Guild Wars 2

I’m sure a designer at Arenanet worked kitten it, but I find no good in this piece of the Living story(while I really love the rest).

It’s the worst jumping puzzle I’ve encountered in Guild Wars 2.
Could the philosophy of jumping puzzle go back to “fun” instead of “Let’s rip open a packet of spaghetti and make a jumping-puzzle of what is coming out of it!”?

Some bars in a jumping puzzle are okay, but this terrible assortment of bamboo is not fun anymore.
Oh, you’re one pixel to the side? Slide to death!
Even the start of this thing is a design-flaw in itself. If you slip down at the start and fall under the pile of bamboo, you most likely get stuck in a mace of invisible collisions you have to leave somehow.

So, feedback in short:
No more zephyr-stile jumping puzzles, they are annoying, have crossed the boring-border long ago and are no fun at all.

I gotta agree I’m one of the people who liked stuff like stepping stones and not so secret but, the Zephyrite stuff is annoying and the skills seem kinda laggy. I hope the next area doesn’t have them.

The worst thing is the achievement to do the stupid thing in the story-instance without zephyr-skills.
Especially one jump quite at the end at a corner with a big pole in your way is buggy as crap. One time you pass the rope wrapped around it, one time you lose all momentum, resulting in your jumps either going over the next landing point or not even reaching them. I made it only once and that was more sheer luck than anything else.
And if you don’t hit the hay-heap in the first run, you’ve got to do this thing again.

This is the first jumping-puzzle I want a rework for. My character lost all its momentum in a jump at invisible borders dozens of times.

The main problem with this jumping puzzle, is that it wasn’t designed to have proper platforms to jump on. The bamboo doesn’t really have reliable collision, and players don’t know when they’ll slide off. The leap up to the goggles is even worse. There are literally no platforms to stand on. Plus the camera is still buggy as heck. It freaks out whenever the player is too close to anything at all.

Agree, they need to improve the bamboo collision if they want to keep using it. It isn’t just sliding off the bamboo, but sometimes the box for the bamboo is much much larger than it looks (e.g., first time I tried the dive goggle I successfully cleared the bamboo only for the server to say I hit it when I was a good 2 yards away from hitting any piece of it). I’m okay with precision platforms but the bamboo lacks contrast to help you see them. It turned into a game of trial and error to find where I could land without sliding.

Yeah I kind of agree. Jumping Puzzles are quite honestly one of my favourite pieces of content, but being asked to jump up precarious pieces of bamboo with skills that don’t always work as intended is not a whole lot of fun.

I want to feel as though the way I make my jumps is important. I get that they wanted to use the Zephyr skills again, but accessing the coins and everything else on the map with them was probably enough.

In the future I hope they go back to Morgan’s Spiral and Hidden garden type JP’s where you feel a real sense of accomplishment for them. It really just felt like an excuse for the diving platform – which was not fun either. I’m so happy I made the dive on the first go because there was no way I was jumping all the way back up there again to try multiple times…

tekfan.3179:

“Let’s rip open a packet of spaghetti and make a jumping-puzzle of what is coming out of it!”?

I lol’d.

/15chars

An airship the size of your mom crashed and it was made out of bamboo… Im sure the terrain must look very similar to a packet of spaghetti..

Stop crying kitten .. this game is easy enough

I hated some of the trickier puzzles like the Halloween one and the Stepping Stones, but I don’t find this one bad at all. The only annoying bits are the long run back to the base if you die, and the diving jump at the end.

Ohoni.6057:

I hated some of the trickier puzzles like the Halloween one and the Stepping Stones, but I don’t find this one bad at all. The only annoying bits are the long run back to the base if you die, and the diving jump at the end.

I’m not talking about the jumping puzzle on the map(that part is ok), I’m talking about the achievement-part in the story instance where you need to do it without zephyr-skills.

I really like this puzzle. I am very good with puzzles and I was amazed how hard it was, this is some challenge I’ve been waiting for! Yeah! Keep it going! This keeps game interesting and makes people have a long-lasting goal I really like that. Puzzles are puzzles, there should be very hard and very easy.

Especially in the instance without crystals – its so awesomely difficult <3 I expected the bonus achievements to be kitten easy, and most of them are, but this one is not. I am very happy some hardcore content is being introduced.

Lighting pull…. any ETA on fix.

As for charrs when can we use aspect skill while under transformation. It kinda edgy to jump around with 4 legs that doesn’t grab on platform well.

I wholeheartedly agree. I love jumping puzzles especially if theyre challenging but if it feels like there is a kittenload of terrain RNG involved it kinda kills the motivation.

I find this jumping puzzle quite easy.
I only had some trouble getting to the diving goggles.

Maybe i got used jumping on the bamboo because of the Bazaar.
Getting to the top of the tower of the big airship there was awesome.

The only hard part for me was the last bit getting to the goggles. The zephyr jumping crystal thing runs out WAY too fast and there’s literally no platforms to jump on, only tiny sticks that sometimes send you leaping off sideways.

A quick fix would be to add a few flat, horizontal planks to that mast. Also make the jumping crystal last longer, or put another one closer.

“Let’s rip open a packet of spaghetti and make a jumping-puzzle of what is coming out of it!”

That made me chuckle for sure. But using that analogy some noodles as alternative route would be welcome. Could be my liking of the ‘very tasteful’ Italian kitchen, though. ;-p

If they adjust the collision on the bamboo I think this one would be fine. The only problem I’ve encountered is that you can land on the bamboo and then slide right off to your death.

The other issue is that there are no check points. In almost every other puzzle in the game if you fall you land a few platforms down and can start from that point. Here if you fall you die and start over completely, which is where the frustration is coming from.

I’m terrible at jumping, and have only done a handful of the normal jumping puzzles, but still got this one done pretty easily with the nifty crystal.

I tried several times, i failed every single time. It is extremely difficult to navigate through all that bamboo and to get to that goggles the timing must be perfect (due to short duration of the buff) and execution of jumps, the choreography of it must be a godly feat with perfect alignment and perfect gear (like a green laser mouse from a box). A player with less perfect gear (slower or older PC and peripherals) has a long frustrating road ahead of trial and error to accomplish those (inappropriately) few AP´s and the meager reward from that chest, it is not worth for all the hassle to reach it (I managed to get to the chest but not to the goggles). I´l just skip it all together. Not worth my time and effort. I usually skip all the jumping puzzles anyways if i do not manage to finish them in 5 tries, because after that time the ratio between annoying and feel of accomplishment is overwhelmingly in favor of annoying (for me personally, somebody else would probably enjoy this kind of masochism). This will be one added to the annoying branch of accomplishments and marked as “do not try” if you do not want to rage quit the game.

I’m not good with jumping puzzles so I got really frustrated with the one of the story (no zephyr skills), however the only real problem in it is the part where there’s a vertical bamboo blocking your way, that jump can lead you to your death many times (although thankfully there’s a checkpoint nearby).

However the rest of it was really easy, tooked me like 30 minutes to complete I think but well it’s something that I’m probably not going back to do again, might as well be hard.

To clarify: I’m not talking about the version on the map where you got the crystals, that part is fairly easy in my oppinion.

I’m talking about the crystal-less version in the story-instance you have to do for the story-achievement. Especially one jump is terrible since the hitbox of a large, tilted bamboo-stick is one time counting as a scrape that sucks up all your momentum, next time you pass it without a speed-decrease and go over the top of the bar you’re supposed to land on.

tekfan.3179:

(…)Oh, you’re one pixel to the side? Slide to death!(…)

Actually GW2 is very forgiving in that aspect to the point where you can have both feet cleared off a platform and still be “standing” on it.

It’s not so much trial and error as it may first appear and when you know how you can do it with ease.

The camera issue is not good. It randomly seems to zoom in as far as it can go.

Dean Calaway.9718:

tekfan.3179:

(…)Oh, you’re one pixel to the side? Slide to death!(…)

Actually GW2 is very forgiving in that aspect to the point where you can have both feet cleared off a platform and still be “standing” on it.

It’s not so much trial and error as it may first appear and when you know how you can do it with ease.

In most cases I agree with you.
However, I find the landing on horizontal, small pipes or bamboo-poles to be the exception.

tekfan.3179:

I’m sure a designer at Arenanet worked kitten it, but I find no good in this piece of the Living story(while I really love the rest).

It’s the worst jumping puzzle I’ve encountered in Guild Wars 2.
Could the philosophy of jumping puzzle go back to “fun” instead of “Let’s rip open a packet of spaghetti and make a jumping-puzzle of what is coming out of it!”?

Some bars in a jumping puzzle are okay, but this terrible assortment of bamboo is not fun anymore.
Oh, you’re one pixel to the side? Slide to death!
Even the start of this thing is a design-flaw in itself. If you slip down at the start and fall under the pile of bamboo, you most likely get stuck in a mace of invisible collisions you have to leave somehow.

So, feedback in short:
No more zephyr-stile jumping puzzles, they are annoying, have crossed the boring-border long ago and are no fun at all.

Totally agree with you. Jumping puzzles need to be fun. This one is borderline anoying the crap out of me. I’ve every JP-Achievement and the Clocktower was an enjoyment to do over and over again. But the Zephyr’s Ascent is BULLkitten. The poles react different every time. You slip and slide all the time. You can’t plan properly and when you fall you get stuck in the spaghetties. If I want all of the above, I go and play Mikado…

Whoever developed this one. Please try out your stuff beforehand…

Well then, back to those stupid poles.

Dean Calaway.9718:

tekfan.3179:

(…)Oh, you’re one pixel to the side? Slide to death!(…)

Actually GW2 is very forgiving in that aspect to the point where you can have both feet cleared off a platform and still be “standing” on it.

It’s not so much trial and error as it may first appear and when you know how you can do it with ease.

That is actually a large part of the problem. Many jumps in puzzles require you to either jump from, or land on the invisible extensions. Exploiting the collision mechanics is not longer a “bug”, but an endorsed feature of the puzzles. You have to play the Wile E. Coyote game of how far can I defy gravity before I plummet to my death.

tekfan.3179:

“Let’s rip open a packet of spaghetti and make a jumping-puzzle of what is coming out of it!”?

Lioknight.8075:

An airship the size of your mom crashed …

This topic is just too funny

Yeah, the way up is kinda tricky but I got it in about 5~6 tries (almost max size Norn), when I tried I didn’t know about the goggle so yeah … but I’ll go there later as a necro and use spectral walk as a safe net.

I just want to point this out. You can get Zephyrite Skills in the storymode JP. What you’ve gotta do is go back to the Wind Crystal Kasmeer dropped, if you touch it multiple times you can stack up to 1:30 of the Aspect buff. I find simply jumping up and down on the crystal is the fastest way to do this. After you cap out the buff, make your way to the JP, it should only take 3 jumps. When you get there you’ll have 7 available jumps and just over a minute to do them all. (Not as tight of a time crunch as it sounds)

I did both . . . finally. Probably the most brutal jumpers yet. On that note, never had an easier time getting my daily rez achievement.

Wait at the bottom because it’s raining men.

Score.

Dual.8953:

I just want to point this out. You can get Zephyrite Skills in the storymode JP. What you’ve gotta do is go back to the Wind Crystal Kasmeer dropped, if you touch it multiple times you can stack up to 1:30 of the Aspect buff. I find simply jumping up and down on the crystal is the fastest way to do this. After you cap out the buff, make your way to the JP, it should only take 3 jumps. When you get there you’ll have 7 available jumps and just over a minute to do them all. (Not as tight of a time crunch as it sounds)

Praise the kittening gods.

Even with this apparently being possible I’m still making the post I came here to make: (Let’s assume you couldn’t stack the crystal buff)
Remove the stupid kittening artificial difficulty. Learning where/how to jump in this mess is one thing but messing up just ever so slightly at the bottom and getting stuck in this kitten able bamboo-spaghetti is beyond a joke. You’re just frustrating players and coming across as a sadistic designer, if we are to assume it was supposed to be exactly like this (I’d like to keep a shred of hope that it wasn’t).

Also, if you people in Anet are reading this right now, if you actually banked on players using the crystal for it in the instance, though somehow I doubt that, could you not make it clearer that we should use that? Like, maybe have one crystal at the bottom of the puzzle in the instance at the very least?

I’d like the aspects to return to stacks, with charges that last, if nothing else. I really hate how fast they run out, because it means you have to use them in one way, without options. It’s not the easiest jumping puzzle, true – but it’s really an ‘aspect puzzle,’ because you don’t really ‘jump’ at all. In some ways, that certainly makes it easier, but it’s a bit annoying that you have to stop to get the chest, then hop down (die 4 times…) and go up again to get the goggles. And I haven’t done the hay jump one yet, but so far, these jumps have more more unforgiving than most in the past. (except one at the festival, near the top, where you had to worm your way to some tiny spike of bamboo on the cliff side. That took me hours, & I ripped out a lot of hair before I got it. (and face planted more times than I can remember)

Hilarious, I thought this puzzle was too easy, completed on my first try. Getting to the diving goggles has me vexed, I’ll be going back up for another look.

Dual.8953:

I just want to point this out. You can get Zephyrite Skills in the storymode JP. What you’ve gotta do is go back to the Wind Crystal Kasmeer dropped, if you touch it multiple times you can stack up to 1:30 of the Aspect buff. I find simply jumping up and down on the crystal is the fastest way to do this. After you cap out the buff, make your way to the JP, it should only take 3 jumps. When you get there you’ll have 7 available jumps and just over a minute to do them all. (Not as tight of a time crunch as it sounds)

Thanks for the help!
With the crystal it was once again as easy as before.

I didn’t know they stacked. /facepalm me

I went up the right side of the bamboo and hit my forward key as I went up aiming at where the verticals and horizontal meet. Once you get to the next crystal I turned and faced outward and jumped straight up and managed to catch the big piece going upward. You can do that from either of the top two horizontal bamboo pieces, though if you are the top one, move to the far left before turning and jumping up to catch the beam. Otherwise if you are on the top bamboo go to the far left, face the cliff and jump up to it. Then you need to carefully hop on to the big bamboo piece. I am not so good that I can get this every time but it has made it easier when I have managed to get every jump right all the way up.

The upper part has been hugely hit or miss (more misses, sadly) getting to the top but last time I was successful I used the last crystal to get to one of the horizontal beams sticking out from the verticals nearest to the cliff and then turned, faced the cliff and made the last jump. If I go from another outer direction I always seem to miss and fall.

What I find most frustrating is the long, long trip back up from the waypoint. I ‘get’ why the crystals are shorter term because they are basically fractured and separated from what it is the Zephyrites do to them so maybe they are not as powerful.

I have yet to get up to the diving platform without someone portaling me up and then I jump and promptly die so that may be yet another diving achieve I pass by.

Story instance one is actually fine in my opinion except for one jump that others have already explained where you have to jump sort of sideways around a bamboo pole. The issue is that the hitbox of the pole seems to extend invisibly sideways and kills your momentum so it can be difficult making the jump (took me around 3 tries).

Please don’t change it. Achievements aren’t a gaurentee. If you can’t get it, you don’t have what it takes to get it…don’t ask them to dumb it down for you.

@ Alaster.7186 “Please don’t change it. Achievements aren’t a gaurentee. If you can’t get it, you don’t have what it takes to get it…don’t ask them to dumb it down for you.”

You are not the first person to associate a dislike for jumping and puzzles within a fantasy MMO as “Dumbing it Down” and thereby implying that the person who dislikes such activities is “Dumb”

Perhaps the point of this post and many many others like it is that these activities based upon platform games was a sideline and the main thrust of the game was the fantasy and fighting part of the mmo

This person, like the others who have posted similar negative topics on the same subject do not agree with the direction GW2 has gone whereby one is now forced to take part in jumping puzzles to progress forward within the game

To insult a person, lambasting them because they have different view from yours does not aid the debate, on the contrary it deflects its away by showing us how intolerant some people are within the community to others who also have a voice and wish to speak.
By any definition that is a sign of a bully and we all know why bullies exist and the best way to deal with them.

I agree that the jumping puzzle is difficult, but I didn’t try very long as I think all the JP are difficult and have never completed one without a mesmer portal. Yes I have tried many times on the JP described as really easy.

I’m glad some people find them fun and wouldn’t remove them from the game. But I am sad that they are required for World Completion since that means I will never do it.