Guild Wars 2

In any RPG you look at you will find multiple layers of progression. Be it through character stats, gear, or other enhancements. All of these typically are broken up into short-term progression, and long-term progression tiers. What I mean by this is, you have a long term goal (reaching level 80), but every level along the way offers a short-term reward (bump to character stats, new skills, etc).

With Mastery, it’s an all or nothing reward system it feels like. I can spend weeks, or months in some cases, grinding for a single objective. I view these all as long-term goals.

It would help with the sense of ‘grind’ and be less daunting, if along the journey towards the long-term goal, there were more sprinkled gap-fill rewards for short-term.

Examples where this exists in the game beyond leveling… PvP reward tracks. To complete a full PvP reward track and achieve the end goal, it’s a long journey (long being relative here, but it’s not something you get for a handful of matches). Along the way though, there are several other rewards sprinkled throughout that make the grind a little less painful because you’re getting smaller incentives as you progress.

I don’t know what kind of things could be sprinkled along the journey for a Mastery track, but I do know it would be a nice middle-ground solution for those who feel Mastery grind burnout and those who enjoy the long-term goal aspect. Think of it as milestones.

Sondergaard.8469:

In any RPG you look at you will find multiple layers of progression. Be it through character stats, gear, or other enhancements. All of these typically are broken up into short-term progression, and long-term progression tiers. What I mean by this is, you have a long term goal (reaching level 80), but every level along the way offers a short-term reward (bump to character stats, new skills, etc).

With Mastery, it’s an all or nothing reward system it feels like. I can spend weeks, or months in some cases, grinding for a single objective. I view these all as long-term goals.

It would help with the sense of ‘grind’ and be less daunting, if along the journey towards the long-term goal, there were more sprinkled gap-fill rewards for short-term.

Examples where this exists in the game beyond leveling… PvP reward tracks. To complete a full PvP reward track and achieve the end goal, it’s a long journey (long being relative here, but it’s not something you get for a handful of matches). Along the way though, there are several other rewards sprinkled throughout that make the grind a little less painful because you’re getting smaller incentives as you progress.

I don’t know what kind of things could be sprinkled along the journey for a Mastery track, but I do know it would be a nice middle-ground solution for those who feel Mastery grind burnout and those who enjoy the long-term goal aspect. Think of it as milestones.

Fun idea.

Armor/weapon skins, transmutation stones, emotes, finishers, zone materials/keys/currency would always be welcomed.

Itzel Poison Lore-Itzel Frog head helm
Bouncing Mushrooms- Mushroom Slippers
Nuhoch Wallows- Personal Nuhoch Wallows Transporter 3h cd
Exalted Markings- EM Finisher
Glider- Trophies to build a glider
etc…

Sondergaard.8469:

In any RPG you look at you will find multiple layers of progression. Be it through character stats, gear, or other enhancements. All of these typically are broken up into short-term progression, and long-term progression tiers. What I mean by this is, you have a long term goal (reaching level 80), but every level along the way offers a short-term reward (bump to character stats, new skills, etc).

With Mastery, it’s an all or nothing reward system it feels like. I can spend weeks, or months in some cases, grinding for a single objective. I view these all as long-term goals.

It would help with the sense of ‘grind’ and be less daunting, if along the journey towards the long-term goal, there were more sprinkled gap-fill rewards for short-term.

Examples where this exists in the game beyond leveling… PvP reward tracks. To complete a full PvP reward track and achieve the end goal, it’s a long journey (long being relative here, but it’s not something you get for a handful of matches). Along the way though, there are several other rewards sprinkled throughout that make the grind a little less painful because you’re getting smaller incentives as you progress.

I don’t know what kind of things could be sprinkled along the journey for a Mastery track, but I do know it would be a nice middle-ground solution for those who feel Mastery grind burnout and those who enjoy the long-term goal aspect. Think of it as milestones.

If you think about it the game is FULL of short term rewards, and really the masteries should be considered within this context – we really don’t need yet another stream of rewards/chests/drops. The trick is take to the holistic view, so for example for me I will sprinkle my day with a bit of progression towards long term goals (no short term rewards appart from the satisfaction of slowly progressing) – mastery points in my cases, and then switch to dailies/wvw/factals/wandering zones for short term fixes.

The question for more rewards only comes up, because right now new masteries (with the exception of the required “transport” masteries you need to progress the story with) have very limited use to the players and are locked behind tons of XP you have to “grind” for (non-mastery related general XP grind).

Take “Exalted Acceptance”: You unlock the Vendor that shows you, you have to farm more Aurillium for a “trophy item” on a collection track. You gain nothing, but the opening of a money sink. You can’t unlock e.g. new people to talk to, new items to pick up (for playing the game, not paying). You don’t feel rewarded for getting to that point in the progression.

I have 53 Mastery Level and I see no reason in rushing higher. The final tiers of masteries are almost useless.

Short term rewards?

I’d rather have a long term progression system in place. After completing the central Tyrian masteries, playing there has a hollow aspect to it with its dead experience bar.

I am sry but they don’t, mastery lines are fine, there is no reason to get better rewards earlier, you should get rewards if you work on your progression, problem is, people don’t wanna play to progress, they just want everything on a plate so that they complain how they have nothing to do in the game, worst idea ever.

Developers start messing this over and over and never learn, same goes for removing poison hero points from VB, its the most kittened thing I have seen in my life, why would you remove the reason for people to progress mastery lines, I was so exited about the idea that after a few weeks or months I can go back there and get that last hero point but no, people made sure that we won’t have that feeling of accomplishment. There are a few things wrong with HoT but some of the big ones are these made because people that ask for things to be easy to get and in the end the game looses players because there is “nothing to do”.

TLDR: No they don’t.