Guild Wars 2

So I’ve returned to the game for the major feature patch after being gone for several months. When I logged in, I noticed all of my characters (except for my Ranger) were naked. I thought, maybe this is just due to the wardrobe changes and my Ranger lucked out somehow.

I logged in to my Engineer, and opened up his bags. Nothing. Completely gone and wiped clean. This includes my Legendary rifle, as well as SEVERAL armor sets that I had across all of my other characters.

This is a serious issue, and I have reported it already. Hoping to get some feedback here on the forums about it because if this is not resolved, I have no will to return to the game whatsoever.

marnick.4305:

AlietteFaye.7316:

marnick.4305:

lordkrall.7241:

They release stuff “without testing it”: people complain.
They test it and people complain.

I would rather have these test than getting into a situation where my character is locked into something due to a bug.

I agree that it might have been better to leave the LFG out of the preview page though.

My thoughts exactly. Threads like these make me happy I’m not in the games industry.

No. They have literally been bragging about how they’re finally adding in the LFG tool since they announced it. To slyly announce LAST MINUTE that “oh, by the way, we’re not actually releasing it” is ridiculous.

They’re releasing it, but phased. That way they can make sure the players don’t DDOS it on day 1. Sounds like a pretty good idea, considering how popular this tool is going to be.

Your answer is going to be “make more servers then”. That’s a ridiculous position, to reserve tons of serverspace for a tool that’ll have its peak users moments after launch. It’s a total waste of money, whereas a phased launch is far more lenient towards system resources. It’s win-win for everyone, including you.

Would you rather have a bad tool now, or a good, functional tool in a week or so? Quality takes time.

Also, if they want testing, they should have TEST SERVERS. As has been suggested since forever.

There is a test server. Your ignorance doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

My answer is not to make more servers. My answer is to not market it like they’re releasing it to everybody like they have been. Thanks for assuming I would just say “more servers,” though. It’s appreciated.

And as for the alpha client testers, they clearly don’t test enough. There are so many hotfixes and incidents that happen when it goes live that it feels like a joke. When I said they should implement test servers, I mean test servers that players can use. Not just some handful of people that doesn’t represent the kind of loads that these sorts of systems will get on live. PTRs would help this game a lot.

marnick.4305:

lordkrall.7241:

They release stuff “without testing it”: people complain.
They test it and people complain.

I would rather have these test than getting into a situation where my character is locked into something due to a bug.

I agree that it might have been better to leave the LFG out of the preview page though.

My thoughts exactly. Threads like these make me happy I’m not in the games industry.

No. They have literally been bragging about how they’re finally adding in the LFG tool since they announced it. To slyly announce LAST MINUTE that “oh, by the way, we’re not actually releasing it” is ridiculous.

Also, if they want testing, they should have TEST SERVERS. As has been suggested since forever.

Chrispy.5641:

Drakkon.4782:

Dingle.2743:

Conditions will be viable for the chunks where players have to defend against waves of mobs, especially as they’ll have to spread out.

There will always be mobs attacking the cannons, so condition users should focus on those to get the most out of their stats.

This is the answer to the problem, and the entire reason the OP will NEVER do it. He wants to go toe to toe with the boss like a zerker build DPSer, but he wants to do it as a CD build support. Basically, he’s trying to take a tossing flashbangs and wondering why the heavy machine gun is killing more people. He’s playing his character wrong.

There. I said it. We’re all thinking it. I’m going to call it out.

YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!

CD is support, not DPS. Go help defend the cannons and batteries against the adds. You’re useless on the boss because all the zerkers with incidental conditions in their attacks are already using up all 25 stacks of whatever you inflict on the boss. Go do something useful to the raid. Or go play a zerker alt.

Pick one and quit whining about not being able to DPS as a support. Seriously, if you can’t add anything to the fight against the boss, go find a target you can add to. You’re still going to get rewarded for the encounter. Be useful to the event, or go away.

Technically, all the Zerkers are useless too, since they do just as much damage to a mega boss as my Soldier build does because you can’t crit them, and depending on how my traits and sigils are set up, My Ranger’s Cleric build does alot more damage to world bosses than a Zerker does because of my pet.

So you know what? You get your weak self back there and take care of those adds because I do more damage to the boss than you do! You ain’t no DPS class in this case, I am, plus I don’t die in one hit from the boss’s attacks, unlike you, so GET OUTTA HERE!

Sarcasm aside, the Condition builds do have a point. They can easily outdamage Zerker builds if built properly, and they should be able to do that damage to almost anything in the game, not just a bunch of weak enemies that no one cares about.

I didn’t say that CD doesn’t have a point. I said that it’s usefulness against world bosses is EXTREMELY slim. And yes, you’re right. Building as a zerker doesn’t gain you any advantage against World Bosses over building as a Soldier. But guess what? You don’t lose damage, either. CD does lose damage, and for a pretty poor reason.

locoman.1974:

Conncept.7638:

Drakkon.4782:

Dingle.2743:

Conditions will be viable for the chunks where players have to defend against waves of mobs, especially as they’ll have to spread out.

There will always be mobs attacking the cannons, so condition users should focus on those to get the most out of their stats.

This is the answer to the problem, and the entire reason the OP will NEVER do it. He wants to go toe to toe with the boss like a zerker build DPSer, but he wants to do it as a CD build support. Basically, he’s trying to take a tossing flashbangs and wondering why the heavy machine gun is killing more people. He’s playing his character wrong.

There. I said it. We’re all thinking it. I’m going to call it out.

YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!

CD is support, not DPS. Go help defend the cannons and batteries against the adds. You’re useless on the boss because all the zerkers with incidental conditions in their attacks are already using up all 25 stacks of whatever you inflict on the boss. Go do something useful to the raid. Or go play a zerker alt.

Pick one and quit whining about not being able to DPS as a support. Seriously, if you can’t add anything to the fight against the boss, go find a target you can add to. You’re still going to get rewarded for the encounter. Be useful to the event, or go away.

Please explain to me, if you are capable, of how a stat which deals damage each second on the second is not a DPS stat, or even more curiously, how it can be considered a support stat.

You are aware of what DPS stands for are you not?

Simple, your build is indeed a condition based DPS, but in that particular fight, because of the way the game handles conditions, you’ll be playing the role of support, supporting the efforts to kill the boss by using your condition DPS specced character to defend the turrets and megalaser by killing the mobs trying to destroy them, which in turn are doing support to the ones attacking tequatl by cleaning stunning it, depleting the stacks that protect him, clean the poison, etc.

Of course you can also attack tequatl directly, but due to how the game handles conditions (and one of the characters I play the most is a condition specced mesmer, BTW, so I know your pain), you (and I when playing my mesmer) will be more useful as defense.

I like how everybody is acting like there isn’t going to be tons of people also attacking these other mobs and accidentally getting stacks on them which still take away from the CD stat as a whole.

Also, the point still stands that the stat becomes less and less useful in open world content because of the terrible stack limit. Just because you can still support while having that gear doesn’t mean that the stat is benefitting you in any way.

BoogerSammich.7189:

Conncept.7638:

BoogerSammich.7189:

AlietteFaye.7316:

BoogerSammich.7189:

Conncept.7638:

Khisanth.2948:

Maybe this was covered in the preview but are you assuming they will still allow people to just ignore the adds?

No I am aware of the changes, but I don’t see what that even has to do with it, the boss is not the adds. If I want to be part of the group that goes toe-to-toe against Tequatl, why should I not be able to do so on equal footing with any other class and build?

This is a major flaw in the games very system that stretches over encounters in every single game mode. And it is seemingly being completely ignored in all new content added.

While i agree that the current system is less than perfect, I wouldn’t say that it makes a whole set of stats worthless. You are pidgeon-holing yourself into thinking ONLY about DPS. But if you’re not playing a warrior, then then you should be thinking about other things as well. How about support? How about boon stripping? The classes in this game become the most powerful when we adapt and work together, not when we all butt heads and get in each other’s way. Im not trying to bash or flame or whatever, Im just saying that you can have a METRIC-kitten-TON of fun by playing other roles and end up being R9K times more useful and effective all at the same time.

Um… how is boon stripping affected by Condition Damage? That stat is definitely not going to help you do any that any better.. His point seems to remain strong that if you specced into CD you’re pretty useless in world boss fights because of the cap.

That’s the point it’s not, so it’s one of the other things you could be doing

That doesn’t help the issue in any way whatsoever. That’s like saying I can improve my condition build by dropping all my condition stats and gearing out in zerkers. My build is condition damage and duration, those are damage-based stats, there is no logical reason why I should be barred from using them in a DPS build.

Ok man, it’s not worth arguing over and Im not going to tell you how to play your character. But your entire line of thinking is completely one dimensional. I play a fully condition specced necro, and if you think that there aren’t other things that i can be and furthermore, SHOULD be doing in an encounter like this then your just plain wrong. You comment about “improve my conditional build by dropping all my condition stats and gearing out in zerkers” only serves to prove how uni-laterally you are thinking. As a matter of fact, my condition necro can really shine in an encounter like this without me ever even thinking about the bleed cap. But that’s because i’m not auto attacking with scepter #1 and i know what utilities to slot before i even run into the fight. But i digress, like i said this isn’t a flame war or an argument.

Even more importantly, this is a CONTENT update to a VIDEO GAME. Try and enjoy it.

The argument isn’t that he can’t build his character in a different way, it’s that building it with Condition Damage (one of TWO ways to deal damage in the game) is not viable for open world bosses. And it’s been a valid issue that’s been discussed since day one.

He wants to play as a condition damage build, and he can’t. It doesn’t matter if you like playing your Necromancer in other ways. He likes to play his with stacking conditions and letting them burn down enemies. But he can’t do that with the 25-stack cap on open world bosses, thus rendering his gear and build stats useless.

KrisHQ.4719:

Conncept.7638:

KrisHQ.4719:

I don’t really get what this thread is about..
Do this guy want conditions to stack higher than 25?
If so: lul.

Thank-you for (not) reading, your insights are as useful as always.

I did read it though, but as I said; I don’t understand what the complaint is about.

That instead of fixing a main issue that a lot of players feel is incredibly bad, they revamped a world boss that will continue to push said issue?

BoogerSammich.7189:

Conncept.7638:

Khisanth.2948:

Maybe this was covered in the preview but are you assuming they will still allow people to just ignore the adds?

No I am aware of the changes, but I don’t see what that even has to do with it, the boss is not the adds. If I want to be part of the group that goes toe-to-toe against Tequatl, why should I not be able to do so on equal footing with any other class and build?

This is a major flaw in the games very system that stretches over encounters in every single game mode. And it is seemingly being completely ignored in all new content added.

While i agree that the current system is less than perfect, I wouldn’t say that it makes a whole set of stats worthless. You are pidgeon-holing yourself into thinking ONLY about DPS. But if you’re not playing a warrior, then then you should be thinking about other things as well. How about support? How about boon stripping? The classes in this game become the most powerful when we adapt and work together, not when we all butt heads and get in each other’s way. Im not trying to bash or flame or whatever, Im just saying that you can have a METRIC-kitten-TON of fun by playing other roles and end up being R9K times more useful and effective all at the same time.

Um… how is boon stripping affected by Condition Damage? That stat is definitely not going to help you do any that any better.. His point seems to remain strong that if you specced into CD you’re pretty useless in world boss fights because of the cap.

Poledo.3256:

One shot mechanics is Anets idea of skill. Did Liadri require skill? I’d say it required reflexes and doing the fight a few times to learn the mechanics, but not so much skill.

What do you consider as skill? Don’t stand in the stupid? Don’t stand in the stupid while pressing 1? Don’t stand in the stupid while pressing one and managing 20 add ons that tell you what button to press and targeting macros and and no…

I really don’t remember any MMO ever requiring skill. Patience yes. Ability to memorize, yes. I dunno I just don’t see it.

Memorization and reactions aren’t considered skills anymore? Hmm…

Peetee.9406:

You can create your own set of difficult content by using your imagination. You can force yourself to just use ‘blue’ gear or make a new character with the understanding that if you die, you have to delete the character and start over. You can also setup your own reward system so if you complete say Arah in all ‘blue’ gear, you unlock a ‘green’ piece of gear.

If you what you truly want is more difficult content and a better reward system than you can do that on your own, you don’t need ArenaNet to do that for you.

But we both know that’s not really what you want….

This is a terrible excuse. When people ask for a challenge, they don’t mean “oh, I get hit harder”. That’s artificial difficulty and not actually challenging. People asking for a challenge are asking for something that actually has them think and react, learn patterns and tells. They don’t want “oh that auto-attack will just kill me.”

You can’t force the bosses in this game to have mechanics that are fun and challenge. That’s up to the developers.

LHound.8964:

To be fair, i believe that the higher tiered gear, should have an effort/reward associated to it. So to be handed as a reward (i.g.: Laurels) i don’t agree.

Ascended weapons aren’t that difficult to create. The biggest limitation is the time gating for it’ creation. I bet that if there was no time gating, a solid amount of players already would have full sets of these weapons!

When i saw how these weapons immediately said : “Cool, some effort related reward, as it should be”. Don’t expect to receive everything for free!

See, most players will agree that higher difficulty things should have higher rewards attached. However, this is not difficult. Crafting an Ascended Weapon has no skill attached to it. It’s just farming. There isn’t any skill in farming. Auto-attacking in a zerg barely even constitutes as an effort, even. And doing it every day for two weeks? Come on.

It’s not about the effort that it takes that makes people upset with Ascended Gear. It’s that there are higher stats attached to time-gated mechanics with a lack of overall skill necessary for it.

Markadis.9012:

Collen Brohanson specifically states in this interview that there won’t be any more gear past Ascended Gear, so all you doomsayers can chill and go back to enjoying the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy7CcwnfUdU

WoW doesn’t have any gear past Legendaries. Yet Epics are constantly getting higher and higher stats. This proves nothing.

coronaas.4362:

they didnt want to change anything until the “HUGE” pvp tourny at PAX. They will return to more mesmer nerfing soon

They’ve been saying this about every tournament. And guess what? There are more players than just the small teams that show up for a quick tournament. A lot more players. And they’d like to see some changes, too.

What exactly is the holdup here? Some of the updates, sure, they were lined up pretty badly because of large tournaments. But a 6 update span between major class balancing when there is still so much to get done? I am honestly surprised this hasn’t been brought up more.

Harbinger.8637:

How about that pvp!?

oh wait

ESPORTS.

Allisa Wonderland.8192:

I skimmed over the messages in this thread and didn’t see anyone talk about this..

If the ascended weapons were not time gated, the economic impact of the mad rush of people trying to make them on the first day would be overwhelming.

I suggest that this is likely the most important rationale for it.

Is that not the fault of the developers making it so that there will only be one avenue to getting these weapons? They even said several times with all of the other Ascended item discussions that they want players to be able to obtain the gear in several ways, and yet they keep releasing them with one way to get them.

Astralporing.1957:

Namu.5712:

And no matter how high your dps is, it doesn’t affect your loot chance lol. If you do enough damage to get a gold on the event then you get the same rng as everyone else that got a gold.

That’s not how it works currently, you know. No matter the medal reward, if you didn’t do enough damage on the dragon to qualify for loot, you get no chest. Happened to me several times already in the early months of the game, before i understood where the problem was.

That’s what he said. If you do the bare minimum of “enough” damage, then your reward is still the same as somebody that did more damage than was “enough” to qualify.

arjeidi.2690:

This might be insightful.

http://youtu.be/_duqqVHTGRA?t=21m10s

That guy has more endgame plans for an iphone game than GW2 ever has. Lol

Charak.9761:

Well the karka queen was a fail because it required holding 4 bases before she would spawn, this means the map needs to be full, which isn’t going to happen.

Teq will spawn regardless of any outer interaction, atleast I hope they don’t change that.

Karka Queen was a fail because it required too much coordination and cooperation than should be expected of open world content. Time limit on top of it was another nail in the coffin.

This all sounds great and all.. but it will probably turn out like the Karka Queen meta if they only do it with Tequatl. He’ll just be ignored if he doesn’t get good rewards tied specifically to his drops, as other bosses will still be lots easier, take less time, etc.

havoc.6814:

I think this is a bad idea. Legendaries are intended to require playing in several modes of the game. This would invalidate that.

Also, there is a suggestion sub-forum for suggestions.

Lots of things have already invalidated Legendaries and needing to play several modes of the game.. but I agree, shouldn’t happen again.

Farzo.8410:

AlietteFaye.7316:

Noviere.7309:

They included Infantile Mode for people just like you, Siliconmana! Yay!!! No more salty wounds!

This. They literally made it so that even people that were incapable of timing jumps could do it. What else do you want?

What do you think they want?

They want the rewards the Tribulation mode players are going to get.

Then they can learn to play the game. Seems fair enough to me. It’s not gated by anything other than skill, so there really shouldn’t be a complaint. But I guess it is the forums.

Noviere.7309:

They included Infantile Mode for people just like you, Siliconmana! Yay!!! No more salty wounds!

This. They literally made it so that even people that were incapable of timing jumps could do it. What else do you want?

Simplicity.7208:

So zerk is still better? It was my understanding that we got diminishing returns on investing in one stat, so the % DPS increase between 900 power and 1000 power was much greater than that of 3000 power and 3100 power. Wouldn’t it be better to spread yourself more evenly between power/precision than just full on power kitten? Perhaps a half/half of zerk/sin gear?

There’s never been DR on stacking stats.

cillercammy.8064:

I think all these angry posts sound quite ridiculous. Here are my thoughts!
-First: Anet stated last November that Ascended gear was supposed to be in game at launch, but didn’t make it do to budget and time constraints.
-Second: There is NO higher tier content being added with ascended weapons. Meaning you don’t even need them for any part of the game other than just having them with their MINIMAL stat increase. If you don’t want one, don’t craft one. It will not matter.
-Third: This is not a GearTreadmill nor is it a ItemSpiral. Those occur when new tiers are added every 2-4 months. It has now been over a year and we don’t even have a full tier added ( just rings, back pieces, trinkets and the soon to be weapons).
The thought of rage quitting a game over a new tier weapon with a tiny stat increase just sounds absurd. Do people expect Anet to still just hand out weapon skins 5 years down the road? I love new skins, but skin wars 2 won’t survive. People will not care in 5 years when they have over 600 new weapon skins in their bank. I think they have found a great balance to please both types of players. New tier for those who wont better stats but minimal enough so that no one needs them to appeal to those who don’t want them.
in the end I feel really bad for everyone who has or will rage quit. When all is said and done, I think Anet is doing a great job here. The game is growing, changing and in my opinion getting better with age. I feel bad for everyone who will miss out and such a great MMO down the road.

I don’t see the logic behind this. You claim that the game won’t add new tiers and keep adding to the power creep, right? And yet you claim that the game also won’t survive if all they add is new skins instead of higher stat gear.

So which will they be adding? New stats, or new skins? Oh, new skins. Just like they had originally planned from the start, a game about easily being on equal footing and having aesthetics (as well as “fun”) be the main factors of why people would do specific content.

So then we’re on the same page. There’s not a single reason that these items should have higher stats on them.

In before you get the mob of people that scream “Stop asking everything to be handed to you!” that apparently like to pretend that RNG has some kind of difficulty tacked along with it.

silvermember.8941:

AlietteFaye.7316:

silvermember.8941:

AlietteFaye.7316:

Vorch.2985:

I remember people thinking that ascended would change the balance of WvW forever…
…then 2 weeks later complain that WvW was static.

I remember people complaining that crafting was useless…
…and now complaining that it’s the only method of obtaining these items.

Oh, forgot…these are MMO forums. You certainly have the right to complain. Carry on.

You know that people were talking about the future of WvW being changed by Ascended gear, right? Which they were right about. The new stats are going to the difference between winning and losing what would have been an even fight.

And crafting is still going to be useless. Do you understand why it’s useless as it is now? Because after you get the highest gear you can from it, there’s nothing else to do with crafting. That exact same thing will happen when people have Ascended Weapons. They will return to not using crafting because there is no use for them.

LOL.

No people like to overreact but that is not true. maybe in 1v1 fights but the game wasn’t balance in the first place around 1v1 that is moot.

When you are sieging the biggest threat is siege weapons and zergs, in a zerg ascended weapons are not the things that will decide who wins or loses.

Fair enough, but there are several small scale fights that happen where that does turn the tides. Not every server has full queues where massive zergs are on every borderland and EB, and that effects them pretty drastically.

Small scale fights well nice are the the essense of WvW in theory. Either ways you don’t get points for individual fights but for taking stuff.

Either ways it is too early to make a judgment call because the same thing was said about Accessories and that didn’t change the playing field.

There are several small scale fights for things that give points. Not every supply camp is taken by zergs, not even every tower is taken by zergs. Like I said, there are small scale battles that will be affected by this. The new stats aren’t a big deal, but they are also increasing the actual weapon damage for them. That is going to be a factor at all times, and while it may not be the most apparent, there still isn’t a reason that they should have added higher stats into the game.

silvermember.8941:

AlietteFaye.7316:

Vorch.2985:

I remember people thinking that ascended would change the balance of WvW forever…
…then 2 weeks later complain that WvW was static.

I remember people complaining that crafting was useless…
…and now complaining that it’s the only method of obtaining these items.

Oh, forgot…these are MMO forums. You certainly have the right to complain. Carry on.

You know that people were talking about the future of WvW being changed by Ascended gear, right? Which they were right about. The new stats are going to the difference between winning and losing what would have been an even fight.

And crafting is still going to be useless. Do you understand why it’s useless as it is now? Because after you get the highest gear you can from it, there’s nothing else to do with crafting. That exact same thing will happen when people have Ascended Weapons. They will return to not using crafting because there is no use for them.

LOL.

No people like to overreact but that is not true. maybe in 1v1 fights but the game wasn’t balance in the first place around 1v1 that is moot.

When you are sieging the biggest threat is siege weapons and zergs, in a zerg ascended weapons are not the things that will decide who wins or loses.

Fair enough, but there are several small scale fights that happen where that does turn the tides. Not every server has full queues where massive zergs are on every borderland and EB, and that effects them pretty drastically.

Vorch.2985:

I remember people thinking that ascended would change the balance of WvW forever…
…then 2 weeks later complain that WvW was static.

I remember people complaining that crafting was useless…
…and now complaining that it’s the only method of obtaining these items.

Oh, forgot…these are MMO forums. You certainly have the right to complain. Carry on.

You know that people were talking about the future of WvW being changed by Ascended gear, right? Which they were right about. The new stats are going to the difference between winning and losing what would have been an even fight.

And crafting is still going to be useless. Do you understand why it’s useless as it is now? Because after you get the highest gear you can from it, there’s nothing else to do with crafting. That exact same thing will happen when people have Ascended Weapons. They will return to not using crafting because there is no use for them.

Algreg.3629:

No, exotics are not pointless, they are now transitional gear, just like masterworks and rare are for exotics. That is the nature of gear progression.

Is this a joke? I don’t think anybody got to level 80 and got all level 80 blues, then all level 80 greens, then all level 80 yellows, and then all level 80 exotics. A majority of players went straight to exotics because blues, greens, and yellows are junk and exotics were dirt cheap. There is no gear progression between the levels of blue→exotic, because there wasn’t anything to stop you from going straight to the best.

Not saying that it’s bad, it’s actually good. Or it used to be… not the point. There isn’t any gear progression.

Remember the time when they said that Ascended gear was to “bridge the gap between Exotics and Legendaries”? Ahahaha. Such a funny and great time. I mean, it’s not like you literally need to waste materials that you would be using on your Legendaries in order to craft the Ascended gear.. right?

I agree with most of it, but giving the PvE/Endgame an 8/10 is being way too generous, in my opinion.

Jski.6180:

AlietteFaye.7316:

boredinbc.2786:

adamaknight.9237:

I bet that’s going to be fun for people trying to do their world completion or just level up in a few weeks when the next living story farm-o-matic draws the zergs off the invasions. At random you’ll have a zone turned into an uninhabitable mob-fest.

Which is the price we pay for living content.

I mean honestly people, come on. Everyone is clamoring for change and more dynamic content to be added to this game, and then Anet does one event, which frankly just scratches the surface of how game altering dynamic content should be, and we already have someone upset that the zones will not stay static.

I need a drink.

He isn’t complaining that the zone is going to be at risk of changing. He’s complaining that the zone will be at risk to randomly become a massively unplayable area to a player that just happened to be there. I personally don’t think that will happen at all, but that’s what he was complaining about.

And there are a lot of other zones of the same level that are easy to get to if you MUST level in zone at level or higher if not then you can go to countless down level zones and run events there. Stop acting like there only say 5 zones in this game where if one is being used by something out side of the norm that the game is comply closed down.

Sry if i came off as too harsh on you more aimed at the other person what your trying to explane what they are trying to mean.

Can you agree that it’s bad game design if a player is randomly forced to leave where he is at because of a map-wide dynamic event that you absolutely need a massive zerg to complete? There is zero chance that a single player, much less a small organized group of players, or even all of the players that just happen to be in that zone, will be able to complete the events on their own.

There shouldn’t be a time when you’re forced to suddenly drop what you’re doing and go elsewhere because the game decided to throw up a zerg DE.

boredinbc.2786:

adamaknight.9237:

I bet that’s going to be fun for people trying to do their world completion or just level up in a few weeks when the next living story farm-o-matic draws the zergs off the invasions. At random you’ll have a zone turned into an uninhabitable mob-fest.

Which is the price we pay for living content.

I mean honestly people, come on. Everyone is clamoring for change and more dynamic content to be added to this game, and then Anet does one event, which frankly just scratches the surface of how game altering dynamic content should be, and we already have someone upset that the zones will not stay static.

I need a drink.

He isn’t complaining that the zone is going to be at risk of changing. He’s complaining that the zone will be at risk to randomly become a massively unplayable area to a player that just happened to be there. I personally don’t think that will happen at all, but that’s what he was complaining about.

Shadey Dancer.2907:

Yesterday I was doing quite a lot of the events to complete the accomplishment and was not paying attention to the DR on XP and Karma. Log on today, did some quests arround the place and WvW, no problem. Went on to my character that was doing the clockwork events yesterday, and immediately noticed the radical drop in karma, ie 7 karma per gold event.
Here is a tip, if you want to clean somewhat your DR, go do events on another map, obviously after the clockwork has ended. It did not clean it completely for me after doing four events in Blazerridge Steps for daily, but it did go up, ie from 7 karma to 270 karma.
Even so, having DR last eighteen hours overnight is a bit of overkill in my opinion, when it is a requirement of the clockwork accomplishments to do them in the first place.

You can just go Akitten-game for I believe an hour (it might be thirty minutes?) and it will reset the DR until you start “farming” too fast.

Ayrilana.1396:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Ayrilana.1396:

AlietteFaye.7316:

Ayrilana.1396:

This was likely done because of the excessive zerging in Queensdale. You could gain levels fairly quickly.

Uh.. no. DR has been in the game for a long time, and it is supposed to combat against bots, but as per usual, it hurts actual players a lot more.

DR never affected dynamic event karma and exp before so no it never existed except for drops. If it existed before then people would not have been farming the boss events in Queensdale to level toons.

It was implemented in October of last year to combat the Plinx farmers. The threshold was set that you only really hit it when zerging events in Orr. This is the first time since they nerfed those events that you can hit enough events to hit it again.

Again, I’m referring to EXP/Karma from dynamic events; NOT loot drops.

It has definitely affected EXP and Karma from Dynamic Events. I’m going to assume you were not around when Cursed Shore was actually packed with players farming events before nerfs.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Diminishing_returns

Wallace MacBix.2089:

AlietteFaye.7316:

The wiki is not where new players should be learning how to play the game, to be honest. Good game design will show players how to play the game without being overly intrusive and obstructive to the gameplay.

That is very true. But what was unclear in learning how to play the game to you, that the game didn’t provide? Personally, my memory is horrible, so I can’t really remember last year that well (plus I was excited to play and read up on info before the game launched, so I was pretty biased).

All of the class mechanics are explained. Weapon skills and traits unlock slow enough that you don’t get overwhelmed with decisions, and since you can choose new traits (or even retrait your trait points) you never need to feel locked in, or regret a bad choice.

I didn’t say for me personally. I followed the game way before launch and beta, so I got to learn gradually and intricately about each system and aspect the game would have. However, for new players, a lot of the game is incredibly undetailed and left for them to have to look up to fully understand.

Players that hop into the game are introduced to crowd control abilities such as “launch” or “blowout” without even being told what they actually do. There is not a clear tutorial on how boss monsters gain immunity to said CCs through Defiance. There is never an explanation on how to use the Mystic Forge, much less an introduction to it at all. Crafting can be difficult for new players to understand, as well, since the system works very differently from other games.

These are just examples off the top of my head, but all of them are ones that I feel can easily put off new players.

Neural.1824:

While there may be a seemingly limited amount of tutorials in game on things, the wiki and youtube contain some of the most extensive amounts of data I’ve come across on an MMO.
I agree that there seems to be a lot missing, and perhaps the wiki could be much more elaborate, but that’s up to the players (if I recall the wiki is written by players, not the devs).
Youtube has a lot of great information as well, though perhaps a lot of it is geared towards the hardcore playerbase. Many videos do assume you know the basics.

@OP directly: Perhaps this is an opportunity

The wiki is not where new players should be learning how to play the game, to be honest. Good game design will show players how to play the game without being overly intrusive and obstructive to the gameplay.

Ayrilana.1396:

This was likely done because of the excessive zerging in Queensdale. You could gain levels fairly quickly.

Uh.. no. DR has been in the game for a long time, and it is supposed to combat against bots, but as per usual, it hurts actual players a lot more.

Shiren.9532:

AlietteFaye.7316:

When it happens and I’m correct, I implore you come back to this thread and say that I’m psychic.

The only unusual thing about your post is the Pavilion. People have guessed at Scarlet’s identity and that the queen is a robot in disguise within the first day of the Queen’s Jubilee.

KingClash.3186:

WP’s theory might just cause a few to be disappointed with what actually happens, I don’t mean to say what Anet does will suck or anything – I’m just saying that if it does we all know how much better it could have been.

I don’t want to do an alternate reality plot line. The current one is already far too steam punk, we don’t need more sci fi in a fantasy MMO. Magic and dragons, sword and sorcery, legends and heroes, that’s what appeals to me personally. The theory that people are crediting WoodenPotatoes with is specific to one asuran Personal Story choice, it’s very sci fi and it doesn’t contrast well with most of the world and existing lore. Alternate realities and time travel opens up a whole can of wurms I’d rather the story just stay away from.

I do believe I am psychic!

AntiGw.9367:

colesy.8490:

Play how you want guys, except when you get good loot!

Play how you want guys, except don’t exploit.

It’s not exploiting. This exact same thing happened before, and all ANet did was make it so loot doesn’t drop from mobs so that people would want to complete the event instead. No bans, no big speech about how it was an exploit. It’s not an exploit to not complete an event.

Zoid.2568:

People have gotten too focused on the Living Story and think it’s the only thing ArenaNet are working on. They will add new zones, they will add new dungeons, lfg tool etc but it takes more than 2 weeks to create this content. A new zone might take 3-4 months to create, if they want all the dynamic events, the lore, the npcs, the feeling of the zone etc, to be just right. Give it time folks, ArenaNet is done with their testing of the living story, it will be much bigger updates from here on.

Extra
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Maguuma_Wastes
“There may be other agents at work” could be a hint at the living story and the culprit might be from the Maguuma Wastes.

Everything that they’ve added in this year has been Living Story content. It’s no wonder people feel like ANet is only creating things for the Living Story.

Yes, I agree it will take more than 2 weeks to create. But what have we gotten for the first 8 months of 2013? Oh.. Living Story. Right.

People aren’t just making the idea that “Living Story is the only thing ArenaNet is focused on” out of nowhere. There’s some pretty solid foundation for that to stand on.

Blueandwhite.1743:

so no post about the future of the game?

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/

This was posted last month. It’s up to you to decide whether or not it’ll be enough to keep you playing, or if you’ll even believe what’s in there.

Danikat.8537:

As far as new content the Living World is the focus for now. But every update also includes changes to existing content, including apparently re-working all the dungeons gradually over time.

Also don’t judge all the Living World stuff by the current update. Each one has been different, some have dungeons, some have open-world activities, some have mini games etc. etc. so even if you don’t like what we’ve got this month you might like next months.

Are they still redoing the dungeons? It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything on it. I assume because of all the negative feedback from the AC changes, but that’s just a guess.

Kirschwasser.3972:

I like how Iconik is being singled out for disrupting a group of people who were yelling at people and threatening to get them banned for completing an event.

But nooooo Iconik is the one who’s the bad guy here. Those poor defenseless farmers just wanted to play their game!

I don’t even disagree with farmers, I just hate kittenhead players.

Fair enough. But you can’t really ignore that he definitely disrupted a lot of other players from doing what they were doing.

Shiren.9532:

AlietteFaye.7316:

When it happens and I’m correct, I implore you come back to this thread and say that I’m psychic.

The only unusual thing about your post is the Pavilion. People have guessed at Scarlet’s identity and that the queen is a robot in disguise within the first day of the Queen’s Jubilee.

KingClash.3186:

WP’s theory might just cause a few to be disappointed with what actually happens, I don’t mean to say what Anet does will suck or anything – I’m just saying that if it does we all know how much better it could have been.

I don’t want to do an alternate reality plot line. The current one is already far too steam punk, we don’t need more sci fi in a fantasy MMO. Magic and dragons, sword and sorcery, legends and heroes, that’s what appeals to me personally. The theory that people are crediting WoodenPotatoes with is specific to one asuran Personal Story choice, it’s very sci fi and it doesn’t contrast well with most of the world and existing lore. Alternate realities and time travel opens up a whole can of wurms I’d rather the story just stay away from.

I’ll go further, then. Scarlet is going to block access to herself. She’s an “engineering prodigy.” She’ll have portals everywhere around Tyria, sending out monsters to attack. She’ll take over the Watchknights, and she’ll even plant bombs all around Divinity’s Reach. Lord Faren will be one of the people captured.The only way we’ll have access to Scarlet is through portals, and only because of the help of the Asuran Dignitary, Vorpp.

Shiren.9532:

AlietteFaye.7316:

Shiren.9532:

She’s definitely a sylvari and just like Rox in the concept art for the Queen’s Jubilee, I can’t believe people didn’t assume she was Scarlet yet. We know of two named characters that we have never met. Scarlet and Mr. E. Scarlet is a senior figure to the Aetherblades and the story has been building up to her reveal. It only makes sense that the Mysterious Figure is Scarlet, a sylvari (and likely a totally new character).

I did the Opening Ceremony and when the Mysterious Figure appeared, I was expecting her to be Scarlet so much, I thought they made it official. I had to be told they never revealed her real name yet. People have taken that “WoodenPotatoes” theory too far. Occam’s razor: among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be selected. The “WoodenPotatoes” theory is great and all, but it leaps all over the place.

Kiel is a one dimensional character. People keep thinking there is something more to her because there is so little to her, but the truth is, she just has the one dimension.

It’s Scarlet for sure. Queen Jennah has been in hiding, replaced temporarily by a robot. (Only her and Countess Anise are aware of this, not even Logan knows). Scarlet is going to take over the Pavilion and the players are going to have to kick her out.

Oh, whoops. Spoiler alert.

How can she take over the Pavilion? The devs said that the Gauntlet is still playable when the patch hits. If she took over the Pavilion, why would the Queen still be running the gauntlet inside? What about all the achievements tied to representing each of the cities? From a gameplay point of view, it doesn’t make much sense to lose access to the Pavilion unless the Pavilion ignores the instanced story and assumes we retake the Pavilion almost instantly.

Cirian.8917:

More than anything, speculating is hell of a lot of fun.

Plus the devs read the forums and might get inspired

They planned out a year of the Living Story. Whatever is happening now, they knew it was going to happen back when Flame and Frost took place. They might change things, but given they need voice actors, assets and the developers need time to create the content (I think they are on four week cycles) feedback isn’t going to influence the story for a long time after it’s given.

When it happens and I’m correct, I implore you come back to this thread and say that I’m psychic.

Nikkinella.8254:

That looks really fun. Might have to try this at some point. Are you in all zerker gear or what?

Yes, all Berserker exception of my backpiece because I didn’t want to spend money or do Fractals for a quick fun build.

katniss.6735:

Blowin’ people up, but at the expense of getting owned yourself shortly after. Entertaining, yeah. But wise?

As I said in the OP, it’s not meant to be a “best build ever”. It’s just for fun. There are tweaks you can make it to have it be more survivable, but I opted not to. (Lightning Flash to get away, for example.)

Bluefox.9580:

Hammer’s always been good for getting some pretty numbers and feeling beefy. Looks like it could be fun but the promise of death that comes with it would offset that a bit. I really wish they’d completely remove the #4 skill for something that’s not utterly useless that complements the feel of the air element (a burst of quickness maybe?).

I also didn’t really see anyone in that video who was actually tanky, lots of uplevels and obvious glass builds.

Agreed that #4 is too useless. I hope they change it, and have it so that you can move while casting #5.

As for not fighting anybody tanky, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t choose any of the opponents in the video. I just recorded myself playing for a few hours and snipped in what I got.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Omnitek.3876:

Queen is actually a watchknight. No one but Anise knows.

And Anise is keeping it quiet because she doesn’t know WHERE the Queen disappeared to . . .

Anise is keeping quiet because they don’t want anybody to know that Jennah is in hiding. Her life is in danger, so it’s information best not revealed. Not even to Logan.