Guild Wars 2

This may be something specific with the Mac client, but I’d like to know if the behavior I’m seeing is a bug or by design (in which case I’d like to know if there’s a way to make it stop).

I find that the vast majority of the time, when I interact with a stationary object with the “F” key (like gathering nodes, a control console, etc.), the direction I’m facing when I begin interacting with the thing is automatically changed. But the change in direction isn’t updated in the window until I start to move away from the thing I’m interacting with. This is hugely disorienting and costs me a second or two to reposition myself the way I was pointing when I started interacting with the object. In a situation where interacting with something starts a timer (like the control consoles in the Spekk’s Lab jumping puzzle), the delay can mean the difference between success and failure.

Changing the direction the character is pointing automatically when interacting with something is bad enough — but only updating the camera view when moving away from the object is awful.

Is there any way to make this auto-direction-change-without-updating-camera behavior stop? Or any way to predict how the turning is going to happen? What I’d really like is that If I’m close enough to an object to interact with it, I want to remain facing the way I was when the interaction started.

That’s strange because sometimes I’m having the opposite effect – where I want to turn around but I can’t! I press my ‘about-turn’ key (x) and the character attempts to turn around but is forced back to face where it was. I’m also on Mac Client, but I’m not sure if it’s Mac specific. It’s been going on for me since the Tequatl patch.

Archranis.2375:

What I’d really like is that If I’m close enough to an object to interact with it, I want to remain facing the way I was when the interaction started.

This is the bane of the GW2 UI and I agree it’s extremely annoying to have your auto face react with anything other than potentially hostile mobs but I have yet to find a way around it in 2+ years of playing.

Just plan on this UI to randomly spin you away from your camera direction at any time when interracting with anything in the game is the best approach and FYI it’s not limited to MAC clients.

Facing what you’re interacting with is working as intended. It’s the same idea as having to face your target to attack.

Under the options, there’s a setting called Use Free Camera. This option changes the behavior of the camera when you left or right click. When you left click, your character will run in the direction they’re facing and when you right click, your character runs in the direction of the camera. It sounds like you have this option enabled.

Alternatively, after interacting with something, right and left click at the same time to move your character in the direction of the camera.

If you’re seeing different functionality on a Mac, then it’s likely a bug.

penelopehannibal.8947:

That’s strange because sometimes I’m having the opposite effect – where I want to turn around but I can’t! I press my ‘about-turn’ key (x) and the character attempts to turn around but is forced back to face where it was.

If you have Use Free Camera enabled and left click, about face will flip your character once and stop working until you right click.

I think I’ve figured it out (or at least how to make it more predictable). This is all with “use free camera” turned off.

It seems there is a bit of an inconsistency after interacting with an object — if you move after the interaction is finished, the character changes direction to match the camera; if you rotate, the camera changes direction to match the character.

To get around this, if I want to continue moving in the direction I was facing before interacting with an object, I just continue to move forward (the character will rotate to match the direction he was facing before the interaction started and the camera will not rotate). If I want to change the character’s direction after interacting with an object, I do a quick “move forward” first, which rotates the character to match the direction of the camera, then I rotate the character.

To me, the current behavior is a design flaw (or a bug). If, after interacting with an object, character movement commands operate based on the direction the character was facing before the interaction (as they do now), then character rotation commands should do likewise — but they don’t — they are based on the direction the character was facing after the interaction, and the camera’s angle snaps to that direction.