Guild Wars 2

After having a few goes at Tequatl 2.0, I have to say that for me, this is one of the most frustrating updates to this game. The following are my reasons.

1. Deaths from….everything!

ANet, I don’t know how to stress this enough. Spending more time dead, than fighting is frustrating, and excitement draining experience.

There is simply no need for poison pools/enemies to drain heath at a rate that verges on instant death. This adds nothing at all to the fight other than frustration.

Before people start up with the, “Learn to dodge” arguments. I only have so many dodges. In addition, many times the AoE circles are overlapping, hidden by water/FX, or simply larger than they appear on screen.

ANet, I understand that you’re trying this new idea where you’re trying to encourage players to move around, opposed to standing in one place auto attacking, but there is a difference between getting us moving, and getting us contently killed.

2. Player Interaction

When players are frustrated, they start taking it out on others. The Teq 2.0 fight is bringing out the worst in players. People are shouting, insulting, abusing others, and even going so far as to avoid reviving people.

When a game is designed in a way that causes so much frustration, something needs to be looked at. This is a video game, we’re all here to have fun. If the task at hand is frustrating to the point where players are lashing out, then something is wrong.

3. Timers and Persistance

Lets be honest here. This boss fight plays out like a sitcom episode. Player are now understanding that if the timer is at a certain point, and the dragon health is at a certain point…it’s a total bust.

Players stop caring, they stop trying, and they start leaving.

When players band together to beat a world boss, they want to feel like at any time the tide will turn and something will start going right. They want to feel like if they can get a few players to cooperate, it may sway things in their favour.

Teq 2.0 has none of that. You know in the first 5 minutes if it’s worth trying or not. The only reason many are even sticking around is because there is a “boss daily” that they need.

Timers do not encourage players to push on and get er dun!

4. Achievements

ANet….you have forums, use them! Players have been saying for months that achievements that rely on groups of people doing everything right, are ridiculous. Not everyone has the same goals, and not everyone cares if they win or lose. Relying on everyone else to care that I get my achievements will never work.

You have to start listening. Let ME achieve something, they are MY achievements, not Captain Spanky’s and Sally Supercools’ I’m fighting with.

Look, I get what you’re trying to do with these boss fights. I appreciate that you’re taking the time to try and find solutions to the monotony of most of these boss fights, but you need to take the time to understand what does, and doesn’t work.

Simply throwing in super-kill mechanics and upping the HP is not a long term solution. Players will not stick around and attempt these bosses if it becomes nothing more than a futile effort, on top of a massive gold sync.

Players will find something else to do if they start feeling like nothing they do matters anyway, and the whole thing is doomed from the start. I do not appreciate walking into an update and finding myself dead for most of the fight. There is nothing fun about that.

I would personally really like to hear thoughts from other players regarding your experience, and how you feel the fight(s) could be improved.

10. “Everyone, I beat the boss!……everyone…hello?”

Problem
The tier system makes no sense. Some bosses are easier than others and in the end putting them in tiers really doesn’t matter. What is worse is that you don’t really get an achievement for defeating a boss. It seems so anticlimactic to just pop out after a fight and be standing there. No achievement, no fanfare, just a shrug.

Solution
Each boss should have an achievement. That would allow players to see the list and work their way though what to many is most important, beating the boss. The gambits are for those players who want extra hardcore achievements. The satisfaction of at least seeing each boss checked off the list with some points for my trouble would be a lot nicer.

11. Dome Buggy

Problem
It’s buggy. Quite simply this place has more bugs than Internet Explorer 3.1. For a long list of the bugs, see the bugs, or Queen’s Jubilee sections of this forum.

Solution
Fix them. Or, try to not create time limited content in a short production window that hasn’t had time to be properly tested.

12. WikiDulfia

Problem
Difficult content is totally cool. Content that insta-wipes you and doesn’t even give you a chance to figure out the mechanics is worse, put time limited content in the game is horrible. These three factors means that many players must resort to third party sites to figure out how to beat the boss. You may as well put out a magazine called “ArenaNet Power” that gives tips and tricks because for some, they just have no other means of sorting out the mechanics.

I went straight online after the first fight because after blasting through 5 tickets, I realized I don’t have the time to waste getting insta-wiped and starting all over.

Solution
The game should be self contained. Players should be able to solve the mechanics of the game without having to resort to online tutorials or forum posts to do so. If the mechanics are designed as such that they’re too unforgiving, or too vague, you need to rethink what is happening.

Notice I didn’t say anything about the difficulty? I am not here to slam how difficult or challenging it is. Other than the limited time available to learn and beat the fight (remember how we complained about the last dungeon, or the Trials ANet?), it is pretty ok.

The problem is when you add in all these other factors, what could potentially be an amazing activity becomes a long, drawn out, expensive, and frustrating experience for many players.

I have more ideas in terms of arena design, and such, but I’ll leave that for now.

6. Round 1, FIGHT!

Problem
The yellow text is not a proper way to start a match to the death. “Any moment now you’ll be teleported into a dome and instantly required to fight!” This instantaneous start to the fight is annoying because you have no time to get oriented, ready your fingers for your first move, and in many cases doesn’t allow time for the enemy to load.

Solution
Adding a simple countdown like we find in Sanctum Sprint would allow players to prepare for the battle. Even if it’s only five seconds or so, it would give the map time to clear out previous bosses/elements, allow the boss to fully load, and give the player time to load and react.

7. Nosebleed Section

Problem
Who paid for these seats? The viewing area is so far from the dome that it borders on useless. What is the point of creating a transparent viewing dome, if we’re so far away that we can’t even really view what is going on, or interact with players inside (by cheering, viewing techniques, etc).

Solution
Create a walkway that goes around the stage. Allow players to view the action close up. Now remember ANet, you need to shut off buffs, AOE, and other things that can influence the fight. My hopes are that someone will play the classic Star Trek fight music on the flute while I battle.

8. Confusing Registration

Problem
The NPC system for setting up matches is confusing and overly complicated. Why are the announcers, ring masters, repair NPCs, Gambit, and match masters all randomly standing around?

When I want to fight a boss, I have no idea who to talk to, how much it will cost, what order I do things in, or how to cancel.

Solution
Put the NPC’s in the appropriate place (announcer on a platform by the ring), and eliminate redundancies. Here is how I would work it.

Fight Master -

A. Ask to fight
B. Confirm fighter
C. Ask for additional gambits
D. Select Gambit(s) or skip
E. Confirm total cost
F. Confirm fight

Now, I am put into a queue, but give me an ETA for my fight time. If there are 4 queued ahead of me, show me a ETA To Fight: 8 Minutes. If a player gets eliminated, adjust the time.

9. I’m not Maverick, I don’t fight by the seat of my pants!

Problem
You are introducing new fight dynamics to players without giving them any way to practice prior to spending time or money. You require players to farm for tickets, spend money on WP, collect buffs, eat food, spend money on traits/skills/etc, spend tickets, and ultimately WP/repair costs, but give them no option to train, or practice for a fight.

This is like paying someone a bunch of money to fight a random boxer, then finding out it is Mike Tyson, two seconds before he sends your head into the back of the seats.

Solution
Create a “training” area where players can try techniques, builds, and buffs before facing the real thing. This could even cost a few silver for 5 minutes in the “gym” which is still cheaper than jumping in head first.

…dumb!

And here is why!

1. Resource Sharing

Problem
Ever since the Karka attacked Lions Arch, we’ve known that large numbers of players, on populated maps, simply aren’t conducive to smooth gameplay.

Because the Gauntlet occupies the same physical space as the rest of the map, it is quite common for players to experience FPS drops, latency, and culling.

Solution

This is a case where being instanced makes sense. When the point is to fight bosses that require a lot of precise movement, timing, and vision, it needs to be presented in a way that facilitates the best possible performance.

2. Waypoints (or lack thereof)

Problem

Being required to continuously run from the bottom to the top is nothing more than a waste of time. When you die, lose your buff, or are starting out for the first time, you must always waste time getting up and down.

Moreover, there are often enemies occupying the bridges making an already annoying task, all the more frustrating.

Solution

Simple, create a WP at the top (or part of an instance as described above).

3. Dumb Dome

Problem
The dome and camera are like two exes running into each other in public. We know the camera doesn’t like tight spaces, this has been known since day one. Putting this in a dome often causes the camera to zoom in at the worst times.

The dome also seems to interfere with some of the graphical elements (orbs) making it even more difficult.

Solution
Replace the dome with a transparent rail that is high enough to not jump over, but doesn’t cause camera issues.

4. Death is bad

Problem
Getting into a fight can already be annoying, but after being repeatedly defeated to then have to lay there in the hopes someone isn’t AFK, too close to a fight to help, or not interested in you adding more waiting time to their cue, can make this a frustrating experience.

Solution
Either transport a defeated player out in a downed state, place them at the WP, or just revive them. There is no reason to place the dead player in an arbitrary location where there may, or may not be other players to help

5. Ain’t no one got time for dat!"

Problem
We have a lot of other things to do in this game and a short time to do it. The last thing most of us want to be doing is standing around waiting for a queue of people to finish a game.

Solution
The game should really be intelligent enough to place players into open arenas. This would keep players moving along faster, and cut down on the few crowded ones with long queues, and empty ones on the other side.

Is it just me, or does the living story make no sense?

More specifically, does anyone else feel totally lost as to what is going on?

Yesterday my girlfriend and I were trying to find some lost items. The NPC we talked to gave us no useful information, and so instead of combing an already completed map, we simply jumped on map chat and asked for directions.

There was no mystery, no adventure, no context…just go get an item and bring it back to the NPC.

Since the start of this living story I have felt like someone who is reading every tenth page of a novel. Sure, I vaguely understand what is going on, but in practice it feels disjointed and random.

For example, if I lost my wallet and someone was asking me where it might be, I wouldn’t be like, “Well, it was probably somewhere in this province/state.” That person would be like, “Well, good luck finding it.”

If however I was like, “Well, I was somewhere between here and the grocery store when I lost it.” that person would be much more likely to go out looking for it.

I see what they’re trying to do with this living story, but ANet has a bad habit of being so vague that it only real viable solution is to ask someone in map chat and hope for the best. This same thing happened during some of the past events where the direction was so convoluted that most people didn’t even bother trying to figure it out (remember the hunt for the halloween backpack?)

I’m really interested in seeing how this story pans out, but I also really hope ANet learns how to actually tell a story. Make me care, give me some direction, and send me on my way.

After viewing the new town clothes I am convinced that ANet just doesn’t get it.

For a moment, lets forget the fact that almost no one manually switches to town clothes. Since there is no system in place to allow the option to automatically switch, most people don’t seem to bother with these, myself included.

That aside, this is a huge untapped market for ANet that they continually throw away. They continue to create these “modern” versions of clothing that do nothing but make the game look kitschy and cheap.

Of course, that is my personal opinion, but what I think many others would agree with is that if ANet released sets of clothing that weren’t “jokes”, and fit the style of the game, many would jump at the chance to get them.

There is no need to try and be clever and funny when making new cosmetic gear. Just release some really nice clothing that encourage people to use the feature. I know I would.