Quotelinks Snip
Quotelinks Snip
Thanks for the links. It’s clearer for me where people are getting the conclusions that they seem to have now. I do think it’s worth pointing out that the development of the rarity tiers does not necessarily mean that new tiers will be added – development could occur within the existing tiers, much in the same way as the Agony concept was implemented (ie; Adding novel concepts to existing loot). I wouldn’t consider this VP, however, unless these changes were restricted to Ascended gear and limited your access to new content in the game, because increasing the variety within a tier does not necessarily result in a situation where you have to take advantage.
I won’t comment on the issue regarding Tier 6 materials and crafting, however, besides that I feel that these items were intended to be long-term goals for players that were implemented to a fairly controversial degree of success.
However, I will comment on the idea that you cannot have vertical progression without a gear grind. If you consider that certain areas of the game are particularly difficult to navigate without a certain quality of gear and character level before the introduction of Ascended (ie; Orr), and if you associate this mandatory gathering of loot in order to fully enjoy PvE available on release, I’ve reached that point without any grind at all. None of my actions constitute what I’d consider to be grind (and it seems that everyone has their own subtleties as to what this phrase means), as I’ve picked up the gear I need through my efforts to complete my major goal, which is World Completion. I’d be the first to admit that this is inherently subjective conclusion to make (‘I didn’t think I was grinding, so I wasn’t grinding, so there is no grind’), but the opposite is also true (‘I had to grind, so I was grinding, so there is a grind’). It seems that we have a significantly smaller issue with VP as long as there isn’t a grind, or when it’s so subtle as to be unnoticeable.
Considering that, I’d agree that FotM and Ascended gear were both added in a fairly slapdash sort of way, despite enjoying the dungeon the few times I’ve tried it. They’ve been fairly unsubtly shoehorned in as an alternative to the majority of the game instead of complimenting it. However, Devs have also stated that Ascended gear is planned to be obtained via other methods and, presumably, ones with greater variety (as what is the point in repeating a self-confessed mistake?). If these methods were reasonable and feasible, would people have an issue with the concept of this form of VP?
I found gaining my set of Exotic Karma armour a decent example of this. I gained my karma through playing the game, without focusing on gaining karma at all. It was an organic process, supported by various aspects of playing the game, and by the time I had personally reached Orr, I had enough to buy a set. It just happened, without me really thinking about it. To me, that’s ideal – I’d put in plenty of time and effort into the game and been rewarded in a manner that was worthwhile but not my major goal. If people could earn Ascended gear in a similar manner – through regular play that could be constituted a grind, but that probably would not be because it was based around other enjoyable activities – would there be as much concern? Is it the philosophy that’s the issue here, or the implementation?
I think you are taking a balanced and reasoned approach to considering the issue. As to whether it’s simply a philosophical issue (which I’ve had to question myself on) or an implementation issue give Taugrim’s video a look and let me know what you think. I don’t offer it because it’s TAUGRIM and you must believe everything he says. If he took the opposite position tomorrow I’d still say the ideas expressed in the video make a lot of sense. And, it’s not just him. The subject is alive amongst those who think about gaming, not just those who play GW2.
http://taugrim.com/2012/04/19/why-games-should-scale-horizontally-instead-of-vertically/