Guild Wars 2

Sending to a full inbox means no one read that anymore so here is something that I will only hope will get someone’s attention. This is not of you guy to anser on, so please don’t.

For a long year I played GW2. I played GW1 and it “was” a lot of fun.
I care for this game and that is why when I raged in form (yes, too much) I turn to you as a kind of last resort before I quit the game and probably never some back.
Unfortunately lately I have less and less fun with the game. It’s not about being bored or live situation but about how you manage the progress in game.
GW1 was static and I never had a problem with playing cause it was easy to get into the end and then explore more and more or play PvP. It was a lot of fun.
GW2 was amazing. Rich world to explore, a lot of content that most skilled I enjoyed a lot. All lore you placed and I missed a lot of it also, but thanks to WoodenPotatos from YT I have known more and more.
It’s all great, it’s great to explore, think about what I WANT to do today and just do it.
Feeling many aspects of such a rich game is just wonderful.
Lately it became a real grind (and I don’t want to write in here how bad it is).
I want to point out some things that hurt me but also my guildies and friends that left the game.

1. Living story is too time consuming for 2 weeks content.
It frustrates many players as I read on forums and it’s totally true. For someone like me liking to explore everything 2 weeks is too little. Allowing content to stay for a month when next one starts after 2 weeks won’t help it, cause most players rushed to explore will just go on and a lot of stuff won’t be possible and even if it still was you will miss next update. I think that you forget that this is also a game for people who are older than 18 years and have families. We really enjoy playing and paying in game but we want to enjoy playing not boing on constant race. For me taking care of my family and work takes a lot of time and I just can’t have fun. I only go from 1 achievement to another and hope I will have time to finish all. It’s not fun at all.
I understand that tome people are bored, but let them long for next update, maybe design content to be more repeatable for those who are bored, but please make it easier on time base.
For last few months I can’t play WvW or PvP cause I’m so rushed by LS updates that there is no time for anything else and MANY people have the same problem. Think about it.
2. Achievement system leaks all the time.
The thing is that those who have many hours in each day get like great number of points each day, but that means nothing anymore. That 1 point per activity adds up and before you know they have thousands points ahead of players that go for Living Story, Jumping puzzles, maps, events and such.
There should be a cap to daily and monthly points earned (like 3000 points for daily and monthlies – it can be calculated if do it like that: your points – points from all achievements = daily + monthly points). It would finally make playing content instead of daily grind worth something. Now we have people who have like 6-7k points and they don’t know the game at all. It’s frustrating for quite some people if you don’t know.
3. Gear and economy are really broken.
Last update shows that the most, you made crafting so consuming that going from 400 to 500 costs nearly 200g and it is only for the chosen ones, cause I don’t have that money and general player base don’t have it either. So even if prices go down slowly the void between hardcore farmers that are reach and real players that want to achieve something in the game instead of farming or playing only TP has become even greater.
Remember that people firstly think about gearing then about experiencing content, so now instead of having fun great part of friends that left online are farming cause its soooooooo important and everything else is an addition. So now last update sucks for a lot of us even more.

4. Stuck in between worlds.
As I mentioned before I played PvE, WvW and a bit of PvP. Now I don’t have time for that and now we will have also Season 1 to WvW and probably an another living story at the same time. That is REALLY frustrating. I just can’t choose what I want more, which achievement will be more important so in the end it will suck even more for me. That kind of frustration from GW2 update race made a lot of my friends stop playing and they don’t want to hear about coming back cause all they missed and experience of constant rush is a really painful experience that will hold them for a long time. In other word you are hurting your own players.
5. Alt support sucks a lot so you kill your own game variety.
Many of my friends have 3 or more alts. It’s not easy if you just play game to have that. I had some more time at the start so now I’m with 9 lvl 80 characters. I spend hours on gearing them with exotics, adjusting their look so they look really awesome. It took like 50 transmutation crystals to do it or maybe more and now…
Wait you can buy more of them cause soon you will have to redo all armors and weapons look cause there is a new tier.
For someone with 1-2 characters it’s not really a big deal, but I play at least 6 of those characters and making them to the top level as they were is just too painful. You can say all you want that Ascended are only a little better than exotics but let’s face it someone already proven that with only trinkets and weapons one can have 13% more dmg and that is HUGE difference. So for a difficulty content you can only have one character to play it? It really sucks…
Vision of getting another 50 transmutation crystals also makes me mad cause I spend all those money so I would not have to change that again and now I don’t really know if it’s worth that. You just made all my effort in playing preparing characters so… pointless. It sucks fun out of the game and even if the armors will come next year as you said I hesitate to finish armor on my last character (purely blue thief). It feels like I’m throwing money out on each transmutation and I don’t like the feeling.
I will mention also the yearly gift in here that many people were disappointed.
Basically you could have some kind of system to give something more for players that have real characters (lvl 80 and such), not mules that would get only free gifts. Getting 8 times the same mini that is BTA and unforgeable is just really pointless. Especially when in GW1 you gave us minis that made a mini market that was a great as I remember.
Finishing thought: Maybe you can make it so after crafting 5-6 ascended weapons you can craft theirs for like 10% of resources so you can gear 2 characters and next characters can have items for like almost free OR make recrafting system so place your exotic (soulbound so it will be hard or place it in bank and craft it from bank) so you would get soulbound ascended item bound to the previous character and with look of the exotic you recrafted?
Anyway I sure hope you will do something about it
6. A title with meaning is needed cause now title means almost nothing in this game and in GW1 it defined who you are since you introduced GWAMM. It was a great system and I know many people don’t like the idea but I really feel GW2 needs something that touches vast content achievements – more in here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/Master-title-is-needed-like-GWAMM-in-GW1/first

It’s a kind of end of the line for me. It all comes down to the frustration I feel for like last 2-3 months. really hope you will do something about it or at least give me some response. I don’t have strength for more and if you don’t you will lose just 1 but yearly player who was with you from GW1 times.

Probably not much use starting a discussion here as mods will classify this a ‘good bye, i quit’ thread and it will end up locked pretty soon.

I’m wondering about some of your viewpoints though; esp. 3 & 5 -

Pt. 5 is a really quick one; news of ascended gear came in November 2012, I doubt you had 9 level 80s in all exotic already back then – a little planning ahead for things to come could’ve helped.

Regarding pt. 3 and the ascended crafting… you loved GW1, I take it. Obsidian Armor, Destroyer Weapons, Vabbian Armor… was it for everyone? Ascended gear (now weapons, later armor) has been here like, a week today actually, and you write

Last update shows that the most, you made crafting so consuming that going from 400 to 500 costs nearly 200g and it is only for the chosen ones, cause I don’t have that money and general player base don’t have it either.

Yes, if by chosen ones you mean those hardcore players who have been farming incessantly for a week to maybe already have produced one… for the majority though, is it really that bad for the game to include a highest tier of gear that actually takes an effort to create. It seems rather a problem with your attitude of expecting to have everything handed to you with or without effort… with 9 level 80s, I don’t put you in the casual category though, so I expect you’ve put in some effort. Do you have a legendary yet?

I agree fully on the opportunities at hand with achievements/titles though – toss many more into the game for people to choose from a wide repertoire of titles to identify with. Did you save LA from invasion, you get to be Defender of Lion’s Arch, did you kill Zhaitan, well then you can be Conqueror of Zhaitan, Vigil Warmaster, Durmand Magister, Whispers Agent, etc. etc. Numerous opportunities, both upcoming I bet but also a lot that can be made retroactive that would give a lot.
I’ve got my favourite from GW1 HoM, but it’s a shame that there’s so few in the current (GW2) game to choose between.

You make very good points but for some reason I couldn’t stop getting the feeling that the overall gist of your post is; “There a too many things to do and so little time.” Which is a good thing, in my eyes at least.

It does suck to add a new tier of weapons and armor. Cosmetic tiers are one thing but to add gear that is actually better really sucks. People try to say that gear doesn’t matter. That simply is not true. Play without any gear that enhances your stats and see how different it is. How often is this going to happen? Will we have annual gear grinds after our currently optimal gear is rendered obsolete?

Totally agree with the alt hating. I have 8 level 80 characters, all with fully exotic. I was so glad when I farmed my kitten of to get them all with the latest gear.

Then fractal of the mists came, it was impossible to gear them all with ascended rings due to the bad RNG and never getting the rings I needed. Then the Amulet’s came, and I needed like ~300 laurels to gear them all. Which would take me like a year.

That’s basically where I gave up. I haven’t even tried getting ascended weapons yet, 200g just to level crafting and then I have to gather the mats for ~5 weapons per character, spread out across 8 characters? (=40 ascended weapons). Yeah right. To do that I either have to farm 24/7, or spend all my salary on gems. A little farming is cool, but this is just insane. A new tier is fine and all, but what’s up with the costs in making it? The average player has 50-100g at best. They can’t even equip 1 character with a full set of the latest gear, let alone gear multiple. And what will armor cost? 200g+ per piece?

In gw1 it was easy to have alts. Max armor/weps were reasonably priced. And all the really expensive stuff was purely cosmetics. I don’t see why they changed so much from gw1 to gw2. This game had so much potential and it has become this big grindfest. It almost feels like having a second job sometimes.

vhiran xergo.7802:

Will we have annual gear grinds after our currently optimal gear is rendered obsolete?

This is almost a certainty. Either higher tiers of gear, or raised level cap.

Lord Kuru.3685:

vhiran xergo.7802:

Will we have annual gear grinds after our currently optimal gear is rendered obsolete?

This is almost a certainty. Either higher tiers of gear, or raised level cap.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Did-AN-promised-to-never-add-new-gear-tiers
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/11/15/arenanet-guild-wars-2-ascended-backlash/
http://www.gamebreaker.tv/mmorpg/arenanet-responds-to-gear-grind-speculation/

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH no. stop spreading lies.

Hey I feel the same way you do. Coming into GW2 and feeling like I missed something. I do like how they are putting out a lot of new stuff for player to do, but for people that don’t play every day or play other games (like I do) just miss out and don’t want to be lost anymore. So I stopped playing. I come back every now and then but I just get lost.

To the others that posted saying “it sounds like you’re complaining that there’s too much content” Its not that, but some players just feel lost or like the butt end of a bad joke. If GW2 came out with a Living Story History Book like they did in GW1. Where we could go back and play the old Living Story missions. I’d feel better about going away for a month or two and then come back to play the new content.

I do hope the Developers are reading this too.

+1 for that. Same feelings

If you are playing for achievement points then I can see why you would be overwhelmed. I think this is your first mistake. In order to be competitive in AP you will need to be able to accomplish all daily categories (PvP and PvE/WvW) as well as all LS achievements. That in itself is at least a 2hr commitment each day strictly for the daily categories and doesn’t even include the LS. In order to do this you need to play a LOT of GW2, more than any full-time employed family man can muster, hence your frustration.

Solution: just embrace that you will not be an AP leader. It’s OK, really it is. Once you free yourself from the pressure of “keeping up with the Jones’” you will feel the relief that others like me have felt. You learn to relax and do things if you want to. Didn’t finish all of those LS achievements? Whatever, who cares! That’s how I feel now and it’s liberating!

Ascended gear: I was against at first, but assuming this is the ONLY tier they are adding between exotic and legendary I am 100% for it. Think about it. You have 9 characters in full exotic (game is 1year old = sounds super easy to gear up, a little too easy for any game to have longevity, let’s be honest here, if you can level up and gear NINE characters in one year, playing semi-regularly, then something is definitely wrong— people will quit playing because they have hit a wall). In all actuality you should be happy they added another tier of gear, now you have guaranteed tasks to focus on, one character at a time. If you are honestly concerned that you have to do more gearing up on your 9 characters after one year, then clearly you didn’t not plan on playing this game for much longer. Look at the long term, if gearing all 9 characters in Ascended is what you want then you are guaranteed many more years of playing.

You aren’t alone in how you feel, but I honestly feel that you and others like you feel this way because of some phantom being that compels you to get 100% achievements. If you look at everything from that perspective then you will never be happy.

I mean seriously, your characters are fully geared in exotics, what are they not able to do that someone with an ascended weapon is able to? There are no gear checks, all of the content in GW2 can be completed by people in Rares. If your characters look the way you want them to look then you’re golden.

As a casual player who used to be hardcore (stupid life and responsibilities getting in the way) there are some things you have to sacrifice. For me it was getting all achievements. For example, the Clockwork LS. I went to at least 12 different invasions. Did I get all achievements for doing invasions in X number of zones? Nope, did I miss out on any content? Nope, just an achievement.

It’s all about perspective.

I agree more or less with the OP on almost all his point. The living story has reached its limits and is now actively burning out the greatest fans of Arena.net itself.

Everyone here probably knows I’m a big fan of the game and of A.net. Living Story is not fun anymore.

marnick.4305:

I agree more or less with the OP on almost all his point. The living story has reached its limits and is now actively burning out the greatest fans of Arena.net itself.

Everyone here probably knows I’m a big fan of the game and of A.net. Living Story is not fun anymore.

i decided to take a break all through southsun, molten alliance, dragon bash. sure i missed out on opportunities but what i really wanted out of it was the lore. thankfully some kind stranger put up all living story summaries so far AND conversation between the living story characters. few hours on the gw2 wiki and im up to date.

If you think it is too time consuming, don’t do it. I am semi-hardcore player (3 legendaries, world completoin 2 times, 6 max chars, most with exotic/ascended gear). I even had a break of 2 months. I usually play 1-3 hour during the week (I have a 100% job), or sometimes up to 10 hours if i have a day off or during weekends.

That said, I simply don’t do content if i don’t like it. I don’t like SAB, so i don’t do it. There is noone who tells you you have to do it. Just let it be. Achievement points have nothing to say, it’s just a stupid number (ok now, there are the rewards, but they aren’t really needed or unique aside from the pretty easily achievable skins).

There are a lot of other games (like GTA V atm) that i love to play, also i play a bit Dota 2 and then some.

Also i don’t get the complaints vs. altoholics. It is still pretty easy to get ascended gears. Just do some dailies/monthlies and you can get most trinkets pretty easily. True, weapons are a bit harder to get. But it is pretty easy to get around 10-20g a day, so i don’t see the issue.

Also, i don’t get why it should be ‘easy’ if you have alt characters. I mean of course it needs more work? Do you expect to get stuff as easy as in GW1? I never liked that, a bit of work should be fine and should be the nature of a game. It is still an MMO, and there are a lot of ppl like me who are bored, be cause we have run all dungeons, all places, all events dozens of times. So I like to work on my character and the feel of a more ore less flat item curve is OK.

I don’t like the way games generally go: the get-everyting-in-no-time-to-get-fast-rewards-cell-phone-game mentality more and more corrupts the core of gamers who played games since the 80ies or 90ies. If i play a game i want to feel an achievement of getting something, not an NPC who throws a super cool weapon at me. Just look at it this way.

yungwizud.1827:

i decided to take a break all through southsun, molten alliance, dragon bash. sure i missed out on opportunities but what i really wanted out of it was the lore. thankfully some kind stranger put up all living story summaries so far AND conversation between the living story characters. few hours on the gw2 wiki and im up to date.

That’s actually one of the points that annoys me – there should be a tab on your hero page just like for living story that chronicles what your character experienced through the living story (but they made it all account-wide .. duh). Either way living story chronicling sooner then later please Anet /whip!

1. Constantly amazes me that most people don’t realize that the lion’s share of the living story temporary content is in the game for a month. The stuff that is only in for 2 weeks is generally much shorter and easier to complete. Also, you may not have noticed but we haven’t had any truly temporary content since the jubilee (SAB is recurring) and the next patch won’t have much, if any.

2. What does it matter? Achievement rewards are nice, but ultimately it’s just a few percentage points of account bonuses and some mediocre weapon skins of which you got the ones you wanted with the first few and probably already have better ones anyway. It’s also not dailies versus all other points. A lot of them can be achieved simultaneously.

3. I certainly didn’t spend near 200g getting artificer from 400 to 500. That is the only one I’ve done so far, but I do have the other 2 at 425. For one thing, a lot of the guides don’t give you the cheapest way. Refining ori/ancient wood will get you to 425 and you’ll need a lot of it so it’s not wasted. Although discovering exotics gives you the most XP, you get XP from discovering any level, a level 15 blue won’t get you hardly anything, but a level 80 rare still gives a good chunk. As you’re more likely to have T5 mats on hand that can be a way to save some.

In addition, the prices are high because so many people are leveling their craft and making ascended weapons. When that slows down, prices will start to drop a bit.

4. You don’t have to do living story and you don’t have to do WvW. Just do whatever one you want to do most if you don’t have time for both.

5. People complain about alt support a lot, but this game really does offer a lot to people with multiple characters that other games don’t. Account-wide achievements and bonuses from them. Account-wide wallet storing most currencies. Account-wide magic find. Account-wide bank (some other games bank is only character). Account-wide guild membership (no alts taking up roster spots). WXP consumables are soon to be added which will allow you to spread out some of the WXP if you wish. There are no plans, even long-term, for another tier of gear.

I admit I was slightly disappointed with the birthday gift at first, but that was before I realized how awesome the birthday booster is. This is probably better for WvW players than others due to the WXP boost, but it is amazing and I am going to sorely miss it when I run through all 8 of the ones I have.

Dondarrion.2748:

Regarding pt. 3 and the ascended crafting… you loved GW1, I take it. Obsidian Armor, Destroyer Weapons, Vabbian Armor… was it for everyone?

Newsflash: All that expensive gear was all look and had the bloody exact same stats as a broadsword you could buy for literally pennies.

Nabrok.9023:

The stuff that is only in for 2 weeks is generally much shorter and easier to complete.

I know it’s kinda unfair to pick and choose what I adress but your post was about so many different topics.

This quoted one though – 2 week content included most of the limited dungeon content we got (which takes more time for many players because of lfg and related reasons). I would actually claim that aside from the boring “click F 300 times or kill this type of enemy 300 times” busywork, the more demanding parts of the Living Story were shorter ones. MF, AR, Defending the booty during the election. The only cases were I would say the harder content came first is queens gauntlet and SAB, in both that’s mitigated by their recurring nature anyway.*

*I know MF and AR are being re-designed as fractals and technically recurring, but there’s not a moment I would believe that was intended during their design, because they would’ve been designed differently then. Shorter, for starters.

Mastruq.2463:

yungwizud.1827:

i decided to take a break all through southsun, molten alliance, dragon bash. sure i missed out on opportunities but what i really wanted out of it was the lore. thankfully some kind stranger put up all living story summaries so far AND conversation between the living story characters. few hours on the gw2 wiki and im up to date.

That’s actually one of the points that annoys me – there should be a tab on your hero page just like for living story that chronicles what your character experienced through the living story (but they made it all account-wide .. duh). Either way living story chronicling sooner then later please Anet /whip!

i remember arena stating they wanted to put in your very idea, but like all game development it takes work expertise and time. i would love more than anything a living story tab just like the personal story tab that logs every important encounter i have in my life. imo it would be better to make it character bound so you dont have this backstory with a character that hasnt played the content. i forgot most of the things that happened in my backstory so i read that tab sometimes.

ProtoGunner.4953:

If you think it is too time consuming, don’t do it. I am semi-hardcore player (3 legendaries, world completoin 2 times, 6 max chars, most with exotic/ascended gear). I even had a break of 2 months. I usually play 1-3 hour during the week (I have a 100% job), or sometimes up to 10 hours if i have a day off or during weekends.

That’s not “semi-hardcore”. That’s just plain old hardcore textbook definition.