Guild Wars 2

The game mechanics allow players to get anything in the game without costing “real” money. Like in real life, each of us must decide what to buy and what is not important enough to warrant the outlay. Those who love cats will continue with the collection and those that don’t, won’t.

I just wish there was an feline “achievement” in Basic Collections so I could keep track of which I have and which I don’t – being a mentoring aged player (old fart), lost track….. :-)

I decided to harvest a few Blood Rubies from the nodes in Bloodstone Fen. With a magic find of 288%, I harvested a total of 7 Blood Rubies from 23 nodes on 3 different toons before the nodes disappeared. That is 10%, or 1 out of 10 swings.

REALLY?

Well, I completed all the adventures in the HoT maps. I am NOT going to say now that “aw, it is easy” or “if an old man can do it….” There are definitely a few of the adventures that remain scaled extremely hard.

I am not an elite player, but with over a decade of serious playing and being retired – I was able to spend wayyyy to much time on completion. Some may call it tenacity, others stubbornness, and still others stupidity – I tend to think my efforts on testing the adventures were the latter.

I stand by my assertion that a couple of the adventure’s level of play to achieve the gold achievement needs to be scaled back. The adventures are for the general PVE crowd and should be fun. Those who want to poke themselves in the eye can tourney PVP, Raid on hard-mode, or run high level fractals with four people.

This is Crustydog, signing off. Semper Fidelis

Well, here is a new wrinkle. In Shooting Gallery when you reach the 30’s (40 hits is gold) the "blue mushroom caps’ (icon showing where a dummy is spawning on the crossed sticks) show up in numerous locations at same time. However, more than once a blue mushroom cap remained after shooting it with just crossed sticks showing. I do not know if it is I hit the materializing dummy quickly and it disappeared before I could see it, or if the dummy just never shows at all on the crossed sticks – but the blue mushroom cap stays signifying a target ready to shoot.

Is that by design or a glitch ANet?

In Scrap Rifle, I hit 149/150 more than a half dozen times before I finally hit 150/150. Shooting Gallery is following in the same footsteps with at least 4, 39/40 hits.

Actually, I posted the topic to talk about recalibration of a few adventures – not making a major shift in the game dynamics. (where ARE the moderators…?)

I recommended that scrap rifle and shooting gallery at this time are basically just for the elite – and a few other adventures just shy of that….

The adventures are part of the regular game play that everyone enjoys. We have tournament PVP, Raids, and high level Fractals to stretch our capabilities – but the maps and story (and adventures) are for EVERYONE.

HIGHLY REQUEST a moderator do a database search and report back the percentage of how many people have completed gold on each of the adventures. It would be good to know if I am full of hot air or actually have a reasonable point.

Hopefully, before you get back to us, Crustydog will have completed Shooting Gallery and completed all the adventures. :-)

The forums DO work – sometimes in the strangest ways.

I just had a player whisper me to adjust my “field of view” to the minimum – making it first person as much as possible and MAGNIFYING the targets by a substantial amount.

It is making a big difference on the adventure. Whether it is enough, time will tell….

I guess the real question – what percent of the playing population does ANet want to be able to get gold? I would love to know of the people playing, how many have actually achieved bronze, silver, and gold. As a game designer, it would seem logical that the metrics to accurately measure attainment of the desired target would be the completion rate….

I say they sell a jet pack that does nothing more than speed up your “lean” movement. No additional distance and nothing to “show” – simply just accelerates the speed at which your move with you hit “W” or whatever key propels you faster forward. Once you add it, ALL your gliders just move 3 times more quickly to the end of the lean endurance. There is an easy 500 gems ANet…..

There is a similar topic, but could not add my 2 cents as it was over 7 days old. I will not feel bad if this post is moved.

WHICH HoT adventures should be recalibrated/fixed? I ran for Gold in all the HoT adventure runs – the results are from an Old Dude’s (65-year old) opinion with a rating of hardness from 1 – 10 (hardest)

Verdant Brink

Salvage Pit – Run in a logical way, without crossing back over your own path. 2

Flying Circus – Mechanic driven run. 4

Tendril Torchers – This is all about learning a pattern and running it flawlessly. 7

Bugs in the Branches – Master flying abilities and develop a logical pattern. 7

Shooting Gallery – (1) It is not in an instance, so Frogs slow and stop progress with you. (2)The dot is very hard to see – should have a circle around it – crutch for an old dude…. (3) Severely limited time to access. (4) Unlike the other adventures – grass, trees, huts, fences, and other environmental items are there as obstacles. (5) I believe you need to shoot BEFORE the target materializes. In 23 years of shooting expert in the Marine Corps, not once did I ever shoot into a cloud hoping I hit the target. Yes, I am STILL WORKING ON ACHEIVING GOLD IN THE ADVENTURE – I finished all the others. 12

Auric Basin

On Wings of Gold – Master flying abilities and look for obvious drops. 5

A Fungus Among Us – this is a mechanics drill – learn to use the 2-phase jump accurately and a fair amount of Jumping Puzzle experience. 7

Sanctum Scrabble – Learn all the skills well and develop your own rotation to maximize your speed going thru the JP – then run a flawless run. 8.5

The Floor is Lava – This is all about control and patterns – but your pattern needs to include full use of speed mushrooms – then run at the very edge of losing control. 9

Fallen Masks – Expertise in “controlled falling” and being able to observe and remember patterns – add in a little guessing and run it at the very edge of losing control. 9.5

Tangled Depths

Beetle Feast – Learn the skills, have minor Jumping Puzzle Skills, and start running. 2

Drone Race – Learn the skills, have minor Jumping Puzzle Skills, and start rolling. 2

The Ley-Line Run – Learn the skills and practice until you hit it. 5

Haywire Punch-O-Matic – This is just learning and controlling the skills – lots of ways to do it, but an almost flawless run needed. 8.5

Scrap Rifle – RNG has been applied to the chak and you only KNOW general spawn points. I believe there are about 3 sensible patterns to run – find one, then run on the very edge of losing control. After hundreds and hundreds of runs and a half-dozen scores of 149/150 kills, I finally made the kill when my scrap rifle overheated with about 4 seconds to go and I threw it in the right spot. 12

In short – I believe that shooting gallery and scrap rifle adventures are looking for elite players, leaving 99.99% of the rest of us just staring at the mastery point. The only reason I personally completed gold on scrap rifle, I hit that perfect, flawless run – even a blind squirrel finds a nut. :-)

Seems I am not the only one that finds being hit out of flying mode a full 3 seconds after going into stealth is a bit much…..

I think that bringing back items just slaps many of us who have been loyal, playing the game for a long time and in some cases, worked hard to get limited special items.

The aviator glasses – it is (WAS) my sorta “trademark” in the guild as I bought them the day the game was released. Now, everyone has them.

I am sure my fused weapon skins are next as there are TWELVE (12) vendors in the next cage where we all buy skins that for now is locked…..

I guess “watering down” the game is just part of a company working too hard to squeeze out a little more cash from players. I understand a company must do what is best for the stockholders – but why diminish the game and its future?

Being an “old” Crustydog, I have found the cursor on the mini map to be a “Papa India Tango Alfa” to use when reacting to raid mechanics. (Yeah, I know – geritol guzzling geriatric grandpas to not number much in GW2 – but asking anyway.)

I would like to just have a second selectable big red arrow in the direction I am viewing that I can actually see – allowing me to quickly launch teammates in Sabetha the Saboteur or get to the correct Forsaken Thicket water fountains for quick cleansing in Matthias Gabrel.

TIME TO REVAMP RANGER PETS!

From our perspective, there has been suggestions/requests for ranger pet updates/revamps/overhauls all over the forums, but with the forum using “8088” search engine technology – it has gone unnoticed and unresolved since inception of the game over three years ago.

1) Save pet names – requiring to rename every pet brought up from the stable is ludicrous.

2) Enable ability to turn off pet names OR turn off pet names+health bar. We have to manage the ranger’s health looking at the circle in the skill bar – we should be able to opt to do the same with the pet health bar which is right there. (Maybe revamp the pet health to a smaller red circle easy to see next to ranger’s health on the skill bar.)

3) Enable ability to put ALL pets in the stable until wanted. We would like to choose whether we wanted a pet active or not – KNOWING a huge part of our DPS goes with the pet. Additionally, the “avoid combat” selection does not always work – pets will, at times, still engage when avoid combat has been selected.

4) Fix “Return to me” which puts the pet in passive mode even though “Guard” is still selected. So if one uses “Return to me,” then one has to switch the pet to “Avoid Combat” and back to “Guard” to reengage the pet – which is also ludicrous. So either:

a) Fix “Return to me” to make the pet passive towards ONLY the mob the pet targeted, but remain in “Guard” mode for all other mobs that come into aggro range,
OR
b) Just DROP IT. We can select “Avoid Combat” just as easy as “Return to me” and reactivating the pet is now one stroke, not two. (And now there is more room for maybe a smaller red circle for pet’s health by the player’s health.)

I appreciate all the information provided by people who seem to know what they are talking about – but you always wonder if those empowered to do something about the issue even know we would like an update.

I have all four maps and do not have the Gift of Maguuma.

Request an ANet employee log on and give an update on the status.

Case in point. Took my son’s account and entered the following:
“How to” – no action on listing
“How to help” – Precursor Crafting. I don’t get it…
“How to help US” – “No results”
“How to help Us give” – back to listing
“How to help Us give YOU” – still listing
“How to help Us give YOU good” – still listing
“How to help Us give YOU good feedback” – still listing

The last search was the entire title of the thread, but did not pop up.

Your move….

Your forum search bar only works if you KNOW the exact thread you are looking for – otherwise it is “no match found” or something pops that has nothing to do with the topic. It is time to replace the 8088 era search bar with a industry common standard “word” based search bar.

An old guy, I do not crawl the forums like a stalker. I am just one of the silent majority that finds the forum to be a pain in the…. well, you know what I mean.

Until then, I will probably be creating new duplicate threads all the time.

If there is another thread regarding this, I am sorry – the search feature is less than robust and I am a dinosaur….

Request you consider adding Mastery Points along with poi, vista, waypoints, and hero challenges.

You do NOT have to highlight them when cursor is run over them – secret mastery points need to remain hidden. [Like the “Hand” one…. rofl]

Thanks

My issue was the inability to get our HoM pets.

Well – IT IS FIXED.

Good on ya ANet.

Title says it all.

[The other post is past the useful life, so here is another “poke” at an issue that has not been resolved.]

Unlike all the pets, armor, etc. – the pets we EARNED in HoM are still unavailable to anyone making a ranger.

Unlike everything else in the game – the HoM items were promised to us before we even bought the game.

ANet, time to hold up your half of the issue….

I understand it is just a skin.

However you actually made a correction to my post, as I meant the combo of Black Widow/Jungle Spider – want the immobilization on both pets…..

Thanks Heinskarl Ashfiend :-)

I sent in a support ticket asking about the inability to acquire HoM pets. With the new traits system and adjustments, a coupling of the Forest Spider with the HoM Black Widow seems to be an inviting prospect from my perspective. Got a polite boiler plate response (as always) from the agent dispatched to answer, which goes as follows:

“Thank you for contacting us once more regarding the issue you were experiencing. Issues like the one with the Hall of Monuments are complex to resolve, and the time it takes to fix them can vary widely based on the severity and complexity of each issue. Because of this we are unable to provide a timeframe in which the issue might be resolved. I sympathize with your frustration but please provide us with MORE TIME while our development team work in order to grant you access to the Hall of Monuments.”

Since I only recently found the closure, I was thinking “they just got this problem” and understood their position. However, I casually researched the topic online and found (thx Reddit) that the issue that caused the closure of all HoM accounts occurred over 3 months ago.

At that point, I realized that my private email to support was the wrong thing to do, as fixes in the game are prioritized by game needs and “squeaky wheels.”

So, this is topic is placed in the forums as a tickler to “publicly” remind ANet that many loyal GW1 players worked hard to get the achievements and rewards from HoM in anticipation of GW2. Therefore, all the items in HoM are de facto common law amendments to the initial purchase agreement, (meaning we expected to get the stuff as promised before we slapped down our bucks on GW2).

Now I understand that most of the HoM rewards have been placed in a player’s wardrobe and therefore many players are probably not impacted by the closure. However, the special pets are only available from HoM, so I am putting this in the ranger’s forum where I think it impacts the most.

Bottom line is to shed light on the issue so as to potentially raise the flag on the fix that may be buried deep in the bowels of unending pending repairs…. :-)

I appreciate the game and all the efforts made to make it the best – and I look forward to comments by players and ANet alike in the near future.

Thanks for all the input.

Though ANet did not step up to the plate and give a nugget of insight – all of you lent your opinions to provide ideas and even clarity to my question, with Susulemon.3204 comment on the new superior rune of the trapper hitting home to me.

Good Hunting to you all…..

I was not specific and any non-ranger could be confused – among rangers, traps are assumed when talking ground targeting. I am sorry, my bust. It is obvious I do not forum much.

Forums are a great vehicle to present coherent information and suggestions, but it is more often just an outlet for frustration, imo. But I made an exception in this case, hoping for an ANet representative to say why they removed it from rangers and left it for others, like Necros.

I am sorry to add this topic. I am sure there are threads about it, but the search bar does not work and I am too “crypt keeper” old (hence the name) to scroll thru all the threads as I am not a forum stalker.

I have played a ranger (hunter on the darkside) 90% of the time for over 10 years, so I will admit I am totally bias towards said same.

Irrespective of my prejudice, removing ground targeting for rangers while leaving in game for other(s?) is a quandary.

I am not going to rant and rave why I think this is a ^$)@%^$&*($%^# decision.

I just want an answer as to “why” it was necessary for the game balance?

I am sorry to add this topic. I am sure there are threads about it, but the search bar does not work and I am too “crypt keeper” old (hence the name) to scroll thru all the threads as I am not a forum stalker.

I have played a ranger (hunter on the darkside) 90% of the time for over 10 years, so I will admit I am totally bias towards said same.

Irrespective of my prejudice, removing ground targeting for rangers while leaving in game for other(s?) is a quandary.

I am not going to rant and rave why I think this is a ^$)@%^$&*($%^# decision.

I just want an answer as to “why” it was necessary for the game balance?

The Dragon fight was MUCH better.
- Random movements and attacks by dragon based upon players,
- Better visuals (like the flybys spraying a fire stream)
- Multiple skills and damage from the dragon,
- Environment dangers to divide player’s focus,
- However, one time I just burst into flames with nothing under my feet and dragon looking other way.
- “Kite” competent, I found the dragon a challenge, yet easy to complete…..

New animations were good.
- Expanding rings from spreading thorns (more challenging kiting.)
- Increased chaos during the events more like fog of war.
- The gliding that required time to activate rather than “on demand” is good idea
- Liked hammer special effects of Revenant

Overall impressions:
- Liked the inclusion of environmental dangers making fight/kiting more difficult
- Gliding is a fun
- Revenant will be a toon I make and play.
- Just a tiny bit of lag at initial 10 seconds, but rest of time seemed smooth.
- I got kicked from game, but may not be beta test – similar happenings to me before.
- More realism on the dragon boss fight.
- Enjoyed test, but enough content for an hour, not two.

Appreciate being included in the beta test. Will gladly talk if interested in more info/questions.

I am looking forward to Beta later today and the expansion.

Many good points in the previous statements – but I think we left out just playing the game when talking dps in PVE.

Hunter’s shot (invisibility for 3 seconds), point blank shot (push back dependent distance from the target), and (as stated before) additional movement curtailment of Barrage have a lot to do with LB playability anywhere. And we all know the pet is taking aggro most of the time on NPCs, so running dungeons and fractals in zerker gear is not really all that stressful.

I prefer skill and finesse over just trying to max out the raw dps – but appreciate the bump for rangers. Besides – I find myself picking up the other players and on several occasions, soloing final boss.

In the end, it usually boils down to how a player prefers to play. A comfortable rotation is a rotation that has been practiced the most – making it the best choice for that player.

I just ran the entire map of Straights of Devastation and harvested fourteen (14) Cayenne Peppers and one (1) Lemongrass.

If unhappy with the harvest of Cayenne Peppers, I can just go to Fireheart Rise and harvest more. But since the only place you can harvest Lemongrass is Straights of Devastation – you are just out of luck! (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lemongrass)

ANet makes achievements and rewards at the upper end more difficult, hence the scarcity of resources such as Ancient Wood, Orichalcum Ore, or Omnomberries – but I can still harvest dozens of the wood and ore, and at least a dozen of the omnomberries daily, PER CHARACTER.

Lemongrass is NOT a multiple vitamin – ANet needs to fix this…. Nuff said.

If you have ever looked at ALL the map that is not open yet, you know that in the future they will expand our explorable area and with it will come giants (and I bet the NEED for infusion….)

This is my pitch for there to be an actual title for killing ALL the slayer tracks – but I believe they gave Champion Slayer to PVP.

So with the new achievements focus currently under the gun at ANet – hope they figure out an appropriate title for the Slayer Tab.