Guild Wars 2

Whatever their solution to this visual debacle is, even they must realize one thing now…clock’s ticking.

I think a lot of people are realizing that until ANET can get things worked out, a break might not be a terrible thing. I know that I will be departing after this posting for a hiatus, and I don’t think it’s unfair to say that I won’t be returning until they establish a better solution to visual options.

I do find it promising that Colin at least called the suggestion of a slider “logical” but that is a far cry from actually getting to a solution. Since he asked for us to give constructive feedback, I will give the most applicable insight that I can into the situation – whether you decide on a visual slider or not, clock’s ticking.

I say that not to be aggressive in any sense, only to say that this issue is time sensitive. For every player that is brought in by new marketing, it would be prudent to recognize that players are hemorrhaging from the other end.

And as much as I welcome these new players and wish them the best, there’s a reason they say, “make new friends, but keep the old – one is silver and the other gold.”

-Darksabre

Oh look, it`s happened again. I don`t really know what to say.

As you can probably guess, I have been monitoring the progress of this topic. While I cannot confirm that such a warning had been issued, I would be surprised if it had – Hirosama certainly hasn’t been any more antagonistic than anyone else on the forum…much less actually. His bumping activity is also negligible compared to the people who have written full and reasoned responses to the topic. If anything, this topic’s persistence on the front page is evidence of the response to the changes rather than a reflection of any individual’s “hostile” efforts. If such a warning were, in fact, issued I believe that would deserve a hearty finger of shame…there is no real reason for such a reprimand and I do believe that this issue has warranted enough concern to merit a response.

I am certainly not a fan of the recent trend that I have seen on the forums of merging posts without a response and (seemingly) hoping that the new merged post will be buried and forgotten. I would recommend that, as in the past, the merging of a post should serve as some indicator of the importance of the issue (as it spawned a large amount of sub-postings) and warrant some level of official response.

Ah well, I will continue to watch and hope that some measure of effects are returned, as I greatly miss the loss that this represents.

-Darksabre

I can’t help but notice that my polite and cordial responses by myself and others have resulted in no response of admission or recognition to this issue.

I desperately wish to remain polite and cordial, but I also can’t help but notice that these changes occurred in very close proximity to your current PvP tournament. Talk about being thrown under a bus. I don’t wish for my enjoyment of the game (which has drastically suffered as a result of my Tempest, Chrono, and DH being “visually nerfed” as they call it) to be dictated by the whims of the PvP crowd. Neither do I think they should bow to mine, so I think a slider is the best solution.

BTW, ANET. If you wish to have me invest my time, energy, and money in your game…particularly the eSports angle…you may wish to consider giving me something worth watching. When you take away the spectacle, what exactly is there to spectate? I certainly don’t consider the PvP tournament worth watching, and I don’t believe that your company deserves the $30 I was going to drop across the 3 aforementioned characters.

Many will argue that I may be slightly upset about having my power fantasy taken away, but I would also argue that power fantasy is sort of implied in your desire to engage in these games. People play characters to experience something that they wish they could experience/do in reality…if I could throw fire from my hands in real life without permanent damage or large expense I would probably be doing that right now. But I can’t, the best I can do is invest a bit of my time in a well developed and well designed game. Once you take that away from me, what is supposed to motivate me to play? Rewards? Couldn’t care less. eSports? Ditto. I don’t chase your carrot.

If you want to go PvP and eSports, go ahead, but I won’t be coming with you. I’ll gladly take all the good memories I have had from your game and move on. Again, not a threat, just the way things are. Remember, I love you ANET, but I don’t feel the love back.

-Darksabre

Now that this is a merged thread on visual nerfs, I shall add that Eruption, Air Overload, and most of the mesmer Wells were also hammered into insignificance. Why can’t we have nice things?

I would be far more understanding if this were a bug, rather than an intended choice. The current effect is actually very, very sad. It is more underwhelming than “flare” from GW1. You can see my posts on the other forums, and I stand by them that I love ANET’s work by-and-large. However, this is either a mistake, or very poorly implemented as I cannot possible justify the magnitude of the change that occurred.

I can understand some visual adjustments, but the current state of the skill is embarrassing.

Dear ANET,

I love you very much. It is the truth. You have made a game that I have played for many hours, and greatly enjoy to share with friends.

However, you have ruined an animation I greatly enjoyed by turning it into a joke. When I first heard of the change, I though people were exaggerating. This was not so. It is actually tennis ball sized.

This is not game-breaking, and I am not threatening to leave or anything, but I seriously doubt that any measure of reasoned thought went into the new animation. It is actually more underwhelming than “flare” from GW1…I never thought that this could be true of GW2, but it is.

Please reconsider your animation choices, this was truly a poorly designed ‘fix’ for the visual noise problem.

Sincerely,
Darksabre (now and forever an ele).

Dear ANET,

I love you very much. It is the truth. You have made a game that I have played for many hours, and greatly enjoy to share with friends.

However, you have ruined an animation I greatly enjoyed by turning it into a joke. When I first heard of the change, I though people were exaggerating. This was not so. It is actually tennis ball sized.

This is not game-breaking, and I am not threatening to leave or anything, but I seriously doubt that any measure of reasoned thought went into the new animation. It is actually more underwhelming than “flare” from GW1…I never thought that this could be true of GW2, but it is.

Please reconsider your animation choices, this was truly a poorly designed ‘fix’ for the visual noise problem.

Sincerely,
Darksabre (now and forever an ele).

Same jam, 100% completion of world; do Verdant Brink; no reward. Wouldn’t be an issue if map completion rewards weren’t tied to the weapon unlock tracks.

You can add me to that list of those who completed Verdant Brink with no reward. Seems like a really common issue but it is something that we need to get fixed, considering some of the collections are closely connected to map completion rewards.

I don’t write in here often, but I feel this merits at least expressing my disappointment for the record.

Since it seems to matter to people, I am a veteran of all GW1 campaigns and the GW2 standalone since pre-launch.

The simple problem I have is that the announced content does not justify the price tag. If you wish to get me on board, seduce me. Just like was done with the GW1 campaigns. You want a PvE veteran to support you? Show them some real love and give them some real meat to sink their teeth into.

It seems that I will be taking a bit of a (much needed) break from GW2 for a while as I wait for a sale price to be given for this expansion, or the aforementioned seduction. Until then, I thank A-Net for the great game they gave me and the new features that (while scant) are exciting. I look forward to playing with you all again in the (hopefully near) future.

-Darksabre

A return of the old classics.

Obligatory Baby Dolyak

When I look at the story, which I will agree has been improving, I think that the main component that needs improvement is not the level of grandiosity (we can all feel that this current story will build into something big), nor the level of heroic focus (being the sole object of focus for a story is not always what I need as a player), nor a need for spoken PC dialogue (expensive and limiting), but rather a discrepancy in the perceived value of its characters.

What I mean by this, is that many people seem to be having difficulty valuing and feeling valued by the new team if biconics (is that the right term?). In these story releases, we are given some things to do but I am having a hard time understanding and accepting why it has to be me, specifically. What is it about my PC that makes me so invaluable to the team? Am I just here for their convenience? Is there something about me that they need in order to go forwards? If there is a task, what makes me the most qualified out of the people in this group, or even world, to do it? I certainly did not feel needed in this release, I felt shoehorned in, the plus 1 to someone else’s party. It’s okay to be part of a group, but the best parties are those that wouldn’t be a party at all if you weren’t there.

Along a similar vein, what am I supposed to value (as in, how does the hero group need these people?) about the biconics and is that accurately being portrayed to the audience? Am I as a viewer supposed to take value out of the relationship between Kas and Jory? I see much more value in the traits that were portrayed for them earlier in season 1, such as their determination and dependability, the relationship (while a fine addition) seems more incidental and almost gets in the way of their value. Am I supposed to be valuing Braham’s meathead humour? I found previous attempts to portray him as a tender-hearted big brother figure to add much more value in terms of why I would want to associate with him. Taimi is a Scarlet fangirl with intellect, which is good to show. The value of her is the ability she has to push past her disability and still contribute to the team with enthusiasm that the other members lack (I think the best steps have been made with her). Similar inputs for Rox, etc.

While I recognize the biconics are getting character development in the sense that we are gradually finding out more about them knowledge wise, I feel we are losing some of the value-added along the way. I am losing sight of what makes them an essential part of the team.

What we value in people in real life is not always the things we KNOW about them. Just look at your own group of friends. I know in my closest group there is someone I KNOW is going to into game design, but what I VALUE about him is his honesty and loyalty. I KNOW a friend who can take photos that would make a rock cry, but I VALUE that he is a shameless optimist that sees the best in everything. I KNOW a lesbian friend, but I VALUE that she enjoys humour for the joy it brings others. Similarly, I have identity with these friends because they VALUE that I am a hard-worker who sets lofty goals and have fierce determination…not because of the facts they know about me or that I am convenient to spend time with.

I guess I just want to say this: we don’t always need a spotlight -it’s okay to just be A hero – but we do always need to feel valued and needed.
For each character, just take a second to go through and check.
Braham is in the group, but why is HE needed?
Kas is in the group, but why is SHE needed?
Jory is in the group, but why is SHE needed?
Taimi is in the group, but why is SHE needed?
Rox is in the group, but why is SHE needed?
The PC is in the group, but why is HE/SHE needed?

If at any point in the story you can look at the character and not have a good answer to that question, it will always come out as flat.
This is all insanely difficult to address, but it is what I feel is at the root of most of the complaints I have seen about the story. Otherwise, things have been looking up…keep up the good work!

[Sorry, I posted this almost verbatim in another topic elsewhere, but really felt that the input could be used here. Squadala, I’m off!]

When I look at the story, which I will agree has been improving, I think that the main component that needs improvement is not the level of grandiosity (we can all feel that this current story will build into something big), nor the level of heroic focus (being the sole object of focus for a story is not always what I need as a player), but rather the amount of perceived value.

What I mean by this, is that many people seem to be having difficulty valuing and feeling valued by the new team if biconics (is that the right term?). In these story releases, we are given some things to do but I am having a hard time understanding and accepting why it has to be me, specifically. What is it about my PC that makes me so invaluable to the team? Am I just here for their convenience? Is there something about me that they need in order to go forwards? If there is a task, what makes me the most qualified out of the people in this group, or even world, to do it? I certainly did not feel needed in this release, I felt shoehorned in, the plus 1 to someone else’s party. It’s okay to be part of a group, but the best parties are those that wouldn’t be a party at all if you weren’t there.

Along a similar vein, what am I supposed to value (as in, how does the hero group need these people?) about the biconics and is that accurately being portrayed to the audience? Am I as a viewer supposed to take value out of the relationship between Kas and Jory? I see much more value in the traits that were portrayed for them earlier in season 1, such as their determination and dependability, the relationship (while a fine addition) seems more incidental. Am I supposed to be valuing Braham’s meathead humour? I found the few attempts to portray him as a tender-hearted big brother figure to add much more value in terms of why I would want to associate with him. Taimi is a Scarlet fangirl with intellect, which is good to show. The value of her is the ability she has to push past her disability and still contribute to the team with enthusiasm that the other members lack. Similar inputs for Rox, etc.

While I recognize the biconics are getting character development in the sense that we are gradually finding out more about them knowledge wise, I feel we are losing some of the value-added along the way. I am losing sight of what makes them an essential part of the team.

What we value in people in real life is not always the things we KNOW about them. Just look at your own group of friends. I know in my closest group there is someone I KNOW is going to into game design, but what I VALUE about him is his honesty and loyalty. I KNOW a friend who can take photos that would make a rock cry, but I VALUE that he is a shameless optimist that sees the best in everything. I KNOW a lesbian friend, but I VALUE that she enjoys humour for the joy it brings others. Similarly, I have identity with these friends because they VALUE that I am a hard-worker who sets lofty goals and have fierce determination…not because of the facts they know about me or that I am convenient to spend time with.

I guess I just want to say this: we don’t always need a spotlight, but we do always need to feel valued and needed.

For each character, just take a second to go through and check.
Braham is in the group, but why is he needed?
Kas is in the group, but why is she needed?
Jory is in the group, but why is she needed?
Taimi is in the group, but why is she needed?
Rox is in the group, but why is she needed?
The PC is in the group, but why is he/she needed?
If at any point in the story you can look at the character and not have a good answer to that question, it will always come out as flat.

This is all insanely difficult to address, but it is what I feel is at the root of most of the complaints I have seen about the story. Otherwise, things have been looking up…keep up the good work!

Anyone have anything open presently? May 1st, 8:00pm.

In my 20s, but also completing a medical degree so time is precious. This game is perfect pick-up-and-play fodder for people with a schedule like mine.

Stay classy community!