Guild Wars 2

Am I the only one? I feel like while everyone’s getting pumped for this expansion, I’m watching some of the only builds that I actually find enjoyable being ripped to shreds (Mainly from a PvP perspective). Just curious if I’m the only one at least slightly nervous about the amount of changes they’re making to traits and such

So you’d rather things stay as stale as they are right now, with players leaving in droves ?

sigh…

I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but you’re just saying that you’re not looking forward to change since it will ruin your build…That is kind of a close minded thing. With change comes new and probably equally as powerful and possibly more fun opportunity. I Look forward to the change in brings, new things to do and new things to figure out…not just slide by using the same build that has been meta for years…

Nope, I’m not seeing anything exciting. They dissolved their dungeon team so we probably won’t see any of those. They might have raids but might not, no information. So basically no fun PvE content. They are ruining my favorite class Guardian. Greatsword Sword/Focus is about to become useless compared to Hammer which sucks because Hammer is a kittenty slow motion weapon. I’m just hoping for something exciting. Something new and good.

I’m not saying that they should halt all changes just because of my builds, I’m just saying that I’m very nervous about all the trait changes in general. In every MMO I’ve played so far, once the devs decided to make large scale trait and class changes, the majority of their old player base ends up leaving the game. I’m just nervous because I have really enjoyed GW2, and would really hate for the changes to be so much so that I can’t play anything that I actually enjoy

you don’t have to wait til HoT for changes to take effect. The next update will bring them to gw2 core. That’s actually something i really like about gw/gw2. Those games are constantly evolving.

Its a concern. Would be nice as well if they gave us a build saver.

makagoto.1204:

Those games are constantly evolving.

I agree that it’s nice that they can evolve like that, but at the same time I feel that they should be very cautious when attempting to implement massive scale change to the way the game is played. It’s one thing to nerf an overpowered build, but it’s quite another to change the entire trait system

That I understand, while it’s hard to tell if the changes are going to ruin things as they are or make them better is one hell of a debate since we have such little information to work off of.

Granted since they did say the changes will come into effect before HoT release, The Team will get the players feedback. Kinda hard to judge something that we have not actually gotten our hands on to see what works or not. I do hope that they had new variations of builds but also still keep previous ones viable.

No, Leaven, you’re not the only one. At this point, unless HoT is crazy cheap to start with, I’m thinking I’ll wait until it goes on deep sale to pick it up.

Having to go re-earn unlocks for my characters has left me pretty “meh” about GW2.

Leaven.3704:

makagoto.1204:

Those games are constantly evolving.

I agree that it’s nice that they can evolve like that, but at the same time I feel that they should be very cautious when attempting to implement massive scale change to the way the game is played. It’s one thing to nerf an overpowered build, but it’s quite another to change the entire trait system

ANet has been doing this for 3 years already and the playerbase keeps growing by my count…

How are you counting it?

Achrisos.1360:

ANet has been doing this for 3 years already and the playerbase keeps growing by my count…

ANet has never made a change like they’re planning now, attempting to completely revamp everything about the trait system

I Think it was MMORPG that had an article recently ahout NCSoft financials and outlined sales for GW2.

People have been asking for trait changes, so here they are. Personally, it would have been enough for me to make unlocks on characters account-wide — if one character has an unlock, then all characters get it unlocked (by deed accomplished to unlock the trait, not the trait itself, since some professions have some small changes in what deed unlocks which trait number).

ekarat.1085:

People have been asking for trait changes, so here they are.

I feel like people did want changes on certain individual traits (In order to make ‘bad’ traits ‘good’), but not on nearly every trait and the trait system as a whole.

All I know is that ANet is 3/3 with me as in all 3 reveals will make my current builds even stronger (depending on how the baseline stats and armor/weap stat increases will play out)

Achrisos.1360:

all 3 reveals will make my current builds even stronger (depending on how the baseline stats and armor/weap stat increases will play out)

I wish I could say the same, from what I’ve seen so far, a lot of pure power builds are going to be getting stiffed compared to hybrid and condi builds

The link to the article about NCSoft’s $$ problems is below; Aion and GW2 are holding, however, WIldstar has plummeted. Neither are in a great place, but they’re doing ok.

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/9392/NCSoft-Earnings-Not-Everyones-Drinking-Champagne-in-the-Executive-Suite.html

Leaven.3704:

Achrisos.1360:

all 3 reveals will make my current builds even stronger (depending on how the baseline stats and armor/weap stat increases will play out)

I wish I could say the same, from what I’ve seen so far, a lot of pure power builds are going to be getting stiffed compared to hybrid and condi builds

From the 3 builds only 1 of them I run is zerk the other is hybrid and condi and with the new condi changes annouced (did you read about that?) I would say the opposite of what you said is true…

Maybe Achrisos was talking about something else.

Achrisos.1360:

From the 3 builds only 1 of them I run is zerk the other is hybrid and condi and with the new condi changes annouced (did you read about that?) I would say the opposite of what you said is true…

That’s what I’m saying, I believe that the condi changes are going to buff up hybrid and condi builds to the point where pure power builds are going to be left behind. Unfortunately for me, of my 4 characters that I play regularly, 3 of them are pure power, simply because that’s what I find enjoyable to play

What’s looking forward to HoT to do with that?

These changes will be coming before HoT.

I suppose that’s true, I just associate them with each other, as they’re both part of the ‘revamping’ that ANet is doing to the game

Leaven.3704:

I suppose that’s true, I just associate them with each other, as they’re both part of the ‘revamping’ that ANet is doing to the game

Agreed. It’s like some of these changes are the appetizer for the main course that is HoT.

After you’ve discovered your host is serving you Salmon Mousse that’s gone bad, it’s hard to be excited for the Filet Mignon to come.

I for one am thrilled that my builds will be getting ripped to shreds (even though they probably wont be since players are whining so much devs are already reverting a bunch of changes, ie the EA thread in the ele forums and so on).

Nothing more boring than running the same 2-3 builds per class with the same abilities/weapons for 3+ years. Biggest downside is it will probably take a year to even out the pvp/wvw balance with the new builds, but its a worthy trade.

Sizer.5632:

Nothing more boring than running the same 2-3 builds per class with the same abilities/weapons for 3+ years.

I agree that it’s nice to have the option to switch it up from time to time, but I prefer my options to be optional, not having builds taken away that I like to play, and forcing me to either attempt to make a similar one or change my playstyle entirely

Yeah I have to say the trait changes are killing off some builds, balancing others, while opening options for different builds.

What Im also seeing is more valid condi play and valid counters to condi play.

Im actually curious to the overall change and how attribute points are going to be added to gear to compensate the loss in the trait system. Whether its going to dull down power creep some or not, basically how all that is going to play out and make sense.

Other than that, I have seen a couple builds get destroyed, while other builds getting minor changes and the possibility for completely new ones.

makagoto.1204:

you don’t have to wait til HoT for changes to take effect. The next update will bring them to gw2 core. That’s actually something i really like about gw/gw2. Those games are constantly evolving.

Oversimplification may not always be a part of the evolution process. It may be part of the degradation. It can lead to the ruin possibilities of research and experimentation in the character development sphere. The traits system was quite simple(for me at least). It can be improved not simplified. Sorry for my bad english.

Leaven.3704:

Sizer.5632:

Nothing more boring than running the same 2-3 builds per class with the same abilities/weapons for 3+ years.

I agree that it’s nice to have the option to switch it up from time to time, but I prefer my options to be optional, not having builds taken away that I like to play, and forcing me to either attempt to make a similar one or change my playstyle entirely

lol…you apparently didn’t play GW1, because seemingly anytime they did a balance pass, this is what happened. There is a very good reason people joke about skill balancing in that game.

The trait system is essentially GW2’s rendition of the GW1 skill system. As such, with each adjustment of balancing of it, you should fully expect to take yourself back to the drawing board.

Still, I think the incoming changes to the trait system are, for the most part, a good thing. It is a combination of the first system (which just handed everything to us) and the second (where we had to go hunt everything).

In the first, one of the biggest complains was it was “too” easy. Everything was just there and usable, the “hard” part was coming up with the funds to purchase the books from the skill trainers, and even that became not very difficult to obtain after a short period of time.

The current system, they took from our requests to see skill hunting returned to the game. They couldn’t really do it with the skills as the currently exist, but they could apply it to the trait system, so they did. Which, lead to the complaint that now it’s too expensive (for those that don’t do the actual pve hunting) or that some of the required tasks are a bit out of proportion for what you’re achieving.

The new system allows for both – the vast majority of the points needed are handed to us as we level while the additional points we need come from hunting for and completing ‘hero’ challenges of our choosing. We still have control over what we choose to unlock and what we don’t, perhaps even a bit more with the skills being split into tracks for the assorted skill types. For example, a lot of guardian’s don’t use spirit weapons for an assortment of reasons, and may opt to not bother spending points on that skill track at all (which saves them 20 points to use elsewhere).

I personally have zero problems with the new direction, but EVERY class needs new skills, so there can be a myriad of new builds implemented.
HoT is a start, and I trust this is the direction they may be going in, but more skills equals more choice, equals more build diversity.

I’m excited for it, but at the same time, kinda not, cause I know the engine is staying the same and I hate this games engine. MMO that can’t handle a lot of people on screen…

iSmack.1768:

I’m excited for it, but at the same time, kinda not, cause I know the engine is staying the same and I hate this games engine. MMO that can’t handle a lot of people on screen…

The only way around this right now is to have a relatively good processor. This game has poor resource management and, as such, relies on the processor for a lot of its graphical tasks. Quad-core i5s with >3.2 GHz seem to work pretty well, but them changing their game engine is obviously the best option to take in the long run (even if it takes years yet). If they wait too long, they will continue to be stuck with turn-of-the-century technology, and that’s no good.

MiniEquine.6014:

iSmack.1768:

I’m excited for it, but at the same time, kinda not, cause I know the engine is staying the same and I hate this games engine. MMO that can’t handle a lot of people on screen…

The only way around this right now is to have a relatively good processor. This game has poor resource management and, as such, relies on the processor for a lot of its graphical tasks. Quad-core i5s with >3.2 GHz seem to work pretty well, but them changing their game engine is obviously the best option to take in the long run (even if it takes years yet). If they wait too long, they will continue to be stuck with turn-of-the-century technology, and that’s no good.

Yea, already have the hardware (i5 2500k @ 4.2Ghz). I’m positive I’m going to be more excited to hear they have made upgrades to the engine compared to when they officially announced HoT.

I’ve been using rifle for 3 years on engi
greatsword sword focus on Guardian
Greatsword axe mace on warrior
dagger dagger dagger warhorn on necro
dagger focus on ele

All of these I’ve used for 3 frigging years. It’s mind blowing people don’t want change. So weird. I’m dying for the meta to shake up

Leaven.3704:

Achrisos.1360:

From the 3 builds only 1 of them I run is zerk the other is hybrid and condi and with the new condi changes annouced (did you read about that?) I would say the opposite of what you said is true…

That’s what I’m saying, I believe that the condi changes are going to buff up hybrid and condi builds to the point where pure power builds are going to be left behind. Unfortunately for me, of my 4 characters that I play regularly, 3 of them are pure power, simply because that’s what I find enjoyable to play

Now try to look at it from a condition users point of view. I enjoy playing condi, but as it sits now I am unwanted in most (all?) situations so I generally run solo. To me these changes are a very large breath of fresh air and I can only hope they make what I enjoy playing wanted by others.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

lol…you apparently didn’t play GW1, because seemingly anytime they did a balance pass, this is what happened. There is a very good reason people joke about skill balancing in that game.

Easier to swallow in a game with an easily obtainable gear plateau.

I admit so far everything seems underwhelming compared to the expectations i am used to when hearing about an expansion. Definitely not gonna buy it day 1. Want to see other ppl try it out first. See if it’s worth both my time and money.

Gibson.4036:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

lol…you apparently didn’t play GW1, because seemingly anytime they did a balance pass, this is what happened. There is a very good reason people joke about skill balancing in that game.

Easier to swallow in a game with an easily obtainable gear plateau.

To be fair we did have that at the beginning of this game’s life. However, many of the players decided they required an additional carrot to chase and whined until Anet changed that.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

To be fair we did have that at the beginning of this game’s life. However, many of the players decided they required an additional carrot to chase and whined until Anet changed that.

That’s the sad truth.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

However, many of the players decided they required an additional carrot to chase and whined until Anet changed that.

I feel like that’s part of the issue too, is that ANet likes to listen to the people that put up the biggest fuss, even if they’re completely wrong. Now, that’s not to say ANet is the worst at listening to their players, because I’ve played other MMO’s where there’s literally no company/player interaction at all, so I am glad that they at least make the attempt to listen to some of their player base.

Leaven.3704:

I feel like that’s part of the issue too, is that ANet likes to listen to the people that put up the biggest fuss, even if they’re completely wrong. Now, that’s not to say ANet is the worst at listening to their players, because I’ve played other MMO’s where there’s literally no company/player interaction at all, so I am glad that they at least make the attempt to listen to some of their player base.
*Edit: Not sure why the quote didn’t quote when I told it to… Well you get my point :P

I do like that Anet tries to listen to their players; they do try to take our suggestions and desires and use them where they can.

Do they always do it they way we want it done? Nope.

Do they sometimes do things that make us want to yank out our hair and scream “OMG WHY?!?!?!” Yup

Still, it’s not done with malicious intent (imo). They really aren’t trying to drive us away from their game (that would just be moronic). However, they do have more information than we do. They have all of the feedback from the assorted channels they use, and that’s more than just here on the forum, through reddit, twitter, and facebook. They also have hard data from actual game play (ie the metrics). Beyond all that, I do strongly believe that they have a vision on where they want the game to go and what they want it to be…they just might not have the path nailed down just yet. So while we may not like something, or might not agree with it, we don’t really have the broader scope that they do to fully comprehend the impact what we would prefer might have.

I’d say have a little faith, but I’m sure that would fan the flames that are already burning, and that’s not my intent. Essentially though, we’re going through growing pains. They are trying to nail down the foundation so they have a strong core on which to build as we come into this first expansion. (I still hold by my original assessment that GW2 launched too early…)

You’re missing the ] after my name in the opening quote, that’s why it’s screwy for you.

Azure.8670:

I’ve been using rifle for 3 years on engi
greatsword sword focus on Guardian
Greatsword axe mace on warrior
dagger dagger dagger warhorn on necro
dagger focus on ele

All of these I’ve used for 3 frigging years. It’s mind blowing people don’t want change. So weird. I’m dying for the meta to shake up

Meta is switching to hammer, which is pretty much the worst weapon ever. If I wanted to play in slow motion I’d play a traditional MMO.

The only problem I have is with the possibility of having to grind out skill challenges on each of my characters. It’s really not a huge deal though. I’m looking forward to the current builds being changed up, after 3 years it will be very welcoming. A couple small negatives will never outweigh the dozen positives.
Needless to say, I’m very excited for HoT.

Dinks.2478:

Meta is switching to hammer, which is pretty much the worst weapon ever. If I wanted to play in slow motion I’d play a traditional MMO.

I agree, I feel like while GW2 is meant to be a fast paced game, a lot of the ‘meta’ weapons (especially hammer) are becoming much slower paced