Guild Wars 2

Correct me if this is the wrong category but I would like to bring up a topic that I don’t believe has been mentioned before (if it has I missed the post).

What I would like to share a few words on what I define as “player provided services”. Anyone who was familiar with the original Guild Wars is familiar with these services. These services ranged from running to new outposts, dungeon speed clears, gold weapon farming, etc.. There were many player provided services in Guild Wars 1. Anyone could pick up and run one of these services as long as they had the required gear and skill, easy enough.

In Guild Wars 2, this isn’t the case. With the evolution of the TP, weapon and item selling services are very rare. It’s much easier to use the TP (and I agree, but to be clear I’m not bashing the TP, just making note of what it has become) and player to player transactions rarely occur if at all. So? Big deal you are saying. Okay. Lets move on to another one.

Running outposts. With the advent of Asura portals and content scaled to levels, it makes sense NOT to run, as the enemies in newer zones would easily decimate a player. You could easily warp to a higher level, but as the level cakitten o high, it would be better to level the right way and then progress to zones at a pace that is manageable/comfortable.

I have heard of dungeon run services. A team of five players plays to the final boss, one party member leaves, and then charges a player to hop in and complete the dungeon. I have seen this for Arah at an exhorborant price on the forums before. I am not shooting down this idea and I think it could work somewhat well as a service but it doesn’t seem to fit the bill when it comes to the potential price of a run. I don’t yet know but my opinions for this one can go both ways.

Where am I getting in this post? Simple. I love the game and what it has to offer but I miss the mom’n-pop shops where players had a service they would do others for a fee. I knew many who ran something in Guild Wars 1 and were known for that. I know dungeon runners and outpost runners and me myself I ran a Gift of the Traveler service. These services made me feel appreciated by many and gave me a real individual purpose in the game. I mostly ran solo in Guild Wars 1, when I wasn’t doing dungeon runs with my guild, and this gave me much fun and some extra money on the side. With the TP taking over the game commerce and events, dungeons, fractals, pvp, wvw taking strides with group play, I find it hard for me to connect individually to other players in Guild Wars 2. What I would like to bring up is your feelings about this issue in the game (and I will go out on a limb and say that this is an issue many have seen).

I do find myself tied solely to my guild mates and friends who play the game. I find the individual lacking importance when it comes to content. Fully aware that the game is best played with others, I just want the Guild Wars 1 draw that I had – to be able to enjoy content and connect individually with as much importance as anything else. I want the individual able to make a difference and do things for the whole (such as provide a “service” of some sort). Sometimes I just want to run solo and still have the feeling I can contribute as much as in a group.

I’ve spewed my thoughts out on the thrashing floor, now lets go at it.

It feels like you have the standard MMO nostalgia. I’m going to assume that GW1 was your first MMO.

Regardless, most of your ideals are simply outdated. It’s possible to run services for people (heck, I could probably get a group to guarantee Unfriendly Skies and Personal Space for up to 2 people), but WHY? Do I feel like ripping people off? Do I feel like rewarding players for having money instead of skill? No. If someone wants the achievement THAT badly, they would work for it.

That’s my opinion, feel free to agree or disagree.

What I might suggest as a possible work around to include these in Guild Wars 2 is an item the service provider gives to a client. The service provider includes a fee for any map objective activated while under the use of this item (waypoint, poi, skill point, jumping puzzle, dungeon, etc) and then does this map objective. The client will be asked to submit cash before receiving the work done and then the service is complete.

If this is a good idea to ANet, if they see the post, let them know I do not wish this to be purchasable in the gem store. Do not make this buy able with cash, just limit the item to one per account on creation so anyone can use this.

Ideas on the item mentioned above?

I really doubt Anet are going to add a system to allow people to charge for runs in GW2.

I always got the impression that they’re weren’t happy with it in GW1 because they put a lot of effort into trying to stop it happening – Factions increased the number of missions which had to be completed before you could access certain areas, in Nightfall there were even more and you couldn’t even start the missions until you’d done the ones before and then in Eye of the North they replaced the whole system with a quest chain like the Personal Story in GW2.

They kind of went the other way with armor, making max level armor available sooner in the campaign, although they also made a lot of elite armor harder to get because you had to reach a particular title to be able to buy it, but it still had the same effect of cutting runners out of the equation.

I have to say I agree with them. I’ve never understood why anyone would buy a game and then pay other people (even with in-game money) to play it for them instead of doing it themselves. What’s the point of having a game you don’t play? Do you really feel like you’ve achieved something when you get skipped through to the last mission and then told to stand in a corner out the way until someone has completed it for you?

If it’s about the social aspect of helping other players: there is a lot of opportunity in GW2 to do that.

Just a few days ago I randomly helped a 26 level player clear the Tears mini-dungeon, yesterday I grouped up with someone to ping all hearts and POIs on the map for him (he’d missed 2).

I wouldn’t take money for such “services” though, nor would I pay money to others to allow me to bypass content (like join a dungeon only for the end boss). Either variant feels cheap to me.

People still do similar things with portals and JPs. However that is generally for free or someone may offer to pay someone for the portal. Asking for a fee for a portal is generally frown upon and results in someone undercutting you by 100%.

I understand how you feel Amber, I’ve been there as a runner in GW1 but I have to agree with Danikat and Pixel. It is kinda’ weird to buy the game only to skip lots of content,but one thing I’d like though is the player based market we had in GW1 (right now I’m in Kamadan actually selling),it gives you the feeling of being more interactive by actually selling/buying items yourself. In other words,I’d like the TP out of the game.

Thanks for your input guys. Had I known it was a possible stance of anet in GW1 to prevent runners then I may have not said certain things in the post, but isn’t there still hope? While I can see that making runners an option lets you bypass certain content in GW1, skipping bosses, I don’t think it would be done for that reason.

For example, if you were to want a legendary weapon, you can spend your time or money in order to get it. You can purchase it via gems and trade and buy or you can farm the materials and craft it. Anet has said they want to cater to both sets of people whether they have more time or more money. Just take cartographer for example. If you have got map completion on three characters, there is little doubt you missed seeing things on the first three times, I don’t see any evil in having a character grab these map completions if you charge him for his time doing the service.

I guess what I am getting at, is how can an individual feel as similar as it felt in GW1 running a “service” besides the jumping puzzle because I don’t want to have to do JP :P.

I don’t know about you all, but running a service was the draw I needed for GW1 to continue playing the game long term. Being able to help others in a significant way (through content) was what I loved playing Guild Wars 1 for. I can see how you may see it as a bad thing, but at the heart of it I just wanted to help people out.

Frankly, when I’m done getting Arachnophobia, I do not know what my draw to the game will be besides rack up achievement points. I have done the dungeons, spvp, wvw, I’ve progressed through my storyline, maxed a few crafting disciplines. I do not have a desire to get a legendary because the skins are not appealing to me. A way for me to help other players would be ideal (not just giving advice) while make some money with it.

Fossilized Amber.1352:

I don’t know about you all, but running a service was the draw I needed for GW1 to continue playing the game long term. Being able to help others in a significant way (through content) was what I loved playing Guild Wars 1 for. I can see how you may see it as a bad thing, but at the heart of it I just wanted to help people out.

Frankly, when I’m done getting Arachnophobia, I do not know what my draw to the game will be besides rack up achievement points. I have done the dungeons, spvp, wvw, I’ve progressed through my storyline, maxed a few crafting disciplines. I do not have a desire to get a legendary because the skins are not appealing to me. A way for me to help other players would be ideal (not just giving advice) while make some money with it.

I think you should re-read your own posts and things about the implications of your original post and these last two posts. Having “other people play the game for you” is basically taking away reasons for playing.

Khisanth.2948:

Fossilized Amber.1352:

I don’t know about you all, but running a service was the draw I needed for GW1 to continue playing the game long term. Being able to help others in a significant way (through content) was what I loved playing Guild Wars 1 for. I can see how you may see it as a bad thing, but at the heart of it I just wanted to help people out.

Frankly, when I’m done getting Arachnophobia, I do not know what my draw to the game will be besides rack up achievement points. I have done the dungeons, spvp, wvw, I’ve progressed through my storyline, maxed a few crafting disciplines. I do not have a desire to get a legendary because the skins are not appealing to me. A way for me to help other players would be ideal (not just giving advice) while make some money with it.

I think you should re-read your own posts and things about the implications of your original post and these last two posts. Having “other people play the game for you” is basically taking away reasons for playing.

Not necessarily, if there was some content that was un appealing for you, let’s say mapping the zones or doing some living story content and you had money rather than time to offer, then submitting to a service would be a good trade off. You aren’t giving the user a reason not to play the game, but rather a way for them to enjoy the rewards substituting the time they put in the game for money they have in the game. It is simply another currency in the game that should be an option to players.