Showing Posts For Doman.3042:
@SharedProphet: I don’t know the details of ANet’s implementation, and I don’t know where their bottleneck actually is. Still, that’s a good crack at a suggestion (seriously, being complacent with design is one of my biggest pet peeves, and I’m glad to hear a response with some critical thinking!), but I have doubts that particular solution would alleviate the amount of traffic that they receive. Your suggestion is a more user-friendly interface for people that want to trade large amounts of items at once, IMO – but I don’t think that does anything for the concerns that the cooldown addresses.
You need to think more about the backend. Personally, I’m thinking about two things: the network traffic, and handling the database requests once received from the network. (This is gonna be the really, really short version of my crack at an explanation.)
On the network side, message throttling has to happen somewhere. There’s overhead involved in sending a packet, receiving a packet, reading its header, and parsing the actual contents of its message. Lag is usually the result of a client or server not being able to process those as fast as they come in – DDOS attacks do this exact thing intentionally, but it can still happen if either server/client doesn’t throttle their outgoing messages. Both packet size and frequency affect the amount of lag, and batching like you said might actually help: instead of having 40 different packets, maybe their packet size can fit multiple requests in to distribute that over, say, 4 packets. (Maybe. I don’t know, this is super implementation-specific.)
On the database side (and I’m leaning towards the notion that this is where the bottleneck is), I’d imagine that each atomic thing you can do (buy order, sell order, and cancellations of either) is a transaction – or a series of statements that can’t be reduced any further. My knowledge of SQL is a little rusty, but each of those requests would boil down to statements like “INSERT INTO sell_listings VALUES (listing_id, player_id, item_id, gold_amount); UPDATE player_data SET gold_amount * -1 WHERE player_id=pid character_id=cid” – which each have their own overhead. I’d imagine that if you batched the requests together like you said, you might help the network side of things, but it does nothing for the database side of things. The amount of requests to fulfill is still the same.
And as to why they throttle sell orders but not buy orders – they probably have metrics that tell them how many requests of each kind they get and how frequently – and due to how convenient it is to sell things from anywhere, I’m guessing sell orders are much higher. (I mean, how often do you buy something when you’re nowhere around to pick it up compared to how often you sell that Vial of Powerful Blood that just dropped?)
I might be a little off-base, but that’s the best I can do with my knowledge without actually working at ANet!
For whatever reason they are doing this, either to prevent spamming items or to reduce server load, there should be other ways to accomplish this.
Like what, for instance?
After doing some network programming myself, my guess is that it’s for the latter, honestly – which can happen even with enough “legitimate users.” I remember the BLTC frequently being down early after release – I’d prefer a 15sec cooldown over a day of maintenance.
What about those insignia’s, the green and blues ones, are those also ‘fake markets’?
I mean, nobody needs them, but they seem strong markets. I can’t figure out who would buy them, but they seem lively markets.
That’s a possibility, but I think another scenario is more likely:
I’ve seen crafting guides that advocate buying the insignias and inscriptions instead of crafting them with the ingredients because they’re cheaper. And at the point they wrote the guide, that might have actually been true. Cue a bunch of people following these guides and a corresponding increase in demand!
Or there are people who are levelling up crafting who just want fast discovery XP instead of going through the trouble of crafting the insignia. While I don’t think that’s the driving force, I know I’ve let my impatience get the better of me at times.
I can think of a few reasons why people use them, at least.
I don’t think the attacker had much might because he was alone.
If you get the trait in Critical Strikes, you can get something like 15 stacks for 5 seconds by popping signets. It doesn’t last long at all, but I’d imagine that’s a possibility.
I don’t know for sure, I play either P/D bunker or a really mobile S/D. Backstab’s never been my thing.
Can I get a source for this. All I’ve seen is that they said it’s going to bridge the gap, never anything more specific.
“[Ascended Gear] is designed to give users a progression path that is between Exotic and Legendary (Legendary Items will be at the same power level as Ascended) and the gap between them in terms of time is very large.” (bolded emphasis mine, not Chris’)
There you go. Can we kill this bugbear for good now?
Now, if we look at their recent statements, they have said that ascension is bridge the gap between legendaries and exotics,meaning when ascension weapons are released, ofc they will be better than exotics, and in turn legendaries will have better stats than ascension.
I don’t think they meant a gap in stats, but just a gap in progression and overall goals. The problem they wanted to solve with Ascended items had to do with a general feeling of “I got all my exotics in a weekend, but it’ll take me a long time with no visible gains to make my Legendary.” They’ve stated that they never wanted to make stats a reason to grind for a Legendary, but that they won’t ever be outdated either. They’ll always be a best-in-slot choice, but not the best-in-slot choice (previously they shared this with Exotics, now they’ll share this with Ascended items).
Preface: Rather than type it out over and over again, I’ll be using the abbreviation FMV for Fair Market Value. For those who missed Econ 101, Fair Market Value is the price a willing buyer and willing seller would accept for a given item, free of external pressures. It is not intrinsic value, which is what either side believes an item is worth in their own eyes. To simplify it further, negotiations between a Pawn Broker and a Seller eventually establish a FMV for an item. The initial asking prices given by a Pawn Broker or the Seller would be the intrinsic value of the item. With that said…
Not quite; items don’t have any intrinsic value. Maybe you meant to use another term, but “intrinsic” implies a third objective value that is the “real” true value of the item.
The problem is particularly nasty with raw materials in high demand, such as Ores, Logs, Leathers, etc. The custom offer system lets players place a custom offer below vendor pricing…
Not quite accurate. At one point in time, players were able to, but they are no longer able to place buy orders below vendor price. Any bids that exist below vendor price are legacy bids from before that was changed, and ANet has yet to purge these bids from the system.
That said, I’m curious to hear from other crafters and TP sellers on their views on the matter. Do you make money on the TP consistently? When you’re forced to purchase materials for something (Globs of Ectoplasm, for instance), are you still able to make a profit? What immediate changes could ANet make to mitigate these problems?
I do, but from careful market research of what to trade and craft. I don’t toss money at something blindly and hope to make a profit just because my skill is at 400. You’re right that most prices on the market do not offer a sizeable enough return for the investment someone makes to raise their crafting high enough and convert materials into end products, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing, given the other advantages that the crafting system offers in the game.
That doesn’t mean I would mind an attempt to change it, though. I’ve adapted to make a profit in this market, and I’ll adapt to any other sort.
(edited by Doman.3042)
Someone needs to give Tulisin a medal. I really couldn’t have said it better than his posts.
Hello! I’ve been playing Thief from pretty much day 1. Pragmatist covered most of what I’d already have said (traps need a pass to make them more viable in PvE, balancing PvP separately is a great decision, and some abilities need looking at to make them appealing compared to other sets, like how most stuff outshines dual pistols or how Flanking Strike doesn’t home reliably.) I’m sure that a lot of other people can elucidate on PvE much more clearly than I can. Similarly, other people can go into hits/misses on nerfs/buffs (like what happened with Pistol Whip when the real problem was Haste, or what happened with Cloak And Dagger and the collateral damage to other specs compared to the slap on the wrist Backstab-oriented ones got). I’m gonna talk about something more abstract.
Let me start by mentioning that I love a lot of the game’s design already, and that I really admire how well you’ve pulled off one of your design goals so far: diversity and customization. I’ve been experimenting with builds and I love that I can at least try to go in as many directions as I can. I love that I’m not as pigeonholed as I’ve been in other games – personally, I like stealthy characters but hate burst playstyles, so the skirmishing and zone control that a survivable condition damage thief with Pistol/Dagger and Caltrops has just – really hits this crunchy, satisfying accord with me. In PvP, there’s room for a lot of counterplay from the opponent when I go that spec, and that feels exactly right for making sure that both people have fun in the fight. (On that note, I also love that stealth doesn’t last long and is best used for a quick reposition – you have to use it intelligently and actively instead of always skulking through the battlefield unseen. It makes a traditionally passive mechanic into an active one, which is really admirable of the guy that made that design decision!)
I think that from an objective game design standpoint, specs like the Basilisk Venom-Cloak and Dagger-Mug-Backstab combo don’t give the opponent enough time to react to allow for counterplay. With the condition damage bunker build, the game is more about strategy – are you smart enough to dismantle my build and figure out a weakness in my pattern? With the backstab combo, the game is more about execution (and this burden of execution is really on the thief’s opponent to dodge than the thief themself to attack) – can you react fast enough to stunbreak and move out of the way of the giant wrecking ball of damage?
[This link is a great read] for what I’m talking about. Right now, the design of PvP feels inconsistent – do you want to value strategy or execution more? I can’t really tell. There are elements of both, but they don’t really mix – when the rewards for an imbalance of execution are high enough, there’s simply that much of an execution barrier to new players – “you must be able to fend off a six-pool/pull off one-frame Sakura timings/stunbreak out of Basilisk Venom.”
I’m not saying one is strictly better than the other all the time, but a question to ask yourselves when you go into your next design meeting is “Which style does Guild Wars 2 better lend itself to? What’s better for all players involved, and not just one side of the fence?” Personally, my vote’s for a strategy-heavy game. (I mean, there has to be SOME level of execution barrier, otherwise you get complaints about Heartseeker spam, but then there’s going too far in the execution-fetishism end.)
Thanks for your time, and double-thanks for asking us for feedback! Especially during the Thanksgiving holidays, I’m sorta surprised you guys are in at this time of the year. Have a good weekend, y’all.
(edited by Doman.3042)
I really prefer it the way it currently is. Having to actively think about when I can use a few seconds of stealth to do what I need to is way more fun than most other implementations of stealth I’ve played.
It’s more active, less passive, and more interesting to me. I don’t miss stealth toggles.
There are some exotic and rare level pieces with Soldier gear stats in the game, although as they cannot be obtained by crafting, they do not have actually have the prefix in their name. But they DO have the stats.
There are armor sets with Soldier’s Gear available as rewards from the Ascalonian Catacombs, Sorrow’s Embrace, and Honor of the Waves dungeons.
You’ll have to visit multiple temples to get a full set of identical stat gear, but there are Karma vendors on Orr that appear after some dynamic events are completed. I can’t emphasize this enough – if you’re looking for a complete set of gear, you’ll need to visit multiple temples for it.
Finally, when Syn said “PvP armor,” he meant the Invader prefix sets that are available as rewards from WvWvW, which does use PvE skills/traits/gear in a PvP setting. (He didn’t mean sPvP.) Invader Armor can be used in both PvE and WvWvW.
When i press Bottle of Elonian Wine in trading post it keeps on searching and searching and never stops. Does anyone else have this problem too? Its my third day this is happening.
I don’t think this is a bug specific to the item, but to using the autocomplete feature of the Trading Post. This happens to me whenever the drop-down menu below the field autocompletes with an item I want and I click on it – it does NOT occur if I leave the text as-is and search for, say, “Valkyrie barb.”
At least that’s my experience. It’s not item-specific, but feature-specific. Does it hang when you just search for “bottle of elo” without using the autocomplete feature?
No but seriously, has anyone ever seen this person?
Occasionally, on some Borderlands maps. At least for the times I’ve seen him, he was a follower and not a leader. I could totally be wrong, since I’m not a member of Everything Purple, but this doesn’t seem to line up with the behavior I normally associate with the guild. Or at least, I’d think someone with more notoriety would do the diplomatic stuff.
In sort, I doubt this is actually representative of EP and it’s just a guy with a commander icon, though don’t quote me 100% on that. Someone with a better understanding of Everything Purple’s structure would know better.
It’s harder to do it in this game, since the TP is game-wide. So you’d need a lot of capital to play.
Not quite true. The other tip is “diversify.” You can’t control a niche of the market as well as you could on a server-based economy, but if you spread out your investments, even with a small amount of capital, you’ll mitigate your risk and steadily gain gold over time.
What you earn is somewhat proportional to what you put in, so it’s true that a lot of capital helps. But it’s not a necessary barrier to overcome. I started flipping when I had about 1 gold to my name. If I invested more, I’d probably have more than the 20G I have now.
I’m not a high roller, of course, but I’m proof it works in the long-run even without much to start with.
It takes patience. Put in low buy orders, play the game or do something else. Check in later, cancel any unfilled buy orders and relist whatever you got.
Seriously. I can’t stress this enough. It takes patience. It’s one of those “a watched pot never boils” sort of things.
I’ve always liked the image of the Thief/Rogue sort of archetype. Don’t get me wrong – I like subterfuge and misdirection, but I’ve never been a fan of instagib/stunlock/whatever sorta mechanics. I like my subtlety.
As an example of what I mean, I loved FFXI Thief for its aggro control. In SW:ToR, I played Operative for its poison-based Lethality tree and not its backstab-based Concealment tree. The party’s wizard did more damage than me in my D&D 4e game, but I locked down enemies by stunning, blinding, and blocking visibility.
(In City of Villains, I preferred Dominators to Stalkers. There wasn’t a good fit for what kind of thief I lean to.)
I’m the rare rogue that’s a team player. I love the support available in the class. I love that I’m not limited to a burst-damage-from-nowhere playstyle (though I appreciate it’s an option).
Likewise on Tarnished Coast. Missing a spawn, unable to complete.
I can confirm, I used to C&D, sneak attack, auto fire x2, C&D repeat infinity. I did this all the way leveling up from like 40 or 50, and primarily play p/d now at 80. It is a rhythm that is second nature to me by this point, so I noticed it immediately after logging in after the Halloween patch.
To practice to new pacing, and get the old one out of my system, I went into wvwvw… followed an enemy zerg to a supply camp. Then proceeded to chain C&D forever and jump went from target to target for about 15-20 minutes… preventing them from capping it.
They eventually caught me, which is surprisingly easy to do if you stop and think about it. But I did get the new timing down to a t.
Haha, was the camp a Tarnished Coast one? I remember that happening to us last night, funny as hell.
Yeah, people are confused here because that … should be a mechanical impossibility.
Unless you’re saying you relisted it continously until you got 3.02 silver from it, then that wasn’t market manipulation, it was something funky with the game system.
When I mouse over the “Krytan Armor Skin,” the first sentence in the description I see is “A full set of medium armor skins in a classic style.”
Sorry, but I think you just missed the line that said it.
While I’ll agree something does feel a little off about party composition (I can’t put my finger on what, and I think “no trinity” isn’t exactly it), I’d like to point out what I think their intention was.
Contrast GW2’s lax requirements in party make-up to other games where you need people in specific and dedicated roles: people end up competing for slots, and if you rolled a certain class for a flavor and aesthetic style you enjoy, you might have a hard time finding spots due to competition (i.e. the “DPS dime a dozen” problem). GW2, as far as I can tell, wants everyone to have a more equal shot – and as a result, at least parties/groups start up quicker and there’s no competition for specific roles. I think their words in their previews were “We want you spend time having fun, not preparing to have fun.”
Slight addendum:
Seriously, it doesn’t take much active time to do this. Sit down for half an hour at most. It takes a lot of time for the effects to take place, though! So do your trading post thing for a small bit, then go out and actually do something. Play the game. Get map completion. Be with your family. Get some sleep. Think of it like a garden – it doesn’t take you long to water it, but it takes a lot of time to grow. You’re playing the patient game by not being the impulsive player.
Diversify what you relist. Don’t rely on just one item forever – markets dry up that way. Don’t always go for big ticket items – sometimes there’s money to be had by making 1c profits in bulk. Sometimes there’s just as much to be had by relisting a rare or exotic!
So why don’t all you smug elitists who are making hundreds of gold by “playing” the TP explain your methods to the rest of us instead of insulting and name calling?
I wrote up a huge post in reply and actually exceeded the character limit here.
Are you satisfied?
I love this build. I feel like it has a healthy amount of sustained damage with even more survivability.
Damage primarily comes from bleed – Caltrops and Sneak Attack, mostly. I mostly do three actions: Dodge, Cloak and Dagger, and Sneak Attack. Both Dodging and entering Stealth from C&D grant Might stacks (Acro 10, Shadow Arts 25), and these add up over time – it’s not unusual for me to hit 10 stacks of Might in no time!
Survivability comes from Signet of Malice, Assassin’s Reward (Acro 20), and Leeching Venoms (Shadow 20). The attacks in this build come in frequently with multiple hits, which makes Malice a great choice – Sneak Attack hits for 5 shots at once, and Caltrops ticks multiple times over its lifespan. (I’m not entirely sure if caltrops created by dodging do this, but I know that the slot skill caltrops do.) Assassin’s Reward is a nice bonus when C&D hits, and Leeching Venoms is just a great skill for survivability. Triggering a venom on Sneak Attack with Signet of Malice makes for a great ad hoc burst self-heal.
In addition to the constant healing, I’m able to dodge regularly with both Feline Grace (Acro 15) and Vigor from Bountiful Theft (Trickery 20). The healing just takes care of what even gets through in the first place.
Sustainability in regards to resource management comes from Vigor from stealing (Trickery 20) for all the semi-regular dodging I do with this build, and the only initiative-using skill I tend to use is Cloak and Dagger, which refunds 2 initiative when I hit (Shadow Arts 10).
Long story short, I’m hard to kill and I become more threatening over time.
I haven’t tried this build in PvP yet, actually, but that’s just because I’ve been PvEing a lot with friends lately. I’ll try it out there and see if it works there, too. (I have my doubts because some key skills to the build are easily dodgeable.)