Guild Wars 2

The devs are changing Guild Wars into a WoW clone with a hyper grinding / cash shop focus.

I bought all the GW1 games and GW2 because it wasn’t a WoW clone. There are plenty of those out there already and I burnt out on that style many years ago. If I liked WoW clones I would still be playing them.

This new change in direction may make them a ton of cash, but I wouldn’t count on it. They had a unique game in the past and it had it’s own (very profitable) niche. Now they have to share profits with everyone who does exactly the same kind of game. How boring, unimaginative and short sighted.

Celtic Lady.3729:

DoctorDing.5890:

I don’t believe it was “well known” that the expansion was going to be harder than the core game.

The statements they did make ahead of time about the “challenging content” were extremely vague and not ideal for making buying decisions.

There were many things no one could have predicted that changed from the core game and “mobs will be more challenging” simply doesn’t cover all of it.

As far as I recall, they also didn’t mention that we would need 50+ people synchronized per map to gain substantial rewards, too, haha. I got 200% participation once, but I’m sure you all know that just got me a couple more uncommons and a crowbar at the end of the T2 meta…

Or you can spend half the 50-minute meta whacking a legendary dragon and end up with 20-40% participation at the end of a T3/T4.

Straylight.7529:

DoctorDing.5890:

I don’t believe it was “well known” that the expansion was going to be harder than the core game. It was well known only to the minority who followed the various pre-release announcements. Most people don’t follow the forums and don’t read press releases. I think most players would assume that the expansion was more of the same. “Hey, I like this game and now there is more of it to buy. Cool!”. So it’s hardly surprising that a bunch of players are now shocked at the difficulty level. Telling someone who has paid for the expansion that they should stick to the non-expansion stuff if they can’t cope is, frankly, absurd.

Anet have missed the sweet spot imo.

That only a minority followed the announcements is completely irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is the fact that the information about the increase in difficulty was made openly available by Arenanet for nine months prior to launch. There is no excuse for not knowing that HoT was going to be more difficult. If you wanted to find out, you could find out.

[… snap]

As I posted earlier, we all know that expansions are harder than the core game. I mentioned LOD, EOTN, Reapers of Souls as examples. But in those games you could just continue the way you played in the core game. In HOT you can’t. They changed the game mechanics, making it more Arcade. THAT is what people are complaining about. Its a different game now. If Anet had made it harder just by leveling up enemies with a few levels, like in the expansions I mention above, than gameplay would have stayed as it was and no one would have complained.

As long as raids do not hinder the rate at which they introduce other new content (guild missions, fractals, new maps, living story, pvp maps, etc), it shouldnt be a problem.

If they do, then yes, it is a direction many of us would rather they avoid (as fun as raids are).

Albadaran.1283:

Straylight.7529:

DoctorDing.5890:

I don’t believe it was “well known” that the expansion was going to be harder than the core game. It was well known only to the minority who followed the various pre-release announcements. Most people don’t follow the forums and don’t read press releases. I think most players would assume that the expansion was more of the same. “Hey, I like this game and now there is more of it to buy. Cool!”. So it’s hardly surprising that a bunch of players are now shocked at the difficulty level. Telling someone who has paid for the expansion that they should stick to the non-expansion stuff if they can’t cope is, frankly, absurd.

Anet have missed the sweet spot imo.

That only a minority followed the announcements is completely irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is the fact that the information about the increase in difficulty was made openly available by Arenanet for nine months prior to launch. There is no excuse for not knowing that HoT was going to be more difficult. If you wanted to find out, you could find out.

[… snap]

As I posted earlier, we all know that expansions are harder than the core game. I mentioned LOD, EOTN, Reapers of Souls as examples. But in those games you could just continue the way you played in the core game. In HOT you can’t. They changed the game mechanics, making it more Arcade. THAT is what people are complaining about. Its a different game now. If Anet had made it harder just by leveling up enemies with a few levels, like in the expansions I mention above, than gameplay would have stayed as it was and no one would have complained.

You know what Anet could/should have done? I can’t believe I didn’t think about it earlier, hah. They could have given us hard mode instances like in Guild Wars 1 (except that anyone with hard mode toggled will enter the same instance) – where all enemies are scaled to at least level 80. Could you imagine a Hard Mode Tequatl? O.o Well, it’d be cool running around starting maps on hard mode anyways.

Play our way or GTFO feels like the new motto.

Nerf Dungeons

Change Fractals

Increase mats for existing recipes

Add mastery system so if you don’t go into HoT everyone will be all zerker only no necro 18kAP and some high 100+ number your never going to reach by sticking to the core maps.

Also nerf Teqs Spoons so even the fun of going “SPOONS!!!” after beating teq wears off

Then flood the forums full of shills to state the core game never changed and that HoT is the best and attack anyone who disagrees or has any issue with HoT whatsoever.

64 bit client or crash constantly but don’t overly advertise the client so many people continue to crash and many events continue to fail as a result.

Then kill HoT by turning all the zones people already have issues with into LFR maps as these sheep love us so much we can do no wrong because we are Anet and we are gods so bow down and worship us and our perfection.

Sytherek.7689:

Crinn.7864:

The masteries QQ is ridiculous. Would you rather go back to a leveling system where you can’t do content until you’re level X? The only difference between masteries and a traditional leveling system is that I can choose which zone’s masteries to focus on first rather than having to grind levels on all previous zones first.

Actually, I’m not interested in levelling at all. Progression is a synonym for mindless work, running in place.

I want content, not grind. I want to see things, have interesting adventures, find cool stuff.

Leveling systems don’t exist to make a grind, leveling systems exist to control the order that a player goes through content. Controlling the order a player goes through content is important because the devs have to be able to make sure a player has learned certain skills by the time they reach certain areas.

Example: Verdent Brink. VB can technically be done without a glider but the entire zone basically slaps the player in the face and says “learn to glide.” Because VB does this the developers can then assume that by the time a player leaves VB they know how to glide, and thus the developers are “safe” in including gliding mechanics in later maps. (just imagine the QQ if players where getting to the mordremoth story fight without learning gliding)

softblackcarbon.1537:

…snip
5. Legendary Armor
– Legendary armor is simply a re-skin of ascended armor. It provides no stat upgrades
over armor that is accessible outside of raids.
– Ascended armor is already incredibly difficult to get. Why would legendary armor be
any easier?
– The stat upgrade provided from a full set of ascended/legendary armor over a full set of
exotic armor is only about 5-10%. This will be barely noticeable by the casual player
and much more noticeable in a raid setting.
snip…

I had to address this section of your post. Although the legendary is in essence the same as an ascended as far as stats go, you will be able to change it’s stats to suit your build (although the rune situation is still an issue). This does indeed put it in’s own tier as you can take 2 minutes and change your entire build, whereas the guy with “only” ascended needs to go and make a new set. I’m not asking for it to be easier to obtain either, ascended is difficult and I don’t mind.

I am not trying to pick apart your post by any means. However I, and I am sure others, think that this “pinnacle” of all armor should at least be obtainable in more than one place so as to make it more of a level playing field. The thing that drew me to GW2 in the first place was that I could do as I pleased be it jumping puzzles, events, dungeons etc. and still feel like I was progressing. Now if I want to have the same chance at the best armor I need to do only one thing ad nauseam which, to me, goes against why I play GW2.

edit: clarity

Doam.8305:

Also nerf Teqs Spoons so even the fun of going “SPOONS!!!” after beating teq wears off

This. I made fun of Teq’s endless supply of spoons as much as anyone…. but I secretly loved those spoons. Now all we get is broken spoons. I feel… I… don’t know what to feel.

Looks like raids and raiders came to ruin another game.

I completely agree with the op. The raid is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

For years, Anet has said that they didn’t want the holy trinity in their game, and what are we seeing for these raids? Need a tank, need a heal, need dps shared between condi and zerk.

If Anet wanted to make the raids as a guild content, as it requires so much preparation that nobody would take 40 minutes to make the correct group, joining on TS etc, they should have said it so, but they did not.

What I see is that the raid is already deserted, few people at the entrance, and there’s not so much lfg announcements for it.

If the aim is to make content for few people, that will miserably fail.

Yunielesca.2850:

What I see is that the raid is already deserted, few people at the entrance, and there’s not so much lfg announcements for it.

This. Problem with so called “hardcore players” is that they’re harcore only until they get harcore content. After that, they do it and quit or they can’t do it and also quit. That is why all those games with challenging content failed. And look at GW 2, the most casual game ever. For 3 years there was no expansion, people were doing all the same content and it still lives. Why? Because casual players are more profitable then progamers. They buy wings, minipets, gold etc. I, as casual player, don’t feel my self comfortable in this game anymore. I can’t do what I want whenever I want, because there’s timers for events. And it will be even worse with raids, because there’s so much elitists in this community and now they really have something to discriminate people that is why they’re so exited with raids and all the stuff it gives.

Right cause bouncing mushrooms need platforming skills to use. °3°

I don’t think they really do, most put you right where you’re meant to be, but it is fair to say that a lot of the new content, especially the Adventures, do require significant platforming skills. I don’t much mind myself, I like platforming, but those who don’t are perfectly justified in their negative reaction to it.

As long as raids do not hinder the rate at which they introduce other new content (guild missions, fractals, new maps, living story, pvp maps, etc), it shouldnt be a problem.

So far the only “new” content they’ve announced that isn’t the raids is Wintersday fluff. They haven’t even hinted at continuing the content for non-raiders yet, which means we won’t see anything new until at least early next year.

So far the only “new” content they’ve announced that isn’t the raids is Wintersday fluff. They haven’t even hinted at continuing the content for non-raiders yet, which means we won’t see anything new until at least early next year.

And then, you’ll see new raid wing. That’s how it’ll work from now on. Get used to it.

Couple things:

1. I find it weird that people who LOVE the HoT content and ENJOY it SO MUCH spend most of their time posting in the forum about how much exactly they love and enjoy it. Personally, if I really like the book I read or food I am eating, I do not stop reading or eating to post about it in the forum. I think people who actually love HoT are playing the game instead.

2. If you find game too easy, there is endless combinations to make it harder and more difficult for you. Have you tried to complete everything without wearing a weapon? Using only blue items? Implementing permadeath, deleting char and all items it had every time you die? You are not forced to get best possible equipment, or use some broken skill that one-hits everything and then moan how easy the game is, demaning more difficult content for everyone else. Thats just selfish.

3. Players who really want very difficult content have not played GW2 for many years because there was none. Those players have played other games instead. Players who only want to raid have not played GW2 for many years because there was none. Such players, too, have moved on to play other games. The players who actually played GW2 for many years, are actually the players who liked the content the way it was, who did not mind lack of difficulty or 0 possible raids. So, the HoT expansion is not created for GW2 players in mind, it is created to attract players who did not like GW2.

Crinn.7864:

The masteries QQ is ridiculous. Would you rather go back to a leveling system where you can’t do content until you’re level X? The only difference between masteries and a traditional leveling system is that I can choose which zone’s masteries to focus on first rather than having to grind levels on all previous zones first.

Leveling 1-80 wasn’t locked behind group-required meta events, you could do it at your own pace and WHEN YOU CHOSE TO, your progression wasn’t dictated by event timers and the availabiltiy of others to ‘group up’ for the 1990s group-or-die content HOT’s Challenges and metas demand.

So yes, I want to ‘go back’ to normal leveling please.

cenobite.1506:

Yunielesca.2850:

What I see is that the raid is already deserted, few people at the entrance, and there’s not so much lfg announcements for it.

This. Problem with so called “hardcore players” is that they’re harcore only until they get harcore content. After that, they do it and quit or they can’t do it and also quit. That is why all those games with challenging content failed. And look at GW 2, the most casual game ever. For 3 years there was no expansion, people were doing all the same content and it still lives. Why? Because casual players are more profitable then progamers. They buy wings, minipets, gold etc. I, as casual player, don’t feel my self comfortable in this game anymore. I can’t do what I want whenever I want, because there’s timers for events. And it will be even worse with raids, because there’s so much elitists in this community and now they really have something to discriminate people that is why they’re so exited with raids and all the stuff it gives.

Had to quote this for its exactly the way I feel too.

good thing is HoT is optional you dont have to play it if you dont like it simple as that stick with the core game plenty of content there still.

Goldrock.9076:

good thing is HoT is optional you dont have to play it if you dont like it simple as that stick with the core game plenty of content there still.

Old crafting recipes becoming more difficult
Dungeon gold is nerfed no one does them anymore
Blah Blah basically all the stuff I said in my initial post

They basically fire bombed the core game to push people into HoT. I’ll use WoW as an example as in WoW a new expac releases and it’s only the new expac the old content will remain untouched unless a specific quest requires you to return to an NPC in the old maps. In HoT however they didn’t do this at all they changed the core more than any MMO I’ve ever played. We have Masteries, fractals have changed, dungeons have changed, world boss loot has changed, crafting has changed, and even that little number 80 is gone forever.

If you don’t go to HoT and raise that mastery level eventually the elitist nature of this game will kick in and you’ll be looked down upon.

This game has become a much more negative since HoT and the so called best community in MMO currently is dwindling. Also I suppose the only thing to remain unchanged are JP’s from the core game.

Goldrock.9076:

good thing is HoT is optional you dont have to play it if you dont like it simple as that stick with the core game plenty of content there still.

Very funny. Yes people can still play core maps, but it makes sense that if people have paid $50+ for some new content that they were hoping to enjoy that content, and are perfectly within their rights to give opinion on it.

Personally I’m enjoying the harder mobs in HoT open world, its making me play better by being more aware of buffs and conditions.

I’m not a fan of the long Meta timers, participation, and associated rewards though, there’s no reason I can see not to have better rewards tied to the events themselves (like SW).

Straylight.7529:

But HoT didn’t modify GW2. The casual Guild Wars you’re looking for didn’t vanish. It’s still out there. Go play in any of the core zones and you’ll find them as casual as ever.

Your analogy makes it look like GW2 was transformed into an entirely new game while in truth it simply added new (albeit different and less casual) zones. GW2 will need many many more expansions before the “car” becomes a “truck”.

Then why should someone buy the expansion if he might aswell play in the old zones?

That’s the main problem here, the expansion does not catter for the players that like the more easy gameplay of the core Tyria. And you can’t force them to adapt. Some of them might adapt but a lot of them will simply stop playing or will think twice before buying a new expansion in the future, and this will hurt ANet.

good thing is HoT is optional you dont have to play it if you dont like it simple as that stick with the core game plenty of content there still.

Do you honestly believe that comments of this sort will make anyone feel better? Is there someone whom you imagine in your mind would read that and go “oh, well that’s ok then?”

People are are complaining do not just want to continue playing the same content they have been for the past three years, they want NEW content as much as anyone else, they just want new content of the type of the previous content. They want new material of the same formula, and it should come as a surprise to no one if they are unsatisfied with new content that is well outside their interests or capabilities.

If you like the new content direction, that’s great, you’re allowed to say as much, but there’s absolutely no point to belittling or attempting to silence people who genuinely believe otherwise. Let them speak their mind, honor that their opinions are just as valid as your own, and let ANet decide what to do about it.

Goldrock.9076:

good thing is HoT is optional you dont have to play it if you dont like it simple as that stick with the core game plenty of content there still.

How to toally miss the point .. HOT has changed GW2 (solo friendly, group optional) to GW3 (group-or-die, casual players G-T-F-O, 1990s style) .. those who preferred GW2 aren’t happy.

VaLee.5102:

Then why should someone buy the expansion if he might aswell play in the old zones?

This is why I’m not buying the expansion. While I’m sure I’ll love reaper and I might have a little fun in the new zones, I’m also 99% sure I won’t enjoy it. I’ll go in, unlock reaper, and probably never go back. Is that worth 50 bucks? Nope. Also WvW is dead and people are screaming sPVP is imbalanced, so I guess there isn’t much I can do anyway. Map complete in the old world till I find a new game.

I completely agree with the OP:

Although I play since pre-release almost every day, I consider myself somewhat casual. Every evening, I do whatever pops up in my mind or what is suggested in the guild as guild action. Every evening, something different.

HoT, on the other hand, has very few different activities that are interesting for one evening alone. Moreover, the update reduced interesting activities even from the old game: dungeons being less attractive, and fractals as well.

In HoT, almost everything is about long-term grind-like activities for the hardcore gamer, who is able to dedicate hours over hours for a single goal.
Nothing for the short term. Half of HoT are the new legendary collections. They are in fact legendary grindfests, adding nothing from a gameplay perspective. Only huge sinks of expensive items and play time.

The new maps are only fun if you leveled your masteries. How do you level your masteries? Only by playing the new maps. So, is it fun to level your masteries? No! You have to have the masteries already, if you want to have fun. Without having these, you always struggle to get over there to that point, to that event, to be able to open that bounty chest, etc. It’s simply a stretch.

You have to dedicate all your time over weeks to a single goal and achieve nothing in between. In the end you get one shiny item, and your purse is empty again. Congratulations!

Let’s take an overview over HoT and the usability of each component for me:

- masteries: a stretch to get them. No fun. Explanation was above.
- elite specs: For me, as ele main, playing only PvE, the Tempest is practically useless. Don’t need it.
- new maps: Yes, very nice graphics. But playing there is not much fun, since I need all the masteries. Running through, an event here and there, missing most stuff because I cannot reach the location. Not the fun I paid 99 Euro for.
- raids: I hate the raid concept. The absence of raids was one of THE reason to begin playing GW1/GW2 in the first place. Dedicating hours to prepare for a single boss fight and endlessly fail trying is the essence of what I don’t like in gaming.
- legendary collections: legendary grindfests. Time-stealing, uninteresting, boring. No gameplay!
- guild hall: long overdue, nice. But not what is adding to my daily gameplay.
- PvP: I don’t know what was added in HoT for PvP, but it’s irrelevant for me, because I don’t play PvP. Ever.
- Fractals: it’s the same fractals as before. Only added some grind-goals. But that’s no new content, so no added value.
- Dungeons: damaged instead of made more out of them. Nothing I paid my money for.
- HoT adventures: just discovered one of them. Very strange and don’t really fit. Like activities and minigames: not very interesting in comparison to open world or organized instanced combat.

It seems to me the game got a new target audience with HoT. Someone who likes grind, who likes repetitive tasks, who is able to dedicate hours over hours upon one single goal over weeks. Someone who likes power-gaming or min-/max-gaming even more than the dungeon community. Either single player (adventure) or super-organized (raid) or totally forced to comply to a map goal (meta-events).
It’s not “the game I play the way I like it” any more. Everything now feels forced and without freedom.

I’m very disappointed. I don’t have fun any more, if I go to HoT. I still can have fun in old Tyria, ignore all grind goals from HoT, but that’s old content, and that’s not what I paid 99 Euro for. Do I have to wait another 3 years for the next addon that maybe changes direction again? I don’t think I last another 3 years.

Coyote.7031:

VaLee.5102:

Then why should someone buy the expansion if he might aswell play in the old zones?

This is why I’m not buying the expansion. While I’m sure I’ll love reaper and I might have a little fun in the new zones, I’m also 99% sure I won’t enjoy it. I’ll go in, unlock reaper, and probably never go back. Is that worth 50 bucks? Nope. Also WvW is dead and people are screaming sPVP is imbalanced, so I guess there isn’t much I can do anyway. Map complete in the old world till I find a new game.

I love my reapers, I have two, a condi and a power one now.
BTW ANet can we get build templates within my lifetime?

Anyways, the thought of getting HoT, unlocking reaper and then going back to the main game is a noble one, however, it is not very practical in this “new” MMO. Let me explain. Once you have those little stars over your head stating how much mastery you have, it will be just a matter of time before you (we) will start seeing “LFG mastery 50+” posts popping up. This again drives a wedge between the different playstyles and makes the game much different than what I bought 3 years ago.

If you choose to not buy the Xpac and instead just enjoy the core game, many will think you are F2P and this too will make many exclude you. As I see it no matter how you slice it, you will be considered an outcast and it becomes “either conform or be cast out”. That to me is the problem with the new direction, it has the potential to encourage elitism, and that was something the core game never really had, save for speed runners.

Tommyknocker.6089:

I love my reapers, I have two, a condi and a power one now.
BTW ANet can we get build templates within my lifetime?

Anyways, the thought of getting HoT, unlocking reaper and then going back to the main game is a noble one, however, it is not very practical in this “new” MMO. Let me explain. Once you have those little stars over your head stating how much mastery you have, it will be just a matter of time before you (we) will start seeing “LFG mastery 50+” posts popping up. This again drives a wedge between the different playstyles and makes the game much different than what I bought 3 years ago.

If you choose to not buy the Xpac and instead just enjoy the core game, many will think you are F2P and this too will make many exclude you. As I see it no matter how you slice it, you will be considered an outcast and it becomes “either conform or be cast out”. That to me is the problem with the new direction, it has the potential to encourage elitism, and that was something the core game never really had, save for speed runners.

I’m flattered for your concern, and honestly touched. But I’m already an outcast. XD I don’t tolerate impolite behavior or things like chat spam. So I already generally end up dropping guilds or avoiding voice chat or other players. I really don’t have a good experience with GW2 players in general, so I’ll just be the little lone Coyote leeching scraps in the core game. If people want to think I didn’t support the game, more power to them. The kind of people who would a) assume that, and b) exclude me, aren’t the type of people I’d want to run with.

Cletus Van Damme.2795:

It’s possible they’re trying to pick up the massive Wildstar crowd with HoT, it’s a courageous strategy I hope it works out for them.

There was a massive Wildstar crowd? WHEN?!!! Because we hit the roster boss pretty hard at launch. Is their F2P Model good enough to have attracted that many more players than it lost for having NO fluff and no content between their 20-man and imposssible-to-feild-for-nearly-every-guild- 40-man?

Wildstar is a first class example of why GW2 was amazing before HOT. Now that it’s joined the already too plentiful pile of games that require guilds to fully experience content, it’s not the same refuge it used to be and doesn’t have nearly the staying power for me and those like me who came here specifically because it was a game with a ton of things to do that I could do on my own while still knowing I’m seeing the whole picture and getting as much out of the game as anyone else.

Dejavu.2349:

Cletus Van Damme.2795:

It’s possible they’re trying to pick up the massive Wildstar crowd with HoT, it’s a courageous strategy I hope it works out for them.

There was a massive Wildstar crowd? WHEN?!!! Because we hit the roster boss pretty hard at launch. Is their F2P Model good enough to have attracted that many more players than it lost for having NO fluff and no content between their 20-man and imposssible-to-feild-for-nearly-every-guild- 40-man?

Wildstar is a first class example of why GW2 was amazing before HOT. Now that it’s joined the already too plentiful pile of games that require guilds to fully experience content, it’s not the same refuge it used to be and doesn’t have nearly the staying power for me and those like me who came here specifically because it was a game with a ton of things to do that I could do on my own while still knowing I’m seeing the whole picture and getting as much out of the game as anyone else.

That’s the joke. It’s okay I didn’t get it at first either. XD

FogLeg.9354:

Unholy.1527:

Guild Wars 2 never had any type of hardcore commitment; there was no monthly subscription either so it was always pick-up and play when you wanted. The game was designed around that and that’s what always kept me coming back. It’s why I’ve had the game since pre-release and I purchased the $100 copy of HoT.

The thing is HoT has moved the game in a much different direction than what GW2 represented to me and was to me prior to the expansion.

Thanks for taking time to write this up.

I feel the same. I have played the GW2 for long time because of freedom to do what you like when you like. I really dislike HoT for all the timers, for all the stuff that are gated behind masteries, for very little freedom and lack of options.

I agree, I’ve played this game casually since launch and I happen to enjoy the “easiness” of Open World PvE (LOVED Hearts!) of the core game. I didn’t care for Dry Top and Silver Wastes. I felt I HAD to grind out lumi gear in Silver Wastes and once that was done I didn’t go back.
I also prefer multiple ways to acquire weapon and armor skins.
I’m fine with Fractals and Raids being difficult areas and suitable for those that prefer challenging content. (PvP and WvW is good for competition as well).
I’m disappointed that Anet has chosen to make PvE more difficult and to lock content (story, map completion, skins ) behind Masteries and high amounts of XP.

FogLeg.9354:

1. I find it weird that people who LOVE the HoT content and ENJOY it SO MUCH spend most of their time posting in the forum about how much exactly they love and enjoy it. Personally, if I really like the book I read or food I am eating, I do not stop reading or eating to post about it in the forum. I think people who actually love HoT are playing the game instead.

Spurious argument. People who love HoT can post from their phones while away from their computers for a huge variety of RL reasons. They can’t play from their phones.

Cletus Van Damme.2795:

It’s possible they’re trying to pick up the massive Wildstar crowd with HoT, it’s a courageous strategy I hope it works out for them.

XD bwahahahahahaa that’s hilarious, nice

bye felicia

I’m a casual player. I play this game entirely by myself. I have other games I play when I want to do real group content. One of the things I like about GW was the ease in which I could jump in and play. HoT has changed that for me.

I have adjusted to the bump in difficulty by replacing my mesmer with necro. I can get around much easier with the necro’s survivability. I like the meta events and enjoy “grouping” with people to complete them. What is really killing HoT for me are the timers.

Most days I play for one hour after my husband goes to bed. This means it’s the same time each day. With the timers, there are certain events I’ll never complete during this time period. I wish the maps ran more like SW where the maps ran on different timers. That way I could change maps and perhaps work on a different part of the meta.

How hard would that be to implement? Just start the timers when an event starts. Like Dragonstand would start when the players begin the meta and close after that. Then restart when it failed or completed. That way maps would be on staggering timers. That would help a lot for me.

An enormous amount of GW2’s content at launch was meant to be (and indeed was) enjoyed by solo players. When I see people saying that GW2 is an MMORPG, so the expectation of being able to solo anything, including sections of HoT, is completely unrealistic makes me wonder if they’ve ever even played an MMO.

And GW2 is not the only MMO on the market that has either specifically made or tweaked plenty of their content to be soloable. Why do they do this? Because there’s a market for it. There’s money in it.

You really don’t understand the modern MMO if you honestly believe that no parts of them are ever meant to be soloed.

Ok, I’m going to address some of your points here. Again, a disclaimer, I’m not a casual player.

Silmar Alech.4305:

Let’s take an overview over HoT and the usability of each component for me:

- masteries: a stretch to get them. No fun. Explanation was above.

Masteries are designed to be progressed over time. There are about three that I can think of that are essential to getting around the jungle with ease (gliding, updraft, bouncing mushroom). All are located at either tier 1 or two of their mastery lines. Really shouldn’t take more than a few hours to acquire them while just running around. Personally, I’m sitting at 38 mastery points, and have spent essentially no time doing mastery guides. I don’t feel inferior to players who have 100+ and certainly don’t feel that my HoT experience has been diminished because I don’t have some. They’re something to look forward to!

Silmar Alech.4305:

- elite specs: For me, as ele main, playing only PvE, the Tempest is practically useless. Don’t need it.

Woah there. I’ve been playing ele since I started playing the game three years ago and tempest is far from useless in pve. The attunement overloads add a whole new dimension to ele and the shouts and tempest line provide us with a whole host of new playstyles. Zerker tempest has incredibly high dps right now, tank/aura-sharing and healing-support tempests are incredibly fun to play in groups right now, and you can run a nice balanced stats (mix of power and vital, or whatever you need) for soloing in the jungle with much better survivability and damage than ele has ever had. Essentially all eles I know are running tempest in PvE right now with great success.

Silmar Alech.4305:

- new maps: Yes, very nice graphics. But playing there is not much fun, since I need all the masteries. Running through, an event here and there, missing most stuff because I cannot reach the location. Not the fun I paid 99 Euro for.

The new maps are definitely more complex than old tyria. But that just adds to their replayability! Re: masteries, if you don’t have updraft and bouncing mushrooms, spend a little bit of time getting those and then reevaluate what you think. And think of it this way: there’s so much more to explore! The maps become a lot more friendly once you get used to them, I promise.

Silmar Alech.4305:

- raids: I hate the raid concept. The absence of raids was one of THE reason to begin playing GW1/GW2 in the first place. Dedicating hours to prepare for a single boss fight and endlessly fail trying is the essence of what I don’t like in gaming.

This honestly, is the sentiment that confuses me the most. Why does the introduction of raids after three years make people mad? I would understand it if Anet was introducing a new tier of gear into the game that was only accessible through raids and without it made open world content too difficult. But they’re not. You will feel no difference running around the jungle in full ascended/legendary (the former which is accessible outside raids) than in full exotics. Don’t like raids? Ignore them. Literally makes no difference.

Silmar Alech.4305:

- legendary collections: legendary grindfests. Time-stealing, uninteresting, boring. No gameplay!

So you’d rather precursors still only drop through terrible RNG or require you to grind up to 1k gold to acquire? The collections are awesome! They get people out into the world. Completing world boss events. Going to maps in tyria that are consistently empty. Getting into content they may never have run before. Legendaries have always been a grindfest and this makes that grind a little more manageable. (And again, legendary weapons are in no way required for completing content.)

Silmar Alech.4305:

- guild hall: long overdue, nice. But not what is adding to my daily gameplay.
- PvP: I don’t know what was added in HoT for PvP, but it’s irrelevant for me, because I don’t play PvP. Ever.

sPvP got a new game mode. Don’t know much about it here either but also haven’t heard complaints.

Silmar Alech.4305:

- Fractals: it’s the same fractals as before. Only added some grind-goals. But that’s no new content, so no added value.

I do agree with this point. Though I really like the change to only require one fractal at a time instead of 3+boss, the reward system is a little messed up, though should hopefully be being addressed soon. The lack of new fractals in HoT is pretty disappointing though. Hopefully we’ll get some in the future? I will say though, fractals are now way more accessible to casual players who only have like 15-30 minutes to dedicate to content so that’s a plus. And you can still reep a decent amount of gold from fractals. (There are also no grind goals, unless you’re referring to the legendary backpack, which is also super not required.)

Silmar Alech.4305:

- Dungeons: damaged instead of made more out of them. Nothing I paid my money for.

Again, agreed. Would have loved to see a new dungeon in HoT.

Silmar Alech.4305:

- HoT adventures: just discovered one of them. Very strange and don’t really fit. Like activities and minigames: not very interesting in comparison to open world or organized instanced combat.

Don’t like adventures? Don’t do them. Love playing them over and over, do that! It’s all about adding choices to what you want to do, which seems to be what everyone is asking for and saying there is none of? I know people (myself included) who have spent hours going for gold in some of the adventures and having a ton of fun.

Silmar Alech.4305:

It seems to me the game got a new target audience with HoT. Someone who likes grind, who likes repetitive tasks, who is able to dedicate hours over hours upon one single goal over weeks. Someone who likes power-gaming or min-/max-gaming even more than the dungeon community. Either single player (adventure) or super-organized (raid) or totally forced to comply to a map goal (meta-events).
It’s not “the game I play the way I like it” any more. Everything now feels forced and without freedom.

I’m very disappointed. I don’t have fun any more, if I go to HoT. I still can have fun in old Tyria, ignore all grind goals from HoT, but that’s old content, and that’s not what I paid 99 Euro for. Do I have to wait another 3 years for the next addon that maybe changes direction again? I don’t think I last another 3 years.

There is literally no reason you must participate in map meta events. Don’t want to? Fine! Go run around and explore. You’ll come across tons of smaller events you can solo, or better yet, complete with other strangers you meet in the open world. Meta-events won’t fail because you’re not specifically working on them, and anyone who yells at you for doing what you want just ignore. On the flip-side, want to participate in a meta event? Open up open world LFG and you’ll find a map with a meta running pretty quickly and pop right in.

I’m confused by people who think GW2 hasn’t always been a grindy game. That is, in essence exactly what it is. Examples:
- Leveling. Map complete. Finish that map? Do the exact same thing on the next one. And the next. And the next.
- Hearts. Do the same few tasks repeatedly until the progress bar is full.
- Farming for literally any item. Either do the same thing until it drops, or farm gold until you can buy it.
- Legendaries. Took me literally over a year of farming gold/mats before I got mine.

Kraggy.4169:

Crinn.7864:

The masteries QQ is ridiculous. Would you rather go back to a leveling system where you can’t do content until you’re level X? The only difference between masteries and a traditional leveling system is that I can choose which zone’s masteries to focus on first rather than having to grind levels on all previous zones first.

Leveling 1-80 wasn’t locked behind group-required meta events, you could do it at your own pace and WHEN YOU CHOSE TO, your progression wasn’t dictated by event timers and the availabiltiy of others to ‘group up’ for the 1990s group-or-die content HOT’s Challenges and metas demand.

So yes, I want to ‘go back’ to normal leveling please.

I must agree, and I was surprised that there’s only one way to get new content which is through HoT. Even Ranger pets have always been spread out everywhere or pets could be found in more then one place, not anymore. This is their first expansion so I’ll give them time.

I know it’s not their intention but this expansion does appear to promote an elitist agenda.

Ohoni.6057:

good thing is HoT is optional you dont have to play it if you dont like it simple as that stick with the core game plenty of content there still.

Do you honestly believe that comments of this sort will make anyone feel better? Is there someone whom you imagine in your mind would read that and go “oh, well that’s ok then?”

People are are complaining do not just want to continue playing the same content they have been for the past three years, they want NEW content as much as anyone else, they just want new content of the type of the previous content. They want new material of the same formula, and it should come as a surprise to no one if they are unsatisfied with new content that is well outside their interests or capabilities.

If you like the new content direction, that’s great, you’re allowed to say as much, but there’s absolutely no point to belittling or attempting to silence people who genuinely believe otherwise. Let them speak their mind, honor that their opinions are just as valid as your own, and let ANet decide what to do about it.

Curiously, if I hadn’t paid for HoT, my game would still be crashing every 10-20 minutes. Soooooo even without paying for the game I would have paid dearly for the compulsory update (bluescreens are detrimental to computers, just so you know).

As for content, I’m okay with HoT, but I still feel that the direction the game is going is less than ideal. A lot of unnecessary compromises. Some decent content, though.

FogLeg.9354:

Couple things:

1. I find it weird that people who LOVE the HoT content and ENJOY it SO MUCH spend most of their time posting in the forum about how much exactly they love and enjoy it. Personally, if I really like the book I read or food I am eating, I do not stop reading or eating to post about it in the forum. I think people who actually love HoT are playing the game instead.

2. If you find game too easy, there is endless combinations to make it harder and more difficult for you. Have you tried to complete everything without wearing a weapon? Using only blue items? Implementing permadeath, deleting char and all items it had every time you die? You are not forced to get best possible equipment, or use some broken skill that one-hits everything and then moan how easy the game is, demaning more difficult content for everyone else. Thats just selfish.

3. Players who really want very difficult content have not played GW2 for many years because there was none. Those players have played other games instead. Players who only want to raid have not played GW2 for many years because there was none. Such players, too, have moved on to play other games. The players who actually played GW2 for many years, are actually the players who liked the content the way it was, who did not mind lack of difficulty or 0 possible raids. So, the HoT expansion is not created for GW2 players in mind, it is created to attract players who did not like GW2.

Haha, yeah… people who love fantasy, casual gameplay, and the lore of Guild Wars… they play Guild Wars. People who pretty much only love challenge… play Dark Souls.

That aside, it wouldn’t be amiss if Anet added a “hard mode” toggle like in Guild Wars 1, which scales every foe up to max level (bosses higher) in the instance. Anyone with it toggled on will enter with you (so not solo instances, just scaled instances).

Swift.1930:

Curiously, if I hadn’t paid for HoT, my game would still be crashing every 10-20 minutes.

Can confirm, no HoT, still crashing. But more like once an hour so far, it’s normally “I crashed? F’it, I’ll play something else.”

Coyote.7031:

Swift.1930:

Curiously, if I hadn’t paid for HoT, my game would still be crashing every 10-20 minutes.

Can confirm, no HoT, still crashing. But more like once an hour so far, it’s normally “I crashed? F’it, I’ll play something else.”

This part of it sucks pretty badly. Firstly because I was just getting back into Guild Wars after playing The Witcher 3 and some other games, but secondly because it means other people are going to be leaving as well. Some are leaving for more reasons than just the crashes. I wanted to get back into one of my favorite games/game worlds, but it’s turning out unplayable for now… =(

@OP

I am in the same boat, but as long as they are just earning really cool skins and not actual character power advancement from raids, then it shouldn’t bother us that much… Yes they might likely be the coolest skins in the game considering aquisition difficulty and I will never get thwm, but as long as they don’t start designing every single content around raids, and keep giving the open world players something to do, I won’t mind much.

Swift.1930:

This part of it sucks pretty badly. Firstly because I was just getting back into Guild Wars after playing The Witcher 3 and some other games, but secondly because it means other people are going to be leaving as well. Some are leaving for more reasons than just the crashes. I wanted to get back into one of my favorite games/game worlds, but it’s turning out unplayable for now… =(

It’s okay, it’s why I camp the forums too. GW2 is a unique game, it’s very special. It’s just not headed the way I like. But, I don’t think GW2 will be the game I want, which is fine, other people enjoy it. I’ll wait and see a little while longer, but now I just feel like that creepy ex that hangs around going “You’ll see how much need me! YOU’LL SEE!!!” Might be time to move on. =\

Coyote.7031:

Swift.1930:

This part of it sucks pretty badly. Firstly because I was just getting back into Guild Wars after playing The Witcher 3 and some other games, but secondly because it means other people are going to be leaving as well. Some are leaving for more reasons than just the crashes. I wanted to get back into one of my favorite games/game worlds, but it’s turning out unplayable for now… =(

It’s okay, it’s why I camp the forums too. GW2 is a unique game, it’s very special. It’s just not headed the way I like. But, I don’t think GW2 will be the game I want, which is fine, other people enjoy it. I’ll wait and see a little while longer, but now I just feel like that creepy ex that hangs around going “You’ll see how much need me! YOU’LL SEE!!!” Might be time to move on. =\

Haha, yeah, something like that.