Guild Wars 2

Solid Gold.9310:

Tumult.2578:

It sounds like you object to finding that your money spent on HoT went exclusively to content for only about10% of the player base.

You are not alone in that perspective.

Yes everybody should be able to explore all aspects of the game, doesn’t matter if your casual, rubbish etc.

There should be difficulty levels, with reduced awards of course, more rewards as you go up the levels.

This would reduce the elitism to some extent, “You can’t do this at our level” is not quite so bad as “You’re not ever going to get to do this”.

Remember ArenaNet we all payed full price for this content, not paid so we could be excluded from a big part of it.

I would like to add to that, I’m only really suggesting levels of difficulty should be added to raids and maybe dungeons/fractals.

By doing this it would allow everybody to experience all aspects of the game if they so wish.

I wouldn’t want to see open world content reduced in difficulty (As it scales anyway), but I would like to see maps that are full.

If the only issue you have with the new maps is the difficulty in exploring, join a guild and find an exploring buddy. That, or post in open world lfg that you are doing HP’s in a map and you’ll have a party in no time.

I’m far from an elite player and I find the content both challenging and fun. I’m tired of steamrolling through all content and having “spam 1” as a viable playstyle. HoT is very refreshing and exciting.

As for champ hero points, I do believe that hero points should be soloable, and having a champ that does 30k damage attacks regularly is just “artificial difficulty”. That being said, there are frequent map callouts and large groups to help with champ hero points, including many champ hero point trains that people run. However once HoT maps start to empty out, these things may be harder to find.

Hey Tym,

Im with you on his – I started HoT at the beginning of week 3 after release and yet even already despite the entire Map mechanics of HoT coercing you into needing groups the maps are empty, I have no idea how they are going to sustain this XP – who is going to be buying HoT in the New Year knowing this?

People here seem to think it IS soloable and maybe if you are geared up to the teeth in a none squishy proff with a shed load of excess teenage energy to invest on having to be Raid style focused just to mosey around a map then yes – but lets be honest – most of us are over 20, have jobs, commitments and do NOT want to have to be totally ‘on’ at all times – there should have been at least 1 relaxed map.

Here is a Reddit thread from some really nice guy who tried to make people like us have an easier time…

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3td33y/a_soloable_hp_guide_for_getting_all_your_specs/?

Oh boy, another one of these.

What? Where? Who?

Rococo.8347:

Hey Tym,

Im with you on his – I started HoT at the beginning of week 3 after release and yet even already despite the entire Map mechanics of HoT coercing you into needing groups the maps are empty, I have no idea how they are going to sustain this XP – who is going to be buying HoT in the New Year knowing this?

People here seem to think it IS soloable and maybe if you are geared up to the teeth in a none squishy proff with a shed load of excess teenagne energy to invest on having to be Raid style focused just to mosey around a map then yes – but les be honest – most of us are over 20 have jobs, commitments and do NOT want to have to be totally ‘on’ at all times – there should have been at least 1 relaxed map.

Here is a Reddit thread from some really nice guy who tried to make people like us have an easier time…

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3td33y/a_soloable_hp_guide_for_getting_all_your_specs/?

Thank you for the link. That’s a nice, organized rundown and it could be handy in the future.

Like some others here, I work every day, I have a wife and two kids (7 and 10), so I don’t get nearly as much time as I would like. Maybe an hour or two at a time and I don’t get to play every day, so things take longer. Even so, I’ve soloed most of VB, AB and TD (So far), with the exception of the HPs and obviously the metas. Haven’t gone in to Dragon Stand yet as I’m still doing map completion for AB and TD. Again…slow going for a casual, especially if you get a crappy map.

You don’t need groups to travel these maps, but you do need to know how to use your class effectively or you’ll get eaten up by the first group of pocket raptors you encounter. If you want to solo, I strongly suggest specing at least a bit of toughness. Going glass canon and mashing attack 1, works fine in regular Tyria and may even work “OK” for groups in HoT, but for solo in HoT, you’ll get eaten alive. HoT and moving my necro to a reaper spec has completely changed how I play. I understand my necro better than I ever have.

I’ve learned in this game, that even a casual player can benefit from a good sized guild. As another suggestion, get yourself in to a medium-large sized guild (Say 150+ people) and get in to chat. Get to know the regulars and the guild leaders. They’re usually a great bunch of people and they’ll very often help out with things like HPs and dungeons if you’re having problems. They’re also a great source of information. You’ll also have access to other fun events like guild missions, guild puzzles, and guild bounty hunts. Guilds are one of the core features of GW2 after all. Most large guilds are fine with casuals unless they’re a hardcore PvP or WvW guild.

Klangy.8293:

Is casual’ nowdays just “login, press 1 and free items”?

Actually, that’s true for every player. You login, press 1 and get free items from some creature you killed. I guess we’re all “casual”.

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

Klangy.8293:

Is casual’ nowdays just “login, press 1 and free items”?

Actually, that’s true for every player. You login, press 1 and get free items from some creature you killed. I guess we’re all “casual”.

You don’t even need to press 1. Log in once a day and just just collect the little dancing chest on the right of your screen. No creature killing necessary.

Manasa Devi.7958:

Casual doesn’t mean unskilled.

Casual players are immensely hindered by the ridiculously long meta event cycles tied to the real-world clock. Casual players don’t plan their playing hours. They log in, and play.

Some of them are skilled enough to deal with any challenge in the new maps, except the challenge of needing to be online at specific times to participate in the only significant content on offer in the new maps.

Well, to be clear, since this is a thing that people often get confused… there are two main types of casual players:

• Casual 1: Doesn’t have much time to play.
• Casual 2: Isn’t interested in thinking too hard about game mechanics. Basically wants to kitten around all the time when playing.

(obviously one can be both, but not all are)

Same with “hardcore” players. There are those who call themselves hardcore because they invest a lot of time, but in reality, their mindset is more like Casual 2.

This is why I refer to myself as having a “hardcore mindset.” I could be playing one hour a week or 60 and I’d still be taking the mechanics seriously and thinking fairly hard about how stuff works.

Furthermore, casual and hardcore come with a lot of assumptions that simply aren’t true. For instance, people often act like hardcore players are the ones who are cool with grinding all day and casuals are the ones who want things handed to them. But casual players can like or not like a particular grind, same as hardcore players. The only real difference is in how they approach the grind.

People with a casual mindset actually seem to be more likely to enjoy grinds because they are so casual about it that it virtually never feels like one. While hardcore players, due to their focus on the mechanics, may at times be more efficient, but are actually more likely to hate grinds because their mindset means that it’s nearly impossible NOT to notice the grind while it’s happening.

Someone with a hardcore mindset who doesn’t have much time to play is probably the most likely to get upset about a lengthy grind for something they want.

The kneejerk place people go with this is to think that when the hardcore mind doesn’t like something, or vice-versa, it is their responsibility to come over to the casual side (or vice-versa). Nothing could be more absurd. Most of us think the way we do from genes and/or years of social conditioning. We don’t change overnight.

Julie Yann.5379:

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

Klangy.8293:

Is casual’ nowdays just “login, press 1 and free items”?

Actually, that’s true for every player. You login, press 1 and get free items from some creature you killed. I guess we’re all “casual”.

You don’t even need to press 1. Log in once a day and just just collect the little dancing chest on the right of your screen. No creature killing necessary.

Whoah! You’re right. And I’ve been working my butt off pressing 1 like a sucker. I need to get more casual. xD

Klangy.8293:

Well signs The only thing you get from 100% complete is stuff for legendary. I think if u call yourself casual u will not get legendary anyway. It’s total of 40HP and u need 25 for elite. And it’s not like u running around solo either. And the small events pre meta is easy solable.

Or the spcialisation collection weapons… And why do you keep saying “Signs”?

Well, I just spent 3 freaking hours, I got one hp, just because there was a fight in progress, finally got the the next one, spent over 2 hours trying to get help with one stupid champ.

Thanks Anet for making the game Stupid hard. So glad I paid you guys 50 bucks for this. So awesome of you to make a game you simply cant play by yourself. Never again.

tym.3791:

Well, I just spent 3 freaking hours, I got one hp, just because there was a fight in progress, finally got the the next one, spent over 2 hours trying to get help with one stupid champ.

Thanks Anet for making the game Stupid hard. So glad I paid you guys 50 bucks for this. So awesome of you to make a game you simply cant play by yourself. Never again.

MMO’s are by definition not meant to be played alone. If you play an MMO you need to be mentally prepared that some of the content is designed around groups of several people.

If you have the desire to solo everything in a game I can recommend lots of singleplayer games that can be played all by yourself.

Coming into an MMO-forum like you just did and demanding it be nerfed to the ground so it can be played like a singleplayer game is frankly quite ridiculous.

Guild Wars 2 is an MMO and will always have a certain amount of content that requires a coordinated effort from several people. That won’t change no matter how much you dislike it.

I understand you’re frustrated with the increase in difficulty on the new maps but I suggest you motivate yourself in tackling these new challenges or look for a different genre of video games.

good luck

Open lfg create party for “VB hero points” or whatever i promise you it will fill in a few mins max.

Personally on my first character going through the new zones i just explored and picked up hero points as a i stumbled along them without much effort i had my elite spec fully unlocked without any hassle. The HoT zones provide progression in that when you first step into the jungle it seems confusing a dangerous like a jungle should….. after you spend some time in their you begin to get an understanding of the jungle , by exploring and doing some events and your personal story you will also unlock some masteries and pretty soon you are flying through the canopies like Tarzan on crack blowing up everything and the map becomes trivial.

I found this form of progression much more rewarding than grind 10 more levels in generic flat zones with quest hubs etc. As a casual player who has never stepped inside a dungeon / fractal or any of the so called difficult content this expansion really rewards a casual play style of just running around exploring taking part in events etc

This game for everyone dude casuals and hardcore players unfortunatly raids are really not all that casualish normally i9t will be nice though if they put some other challenges in for the casuals so they have another way of earnin the legendary armors pretty sure they will come up with something though. And from what i see the raid isnt all that bad hard yes but not as time sinky as games like lets say wow where it will take you 7-8 hours to run a raid instance lol. So casuals can actually get into the action just get into a active guild that has casuals.Not hard people are making it sound more difficult than it really is.

I am a casual, solo player. I have a legendary “The Dreamer” and 100% map completion, including the HoT zones (thanks only to being in the right place at the right time). I use online guides to walk me through certain aspects of the game, otherwise I would NEVER figure out how to get certain places or obtain certain items. Heck, if it wasn’t for Dulfy I wouldn’t know half of what the game even has in it.

Unfortunately, now I am at a point where there is nothing to do but repeatedly grind content to get mastery points I still lack. Of course, I lack all the ones that are achieved by doing things I do not enjoy… like fractals, dungeons, etc. So my time with the game is up unless things change. I just wish there was a group option and a solo option to obtain everything that the game offers. Thankfully, there is no monthly fee so I can check in every month or so to see if the game is more solo player friendly.

And before you say “it’s an MMO…” to me that just means a lot of other people play it, it shouldn’t mean I have to rely on them to obtain certain things. Anyway, y’all have fun playing whatever way you enjoy playing.

Casual players like OP have all of tyria for easy content which requires little effort. HOT is the only open world map which actually provides some challenge. I find most of tyria maps boring as they are too easy for me.

Please do not take away the few maps I actually enjoy. Casuals have all they need in the core game, I don’t see why they have to have ALL content in the game reduced to their level.

sonicsix.5713:

And before you say “it’s an MMO…” to me that just means a lot of other people play it, it shouldn’t mean I have to rely on them to obtain certain things. Anyway, y’all have fun playing whatever way you enjoy playing.

The game was advertised as a game where lots of players come together and work together in the open world to complete events. Right from the very start. This is also the status quo for the MMO genre, cooperation to complete content.

I am not saying every MMO HAS to follow this trend. Im sure there are plenty that break it, but gw2 has always advertised itself as one that DOES follow. I dont see why you expect content therefore to be soloable when there has been no indication of any intent from the developers to take that direction with HOT.

Klangy.8293:

except the challenge of needing to be online at specific times to participate in the only significant content on offer in the new maps.

Dunno why u say this, IF u are casual’ and just loh in to play, just do it? If not VB, do AB or TD or DS? If you wanna do some special event u have to wait for it. The yimr cant wait for you to be ready, otherwise we would have even more maps empty if everyone could start there own. And the events are not that long and u can join them when ever. Yesterday i just browse LFG for 1-2 min and joined a map. Turn on my tag and start do prequests. Asking people to taxi people and then we hade full map, and event was done.

Dude really get a grip ok: CASUAL for MANY players means we DO NOT have the TIME to sit in LFG for a LONG TIME taking away from the PRECIOUS GAMETIME we have. I can NOT spend more then an hour a day currently in gaming. WHY would I spend this 20 MINUTES of that time looking for a freaking full map that has likely done the meta over half already, and even IF I JOIN i MUST BE ONLINE FOR TWO HOURS TO REAP ALL THE REWARDS. THATS WHERE THE FAULT LIES WITH MANY PEOPLE. not their skill, not the amount of stuff that is needed to be done. IT IS ALL TIMEBOUND! So now you keep your self in line, because all i see you do on the forums is downtalk people giving legitimate complaints.

and for those saying it is an MMO so we MUST play together: No, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_game

it is an OPTION to play together!

mcwurth.2081:

and for those saying it is an MMO so we MUST play together: No, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_game

it is an OPTION to play together!

The problem is, in the FAQ published before GW 2 ever launched, Anet said to the question can I play Guild Wars 2 solo, it said only you can reach max level solo. At the same time we believe that there are times when the community needs to come together to accomplish goals.

So whatever the definition of MMO is, this game was never intended for people to solo everything.

Sadly, with less and less people in the maps, if you missed the rush and can’t play 24/7 you are going to struggle to get to half of DS map at all, and forget about completing most of the HP’s unless you like wasting at least 30 minutes + finding a group or spamming a deserted map’s map chat after you have finally followed some convuluted route to reach it.

zombyturtle.5980:

sonicsix.5713:

And before you say “it’s an MMO…” to me that just means a lot of other people play it, it shouldn’t mean I have to rely on them to obtain certain things. Anyway, y’all have fun playing whatever way you enjoy playing.

The game was advertised as a game where lots of players come together and work together in the open world to complete events. Right from the very start. This is also the status quo for the MMO genre, cooperation to complete content.

I am not saying every MMO HAS to follow this trend. Im sure there are plenty that break it, but gw2 has always advertised itself as one that DOES follow. I dont see why you expect content therefore to be soloable when there has been no indication of any intent from the developers to take that direction with HOT.

A MMO should cater to ALL play styles. That way it maintains a healthy player base. Open world, imho, should be relatively soloable (but still difficult). Group content is for Raids, fractals and dungeons. Group content should offer better rewards, but soloable content should offer the same rewards, only in smaller quantity. That way, solo folks can still experience most aspects of the game, work towards the same end goals but will take longer as the rewards are smaller than group content.

But here you have multiple play styles being, for a lack of a better term, phased out. So they alienate solo folks. They alienated WvW folks. Then even the group folks will whine that their guildies left and they cannot finish group content anymore. And since the solo stuff was phased out, theres nothing left for them to do either, so they cry and leave the game.

It does not promote a healthy game..

Vayne.8563:

mcwurth.2081:

and for those saying it is an MMO so we MUST play together: No, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_game

it is an OPTION to play together!

The problem is, in the FAQ published before GW 2 ever launched, Anet said to the question can I play Guild Wars 2 solo, it said only you can reach max level solo. At the same time we believe that there are times when the community needs to come together to accomplish goals.

So whatever the definition of MMO is, this game was never intended for people to solo everything.

I never said everything did I ? OFCOURSE people will/have to play together at some point in an ONLINE game, that is the ultimate design/goal for the devs with making it an online game. However, throwing around constantly the sentence: HURR DURR IT IS AN MMO PLAY TOGETHER NOAH!, is just bashing on those that prefer to do certain content on their own like roaming around/exploring. Personally i get fine through VB (yes thats the only map I got so far because I need some masteries to progress) and have no clue as of yet about the rest. I always played big events “together” on the core game, yet NOT in a PUG or something. I am aware that in the new maps we MUST play as a bigger group, and many people simply do not understand the mechanics of the metas yet (including me tbh).

For me the biggest issue is that the meta events take to long and should be divided in many smaller events. I logged on last night did some smaller event (some doctor that needed help getting people back to the camp?) and then i saw an event started about some master in arms or something. I did that, we killed some champion, brought this dude back in his old form and went back to the camp, he fixes the tents…. oh now i get a reward! well so i thought…. not. no reward at all. So yeah I simply logged off. I know for a fact I SHOULD HAVE gotten some form of reward but I didnt, and it was not the first time I did not get a reward. this happens all the time, and I just feel unrewarded for my play time specially since the mobs during events give me NO XP! thats all. IDC about how hard the creatures are, it feels epic to be with a mob of people and kill a legendary together, rez people, heal them some/support them, put some damage etc etc (ranger/druid I am) yes I love that, but being not rewarded for stuff, or events that take 2 hours…. No, it does not work for many people, and that I think is the biggest issue here currently. including for me.

Meta events are divided into many smaller events. I know the exact events you’re referring to because I did all of them in that chain this morning; you get an event reward for EVERY ONE of them, PLUS your periodic participation reward for the meta AND whatever loot drops from the mobs in the events, including champ bags, etc… If you THINK you didn’t get a reward, you simply missed it because rewards are raining on you all the time in VB.

mulzi.8273:

zombyturtle.5980:

sonicsix.5713:

And before you say “it’s an MMO…” to me that just means a lot of other people play it, it shouldn’t mean I have to rely on them to obtain certain things. Anyway, y’all have fun playing whatever way you enjoy playing.

The game was advertised as a game where lots of players come together and work together in the open world to complete events. Right from the very start. This is also the status quo for the MMO genre, cooperation to complete content.

I am not saying every MMO HAS to follow this trend. Im sure there are plenty that break it, but gw2 has always advertised itself as one that DOES follow. I dont see why you expect content therefore to be soloable when there has been no indication of any intent from the developers to take that direction with HOT.

A MMO should cater to ALL play styles. That way it maintains a healthy player base. Open world, imho, should be relatively soloable (but still difficult). Group content is for Raids, fractals and dungeons. Group content should offer better rewards, but soloable content should offer the same rewards, only in smaller quantity. That way, solo folks can still experience most aspects of the game, work towards the same end goals but will take longer as the rewards are smaller than group content.

But here you have multiple play styles being, for a lack of a better term, phased out. So they alienate solo folks. They alienated WvW folks. Then even the group folks will whine that their guildies left and they cannot finish group content anymore. And since the solo stuff was phased out, theres nothing left for them to do either, so they cry and leave the game.

It does not promote a healthy game..

I think Gw2 does cater to all play styles…you can still solo:
-all core maps
-many original dungeons
-adventures on HOT maps
-many smaller individual events on HOT maps
-personal story
-living story season 2
-Hot story
-Possibly legendary crafting

Just because you cant solo EVERYTHING doesnt mean the game isnt solo friendly. Its not realistic to think every single piece of content should have both a solo and non solo option. That costs too much to delevop and is hell to balance.

And i dont want to put this too harshly but just because you think open world should be soloable doesnt make it correct. Anet has always intended open world to require people to work together to do events.

I just wish I could get rid of all the crowbars. I’m a casual player with a hardcore’s load of crowbars.

In fact, I’d like to trade my crowbars in for other “keys” on other maps.

Obtena.7952:

Meta events are divided into many smaller events. I know the exact events you’re referring to because I did all of them in that chain this morning; you get an event reward for EVERY ONE of them, PLUS your periodic participation reward for the meta AND whatever loot drops from the mobs in the events, including champ bags, etc… If you THINK you didn’t get a reward, you simply missed it because rewards are raining on you all the time in VB.

I KNOW I didn’t get a reward for that event. and several others. I do not know why I do not get a reward, I do know I do damage, and help out in events, I just sometimes do not get the reward. How can I miss it it when it ALWAYS pops up on the side of my screen? ALWAYS!

zombyturtle.5980:

I think Gw2 does cater to all play styles…you can still solo:
(1) -all core maps
(2) -many original dungeons
(3) -adventures on HOT maps
(4) -many smaller individual events on HOT maps
(5) -personal story
(6) -living story season 2
(7) -Hot story
(8) -Possibly legendary crafting

(1) Right – but then I don’t need HoT, do I?
(2) not your average player …
(3) Only those NOT locked to the meta – many need the meta completed before they open so I’d not include them …
(4) Which, alas, especially new players have to find. Let’s hope they find them before they give up
(5) Yop
(6) Yop, still nothing to do with HoT
(7) Yop – if you ignore the time needed to get the XP for the masteries by only doing, er, (4)
(8) Not sure – I’ve seen fractal-specifiy requirements

So what it boils down to is a few events in the new zone that I can do (once I find out where to go and which ones – VB offering way more than AB or DT), a story you might like or not and … er … that’s it. Worth the cost? For some yes, for others no … we’ll have to see which side hosts more people in the longer run.

mcwurth.2081:

Obtena.7952:

Meta events are divided into many smaller events. I know the exact events you’re referring to because I did all of them in that chain this morning; you get an event reward for EVERY ONE of them, PLUS your periodic participation reward for the meta AND whatever loot drops from the mobs in the events, including champ bags, etc… If you THINK you didn’t get a reward, you simply missed it because rewards are raining on you all the time in VB.

I KNOW I didn’t get a reward for that event. and several others. I do not know why I do not get a reward, I do know I do damage, and help out in events, I just sometimes do not get the reward. How can I miss it it when it ALWAYS pops up on the side of my screen? ALWAYS!

Funny that you ragequit because one bugged event didn’t give you a reward … ONE. I don’t know how you can miss it. Busy? I miss those notifications because I just click them to get them gone.

That still doesn’t change the fact that you’re biggest issue is one that is already solved; meta events ARE broken down into smaller, more accessible events.

HtFde.3856:

So what it boils down to is a few events in the new zone that I can do (once I find out where to go and which ones – VB offering way more than AB or DT), a story you might like or not and … er … that’s it. Worth the cost? For some yes, for others no … we’ll have to see which side hosts more people in the longer run.

Its more than a few events, 90% of each event chain can be solo’d if you are good enough. Its only the group events which cant be and thats no different to how GW2 has been all along. Also most activities can be unlocked solo, they dont need a huge group to open.

It might surprise you to hear I am a solo player in the open world. I dont have a guild, and I dont have anyone to group with other than my bf sometimes. I have managed just fine in the new maps, have most of my achievements unlocked and got my elite specs done. It is definitely not impossible and once you learn what to do, its not hard to do most events alone.

Im not even sure what else COULD be made more solo friendly without ruining the whole purpose of the meta events, other than scaling on some hero points and champions at the end of each small event chain.

I do agree it would be nice for adventures to unlock more easily though as it gets tiresome doing events over and over just to have a go.

Obtena.7952:

mcwurth.2081:

Obtena.7952:

Meta events are divided into many smaller events. I know the exact events you’re referring to because I did all of them in that chain this morning; you get an event reward for EVERY ONE of them, PLUS your periodic participation reward for the meta AND whatever loot drops from the mobs in the events, including champ bags, etc… If you THINK you didn’t get a reward, you simply missed it because rewards are raining on you all the time in VB.

I KNOW I didn’t get a reward for that event. and several others. I do not know why I do not get a reward, I do know I do damage, and help out in events, I just sometimes do not get the reward. How can I miss it it when it ALWAYS pops up on the side of my screen? ALWAYS!

Funny that you ragequit because one bugged event didn’t give you a reward … ONE. I don’t know how you can miss it. Busy? I miss those notifications because I just click them to get them gone.

That still doesn’t change the fact that you’re biggest issue is one that is already solved; meta events ARE broken down into smaller, more accessible events.

Funny that you assume i rage quitted, no, I found it annoying I didnt get my rewards AGAIN, so I closed the game to not get irritated further and booted up space engineers instead to fly some around in space. My thumb of rule is that if a game annoys me at some point be it due to people bashing me ingame for whatever reason or gameplay isnt working or i tottally am bad that day, I stop play and move on. that way my games have a longer value to me as I never really get annoyed with it.

Today i got 150% (yay i got some time on my hands) got the vampire HP and went towards the point of my story and logged off. I had enough of flying around and not knowing my way. instead of pushing through and getting angry about it i will just try another time. whenever. I did get a few rewards (xp wise) but i still find it pretty terrible that 18/19k xp per event for doing pretty much ( i got gold twice and once silver and further i just clicked it away because mobs) is a little low. atleast for the amount that i need. do not forget that one bar of xp could have been filled 2 or 3 times by normal play in the core game before (some bosses, some events maybe follow a train a little) but now it feels as if i hardly get the yellow moving forwards.

well, i found myself dying a lot in new maps as mesmer because i was running a glass cannon build, then i switch to a condition shatter with full dire gear and a few defensive traits. I have not died ever since and the conditions dmg obliterate EVERYTHING in the new maps, even champs. Fights take longer but i find myself enjoying combat a lot more. Go for tanky build and you may have a better time in turns of running around the map. Just speaking from my own experience

As an average casual player, raids were the most fun I’ve had since GW2 launched.

tym.3791:

As your average casual player……..

Filthy Casual!!!

Get off my DS map you casual!

The only thing that your “average casual player” will have trouble with is time gated content and the meta events that take several hours.

Now bad players… well bad players will have trouble with everything including just walking around and reading the minimap. The title of this thread should be changed.

Labjax.2465:

Well, to be clear, since this is a thing that people often get confused… there are two main types of casual players:

• Casual 1: Doesn’t have much time to play.
• Casual 2: Isn’t interested in thinking too hard about game mechanics. Basically wants to kitten around all the time when playing.

Well, I would consider myself a casual player type 1. I don’t mind grinding for whatever, but choose to do more “fun” things simply because of my limited time. In 3 years of play I’ve created only two main characters, a necro and a guardian and learned to play them both very well. While I do belong to a large guild, because it simply has many advantages over being unaffiliated, I play primarily solo. What I’ve seen lots of in the past, from both the hardcore and the casual is too much focus on full-on DPS builds with little or no toughness/vitality…the so-called glass canon. This is largely due to the content in regular Tyria being designed to cater to this build, so it works fine for soloing around regular Tyria. When you get to the HoT content, I see a lot of people complaining it’s too hard. The zerker meta doesn’t do well in the HoT maps. This is content where you simply can’t DPS the mobs down before they kill you. A pack of pocket raptors or a smokescale will chew a glass canon up in a seconds.

People need to learn their classes better, build them for the environment and need to learn the map mechanics otherwise the new areas are pure suffering. The biggest thing I hate is the parts of the maps required for map completion blocked behind masteries…especially those blocked behind leygliding because I simply don’t have a great amount of time to play out the tier 6 mastery…other masteries require more immediate attention. I’m not complaining the content is too hard…it’s just going to take me longer, like it always has. After nearly 3 years of collecting, I finally finishing my first legendary, again, even though most people I’ve played with finish them within 6-8 months, no complaints.

It get’s better. In the beginning I felt pretty frustrated as well, places gated by mastery, you don’t know whats up or down in the zone, mobs are tougher and running around exploring in your own pace often ends up with smashing your face into a group event, you die and can’t WP to any place in reasonable distance.

That being said, after a while when you understand it all, know the events, have the masteries, know where the HPs are and how to get there – even if you can’t solo them always you can get there within reasonable time if someone ask in map chat – the new zones become much nicer even if you are super casual. On my first toon I had a terrible time in the new zones, but now on my third I’m having fun and I don’t mind them.

Labjax.2465:

Someone with a hardcore mindset who doesn’t have much time to play is probably the most likely to get upset about a lengthy grind for something they want.

The kneejerk place people go with this is to think that when the hardcore mind doesn’t like something, or vice-versa, it is their responsibility to come over to the casual side (or vice-versa). Nothing could be more absurd. Most of us think the way we do from genes and/or years of social conditioning. We don’t change overnight.

^this.

I am casual in that i play when i can and for an unspecified time frame (meaning, when my daughters and wife are sleeping). I may even have to interrupt my playing if one of the babies wakes up.

But i like hard content that keeps me awake. if i can play with just the auto attack, chances are i’ll also fall asleep.

My last 3 days playing have consisted of 9 (nine!) hours of raids, with no loot, no kill, no progress to obtaining a shiny. Just the thrill of getting better and better and learning the encounter that, sadly, not everybody had learnt well enough to succeed.

Aenesthesia.1697:

Labjax.2465:

Someone with a hardcore mindset who doesn’t have much time to play is probably the most likely to get upset about a lengthy grind for something they want.

The kneejerk place people go with this is to think that when the hardcore mind doesn’t like something, or vice-versa, it is their responsibility to come over to the casual side (or vice-versa). Nothing could be more absurd. Most of us think the way we do from genes and/or years of social conditioning. We don’t change overnight.

^this.

I am casual in that i play when i can and for an unspecified time frame (meaning, when my daughters and wife are sleeping). I may even have to interrupt my playing if one of the babies wakes up.

But i like hard content that keeps me awake. if i can play with just the auto attack, chances are i’ll also fall asleep.

My last 3 days playing have consisted of 9 (nine!) hours of raids, with no loot, no kill, no progress to obtaining a shiny. Just the thrill of getting better and better and learning the encounter that, sadly, not everybody had learnt well enough to succeed.

I add myself here. Unfortunatelly, if I want HC experience I have to play another game, because HC experience in guild wars 2 is locked behind gold wall and the need for finding 9 decent people.

I understand your point completely. However if you find a class that is right for you and build that is right for you I don’t think you will find HoT all that bad (:

tym.3791:

So I finally went into the new expansion. This Map is WAY to hard core for me, as a casual player. Every Hero Point is a freaking champ? Really The whole thing is simply confusing, and its hard to find anything.

I felt the exact same way. I Hated VB when I first wandered in there. I had only just recently hit 80 with my first character. I have become used to it and it isn’t so bad. I am not running around in southern AB and having a similar issue. Though I am getting used to it again.

Did you not get the memo? ArenaNet said that HoT would have challenging open world PvE, since the Central Tyria open world PvE was far too easy for most of us.

As for the difficulty of it getting HP, yes they can be challenging to find, but that’s part of the HoT experience, go wild and explore.

Meneh.2954:

It get’s better. In the beginning I felt pretty frustrated as well, places gated by mastery, you don’t know whats up or down in the zone, mobs are tougher and running around exploring in your own pace often ends up with smashing your face into a group event, you die and can’t WP to any place in reasonable distance.

That being said, after a while when you understand it all, know the events, have the masteries, know where the HPs are and how to get there – even if you can’t solo them always you can get there within reasonable time if someone ask in map chat – the new zones become much nicer even if you are super casual. On my first toon I had a terrible time in the new zones, but now on my third I’m having fun and I don’t mind them.

I personally don’t mind the new zones, except that they are map-wide-meta population sinks; what I do mind is that while we’re in them we’re putting hundreds of hours of “horizontal progression” into masteries that only work in four maps (gliding) or belong in the maguuma jungle (all the other masteries).

Avster.1935:

Did you not get the memo? ArenaNet said that HoT would have challenging open world PvE, since the Central Tyria open world PvE was far too easy for most of us.

As for the difficulty of it getting HP, yes they can be challenging to find, but that’s part of the HoT experience, go wild and explore.

I’d like to think that you’re right, but so far I’ve found that most of the challenge is being unexpectedly insta-downed (Axemaster) or kiting in a circle with auto-attack on for a couple of hours while a legendary or a a HC champion’s health pools crawl steadily downwards. Mordrem enemies are interesting, but are also not as common as the others.

HoT is overwhelming when you first get there. You have the story, events that pop up everywhere, hero points, pois, masteries! Once you open the map some it gets better and more fun. With the exception of the champs for hero points, you can do everything soloable. It may require a tweak in your build or an upgrade in your character.

Just don’t look at the masteries to much lol. I feel daunted when I see how much xp it will take for something.

My biggest beef with HoT zones is.. as many others have said before me.. SO. Many. Mobs… you can’t STOP and rest, you afk to use the toilet, you die.. It royally sucks when most of the way points cycle through contested events, so even pausing at one of those can pretty much guarantee death.

You CAN design a map and give the aura of danger and challenge without going overkill on the cheese. One shot mechanics aren’t skill testers, it’s lazy design.

That said, the only zone I really saw as pure chaos was Verdant Brink, my first time through there with two others friends had the anxiety of being new back to the game after 2 years being away, having to relearn what I was doing, the paranoia of being overpowered as most people tore through mobs because they had/have ascended and I just hit 80 in blue and green junk without the gold to at least grab some exotics..

All I’m saying is, the difficulty/complexity of open world design has tripled from the other Tyria maps.

You’ll have people come in here and if they could downvote, they likely would because I’ve noticed something on the forums.. There’s quite a number of very LOUD ‘get gud’ personalities and I’m sorry but MOST people enjoyed this game most because there was no sub fee, there was no ‘login daily or you’re ten miles behind! There was no ‘you must play 1 single way… but instead we present you MANY different ways/things to play and do.. go nuts!’

I really enjoy map completion, but prefer it flying solo, why? Friends can’t tell what you have or have not done… Trying to get them to help you if they have got it done and trying to translate what you need done is pretty rough… and 30 minutes surfing LFG to get into a decent map that’s able to complete a zone meta is NOT easy/fun nor engaging. If this is a byproduct of what the ‘get gud’ kids want.. I just shake my head.

All said and done, I still enjoy the game, I just don’t hang in the HoT areas much or for long as I often end up playing by myself when friends aren’t on and having to be forced into a gigantic time gate/cycle and praying to the gods crashes don’t happen before I get credit is not relaxing at all.

Apologies for my wall of text, for the people with the inability to read more then a sentence? Move along please, I’m not going to summarize.

Fengzhou.9853:

You CAN design a map and give the aura of danger and challenge without going overkill on the cheese. One shot mechanics aren’t skill testers, it’s lazy design.

This was something that confused me as well. I tried blocking, dodging, blinding, flying away with a glider… nothing worked. Am I missing something? What kind of attack should completely down random people from full health?