Guild Wars 2

I am also having issues with prepurchasing. It appears the webpage is broken. I posted this from Opera, but this also happens in Microsoft Edge and Chrome, even with my protection (internet and antivirus) disabled. I see some HTML or other code near the bottom, which is why I think some code isn’t correct. I’m on Windows 10 Pro 64-bit btw.

I still can’t tell when I need to dodge to avoid the debuff, if it’s possible. Otherwise I think engineer might be the way to go. How are thieves affected by this since they use initiative?

I don’t mind that they have either the time increase debuff or the anti-speed attack buff, but combining the two seems a bit like overkill. Especially at 15+ stacks of time increase.

I have the nodes aside from the jade shard one from Lake Doric and I cannot buy it. I do have the Fire Orchid node though if that is the assumed culprit.

I’d also like to state that the ghost arm that gives the crippling doubt stack (or whatever its called) seems to hit me before getting halfway across the arena, and i bounce between 50-70 ping (avg 60 in options). Are these actually able to be dodged? Do I have to go with the end of their statement plus .25 of a second to dodge it?

The instance doesn’t really help with confronting your doubts considering you fight your self-doubt, making you think that’s your doubts you’re fighting, and the ghosts are just character names, not “Doubts About X” or something, and since they are friendly color, I had no idea it was possible to go up to them and confront them since I’m trying to not die with the epic cooldown times on my skills.

Interesting idea, but man, they bungled the execution for this.

I just recently maxed out my non-raid masteries, and I can sure tell you I wish we could pick and choose which mastery to focus on instead of the growing tier system. Look at the LS3 masteries, and the only ones you really need are the first two and the vinegrowth slingshot. If we could focus on the more necessary to get around ones first (I know this causes trouble for the infinite glider stamina, maybe just keep that one tiered or require the advanced gliding mastery first?) Then after that the poison lore and the vendors tend to be the next logical ones after the required map movement ones for the HoTs story. The challenge the champion ones can be the last ones since they don’t provide as much of a benefit for the 6-8 MP they require, so you don’t feel like you have to waste points to get more necessary masteries.

Or allow a once per week (timeframe debatable) to refund and redo your point allotment. Then when you want to focus Dragon Stand, go ahead and stack into poison lore and the bounce shrooms and gliding, and empty everything else.

I personally feel that there need to be more options for getting masteries since I’m at a point where I cant really improve my adventures without some serious effort (terrible at jumping the fungus among us and sanctum sprint, both are barely at bronze for me) and gold are only on the blatantly easier golds like flying circus and the pit. I have enough saved up to hopefully unlock the final LS3 skill, and I don’t think I’d be able to get enough to push into raid mastery to finish it. I finally decided to fully unlock the specialization weapons and that made me get the adventures (and the stupid unlocks for their machined counterparts) and now I have seen dragon pass to the point of nausea to get the mastery points and machined weapon parts. I just wished dragon’s pass offered more HoTs tokens. But that’s not for this thread.

I get stuck in my old habits, and have formed my favored builds around my play style, and for me, sacrificing a line on my Thief ruins what I built it around. It’s mainly Zerker and Assassin gear, so it falls in more with a power meta, but how I keep it alive and how I keep more initiative up uses all 3 trait lines and I can’t trait into the elite without having to re-do all my traits for the elite focus (which wouldnt be a big deal if we could save trait builds and swap accordingly). I also would need to learn Daredevil itself, something I’m not as comfortable with since I’ve grown used to my current Thief build.

If I COULD practice the staff skills on my current build at least I’d get used to the skills for melee (since my survivability counts on range and mobility and refunded initiative) when I can melee without worrying about how effective my staff is for downing adds or how it affects my survivability for elites and above when I’m in for melee. I just dont want to have to spec traits differently between getting used to the staff and going back to my tried and true for my play style.

I’m more flexible on other classes since I don’t know them as well and don’t really have a set play style aside from Guardian, but I could see myself changing my Guardian since I know my build for it isn’t the best and could use some tinkering. It’s just that I get used to things and don’t like changing them, but would love a bow as a ranged option.

dave.5913:

Seems like there is not enough XP available even if you complete an area. All areas that I have been through thus far I have completed the maps. I am presently level 48 and I am to level 54 content. Starting to get a little more difficult than it needs to be. Although still doable. Seems like there is only 1 event at each level. Not enough to progress.

Do try crafting as well. Cooking is pretty cheap, and jeweler i think is still fairly cheap? Leatherworker and Armorsmith were cheaper before the update which introduced patches to smithing armors, though I guess until you get to 300+ level in them they are still somewhat cheap compared to 400+

My biggest issue is that we can’t pick and choose which mastery to get, we have to go through the tiered system. If we could pick and choose the different masteries we could unlock, I feel like this would solve a lot of anxieties and issues players seem to have. Or if we could refund points out of lines and into others after 100 mastery points earned or something. I am at a point where since the LS3 wants HoT mastery points, I’m wary to spend more because I don’t think I’ll have enough to spend on the new mastery point for the living story. Some have been more essential than others, so being able to shift points for when I want to play the new content or being able to pick and choose where to put points into (after a one time full refund and reselect) then perhaps masteries won’t be such a big point of contention?

I have wasted a good chunk of HoT XP on masteries that cannot be farmed for XP without unlocking the mastery previous, as I was helping friends do HoT maps and story missions having everything ready to spend mastery points but either not having enough or wanting to save them in case of needing more for the next LS chapter.

Also, tying the points behind silver and gold completion on the adventures seems rude without also having a bronze point. I’ve gotten some golds and silvers, but other ones I can’t push past bronze no matter what I do even after tips from others.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Do remember that Spirit Shards drop quite regularly, as well, so you might want to manually check once in awhile, too.

It won’t be just the few from leveling up.

I think there are several things wonky about the Labyrinth. I’m still getting DR rewards from Doors about half of the time. Perhaps, the engine just can’t keep up.

Yeah, though I’m not obsessive about counting the spirit shards, its just that now I hope to have an accurate graphic of progress towards one. I’m not exactly in dire need of them, though.

Something I noticed while running through the Mad King’s Labyrinth was that after mastering all my Central Tyria masteries, when I would stay on a map and fill my EXP bar for spirit shards, after a fill or two the bar would no longer reset and would stay full. I would still receive my spirit shard and hovering over the bar showed the correct progress when the tooltip popped up, but the bar itself would remain full. Occasionally it would reset properly, but then it would be stuck again for several level ups.

This isn’t game breaking, but it does help to show a sense of approximately how many shards I am earning from gaining experience on the same map over time without going into my wallet and keeping track exactly and manually.

Anything that’s used as currency, especially bloodstone rubies, old event currency like Queen’s Gauntlet Entrance Tickets, and especially crafting items from Miyani. If it can’t roll into material Storage, turn them into wallet items across the entire account. If keys that unlock chests in the new HoT zones can’t be added into material storage, could they become wallet bound across the entire account? The currency for vendors already is, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to include them as wallet instead of material storage if there are too many for material storage.

If “prestige” is something veteran players are concerned about (I owned the game from the initial beta but missed several ‘prestige events’ so I won’t consider myself a veteran player in this argument) then perhaps if there is a way to tell if they had the prestige item already, they could get a special version that is unable to be purchased (think special color choice or glowy effects, etc) while others can get a basic, same as all others version? If so, I think the Gem Store and Black Lion Chests could get some additions to appease those that missed while retaining the prestige for those that were there. Handles both sides’ concerns, right? And brings in more money via Gem Store. Three birds, one (perhaps difficult from the tech side) stone.

The school outfit and swimsuit(s) make an interesting point. Those would likely bring in some decent money, though I suppose it’s tougher to apply those to the non-human skeletons of Charr and Asura. I don’t know anyone that has filled up their free character slots with solely Charr and Asura characters, but I’d guess there are a few. I don’t have a human-skeleton male with light armor (or any male with light armor, my charr and asura are medium and heavy armor) and only had a male heavy armor from the Revenant. So I suppose there may be others that don’t have a human-skeleton character for swimsuits?

DoctorDing.5890:

There are two problems with the CC thing:

1. It’s not very intuitive that you need to use CCs to break those bars. I understand that it is a mechanic of various fights but it does not make really much sense.

2. This is the biggie. Even if you know you need to CC, and you know what it stands for, there is absolutely no indication in the skill descriptions regarding which skills count as CC.

So you are relying on players seeking information outside of the game: wiki, youtube, forums, and most people are just not going to do that. Which is why we often see someone completely losing it in chat at events like The Shatterer, abusing all and sundry for their lack of CC.

“Soft CC’s” are even less logical. Why does chilled count when burning and poison do not count?

Trying to explain this stuff in the chaos of chat before a world boss is rarely going to work.

I didn’t know chilled counted against the bar, and I know to equip skills for certain maps/bosses to break their bar! Even a more aware player (me) doesn’t know everything about breaking the defiance bar :O

Donari.5237:

Hopefully they’ve tracked down the issue that prevented Mad King stuff from giving mastery XP and we’ll be able to feel we are progressing when we toss snowballs at our friends.

Was that actually stated? Because I remember last year on a day off of work I could get about 60 or so levels with boosters and a zerg that skipped lich. That would likely break through the central Tyria mastery system too quickly (at least in ANet’s view). I don’t believe Wintersday gave as much XP as the Mad King events did, so it wouldn’t be as detrimental to the longevity of the game (even if we feel differently about the mastery training grind).

Can we get hats that below the hatline your character’s hair is still visible, but remove any hair above the hatline for the sake of clipping? I hate how I have a character with long hair past the shoulders that loses any sign of hair with any hat or helm that doesn’t completely envelope the head. AKA you still have long hair under a baseball cap, but in theory you could put your hair up to keep it all in a full helmet that goes around the jawline and such.

Aviator cap and ringmaster’kitten all take away any semblance of hair when I’d like to see my hair peeking out so the style and color can still be seen, according to the hairstyle and such.

anarchy

start9

Okay, so I won’t focus on the rewards system itself since it seems like it was critically panned by most. I won’t even focus on the rewards themselves, either, aside from one quick thing here – A little more info on what drops from the bags beyond “items to help create Mawdrey and items from the Maguuma Wastelands” would be nice. I only did the events to help out a friend, and got enough for two said boxes. I got an inscription and an insignia (one from one box, the other from the other) and that was that. More info on quantity of items and perhaps a range of possible items in game? I hate having to pull up the wiki pages to determine what item would be the best to get.

Now, on the event itself. I was okay with the tasks, they seemed simple enough for players to do – kill volatile husks to get bombs to throw at the vine crawler. Build siege to shooot at “out of reach” vine crawler. Easy to know what was being expected. I think back to Scarlet’s knights and remember people not understanding to get the synergy buff to deal full damage, and even people not knowing to dodge the AoE attack circle (still an issue, after 3 years of being out) and how it either was unclear or hidden in the special knight-only buff how to deal full damage to the enemy.

Two problems I found were:
1 – Not knowing if you got credit for killing an enemy to count towards helping out with the event. Without loot or EXP from kills, it’s all a hunch of whether we were dealing enough damage to enemies to count towards helping out with the event. Make them only drop a low level junk trophy or give 1 EXP so we know we are getting credit for participating. Make some other method to tell if we are or not if you really care about people having too much EXP or loot drops, but let us know we will get credit somehow.

2 – Events were spread out and all active together. The issue here is finishing up your event you’re close to when the invasion started means you need to find another event. The only problem is there was no way to tell if an event would be still mostly undone or nearly finished. This results in warping around waypoints and running, only to find that when you get into event range there’s only 2 Mordrem enemies left and they are usually killed before you can tag them enough for credit for the event. This blends into the rewards system slightly. If you’re going to track completed events as your level of loot benefits, you need to either show completion amounts of the events across the map, or turn it into a chain of events, where completing the first unlocks two new events, then once both are done it unlocks 3, etc, or just keep a couple larger, longer events and give the map the reward tier like helping Lion’s Arch, everyone gets the same reward so help out and get every event done for maximum reward. It’s quite frustrating to be trying to build up your own reward level and be warping around 6 waypoints trying to find fresh events to make sure you can participate. Find a solution either by meta-event chain progress, map reward level, or even bonus tokens on kills.

After ;earning the amount of tokens you get, and what the rewards were, I quickly moved to other areas once my friend get the bonus daily tokens. The rewards just weren’t worth the time, the timed event session and tying the rewards to events completed kind of orchestrated a flop of an event. I had no interest after one 3 hour chain of the events. I enjoyed the Mad King’s labyrinth and that was literally just running around and killing mobs for bags with the occasional champ/legend thrown in. Simple, easy to learn outside from the one boss that gave everything retaliation, and the rewards felt adequate for also leveling up a new low-level character in a decently fast way that also gave special bag drops. Even the “help evacuate Lion’s Arch” living story event was more interesting and rewarding than this invasion event, and while repetitive, it felt worthwhile to try and do.

The immediate part after getting part 3 is brutal. That’s my biggest complaint, messing up the bit right after part 3, the start of getting to 4, is probably the worst layout to a jumping puzzle. I’ve never liked the long ones where you have to figure out where to go. I like the more technical ones, because at least then I know it’s me just not quite maneuvering correctly. This one is one that has easily replaced Scavenger’s Chasm as my least favorite since the pathing seems even less intuitive.

Seriously, I was okay up through getting part 3. But starting part 4 I haven’t gotten back up to the roof, and each attempt just makes me rage to the point where if I don’t do decently on getting to 3, one miss is all it takes and I’m off to another game entirely.

Greymelken.1892:

We paid once, three years ago. We pay for the expansion now, it costs $50, which is a common enough price point.

Do new players get a better deal? Sort of. They dont have to pay for the expansion, it comes free with the core game.

If I am going to be a new player in your game that has been out for 3 years, you had better be prepared to make it worth my time, because the idea of being dropped into a game surrounded by people who have been here for three years, trampling me underfoot, berating me for all my ‘noob’ questions, looking cooler than me, being more powerful then me isnt really going to bring me to the door.

Yes, new players get an amazing deal. And I want them to. Again, the issue is that for those that purchased core outside of the current refund time ANet allows because they saw “requires base game” and decided to get the game and start up so they weren’t level 1 at expansion launch (as you allude to in your second point) and earlier supporters, especially those that pre-purchased the core, now have nothing for that “free core with expansion” because they don’t get a separate key for expansion and core, just one key that contains both. While ANet spins this (dear god I’m a Political Science major and hate this term, but it fits so well. kitten you 24 hour news networks!) as good for new players (and I whole-heartedly agree, let’s see more players so we have 20 instances of each map going, 200 for world boss train maps, users for days!!!!!) you are left with others that have paid $10-$60 and they get absolutely no benefit. I know ANet doesn’t have to do anything more than repeat that it’s a bonus for new players. However, from a true business perspective, it really infuriates customers that helped keep you running up until this new deal arrived. The place where I work has a similar deal, you get a new membership, you get extra coupons as a thank you. You renew your existing membership, you’re out those coupons. Most people are okay with that, usually they forget that they ever got those bonus coupons the first time around. But there are those that do ask about getting the coupons again since they are paying the fee again. Sadly, they don’t (thanks for making the interaction more hostile now, corporate) and typically then they get upset and don’t renew their membership. As it stands, apparently corporate is okay with that. It does leave those manning the stations in the crosshairs for hostility that shouldn’t be aimed at them, but they are the ones saying “sorry, you can’t have it,” which is why i try to remain neutral towards any staff here, I know the decision comes from higher up, and I know at least where I work, they don’t really listen to anyone below a region manager unless things REALLY aren’t working.

A simple solution to avoid the problem is to be proactive about it and think about what a choice such as a free core copy for new players or coupons for first time members means to those that have given you money already and enjoy what you provide for them. I would fork over $50 now if the concession of a character slot or gems to the equivalent of buying a character slot were provided. I like the game, and I want to support it. I also am interested in the new content. However, seeing the deal the new players get leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If I could, I’d give those renewing members the new member coupons again to keep them happy, because member retention looks good and typically is good for business. Maybe I just like to avoid conflict? Anyways, it just seems like if you want the maximum number of installs due to the Gem Store potential, giving something like a character slot or a discount equivalent to that, or gems equivalent to that, seem like a reasonable compromise to appease those that want the expansion but are a bit miffed due to the “free core with expansion” deal that is wasted. Or give a separate key for us to build mules or give to a friend that may be “Hey, I got a free copy, and what my friend showed me in the expansion looked cool, I want to be able to do that too!” and convert another $50 sale seems like a plus.

Those that are whining solely about price, those are the ones to ignore. I’m sure you’d agree to that.

I suppose if we don’t quite agree about things at this point, we probably won’t. That’s fine, I have my views, you have yours. If you went ahead and pre-purchased, give my regards to the new bosses (assuming they stick to the current purchase options). And by that, I mean kill them with a Silly Scimitar. I’ll join in when/if the price drops to reflect the value of a character slot.

Greymelken.1892:

Anet owes me NOTHING. in fact, laid out like this… yea, I pretty much owe Anet. if I have to pay $50 today to uninstall GW2 that would bring the cost of my entertainment up to 11 cents an hour. We can go back and do more Soda math, or you can get the point.

The price isn’t really what I or many people are hung up on. Is it a bit high? Maybe. That isn’t the main issue veterans have. The main issue is that people that pre-purchased the core before it was officially released now have to pay full price twice if they want to support the developers for the expansion when a new player gets both for one single purchase price. They have had my pre-purchase in the bank and generating interest for almost 3 years on top of whatever gems I have bought and however much gold I have sunk into fees on the BLTC.

Many veterans agree with paying, but feel that they are getting a bad deal on the expansion because the full price without any other benefit like extra gems, a character slot because of the new profession, or a little discount for having interest in the game for nearly 3 years and paying in for the core game before official launch while brand new players get both for the current price. I do agree that they should get both, but by not giving some sort of nod to those players that jumped in before launch up until the refund limit to keep all sides happy.

From what I have gathered across many posts, consensus is give those that purchased the core game outside of the refund limit on the day of the prepurchase announcement the equivalent of gems to buy a character slot, a discount to allow them to possibly purchase a character slot from the gem store to match the cost of buying gems to get a character slot or just enjoy the discount, or give a character slot with the purchase since you can’t make a 2nd account from the bundle as a current player. A good portion of those making cohesive arguments about it are in agreement to this line, not those that are just crying because of the $50 tag. I may have picked up the game if they didn’t put in the bundle for new players and not have worried about it, but when someone that has given more than a new player would is forced to pay about double, there are going to be people upset about it. Those that remain level-headed and give thoughtful arguments are the ones to pay attention to. Those just screaming “$50? No way! $15 maybe” are the ones that you can ignore.

If you do the business marketing/PR you would have to agree that getting new players in should be a priority, which I agree with, but to give those that have been around longer and paid for it long before the new players now do, you stand to lose out over time on the free after box/code purchase with a cash store to generate revenue over time model. New players won’t have much reason to pay for gems because they are running around doing maps and learning, whereas the veterans are buying to help get their ascended and legendary gear, their agony resistance for high level fractals, etc faster because they have already spent years playing and want to get past gold/mats farming and get their goal done faster. Is this speculation? Yes. I did try to root it in a realistic scenario, so give it some thought along with the idea of trying to reward long-term players along with new players as well, since it feels bad when you get ignored at just about anything, be it invited to a party, missing out on a free cookie from a cookie tray, or not getting a little bonus for purchasing a game you’ve supported for years when fresh starters get the biggest deal of all in comparison. It feels bad, man.

Galen Grey.4709:

Now if you were to argue that it would have been nice if already owning the game would mean you get something you can use such as a free character slot instead that would be a whole different argument and one which i feel would have a lot more merit to it.

That is essentially the heart of the argument of most people objecting. Already paying for the core on top of paying for the expansion for those of us beyond the refund period (prepurchased GW2 here) while new players get both for the expansion price. It leaves a bad taste in the early adopters’ mouths. Some form of good-will for being a customer before the past 30 days or whatever refund period they extend to now can be a character expansion slot for already owning the core game, gems to the tune of $10 or so, or a discount on the purchase price of the expansion itself. Something to make it easier to swallow the fact that people buying GW2 for the first time today or later get an insane deal in comparison. Most posts aren’t asking for a free expansion for owning the core already (due to the similar price for launch supporters), but some benefit, like a free character slot or discounted price by $10+, would make it more tolerable for veteran players.

I paid for original GW2 early/beta access, no questions, because I enjoyed the promise of no subscription fees on top of being a GW1 fan. I am willing to pay $30-$40 for the expansion ahead of time, putting my money into their pocket now, again on a future promise of a decent expansion, most of which being a sight unseen. I WANT to give my money over, but when I’m willing to discount my original pre-purchase down to only $10-$20 instead of the full $50-$60 I paid as well as get the expansion at a price $10-$20 less than new players just starting now get both the core and expansion, but denied what seems to be a reasonable compromise from supporting the game since BEFORE its official release and support the expansion BEFORE its official release (buying and selling items on the BLTC and getting gem outfits and keys long before the expansion and even living world were announced not being factored in at any appreciable discount) leads me to warn everyone I come across to avoid this until either the price drops or until more info is revealed.

I’ve already warned my friend group that plays GW2 and a few Twitch streams I frequent with players as well about this. I WANT to buy the expansion, but as the current offers stand, I have no incentive as someone supporting the series to continue to do so. I was close to dropping some money for the new Gem Store items as well, but since I came across this info I quickly nixed that idea.

I’m not asking for anything for free. I don’t want to drive away new players. I want to continue to play, but when new players are paying approx. the same price I paid for just the core and are getting both the core and expansion while I pay for just the expansion, it makes no business sense for anyone that already bought the game outside of the current refund window to buy the expansion. Again, I’m not asking for a free upgrade, just a good-faith discount of preferably $20, willing to swallow only a $10 discount, or even a free character slot on the $50 for being a supporter since before GW2. Something as a nod to being a long-time supporter.

As an aside to those saying this is standard for MMOs now, just because something is standard doesn’t mean they have to follow it. If they really want to grab people, taking a little hit but being more enticing to those already entrenched in FFXIV, WoW, ESO, etc. via certain concessions, like GW1 and GW2 core games started no subscription options, instead of going with the status quo like Destiny offering their expansion and core game bundle as the only version of getting the new expansion, showing that you don’t need to rake veterans over the coals for your profits, and earn more money by attracting even more buyers because you offer the better deal. A friend of mine suggested Bungie and ANet/NCSoft must have gone to the same business conference recently and cooked up this style of “only new, no vets” offering. Watch as the seasoned vets leave, unable to help the new players due to the expansion deal, and the new players get frustrated by having to figure out all the new changes that haven’t had guides made by the veterans now gone, and not only are you out vet expansion purchases AND their gem purchases, you also miss out on future gem purchases from the frustrated new players that have no idea what is going on.

Something, just as simple as a free character slot or $10-$20 discount to those that already purchased the core game while new players get both for their first purchase, something where as an early supporter I paid the full price already once and am willing to pay $30-$40 on top of that, would more easily solve the current dilemma AND an option like that from the start would have prevented the refund fiasco currently being dealt with. Basic good-faith business rewarding those already supporting you while welcoming new players in with the deal makes the most sense, and gives all sides, creators, new players, and veteran players, the best deals all around.

So I know this is on a beta OS, Windows 10 Preview build 10130, but since the OS is coming in a few months, I wanted to note that after I Alt-Tab out of the game, usually to check on something or open up Spotify or TeamSpeak3, Guild Wars 2 hangs and will not go back into the fullscreen of the game. My mouse cursor on the Windows page turns into the cursor from Guild Wars 2, and will not select anything, not even the Task Manager box. I know it may not be worth looking into on an unfinished OS right now, but it may be good to look into once Windows 10 hits RTM if you can get it on test machines.

It isn’t super serious, more of an annoyance, but I never had this issue in Windows 7 or 8 or 8.1.

Cheers