Guild Wars 2

Until you answer some critical questions, this information is meaningless to me.

To recap the questions:

Do you understand that there’s a huge problem mapping and using the mini-map in zones with lots of verticality? (In other words, when will you fix it?)

Have you removed the insane “must identify” from the bundles that have it?

I and others have asked those questions numerous times, with zero response from ANet. I can’t answer for others, but I won’t be buying until I get answers to those two questions (from ANet or from other players).

It could be that you don’t have any elite skills that work under water. Check the list in the H display when you are not in the water. The skills that can’t be used under water (which is most of them) have a blue icon with a red X through it in the upper-right area.

If you don’t have any, then next time you get one for leveling or getting hero points, make sure you pick one that doesn’t have that symbol.

Malerian.8435:

I know this was meant to help, and maybe I am just a jerk? But this had me LMAO when I read it. People in my office now think I am crazy.

But really good list man. Very minimalist of you.

Thanks.

The other thread was how to get good at it. But, I didn’t want to get good at WvW. I just wanted to get GoB. I learned a few things, and for other PvE-only players, I thought they might want to know.

Thanks for the info!

There are quite a few people who don’t play WvW, but need a Gift of Battle (GoB) to build a legendary weapon. This post is intended to help Player vs. Environment (PvE) players obtain a GoB, but with limited risk.

Before you start, make sure you set the active track to Gift of Battle. The game chooses randomly if you don’t. (This is true once you attain a GoB as well, if you want to go for more of them.) See the wiki, or just click the third tab down on the “B” dialog.

The biggest risk in WvW for PvE players is other humans. Almost all humans are better than you will ever be, so just don’t try taking them on (unless your team has more humans than they have locally – but don’t count yourself). If you see a human player (signified by red colored names and a red, blue, or green triangle over their head), run away.

Two activities provide points without significant risk:

• The Big Spender reward is completely safe. You never leave the starting area.

• The Veteran Creature Slayer reward is mostly safe. You have to slay the veteran, of course, and occasionally you will see enemy humans. For the Veteran reward locations, check the wiki. Make sure you pick one of them that’s close to your waypoint in that zone. That makes human enemies less likely.

A little beyond that, but with more risk, are

• Land Claimer – kill one of those stand-alone guards signified by a flag symbol on the map, and stand in the circle to claim the land. (once)
• Camp Capturer – capture a “camp”, twice. Camps look like tents on the map; hover over them to be sure. And, don’t try to kill the supervisor until after he loses his invulnerability buff (last 5 minutes after the camp is captured).
• Master of Monuments – find your way to one of the monument locations and stand there for a minute. (once)
• Guard Killer – find and kill five guards. The guards at camps count for this purpose, as do the guard you need to kill for land claimer. So, you can double-up those rewards.
• Caravan Disrupter – kill a caravan. The ones standing in camps count, so you can double this up with Camp Capturer.

NOTE: These only progress the reward track for Gift of Battle if they’re part of the dailies, or if you stick around long enough to collect the points (or both).

Before you start, make sure you set the active track to Gift of Battle. The game chooses randomly if you don’t. (This is true once you attain a GoB as well, if you want to go for more of them.) See the wiki, or just click the third tab down on the “B” dialog.

Two activities provide points without significant risk: the Big Spender reward and the Veteran Creature Slayer reward. (For the Veteran reward, check the wiki for locations.) Make sure you pick one of them that’s close to your waypoint in that zone. That keeps the human enemies away.

A little beyond that, but with more risk, are

• Land Claimer – kill one of those stand-alone guards signified by a flag symbol on the map, and stand in the circle to claim the land. (once)
  *Camp Capturer – capture a “camp”, twice. Camps look like tents on the map; hover over them to be sure. And, don’t try to kill the supervisor until after he loses his invulnerability buff (last 5 minutes after the camp is captured).
• Master of Monuments – find your way to one of the monument locations and stand there for a minute. (once)
• Guard Killer – find and kill five guards. The guards at camps count for this purpose, as do the guard you need to kill for land claimer. So, you can double-up those rewards.

If you see a human player (signified by red colored names and a red, blue, or green triangle over their head), run away. Almost all humans are better than you will ever be, so just don’t try (unless your team has more humans than they have locally – don’t count yourself).

NOTE: These only progress the reward track for Gift of Battle if they’re part of the dailies, or if you stick around long enough to collect the points (or both).

Vova.2640:

Ideally you should be using an EXP booster (50%) and your guild hall booster (10%) to get more reward track progress. Yes, there are other boosts but those are harder to get.

XP boosts don’t affect the reward track points. I tried them. They give you more XP, but that doesn’t seem to translate into more reward track progress.

Or, am I wrong?

And, the storyline is even better than you can see in simply leveling up a character or two. There are 30 independent storylines that you can follow (5 races times 3 paths for each race times 2 for different choices you can make). And, ALL of them have events and locations in the game outside the storylines.

For the first couple of mapping titles I got, I thought events and locations were simply interesting story material they dreamed up. But, playing through those other paths, I’m finding there is a tapestry of stories being weaved all over the low-level zones of Tyria.

It’s so good I’ve decided to play through ALL of the storyline missions (I have 8 paths left to take). And, it never fails to impress me how much depth they’ve written into core Tyria, especially in the tier 1 and tier 2 zones.

For example, in Queensdale there’s a mound of junk piled just south of Shaemoor. That pile of junk used to be a centaur boss from the starting mission for all human characters. There are tons of places all over the new-character zones that have these kinds of places. But, you won’t realize they were part of the story unless you play through.

I highly recommend playing at least one character of each race. But, if you can afford it, playing 3 of each race (up through the tier 2 missions) can be very interesting.

I think it should keep repeating (so you know how much you’ve salvaged over your career), but there should be a way to turn off the notification.

It depends on where you are. Dungeons, Fractals (to a degree), and the four HoT zones are the worst I’m familiar with (I play PvE mostly, and very lightly play WvW).

Ignore them if it’s mild. Report them for abusive speech if it’s really bad. (To report, right-click the character’s name or picture and choose report.)

I think that the support people telling you to post here was disingenuous. ANet only rarely comments on anything on these forums, no matter how important the issue.

I suspect that rather than giving you a way to communicate that you want more slots, it was simply a way to get you out of their hair.

quaniesan.8497:

Don’t drink and drive…uhh fly.

Shouldn’t that be “don’t drink and dive”?

+1

One more thing I’ll add: I really (I mean REALLY) want to hear all the voice actors do their stuff. And, that means at least 10 characters (two for each race, just like Noah’s Ark).

I’m still working my way through playing through all of the storyline missions, and I find that both the story itself and the voice acting are very interesting.

I play 11 males and 11 females, and I try to keep the numbers close as I create new ones.

On my mains, I have 9 & 9, and I’ll try to get to an equal number of each race. So, for my next two characters, I need a female Human and a male Norn.

I would say Bitterfrost.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Is that why Legendary items require the Gift of Battle? I was under the impression that the reason was that the items are legendary and that they are meant to demonstrate active participation in multiple aspects of the game.

What’s the source of your definition?

Oh, yeah: your impression.

Well, it’s MY impression that legendary means they’re a lot of work. Not necessarily in areas of the game I don’t enter.

I think you’re right, but that definition is just bad.

Hyper Cutter.9376:

… (not that I need spirit shards, but it’s the principle of the thing).

Exactly

If you have ALL of the colors already, you’re stuck. But, if you have any of the exclusive ones still to get, make a list of them, and choose one you don’t have.

Rauderi.8706:

Feothyr.6072:

Lahmia.2193:

You want a shiny legendary weapons? Put the effort in instead of moaning about it.

^This. It’s just a skin we’re talking about. If you want that skin, you’ll have to work for it.

If it’s “just a skin” why is it so much effort? Just sayin’.

But for Gift of Battle specifically, there’s just a huge chunk of resentment for the acquisition. I don’t want to be in WvW. WvW people don’t want me in WvW. (It’s true, they’ve said so. A lot.) So why is it considered a good game design decision to force it for “just a skin”?

Brilliantly said.

Doggie.3184:

WvW is a PvE map. The mobs are just more complicated.

False. WvW is PvP, with a small scattering of elements that are PvE.

And, I agree with the OP that it’s absurd to require PvP play to get a legendary weapon.

And, for the record, it’s just as absurd to require GoE from WvWers.

Currently, there’s no alternative. You CAN use the XP in Living World Season 3, to get those masteries.

But, once you’re done with those, you’re done with masteries and with XP. Further, all of the food and other consumables that give you bonus XP? That portion is worthless.

One can only hope that they realize their error and fix it in PoF, but they have never replied to any of the dozens of threads on this subject, so I’m not holding my breath.

The elite specializations were pretty much untestable for me, since I don’t play WvW or PvP. They looked OK, assuming the PvE versions will be the same as their PvP counterparts. But, I couldn’t actually test them.

Ferelwing.8463:

Completely agreed, when I’m actively trying to finish achievements in areas I will sometimes get the salvage achievement multiple times. I agree that it would be be far too much if it’s 3 karma. I could handle 1 but anything more than that and I’m sure that I’d be in trouble pretty quickly. I also agree again that the entire idea frustrates me, if I wanted GW1 mechanics I would be playing GW1.

Well, IF there was a good reason for it, I would listen. I’m a very large (in more ways than one) fan of this game. I will not easily leave it, but two ANet decisions (since and including HoT) have created some unacceptable situations (to me): mapping and now IDing.

They burned their goodwill with me when they released HoT. Not by the release (they’ve always made mistakes, and frequently admitted and then corrected them). But this time, their refusal to articulate their reasoning, coupled with not changing things, is causing me to reconsider my commitment to the game.

Monimon.6710:

Everything is great (that includes the Chef Mastery , in fact i want more of this kind of Masteries ), but stop with the repeatable Hearts……imho that´s just annoying, especially if you have to identify Stuff @ the Vendors.

Or, make them decidedly easier to fulfill each day.

Ferelwing.8463:

Honestly, I agree with you, I’m just saying for me a more palatable option would be karma, but it still feels bad to regress from having everything there and being able to make an informed decision vs “unid” (I don’t want to call it loot because it really doesn’t feel like it) gamble.

It’s not a real choice.

It might be OK to me if it were like 1 or maybe 2 karma. But, I’ve salvaged well over a hundred thousand items. Even 3 karma would easily eat through my reserve.

Plus, there’s no benefit for me, the player. Why do I have to pay at all for something that is just part of the game elsewhere?

JustTrogdor.7892:

There are a lot of good arguments for and against.

I’m still waiting to hear the first “good argument” for this.

PookieDaWombat.6209:

While i understand that this is not the “official” feedback thread, can we get some acknowledgment that someone from Anet is reading this thread and hopefully taking what is being said here into consideration?

I posted a link to this thread in the official feedback thread. No response. There are dozens of complaints about it in just the first couple of pages as well. It is basically impossible for them to have read that thread and missed the outcry against IDing.

Not responding is just par for the course for them. It’s really sad. Perhaps if they would articulate WHY they think this is a good thing, I might change my opinion. But, as is, it’s simply unacceptable to me.

Ferelwing.8463:

Just a thought, they could remove the “pain” from this for new and old players by changing it from silver to karma. Karma is an easily renewable source, HoT, LWS3, and PoF areas all have redoable renowned hearts.

Currency is currency. I won’t pay any of my hard-earned currency to identify loot.

Daniel.4763:

Did I miss it, or is Anet not making any comments about this concern? I feel like their silence is just adding fuel to the fire and may ultimately reduce sales while folks like me wait to see what the end results are before deciding whether or not to buy.

Yes, they have been completely silent on the issue. Even when asked in the formal comments thread that Gaile started.

usnedward.9023:

Been away so late response.

Customer feedback IS important and I believe this is why the change because of those complaints or suggestions. Doesn’t mean every one will agree. I know many who think it is a good idea and those that don’t want it. I prefer my 120 slots not be filled during runs and then I have salvage, sell off junk and such from salvage and I believe this is more to the good versus the bad.

I am not assuming who is complaining but have seen it for 3+ years of a way not to fill bags.

I cannot remember a single post where someone asked for the ability to ID loot. Now, I’m sure I’ve missed a few, but I don’t think was requested at all.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

… Unid gear is NOTHING at all, until you id it, the loot does not exist until you get it ID’d which is essentially trading in your green unid tickets for loot.

Wrong equation. It’s green unid tickets PLUS 1s 68c each = loot.

Excellent Name.9574:

No one and I mean no one uses Mystic or Master Kits to salvage Blue or Green gear same goes for Silver-o-Matic. Salvaging UND means, no secondary salvage, like Runes, Sigils, Inscriptions, Insignias, Ectos, Dark Matter as it is all treated like either blue or green. If You think this will stabilize the market, you are mistaken it will devour it.

I do.

Not fine items, but certainly masterwork and rare. Everybody should, at least until their magic find (MF) is maxed. (Or, at least they should determine for themselves what the value of luck is.)

After maxing MF, I won’t any more, but I’m not seeing that happen anytime soon.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

They will sell like hotcakes because they salvage into a lot more material than ordinary green weapons, people who don’t understand are going to list them and those tho do understand are going to buy them and salvage. Or, those that have high MF will buy them, get tons of rares and then salvage into ectos.

So, it’s a good thing to profit from other peoples’ ignorance?

Rashagar.8349:

If the perceived value (TP price) of these unidentified whatevers is lower than the minimum sale price there will still be a stack of 200,000 or something similarly ridiculously large for 1c above the minimum sale price on the TP, and there will still be people who buy them (just not as many as people who sell them).

Do they have a merchant value?

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Have you seen how many more materials are created when you salvage the unid gear? it’s significantly more (over double) than salvaging weapons/armor and all tiers are created, meaning the supply of the lower tiers will be increased significantly. I’d say they want to reduce the cost of materials because that’s exactly what salvaging the unid gear will do.

Does that make up for the precursors you will never get? How about ectos? Dark matter? Runes and sigils?

BoogerSammich.7189:

Daddicus.6128:

BoogerSammich.7189:

It’s not irrelevant.
In fact, it’s entirely relevant.
we are talking about carrying around gear.
ID’ing the gear and/or salvaging it is a completely different conversation.

OK, so you’re saying we can ID 250 items, and put them … where?

If you ID a stack of items, that requires 250 slots. Otherwise, you can’t finish IDing the stack.

If you are carrying around a stack of 250 unidentified gear, it takes ONE inventory slot..
If you are carrying around 250 pieces of identified gear, then it takes 250 inventory slots.
249 inventory slots saved with the unidentified gear. full stop.

Now, if you decide to ID the gear, then you have taken action to convert the unidentified gear into actual gear.
You no longer have unidentified gear, through your actions you now have identified gear.
It is at this point that the conversation changes because you have taken action to convert the unidentified gear into individual pieces of gear.

But again, so long as you continue to have unidentified gear, then inventory slots are saved.

Yeah, like I said, “if you ID a stack of items, that requires 250 slots.” Thanks for acknowledging my point.

Flatley.1620:

Wow, the thread lives on!

With regard to HoT and casuality, and I may well be imagining it, but it seems a lot more casual friendly than it did when it first landed. Maybe it was getting certain masteries to enable easier travel and exploration, I dunno.

Mobs feel easier. I certainly haven’t “git bedder” as they say in the vernacular. I even managed to do the vine meta thing a couple of times. Weird.

You are quite right. There was a semi-famous “April patch” where they corrected many of the most egregious sins of HoT. I think they cut the number of mobs and the number of enemies in those mobs. Plus, they did a bunch of other stuff, like the blue and green up/down arrows.

The biggest problem I had was the gating. But, see my previous post for my “solution” to that.

STIHL.2489:

Simply put, after a year and giving the HoT maps another go, I can say, these maps will never grow on me.

Actually, they might. To complete the storyline is certainly gated (by masteries/XP/MPs). But, it goes through the zones without tackling much of the maps. I haven’t tested the theory, but my guess is that going through the story reveals only 20-30% of the maps.

My problem is I like to explore, so getting to the other 70% happened early enough to leave a very bad taste in my mouth. Plus, exploring is very different from following the green stars.

Also, the XP piece of the early gating was a major annoyance. You’re forced to get around 200k XP just to continue to in the very early parts of the story.

The trick I learned to help me was to go through it on 2-3 characters simultaneously. The XP from each character applies to the whole mastery process. Plus, I didn’t have to figure out which direction to go nearly as often.

I think it’s straying from the storyline that makes the mapping difficult. Even the storyline has it’s bad places, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not so bad. But, mapping the zone is … well best done with a friend. I did it alone most times, but it’s so doggone frustrating that way. (Except on my minion necro, who basically doesn’t die — even in most areas of HoT.)

Ping or email me in-game. I should be on tonight from 7 PM to 9 or 10 (US central time). I’ll cut away from whatever I’m doing. (I’m also interested in seeing how a focused group of two fares, vs. doing the missions solo all the time.)

Dashingsteel.3410:

already been through it???? What did everyone decide the definition of casual is?

Casual is a continuum of combined responses on a number of questions. No single issue defines casual. See the top post on page seven of the thread.

Vayne.8563:

I’m not being wishful. There are maps that have been in development for a short time that are vertical. If the verticality was so universally decried, these maps would have been different. It’s very simple.

Your statement is based on a tiny demo section on an expansion, an expansion that Mo said straight out would have areas with great verticality. He wouldn’t have said/stressed that if it was an issue for most.

What you don’t seem to be understanding is that it’s not the verticality that’s the problem. It’s the almost-complete lack of mapping tools to navigate the verticality.

Why are there five levels to Draconis Mons, but only three show up on the main world map? (I’m being generous with “five”; by some counts it could be seven.) Why is the mini-map frequently dead wrong about where you are (vertically)? Why do hardly any of the vertical “elevators” (for lack of a better word) show up on either map? (Like updrafts)

Xeph.4718:

Shocking, that’s actually disgusting. Well I’ve been away a couple years so I guess I’m in the minority and I have the rest of the player base to blame.

You’re not. He’s just wrong.

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

There are green runes/sigils that aren’t at vendor value on the TP?

It wouldn’t apply to Rare or higher quality gear, of course. Just, instead of getting the green sigil/rune, you get the coin value.

Yes, although they vary. At times, Rage, Strength, and especially Bloodlust all go for more. It depends on time of year and whether there’s been a recent addition of content. Last I checked, Bloodlust was in the 60c range. The others, though, are all merchant food at last check (I check every day, but not today yet).

BoogerSammich.7189:

It’s not irrelevant.
In fact, it’s entirely relevant.
we are talking about carrying around gear.
ID’ing the gear and/or salvaging it is a completely different conversation.

OK, so you’re saying we can ID 250 items, and put them … where?

If you ID a stack of items, that requires 250 slots. Otherwise, you can’t finish IDing the stack.

Ashantara.8731:

• ID kits should be available from basic merchants, not heart vendors.
• Unidentified gear needs to stack by (and display said) rarit. That way everyone can decide what to salvage and what to identify, provided that the main point of this new (old) mechanic is to save inventory space…

I think that would be the ideal solution for everyone, no?

Not if the price remains the same. To salvage Fine items now, I pay 3c each. I would be OK with a stack of items that cost me 3c to ID AND salvage. But, having to pay 1.68s each just to id something worth the price of the mats only is highway robbery.

BoogerSammich.7189:

Daddicus.6128:

BoogerSammich.7189:

This mechanic saves bag space.
I don’t see a downside.

How? You still need those same slots after identifying the items.

That is an entirely separate conversation.
Maybe you will randomly ID gear while in the middle of playing.
I would ID/salvage near a vendor.

That’s irrelevant. When you ID them, they separate out into individual slots. So, you need exactly the same number of slots you did before.

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

How about a mastery to automatically give you the coin value of green sigils and runes when you would obtain them from salvaging? I’d prefer that to this disaster of an ID system.

No, that won’t work. There are some green sigils and runes that I sell on the TP. And I sell almost all rare sigils and runes.

But, it’s a good idea, as long as I’m not forced to use it once I attain the mastery.

Much easier to implement the suggestion made years ago: allow a list of items which this player considers “junk”.

BoogerSammich.7189:

Well, perhaps we can use this opportunity to make suggestions to make the system better?

Yes, we are: get rid of IDing loot.

Ferelwing.8463:

BoogerSammich.7189:

This mechanic saves bag space.
I don’t see a downside.

Except they could have saved space by just giving us all bags or tokens or pretty much anything else that didn’t require us to first complete a heart, then pay extra to id all that loot that we just worked to get.

Or, just let us stack loot. I would pay to be able to stack them.

BoogerSammich.7189:

This mechanic saves bag space.
I don’t see a downside.

How? You still need those same slots after identifying the items.