Guild Wars 2

Nice Fractals of the Mist Update. I’m sure the game needed it.

The last update we had that I really enjoyed was Bazaar of the Four Winds. That was pretty cool stuff. Parts of Queen’s Jubilee was pretty good, too. I pretty much ignore Scarlet content now, though. It’s been about 4 months since we’ve had an update that interested me.

More and more I struggle to find reason to log in. Even my compulsive daily chore-list isn’t reason enough sometimes.

I know what you’re thinking: “But bro! What would it take to reignite your interest in GW2, bro?”

Well. I guess:

1. Wrap up the Scarlet arc. Poor villain design and a story that hinges on this one flawed character is really killing the current Living Story arc for me. Let’s wrap it up and move on. Storytelling is an art form all its own, and improvements to storytelling would have a tremendous impact on overall enjoyment and satisfaction.

2. Independently balance PvP, WvW, and PvE environments. The strategies, needs, and play styles of these three game theaters are just too different to be balanced as one piece. Really need to just make a hard divide, and do independent balance passes for each environment. I suspect that if this were easy to do, it would already be happening. Even though it may be a larger challenge than most players would suspect, it seems to be an increasingly necessary shift.

3. Open up a new PvE map area. Maguuma Wastes, the Crystal Desert, or any other sizable area of map would do. The community has been literally begging for this forever.

4. Open up new weapons for all professions. You want a shot in the arm to revitalize interest in GW2? This would do it. This would literally make every profession brand new again. Sure, this would cause mass chaos in all aspects of the game… and wouldn’t that be kind of awesome? This might absolutely break balance for a while, but the excitement of discovery, experimentation and making it work would really engage your players like nothing else ever can.

Seriously.

Don’t be afraid of breaking something as long as you’re giving players cool new toys to play with when you do it. You will always be balancing professions. Please don’t wait until it’s “perfect” before giving us new ways to play.

5. Player “homes” and Guild Halls. Either. Both. Give it.

There have been several great improvements and additions to the game these past few months. Wallet, Magic Find fix, Ascended Weapons, etc. And devs have been really awesome about communicating with players and implementing player requests (account-bound Infinite Gathering Tools, for example). So I still have great confidence in the future of GW2. Just… not really feeling it right now.

+1 to your entire list, though without your confidence. =P

Hey jsduke,
came across your post and just thought I’d comment on it, if you don’t mind.

jsduke.6537:

1. Wrap up the Scarlet arc. Poor villain design and a story that hinges on this one flawed character is really killing the current Living Story arc for me. Let’s wrap it up and move on. Storytelling is an art form all its own, and improvements to storytelling would have a tremendous impact on overall enjoyment and satisfaction.

This is needed 100% for people to be interested in the Story aspect of the LS, since the beginning of it dragged on a bit, the delivery is still unrefined, and the structure of the arc seems to be out of whack, as well. It will happen, too… but not for some time. I reckon, march next year maybe? As I see it, Scarlet is kind of a playground for AN to experiment on in terms of the concept of the LS, storytelling, etc. and until they figure out what they want to do, they won’t finish it (which I’m ok with).

jsduke.6537:

3. Open up a new PvE map area. Maguuma Wastes, the Crystal Desert, or any other sizable area of map would do. The community has been literally begging for this forever.

This will probably not happen until the end of Scarlet’s arc (just a time frame to give AN time to figure stuff out, and polish stuff). If they open another zone, it will probably only be one, and it wont be incredibly large. That is, because spreading the playerbase out too far, is something AN has been fighting against since… always, pretty much. And a new zone will only rock the boat even more (in a negative sense – there’s no rock concert on the sea).

jsduke.6537:

4. Open up new weapons for all professions. You want a shot in the arm to revitalize interest in GW2? This would do it. This would literally make every profession brand new again. Sure, this would cause mass chaos in all aspects of the game… and wouldn’t that be kind of awesome? This might absolutely break balance for a while, but the excitement of discovery, experimentation and making it work would really engage your players like nothing else ever can.

This one I like! A thief sniper with a rifle would be amazing!
But I think this would only be a “quickfix” for a bigger overhaul of the traits and the skill system on a larger scale. I don’t find the current skill system engaging, and would like to have a bit more freedom of choice, like in the original GW, just with less abilities.

jsduke.6537:

There have been several great improvements and additions to the game these past few months. Wallet, Magic Find fix, Ascended Weapons, etc. And devs have been really awesome about communicating with players and implementing player requests (account-bound Infinite Gathering Tools, for example). So I still have great confidence in the future of GW2. Just… not really feeling it right now.

I, too think there’s been many improvements, but to me they seem more like band aids, quick fixes, and extensions stapled on. I feel GW2 needs an overhaul far closer at the core. Or at least, that’s what it would take for it to really appeal to me.
But I am optimistic of the future of Tyria at least.

Agree with the whole list, but there is one major thing missing, which I touched on in my response to your post in the other thread:

Finding a way to reconcile the issues created by the concept break between the LW and the PS. I would prefer they renovate the LW, treat content updates as expansions to the PS (permanent) and focus their energies on polishing the PS and DE systems.

I like some of these ideas the topic starter have said, I think they need Guild Halls, GVG, Dungeons more then 5 people perhaps 8 like GW1 so guildies not have to feel left out cause there is no room, add some alliance battles/race battles (char vs humans), add stuff like Fort Aspenwood and at Halloween times, let the Mad King have his Mad King says jump etc like GW1.

I know GW2 will not be GW1, still there be players out there who remember those GW1 features and may wish they been added to GW2.

++1 XD
This game needs all your list. XD

New maps would keep us entertained for approximately 3 minutes… not a year

Could go for this. Don’t believe for a second we’re going to get anything but more LS shoved up our rectums tho.

Sounds good. Problem is: they start making LS 4 months before it’s released. So if they even decide to listen to this comment, it will only have it’s effects in 4 months.

Too bad the game ENDS when you get lv80 exotics. Even if they put new maps…you’ll find the zone with krait, the zone with boars, the zone with dredge and the one with spider…and maybe a jp to gain 10 ap then never play anymore. No trinity-cool idea…but No progression/random stats obj.-WORST ever.
If i know that tomorrow a new dg will be able to drop weapons with, i.e., +200 power, i’ll be back. Since then, still log in only to do daily…
There is no housing, no char. personalisation, no mounts, no guild building/hall, no way of making YOUR weapon/armor cooler…the more you play, the more SKINS you (maybe) get…a game cannot survive on PETS and ’’HATS’’ (…)

Hope in the future…but for now i can see only a LS with no ideas and gemstore abuse to get items…

jsduke.6537:

2. Independently balance PvP, WvW, and PvE environments.

I can’t tell you how much I want this to happen, I’ve developed eye twitch while reading patch notes as a result of years playing thief type classes in MMOs.

Agreed on the whole list.

LS feels like fillers from an Anime series and don’t even get me started on this Scarlet character (Abaddon wannabe), unless she a a host for a much bigger threat like say the Menzies the Mad Lord of Destruction brother of the God Balthazar or something cooler or bigger on dose lines PLEASE rap this weak arc up!

NOTE: His minions are classify as Nightmares not sure if its related.

Your list is sound and reasonable in terms of desire. Implementation? No idea what happens inside Anet’s walls, so who knows whether we’ll see these things at all. I don’t even bother to post, ever, but I am compelled enough to respond and echo. Here’s why, mirroring the OP’s thoughts.

1. I like the role Scarlet plays. I don’t like Scarlet too much. Objectively, she’s almost cool. She just doesn’t play out as well as she should on paper. Let’s murder this ho and get a new recurring villain.

That said, I am humble enough to be proven wrong. Often, there are moments where things do not add up until a certain X-factor is added, and then everything is suddenly awesome. I don’t hold my breath for it, but it’s an alternative wish to have.

If someone from Anet is reading, let us kill Scarlet dead and bring on Palawa Joko. There’s an kitten that some of us owe a visit, and that’s across 250 in-game years. Let’s go! If you make LS about me going back to old places I had to save, and now have to save again because of a mistake my past character made in bringing this guy out of his cage, I will gladly hunt this guy down across many, many patches.

2. GW1 had it too. I don’t know if people at Anet have the bandwidth to do this well. Again, no insight into what happens there internally. That said, it’s what needs to happen so that balance patches don’t seem like an attempt to fit a square peg into a round hole.

3. YES! “New old” areas, particularly for those of us who have been with this franchise for so long! Refer to what I had in mind for #1. Open these areas up as we crawl along the campaign against a villain.

4. This. Just do it. Go mess a few things up along the way if you have to. I’m a patient player because I’m old enough to understand that a few mistakes are the price you pay for the success you have later. Prophecies was a snooze-fest in the middle, EotN ended up a better product. The point here isn’t even in these products or whether you agree with the analogy, but that’s just the kitten process. The Internet may not understand this because it’s filled with short-sighted children, but anyone who has had to struggle to make something happen knows this is just truth.

To be frank, even if you do something right, someone will still tell you it sucks. There’s no difference and no pleasing everyone, so I hope you guys at Anet aren’t so paralyzed by the disease-ridden filth of complaints that you no longer dare to try.

And in spite of what I said earlier about not liking Scarlet, I don’t need to make threats about leaving or whatever. Let me kill her, or change my perceptions. Either is cool. Even if you sweep her under a rug and recognize it’s time to move on, I don’t need to rub it in. Just give me my Eye of the North, and remind me why I’ve been playing for so long.

Am I even talking about weapons anymore? Right. Lay off the greatsword fetish and give me nunchucks. A nunchuck wielding elementalist. Think of all the variations, stances, and attunements to go along with that. 1-5 are all chains (no pun intended) which don’t go away when I move to another skill. Make me figure out what combos and attack rotations to do. That’s 60 possible points and many more combinations of optimizing for different effects. If your game design team is ready for this crap, I will personally supply your booze for that meeting.

5. Housing would be sick. Give me something else to be vain about in this game. I disagree with a previous poster that you cannot sustain a game with only skins, pets, and hats. Team Fortress 2 would like to have a word with you.

That said, I get that it’s not what everyone is into. Some like blondes, others like redheads. Some people like both. Greedy people want them both at the same time. It’s all cool.

But as a person who loves personal vanity… I’m finished making most of my characters look sexy. Give me a house to work for.

jsduke.6537:

Don’t be afraid of breaking something as long as you’re giving players cool new toys to play with when you do it. You will always be balancing professions. Please don’t wait until it’s “perfect” before giving us new ways to play.

They don’t want to do wack a mole, which they’ve stated on many occasions. I think they did this design with the necromancer buff a while back and people were kitten ED. Especially in the PvP scene. Necromancers become “OP” and the exact philosophy you stated was none existent, the forums were filled with people on the opposite side.

However, I still like the design you stated. Necromancers were none existent in pvp pre patch and it added new things to do with the game. I pretty much agree with everything you said.