Guild Wars 2

Hey there all, first time posting on here, but I have been reading the forum for some time regarding HoT and people’s feedback while playing the expac.

I got to the Tangled Depths map, explored it for an hour, and was left with an aftertaste that can only be described as frustrating.

I seemed to have gotten the same aftertaste from all the HoT maps, feeling a higher level of frustrated aftertaste with every new map I discover. Following the pattern, I feel like I might feel the same from the last map, which as a customer, makes me feel like I paid $50 to feel frustrated. (Joke)

Jokes aside, I feel like the reason I feel this aftertaste is maybe because the maps have too much stuff in them.

If the maps had too little to do on there and were too flat and not dynamic enough for the average playerbase, players would feel frustrated that there is nothing much to get engaged with. If on the other hand the map felt like there is too many things to do or were too dense with enemies, maps/levels were too messy and felt really dense in the design, the same effect would most likely occur but for opposite reason.

Now, I know that every player has their own threshold on “too empty” and “too dense” and its all based from player to player, but if I learned anything from a graphic design class, its that a good balance is needed for any work of ark or it may look too empty or too dense in some/all places. I feel like that can also make sense for level design in a game as well.

Compared to the base-game for GW2, I feel like HoT maps are too dense with things and aren’t spread out more. If, let’s say hypothetically, the maps were bigger and all the mobs/events were to be stretched out across a bigger map giving the player breathing room to explore or if they were to tone down the density of all the maps and maybe nerf some events/mobs by a pinch, it might solve the density issue.

It may not seem like that to people who play GW2 as their primary game, especially if they spend a lot of time daily on the game and like the fact that there is always something happening in-game, but as someone who gets on for maybe 1-3 hours a week, I feel like the expac is a bit too dense with mobs and level design.

My main MMO atm is FFXIV and if I were to compare the expacs of the two games, I feel like Heavensward is better spread out in map design, events, and mob density than Heart of Thorns is. Aside from other factors, FFXIV’s Heavensward feels like it has a good balance of density for the average playerbase.

I am not here to attack GW2, a game that I still love and enjoy even if the new maps do give me a nasty aftertaste. I just wanted to use the forums for the first time in what seems like forever to give feedback on HoT.

Feel free to leave your feedback on the maps below.

It certainly seems that the HoT zones are more “dense” as you put it. I wonder if that is intentional. Much as the Orr maps when the game launched, we are venturing into enemy territory. Most of central Tyria is in the control of the five races, and various enemy groups have footholds here and there. In HoT, we are the ones with footholds.

The reason why later zones have to be more dense, or should be more dense, is because there are no hearts. There’s nothing more annoying than trying to level a mastery and not finding any events at all. Events have to be everywhere, or you’re going to feel like you can’t play.

The HoT maps offer an experience which is like the Silverwastes on steroids. They take longer to understand and get into. By the same token, the more time you spend on them, the more they begin to make some kind of sense.

Just about everyone is disoriented on HoT maps, but I believe the amount of content and the difficulty of the content is very much intentional. But yes, there’s quite a bit of culture shock if you’re not ready for it.

Yeah, my biggest problem with the HoT maps the the amount of time you have to spend doing anything there. You need to spend the full 2 hours on the map to reap the rewards. For some players, like my self, that’s too long. I think an hour would be a long enough turn around on a map cycle. Maybe 2 for DS as it is the “final battle” is fine.

The HoT maps also feel very frantic, and some what disorganized. I don’t know if that’s intended or not. I’ve only got the TD meta to do, and I will have done all the map metas at least once. For me that will be enough. I don’t enjoy spending 2 hours doing something that might fail through no fault of my own.

Actually you don’t have to spend the full two hours for AB or TD. For AB, get onto a map early enough to get 100% participation. I can’t remember the exact number of aurillium that you can get this way but it’s like 150-200. For TD, do the same and you’ll get 215 ley-line crystals.

Personally I like the density and activity level of the new maps. Like you said, it’s probably something that will differ from person to person. Auric Basin especially has really resonated with me and I’ve had a lot of fun with that map. I will say though that I don’t often have enough contiguous time to play a full meta in the new maps though. Especially Dragon Stand – you really need to have a good long chunk of gaming time. Not really complaining, just observing that the long metas often mean I have to use LFG to find a HoT map close to completion and hope it’s not full since that’s all I’ll have time for.

BrotherBelial.3094:

Yeah, my biggest problem with the HoT maps the the amount of time you have to spend doing anything there. You need to spend the full 2 hours on the map to reap the rewards. For some players, like my self, that’s too long. I think an hour would be a long enough turn around on a map cycle. Maybe 2 for DS as it is the “final battle” is fine. … I don’t enjoy spending 2 hours doing something that might fail through no fault of my own.

That’s how I feel, too. You have to arrive on the map at “the right time” and get a map with enough people, then stay for the full run to win any awards. “Challenging” doesn’t need to be ultra time consuming.

It’s funny because when Anet introduced these long-haul event maps, they also broke fractals down to one-and-done instead of a gauntlet so it would be more convenient for those with time constraints. I thought the fractal change was based on a lesson they’d learned from their player base.

Kumion.7580:

It’s funny because when Anet introduced these long-haul event maps, they also broke fractals down to one-and-done instead of a gauntlet so it would be more convenient for those with time constraints. I thought the fractal change was based on a lesson they’d learned from their player base.

No the fractal change was done with the sole purpose of moving people who like dungeons away from them into fractals. Hence why the average length of a fractal is now the exact same time it would take an organized group to speed run.

Still irritated at that change. Wish they would have just added another mode to fractals to allow people who enjoyed the old format to keep playing the content in that way.

I play GW2 for enjoyment as a leisure activity but the new maps are just an exercise in frustration. Tried them for a couple of weeks,meven got to the third map, but it’s group content and I’m not a group guy, nor am I a good enough player to solo it by myself. Add the low populations and the lack of waypoints to the dense mobs of vets and I can’t even get around the maps half the time.

2-hour time commitment to a map in a game? Ha! The only thing I want to do for 2 hours straight is sleep. My average time in a game is 30 min to an hour. I don’t want to spend that time trying to lfg for a full map.

The whole Xpac feels geared towards group play, which is a huge shift from the vanilla game which was much more casual. Also, they managed to tie in “adventures” way too often. I wanted an expansion, not a series of mini-games.

This was my last purchase relating to GW2. Anet does not seem to be the same company that created the GW1 series. My personal opinion is that they need to throw in the towel on GW2 and start on a new sequel (GW3). I think they’ve already dug too deep of kitten with this game. If they start now, it could be ready by the time the new Star Wars trilogy is out on Blu ray.

Daniel.4763:

The whole Xpac feels geared towards group play, which is a huge shift from the vanilla game which was much more casual.

ArenaNet simply did something that most MMOs are afraid of doing. The content was designed for the average gamer instead of the average (casual) player.

The difficulty of HoT is actually somewhat similar to the first beta of GW2. Back then, the game was tuned for action gamers, but after finding that the average player was unable to attack and move at the same time (traditional MMO players), everything was basically nerfed by 50%. For a sample, if you didn’t dodge one of the telegraphed attacks back then (ie, an ettin’s club smash or a moa’s peck), you would have been downed.

When it comes to the larger meta events, GW2 was never casual in terms of play time. I remember people AFKing for hours waiting for the world bosses to spawn and if you wanted to join in and hit an overflow, you simply missed it. Even now, you have to play on their schedule. HoT’s meta events are just that – scheduled world bosses – and you’re now made more aware of the completion rewards, whereas you probably haven’t bothered to complete all the smaller metas in Tyria. What is missing however is the smaller events/chains that aren’t really linked to anything else to make it more dynamic.

Like the original beta however, I fully expect HoT to receive major nerfs, otherwise the farther ArenaNet goes, the more of a niche it’ll become. The reason being your first line. HoT basically feels like they increased the level cap, but forgot to increase it for the players. If they want to appeal to both groups however, they’ll nerf it once it’s no longer current.

Healix.5819:

HoT’s meta events are just that – scheduled world bosses – and you’re now made more aware of the completion rewards, whereas you probably haven’t bothered to complete all the smaller metas in Tyria. What is missing however is the smaller events/chains that aren’t really linked to anything else to make it more dynamic.

I agree. While there are some “other” things to do in the HoT zones, those zones are basically all about the meta. SW is a limited version of the same thing, but those limits are important. The lack of a timer, and of a night cycle, generates a different experience for those there to do something other than the meta.

Vayne.8563:

The reason why later zones have to be more dense, or should be more dense, is because there are no hearts. There’s nothing more annoying than trying to level a mastery and not finding any events at all. Events have to be everywhere, or you’re going to feel like you can’t play.

The HoT maps offer an experience which is like the Silverwastes on steroids. They take longer to understand and get into. By the same token, the more time you spend on them, the more they begin to make some kind of sense.

Just about everyone is disoriented on HoT maps, but I believe the amount of content and the difficulty of the content is very much intentional. But yes, there’s quite a bit of culture shock if you’re not ready for it.

Sadly, it is Dry Top on roids. If it were SW on roids, I´d be a happy customer.