Guild Wars 2

I just wanted to say these periscopes are incredibly annoying. I now do NOT go to the Shiverpeaks unless I really have to for the Daily, and I hate this, as the Shiverpeaks is one of my favorite areas in the game. I really, really hope these periscopes disappear really soon.

I’m with you on that one. Quite possibly the most annoying thing in the game for me! As well as that, the Molten teams that spawn with them (specifically the vet). So glad that my monthly is out the way now.

They became very irritating for me. At first I could just ignore them but then I needed to traverse Diessa with a character to meet some friends. Those persicopes showed why it’s a terrible idea to put in mechanics that interfere with character travel.

GW2 seemed to understand that with implementation of waypoints but then they backslide with mechanics like these periscopes (or those idiotic head crabs on Southsun).

I can kill the periscopes without problem, that’s not the point. When I am trying to travel I do not want to deal with knockback out of nowhere that will hit you multiple times if you try to get away even with dodging. There are numerous skills to allow players to outrun mobs if we don’t want to fight them, these periscopes force players to deal with them when they are trying to do something else.

These things are not a good idea, even on paper. The only thing good about them will be when the Living Story progresses and they are permanently removed from the game.

Well, one good thing about the Periscopes is that they make a handy place to complete the Daily Dodger requirement. XD

DoctorOverlord.8620:

. There are numerous skills to allow players to outrun mobs if we don’t want to fight them, these periscopes force players to deal with them when they are trying to do something else.

If you didnt pay enough attention and run into a periscope while traveling (guilty myself, tend to read chat or organize bags while running) you get knocked back out of its radius by the first or second attack. At that point you just circle around it. Is that “being forced to deal with them”? If yes then lets agree to disagree because to me thats not a big deal. No different then avoiding a cluster of ettins because they are annoying, or circumvent the missing bridge that was destroyed in an event, etc.

Edit: when I was scouting Diessa for the guild bounty I simply took the changes into account and used 1-2 utility slots on stability. Yea that is adapting to the current situation in the area I am traveling through, but to me thats is a good thing. Everything being always the same and predictable gets boring.

True, 90% of all the gamers of MMOs dont like to have actual obstacles on their way.

Ambush on the road which you happened to walk on? annoying.
event killing your favourite merchant? annoying
Getting knocked back from a periscope? annoying

This is why MMOs are the least engaging games out there, people do not want to be the hero, unless they get a silver platter with a gold name plate on it that says that they’re a hero.

What a joke.

I was all about the periscopes until I realized I needed 150 of their audio logs for the monthly achievement. I am avoiding them from this point on. Sure they were annoying, but I thought I needed maybe 50 tops for that achievement. 150 is WAY too much periscope aggravation. Thank goodness they made it so you can do other achievements to get your monthly.

On my ranger I don’t even notice them anymore. I just pop some stability when I see the little ring appear around my character and the ranged damage doesn’t bother me.

On my Guardian however… oh good lord I hate these things. They bat me around worse than the risen used to. Although at least the periscopes are pretty far apart so its not like I can be dragged into a dark corner and brutalised before I can hit a skill off (God how much I hated Orr before).

Well, the latest patch changed it from blowout to knockback, so players can at least get some shots in without being permanently thrown around. Furthermore, the Periscopes in Wayfarer Foothills and Plains of Ashford don’t even cause knockback at all.

I’d say “problem solved”, but I think the Molten Vets may still give lowbie players a lot of trouble.

MatthewMedina.5419:

The periscopes did undergo some changes to hopefully make them better for all players. Also to clarify, not all periscopes have a chance to trigger the backup events. Only 3 out of 10 in each map have the events attached to them.

Usually the three you encounter in a given session XD

MatthewMedina.5419:

The periscopes did undergo some changes to hopefully make them better for all players. Also to clarify, not all periscopes have a chance to trigger the backup events. Only 3 out of 10 in each map have the events attached to them.

How long ago? I very recently rolled a charr warrior. The starting area, where you have to clear unexploded ordinances, fight off some flame legion that pops up and clean up scrap metal and tools, there is one. In short, it did enough damage to me before I did enough damage to it and it killed me.

Although here is the trick since everyone has some range. Alternate between strafing left and right at max range for your range weapon. It will try and lead the shot, so by the time it gets to you you are already moving the other way and it will miss you.

Is this exploiting? I say no. It is dealing with a troll game mechanic appropriately.

I enjoy them. The first time I ran in to one it definitely surprised me. But come on, all it does is knock you over. By now you should have figured out how to deal with these…

The follow up events are definitely fun too.

Fluffball.8307:

By now you should have figured out how to deal with these…

Yes, surely people that have been playing for half an hour and are encountering the mechanic for their first time much sooner than they would otherwise have encountered it should know how to deal with these.

I don’t see why you need to call people that are new to the game stupid. Circling strafing or dodging is not particularly complicated. People will find anything to complain about if something changes on them. Change the UI colors and people will stage a protest because it has ruined their gaming experience. Saying newbies can’t figure out stationary enemy with a single attack is exactly that.

On the contrary, you are the one defending trial-and-error based newbie-unfriendly content with l2p. In case it wasn’t clear, the periscopes are a long way outside the game’s learning curve. Dodge-or-die style ranged cc is something bosses do, not level 2 turrets.

Someone who is new probably hasn’t worked out all the nuances of knowing when to dodge and how to predict enemy actions, because those things can only be learned through experience. An experience that will no doubt be extremely frustrating since the price of failure is dying repeatedly. Going by all the hate the periscopes have been getting and the fact that Anet nerfed them it’s not unreasonable to assume that’s exactly what’s been going on.

The price of failure is that you wander off in any random direction, because the periscopes can’t move. These things aren’t impacting anyone who isn’t looking for an excuse to complain.

While I appreciate the response from Matthew Medina, ArenaNet doesn’t need to nerf the periscopes, they need to remove them.

The price of failure is that you wander off in any random direction, because the periscopes can’t move. These things aren’t impacting anyone who isn’t looking for an excuse to complain.

Actually they are having a very negative impact. In just once example from this evenig, I was working on my Event Mentor daily near the town of Butcher’s Block and I noticed the event where you defend the fireworks from the seperatists was active. One lone player was down to two firework launchers and so I quickly ran straight toward them to give them a hand.

Guess what started constantly knocking me down? And this particular periscope happened to be positioned so it could knock players INTO the town wall so I couldn’t move around the attack.

This stupid thing was keeping me from HELPING and cooperating with another player which is arguably one of the best features of this game.

This did not make the game more enjoyable, it did not add a level of ‘excitement’, all it resulted in was me swearing at my monitor as I watch that poor lone player nearly losing the event they had been trying to complete, while I kept losing precious moments to come to their aid.

We got lucky, another player approached from a different direction while I was getting spammed by that ridiculous excuse for a terrible game mechanic.

This isn’t about removing obstacles or challenges from the game. There was plenty of challenge coming to the aid of that player who was struggling with that dynamic event. This is about an incredibly poorly thought out mechanic that serves absolutely no purpose save interfering with player movement and stopping them from actually getting to something they WANT to do.

Whereas I’m not a big fan of the periscope events, I’m also pretty tired of the game getting easier and kinda wish a lot of the danger and anxiety that was in the game in beta would return.

I won’t miss them when their gone.

Just dont run straight to them, or pop up stability, or teleport and destroy them and many many alternatives.

Hiding behind trees works as well.

FrizzFreston.5290:

True, 90% of all the gamers of MMOs dont like to have actual obstacles on their way.

Ambush on the road which you happened to walk on? annoying.
event killing your favourite merchant? annoying
Getting knocked back from a periscope? annoying

This is why MMOs are the least engaging games out there, people do not want to be the hero, unless they get a silver platter with a gold name plate on it that says that they’re a hero.

What a joke.

Unfortunally the road taken in all games is “made all easyer”.
Periscopes were nice and “instructive” encounters: you had to do something else instead of pushing R and watch your char running.

I completed the achievement two days after the nerf but I was obviously near to complete it with full functioning periscopes.
This change have a sense just to make it faster to complete that achievement for those who started it later.

The periscopes just show what Arenanet and the Guild Wars 2 team struggle with daily. Making a game that is both fun to play and also difficult. I cant think of a single person that wants to buy a game where every challenge is a walk in the park. Do I find the periscopes annoying? Sure. But it only increases the value of the game for me.
Thanks and cheers all.

bribrim.9710:

The periscopes just show what Arenanet and the Guild Wars 2 team struggle with daily. Making a game that is both fun to play and also difficult. I cant think of a single person that wants to buy a game where every challenge is a walk in the park. Do I find the periscopes annoying? Sure. But it only increases the value of the game for me.
Thanks and cheers all.

All they needed to do was reduce the required amount to a more reasonable number. Most players will enjoy a challenge while gaming,manat they don’t enjoy is being required to repeat that challenge 150 times.

ANet unfortunately decided to just make them easier. This solution did nothing but take the only interesting part about this task, and change it into a mind numbing grind.

When they had their knockback they were even worse, but I still hate the constant noise that they make.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

ANet unfortunately decided to just make them easier. This solution did nothing but take the only interesting part about this task, and change it into a mind numbing grind.

A few dodges and circle strafing to avoid a knockback while hitting a stationary object that does the same thing over again isn’t challenging anyway. It’s boring and tedious.