Guild Wars 2

IMO costless repairs are ok, but the penalty for damaged armor should be progressive with each piece, instead of binary with all of them.

EXAMPLE:
1 piece of armor damaged = -3% effectivity
2 pieces of armor damaged = -6% effectivity
3 pieces of armor damaged = -13% effectivity
4 pieces of armor damaged = -25% effectivity
5 pieces of armor damaged = -50% effectivity
6 pieces of armor damaged = -100% effectivity

The best luck and a smooth final sprint for you and your team, Mike.
I really hope PoF can capture my interest in the long run.

CC and blasting fields with Rifle+Flamethrower is still the most fun playstyle for me in the game. Its viability on serious content, of course, is minimal.

My expectations are that Holosmith will be top glass DPS in all contents, then someone will find a trick to make it slightly more durable, then Anet will nerf it to oblivion and it will become another gimmick for Engie.

My hope is that Anet will NOT use it as a crutch to duct-tape all the problems in Core Engie.

Faaris.8013:

Einlanzer.1627:

Unless something has drastically changed in the last handful of years, male players outnumber female players in most MMOs by huge margins – at least around 4:1, although it’s been moving toward greater parity in recent years.

Come on Einlanzer, you can do better. Google is right on that other tab you have opened anyway. Here are statistics from 2017:

http://quanticfoundry.com/2017/01/19/female-gamers-by-genre/

[img]http://quanticfoundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/genre-gender-percentages-1024x878.png[/img]

About 36% of MMO Game players are female. Your assumption that only 20% of the players are female is wrong, probably anecdotal (to use the phrase you keep using to argue against others). Please provide a source next time you throw out numbers here, you can expect to be called out on it.

Awesome info.

I would also point that they DIDN’T include GW2 in the MMO High Fantasy selection of games(biiiig mistake!), but they DID include WoW. This is important because:

1) My personal “anecdotal experience” tells me that WoW is much, much, much more male prevalent than GW2 (80% of my female gamer friends plays GW2, none plays WoW) (Of course, this is just my perception)

2) The same study confirms WoW IS less prefered by the female players in comparison to the rest of the High Fantasy MMO selectable group.
“23% of World of Warcraft gamers are women. This is substantially lower than the group average (36%). A lot of game researchers (Nic and I included) focused on studying WoW as an exemplar of online gaming, but it looks like WoW was not only an outlier in terms of market success, but also in terms of its demographics relative to other games in the genre.”

If we take this seriously, it means a lot of the research about MMOs in genereal is in fact biased because the excesive prominency of WoW.

If we then think that GW2 has been and (even with all the mounts and other “normalizing measures”) still is THE anti WoW MMO, then it is easy to speculate that it is very possible the margin of female participation in GW2 could even be above the average. The guilds were I have participated in GW2 all have had a truly high amount of (real) women actively playing, so I’m inclined to believe it.

EDIT: I correct myself. I found a declaration from the researcher, Nick Yee, that sets this issue, at least with the data they have:
According to their study, 34% of Guild Wars players are women.

New mount skins will never cost LESS than glider skins. Its fairly probable they will cost MORE. And people will buy them by dozens, just because, even if they cost 1000 gems.

Ashantara.8731:

Curunen.8729:

JohnnyJHB.7360:

Ivanova (Claudia Christian) voices the female norn.

Woah, seriously?! :o That’s really cool, I had no idea.

Yes, but to this day I still wonder who gave her the directional order to make her combat noises sound (wait, I don’t think using this term is allowed on here, so let me try this instead) like sounds that you are only used to hear in the bedroom…

Its not so bad if you like it.. :P

BobbyT.7192:

it does seem like they added a lot of skills just for kitties and giggles. Like whens the last time anyone used personal battering ram for anything serious? For a profession that suppose to get a lot of functionality out of their skills, they do have quiet a lot of skills that don’t do a whole lot.

It would do engineers a lot of good if they just combine a few skills together, or replace other skills altogether.

I’m using the battering ram for Open World, but of course, only pairing it with Gadgeteer and explosions. I wouldn’t call it “serious”, but it works. IMO if the ram were able to launch the target AND push back other two foes Air Blast style, it would be pure gold.

Donari.5237:

Ardid.7203:

How did you made her bald?

She’s a norn, that’s a base hair option for female norn.

Danikat.8537:

Ardid.7203:

It would make sense if they were account bound. However, linking the birthday rewards to the characters instead to the account helps Anet to promote alt-ing between players: a player that want the birthday reward will not erase an old character even if bored of him/her, and instead could buy another character slot (more profit).

That works in the sense that people keep characters to get the newest birthday gifts.

But do you really think anyone is going to hang onto a character they don’t want anymore just because they have a Birthday Blaster no other character can use?

You never know…
But no, that wasn’t my point. My point was that the most items in the birthday gift become account bound, the less people could feel attached to old characters. The Blaster just happen to be in the field, but if Anet made it account bound… how could they excuse to keep making other items soulbound in the future?

I’m not saying this shouldn’t happen. IMO soulbinding doesn’t have any purpose except making sure you don’t simply erase all your characters every other day, and it would be far better for me if every single item could be account bound. But there is that slippery slope, you know.

Your ideas sound really though to implement, Einlanzer, as it usually happen with these “make it right from the base” approachs.
I like them a lot.

Alhtough I think some of the ideas here are really fun and interesting, I can’t support any change to the Engie weapons that “fix” them through the use of the Holosmith.

Any improvement made to weapon skills thanks to the Heat mechanic MUST be an extra for the Holosmith. Something that makes the weapon behave “Holosmith’ty”, a nice adittion that is fun and useful for Holosmith builds only.

The weapons MUST be improved, fixed and balanced on their own. Rifle have to be repaired so it properly works with vanilla engie, pistols and shield HAVE to be balanced so they become desirable outside any Elite Spec.

Elite Spects should NOT become crutches. Engie needs to be properly improved from the base.

Einlanzer.1627:

I did not say it was a “fact”, however, common sense will tell you that any attempt at unnecessarily controlling players’ time or fantasy is ill-conceived,

Fact.

which both LW1 and the ranger pet thing represent.

Opinion.

Einlanzer.1627:

It’s also a fact that not having LW1 in the game creates a big hole in the story

Fact.

that should be a priority for them to address.

Opinion.

Mixing facts with your personal opinions doesn’t make your opinions less subjective.

It would make sense if they were account bound. However, linking the birthday rewards to the characters instead to the account helps Anet to promote alt-ing between players: a player that want the birthday reward will not erase an old character even if bored of him/her, and instead could buy another character slot (more profit).

IMO the gadget Elite is important, but the bigger problem with the utilities isn’t the “odd matching”, but the simple fact that we have so many useless utility skills, in some cases even complete skill types…

Donari.5237:

Random Revenant I made to use up an 80 boost. I’m not sure she counts as non-flashy since I’d certainly notice that armor in a crowd, but there are no special effects involved so I’ll share her too.

How did you made her bald?

Thanks Anet, this is good!

Suziana.3759:

To each their own. I personally like flash, and stay away from the boring stuff that look like starting gear and weapons. I play this game for the fantasy, not real life simulation.

Fantasy worlds also need to have some internal consistency. Too much flash and even the strongest suspension of disbelief begin to crumble.
Also boring is relative. Wings on everyone are one of my more hurtful definitions of boring.

Amaimon.7823:

Personally, rather than the DSD being the enemy, I would love for Cantha itself to be the enemy.
An empress that has further imperialized the nation. Conquered alchemy and industry.
What if she became so powerful she actually beat the DSD and now wants to expand her rule to the rest of the world. A massive fleet of a thousand sails, 300 airships, shoguns with industrialized weapons. A broken DSD whose minions have turnt to the empress.
With that magic she may even seek Weh No Su. Worse yet, what if she goes so out of control, messing with magic, that she may bring about the same cataclysm that made the humans and their gods flee their old world.

Best idea so far.
An enslaved elder dragon, feeding its power to an ambitious, merciless mortal. The worst of both worlds. Just great.

Arantheal.7396:

I like this idea Ardid.
I’m not sure about them getting breakbars AND invulnerability, tho.
breakbars prevent cc’s from applying their effects, and I’d certainly prefer turrets being able to be blinded, slowed and chilled, but are able to receive boons in turn.

if they get a breakbar, it should be rather small, but with high regeneration, making sure that two dazes are enough to disable a turret, but blind / immob / cripple and chill can’t just wiggle it down, because these condis tend to stack for quite some high durations, if you don’t leave the fields pulsing them. Counterplay should be there, but it should involve more than just “let me put a smokefield here and laugh manically while your dmg stays on cd”.

I’m not giving the idea as something finished, obviously there must be a lot of balancing before something like that could be implemented.

The invulnerability, however, I think is a must.

If the turrets are dmg-able, DPS will be the prime counterplay AGAIN. They will insta melt because everyone will use their favorite zerker combo AS ALWAYS. The breakbar is a chance to change the play-field exactly because it would need the opponent to use CC instead of damage, something that is not common today.

There are lots of alternatives, of course. Maybe you can damage them once you break the bar, or they can have a lot more health than today…

IMO the simpler and sharper the mechanic, the better: turrets being counterplayed by CC would be a great addition to the game, IMO.

I would like to ride a giant rattlesnake. So I could chase springers across Elona!

Girls are just prettier. Males and females prefer them in the end, without need for any sexual implication.
Its funny because its true.

Lily, if I’m understanding correctly, your idea is great, but you need to elaborate it more.

How I would implement it:

1- Turrets use player stats.
2- Turrets get decent dps and attack speed.
2- Turret range is never higher than 900.
3- Turrets can’t be placed closer than 600 of each other.
4- Turrets become invulnerable to damage.
5- Turrets gain a breakbar affected by CC skills only. Break the bar and the turret is disabled for half its normal CD.
6- Turret specific traits and the Tool Kit helps to recover the breakbar.

Using this, the balance team should be able to get much better results than by mere nerfing the DPS, punishing the uptime or enforcing instant detonation playstyle.

This will make a multi turret build viable again, but force the user to have a very active playstyle, instead of just waiting there, and positioning is very relevant again. Individual turrets wouldn’t be OP, but they wouldn’t be insta dying anymore either, unless the enemy comes specially CC ready for this: Counterplay requires some brain without being overly difficult.

Just try to do all the jumping puzzles and diving googles.

All the multiple ways they put Lazarus in the story, all of them, were total and absolutely gratuitous, unnecesary, underwhelming and impossible to understand.

Aside from that, it was fun.

Rognik.2579:

Also, I see we have a MadLibs game to name the next expansion: Noun of Noun.

LoW: Lots of Water

Randulf.7614:

There are some good ideas in here, but frankly you had me at turning Engineers into Doctor Who.

Best idea on this forum…ever!

Agree. [Stands up and takes hat off in salutation]

Fully agree.
Anything added to the emote reserves is good.

Luindu.2418:

Lankmaster.6507:

Are these just re-skinned quaggan models too?

Dry-quaggan’s evolution! LOL giving the quaggan lovers something familiar and the quaggan hatters a form to kill it.

Well spotted and very believable theory. Take a +1.

Personally, I would have liked it more if the Springer were MORE similar to a jerboa, and less rabbit-like: pointier snout, longer tail, bigger ears, smaller cheeks.

Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497:

I believe that it’s more on lines to keep with a certain visual look while maintaining an actual function. A can’t imagine an adventurer choosing a short tail jacket over a trench-coat. A trench-coat is beyond godly for an adventurer to have, just like the traveler’s cloak.

Most rogue, thief, archer and ranger designs from widely known sources of fantasy stories disagree with you.

No, this is that famous greatsword made of three skritt stacked one over the other inside a trenchcoat.

1- Balance base weapons and trait lines so they are viable without elite specs.
2- Balance elite specs traits and skills so they aren’t OP and have sinergy with every base weapon.
3- Balance sword and hammer so they are on par with the base weapons while highlighting their spec mechanic.

More plant like sylvari faces, please.
IMO they are a great design exactly because they are not merely cuter generic humans, but truly plant-creatures. Keep it that way, ok?.

The base trait lines need to be adjusted so they are closer to elite trait lines in viability. Core professions need to keep the same level as the new specs.

What I’m trying to say is every traitline should, ideally, offer the same overall viability for builds, so elites don’t become mandatory, and base lines can be used with or without elite specs.

This of course means a lot of work, and sadly is probably not going to happen.

I wonder why they designed the back of all the trousers if they were never meant to be seen.

IMO, while UW content needs a lot of polish, it is totally worth it: something beautiful, immersive (lame pun, sorry), different from basic gameplay and extremely unique when compared to other MMORPGs.

Klipso.8653:

first one was that i didn’t know i could deposit materials until i was already lvl 30.

Exactly this one.

1) I would love to see base professions using new weapons. However, the fact those weapons would ALSO be usable by the Elite Specs means the interacting factors multiply exponentially, making it a nightmare to properly balance not just the profession itself, but the whole game.
IMO: It is ok the elite spec weapons are contained into the spec. However, Anet should also add a couple extra weapons ONLY for the base profession, especially in cases were the options are strongly limited, like Engie’s.

2) No matter the change, I would NEVER support adding weapon swap to engie. It not only would introduce new problems to balance, but it goes strongly against what I think defines Engie. Any new change must add diversity while highlighting Engie’s unique quirks and gameplay; making Engie similar to other professions is not the way.

3) Elite specs purpose IS to change the way the profession is played. If this objective is met by adding new weapons or by changing current ones is not problem, IMO, both options are valid. However, there are 3 caveats:

a) People get accostumed to a weapon playing in a certain way. Changing too much this basic, expected gameplay, would undoublty be unpopular.

b) People also expect new Elite Specs to add new weapons. Its one of their most obvious selling points. Not doing so would, again, be unpopular.

c) IMO “Improving already existing class mechanics” sounds too close to “fixing current core profession problems” to me. This is NOT the purpose of elite specs. Base professions must be adressed and fixed prior to adding gamechanging innovations, and those game-changes should always be fresh and noticeable. Creating an Elite Spec only to make what we already do in a better (or merely patched) way is not, IMO, what Anet has to do.

In short form:
Fix the base first —→ Add gameplay diversity second.

IMO this can be even considered a bug. You should report it as one.

“Which mount are you most excited for?”

None. Yay!

Sorry, I was being bitter and not clearly sarcastic. I DON’T buy outfits at all. Even paying 10 gems for these weapons would be more profit for Anet (from me, of course).

I can still dream…

Years and years of bad AI getting too easy, too weak or too stupid.
Turrets getting OP, then nerfed into oblivion.
Gyros being incapable of following the player character, running in circles at the tiniest obstacle in the ground and frecuently failing to do their work.
Same kind of problems with Ranger pets, Spirit Weapons and other AIs in the game.
AI gameplay style always involving more rng and lesser control by the player.
Etc.

The search system in the forum is a mess, but but if you scubba dive in the engineer section you’ll see there are lots, and lots and lots of threads complaining, advicing against and pleading anet to please NOT give Engies more AI dependant skillsets.

August 28 – Mount Week begins:
It doesn’t mean this week we’ll have a beta.
It means: “This week will be dedicated to discuss Mounts, just like the last week was dedicated to discuss Elite Specs”.

There area a LOT of things that need fixing in the game, and I would really love to see them solved as soon as possible. Also, I don’t really see anything that interesting to me in PoF, so when it gets released don’t bother me so much.

That being said, I don’t think the fixing and the new expac are really glued together: IMO they could perfectly release PoF tomorrow and then work on the balancing, polish, bug deleting and QoL improvement that IMO is more important right now…

Astralporing.1957:

Ardid.7203:

Remember the big dragons can spawn lesser dragons as avatars/liutenants/extensions of himself.

Not really. Yes, some can spawn lesser servants in the shape of the dragons (the plant dragon is such lieutenant), but it is strongly implied that’s not from where dragons (as differentiated from Elder Dragons) come from. From what we seem to know, Dragons were just a very ancient race (one that predated Mursaat, Seers, Jotun and Forgotten).

Remember, that there’s a location in Tyria (Majesty’s Rest) that is a resting place (graveyard) of dragons that do not seem to be in any way connected to EDs.

So, in truth, Glint is not Kralkatolrik’s creation, but was one of the Branded. Zhaitan’s lieutenants are likely also just Risen Dragons, not his spawns.

I weren’t refering to dragons as a race, just as a “shape”. I don’t know what dragons as a race were in the ancient Tyria, or if they had any connection with the Elder ones. But the elder liutenants sure look and behave like some kind of dragon to me.

And by “spawn” liutenants I weren’t speaking about reproduction or family (I don’t know enough, really, to assure or negate this), just about how the elder made them to happen.

IMO this HAS to be done. BUT only AFTER fixing the many imbalances and weakneses on pistols, shield and rifle (Hammer seems to be in the right place).

It has to be done because Elite Specs must create new options for all the profession elements, not limit their synergy to the new traits, skills and weapons.

It must happen after weapon fixes, because weapons must be able to stand on their own without Elite Specs. ESpecs are there to add diversity, not to repair base problems in the profession.

Straight forward bruiser playstyle.
Exactly what I was NOT interested in when I chose Engie as my main.
Why did they make Engie another warrior? Aghh.

If we allow this, eventually everyone would want to even make a 3d print of their characters…
(Which would be awesome!)

REventant weapons have some of the best designs in the game, IMO. I gladly would give 30% of the current Black Lions skins in exchange. I would happily never ever get another Outfit if they could just add these weapons, even into the gemstore.