Guild Wars 2

I changed the link, because oops there was an option missing. Sorry, folks. Done with that now. :/

The sharp turn that the game has made with the recent patches has really made me think if Guild Wars 2 is actually the game it was proclaimed to be in the first place. The introduction of grind to such an extent was never expected, in fact it was denounced by the developers in the first place.

Someone posted this on the last page but I think it really bares repeating.

Why Ignoring Social Media Complaints Is a Huge Mistake Source: Forbes.com

“It amazes me that even in today’s social media savvy business environment there are still big companies that fail to engage with their customers, particularly customers that are frustrated and unhappy. In fact, a variety of research shows that ignoring those customers is the worst possible strategy.”

…

“Ariely found that the rudely-treated subjects behaved just like those who weren’t interrupted if one small change was made to the experiment. If the person interacting with the subject took the call and carried on the same annoying conversation, but, after hanging up, offered a brief apology, the rudeness effect was negated. The apology led to the badly-treated subjects returning the extra money at close to the same rate as those who experienced no interruption.

Keeping Your Current Customers
Since my earliest days in sales, the drive to get new customers has always been paired with the mantra, “It’s much more profitable to keep an existing customer than go looking for a new one.” This remains wise advice, but is often widely ignored in practice. Companies that fail to respond to complaints in a timely manner risk losing the same customers they spent large sums acquiring in the first place. The data shows that even when a problem is no longer fixable, a simple apology can still turn a negative attitude into a positive one."

Take it to heart Arena Net. Take. It. To. Heart.

I’m sorry, Google translation:
Thank you to the developers to have betrayed their “Manifesto” and the whole community before release who believed in your beautiful words.
17 years of playing videos and I’ve never seen such a situation, even Peter Molyneux has more credibility than you is saying.
With that, I do not thank you and hope your greed you sink into the depths of your lies indigestible.

Original text:
Merci au développeurs d’avoir trahie leur “Manifeste” et toute la Communauté d’avant release qui croyait en vos belles paroles.
17 ans de jeu vidéos et je n’ai jamais vu pareille situation, même Peter Molyneux a plus de crédibilité que vous, c’est dire.
Sur ce, je ne vous remercie pas et espere que votre cupidité vous coulera dans les abysses de vos mensonges indigestes.

Thoughts on Ascended Gear? [Merged threads] – 10,053 replies 114,938 views.

And no response of real value to date. (Nov 17th.)

Urrid.4593:

Thoughts on Ascended Gear? [Merged threads] – 10,053 replies 114,938 views.

And no response of real value to date. (Nov 17th.)

We won’t get any. What can they say? “Sorry guys, we decided some time ago that we’ll change the game and try to get all the grinders but couldn’t tell you because …”

Rollback is not going to happen, this was in the pipeline for some time now. It was a brilliant marketing scheme, I’ll give them that. I even think pre-purchase was started in April for the sole reason to avoid as much refunds as possible.

hint MMO hoppers rarely play for more than a month and very rarely use the cash shop.

Was playing Planetside 2 beta for a few weeks as I had fond memories of the first.

Currently in work checking for forums for my anticipated comeback to GW2 tomorrow.

Refund requested.

That is all.

Nerth.3940:

Rollback is not going to happen, this was in the pipeline for some time now. It was a brilliant marketing scheme, I’ll give them that. I even think pre-purchase was started in April for the sole reason to avoid as much refunds as possible.

Im not so sure about this because its a PRE purchase… but the player can effectively use the product when its officially release. so the real countdown start at release, or 3 day before (25 august) for the prepurchasers.
So if its really a marketing move(i doubt it), its not so smart.

Mhyrria.4160:

Just started downloading updates for LoL and other PC games I missed out whilst playing GW2. I did not even know there was Dark Souls version for PC, gonna buy it later today. And all because of this kittening patch. I would have stayed for years, for as long as this game stuck to their core designs, but alas.. They wanted to have a slice of the WoW pie. It pissed me off days ago, but now it is nothing more than a sigh..

And I simply still cannot fathom why such a poor decision was implemented. If they needed money, they could have just asked for subscription. I very well know that most of us would gladly pay monthly for this game. Then that would entitle us to faster patches for fixes and content. We would have understood, and they would have the needed support. But this…. sigh just a mere sigh indeed.

I would definitely have quit over a sub tacked onto a game where players can buy game currency with real money, actually. I don’t know how many others would do the same, but I do think it’s way too late to go to a sub model.

Ganzo.5079:

Nerth.3940:

Rollback is not going to happen, this was in the pipeline for some time now. It was a brilliant marketing scheme, I’ll give them that. I even think pre-purchase was started in April for the sole reason to avoid as much refunds as possible.

Im not so sure about this because its a PRE purchase… but the player can effectively use the product when its officially release. so the real countdown start at release, or 3 day before (25 august) for the prepurchasers.
So if its really a marketing move(i doubt it), its not so smart.

Actually not true in practice I think. I heard of someone trying to get a refund and they were told they don’t have the ability to give for purchases 6 months or more ago. The game has not been released for 6 months.

So: Guys. Last chance to get a refund if you prepurchased. Or rather, for most of you it’s too late, but some of you still have a few moments left.

Really shocked Anet took this path, still playing but have lost a lot of respect for Anet..

Currently I have 5 lvl 80 alts all geared in exotics and in the skins I felt happy with, I probably spent a fair amount of gold and gems on them or time crafting with the long term goal of someday getting a Legendary item on my favorite class. I’m not really a hardcore player or casual…somewhere inbetween.

I’ve played many mmo’s and spent quite a few hours in GW1 from its humble beginning to today.

Thats why its so hard to swallow Anet’s new philosophy going forward. It’s such a massive U turn from what they had previously stated whilst developing. Not just in design but in attitude.

I feel its a shame to make lvl80 exotic gear basically redundant without someway to upgrade it.

I think thats what irked me the most about this..I wouldn’t mind a hard grind to upgrade what I have and infuse every item on every alt… like I said I was in for the long haul.

Whats the difference between upgrading and just slotting in a new BiS item?

The difference is in GW2 Anet have been lazy and uncharacteristically greedy its nothing about progression.

They know like most do the new Ascended armor set and infusions are not about bridging any gap, its about getting the cash shop wheels turning.

This latest development is a huge contridiction in Anets Ethos and thats disappointing.

Whats funny is that if you played when the first GW came out, forums were in uproar because ANET forced PVPERS to play all the way to the end of the campaign in order to farm elite skills for use in PVP arenas (you had to capture it while an elite mob used it). people were mad and it took ANET too long to fix some of the issues, lost alot of players.

Fast forward to today, same situation, different subject.

Edit: tried fractal dungeons, got burnt out after a couple tries… have no motivation to grind content for some stat upgrades…. big difference in grinding because you want something (skin) and grinding because you have to have it in order to compete (ascended gear if all armor is released)

Greep.6394:

I heard of someone trying to get a refund and they were told they don’t have the ability to give for purchases 6 months or more ago. The game has not been released for 6 months.

So: Guys. Last chance to get a refund if you prepurchased. Or rather, for most of you it’s too late, but some of you still have a few moments left.

Do you have any more information on this? We purchased two copies here at home, and we have been debating whether to ask for a refund, but we pre-purchased on 29th April.

It has been a very kitteny week. This whole ANet’s betrayal (I’m sorry, I don’t have better word to describe how we feel) affair has just made it significantly worse

Just adding my voice to the many. I dislike it too. My first post was deleted by a moderator. so im reposting again. They can silence me as much as they like but my opinion on the matter wont change.

I am horribly confused. I did not want to do dungeons, I came to GW2 to escape dungeon grinds. Upon hearing about Acended gear, I lodged my complaint. DO NOT WANT to grind dungeons. All play styles should have equal access to the same gear.
LATER, Arenanet posts an oddly worded update to what acended gear means.
THE QUOTE IS:
" Ascended and infusion rewards will be available in both PvE and WvW over time, and be made available through all sorts of content around the world including existing content." ( https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Thoughts-on-Ascended-Gear-Merged-threads/page/118#post721402 )

I felt reassured for a while and was happy enough to see this event start. Now I see the recipe to make this gear, and it requires a drop only available in dungeons. “Vial of Condensed Mists Essence” is a rare drop from the Fractal of Mists Dungeon.

DUNGEON ONLY. Not cool Arenanet, not cool.

universalcosmos.4286:

Greep.6394:

I heard of someone trying to get a refund and they were told they don’t have the ability to give for purchases 6 months or more ago. The game has not been released for 6 months.

So: Guys. Last chance to get a refund if you prepurchased. Or rather, for most of you it’s too late, but some of you still have a few moments left.

Do you have any more information on this? We purchased two copies here at home, and we have been debating whether to ask for a refund, but we pre-purchased on 29th April.

It has been a very kitteny week. This whole ANet’s betrayal (I’m sorry, I don’t have better word to describe how we feel) affair has just made it significantly worse

Sadly no, I just found it in a post in guru that had like 60 pages, but it was from a reputable poster so I’d believe it. Sounds like if you prepurchased in april you’d be screwed if it is true so it’s a bit of a moot point. If you do try, let us know.

Well, I bought the Deluxe because I so trusted AN and I feel betrayed by this patch. To make it worst, they declined to refund me because I prepurchased the game in april. So much for the manifesto…Here goes my 70$.

Kinda sad really. people who prepurchased later get a refund but people who have been with you from the beginning before you betrayed us get left out.

Way to repay “your most dedicated fans”. Oh that’s right, your most dedicated fans weren’t the guys who’ve been waiting for 5 years for the game, they’re the guys who want this to be a WoW clone.

I’ve brooded on this Ascended gear issues. At first, I was neutral and indifferent to it. I thought, “It’s probably nothing. Everyone’s just spazzing over something minor!”.

Then I read more into it and see it for what it is: a gear treadmill. I will still play GW2, but I feel somewhat betrayed. I never thought ArenaNet would go back on their promise against excluding a gear treadmill.

What drew me to this game was the fact that gear was minor feature and there was no pressure to be the “best”.

Lindsey’s own words, “the edge in end-game”, worried me. Why should players with better gear have the edge when this game was supposed to be about skill not gear?

I sincerely hope they correct this. Perhaps I’m being too hopeful, but I would forgive ArenaNet for this if they reversed this gear treadmill nonsense.

Pamakogi.9276:

Coming from a business prespective I bet you they didn’t see ppl asking for a “refund” as part of their money making scheme, cuz face it the average consumer is too lazy to ask for a refund. Instead its easier to stop playing and since there is no mthly sub they already got your money…

If you really wanna hurt anet and get your voices heard hit em where it counts

Quoted for truth. I have not demanded a refund, but I will give them a bit of time to set this right before considering it. The sad thing is, even if they do, will people be cynical that they won’t reintroduce vertical progression after the deadline for refunds has passed?… This was really really a bad move, Anet. I think a year from now, you will really wish you had not done such a major about-face without consulting your customers with a fair and simple poll something like what I have suggested:https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Easy-solution-to-the-Ascended-Gear-problem

Greep.6394:

universalcosmos.4286:

Greep.6394:

I heard of someone trying to get a refund and they were told they don’t have the ability to give for purchases 6 months or more ago. The game has not been released for 6 months.

So: Guys. Last chance to get a refund if you prepurchased. Or rather, for most of you it’s too late, but some of you still have a few moments left.

Do you have any more information on this? We purchased two copies here at home, and we have been debating whether to ask for a refund, but we pre-purchased on 29th April.

It has been a very kitteny week. This whole ANet’s betrayal (I’m sorry, I don’t have better word to describe how we feel) affair has just made it significantly worse

Sadly no, I just found it in a post in guru that had like 60 pages, but it was from a reputable poster so I’d believe it. Sounds like if you prepurchased in april you’d be screwed if it is true so it’s a bit of a moot point. If you do try, let us know.

I can confirm. Tried to get a refund after I heard others were able to get one and received a response from NCSoft that refunds won’t be granted 6 months past the purchase date. So as of this post, if you pre-purchased before May 17, you cannot get a refund. I made a thread asking about it, but it was deleted and I was infracted yet again.

Well, I just came by to check and see if there was a change or an update. Apparently Anet is going to continue on this course. I’m very dismayed with this. I haven’t logged in since the patch went live, and have no intention of doing so until the Ascended gear, infusions, and agony are removed from the game…or at least from the gear. No bait and switch, Anet, shame on you.

Hey Anet, this is your New Game Enhancements moment. How is SWG doing these days, anyway? Yeah.

I cannot I can get a refund for the 3 deluxe copies I bought as I bought them all on the first day of pre order.

But this change in direction has made it so I will not spend another dime and will be taking a break soon from this game.

Went from 3-4 hours a night of casual play, doing sPvP wvw, some dungeon, many alts (between me and the wife we have bought 8 new character slots). to since the announcement 3 hours in 4 days.

Tonight was the first time I have ever logged off a Anet game in a rage because I heard

“LFG FoTM 80+only, no noobs!”

Seriously… my god, these are your dedicated gamers???

Thrombus.1796:

Lindsey’s own words, “the edge in end-game” …

Ouch!!

That stings.

When I first read that this gear would be implemented into the game at 1st I was really upset but then I read infusion and thought Ohhhhh it will be like GW1 where they make your current better in some way so I was somewhat ok…With GW1 I had no issues and they didn’t let me down then so I had faith in them.

Then the event starts and people are pinging ID codes of this new gear and really…..REALLY anet….Why on earth would you do this!? You were supposed to be different. I stood by you but you have now betrayed me.

This event in itself has been a huge failure. If this gear wasn’t in the picture I would let it slide and say hey at least you guys are trying so maybe it tainted the way I feel about it….but when you put the new gear many didn’t want in, this so called event where it has been a buggy mess which the 1st 1 time event was a laggy mess and I personally couldn’t do the side quests as they were bugged, second 1 time event where I logged on to see but was stuck in overflow which DID NOT WORK, then I hear oh they fixed the side quest so I start it but turns out I can not finish it because they have removed part of it. Which mind you I TRIED to do but was bugged?

Oh how the great ones fall. I have already started playing much less to a point where I log on and just think ugh I don’t want to work towards the new gear and just leave. Which I know if I keep that up eventually it will become so overwhelming where I just uninstall.

Can we at least get a promise on no trinity and no raiding? Or is it only a matter of time?

Jairyn.6913:

Can we at least get a promise on no trinity and no raiding? Or is it only a matter of time?

Anet doesn’t make promises, because then their players will get mad when they eventually break them.

Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/139a4j/official_post_ascended_items_on_german_forums/

Waffler.1257:

Jairyn.6913:

Can we at least get a promise on no trinity and no raiding? Or is it only a matter of time?

Anet doesn’t make promises …

… they can not break.

Well…the gear change was disappointing. And I’m even more disappointed that I can’t get a refund, but I’m chalking it up to experience.

I will never pre-order a game again. I won’t listen to hype again from gaming sites and starry eyed fans.

If I wanted to play Warcraft, I would still be paying Warcraft for the Warcraft experience. And if I want that experience, I will pay the best in the business…Warcraft NOT Anet NOT EA or any other game company that creates poor substitutes.

Good luck with the game. But I have a feeling this is going the same road as SWTOR. Unfortunately a F2P conversion stunt can’t even be pulled here.

Ostra.3927:

“LFG FoTM 80+only, no noobs!”

Seriously… my god, these are your dedicated gamers???

This is one of the reasons I quit WOW after 4 years. I will not blame the gear treadmill for the behavior but for the most part, WOW’s community is toxic. At first, I blamed the players for their poor treatment of others and bad attitudes. But after playing LOTRO, I began to think that Blizzard did have partial responsibility. LOTRO was a friendly, fun place. I was never called a noob once and they even had a help chat channel.

Is it possible that Blizzard’s mechanics have somehow attracted or even encouraged the nasty behavior?

I may be overly sensitive on this next point because of the horrible experiences I had in WOW. But is it possible that the kind of elitism a gear gap creates, causes people to be mean-spirited and offensive in a game? I know that griefing does and is one of the reasons I love the GW2 approach to nodes, etc. But I am concerned because I remember reading complaints that some people “liked feeling more powerful than others.” Not more skilled but more powerful. Those statements were made in support of requests for vertical gear progression. GW2 has felt like an inclusive game to me. But with this new Ascendant gear will it become exclusive? Will we see more insults in mapchat because “you are not properly geared”? Will people get kicked out of pugs because they fail gear checks?

I quit WOW because I was tired of the negative interactions with many in that community. If this game heads that way after being so friendly, it will be sad. And yes, I will be gone and never look back. A game should be fun and not a place of dread.

I prefer a system of radical egalitarianism. In these structures, those that try to hold themselves above others or hoard goods are mocked and shunned. One might prefer a social order in which o one is mocked, but at least that system is somewhat more beneficial.

At present, with FotM being a sole source for some, it seems suspiciously reminiscent of WoW’s raid gear. Is it possible that proliferation from “other sources” is meant to be step behind?

Is it only a matter of time before we start hearing about “wellfare ascended” and “wellfare infusions?”

dalendria.3762:

I may be overly sensitive on this next point because of the horrible experiences I had in WOW. But is it possible that the kind of elitism a gear gap creates, causes people to be mean-spirited and offensive in a game?

Of course it does. That much is obvious, why do you think the “elite” gamers (Hint, they’re usually not) are such unpleasant people? They don’t care about playing or enjoying the game, they only care about being better than you.

That’s exactly the kind of mindset “top-tier” gear fosters. And that’s exactly the kind of people anet seems to want to attract back.

I tried the dungeons last night. All I could say, over and over and over again was “I can’t believe I am forced to do this to be competitive!” Very sad.

We got Ascended rings for diff 10 to 11, check this out here, is in Dungeons forums:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/Fractals-11-Loot-error-please-FIX/first#post777728

The grind for an infusion slot upgrade and a back piece are stupid.

250 shells is a little ridiculous seeing how often they drop from karka. 50 ecto, meh. 250 t6 mat, meh. Unless you buy them from the TP, there’s no real reliable way to get these mats.

@enos What you say is very true. Without having any issues with those type of players, i just dont like them in a game that is supposed to be anti progression based in terms of stats on gear. This video of Kripparian, a rather famous guy, who represents the progression/competetive PvE Player, which focusses the mindset of those ppl very well.

As a Sidenote: He rushed thru the content and got his level 80 full exotic character in around 2 weeks, got bored and left the game. Which is a wise choice, since he realized that gw2 is not aiming at those type of players (No offense).

And thats the point. These guys are so experienced in this genre and highly dedicated, that its pretty impossible to fulfil their needs other than giving them an endless treatmill. What ANet does, is completly useless imo. These type of players, are going to raid this dungeon non stop till they have their gear and will be bored again. And this will happen during the next week, while the normal player will have to grind this for month to get his stuff.

Urrid.4593:

Thoughts on Ascended Gear? [Merged threads] – 10,053 replies 114,938 views.

And no response of real value to date. (Nov 17th.)

Now Arenanet ONLY reply to threads and posts relating to Fractual Dungeon and Ascended Gear.

They are not interested in our feedbacks and concerns. It’s either you continue to play and support them or you quit. That simple.

You play but give them no money.

It costs them money to maintain those servers.

Refund requested.

My thoughts in Ascended gear?
it doesn’t matter you can’t use them at PVP
what are you worry about? the mobs thinking that is unfair you wearing better items?

Punk.4072:

My thoughts in Ascended gear?
it doesn’t matter you can’t use them at PVP
what are you worry about? the mobs thinking that is unfair you wearing better items?

What are you talking about?

Ascended gear is item progression. You can use it in PvP. You can’t use it in sPvP.

Ostra.3927:

I cannot I can get a refund for the 3 deluxe copies I bought as I bought them all on the first day of pre order.

But this change in direction has made it so I will not spend another dime and will be taking a break soon from this game.

Went from 3-4 hours a night of casual play, doing sPvP wvw, some dungeon, many alts (between me and the wife we have bought 8 new character slots). to since the announcement 3 hours in 4 days.

Tonight was the first time I have ever logged off a Anet game in a rage because I heard

“LFG FoTM 80+only, no noobs!”

Seriously… my god, these are your dedicated gamers???

My husband and I each play five characters. Spent plenty of RL money on gems. No more.

This weekend we played PvE and personal story. We would like to finish the story on all our characters, but don’t know if we will continue playing that long. It’s hard to be in LA and see the chat messages about LFG.

I spent time today just looking at my lovely ladies and playing with their dyes, because I don’t know how much longer I will be playing them. I spent some time in WvW, because I probably won’t be able to play that much longer once the gear starts hitting there.

I pray to the gods, but they rarely answer…

Kitsan.8453:

I will never pre-order a game again. I won’t listen to hype again from gaming sites and starry eyed fans.

You’re not the only one. Anet has effectively poisoned the well for future developers that depend on a pre-sale model to fund their development. It’s hit the blogosphere, and I imagine some mainstream coverage is not far behind.

stpetemermaid.5947:

Ostra.3927:

I cannot I can get a refund for the 3 deluxe copies I bought as I bought them all on the first day of pre order.

But this change in direction has made it so I will not spend another dime and will be taking a break soon from this game.

Went from 3-4 hours a night of casual play, doing sPvP wvw, some dungeon, many alts (between me and the wife we have bought 8 new character slots). to since the announcement 3 hours in 4 days.

Tonight was the first time I have ever logged off a Anet game in a rage because I heard

“LFG FoTM 80+only, no noobs!”

Seriously… my god, these are your dedicated gamers???

My husband and I each play five characters. Spent plenty of RL money on gems. No more.

This weekend we played PvE and personal story. We would like to finish the story on all our characters, but don’t know if we will continue playing that long. It’s hard to be in LA and see the chat messages about LFG.

I spent time today just looking at my lovely ladies and playing with their dyes, because I don’t know how much longer I will be playing them. I spent some time in WvW, because I probably won’t be able to play that much longer once the gear starts hitting there.

I pray to the gods, but they rarely answer…

These are the types of things that break my heart. Lots of people play with their friends, family, and significant others because they want to have fun, not to run on a hamster wheel.

I’m currently logging into my characters for the last time, ankittenep finding excuses to log back in. I’m going to miss what this game was supposed to be about.

Mil.3562:

Urrid.4593:

Thoughts on Ascended Gear? [Merged threads] – 10,053 replies 114,938 views.

And no response of real value to date. (Nov 17th.)

Now Arenanet ONLY reply to threads and posts relating to Fractual Dungeon and Ascended Gear.

They are not interested in our feedbacks and concerns. It’s either you continue to play and support them or you quit. That simple.

That’s being unfair. I’m sure they are listening very intently right now. Maybe their silence means they’ve been surprised by the fierce backlash and are currently discussing what to do about it. I hope they make the right decision.

This game is obviously geared to an Asian audience. We know they like grinders. Obviously GW2 wasn’t keeping them occupied.

It takes more than just underage looking female avatars in skimpy clothing to keep them occupied, I guess.

So Asian grinder time!

200+ pages and still dead silence? Again? I give up. I was so excited for this game prior to release entirely because of the design manifesto. This is a slap in the face, as is the revelation that a skeleton staff has been working on the class fixes this entire time.

I’ve waited patiently for patch after patch to fix something, anything about my class issues. Instead its just been an assortment of random nerfs, fixes no one asked for and icon fixes ( woo ). While ANET routinely either just goes silent and lets the resentment simmer, or puts their foot in their mouth promising something that never materializes.

Quality of Life. NOT QUANTITY OF CONTENT. Slapping in new content does absolutely nothing if you aren’t improving the gameplay experience itself which has a laundry list of issues you should have been working on since release.

Luckily, I’m within the refund window. If I wanted a gear grind there are vastly superior games than this for it. What I wanted was Guild Wars 2. You failed to deliver that.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

This is my thought.

Downstairs Eddie.8125:

Maybe their silence means they’ve been surprised by the fierce backlash and are currently discussing what to do about it. I hope they make the right decision.

They aren’t surprised; they specifically said they expected it in the translated German post. I suspect they are biding time, gnashing their teeth, and collecting refund and concurrency data to fight off an evil overlord with.

But then, I always love a good conspiracy. They’re exciting. And it helps me keep that hope alive for a bit longer.

Yeah,my entire list of family and friends are angry with me for convincing them to buy this game. It’s sad that they thought this was a different game.