Guild Wars 2

forum bug post …….

With the free armor repairs there were effectively no punishments for death anymore. Reducing the amount of waypoints will inceease the value of not dying. And firce players to learn how to travel.
I saw a reduced number of waypoints on the leaked maps as well, so I think its preparation. Small maps with waypoints, transit to big maps with few waypoints.
I can guarantee you, without this transition the forums will light ablaze with people ranting about few waypoints on future maps

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>> i also like to think this trend is to prepare us for future maps with only cornerstone waypoints

Menadena.7482:

IndigoSundown.5419:

I’m not keen on unlocking WP’s with currency. I’d guess the idea of “use currency and unlock for account” is a test due to the requests to not have to run each alt to WP’s to unlock them. For my preference, I’d hope the test fails. I prefer the old system.

I prefer what we get with the new map. If you are REALLY dead-set against them you get one character-bound WP just by entering the map.

My objection is not to their existence, it’s to the unlock method. “Do without” is rarely a good solution, as the game is designed around the idea that it’s better to have them. Doing without such"optional" features is rarely as aggravation free as having them.

Menadena.7482:

Meanwhile if you run around the shore gathering pearls you can then head up to a merchant and unlock an account-bound spot. The big difference is it is *****FREE***** to use thereafter. Say I do not do much and use 5 teleports per day. In a couple weeks that is a gold that I saved. How much do people think pearls are worth? Shrines are a STEAL, especially since you do not need to run around with all of your alts unlocking them.

See, I don’t expect other players to agree with me. I guess you can say I’m spitting into the wind in the vain hope that someone will get it. My objection is on the level of design philosophy.

MMO’s survive by using repetition systems. Without enforcing the need to repeat “stuff,” MMO’s can and do bleed players. As a result, there are going to be things that need to be repeated.

Maxing alts (i.e., getting them fully leveled, geared and ready to do whatever passes for endgame stuff) has been an MMO time sink since there have been MMO’s. Yet Gw2 has done away with a lot of the time sink aspects of alt generation. Insta 20- 30 – 40 scrolls and tomes mean no need to actually play the character to max level. Gearing is doable without leaving the home city. Now, assuming this is a test, we could see WP’s being retrofit to a currency unlock system rather than a play the character system.

A big time sink (alt readying) may end up being removed completely. Maybe not, of course. Maybe the shrine concept will only be used in new maps. That would be a lesser time sink loss. However, most of the complaints about WP unlock have been about the core WP’s, probably because things like guild missions, world bosses, etc. take place in core maps. Who knows what ANet will do.

In the end, I wonder what other time sinks will be added that I’ll end up disliking more than I do running alts around. Because MMO’s absolutely are going to have time sinks. I recognize that this is a somewhat pessimistic view, and that it’s likely to be unpopular. Convenience seems to be a major overriding concern for a lot of players.

Fortunately, I’m not claiming to represent a large group, just myself.

It’s an interesting idea that removing the most onerous existing time sinks could be bad because they might be replaced by even uglier sinks. However, I don’t agree that ANet should worry about that.

The only way the industry (including ANet) will evolve from the current status quo is to break out of “well that’s the way everyone does it” mode. They will surely make some mistakes (Exhibit A: Living World Season 1, which was truly living — never the same month to month, but made some people feel as if they always had to be in game, always had to rush). Just as surely, they’ll invent some really great ideas along the way.

So, no, I don’t think ANet should stick to the original systems because we might hate them less; I think they should try to eliminate as much tedium as possible, attempting to replace it with content that we want to repeat, rather than feel forced to repeat.

The shrines in Siren’s are a good step in that direction (in my opinion).

I am not quite sure I see the objection. Unlocking WPs is hardly a challenge, it is just monotony. Even if the unlock process was ecactly the same look at it this was. Would you rather spend, say, 2 silver each time you used one or maybe do 1 silver’s worth of work on one of your characters then have it free forever?

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

It’s an interesting idea that removing the most onerous existing time sinks could be bad because they might be replaced by even uglier sinks. However, I don’t agree that ANet should worry about that.

The only way the industry (including ANet) will evolve from the current status quo is to break out of “well that’s the way everyone does it” mode. They will surely make some mistakes (Exhibit A: Living World Season 1, which was truly living — never the same month to month, but made some people feel as if they always had to be in game, always had to rush). Just as surely, they’ll invent some really great ideas along the way.

So, no, I don’t think ANet should stick to the original systems because we might hate them less; I think they should try to eliminate as much tedium as possible, attempting to replace it with content that we want to repeat, rather than feel forced to repeat.

The shrines in Siren’s are a good step in that direction (in my opinion).

So, I’m a pessimist. I’ve got reason. I liked the game a lot better at launch than I do now. Many more changes have left a sour taste than have brought delight. I still play, mostly because other MMO’s are either terrible, rent-only or worse. I don’t expect ANet not to innovate, or try things. I do express my opinion because it does matter to me. Sometimes, by happy accident, I even find others who think the same. I don’t expect that this time.

I don’t want to return to the “waypoint zerg-it !” mentality that came with Central Tyria maps ,especially at big events and world bosses. You are in active warzones, not prancing across a meadow, too many waypionts not only breaks immersion (like in Orr), but makes the game too easy since there’s no meaning to death.

If you need waypoints alot you’re not learning to play the game, you’re relying on a broken resurrection mechanic to crutch you through it .

I know I sound oldhat here, but death and travel are both essentially free in this game compared to older MMOs where you had to cross an entire game world on a mount every time you died, unless you had a mage to teleport you.

I like when they succeed, so it worth the risk (to me) that they try at all. You hate the cost when they fail, so it might not be worth the risk (to you) that they try.

Since you liked the game at launch, it would seem that you also like it when they succeed. Since I hate them adding gates into the game just for the sake of grinding, I also dislike it when they fail.

So it’s less about optimism:pessimism; it’s more about risk:reward.

I’m pessimistic because I don’t expect ANet to succeed in pleasing me. That’s often been the case. If I maintain a pessimistic outlook, the surprises are for the most part
good ones.

Get on map. Do some dailies and run around to open some waterlogged chests to get pearls. Unlock the shrine waypoints which are free to use. Get alt on map and use said shrine waypoints for free to get more pearls.

I don’t get this type of complaints. Seriously this map is so tiny a keep on DBL might be even bigger.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

I’m liking these account bound waypoints. It only took one play period to get all unlocked and now I can jump in to the map on any alt and play the whole map without needing to do waypoint runs. That, the waypoint runs, was a problem for me in the HoT maps. I didn’t want to bring a new alt to those maps when I only wanted to play so I stuck to the ones that had the waypoints already unlocked. I hope ANet has these account wide waypoints on all their new maps from now on.

I totally agree!

Astralporing.1957:

Ayrilana.1396:

Astralporing.1957:

Ayrilana.1396:

The maps already have a lot of waypoints.

Not the recent ones, they haven’t.

Yes they do. Well maybe with the exception of Bitterfrost.

The last one is okay, if we consider shrines to be waypoints (i don’t, but i agree that may be debatable). Bloodstone Fen is passable. Bitterfrost however is really bad. So is Draconic Mons (seriously, there are places there for which the closest waypoint is on the other side of the map). And while Lake Doric and Ember Bay are a bit better, they aren’t any good either.

So, you have 1 (maybe 2) out of 6 that are either ok or barely passable, 2 that are really bad, and 2(3) that are moderately bad.

Bloodstone Fen has more than enough. There’s a WP in any of the sections that you would need to go and everywhere else with a major event can be gotten to relatively quickly.

Ember Bay has a WP at each of the camps/hearts except for Jade. The mastery has the lava tubes which allow players to travel to specific points such as Jade. The map is fine.

Bitterfrost has two WP which is far from a lot of things on the map.

Lake Doric has three WP which is manageable. There are some places that will require a bit of travel if they ley lines are not active.

Draconis Mons has enough WP. The only two hearts which don’t have one are for the Inquest base and that one where the Druid escort begins. The former can quickly be reached using the lava tubes with the latter requiring a bit more time by gliding down from the mercenary camp WP.

Siren’s Bay is fine as you have a WP to each shrine where most of the gameplay on the map occurs.

I’ll also mention that Dry Top had like five WP with a lot of travel required to get to certain locations just like the new maps. SW has two WP, with one often contested, which requires a lot of travel. SSC has like 5 WP, with one normally contested, and about as much travel is needed as on the new maps.

Ayrilana.1396:

Draconis Mons has enough WP. The only two hearts which don’t have one are for the Inquest base and that one where the Druid escort begins. The former can quickly be reached using the lava tubes with the latter requiring a bit more time by gliding down from the mercenary camp WP.

Slight side note here: The Vigil heart is swiftly reached by thermal tube from the entry WP. The tube just upslope from the WP drops you within yards of the heart vendor.

Donari.5237:

Ayrilana.1396:

Draconis Mons has enough WP. The only two hearts which don’t have one are for the Inquest base and that one where the Druid escort begins. The former can quickly be reached using the lava tubes with the latter requiring a bit more time by gliding down from the mercenary camp WP.

Slight side note here: The Vigil heart is swiftly reached by thermal tube from the entry WP. The tube just upslope from the WP drops you within yards of the heart vendor.

Ah. I wish I had paid attention to have known that when I was farming hearts for the backpack months ago.