect his articles/reviews; he has never lead me wrong. Rest of the staff is a bit flakey and seems to be mostly only console fanboys though….but not Charles.

They gave GW2 a really good review, btw, so they are not just haters who have never even played it.

Anyways, having said that: just posting in response where I heard about this whole fiasco. It wasn’t here, that’s for sure.

Not having a go at them mate, and I didn’t say they haven’t played it, just that the article read like a professional who had done some research, not like someone who was intimately familiar with the game from their own experience. Nothing wrong with that and, like I said, it gives me hope.

Blog:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en-gb/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

See ya Anet.

So it is true, gear grind is now in and these new items are far better than exotics especially with infusion slots.

Time to reword the manifesto, ANet.

" By adding challenging new combat mechanics to end-game content and ways to mitigate those mechanics through gear progression for high-end players, we can add personal progression without making the game feel like an endless treadmill of gear that is just out of your reach. Original Guild Wars fans may recognize that we took a familiar approach to our new progression. The first end game mechanic we will introduce is Agony, which will be encountered in the Fractals of the Mists dungeon, and is mitigated by Infusions."

Are you freaking serious? That is a gear gate. You have a condition/effect that requires certain armor to fight against it. That is EXACTLY why I never played WoW past the initial release, and is likely the reason I won’t be purchasing any future expansions from GW2.

They seriously lost me as a long term customer from that decision.

EDIT: Reading to the end of the blog I am completely flabbergasted. This is the EXACT opposite of what I thought Arenanet was about. This is the exact kind of mechanic that ruined gear-grind MMO’s for me. Designing a dungeon with a mechanic that requires a type of item.

From the sound of her “enthusiasm” in the blog, it seems like this is only the beginning. I don’t want to care about being “Decked out in full Ascended armor with infusions”. THat’s not why I play this game. I play it for WvW and if this gear-grind is a trend then it will most definitely have a negative impact on WvW, and that is when I’ll be gone.

Crater.1625:

Looks like the blog is out.

And, in all likelihood, so am I. It’s just an additional tier past Exotics.

Hmm, I’d say it depends on what Infusions do (as in, do they give stats, or are they completely related to the Agony mechanic). If not, them additional stats look to be making up for the lack of Rune / Jewel slot.

Crater.1625:

Looks like the blog is out.

And, in all likelihood, so am I. It’s just an additional tier past Exotics.

You and me both.

Crater.1625:

Looks like the blog is out.

And, in all likelihood, so am I. It’s just an additional tier past Exotics.

Hooray for progression! I may come back. Now lets get some WvW progression and we will have a winner on our hands! GJ Anet!

Yep it’s a gear treadmill, it can be worded any way they like but it is a gear treadmill.

Those Ascended base stats are clearly higher than the exotic base stats and upgrade combined.

I’m more concerned now about exactly how the Infusion will work. If it works like the one from first GW, then I think I’ll manage. Well, hope they should make at least way to painlessly infuse dungeon armors – otherwise I’ll feel really, really stupid about farming my Svanir armor…

(and still, disappointed very much in you, ANet)

Brace yourselves for the “I’m quitting” posts.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Crater.1625:

Looks like the blog is out.

And, in all likelihood, so am I. It’s just an additional tier past Exotics.

Hmm, I’d say it depends on what Infusions do (as in, do they give stats, or are they completely related to the Agony mechanic). If not, them additional stats look to be making up for the lack of Rune / Jewel slot.

No, Ascended items are definitely intended to be “best in slot”, as per Anet’s own words. Exotics are no longer the best:

" Eventually, you’ll be able to kit yourself out with a full set of Ascended gear and high end Infusions to help give you the edge in end game content."

“Legendary items were always intended to be on par with other “best-in-slot” items. So fear not, all existing Legendary weapons, which are currently on par with Exotics, will be upgraded to be on par with Ascended weapons at the same time that we add Ascended weapons to the game. Thus Legendaries will remain “best-in-slot” items.”

Webba – ‘Unused Infusion Defensive Slot’. I think that Infusion is upgrade here.

Webba.3071:

Crater.1625:

Looks like the blog is out.

And, in all likelihood, so am I. It’s just an additional tier past Exotics.

Look at bit more closely, the ascended stuff doesnt have an upgrade slot. The stats are the same as exotic gear when you add the upgrade and it looks like the infusion is just for protection against agony. In other words, this gear will not have higher stats than exotic gear. Can I be the first to say, sincerely, nice work Anet.

Add them up. Ascended is still better.

“The new additions in November are just the start of our item progression initiative. We’re going to add tons of new high-level content to Guild Wars 2 in the future.”

can’t wait to see what the game looks like in 6 months!

drwookie.6391:

" By adding challenging new combat mechanics to end-game content and ways to mitigate those mechanics through gear progression for high-end players, we can add personal progression without making the game feel like an endless treadmill of gear that is just out of your reach. Original Guild Wars fans may recognize that we took a familiar approach to our new progression. The first end game mechanic we will introduce is Agony, which will be encountered in the Fractals of the Mists dungeon, and is mitigated by Infusions."

Are you freaking serious? That is a gear gate. You have a condition/effect that requires certain armor to fight against it. That is EXACTLY why I never played WoW past the initial release, and is likely the reason I won’t be purchasing any future expansions from GW2.

They seriously lost me as a long term customer from that decision.

Really? You can do numerous levels of this dungeon without the gear. It’s only as you get higher into the dungeon that the gear is needed. This means you can experience the entirety of the dungeon, without upgrading your gear. Difficulty gets too high? Start over. It’s not as if you wouldn’t be getting the gear anyway seeing as you are going to be doing the dungeon.

If you aren’t going to be doing the dungeon, then you don’t need the gear.

Honestly, the stats are slightly better, yes. But they lack customizability, that’s the price that’s being paid. The gear doesn’t come without a penalty. You might get an extra 2 points per stat, but chances are you won’t always be able to get the stats you want, and you can’t choose what stats the upgraded portion will be.

IMO by removing that customization, they are providing balance.

If you want to have your gear statted how you want it, then you sacrifice some points. If you want to have more points you sacrifice build choice.

This is fair.

I really don’t get what people’s issue is. There is a certain core of people from wow that feel this is lacking (friends of mine have left due to it not being present). They created a special tier for them and a special stat so they could have fun grinding their dungeons over and over.

For the rest of us we can kinda just get legendaries as normal since they are still better then this new tier of crap. Only when they introduce gear that’s better then legandaries will I be annoyed. Really…who cares? If I chose not to play this content and just go to get a legendary I could do that.

Teva.2807:

Okay. Wtf. Everyone wants gear treadmill, they get gear treadmill, and now everyone is QQing. Im sorry but thats not arenanet’s fault, its yours for “Forcing them” to implement it.

Those are different players that want different things. It’s not everyone. Two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately neither side can be pleased without hurting or affecting the other.

Webba.3071:

Crater.1625:

Looks like the blog is out.

And, in all likelihood, so am I. It’s just an additional tier past Exotics.

Look at bit more closely, the ascended stuff doesnt have an upgrade slot. The stats are the same as exotic gear when you add the upgrade and it looks like the infusion is just for protection against agony. In other words, this gear will not have higher stats than exotic gear. Can I be the first to say, sincerely, nice work Anet.

Except it is set up for future dungeons that “require” a certain amount of Infusions to counteract Agony.

So say right now the highest dungeon has 40 agony, so you need to balance that with 40 infusion. Next expansion the new dungeons will have 60 agony! So you need even better Ascended/more gear.

That is a grind grind/gate for dungeons. That is, in my opinion, bad form and for sure against their “Manifesto” that they were so proud of from the beginning.

Heh. I’ve been playing gw1 since release, and bought this game and supported their game through gemstore largely because they’ve promised a progression model akin to gw1. “Hurt feelings” aside, if I wanted this kind of game I would still be raiding in WoW, which provides a far superior gear treadmill experience.

Not a penny more from me ANet.

Bait and switch. I’d say it breaks my heart, but frankly, it’s a little late for that; I just don’t have the energy anymore.

Gear grinding has come to GW2. Congratulations to all of you kittenes that asked for it.

I have some choice words for ANet right now, but the bottom line is that you people betrayed every single one of us who championed what you told us you stood for, and we followed this game because we believed in the vision you claimed to uphold. Apparently, though, as it turns out, you’re completely full of kitten.

Despite my instincts I kept quiet until this blog post came out, and despite my hopes, it confirms every negative expectation people have expressed.

Legendaries going forward are going to be ascended-level now? Cool. Yeah, that’s great. Until you put in the next level grade up.

I’m sure this set of changes will bring in all that cash you’re thinking it will. I’m sure it’ll increase your player retention ten-fold.

My wallet is closed.

Teva.2807:

Okay. Wtf. Everyone wants gear treadmill, they get gear treadmill, and now everyone is QQing. Im sorry but thats not arenanet’s fault, its yours for “Forcing them” to implement it.

No we gd didnt want a gd treadmill

If I want a gear treadmill I’ll play every other kittening gd mmo for the past decade.