Guild Wars 2

IndigoSundown.5419:

Coulter.2315:

Astralporing.1957:

Legendaries are for people that want to pursue their goals while playing relatively normally.

Actually Legendary Armour is for people who raid, they can play normally or abnormally and relative to anything you want but they must raid.

Hope that clears up your misconception.

Legendary Armour is a reward for raiding, you stating anything else is just incorrect, you stating anet had intentions other than it being reward for raiding is also incorrect.

You want it, raid.

Can you not see that the problem is that L. Armor was talked about long before there were raids, that this meant players developed expectations and that ANet changed course?

Look at you trying to be sneaky, “L.Armour was talked about long before there were raids,” yes talked about by players, not Anet.

The first time they mentioned L Armour coming into game was when they revealed Raids with Legendary Armour as the reward.

Anet have never changed course on this because they never set a course (at least no public course that you or I could comment on) before they announced Raids + L Armour Reward.

Want the Armour go do the Raid (seriously guys they’ve nerf’d it loads…)

Coulter.2315:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Coulter.2315:

Astralporing.1957:

Legendaries are for people that want to pursue their goals while playing relatively normally.

Actually Legendary Armour is for people who raid, they can play normally or abnormally and relative to anything you want but they must raid.

Hope that clears up your misconception.

Legendary Armour is a reward for raiding, you stating anything else is just incorrect, you stating anet had intentions other than it being reward for raiding is also incorrect.

You want it, raid.

Can you not see that the problem is that L. Armor was talked about long before there were raids, that this meant players developed expectations and that ANet changed course?

Look at you trying to be sneaky, “L.Armour was talked about long before there were raids,” yes talked about by players, not Anet.

The first time they mentioned L Armour coming into game was when they revealed Raids with Legendary Armour as the reward.

Anet have never changed course on this because they never set a course (at least no public course that you or I could comment on) before they announced Raids + L Armour Reward.

Want the Armour go do the Raid (seriously guys they’ve nerf’d it loads…)

Not what I remember.

At this point all I can find is the 2013 blog where they first talked about precursors. They also mentioned “new types of legendary gear.” Since weapons were already out, “types” (plural) could only be back pieces and armor. L. Trinkets? It would have been stupid to make Legendary versions of trinkets, since L. items are meant to be prestige skins, and trinkets don’t affect appearance.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/

Pretty thin? Maybe, but MMO fans will make something out of nothing, why not something out of not much? People have developed expectations based on less.

For me? Someone would have to pay me a bunch of money to raid, here or in any other game. Now, I’m fine with L. Armor as a raid reward. However, I can see how people who don’t want to raid can have an expectation that they have some other means to chase the game’s biggest carrot.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Coulter.2315:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Coulter.2315:

Astralporing.1957:

Legendaries are for people that want to pursue their goals while playing relatively normally.

Actually Legendary Armour is for people who raid, they can play normally or abnormally and relative to anything you want but they must raid.

Hope that clears up your misconception.

Legendary Armour is a reward for raiding, you stating anything else is just incorrect, you stating anet had intentions other than it being reward for raiding is also incorrect.

You want it, raid.

Can you not see that the problem is that L. Armor was talked about long before there were raids, that this meant players developed expectations and that ANet changed course?

Look at you trying to be sneaky, “L.Armour was talked about long before there were raids,” yes talked about by players, not Anet.

The first time they mentioned L Armour coming into game was when they revealed Raids with Legendary Armour as the reward.

Anet have never changed course on this because they never set a course (at least no public course that you or I could comment on) before they announced Raids + L Armour Reward.

Want the Armour go do the Raid (seriously guys they’ve nerf’d it loads…)

Not what I remember.

At this point all I can find is the 2013 blog where they first talked about precursors. They also mentioned “new types of legendary gear.” Since weapons were already out, “types” (plural) could only be back pieces and armor. L. Trinkets? It would have been stupid to make Legendary versions of trinkets, since L. items are meant to be prestige skins, and trinkets don’t affect appearance.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/

Pretty thin? Maybe, but MMO fans will make something out of nothing, why not something out of not much? People have developed expectations based on less.

For me? Someone would have to pay me a bunch of money to raid, here or in any other game. Now, I’m fine with L. Armor as a raid reward. However, I can see how people who don’t want to raid can have an expectation that they have some other means to chase the game’s biggest carrot.

At the time of that comment about new types of legendary gear there was discussion among players about legendary armor following your described reasoning.

Good. Less people wearing it makes mine shine brighter.

Gellrock.4073:

Neox.3497:

I’m actually wondering what if you could just sell the precursor/legendary armor that you get from raiding? Wouldn’t that fix two problems?

1. Non raiders would be able to get legendary armor.

2. The reward for raiding could become extremely good.

Then WvWr’s would never get the legendary armour as we have the worst rewards of any game mode. PvP could do a giant reward track and it could work, but the gold sink in WvW is to large to purchase anything exclusive off the TP. WvWr’s would have to do even more annoying PvE grind to get the armour.

Why do you make a WvW problem to a legendary armor problem?

Neox.3497:

Gellrock.4073:

Neox.3497:

I’m actually wondering what if you could just sell the precursor/legendary armor that you get from raiding? Wouldn’t that fix two problems?

1. Non raiders would be able to get legendary armor.

2. The reward for raiding could become extremely good.

Then WvWr’s would never get the legendary armour as we have the worst rewards of any game mode. PvP could do a giant reward track and it could work, but the gold sink in WvW is to large to purchase anything exclusive off the TP. WvWr’s would have to do even more annoying PvE grind to get the armour.

Why do you make a WvW problem to a legendary armor problem?

there is no legendary armor problem. it’s tied to raids, so do raids to get it.

AndyJo.8794:

Why do you make a WvW problem to a legendary armor problem?

there is no legendary armor problem. it’s tied to raids, so do raids to get it.[/quote]

Erm, did you even read the criticisms? That’s exactly what people are saying the issue is, that it’s tied to raids.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with it — dungeon armor was tied to dungeons and for a long time, PvPers couldn’t get it and even a lot of PvErs said (way back in early 2013) that dungeons were too hard (yeah, hard to imagine that now). I’m sure when we look back in a year or two this will seem like a minor issue

Anyhow, the claim of critics is that legendary armor shouldn’t be tied to raids. Agree or not, but at least respect those who feel that way.

AndyJo.8794:

Neox.3497:

Gellrock.4073:

Neox.3497:

I’m actually wondering what if you could just sell the precursor/legendary armor that you get from raiding? Wouldn’t that fix two problems?

1. Non raiders would be able to get legendary armor.

2. The reward for raiding could become extremely good.

Then WvWr’s would never get the legendary armour as we have the worst rewards of any game mode. PvP could do a giant reward track and it could work, but the gold sink in WvW is to large to purchase anything exclusive off the TP. WvWr’s would have to do even more annoying PvE grind to get the armour.

Why do you make a WvW problem to a legendary armor problem?

there is no legendary armor problem. it’s tied to raids, so do raids to get it.

Are you EVEN reading the posts you quote?

He was basically saying “if you could buy legendary armor (or components for it) from the TP, WvW players wouldn’t be able to get them without playing PvE since they don’t have good rewards”. But isn’t that a problem in WvW with pretty much EVERYTHING that costs gold?

So I told him that his problem isn’t a legendary armor problem but a WvW problem instead.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

AndyJo.8794:

Why do you make a WvW problem to a legendary armor problem?

there is no legendary armor problem. it’s tied to raids, so do raids to get it.

Erm, did you even read the criticisms? That’s exactly what people are saying the issue is, that it’s tied to raids.

Anyhow, the claim of critics is that legendary armor shouldn’t be tied to raids. Agree or not, but at least respect those who feel that way.

I dont. Lots of stuff in GW is tied to specific gamemodes. Dont like the gamemode, deal with not getting the stuff. I dont like sPvP, so I wont have the legendary wings. this entire thread is multiple pages of pointless QQ

Well i’ve read through this thread and it has yet to be established that there is any actual problem. As such I see no reason to change anything.

The vast majority of items can only be acquired by doing their associated content. There is no reason for legendary armor to be any diffent.

Want PvP armor… you must PvP
Want Chak weapons… you must play TD
Want Bladed armor… you must play VB
Want PvP mini… you must do ranked PvP
Want extra shiny PvP… you must reach the top 100 in ranked PvP
Want legendary armor… you must do raids
Want new legendary weapons… you must do all HoT content

I could go on for another 100 lines or so, but the fact is that almost ALL skins, titles, and armor in this game are tied to very specific content and can’t be acquired elsewhere. The only things that can be are base items that came with launch, and gemstore items that can be purchased with gold.

Neox.3497:

AndyJo.8794:

Neox.3497:

Gellrock.4073:

Neox.3497:

I’m actually wondering what if you could just sell the precursor/legendary armor that you get from raiding? Wouldn’t that fix two problems?

1. Non raiders would be able to get legendary armor.

2. The reward for raiding could become extremely good.

Then WvWr’s would never get the legendary armour as we have the worst rewards of any game mode. PvP could do a giant reward track and it could work, but the gold sink in WvW is to large to purchase anything exclusive off the TP. WvWr’s would have to do even more annoying PvE grind to get the armour.

Why do you make a WvW problem to a legendary armor problem?

there is no legendary armor problem. it’s tied to raids, so do raids to get it.

Are you EVEN reading the posts you quote?

He was basically saying “if you could buy legendary armor (or components for it) from the TP, WvW players wouldn’t be able to get them without playing PvE since they don’t have good rewards”. But isn’t that a problem in WvW with pretty much EVERYTHING that costs gold?

So I told him that his problem isn’t a legendary armor problem but a WvW problem instead.

Sure it’s a WvW problem, but locking gear that is essential for WvWrs behind arbitrary Raid completions is not something I bought this game for. Go read my larger post to understand why this decision is screwing over WvWr’s yet again.

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Well i’ve read through this thread and it has yet to be established that there is any actual problem. As such I see no reason to change anything.

The vast majority of items can only be acquired by doing their associated content. There is no reason for legendary armor to be any diffent.

Want PvP armor… you must PvP
Want Chak weapons… you must play TD
Want Bladed armor… you must play VB
Want PvP mini… you must do ranked PvP
Want extra shiny PvP… you must reach the top 100 in ranked PvP
Want legendary armor… you must do raids
Want new legendary weapons… you must do all HoT content

I could go on for another 100 lines or so, but the fact is that almost ALL skins, titles, and armor in this game are tied to very specific content and can’t be acquired elsewhere. The only things that can be are base items that came with launch, and gemstore items that can be purchased with gold.

Locking skins behind certain game modes and events is fine. But when you lock stat changing items to one game mode where stat changing really doesn’t matter is completely dumb. WvWr’s need those stat changing gear due to meta shifts and build exploration.

Gellrock.4073:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Well i’ve read through this thread and it has yet to be established that there is any actual problem. As such I see no reason to change anything.

The vast majority of items can only be acquired by doing their associated content. There is no reason for legendary armor to be any diffent.

Want PvP armor… you must PvP
Want Chak weapons… you must play TD
Want Bladed armor… you must play VB
Want PvP mini… you must do ranked PvP
Want extra shiny PvP… you must reach the top 100 in ranked PvP
Want legendary armor… you must do raids
Want new legendary weapons… you must do all HoT content

I could go on for another 100 lines or so, but the fact is that almost ALL skins, titles, and armor in this game are tied to very specific content and can’t be acquired elsewhere. The only things that can be are base items that came with launch, and gemstore items that can be purchased with gold.

Locking skins behind certain game modes and events is fine. But when you lock stat changing items to one game mode where stat changing really doesn’t matter is completely dumb. WvWr’s need those stat changing gear due to meta shifts and build exploration.

Stat changing is not usefull when you have to buy a new set of runes each time actually…

Gellrock.4073:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Well i’ve read through this thread and it has yet to be established that there is any actual problem. As such I see no reason to change anything.

The vast majority of items can only be acquired by doing their associated content. There is no reason for legendary armor to be any diffent.

Want PvP armor… you must PvP
Want Chak weapons… you must play TD
Want Bladed armor… you must play VB
Want PvP mini… you must do ranked PvP
Want extra shiny PvP… you must reach the top 100 in ranked PvP
Want legendary armor… you must do raids
Want new legendary weapons… you must do all HoT content

I could go on for another 100 lines or so, but the fact is that almost ALL skins, titles, and armor in this game are tied to very specific content and can’t be acquired elsewhere. The only things that can be are base items that came with launch, and gemstore items that can be purchased with gold.

Locking skins behind certain game modes and events is fine. But when you lock stat changing items to one game mode where stat changing really doesn’t matter is completely dumb. WvWr’s need those stat changing gear due to meta shifts and build exploration.

“stat changing items”….

I can’t say i’ve ever met a single person who got a legendary in order to change stats. If this is an issue then just remove stat changing from legendary items and be done with it. It is a worthless feature anyway since you need new runes and infusions for each build anyway, plus all new trinkets. It is far easier and cheaper to have 3 sets of ascended armor, one for condition builds, one for power builds and one for defensive builds. That will be much cheaper, get around the rune and infusion problem and let you play on more characters if you choose.

Gellrock.4073:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Well i’ve read through this thread and it has yet to be established that there is any actual problem. As such I see no reason to change anything.

The vast majority of items can only be acquired by doing their associated content. There is no reason for legendary armor to be any diffent.

Want PvP armor… you must PvP
Want Chak weapons… you must play TD
Want Bladed armor… you must play VB
Want PvP mini… you must do ranked PvP
Want extra shiny PvP… you must reach the top 100 in ranked PvP
Want legendary armor… you must do raids
Want new legendary weapons… you must do all HoT content

I could go on for another 100 lines or so, but the fact is that almost ALL skins, titles, and armor in this game are tied to very specific content and can’t be acquired elsewhere. The only things that can be are base items that came with launch, and gemstore items that can be purchased with gold.

Locking skins behind certain game modes and events is fine. But when you lock stat changing items to one game mode where stat changing really doesn’t matter is completely dumb. WvWr’s need those stat changing gear due to meta shifts and build exploration.

If stat changing was necessary for WvW, how have WvWers managed to get by without it for over three years now? How is it that some (or many, perhaps even most) WvWers get by without legendary weapons?

No, it is not needed, and is of limited use because of the cost of replacing mods

Raids are right about the only game mode where stat-changing would actually be even a little bit helpful, to be honest. Even so, none of my raiders want it because it can change stats; we already have multiple ascended sets for any of our raid toons that need them.

Even then, you can make about 50 ascended weapons for the price of a legendary weapon. I don’t expect Legendary Armor to be cost-effective as a means of getting multiple sets of pink-stat gear. I expect it to be shiny. If the people in this thread are complaining about it being “locked behind content” they’ll just complain about how “it costs too much” once its out anyway.

Don’t want to raid? Live with not getting legendary armor.

Dont want to raid but dont want to live without getting legendary armor? Buy the raid wings. More than enough people sell them already, and sell all the achievements to go with them.

Gellrock.4073:

Neox.3497:

AndyJo.8794:

Neox.3497:

Gellrock.4073:

Neox.3497:

I’m actually wondering what if you could just sell the precursor/legendary armor that you get from raiding? Wouldn’t that fix two problems?

1. Non raiders would be able to get legendary armor.

2. The reward for raiding could become extremely good.

Then WvWr’s would never get the legendary armour as we have the worst rewards of any game mode. PvP could do a giant reward track and it could work, but the gold sink in WvW is to large to purchase anything exclusive off the TP. WvWr’s would have to do even more annoying PvE grind to get the armour.

Why do you make a WvW problem to a legendary armor problem?

there is no legendary armor problem. it’s tied to raids, so do raids to get it.

Are you EVEN reading the posts you quote?

He was basically saying “if you could buy legendary armor (or components for it) from the TP, WvW players wouldn’t be able to get them without playing PvE since they don’t have good rewards”. But isn’t that a problem in WvW with pretty much EVERYTHING that costs gold?

So I told him that his problem isn’t a legendary armor problem but a WvW problem instead.

Sure it’s a WvW problem, but locking gear that is essential for WvWrs behind arbitrary Raid completions is not something I bought this game for. Go read my larger post to understand why this decision is screwing over WvWr’s yet again.

That’s why I suggested that you could sell the legendary armor or components of it on the TP to “fix two problems” at once.

I quote myself:

I’m actually wondering what if you could just sell the precursor/legendary armor that you get from raiding? Wouldn’t that fix two problems?

1. Non raiders would be able to get legendary armor.

2. The reward for raiding could become extremely good.

And he responded with:

Gellrock.4073:

Then WvWr’s would never get the legendary armour as we have the worst rewards of any game mode. PvP could do a giant reward track and it could work, but the gold sink in WvW is to large to purchase anything exclusive off the TP. WvWr’s would have to do even more annoying PvE grind to get the armour.

And I answered that this wouldn’t be a legendary armor problem but that it’s a (existing) WvW problem.

The way this forum handles quotes is just bad and creates these weird discussions were people respond to posts without knowing the whole context behind it. But I hope that I made it clear now.

I support the idea of rewards that are exclusive to specific content because, among other things, they can serve as trophies demonstrating one’s mastery of that specific content.

I have supported the idea of having the first set of legendary armor, its specific skin, restricted to raids. I have opposed the idea of an easy mode version of raids that awarded the raid legendary armor set because it would dilute that set’s ability to serve as a trophy for truly mastering the raid.

I had assumed, perhaps hoped is a better choice of words, that other legendary armor sets would eventually be added to the game in order to serve as rewards for other aspects of the game. To get the raid legendary armor one would raid, to get the WvW legendary armor one would WvW, and so on.

It seems unlikely, as legendary armor requires significantly more work than legendary weapons, in light of the cancellation of legendary weapons, that there will be ongoing development of more legendary armor sets.

If this is the case, since I do not think that an entire classification, tier if you will, of gear should be locked behind one specific set of content, I believe that it is probably, unfortunately in my mind, necessary, for the good of the game and the community, to expand the means by which one can attain legendary armor.

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Well i’ve read through this thread and it has yet to be established that there is any actual problem. As such I see no reason to change anything.

The vast majority of items can only be acquired by doing their associated content. There is no reason for legendary armor to be any diffent.

Want PvP armor… you must PvP
Want Chak weapons… you must play TD
Want Bladed armor… you must play VB
Want PvP mini… you must do ranked PvP
Want extra shiny PvP… you must reach the top 100 in ranked PvP
Want legendary armor… you must do raids
Want new legendary weapons… you must do all HoT content

I could go on for another 100 lines or so, but the fact is that almost ALL skins, titles, and armor in this game are tied to very specific content and can’t be acquired elsewhere. The only things that can be are base items that came with launch, and gemstore items that can be purchased with gold.

This is partly the reason why I feel all cosmetic/fluff/toy items should be sold in the gem store. I’ve seen complaints about the game being too gem store-focused, I personally feel that it is nowhere near gem store-focused enough and most, if not all of the stuff in the game should be available from there.

In my ideal game, we would all be able to play the content we enjoy (play the way we want) and earn gold doing it. Nobody would have to grind out unenjoyable/restrictive content for a real long time just to get a desired item, or even a piece of a desired item, and then repeat that no-fun grind again for another piece. We could all then play what we want, have a fun time playing the game, earn gold and then spend that earned gold on the item of our choice at the gem store.

Some content would clearly give more gold than others based on ‘difficulty’ or skill requirements, but nobody would be locked out from being able to acquire something. Everyone having access to all of the same items regardless of what content they enjoy playing makes sense to me.

If someone wants an item from the gem store sooner, they can buy it with coin earned in the real world from grinding unenjoyable content for a shiny.

I never understood why MMORPG developers felt they were required to lock ‘rewards’ behind different content. Forcing someone to have to play content they do not enjoy to get a specific reward is insulting, to the players and to the designers of that content. People should want to take part in the content you designed because it is fun and they enjoy taking part in that content, not because you tied a highly desired item to completing that content umpteen thousand times. Even if one does not enjoy that content, they are required to take part in it a ridiculous amount if they want the shiny. What does that say about the content then, where what seems to be the main reason people are even playing it is because it is required if they want the shiny, not because it is fun. That’s … pretty sad, and disappointing.

I think games should be fun and an enjoyable way to spend one’s time. Locking aesthetics behind hours upon hours of grinding content that some may not enjoy is not something I agree with, or support. Then again, perhaps I am the only one that feels this way, and that’s cool – it’s just my opinion.

StinVec.3621:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Well i’ve read through this thread and it has yet to be established that there is any actual problem. As such I see no reason to change anything.

The vast majority of items can only be acquired by doing their associated content. There is no reason for legendary armor to be any diffent.

Want PvP armor… you must PvP
Want Chak weapons… you must play TD
Want Bladed armor… you must play VB
Want PvP mini… you must do ranked PvP
Want extra shiny PvP… you must reach the top 100 in ranked PvP
Want legendary armor… you must do raids
Want new legendary weapons… you must do all HoT content

I could go on for another 100 lines or so, but the fact is that almost ALL skins, titles, and armor in this game are tied to very specific content and can’t be acquired elsewhere. The only things that can be are base items that came with launch, and gemstore items that can be purchased with gold.

This is partly the reason why I feel all cosmetic/fluff/toy items should be sold in the gem store. I’ve seen complaints about the game being too gem store-focused, I personally feel that it is nowhere near gem store-focused enough and most, if not all of the stuff in the game should be available from there.

In my ideal game, we would all be able to play the content we enjoy (play the way we want) and earn gold doing it. Nobody would have to grind out unenjoyable/restrictive content for a real long time just to get a desired item, or even a piece of a desired item, and then repeat that no-fun grind again for another piece. We could all then play what we want, have a fun time playing the game, earn gold and then spend that earned gold on the item of our choice at the gem store.

Some content would clearly give more gold than others based on ‘difficulty’ or skill requirements, but nobody would be locked out from being able to acquire something. Everyone having access to all of the same items regardless of what content they enjoy playing makes sense to me.

If someone wants an item from the gem store sooner, they can buy it with coin earned in the real world from grinding unenjoyable content for a shiny.

I never understood why MMORPG developers felt they were required to lock ‘rewards’ behind different content. Forcing someone to have to play content they do not enjoy to get a specific reward is insulting, to the players and to the designers of that content. People should want to take part in the content you designed because it is fun and they enjoy taking part in that content, not because you tied a highly desired item to completing that content umpteen thousand times. Even if one does not enjoy that content, they are required to take part in it a ridiculous amount if they want the shiny. What does that say about the content then, where what seems to be the main reason people are even playing it is because it is required if they want the shiny, not because it is fun. That’s … pretty sad, and disappointing.

I think games should be fun and an enjoyable way to spend one’s time. Locking aesthetics behind hours upon hours of grinding content that some may not enjoy is not something I agree with, or support. Then again, perhaps I am the only one that feels this way, and that’s cool – it’s just my opinion.

I’m personally ok with the mix of gem store / in game we have now. I really don’t understand how people are “forced” to do content for aesthetics. I just don’t do the content if I don’t like it.

The aesthetic argument really doesn’t make sense anyway for legendary armor because we have no idea what it’ll look like. Could be ugly like ascended.

Ashen.2907:

I support the idea of rewards that are exclusive to specific content because, among other things, they can serve as trophies demonstrating one’s mastery of that specific content.

I have supported the idea of having the first set of legendary armor, its specific skin, restricted to raids. I have opposed the idea of an easy mode version of raids that awarded the raid legendary armor set because it would dilute that set’s ability to serve as a trophy for truly mastering the raid.

I had assumed, perhaps hoped is a better choice of words, that other legendary armor sets would eventually be added to the game in order to serve as rewards for other aspects of the game. To get the raid legendary armor one would raid, to get the WvW legendary armor one would WvW, and so on.

It seems unlikely, as legendary armor requires significantly more work than legendary weapons, in light of the cancellation of legendary weapons, that there will be ongoing development of more legendary armor sets.

If this is the case, since I do not think that an entire classification, tier if you will, of gear should be locked behind one specific set of content, I believe that it is probably, unfortunately in my mind, necessary, for the good of the game and the community, to expand the means by which one can attain legendary armor.

A skin can serve as a trophy as well as functionality though. If the legendary skin was unique to raids, it would serve the same purpose.

StinVec.3621:

I never understood why MMORPG developers felt they were required to lock ‘rewards’ behind different content. Forcing someone to have to play content they do not enjoy to get a specific reward is insulting, to the players and to the designers of that content. People should want to take part in the content you designed because it is fun and they enjoy taking part in that content, not because you tied a highly desired item to completing that content umpteen thousand times. Even if one does not enjoy that content, they are required to take part in it a ridiculous amount if they want the shiny. What does that say about the content then, where what seems to be the main reason people are even playing it is because it is required if they want the shiny, not because it is fun. That’s … pretty sad, and disappointing.

I think games should be fun and an enjoyable way to spend one’s time. Locking aesthetics behind hours upon hours of grinding content that some may not enjoy is not something I agree with, or support. Then again, perhaps I am the only one that feels this way, and that’s cool – it’s just my opinion.

Why do developers do this? Two reasons:

Players demand rewards. They’re used to getting stuff by completing content. Originally, the idea of “killing things and taking their stuff” derives from the real world, all the way back to prehistory. In fantasy games, it started with the original Dungeons and Dragons game. From that root, getting better stuff by killing monsters grew into MMO’s. ANet just took revised the “better numbers” aspect from that equation.

Rewards keep people playing content long after the “new content smell” is gone. If content longevity depended on the “fun” aspect of the content, very little content would be repeated for very long. Once a player has experienced the content enough times (which will vary for different people), that content no longer stimulates the production of chemicals that are produced when humans experience something challenging or novel. That chemical reaction is closely aligned with the experience of “fun.” So, fun (for a lot of people, anyway, there’s always exceptions) only keeps content alive so long.

The problem with that is two-fold. Many MMO players play a lot. This means they burn through that “new” feeling sooner. Even those who play less tend to burn through that feeling faster than developers can generate new content. Now, add in that the monetizing for MMO’s is based on player longevity. This is so whether that’s via a sub, or via a shop. If they don’t play, they aren’t gonna pay.