Guild Wars 2

The freedom of choice in this game is what really excited me and actually kept me waiting for it. I had not been so eagerly anticipating a launch for a long time. Setting the individual issues to the side for a moment, I’ve noticed multiple game forums with numerous posts of dissatisfaction concerning changes to the game since the launch (and not just the last patch). ANet, please take heed and start communicating with, and listening to, your player base. You have systematically lessened the freedom in playing this game after selling us on the promise to play it as we wish. If you have problems with gold-sellers, focus on the removing the gold-sellers. If you have problems with TRUE exploits, then focus on removing the exploits. But the game-wide alterations you’ve made thus far, and the way they’ve been implemented, really give me absolutely no confidence in your ability to keep this game enjoyable or make it last. I guess you already have my (and most others’) money, so perhaps there’s no good reason for you to listen, but there has been an overwhelming cry from players that, as far as I can tell, have not had a real answer from you, ANet. Please don’t let us down.

The diminishing returns are definitely NOT working as Jon described. I just finished the CoF exp mode for the first time in the past 20 hours (after having to reset it 4 times and go through 2 different groups because ppl got frustrated and quit) and I received 6 silver as the dungeon reward while others received 26. So, do you mean to tell me that since I completed that path last night nearly a full day ago that I got shorted 20 silver and it’s intentional? Did you test this stuff??!!

0/10

Poor implementation, no communication or explanation prior to being implemented, frustratingly buggy, no problems solved experienced by the player base (which should be a priority with any changes), no corellation of rewards, and poor solution design. The challenge wasn’t increased, just the frustration. True use of character skills or player intellect should be the nature of the challenge, not simply increasing buffs or trashy mobs.

This post is entirely on target. Like the other changes ANet has introduced, they don’t seem to have thought it through before implementing it. The argument that “it should be harder so you have to run different paths” doesn’t hold any water. The game was always advertised as having choice of alternatives. If someone wants to farm a certain run over and over, it is their prerogative to do so because it is fun for them. If gear grinding makes someone happy, let them do it and be happy. WvW makes others happy, crafting makes others happy, questing, exploring, etc etc. Forcing alternatives is not a choice, and it doesn’t improve game quality.

I can’t disagree with making some changes from the original form of the dungeon, but these changes hardly seem tested or considerate of the problem. I logged in and tried to run the exp mode just once and couldn’t finish because the NPC bugged in multiple locations preventing progression. We tried 4 different resets of the dungeon (which is a hassle in itself since there’s no instance-clearing feature in the game interface). Now, as I understand it, you can skip the defense stage entirely using a method that I can’t possibly believe is intended. Why is that even an option? If it is intended, it’s another example of a poor design. If there was a real-money farming issue with CoF, then pull the entire Magg path or dungeon until a tested redesign can be deployed, but don’t halfkitten a fix and try to pass it off as an improvement.

During beta I was extremely impressed with how much ANet listened to the community, but the lack of communication on their part that, coupled with poorly-implemented changes in the game, is really starting to make me doubt their ability to keep this game a preference to the player base that will make it last.

Very well written thread and all are very good points. I rarely post on game forums, but recent changes to GW2 have really bothered me. I have left other MMOs because of the kinds of changes ANet has made affecting drop rates, crafting, and the GW2 economy in general. Due to the complexity of the crafting recipes, the diminishing returns method of curving drop rates is just ludicrous. If you’re going to require 15 Large Claws for the recipe I need to make, then tell me you’re going to make them drop less the longer I try to get them from mobs, then I’m going to go play something else that doesn’t waste my time.

The cooking changes are also crazy. While I can understand, and appreciate, making the materials for the craft more reliant on the world map, taking something like peppercorn (needed at a very low level for crafting) away from the vendor and putting it in gathering nodes that seem to drop it less than 10% of the time makes no sense at all. Instead, it would be more effective to have more desirable recipes require those more-difficult-to-attain materials. Furthermore, simply cutting over from the vendor availability to gathering requirement in a single update was also frustrating. Such a big change would have been better implemented by adding the materials to the nodes and drops WHILE still available at the vendor for a brief period of time. Then removing them from the vendor lists.

ANet, please think about these solutions before implementing them. There are clear cases in other MMOs where they’ve adversely affected the player base. You created a spectacular game, but a good game is easy to kill in the eyes of us gamers with these kinds of unthoughtful alterations.