Guild Wars 2

in Wildstar if you and a party member accept a quest together you both contribute to it’s progress as you carry out it’s various tasks. I was thinking, it would be nice if in GW2 all members of a party could contribute to a hearts completion, making completing zones and doing hearts feel more like a team effort. I think this kind of small change fits in perfect with ArenaNets central philosophy.

Well, since most hearts involve combat, this already exists to a large extent.

For Hearts, no, as they are a personal effort and there for you alone to achieve.
The team effort is put into Dynamic Events, which scale up automatically based on the number of players actively working on completing the event.

What you should look for is dynamic events occurring around hearts you have not yet completed, since often a single event will complete the heart already.

sometimes when theres a few of us, me or the others have to stand around waiting for others to catch up so we can move onto the next heart. It’s by no means a big problem but i think it would improve the flow of things for a party of players trying to get through content together.

OR we can just remove hearts entirely….

I mean that is what the game was supposed to be designed around to begin with, hence why after you get to Orr there are no more hearts.

TexZero.7910:

OR we can just remove hearts entirely….

I mean that is what the game was supposed to be designed around to begin with, hence why after you get to Orr there are no more hearts.

I could agree with this. The heart activities aren’t bad and can be interesting and fun sometimes, but having incomplete hearts placed on the map urges the completionist in me. So in a way, it effects free exploration in a negative way.

Do we know if the new maps in HoT will have hearts?

Drakortha.6974:

TexZero.7910:

OR we can just remove hearts entirely….

I mean that is what the game was supposed to be designed around to begin with, hence why after you get to Orr there are no more hearts.

I could agree with this. The heart activities aren’t bad and can be interesting and fun sometimes, but having incomplete hearts placed on the map urges the completionist in me. So in a way, it effects free exploration in a negative way.

Do we know if the new maps in HoT will have hearts?

There are no hearts in end game areas. Frost Gorge Sound is the last zone with hearts. There’s no hearts in Orr, Southsun, Drytop, Silverwastes and there won’t be any hearts in the expansion.

I must be the only one who likes hearts. I feel they add to an area, DE’s just seem to be a turn up kill things run off to next one.

BrotherBelial.3094:

I must be the only one who likes hearts. I feel they add to an area, DE’s just seem to be a turn up kill things run off to next one.

There’s always an exception to any rule….

But i find hearts to be the most bland and dis-interesting things to do in the game. Hence why instead of having many characters with world completion i only have 2.

I think you misspelled “Chua”, GW2 definitely needs Chua…

brb, setting up charr/asura crossbreeding experiment

BrotherBelial.3094:

I must be the only one who likes hearts. I feel they add to an area, DE’s just seem to be a turn up kill things run off to next one.

I like Hearts (Tasks) too, they give a little extra to stay around to get a bigger chance of finding something new or the chance for an Event to start. However just as much as I hate to do quests that is about picking up trash for an old lady I hate when Tasks and Events is about that too. So tasks like kill invaders in that cave while exploring it or destroy a few cannons while exploring that place and so on. Tasks, Quests and Events in my opinion should not make you stop for 10 minutes just to gather ore, Whip slowpokes or toss unrefined ore in a pit (I think a few knows what I mean) Tasks like that can exist but the little amount of progress you get for each action you make is almost nothing and there are like what 3 slowpokes to whip and they can’t be spammed ofc and they give almost nothing on progress :P

To OP’s request. I do not agree. It would be used in wrong ways.

Drakortha.6974:

I was thinking, it would be nice if in GW2 all members of a party could contribute to a hearts completion, making completing zones and doing hearts feel more like a team effort

Players asked for it since release.
Having to wait for each other at every single heart completion made me stop playing open world content with a team. It’s not worth it, you’re solo way faster.

TexZero.7910:

OR we can just remove hearts entirely….

I mean that is what the game was supposed to be designed around to begin with, hence why after you get to Orr there are no more hearts.

Hearts are needed to unlock armor vendors and are a decent source of experience though.

BrotherBelial.3094:

I must be the only one who likes hearts. I feel they add to an area, DE’s just seem to be a turn up kill things run off to next one.

~raises hand~ You’re not the only one.

Wildstar is f2p as of this week btw. Fun game!!

I’ve always felt hearts were tedious / pointless, didn’t fit with the spirit of the game, and were a mistake to add in the first place. I’d be in favor of an idea like the one from the OP to make them less of a hassle. I wouldn’t miss them if the all just vanished from the map someday.

I like Hearts. They’re an innovative take on the standard MMO questing system. They’re not as much fun as Dynamic Events or the Personal Story, of course, but they have a certain zen to them. If you want something easy and chill to do, you can go grind out a few hearts and feel like you’re accomplishing something.

I’m glad Anet didn’t include them in end-game zones, but they were a good addition to everywhere else.

I like GW2 the way it is and I do play Wildstar also. They are both great games and lots of fun (in my opinion) just as they are

Blaine Tog.8304:

I like Hearts. They’re an innovative take on the standard MMO questing system. They’re not as much fun as Dynamic Events or the Personal Story, of course, but they have a certain zen to them. If you want something easy and chill to do, you can go grind out a few hearts and feel like you’re accomplishing something.

I’m glad Anet didn’t include them in end-game zones, but they were a good addition to everywhere else.

I appreciate that the hearts lead you to Dynamic Events. …assuming they trigger or have anything to do with the rep quest. I don’t care for the hearts that are “use this gimmick item and…” or the ones that are placed really awkwardly on the map.

To stay relevant, the OP’s idea would be grand. I, too, have had to wait or be waited on while questing in a group. It’s not so fun. PS: WildStar was a bundle of good ideas poorly executed. Been there, done that, bored "before it got good." :P

Most times this will happen: all three have their own special taste now
put Wildstar, WoW and GW2 in an pot together, shake it and the new meal will just taste terrible.

but with hears as party/group content i agree^^

I like the hearts. x.x
They’re more interesting than traditional quests, more static than events, and some of them are fun as hell.

Aren’t they revising the heart quest system in the exp? I remember reading they were being tied in with the mastery/adventure system somehow.

As a guild leader I always try to find guild activities to do. There were some attemps at map completion in guild, but this usually don’t go well with hearts. Like other said, you usually end up with a couple of people at 100% waiting for some people to finish their hearts. This is boring for people that always have to wait in-between hearts (can’t really help much) and this can be stressful for player that ain’t as quick and who know that they slow down the group.

My idea would the following. If you are alone then heart work the same way they do now.

But if you are in a party then all the action you do will fill the heart less, while all the action of the party will fill the heart of everybody. So let say we are 5 doing the heart. Usually, doing the action would fill around 10% of the heart for exemple. Now it will only fill out 2% of the heart, but it will fill the heart of 5 person. So if 5 person do one action, the heart of all 5 will reach 10%. That way, everybody should finish around the same time and everybody will work toward the heart from start to finish. Faster people will take on a bigger part of the work load, because they will help the slower people to fill out their heart.

This system should only work with party member in the region of the heart so you won’t share your heart with someone in your party doing something else. It will only work with people doing the heart with you.

The way some heart work, this system could create some problem and they should be reworked a little. TBH I doudt that heart will receive any love in the future and I’m ok with that. Yes allowing us to make map completion in group more fun would be nice, at the same time Anet know that heart weren’t their best success and will likely work on something else. Something that will be more fun anyway and I’m more than ok with that.

Hearts aren’t really “core” content. They were added to the game quite late in development because Anet saw a problem with relying on just DEs for players that were still leveling. They invented hearts to easy people in to the DE system.

According to Anet, no new maps will have hearts as they consider hearts more of a “new player training” mechanic that gets you used to the idea of exploration = advancement.

Thaddeus.4891:

But if you are in a party then all the action you do will fill the heart less, while all the action of the party will fill the heart of everybody. So let say we are 5 doing the heart. Usually, doing the action would fill around 10% of the heart for exemple. Now it will only fill out 2% of the heart, but it will fill the heart of 5 person. So if 5 person do one action, the heart of all 5 will reach 10%. That way, everybody should finish around the same time and everybody will work toward the heart from start to finish. Faster people will take on a bigger part of the work load, because they will help the slower people to fill out their heart.

And then 4 of 5 people go suddenly AFK and you have to work 5 times longer
as you would have normally needed .. and as soon as you are finally ready ..
oh wonder .. those other people all come back at the same time

Haha, you funny.
I do also prefer Hearts to be Multiplayer content.
Or remove them/tone down the requirements to complete them. Like those annoying Hearts in Queensdale, remove grubs/taste wine… Clean graffiti off the walls @ Beetlebun. Just takes way too long.
That said, there are also Hearts that are enjoyable.

And GW2 already has this. Its called events. You work together to complete them.

Hearts is… like a fetch quest. No one can help you do it and once you done it, you never want to do it again.

Beldin.5498:

And then 4 of 5 people go suddenly AFK and you have to work 5 times longer
as you would have normally needed .. and as soon as you are finally ready ..
oh wonder .. those other people all come back at the same time

If that happen, you leave the party and you can complete the heart normally.

I dont think they would implement something like this simply because it would be too easy for a person running multiple accounts just to stand the other toons in the area and get credit for it. They would have to figure out some way to force interaction on more then just a single hit then afk, way.

CorrynnStarr.7942:

I dont think they would implement something like this simply because it would be too easy for a person running multiple accounts just to stand the other toons in the area and get credit for it. They would have to figure out some way to force interaction on more then just a single hit then afk, way.

No it wouldn’t. At least not with the system I propose. First of all he would need to take all his character (5 at max to be in the same party) around the area of the heart. Meaning he will need to move all 5 of them for each heart.

After that the amount of work would be equal. If he need to do 10 actions to complete the heart in solo. He will need to do 50 actions to complete the heart of all 5 character at the same time. It’s the same amount of work.

Thaddeus.4891:

CorrynnStarr.7942:

I dont think they would implement something like this simply because it would be too easy for a person running multiple accounts just to stand the other toons in the area and get credit for it. They would have to figure out some way to force interaction on more then just a single hit then afk, way.

No it wouldn’t. At least not with the system I propose. First of all he would need to take all his character (5 at max to be in the same party) around the area of the heart. Meaning he will need to move all 5 of them for each heart.

After that the amount of work would be equal. If he need to do 10 actions to complete the heart in solo. He will need to do 50 actions to complete the heart of all 5 character at the same time. It’s the same amount of work.

Im sorry, I wasnt responding to your post there (hence no captioned text about it). I was making a general statement about the OP’s proposition. I actually hadnt read your post on it yet.

I too like the hearts. With the way that events cycle, hearts are the only way that you can “improve” the zone as you work your way through it. With some hearts, small features in the area change when you complete them, and I really wish they’d done more with that idea so that you could see a change after you complete a heart.

The fact that they become vendors helps as well, adding to the feeling of improving the zone as you go through it.

I don’t understand how this is a major issue:

• With a few exceptions, hearts only require a small number of actions.
• In most cases, doing the heart at the same time as someone else (party member or not) tends to spawn additional foes, giving all those nearby additional potential for progress.
• Hearts aren’t required for anything in the game other than map completion. They are an inefficient method of karma acquisition and slower than Dynamic Events for experience boosts.

When the game launched (and we were all inexperienced), my guild used to run around maps to explore and it took us only slightly longer to get 10-20 people heart completion than it would have to have moved on after the first few finished.

Despite the above, I’d have no objections to making the change, if it were easily done. However, any change to a fundamental mechanic ends up costing a lot of dev resources: introduce new mechanics, balance them to fit with the game, try to think of ways that they could be exploited or ‘gamed’ and prevent them, ensure that the change doesn’t have an unintended impact on other parts of the game, and then create a new protocol for testing it against future changes.

tl;dr the benefit seems small compared to costs.

I like Tasks as well; for the most part, anyway. For most hearts, there are multiple ways to complete them, so you don’t have to kill things if you don’t want to.

Hearts I hate are like the ones where you have to stealth and avoid detection (that one with the Ash Legion was poorly executed), and the hearts that rely on events to progress (Diessa Plateau → Requires the Flame Legion event for the mini-dungeon).

But overall, I was disappointed when I entered Orr and there were no hearts to complete.

Meh … it could be nice but it is also completely unnecessary in that hearts are mostly optional unless you desperately need a particular karma item for a skin. Quests in other games are usually less optional with some sort of progression hindering thing if you don’t do them or you lose out on huge chunks of exp.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

I don’t understand how this is a major issue:

• With a few exceptions, hearts only require a small number of actions.
• In most cases, doing the heart at the same time as someone else (party member or not) tends to spawn additional foes, giving all those nearby additional potential for progress.
• Hearts aren’t required for anything in the game other than map completion. They are an inefficient method of karma acquisition and slower than Dynamic Events for experience boosts.

When the game launched (and we were all inexperienced), my guild used to run around maps to explore and it took us only slightly longer to get 10-20 people heart completion than it would have to have moved on after the first few finished.

Despite the above, I’d have no objections to making the change, if it were easily done. However, any change to a fundamental mechanic ends up costing a lot of dev resources: introduce new mechanics, balance them to fit with the game, try to think of ways that they could be exploited or ‘gamed’ and prevent them, ensure that the change doesn’t have an unintended impact on other parts of the game, and then create a new protocol for testing it against future changes.

tl;dr the benefit seems small compared to costs.

Not an exploit but it’ll add at least one additional annoyance to the LFG tool …

The focus on interupting, movement and the telegraph system were the best things GW2 could take from Wildstar (which they kinda are already). Telegraph’d healing was the best thing I had seen – if GW2 is going to make healing ‘a thing’ it would be great to have those telegraphs (eg. Blue circle appears round a Mesmer charging a Mantra and gets filled with darker blue as the cast progresses – giving people the AoE and time to completion in a lovely graphic).

Thaddeus.4891:

No it wouldn’t. At least not with the system I propose. First of all he would need to take all his character (5 at max to be in the same party) around the area of the heart. Meaning he will need to move all 5 of them for each heart.

Macro’ed multiboxing would allow a player to move 5 characters with no more effort than it takes to move one character.

This is only thing GW2 desperately needs from Wildstar. Shirts are for casuals.

Sandbox Housing is welcome anywhere as well but baby steps.

Doggie.3184:

This is only thing GW2 desperately needs from Wildstar. Shirts are for casuals.

Sandbox Housing is welcome anywhere as well but baby steps.

Forgot about that, /signed.

TexZero.7910:

OR we can just remove hearts entirely….

I mean that is what the game was supposed to be designed around to begin with, hence why after you get to Orr there are no more hearts.

It was my understanding hearts were not originally planned. During pre-launch feedback, many players felt lost on what they were supposed to do without the more traditional “quests”, so hearts were added.

hearts are IMO a horrible idea, they should’ve kept things within quests.
sure, plenty of ppl would still say quests are boring, ppl who say that can’t think further then WoW quests.

why are quests better then hearts you say?
you can choose to do them when you want to
you have more to do in one area
they have a story behind them
they are not forced
they are more focused

hearts don’t have that:
way to global
forced
take up way to much space
don’t have much story to go for
are kind of boring to do

conclusion:
quests are supperior in every way, they are strong and holds the world up on a silver platter whether hears keeps you globally in one place doing nothing really important.
while quests let you discover new places, hearts keep you in the dark on certain areas.

I like the hearts as they are. I really liked them when I first joined GW2. What I cannot get over and no one agrees with me is that I have to complete the map for every character on my account. Why do I have to do what I’ve already done? Let me define EXPLORE. It means “go where no man has gone before.”

As far as Wildstar I just can’t find time to bother with it. I have other games I really enjoy besides GW2 on my consoles. I have nothing against Wildstar but I’m overwhelmed atm.

Nice feature, but who hasn’t finished every heart in the game yet?