Guild Wars 2

Why not give Ascended tier items the same stats as Exotics in the same way that Legendaries are a higher tier but still have the same stats? You could still make a step up in rarity that is easier than the “Legendary Wall” but harder to acquire than exotics to provide the middle ground that can be pursued without perpetuating a stat divide between the casual and hardcore players. Agony resistance could come from upgrade components like sigils and runes or be the intrinsic property of certain Fractals of the Mists items with normal upgrade slots. Thoughts?

In the midst of this thread I would like to express my confidence in ANet. I know you guys are not trying to make people mad or rip us off. I do believe that you are trying to make the best game you can. I don’t love every change that you have made but I realize that every change is intended as an improvement. It’s not just spit-balled together but thought out and implemented with professional care and excellence. I realize that even within ANet itself there must be different opinions about what should or shouldn’t be in the game and you try to pick the best ones, not everyone will be happy. Overall I think you made a fantastic game that I will be playing for a long time. Thank you.

Not having the gear grind was one of the big reasons that drew me to this game. It was something that I would always excitedly tell friends about when recruiting them to play. I really liked the idea of the gear plateau, that the differentiation was to be appearance based not stat based. Isn’t that what GW1 was about? People kept playing to chase shiny skins (for armor and weapons at least) not stats? Am I totally wrong here? And yes GW2 is not GW1, just IMO that was a fantastic feature that should not be lost in the transition. I wouldn’t say that I have lost the motivation to play, but I have lost some motivation to share it with more people. Especially those who would be approaching it from a casual perspective.