Guild Wars 2

…Is the AC gear!

I can’t believe that Orr is alive again! Can you believe that?! That dead island is blooming with life! People fighting avatars, champions, doing group events! And it gets worse… I’m meeting people all over the world! They are doing jumping puzzles mini dungeons and group events just everywhere! And the game feels alive… That must stop!

The worst thing is that they are using their crafting professions again! The same thing that they’ve used only to level up their characters! Horror!

And the WvW went from being absolutely and horribly imbalanced to absolutely and horribly imbalanced! That’s outrageous!

I hope that’s going to stop as soon as possible! And we finally get back to Mario Kart racing, crab tossing and collecting minipets!

Because playing the game as we should be is getting on my nerve again!

And you know what AN? Don’t worry that you lied and changed your mind again. From this:

How is introducing VP[Vertical Progression] respecting the player? Because it’s fun to be challenged and rewarded. Because it’s fun to have the character you play grow and evolve over time. Because ArenaNet (sort of) held a hard line against all VP with GW1 — no VP ever, year after year — and it wasn’t that fun. It was stagnant.
We use purely cosmetic rewards for things that would be outside the reach of typical players. I have an oft-quoted line about that: “If someone wants to play for a thousand hours to get an item that is so rare that other players can’t realistically acquire it, that rare item should be differentiated by its visual appearance and rarity alone, not by being more powerful than everything else in the game.”
Since you’re describing yourself as an average player and asking about average players, it shouldn’t be out-of-bounds for us to give you something new in the game that’s more meaningful to your character than a purely cosmetic change.

To never introducing new gear tier again!

But you know what? Just put your tail between your legs and get us back on track! Make the game dead again!

Not sure what this thread is about but to be fair, Colin does look like the kind of guy who doesn’t keep his promises and will turn back on his word without hesitation (no sarcasm).

It’s probably the facial hair thing he has going. A common villain thing in movies.

Lafiel.9372:

Not sure what this thread is about but to be fair, Colin does look like the kind of guy who doesn’t keep his promises and will turn back on his word without hesitation (no sarcasm).

Get real… There is a big difference from theoretical game design and actual practical game design! Managing a business needs sometimes to go against the vision, as consequences can more problematic if it didn’t.

Vertical progression is necessary if the game hits a stationary state. If the vertical progression was huge, i would agree that it went overboard against the GW2 guidelines. But it isn’t. Some players already have ascended weapons, meaning the progression variation is actually irrelevant.

So, making variations to the original intended game design aren’t bad as long as the variations aren’t big and they cause a positive change within the game’s environment!

/cheers

OP is spot on. Sarcasm aside. I thought about making a similar thread.

There are people at every event you go to practically. It’s crazy. And not just 5 or 6 people. But 50 or more.

Best update since release.

Honestly, its infusions that are imba. AC gear makes sense. Its easy enough to get for anyone who cares. Its a true end-game gear slot.

I concur, this is the best update in a long way with regard to the overarching effects to the game world as a whole.

As for some people already with ascended, well keep in mind the chests can drop. Even if they are a low drop rate you are looking at tens of thousands of players. People are going to get them. Then you have the money bags that could boost progress by buying everything they could to help hit 500 as quick as possible. None of that makes the tier irrelevant. There were people out there that managed to get legendaries within weeks of launch.

It was a brilliant way to get people to sink gold, choose between selling/salvaging high end items and liquidate excess low tier materials while also requiring a decent time commitment. Lots of characters need 2-4 ascended weapons. Multiplied by every alt you intend to gear up. To get BiS for all my characters I would need 11 weapons. I may be able to get one or two quickly through crafting, but once I have blown through my resources, the rest of them are going to take time and effort and playing diverse content.

As convoluted and confusing to casual/new players as the process might be, it was a much needed addition.

Now I am just hoping they start focusing on content that makes those stats everyone is working so hard for relevant. I mentioned in another post that right now, even in the hardest content the game has to offer, you cant pick out an ally and tell if they are using masterwork, rare, exotic, or ascended trinkets.

Whats the point in devoting hours to getting BiS if 100% of the game can be done, efficiently, entirely using a tier or two below it? If we burn dozens of hours to get exotic weapons that amount to saving 8 minutes on a dungeon run, how many dungeon runs must we do for that investment to pay off? I think a fair question to ask in the hunt for ascended weapons (and soon armor) is, “Does my character need this to meet the challenges the game throws at me?”, if the answer is no, then why bother with it at all?

I must be playing a different game or am simply on a different server than OP. The general tone in map chat is negative on my server. I’ve witnessed a growing, open dismissal of anet. People are basically tired of the grind. And, cursed shore is not alive and vibrant as it once was. There are a few people zerging champs (mindnumbing repetition) but it’s largely the ghost town it’s been since 4/30. The ascended grind is having it’s natural effect on the player base. Anet had this right pre-launch. People are tired of gear grinds in typical MMO’s. We are ready for a new kind of MMO.

Raine.1394:

We are ready for a new kind of MMO.

Our time is now.

I dont count farming champs on rotation as a “living” zone.

GW2 is worse then at release. People are not enjoying the content… they are farming the content asap so they can go back to ignoring it again.

People mistake farming for content. It is not content… its a time delay. its a cheap way to provide something for players to do, and it shows a lack of true caring that Anet was once known for.

Ostra.3927:

I dont count farming champs on rotation as a “living” zone.

GW2 is worse then at release. People are not enjoying the content… they are farming the content asap so they can go back to ignoring it again.

People mistake farming for content. It is not content… its a time delay. its a cheap way to provide something for players to do, and it shows a lack of true caring that Anet was once known for.

So you managed to ask every single person who plays the game how they feel about it then?

You keep saying “people” like you did. Which doesn’t make sense because you didn’t ask me or any of my friends who play. Who by the way, don’t have any issues with ascended weapons and think people are largely over reacting and are all having fun doing events and killing dragons and kitten.

So what you really mean is you read some posts on the forum and asked maybe a few people in your guild and maybe a few more in map chat how they felt?

Right?

I have only played 1500 hours or so and demand my money back and let to keep playing my account and a PONY!
or not.

fellyn.5083:

Ostra.3927:

I dont count farming champs on rotation as a “living” zone.

GW2 is worse then at release. People are not enjoying the content… they are farming the content asap so they can go back to ignoring it again.

People mistake farming for content. It is not content… its a time delay. its a cheap way to provide something for players to do, and it shows a lack of true caring that Anet was once known for.

So you managed to ask every single person who plays the game how they feel about it then?

You keep saying “people” like you did. Which doesn’t make sense because you didn’t ask me or any of my friends who play. Who by the way, don’t have any issues with ascended weapons and think people are largely over reacting and are all having fun doing events and killing dragons and kitten.

So what you really mean is you read some posts on the forum and asked maybe a few people in your guild and maybe a few more in map chat how they felt?

Right?

You mean its the same post as the OP.

Thank you.

fellyn.5083:

OP is spot on. Sarcasm aside. I thought about making a similar thread.

There are people at every event you go to practically. It’s crazy. And not just 5 or 6 people. But 50 or more.

Best update since release.

I must agree, it had far more of an impact than I would have expected in terms of just increasing vibrancy in the open world. I love SAB and I’ve barely even touched it because there’s so much else to do with a hearty population (and I’m making rather a ton of money helping out the early ascended adopters :P).

fellyn.5083:

Ostra.3927:

I dont count farming champs on rotation as a “living” zone.

GW2 is worse then at release. People are not enjoying the content… they are farming the content asap so they can go back to ignoring it again.

People mistake farming for content. It is not content… its a time delay. its a cheap way to provide something for players to do, and it shows a lack of true caring that Anet was once known for.

So you managed to ask every single person who plays the game how they feel about it then?

You keep saying “people” like you did. Which doesn’t make sense because you didn’t ask me or any of my friends who play. Who by the way, don’t have any issues with ascended weapons and think people are largely over reacting and are all having fun doing events and killing dragons and kitten.

So what you really mean is you read some posts on the forum and asked maybe a few people in your guild and maybe a few more in map chat how they felt?

Right?

Notice I didnt say everyone.. or ALL people? I said.. people. plural. Multiple.

Doesnt matter if they are in map chat, guild, forums… that has no baring. There are multiple persons that do not have fun with farming FACT. How is it that I have to explain this to you? Ohh thats right… cause you are trolling.

PvE farmers might have fun granted. But I feel that is a weak attempt at fun and Id rather be doing about ANYTHING else. Maybe thats cause I have played MMOs for nearly 20 years and the idea of farming is a bit… backward thinking. I play mostly WvW in MMOs these days and the farming is just making people dumber , like watching a reality show.

HiddenNick.7206:

…Is the AC gear!

I can’t believe that Orr is alive again! Can you believe that?! That dead island is blooming with life! People fighting avatars, champions, doing group events! And it gets worse… I’m meeting people all over the world! They are doing jumping puzzles mini dungeons and group events just everywhere! And the game feels alive… That must stop!

The worst thing is that they are using their crafting professions again! The same thing that they’ve used only to level up their characters! Horror!

And the WvW went from being absolutely and horribly imbalanced to absolutely and horribly imbalanced! That’s outrageous!

I hope that’s going to stop as soon as possible! And we finally get back to Mario Kart racing, crab tossing and collecting minipets!

Because playing the game as we should be is getting on my nerve again!

And you know what AN? Don’t worry that you lied and changed your mind again. From this:

How is introducing VP[Vertical Progression] respecting the player? Because it’s fun to be challenged and rewarded. Because it’s fun to have the character you play grow and evolve over time. Because ArenaNet (sort of) held a hard line against all VP with GW1 — no VP ever, year after year — and it wasn’t that fun. It was stagnant.
We use purely cosmetic rewards for things that would be outside the reach of typical players. I have an oft-quoted line about that: “If someone wants to play for a thousand hours to get an item that is so rare that other players can’t realistically acquire it, that rare item should be differentiated by its visual appearance and rarity alone, not by being more powerful than everything else in the game.”
Since you’re describing yourself as an average player and asking about average players, it shouldn’t be out-of-bounds for us to give you something new in the game that’s more meaningful to your character than a purely cosmetic change.

To never introducing new gear tier again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy7CcwnfUdU

But you know what? Just put your tail between your legs and get us back on track! Make the game dead again!

The sarcasm is strong with this one.

In my opinion, ascended gear was the best thing that happened to this game, whether the general population likes it or not. It made people go out into the world and farm for materials, and made them farm not only champions, but dragon bosses, dungeons, jumping puzzles, and everything else. Not only that, but it gave me incentive to actually level up my crafting, which I never had the desire to level up before.

fellyn.5083:

Ostra.3927:

I dont count farming champs on rotation as a “living” zone.

GW2 is worse then at release. People are not enjoying the content… they are farming the content asap so they can go back to ignoring it again.

People mistake farming for content. It is not content… its a time delay. its a cheap way to provide something for players to do, and it shows a lack of true caring that Anet was once known for.

So you managed to ask every single person who plays the game how they feel about it then?

You keep saying “people” like you did. Which doesn’t make sense because you didn’t ask me or any of my friends who play. Who by the way, don’t have any issues with ascended weapons and think people are largely over reacting and are all having fun doing events and killing dragons and kitten.

So what you really mean is you read some posts on the forum and asked maybe a few people in your guild and maybe a few more in map chat how they felt?

Right?

Should I point out the irony of your response calling him out about using the word people, all of the assumptions you accuse him of are the exact thing you are doing.

Galtrix.7369:

HiddenNick.7206:

…Is the AC gear!

I can’t believe that Orr is alive again! Can you believe that?! That dead island is blooming with life! People fighting avatars, champions, doing group events! And it gets worse… I’m meeting people all over the world! They are doing jumping puzzles mini dungeons and group events just everywhere! And the game feels alive… That must stop!

The worst thing is that they are using their crafting professions again! The same thing that they’ve used only to level up their characters! Horror!

And the WvW went from being absolutely and horribly imbalanced to absolutely and horribly imbalanced! That’s outrageous!

I hope that’s going to stop as soon as possible! And we finally get back to Mario Kart racing, crab tossing and collecting minipets!

Because playing the game as we should be is getting on my nerve again!

And you know what AN? Don’t worry that you lied and changed your mind again. From this:

How is introducing VP[Vertical Progression] respecting the player? Because it’s fun to be challenged and rewarded. Because it’s fun to have the character you play grow and evolve over time. Because ArenaNet (sort of) held a hard line against all VP with GW1 — no VP ever, year after year — and it wasn’t that fun. It was stagnant.
We use purely cosmetic rewards for things that would be outside the reach of typical players. I have an oft-quoted line about that: “If someone wants to play for a thousand hours to get an item that is so rare that other players can’t realistically acquire it, that rare item should be differentiated by its visual appearance and rarity alone, not by being more powerful than everything else in the game.”
Since you’re describing yourself as an average player and asking about average players, it shouldn’t be out-of-bounds for us to give you something new in the game that’s more meaningful to your character than a purely cosmetic change.

To never introducing new gear tier again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy7CcwnfUdU

But you know what? Just put your tail between your legs and get us back on track! Make the game dead again!

The sarcasm is strong with this one.

In my opinion, ascended gear was the best thing that happened to this game, whether the general population likes it or not. It made people go out into the world and farm for materials, and made them farm not only champions, but dragon bosses, dungeons, jumping puzzles, and everything else. Not only that, but it gave me incentive to actually level up my crafting, which I never had the desire to level up before.

Yuh-huh.

New ANet signature:

“You WILL DO IT and you WILL LOVE IT”

worked good in the past…not lol

Galtrix.7369:

In my opinion, ascended gear was the best thing that happened to this game, whether the general population likes it or not. It made people go out into the world and farm for materials, and made them farm not only champions, but dragon bosses, dungeons, jumping puzzles, and everything else. Not only that, but it gave me incentive to actually level up my crafting, which I never had the desire to level up before.

Farm is fun, we get it.

There were so many people on desolation the server lag was unbearable. Melandru and Grenth are one big lagfest.

haviz.1340:

Farm is fun, we get it.

It is. It’s the core of MMOs. MMOs can’t survive on gameplay alone. They make sacrifices in gameplay and mechanics in order to be an MMO. The exchange is constant character progression. Right now GW2 has made sacrifices in its gameplay to be an MMO, but offers nothing in return. You get to the level cap and your progression for the most part completely ends. It’s a little silly.

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

It is. It’s the core of MMOs. MMOs can’t survive on gameplay alone. They make sacrifices in gameplay and mechanics in order to be an MMO. The exchange is constant character progression. Right now GW2 has made sacrifices in its gameplay to be an MMO, but offers nothing in return. You get to the level cap and your progression for the most part completely ends. It’s a little silly.

Wasn’t gw2 suppose to innovate and be different than other mmos?

“If you hate mmos you want to check gw2” iirc was used in something called manifesto.

HiddenNick.7206:

…Is the AC gear!

…snip….

Make the game dead again!

Wait 2 weeks when most of the “power gamers” have their new weapons, and it will all be fine. By the end of the month, you should see zones return to something close to their pre-AC status and the boards will be flooded with the usual complaints about weapon stats, WvW, farming, and “Mom, I’ve got nothing to do!”

edit: to include /wink to be in line with original posting style

haviz.1340:

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

It is. It’s the core of MMOs. MMOs can’t survive on gameplay alone. They make sacrifices in gameplay and mechanics in order to be an MMO. The exchange is constant character progression. Right now GW2 has made sacrifices in its gameplay to be an MMO, but offers nothing in return. You get to the level cap and your progression for the most part completely ends. It’s a little silly.

Wasn’t gw2 suppose to innovate and be different than other mmos?

“If you hate mmos you want to check gw2” iirc was used in something called manifesto.

Sure, and it is different – but that doesn’t mean you have to be 100% different. It throws away the core mechanic that makes MMOs successful. No vertical progression is laughably bad.

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

haviz.1340:

Farm is fun, we get it.

It is. It’s the core of MMOs. MMOs can’t survive on gameplay alone. They make sacrifices in gameplay and mechanics in order to be an MMO. The exchange is constant character progression. Right now GW2 has made sacrifices in its gameplay to be an MMO, but offers nothing in return. You get to the level cap and your progression for the most part completely ends. It’s a little silly.

No it isn’t. You don’t get it. MMO’s can survive on game play alone. There was a very successful game that sold 6.5 Million copies that had zero progression. I can log on to that game today and still be maximum efficiency and on on equal footing as my peers stat wise. The name of the game is Guild Wars. Ever heard of it? It’s a shame the developers stopped supporting it.

All joking aside it’s been my experience that people who enjoy vertical progression have Social Anxiety issues, are unemployed or work less than 20 hours per week, use MMO’s as an “escape” from real life because it gives them the opportunity to be successful, which is something they feel they can’t accomplish in the real world. Additionally since they have so much time on their hands they make up the majority of all forum post counts. Its funny how thick these people really are. They gear up, then a new tier is released, then they get that gear, then repeat, then repeat, then repeat, then repeat…..zzzzz. Then finally they put the game down never to play it or log on ever again. The true result is that they’ve wasted literally thousand of hours grinding and farming for virtual goods that they’ll never see or use ever again. It’s a lot silly.

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

Sure, and it is different – but that doesn’t mean you have to be 100% different. It throws away the core mechanic that makes MMOs successful. No vertical progression is laughably bad.

gw1 had no such stupid thing. But I guess you need a carrot to have fun.

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

haviz.1340:

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

It is. It’s the core of MMOs. MMOs can’t survive on gameplay alone. They make sacrifices in gameplay and mechanics in order to be an MMO. The exchange is constant character progression. Right now GW2 has made sacrifices in its gameplay to be an MMO, but offers nothing in return. You get to the level cap and your progression for the most part completely ends. It’s a little silly.

Wasn’t gw2 suppose to innovate and be different than other mmos?

“If you hate mmos you want to check gw2” iirc was used in something called manifesto.

Sure, and it is different – but that doesn’t mean you have to be 100% different. It throws away the core mechanic that makes MMOs successful. No vertical progression is laughably bad.

Vertical progression is not needed. Why you even buy the game knowing from the start that it was not in it at max level. Cosemetic only aka horizontal progression. Do you always need a carrot to chase after while playing. This game was suppose to be designed for those that wanted something different and now we are back to the same old thing.

haviz.1340:

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

Sure, and it is different – but that doesn’t mean you have to be 100% different. It throws away the core mechanic that makes MMOs successful. No vertical progression is laughably bad.

gw1 had no such stupid thing. But I guess you need a carrot to have fun.

Awesome post and an even more awesome attachment. +1

Heres the thing, those events that people are doing again would have been getting done in the first place if they were actually fun.

Great now I need to get a mop cause I just blew all your little peon minds.

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

haviz.1340:

Farm is fun, we get it.

It is. It’s the core of MMOs. MMOs can’t survive on gameplay alone. They make sacrifices in gameplay and mechanics in order to be an MMO. The exchange is constant character progression. Right now GW2 has made sacrifices in its gameplay to be an MMO, but offers nothing in return. You get to the level cap and your progression for the most part completely ends. It’s a little silly.

Farming is a chore to some and isn’t fun. They try to avoid it as much possible.
In GW2 I’m thankful that farming isn’t the need-all-be-all to the game because if so it would be uninstalled quickly.

haviz.1340:

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

Sure, and it is different – but that doesn’t mean you have to be 100% different. It throws away the core mechanic that makes MMOs successful. No vertical progression is laughably bad.

gw1 had no such stupid thing. But I guess you need a carrot to have fun.

6.5 million copies sold of a game that requires no subscription fees is supposed to be impressive? What’s a more important metric for a game like GW is how many people continue to play the game on a regular basis. This game has a very high turnover rate. That’s no secret.

I played GW1. I enjoyed it for a while until it inevitably became stale. GW1 had many many flaws which kept it from becoming a top of the line MMO. GW2 was supposed to expand on GW1 and become better than GW1. It’s actually worse.

It’s still a good enough game, but it does get extremely extremely stale after a short while.

If having no vertical progression is the way to go – why does this game even bother having leveling? Shouldn’t AN take it to the extreme and eliminate vertical progression all together? Do you really need to play 80 levels in order to become “prepared” for the exciting world of zero end game content?

Atlas.9704:

Farming is a chore to some and isn’t fun. They try to avoid it as much possible.
In GW2 I’m thankful that farming isn’t the need-all-be-all to the game because if so it would be uninstalled quickly.

No kitten farming is a chore. Believe it or not, there can be a nice middle ground between forcing people to farm for years on end to advance and having no advancement at all.

That’s the reason WoW was so successful in vanilla, BC and WOTLK. It was the perfect mesh between casual and hardcore. Eventually casuals complained about the game becoming stale because they could not get epics without dedicating 3+ hours a few days a week to raiding, so Blizzard gave away epics. It ruined the game. I was in a major raiding guild while working a full time job as an attorney. I could get epics and raid the highest level dungeons while only playing 10-15 hours a week. It was a great compromise.

It doesn’t have to be EQ1 or a grindfest korean MMO, but it certainly shouldn’t be the stale stagnant game it is now.

@PrivateSoftcore your almost there sir. And yep, your right. You only need enough levels to get you used to the mechanics of the game. 80 is too much. But its more tolerable than the recent things they have added because it doesnt take as long to achieve.

Now Im no game designer and I dont believe I should be but its not hard for me to imagine a game that is fun to play without verticle progression. Imagine a game that were built around the invasions of the last content patch. Except the invasions dont just happen on random maps, and the enemies dont spawn in random locations. And they dont just stand there waiting for you to come along and kill them. They have a purpose, and theres a story behind them and that purpose. And there are consequences for not beating them other than not getting a reward.

I know there are limitation and the reasons why it would be hard to do, But I have hope that they are more imaginative since they get paid to be and can come up with ways to make a more engaging game. One where you dont need busy work to keep you playing

Savoy.6824:

@PrivateSoftcore your almost there sir. And yep, your right. You only need enough levels to get you used to the mechanics of the game. 80 is too much. But its more tolerable than the recent things they have added because it doesnt take as long to achieve.

Now your probably not a game designer and you probably shouldnt be. It takes imagination and creativity. Im not one either and I dont believe I should be but its not hard for me to imagine a game that is fun to play without verticle progression. Imagine a game that were built around the invasions of the last content patch. Except the invasions dont just happen on random maps, and the enemies dont spawn in random locations. And they dont just stand there waiting for you to come along and kill them. They have a purpose, and theres a story behind them and that purpose. And there are consequences for not beating them other than not getting a reward.

If you can begin to picture that, and not think focus on the limitation and the reasons why it would be hard to do, then you are on your way to expanding your mind and starting to think out side the box your mind is currently in.

Lots of games are fun without vertical progression – for a few weeks. They are single player games that you beat and throw away only to pick up again a few years later when you are bored.

Very few games survive on mechanics alone – even COD, a game which is nearly 100% about gameplay, is forced to have a progression system in order to keep people interested.

Games like LoL are only able to remain profitable with constant evolution. New champions and a ladder system keep people playing the game. And that’s a game with very entertaining mechanics and gameplay which is easily repeatable.

Games like World of Tanks remain profitable only because they have a constant advancement grind, and that game has very entertaining mechanics and gameplay.

This game doesn’t have the mechanics and gameplay to survive on its own. Instead of improving the gameplay, they just shove new content down our throats to get you to forget about the major fundamental gameplay flaws.

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

If having no vertical progression is the way to go – why does this game even bother having leveling? Shouldn’t AN take it to the extreme and eliminate vertical progression all together? Do you really need to play 80 levels in order to become “prepared” for the exciting world of zero end game content?

Now the end content is about standing in LA by your crafting panel, great design indeed. Anet should stop leaving dungeons and fractals to rot and improve them and their rewards.

I totally agree with you PrivateSoftcore.6291 that they are shoving content at us every two weeks to makes us forget about the gameplay flaws. I think major is a bit harsh. But yea, there are flaws for sure. I have to disagree about the need for verticle progression though.

Why do people keep playing starcraft? I think they do because there is a semi complex game there that challenges the mind. Now the people that are playing that game are playing against other people and I know its hard to make an AI as smart as a person but I believe their resources would be betters spent at least trying to do that instead of creating unpolished living story and gear tiers.

Savoy.6824:

I totally agree with you PrivateSoftcore.6291 that they are shoving content at us every two weeks to makes us forget about the gameplay flaws. I think major is a bit harsh. But yea, there are flaws for sure. I have to disagree about the need for verticle progression though.

Why do people keep playing starcraft? I think they do because there is a semi complex game there that challenges the mind. Now the people that are playing that game are playing against other people and I know its hard to make an AI as smart as a person but I believe their resources would be betters spent at least trying to do that instead of creating unpolished living story and gear tiers.

Yes, but SC2 is a brilliant game and the designers spend nearly all of their resources polishing the gameplay. Imagine if the core mechanics were trash but blizzard released new units or maps every 2 weeks instead of fixing the core mechanics, bugs and imbalances. Doubt very many people would keep playing.

The moment I have to grind or farm for new content is the moment I look for a new game to play.

Thats why youll see me on every thread that supports crap like ascended asking for better gameplay and AI over the stuff they have been giving us until something better comes along. Fingers crossed EQnext can pull off all the things there talking about.

PrivateSoftcore.6291:

Savoy.6824:

@PrivateSoftcore your almost there sir. And yep, your right. You only need enough levels to get you used to the mechanics of the game. 80 is too much. But its more tolerable than the recent things they have added because it doesnt take as long to achieve.

Now your probably not a game designer and you probably shouldnt be. It takes imagination and creativity. Im not one either and I dont believe I should be but its not hard for me to imagine a game that is fun to play without verticle progression. Imagine a game that were built around the invasions of the last content patch. Except the invasions dont just happen on random maps, and the enemies dont spawn in random locations. And they dont just stand there waiting for you to come along and kill them. They have a purpose, and theres a story behind them and that purpose. And there are consequences for not beating them other than not getting a reward.

If you can begin to picture that, and not think focus on the limitation and the reasons why it would be hard to do, then you are on your way to expanding your mind and starting to think out side the box your mind is currently in.

Lots of games are fun without vertical progression – for a few weeks. They are single player games that you beat and throw away only to pick up again a few years later when you are bored.

Very few games survive on mechanics alone – even COD, a game which is nearly 100% about gameplay, is forced to have a progression system in order to keep people interested.

Games like LoL are only able to remain profitable with constant evolution. New champions and a ladder system keep people playing the game. And that’s a game with very entertaining mechanics and gameplay which is easily repeatable.

Games like World of Tanks remain profitable only because they have a constant advancement grind, and that game has very entertaining mechanics and gameplay.

This game doesn’t have the mechanics and gameplay to survive on its own. Instead of improving the gameplay, they just shove new content down our throats to get you to forget about the major fundamental gameplay flaws.

I disagree again about the vertical progression and the single player games. There are still people actively playing Oblivion, BF1942, COD: UO, Civilization, etc….. The problem you are referring to is the story line. Those single player games are meant to end. They are meant to be beaten and then put aside until the next installment. People don’t stop playing Uncharted 2 because of the lack of gear progression. That makes no sense at all. GW2 has the ability to keep the story going, to evolve and add more content. Farming and Grinding is not content. Gear progression is nothing more than a time sink. You are clearly smart enough to understand that. This game would be just fine without vertical progression as long as they give us fun things to do, which dare I say it, they have with SAB and Bazaar of the 4 Winds, and Aetherblade Dungeon, and Halloween Activities, and Christmas activities.

I think what is missing most from this game is fun and inviting PvP. Bring back HoH / HA, GvG, Bodyblocking and watch the number of players soar.

Lafiel.9372:

Not sure what this thread is about but to be fair, Colin does look like the kind of guy who doesn’t keep his promises and will turn back on his word without hesitation (no sarcasm).

It’s probably the facial hair thing he has going. A common villain thing in movies.

I think Colin is really great, but dosen’t matter how awesome he is, no man can cover all those lies misleading informations :/

HiddenNick.7206:

But you know what? Just put your tail between your legs and get us back on track! Make the game dead again!

So your contention is that there was no other way these things could have been achieved?

Legendaries should be account bound rather than soul bound. And they shouldn’t be able to be sold on Trading Post, same goes for Ascended Gears as well. Ascended gears should also come with adjustable stats.

Doon.2364:

Legendaries should be account bound rather than soul bound. And they shouldn’t be able to be sold on Trading Post.

The implementation of ascended items is bizarre its like they knew they made a mistake with legendaries so they implemented asc weapons the way they though they should have implemented legendaries, but because asc weapons are a whole tier of weapons they have just ended up needlessly punishing the vast majority of players who don’t want a legendary but want BiS.

Its poor game design and reflects badly on the professionalism of anet.

Come to think of it, I think the worst idea that came out of Arena are Dailies. It really took the fun out of the game and made it into a chore. It pressure players to log on everyday. You should be able to take a break without feeling you are falling behind. Yes, we know dailies are not required or needed. But most who enjoys the game will want the best for their toons and keep up with the rest of their friends. Time gating should be done more cleverly so that it’s not a chore list just like how they are now doing it with Ascended weapons through time gated ingredients. Dailies and Monthlies should just be eliminated.

Ostra.3927:

fellyn.5083:

Ostra.3927:

I dont count farming champs on rotation as a “living” zone.

GW2 is worse then at release. People are not enjoying the content… they are farming the content asap so they can go back to ignoring it again.

People mistake farming for content. It is not content… its a time delay. its a cheap way to provide something for players to do, and it shows a lack of true caring that Anet was once known for.

So you managed to ask every single person who plays the game how they feel about it then?

You keep saying “people” like you did. Which doesn’t make sense because you didn’t ask me or any of my friends who play. Who by the way, don’t have any issues with ascended weapons and think people are largely over reacting and are all having fun doing events and killing dragons and kitten.

So what you really mean is you read some posts on the forum and asked maybe a few people in your guild and maybe a few more in map chat how they felt?

Right?

Notice I didnt say everyone.. or ALL people? I said.. people. plural. Multiple.

Doesnt matter if they are in map chat, guild, forums… that has no baring. There are multiple persons that do not have fun with farming FACT. How is it that I have to explain this to you? Ohh thats right… cause you are trolling.

PvE farmers might have fun granted. But I feel that is a weak attempt at fun and Id rather be doing about ANYTHING else. Maybe thats cause I have played MMOs for nearly 20 years and the idea of farming is a bit… backward thinking. I play mostly WvW in MMOs these days and the farming is just making people dumber , like watching a reality show.

So let me ask you…what do you want to be doing in the game? What do you consider fun?

Also, “people” is a very broad word. Unless you indicate somewhere how many you mean exactly I’m going to assume you mean all people.

Savoy.6824:

Heres the thing, those events that people are doing again would have been getting done in the first place if they were actually fun.

Great now I need to get a mop cause I just blew all your little peon minds.

“You WILL DO IT and you WILL LOVE IT”

morrolan.9608:

HiddenNick.7206:

But you know what? Just put your tail between your legs and get us back on track! Make the game dead again!

So your contention is that there was no other way these things could have been achieved?

I’m just saying that AC was suppose to be this game end… When it turned out to be something opposite. And had positive impact on the overall experience.

I really shouldn’t add the last part of my post. As it clouded my intentions. I’m not even sure if I want more gear tiers. But AC gear was really well designed and I’m happy about it. So I don’t want AN to hesitate if they ever need to add more gear tiers to serve some other purpose (if someone didn’t realized yet AC gear solve a lot of problems with the game gear, crafting professions, economy and rewards).