Since launch, GW2 prided itself as having one of the best, if not the best community of any MMO and rightly so. Always friendly, helpful and more than willing to assist those in need, at least this has been my experience and i’ve always done the same. I’ve lost count how many times i’ve died trying to help others.
But HoT has changed all that. Right now in HoT, i see fewer and fewer ppl willing to stop and rez others, or answer a call for help to kill that rabid champ on steroids and its hordes for that HP or w/ever else and it’s getting worse by the day. Even 2 weeks after HoT released, i noticed a decline in those willing to help others, eventhough they all know, these HP’s can’t be soloed. I’ve been in situations where i’ve spent an hour or two asking for assistance with a HP while trying to do events, especially in TD and DS and not one person would reply or come to help, even though i know there’s lots of people in the map.
Despite many difficulties, including my ridiculously high ping, I’ve almost completed DS, just need 1 HP. This last HP i need is guarded by the Spider Queen and is only accessible during the 15 min timer after the successful DS meta and i’ve been trying to get it for days now. Most times when i log in there, the map is deserted. I’d ask in map chat if anyone was there, but no one replies. I’ve had to resort to LFG and on an odd occasion I’ve managed to get a taxi into a good map and got most of the stuff done, except this one HP.
Finally today, i managed to get to it and it’s the most crazy set up I’ve ever seen. It’s like this HP was created by some lunatic goofball frankly. Not only is it gated behind a successful meta and being timed, but it’s very hard to get the Lay Line updraft that starts off the ground and virtually no place to launch from and open ur kite. But once u do get up there, u r in a small area full of spiders, many of them vets and finally the Champ Queen.
I was there alone on my necro, so i summoned my minions thinking they would take attention off me while I commune, but the spiders completely ignored them and just kept on me. The HP is situated on this small rock pillar and whenever i tried to commune, they all rushed at me and each of their hits would interrupt my commune. So i tried to kite them away, but it was no good, they seem to be programmed to stick to the player and i couldn’t shake them off no matter what i did.
I knew the map was populated, we just finished the dragon event and i could still see a few commander badges around the map and while running for my life, i somehow managed to type in map chat asking for help. No one replied, so i repeated the message, pleading for help as i was running out of time, but no one responded. In the end, the spiders overwhelmed me and killed me and i saw this HP slipping away.
Eventually, a lone thief came (thank you whoever u are) and tried to rez me, but i could see he wasn’t going to make it, so i told him no to die as well. He apologized for not being able to help, there was just too many mobs. It was pointless anyway, even if he managed to rez me, 2 of us couldn’t deal with the 30-40 mobs running rampant around the HP, so he left me there. Then with barely 1 minute left, another thief came and actually got me rezzed (i was already partially rezzed by the first thief so it was faster and many thanks to you too) and that very instant, the map reset and i was killed off again and spat to the beginning of the map.
You know Anet? You’ve destroyed my enjoyment of this expansion, but I’m determined to get that last HP one way or another (to get some value for my money and to have at least one char with 100% maguma) and then i’ll never go back to those places again, let alone try map completion on my alts. It’s just not worth the frustration. And just so you know, exploration is my favorite thing in this game. Prior to HoT, I had 9 characters with 100% world completion and they all did it when WvW was part of it. I had every intention of doing the same in HoT but no thanks. I’ve had enough.
That spider queen HP is ridiculous in so many ways. One lone thief coming to help me in a map full of people? While needing 15-20 at least, is what makes this content utterly ridiculous. Not to mention, having that 15 min timer after dragon dies to get it done when u loose at least 5 minutes just getting to the boss chest. What made u think that weeks/moths after HoT release, one would be able to gather 15-20 willing ppl required to kill those mobs and get that HP? It’s barely 6 weeks in and you can’t get the help needed, let alone in months to come. So why should i really even bother bringing my alts through there? The meta events are just like any other for me, tons of blues and greens and an odd rare. All that stress for what? Where is the fun in this?
What I see has happened here, locusts who purchased HoT have already rushed through in the first couple of weeks after launch, got their map completions done with a zerg and all they care about now, its their lootz. Since everything in GW2 is on timers, people don’t want to waste theirs helping others so much anymore. And so, those of us like me, who took their time to actually try and explore the jungle and appreciate all your amazing artistry, well good luck to them in completing these maps.
It’s a real shame and I truly hope you will make map completion in HoT a viable thing not just for now, but future players as well.