Guild Wars 2

Kain Francois.4328:

If this will be the only progression, then I don’t mind.

Is there any possible reason for a rational person to believe them if they said “really, just this once?” (outside of the fact that the blog post specifically states it won’t be the only one)

Waffler.1257:

Do people seriously play games for endless progression? Am I the only person who found it tedious to level up and get exotics? Does anyone play games just for fun anymore? Is there a reason why I’m asking the forum-goers all these questions?

In most mmo, since there is nothing really interesting to do, the only goal is manage to get the lvl max, manage to get the highest gear. And when its done, generaly you are bored. So they make it hard to do, or VERY long, or constantly add new higher gear.

GW1 have a total different way to manage the play for fun. You end up at lvl max very quick and get the best stuff very very easy. So everyone is equal
But you have 200skill per class + multiclass. And you alway play as a 8player group.
So you can have 100 differents way to play a single class, and way more possibilies for a group.
So finaly you never end to make build test, and have to total different gameplay depending of the groupe.
That’s the real fun !
Never ever have to worry about the stupid +5435435 powered gear to be able to enjoy the last dungeon even if you have stop play the game during 2years. No need to spend month to farm the last +542353454 stuff.
Log and enjoy everything.

And the only farm was cosmetic ONLY.

GW2 just killed everything from GW1 to create a idiotistic MMO where execpt grind, and now grind another idiotistic better gear, you have nothing to do. Also, since you dont have anymore many ( real ) different way to play your class.. you get borred pretty fast ( like all mmo )

Also, since now there isnt anymore a real equality between the players because of the gear, to enjoy WvWvW you have to get the best gear. If you dont you can be the smartest player in the world you wont be able to kill someone because your foe will juste have a better stuff.

That’s the problem of GW2, and a bigger problem for thoses who loved GW1 and was expecting the same thing. And not a WoW clone.

Wow, I have been defending you guys all day and you present this to us… it’s gear progression any way you slice it and if I wanted that, I would go to a game that is doing it better. You can’t put these kinds of things in the game, you are going tick off the majority of players that are STILL supporting you while the ones claiming to have nothing to do… are off playing something else.

You know why people are hitting the Legendary wall? Because they look amazing for the most part and you should be so happy that people want them that bad (Despite them having NO statistical advantages). You should be striving to make cooler looking gear, not better gear, so people can sink their teeth into it.

I am going to play, but you have lost a lot of respect from me for going so heavily back on your word and manifesto. No matter how small of a stat difference it is… it is still gear progression and a gateway to something you might ruin your game with. You can’t please everyone and you have to accept that; you are trying something that other games just simply do better and you should strive to be different.

Agony is a terrible idea and it isn’t an original concept… you should know better guys, come on, you’re smarter than this : /.

I would like to leave on a positive note though. I think you are doing great with your release of content and I have enjoyed it thus far. I have no doubt this will be a great patch (Aside from what I posted before.)

Well I just read the blog post, I have to say I did have hope it wouldn’t sound as bad as people made it out to be. I’m still middle of the bridge about it though, but it sounds like they plan to do more of this which is extremely disappointing. Like everyone else I was glad this game didn’t have extensive gear progression and I was fine with its current state and the long “grind” to get a legendary.

But the addition of these items is a little daunting at the moment to me. As I just finished buying second pieces of gear that I thought would be incredibly useful in my dungeon experiences. While they may be for a while to come, the fact that there is better gear I feel like I wasted my money on a slight upgrade because I was misinformed. Oh well, the stats indication on the blog does show only a “slight” stat boost, but in the end it still means the exotic gear you are wearing now or in the future is not the best thing in the game for you.

I’m not one to complain, never have been, but I will admit this falters my views a bit on this game. I’m not going to rage and quit or anything, if it gets really bad then I dunno.

bcbully.7289:

Tyr.1965:

bcbully.7289:

We’ll be talking about this one for years to come.

The day that ArenaNet decided to kill its own game.

In all honesty I do feel sorry for a lot people who stuck their neck out there and defended the old system and said this would never happen right up until the end. It makes them look bad.

I can’t help but to think this and the free trial are products of the earnings report. Something had to be done.

I wounder how the cash shop will be worked into all of this.

This seems the most likely explanation. I can understand why they are doing this, but it is sad.

Kain Francois.4328:

Let’s hope they reconsider, and keep this only for accessories. I mean, accessories were already weird when it came to stats anyways. (Triforge anyone? Backpacks?)

If this will be the only progression, then I don’t mind. I’m hoping they do not do this for armor or weapons because it would mean we would have to use transmutation stones for literally EVERYTHING!

This so much, as much as i hate it we know it’s for the accessories slots and even weapons so far, all they need to do is make it so there is no accended armor AND remove the upcoming accended weapons and it won’t be so bad (still bad, just not as much).

I have a suggestion.

What if we could “upgrade” Exotics into Ascended gear. Maybe something like an Ascendant Stone that could be crafted via crafting or Mystic Forge. Maybe we can get the recipe through a series of fun quests. The mats would the nothing too crazy, maybe just a bit harder than making exotic armor or weapons. You can then apply this upgrade to your exotic armor to turn it into ascended gear with the equivalent stat values.

That way, people with exotics don’t have to throw them away.

Svenn.5209:

krookie.6378:

Zanthrax.6538:

Dear all people who dislike this change…tell me how 2-5 stats will effect your wvw or PvE experience? By that mark why aren’t you complaining that legendaries have a 1 damage point increase on exotics…clearly that 1 point of damage is making all the difference.

It’s 2-5 stats on only 1 item. How many items can you equip in the game? Multiply that by 2-5.

13 item slots. You’re looking at a total increase of less than 200 stats (assuming 6 stats per item at an increase of 2-3 per stat). You have a total of about 7k stats at level 80 with exotics. This is about a 2% increase, hardly noticeable.

In fact, your TOTAL stat gain from Ascended gear is about 1/5 of the amount of stat points you have as a BASE value for a SINGLE STAT at level 80 (916 is base before gear)

The marginal stat increase is not the issue here. Those who keep arguing this are completely missing the point. The Agony is the real issue because it is nothing more than a gear gating mechanism.

If anet is going to continue adding more and more levels of Agony to each new dungeon, then how is it any different than Rift/Lotro/WoW/etc. Oh right, there arent actually any raids in this game…

Thing is, those people have gone back to WoW and no longer care about GW2. Anet is pandering to a player base that they cannot keep interested in their game.

And for any that are still around, they will once again get their best in slot gear after a week, and then immediately return to moping around forums that there is nothing to do. This isn’t a hard concept to grasp, which is why I’m amazed that they’re doing this. If someone isn’t happy because they can’t get better gear, giving them better gear won’t satisfy them because they will just want the next set of better gear. Allow me to submit as exhibit A every freaking MMO for the last 10 years.

Super-duper epic end game sets in WoW at launch gave less stats than a single piece of green gear at top level does now. It’s an endless cycle. That’s obviously why people are so worried. It doesn’t matter if it’s +1 stat per piece of gear today. What’s it going to be tomorrow? Where does it end? (Hint, it doesn’t)

cesmode.4257:

I had such high hopes for this game…

Me too. Particularly after I quit a stunning five MMOs in less than two years over them being just a dumb gear grinder at max level.

I guess the loudest voices still rule any attention contest after all, and one hardcore player still seems to outweigh 8-9 of the rest of us to MMO devs when they have to make decisions like this one.

I have to say that at this point I am fairly bummed. GW2 was my last best hope for a MMO to call home after I found out the hard way that the conventional interpretation of the genre isn’t for me. I guess I put too much faith in ANet and their “we’re different” manifesto after all.

Shifu.4321:

I have a suggestion.

What if we could “upgrade” Exotics into Ascended gear. Maybe something like an Ascendant Stone that could be crafted via crafting or Mystic Forge. Maybe we can get the recipe through a series of fun quests. The mats would the nothing too crazy, maybe just a bit harder than making exotic armor or weapons. You can then apply this upgrade to your exotic armor to turn it into ascended gear with the equivalent stat values.

That way, people with exotics don’t have to throw them away.

Not a bad suggestion (still not as good as doing away with the whole thing though), but alas i bet it will never happen.

Webba.3071:

bcbully.7289:

Tyr.1965:

bcbully.7289:

We’ll be talking about this one for years to come.

The day that ArenaNet decided to kill its own game.

In all honesty I do feel sorry for a lot people who stuck their neck out there and defended the old system and said this would never happen right up until the end. It makes them look bad.

I can’t help but to think this and the free trial are products of the earnings report. Something had to be done.

I wounder how the cash shop will be worked into all of this.

This seems the most likely explanation. I can understand why they are doing this, but it is sad.

What, the earnings report that said GW2 is making tons of money and is NCSoft’s biggest earner worldwide? Yes, it makes sense to change a core aspect of a successful game that is the backbone of your companies revenue…

When are they just going to sell ascended gear in the cash shop?

Sindhal.2310:

Oh right, there arent actually any raids in this game…

Give them some time. At this point I pretty much expect one. They may as well.

Talloc.6835:

quidgy.1483:

raahk.2786:

quidgy.1483:

I understand people are angry/disappointed/annoyed, but why are so many of you being so melodramatic?

I don’t like the idea of gear grind or forcing us to have certain gear to experience certain content but threatening to quit or demanding a refund based on a blog post is really over the top.

Is it really? They’re going against what makes Guild Wars Guild Wars. They’re taking all of the promises, all of the amazing things that were meant to separate this game from conventional MMO’s and burning it to the ground. There are many of us who have been waiting for this game since 2007, following every update, magazine article and blog, and to say that this game hasn’t been an utter disappointment is an under exaggeration. It’s like what Peter Moleneux promised for the original fable.

Of course it’s over the top. No one has even played this update yet to see how they like it for themselves in action, and yet we have people threatening to quit.

Unless players specifically wanted to avoid any kind of gear upgrade system.

We already have that system. We have tiers of gear in the game, they are just adding another. I agree that it’s an unimaginative way to extend end game and I’m disappointed in their lack of innovation, but it’s nothing to quit over at this stage. Quit when you’ve exhausted the content or become bored. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.

Very first post on the forum, but been playing the game since start. This new idea was such a turn off that I was force to raise my voice in as well.

The reason why I like this game alot was because it not about the stats base but about the look when it come to grinding. I was very much looking forward to the next update where you add in more cosmetic look and wouldnt mind grinding for it, however, instead I’m left speechless by your decision of adding a totally new tier with better stats. Now you totally make the grinding process that suppose to be voluntary become mandatory for those players who want to stay on top and be competitive.

Anet, I seriously hope you think back at your core fanbase and the reason why they come and love GW in the first place and reconsider this decision, because like the majority here, I do not like it at all. >: (

Xuro.5861:

Didn’t need a gear treadmill to play this amount, won’t hit 1100 if the treadmill is added.
I play for fun, not to grind same crap over to make a fair chance in PvE/PvP.

Honestly, you should probably take a break. Playing the equivalent of 24 hours a day for 43 days out of ~60 is a little excessive.

I had planned to just stand back after making my peace here, but I want to take a moment to clarify something about my position and what I think fairly represents the position of some of the other bereaved players here.

There are a few issues at stake in this change that are problematic from a balance perspective.

First: What difference will 10-15 points in a given stat make (from a full set of ascended gear which will come as they finish this abomination’s release timeline)? Probably none in the overwhelming vast majority of cases. When it will matter is when you’re in WvW and 50 hit points is the difference between winning or losing an engagement. Then it makes all the difference in the world, because in exactly that scenario—rare though it may be—having the better gear is the determining factor rather than skill. That’s unacceptable at any level of frequency. There are also plenty of social stigma issues, as others have mentioned.

Secondly: This is progression, like people have been asking for; isn’t that a good thing? No; no it’s not. I will actually concede that the game is in need of some new features; in fact I was posting to that effect on reddit earlier today. A gear grind is not that, though. The issue isn’t really even that new gear is coming out. It’s the breach of trust.

The problem here is that ANet could insist wholeheartedly after this change that Ascended is the top level of gear, there will be multiple ways to get it, etc., and whatever else they feel they need to say for damage control, but this comes after they’ve abandoned the principles they outlined when development began, and more importantly, after they’ve been paid for the game and the paradigm they presented in both time and money.

Finally: You can’t really quit this game (edit: and by quit, I mean send a metric to them immediately that tells them you’re not giving them anymore—they have to wait until they can compare your playing and spending habits with previous data). There’s no sub. I can stop playing today and play again in six months if I want. Those of us who are furious about this announcement aren’t all canceling because there’s nothing to cancel; that’s not what this is really about. But money talks, and I’m not going to financially support an enterprise that’s going to be developed in a way I frankly don’t agree with. I regret only that I can’t recoup my original investment in this game, because I frankly feel defrauded, and I use that in the strictest sense.

A variety of different PvP formats (GvG, AB, HA, JQ, FA, RA) instead of 1 and a half (sPvP/WvW).
A well thought-out “endgame”, where obtaining certain items was hard, yet didn’t take ages, instead of throwing 250 orichalcum parts and/or ecto’s into some forge and have it spit something out for you.
A storyline that was not only repeatable, but fun to repeat.

I have to say this is great news – for those who want it, there is now a way to progress their characters beyond a fashion show.

Thank you Anet – keep up the good work.

I feel like they didn’t even really try. All they had to do was release Lost Shores without the ascended gear and see what would happen. Did their halloween event not draw in a big enough crowd?

Wasn’t the concept that you make fun content and people will play without needing a carrot? Did ArenaNet come to doubt their ability to make content fun?

Leiloni.7951:

Webba.3071:

This seems the most likely explanation. I can understand why they are doing this, but it is sad.

What, the earnings report that said GW2 is making tons of money and is NCSoft’s biggest earner worldwide? Yes, it makes sense to change a core aspect that is the backbone of your companies revenue…

Well, exactly. If that is indeed the case (could you link that report, I’ve not seen it myself) then it is extremely strange. I assumed that such a monumental backflip could only be the result of a problem in urgent need of addressing. Is it not the case?

One three-letter-acronym: NGE.

First of all: Please excuse my English, I am not a native speaker. Writing from my mobile does not make this better ;-)

Just read about the upcoming gear additions and I am not happy about it. Here is why:

1. This is the first step in introducing an item treadmill. Something I really hoped not to see in GW2. I really liked the idea that after reaching a certain item level it was all about cosmetics.

2. To make the item treadmill even worse we are now forced to farm resistance gear. One of the worst experiences in WoW, when every new instance required a special resistance. Acquiring it usually wasn’t something you can call fun.
Plus this makes it much harder to pause playing GW2, e.g. for playing another game, and return afterwards. Especially when you add full resistance sets, it will be very hard for those players – and the more casual ones in general – to join others since most people tend to go the easy route, which means you will have a hard time finding a group without a certain level of resistance gear.

3. I don’t like the Mystic Forge due to it’s dependency on luck.

While I’m slightly annoyed them changing their mind and going with the gear upgrade.. I do think a whole lot of people are over reacting as of right now to this.

If all that is available right now is a Ring and Backpiece i’m not going to flip out over that. Hell Legendary weapons at one point were actually better then Exotic Gear, and I still wouldn’t of bothered getting a Legendary Weapon..

So if its super annoying, I won’t bother with it….Now You’ll have some people that are like “But what about PvP!!!!”

Seriously? Did you not notice we had a far bigger version in this game not that long ago called Orbs? Only it was much greater then this gear..I had no trouble killing people with Orbs when I didn’t have any before…So I’m not to concerned about this “amazing” stat advantage Ascended gear will have

why is it you always have to be a raider to get to the best content and gear… really disappointed.. again…

Gingelyr.3648:

One three-letter-acronym: NGE.

Not even remotely close

I just spent gold to replace some of my Berserker trinkets with Knight trinkets (rings!) two days ago. And now they decide to add something that is better than the ones I’ve just bought. I don’t care if a single Ascended item is only slight better than its Exotic counterpart, for I know that when you have a full set of Ascended and compare it with a full set of Exotic (same type), the difference between them in stats becomes much more noticeable.

As a player who’ve been following them since Guild Wars 1, I feel very betrayed and angry by this. I’m not sure if I should continue playing their game, knowing that I’ll have to grind more (to achieve 100% combat effectiveness in WvW) when they start adding more Ascended gear types in the future. I’ve already spent and grinded enough to get my character fully decked out in Exotics (and then further more to balance out my character’s stats). Sigh..

A.net, you need to do a reality check if you seriously think this is the right way to keep players in your game.

Webba.3071:

Leiloni.7951:

Webba.3071:

This seems the most likely explanation. I can understand why they are doing this, but it is sad.

What, the earnings report that said GW2 is making tons of money and is NCSoft’s biggest earner worldwide? Yes, it makes sense to change a core aspect that is the backbone of your companies revenue…

Well, exactly. If that is indeed the case (could you link that report, I’ve not seen it myself) then it is extremely strange. I assumed that such a monumental backflip could only be the result of a problem in urgent need of addressing. Is it not the case?

That report probably only covered box sales so now theyre looking towards the next report having the gem shop show some serious revenue gain. Too bad that’s not going to happen at this point thanks to this “new” direction they’re going in.

Easy. Remove all levels from the game. Make all players have the same equal base stats. Provide variety to armor by adding meaningful runes and insignias. Use rarity as exactly that: rarity. Rarer items are harder to drop in the world and in the Mystic Forge. Certain zones only drop certain items. Etc. etc.

azurrei.5691:

I have to say this is great news – for those who want it, there is now a way to progress their characters beyond a fashion show.

Thank you Anet – keep up the good work.

For those who want it there are other MMOs. Anet claimed they wanted to make a different game, now it seems not to be the case. It is bizarre.

Just adding my voice to the debate, here…

This new development troubles me.

The design philosophy that allegedly underpins this game is the central reason why I’m playing it.

This Ascended gear appears to run counter to that very philosophy.

Of course, I’m withholding full judgment until I actually see it in play. It, in and of itself, may not be that much of an issue.

However, even if that’s the case, if the addition of this ‘slightly better’ gear is at all indicative of a shift in design philosophy; if, moving forward, we’re just going to see more of this sort of thing, I’d like to know now. Because, frankly, I’m simply not interested in playing that sort of game.

Given the pitch ANet made leading up to this game’s release—a pitch that has been cited multiple times in this very thread—I think it would be beyond irresponsible to not inform the customers of any deviation from that pitch. If the priorities behind the game’s development have changed, we deserve to know. We need to be told. Directly. Explicitly. And without market-speak.

I’m already quite distrustful of NCSoft. I’m also very aware of the types of pressures a distributor can bring to bear on its studios. The nature of this new content, as described, is making me more than a little twitchy, and I’m clearly not alone in that. The tortured language that followed didn’t help.

If my concerns are not addressed, I’ll err on the side of caution and write the whole thing off. I’ve already gotten my money’s worth out of this game, so I’d be very comfortable with doing that.

Ball’s in your court, ANet.

quidgy.1483:

Talloc.6835:

quidgy.1483:

raahk.2786:

quidgy.1483:

I understand people are angry/disappointed/annoyed, but why are so many of you being so melodramatic?

I don’t like the idea of gear grind or forcing us to have certain gear to experience certain content but threatening to quit or demanding a refund based on a blog post is really over the top.

Is it really? They’re going against what makes Guild Wars Guild Wars. They’re taking all of the promises, all of the amazing things that were meant to separate this game from conventional MMO’s and burning it to the ground. There are many of us who have been waiting for this game since 2007, following every update, magazine article and blog, and to say that this game hasn’t been an utter disappointment is an under exaggeration. It’s like what Peter Moleneux promised for the original fable.

Of course it’s over the top. No one has even played this update yet to see how they like it for themselves in action, and yet we have people threatening to quit.

Unless players specifically wanted to avoid any kind of gear upgrade system.

We already have that system. We have tiers of gear in the game, they are just adding another. I agree that it’s an unimaginative way to extend end game and I’m disappointed in their lack of innovation, but it’s nothing to quit over at this stage. Quit when you’ve exhausted the content or become bored. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.

We do not have this system in the game right now. You can easily do any Exp dungeon with cheap green lvl 80 gear on. With Agony, you won’t be able to finish the dungeon unless you have the gear to mitigate it.

Xhieron.2168:

I had planned to just stand back after making my peace here, but I want to take a moment to clarify something about my position and what I think fairly represents the position of some of the other bereaved players here.

There are a few issues at stake in this change that are problematic from a balance perspective.

First: What difference will 10-15 points in a given stat make (from a full set of ascended gear which will come as they finish this abomination’s release timeline)? Probably none in the overwhelming vast majority of cases. When it will matter is when you’re in WvW and 50 hit points is the difference between winning or losing an engagement. Then it makes all the difference in the world, because in exactly that scenario—rare though it may be—having the better gear is the determining factor rather than skill. That’s unacceptable at any level of frequency. There are also plenty of social stigma issues, as others have mentioned.

Secondly: This is progression, like people have been asking for; isn’t that a good thing? No; no it’s not. I will actually concede that the game is in need of some new features; in fact I was posting to that effect on reddit earlier today. A gear grind is not that, though. The issue isn’t really even that new gear is coming out. It’s the breach of trust.

The problem here is that ANet could insist wholeheartedly after this change that Ascended is the top level of gear, there will be multiple ways to get it, etc., and whatever else they feel they need to say for damage control, but this comes after they’ve abandoned the principles they outlined when development began, and more importantly, after they’ve been paid for the game and the paradigm they presented in both time and money.

Finally: You can’t really quit this game. There’s no sub. I can stop playing today and play again in six months if I want. Those of us who are furious about this announcement aren’t all canceling because there’s nothing to cancel; that’s not what this is really about. But money talks, and I’m not going to financially support an enterprise that’s going to be developed in a way I frankly don’t agree with. I regret only that I can’t recoup my original investment in this game, because I frankly feel defrauded, and I use that in the strictest sense.

You can quite, you dont play it anymore, dont invite your friends for the invite a friend initiative and you uninstall the game.
1. it will show on their reports with less people actually playing
2. its going to kill their invite a friend initiative
3. there will be no temptation to go back to it if its uninstalled, why should you go back to anet after they go back on everything they originally said?

MMOWarrior.9312:

why is it you always have to be a raider to get to the best content and gear… really disappointed.. again…

Yeah, it’s always the same “do dungeon for best gear” every bloomin time.

Not everyone wants to do dungeons, so at least give everyone a way to get the items (the stats part) without having to do them.

Leiloni.7951:

Webba.3071:

bcbully.7289:

Tyr.1965:

bcbully.7289:

We’ll be talking about this one for years to come.

The day that ArenaNet decided to kill its own game.

In all honesty I do feel sorry for a lot people who stuck their neck out there and defended the old system and said this would never happen right up until the end. It makes them look bad.

I can’t help but to think this and the free trial are products of the earnings report. Something had to be done.

I wounder how the cash shop will be worked into all of this.

This seems the most likely explanation. I can understand why they are doing this, but it is sad.

What, the earnings report that said GW2 is making tons of money and is NCSoft’s biggest earner worldwide? Yes, it makes sense to change a core aspect of a successful game that is the backbone of your companies revenue…

NCsoft stock dropped 10% that day. The bulk of the box sales have already been made. If there is not a huge up tick in cash shop purchases GW2 will be NCsofts smallest earner by the end of 1st qt 2013, maybe even 4th qt this year.

Synitare.3176:

Xuro.5861:

Didn’t need a gear treadmill to play this amount, won’t hit 1100 if the treadmill is added.
I play for fun, not to grind same crap over to make a fair chance in PvE/PvP.

Honestly, you should probably take a break. Playing the equivalent of 24 hours a day for 43 days out of ~60 is a little excessive.

I work from home so that’s the only reason Guild Wars 2 is always active in the background. I spend most time doing rather small stuff while getting work done.

Very disappointed to see gear grinding progression creep into this game, Anet this is a mistake.
Needed or not, you will soon see the separation in players of those that are geared-up and those that aren’t and those that are geared up only wanting to play with those on their same gear rung.

This is in contrary to the core design of the game, but it will happen because you can’t change the way players think, this is the darkside of gear disparity.

Here is where my confusion over this outrage is. Fractals is a dungeon which is designed to increase in difficulty after subsequent runs. Meaning that you run it, get all your rewards and goodies and all that good stuff. Then you’re taken back to the start and have the option to run it again, but this time it will be a bit harder than before. As far as we know, nothing about the rewards change, it’s just difficulty that’s going up here. So as far as I can tell, going deeper in is nothing but bragging rights. It’s a challenge for the people who want it and are willing to put in the extra effort for it and it’s still a cool new dungeon everyone else can still play through. I really do not see how this is so offensive.

Extremely disappointed. Will not buy gems or any expansion until the stats on these items are removed. I really do like the idea of the dungeon, and the event sounds awesome, but the news of this new gear progression is really a terrible end to a terrible day.

Anyone else find it disturbing that the overwhelming majority of posts concerning this is negative yet they “did it for the players”?

Very, very sad. Again, 2 years from now they will conclude it was a huge mistake. 2 years to late.

We don’t need a tier system in this game. This game is not WoW, it will never have the draw of WoW’s raiding game. They have caved in and sold out, Anet has. Very, Very, Very sad.

Webba.3071:

Leiloni.7951:

Webba.3071:

This seems the most likely explanation. I can understand why they are doing this, but it is sad.

What, the earnings report that said GW2 is making tons of money and is NCSoft’s biggest earner worldwide? Yes, it makes sense to change a core aspect that is the backbone of your companies revenue…

Well, exactly. If that is indeed the case (could you link that report, I’ve not seen it myself) then it is extremely strange. I assumed that such a monumental backflip could only be the result of a problem in urgent need of addressing. Is it not the case?

Main page: http://global.ncsoft.com/global/ir/earnings.aspx
Direct download link for the files containing the full report: http://global.ncsoft.com/global/ir/prfile.aspx?ID=226C051D-C9C2-4BA6-9E10-15D92725ED3F

bcbully.7289:

Leiloni.7951:

What, the earnings report that said GW2 is making tons of money and is NCSoft’s biggest earner worldwide? Yes, it makes sense to change a core aspect of a successful game that is the backbone of your companies revenue…

NCsoft stock dropped 10% that day. The bulk of the box sales have already been made. If there is not a huge up tick in cash shop purchases GW2 will be NCsofts smallest earner by the end of 1st qt 2012, maybe even 4th qt this year.

This has the ring of truth to it. While it is disappointing that it seems the only way to make a financially successful mmo is gear treadmilling it isn’t entirely unexpected. Guess WOW will remain king for a while yet.

edit – Thanks Leiloni!

I’m seriously considering uninstalling this game, I don’t know yet…I’m seriously shocked and disappointed.

Monis.2634:

Here is where my confusion over this outrage is. Fractals is a dungeon which is designed to increase in difficulty after subsequent runs. Meaning that you run it, get all your rewards and goodies and all that good stuff. Then you’re taken back to the start and have the option to run it again, but this time it will be a bit harder than before. As far as we know, nothing about the rewards change, it’s just difficulty that’s going up here. So as far as I can tell, going deeper in is nothing but bragging rights. It’s a challenge for the people who want it and are willing to put in the extra effort for it and it’s still a cool new dungeon everyone else can still play through. I really do not see how this is so offensive.

Because of the gear being better than any other gear in the game. Thats why. We have no problem with the dungeon getting harder. That would be awesome if there wasnt this issue of vertical gear progression being added to a game that was marketed as a horizontal gear progression game.

WHen I came to this thread yesterday saying that I’d just deleted my credit card information, I’ve been told that I’d be immature and that I should wait it out.

Well, no regrets. Just woke up, read the blogpost. Not re-entering it. Forget that.

I’ve been scammed out of quite some money already. I’m not giving a company another dime that lies and betrays their user base. Manifesto is still online but now it feels like they keep it up to add insult to injury.

The fact it’s only about 3 percent more stats actually makes it stranger to me. Why even bother at that point? It’s breaking a big promise for very little gain.

Even stranger, they could have added progression just by adding the slot. Adding the stats is an unnecessary backpedal on previous promises.

I like the new rarity of gear, an extra tiny stat difference to aim for.

I’m not sure I like how the dungeon “gimmick” is tied to specific gear though with infusions.

TBH I can tolerate this possible pseudo-treadmill if the content is actually fun. If this is just more of the same old rehashed “Anet version of hard” dungeons then screw that.

Atleast WoW fights were fun, IMO.

“We have always worked hard to create a sense of satisfying progression rather than gear grind and this new item progression initiative is no exception.”

But you just did this! You made gear grind. You just introduced items that have better stats and only three months in!

“we feel it’s important to strive to satisfy the basic needs of our players sooner rather than later.”

I feel like you’ve listened to the wrong feedback. I dunno, I hope this thread (and others like it) are heard too and we don’t get any more gear grind beyond this. I dunno, it’s really hard to put into words how disappointed I am. I was sort of expecting it to be like Guild Wars. Not after three months you introduce a higher tier of stats. This is not what I wanted at all.

It is silly but I feel a lil’ betrayed. =( I’m sure there’ll be some perspective a month from now or later on it but gosh, this is not at all what I thought this game was about. I thought we were gonna put our boot down and tell people “progression isn’t higher numbers”.

I thought they did good job this time. Agony is basically only effective in the new dungeon. For people who like gear progression, they can feel stronger as they progress deeper into dungeon with infusion. For people who doesn’t like treadmill, just stay outside of the dungeon and proceed with your normal business.
In the future, when there are players with high agony resistance, you wouldn’t notice the difference when you travel with them doing dynamic events or normal dungeons.