I wish you all the best, but you will be your own grave (like me now
)
Goodbye all!Can I have your stuff?
What would you like? Say fast – I’m getting banned soon
I… well, this isn’t what I expected. I’ll just wander off and be confused now.
It’s in times like this that we need to search for the wisdom of Disney.
I’m trying, I’m trying not to lose hope …
sniff
Batman did, because they’re the weapon skins we deserve, but not the ones we need right now.
Since when did GW2 become a Hardcore MMO?
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: Hyper Cutter.9376
I think the reality is that casuals are complaining that HoT is too hard for them because they are bored with core because they know it’s too easy. So they just want more of the same easy content to watch Netflix through, just newer.
Yes, casual players also wanted new content after a content drought of almost a year, congratulations for your groundbreaking insight.
I’d like to raise some concerns about Arenanet’s continual descend into poor decision making in terms of game design/e-sports ambition.
A successful Esports needs two things:
Players, and spectators. The game is actually not as important. Spectators are a straightforward concept, the more, the better. Unfortunately GW2 isn’t a particularly friendly game to spectate, and only now has Anet begun to address this issue. In terms of players there are 3 types. You begin as a player who is uninformed, trying to learn the game, and experiment. With experience you become the average player who knows the ins and outs of the game, with the ability to help the uninformed. Finally, players of this category can make the extra push to be a professional. A professional is often a beacon of inspiration for the average player; creating new ways of thinking for the meta to change and in turn, engage the developers into doing things in new ways. All three echelons of players are important. Professional players help drive the game in different directions and show spectators the amount of depth the game can have. Your average player-base helps translate this depth to the beginners. Which is where the forefront of GW2’s issues lie.
Issue #1: “Lets make GW2 the most inaccessible E-Sport out there”.
Anet have said time and time again they want to make GW2 a proper E-Sport. How well is that turning out isn’t an issue here (but the answer is not very well). The frame work for an esports community to build up just isn’t there. Three years on we still don’t have fundamental features like; saved builds, a working matchmaking system, game history and in game rankings. These aren’t just features that are QoL, these features are crucial. A competitive environment is about having the features in place for people to improve
GW2 features high customisability, which is not unlike other successful esports. Customisability is a good thing. The problem with GW2’s version of customisability is that it exists at the beginning of a PvP match. This is not a good thing for both players and spectators.
If you look at a successful MOBA like DotA 2 or LoL, you’ll see that the game type starts off with the players having very little abilities to use. Gameplay at the very beginning of a match is very mechanics-based. But as the match develops and casualties are suffered, more options are available to players to adapt and change the tide of battle. Most MOBAs involve the purchasing of items in game which essentially allows builds and tactics to change.
Now if we look at GW2 conquest, very little of this is present. Builds are locked in from the get go (which I actually agree with). Once a match gets underway and points are accrued, staging a comeback becomes much more ‘skill’ based rather than tactics based. Even this isn’t the problem, but it does make GW2 more akin to a game like counterstrike rather than a team-oriented, RPG PvP game which it is often presented as. CS works as a spectatored esport because the visuals are so easy to understand. You aim, you shoot, you win. This isn’t the case with GW2. There are hundreds of different spell effects a spectator needs to know, and for a casual spectator, the result is more important than the method. Watching a sinister engineer do a complex rotation to win a point from the opponent is boring, even though it requires great timing and skill. Watching two teams race to kill a guild lord in Stronghold on the other hand can be much more exciting. Skillful prowess in a video game are often much harder to translate visually than tactical prowess.
So not only are we wrestling with a game that is difficult to understand visually, we are also hampered by one of GW2’s most core principles:
Issue #2: “No defined roles, no 7LF Monk”.
First of all, I absolutely applaud Anet for making PvE solo friendly. The removal of the holy trinity was a very good thing. For PvE. But for PvP it falls flat on its face. I’m not saying we should have healers and tanks in PvP but we need clear and visible roles for each class. The problem is that, outside of a proper premade team, soloQ players are completely oblivious to what their team members are doing and/or capable of. You can make the argument that players are supposed to communicate, but even to that extent, the game is making it difficult for players to do this successfully and efficiently. Many team sports have a great visual and informative component that tells spectators what might happen before the game even begins. Its the dispelling of these preconceived notions that adds to the excitement of the game. In football, if you see a 4-5-1 formation you would probably expect that team to be extremely offensively minded.
In DotA and LoL during the character picking process you can easily formulate a strategy based on the preconceived roles that is attributed to that particular character. It becomes easy for random players to know what their role is, and great for spectators to watch. If a player plays a character differently to what their preconceived role is, it becomes exciting and innovative.
With elite specializations the issue mentioned above becomes even more difficult to deal with. What can I tell about a team in GW2 involving a thief, a ranger, a mesmer, a necromancer and a revenant? Not much really. If we had saved build changes we might alleviate this problem slightly, at least we can quickly change builds before a match, but even so to what extent? Currently GW2’s esport game type, Conquest doesn’t even necessitate clear and defined roles because:
Issue #3: “Conquest sucks.”
Conquest favors players being able to survive and stand on a point as long as possible. It might feel fun to play, but it is extremely boring to watch. I think Anet has realized this with the removal of the Minstrel’s amulet. This actually isn’t the biggest problem. The issue with conquest is that character defeat almost always directly translates into objective failure. If you die fighting over a point, you will most likely lose that point. This game structure doubly reinforces a team’s impending loss by both awarding points to the finisher, and the map objective.
This ends up diluting the map objectives to the point where player skill becomes much more important that team tactics, which in turn is not good for spectators. Here are some comparisons where player defeat does not equate to match defeat.
In DotA the designated roles create a weighted importance on which players need to survive. Player defeat doesn’t necessarily equate to a disadvantage for the team if certain map objectives get completed in the process. For instance, sacrificing yourself to destroy a tower allows extra tactics to emerge as the enemy’s map control diminishes due to losing a tower.
Even in a game like Counterstrike, player defeat is an important component of map awareness. Since encounters are so brief in CS, losing a teammate will quickly inform the rest of the team where their map exposures are and the necessity for the team to change tactics and adapt.
It is for these reasons why maps such as Temple and Foefire are more successful, the extra objectives on that map adds both the necessity to change tactics and is spectator friendly. I think in this respect, Stronghold is a much more successful game type for SPvP, and Esports spectating in general, but it isn’t without its own set of clunky mechanics which I won’t go into here.
And finally:
Issue #4: “Visualsgate”
I’ve already alluded to “spectability” earlier on, so I’ll touch up on it here. Anet has recently been toning down their graphical skill effects lately. These skill effects are beautifully created in the first place mind you, but these changes don’t seem to have been taken well, nor achieve what they are trying to do. Large group combat is still a mess. In short it probably has something to do with the scaling of ‘impact’ effects when stuff virtue of judgement gets activated on an enemy in PvE, but I don’t think the problem is to do with the art at all. In fact, I find it insulting (for the art team) they are making such kneejerk changes to the beautiful effects.
The issue isn’t large balls of fire being hurled by an elementalist. These visual cues are important for an esport. The issue is just that there are too many different types. The visual effects also lack a sense of hierarchy as to what is definitively powerful and what isn’t. A mesmer’s greatsword AA massive bolt of energy should be reserved for something powerful and infrequent rather than something that appears on screen every second. On the other hand, it’s the engineer’s Orbital strike getting toned down? It doesn’t make sense.
These issues could’ve been tested very early on simply by asking a seasoned developer to commentate on a round of PvP. How successful will they be at doing it? How do you differentiate the importance of one fiery fireball effect vs another? And what about all these crazy combo fields? Even as a player you’d struggle to know whether you’ve successfully activated the field you want to activate thanks to the overlapping combo fields rule, how do you expect a spectator to understand it?
For the record, I think combo fields are fun as hell, but just terribly implemented, and visually distracting.
GW2 is a very fun game to play PvP wise, when you remove map objectives and what not. Its incredibly fun to survive and claw your way back against an opponent, but unfortunately, its just terrible to watch. No amount of visual downgrades will help either because its the inherent mechanics of the game itself which are the issue.
I thought it was obvious that by accepting early access in order to help make the raids better, they were relinquishing any rights to claim world first? Did I miss something?
They did get world first. Probably not the one they wanted though.
Fashion Wars 2 with no fashion.
While waiting for an event chain yesterday, somebody dropped an Aviator’s Memory Box. Having laughed my kitten off when the original April’s Fool was running, i threw myself at it, extended my arms, and proceeded to play pretend airplane.
Except now, we’ve got HoT. And this time, i could jump from high positions and glide while making airplane noises with my arms stretched out. That was, like, epic.
But this is where the glider skin gets in the way. I have an aviator cap, i have “wings” deployed, and i’m humming the engine noise: I DON’T NEED A GLIDER! I KNOW I CAN FLY BY MYSELF BECAUSE I’M AN AIRPLANE!
The gliding/aviator combo screams for an invisible glider skin. One that works. Because i should add that yes, i do have an invisible glider in wvw, but it has very poor glinding capabilities, causing me no small amount of broken bones. Please ANet, consider it. Or add a switch to show/hide glider like helmet and shoulders. Invisible shoes are good, an invisible glider is even better!
Save the Bell Choir activity!
Someone has OCD…….. :P
That´s why I cannot play Splatoon properly :S .
You should prepare for your great finale.
I have four lvl 80 Rangers. I love Rangers. My best friend is a Ranger.
It’s not about Rangers. It’s about knockbacks. And not just any knockbacks. Inappropriate knockbacks.
Knockbacks are like sex. At the right time, in the right place, they’re awesome.
At the wrong time, in the wrong place, they get you arrested.
As well they should.
Always follow what is true.” — Sentry-skritt Bordekka
I’m glad I got the insignia at the very least. That one’s a Keeper.
i see wat u did there…
Could you please spend like 5 minutes to think whether your ideas make any sense, before posting?
It is simply not fair! My dreams are being crushed!
Why can’t I make my bald female warrior in monk outfit called Alesia Baptiste?
The horror… I will have nightmares tonight.
Final boss?
Zomorros. His special skill will be utilizing every weapon ever thrown into the Mystic Forge. Gilgamesh from Fate/Stay style.
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Yeah, it’s not like Karka murdered hundereds of peo… oh wait.
Looks at Slayer achivement panel
…
So we should go all genocidal on the 5 races next, eh?Seriously though, when a personal story step has a Kodan tell me, “Yo, that Dredge is messing up the balance and stuff because mining is bad, ya’ know? Go murder him and maybe I’ll tell you about your horn,” and my response is basically, “On it, boss!” Gotta wonder how heroic we really are.
This complaint reminds me of seeing my nephew complain that he only got one thing from his grandfather while his brother got four. He got a five dollar bill, his brother got four ones.
As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Favorite class, favorite mesmer, and favorite character. Don’t know how many different dyes and styles I’ve had back and forth – but this is the one i like the most and I think the style isn’t the most common
DPS Benchmarks, Raids, Low-mans etc.
(edited by Chris McSwag.4683)
Yo mama is so fat, she takes up all your extra character slots.
Yo mama is so fat, her bikini line has its own explorer achievement.
Yo mama is so fat, Zhaitan claimed her as his domain by mistake.
Yo mama is so fat, when she discovers a new vista, it becomes night time
Yo mama is so fat, when she finds diving goggles, people start building rafts
Yo mama is so fat, when she does a jumping puzzle, they have to replace it with a new one afterwards.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-On3Ya0_4Y)
Guild Wars 2: Absence makes the heart of thorns go yonder
I love you so much.
Small guilds are just parties with a fancy name.
Can you please explain why the trait ‘Fast Hand’(reduce weapon swap to 5sec) is not baseline?
I think I speak for everyone on this forum or even all warrior players by saying that we would really appreciate a developers response on this matter.
How is the most defining skill for the warrior profession is not baseline? thus forcing every viable build to take the Discipline trait line and limiting the class build diversity.
How come it is less ‘baseline’ then Mesmer’s ‘Illusionary Persona’ (“Using any shatter skill now creates the shatter effect on you as well”) which was only necessary for shatter builds while they also have clone builds and phantasm builds?
Thank you
(edited by Eiland.1405)
THave you ever created a work of art? A painting? A musical piece? A game? A story?
How would you feel if your hard work and what you’ve dedicated a year or two to, was ridiculed and hated before it was even released?
Yeah actually, career artist here, second generation after my mother who was a classical portrait and landscape artist.
And you know what she taught me?
If you can’t take critique, keep your art, to yourself.
Critique is as much a part of the artistic process as concept and creation. Unless you are somehow an immaculate and perfect artist, basically unless you are God Himself, your art warrants critique and you should accept and consider it gracefully regardless of how and where it is given. My greatest artistic mentor once told a student that he didn’t have what it takes for an art career, the kid said he appreciated his honesty, walked out of class and over to the administration building, where he immediately changed his major. And there have never been any hard feelings between that student and the professor. The kid may not have had the artistic talent, but he had the artistically driven mentality that accepts, rather than takes offense to, critique.
You don’t want to pay the full price for the pre-order?
Don’t. That is your choice. But they owe you NOTHING.
Completely false, they do owe people something. They stated for six months, since its first announcement, that the expansion would require the purchase of the base game. They owe people who purchased or supported the game, based on that, another means to purchase the game for a price comparably fair to those who are getting the base game rolled in for free. If they had never made any such a statement, then you would have a point, but since they did, they have an obligation to keep their word if they want to maintain the respect and trust of their playerbase.
How would you feel if when you announced that it was ready for purchase, people spat on it. People lashed out at you on not only your official accounts, but your personal ones to.
But being complete jerks about all of this is revolting and reflects poorly on us as a community. And think of the devs. They have feelings too. And I’m sure many are upset right now. This may just be an expansion to you, but it’s much more than that to them.
Now all that said, this is completely deplorable behavior and I hope ANet takes just action against the accounts who have done this. Those are their private, not professional, accounts. This is like showing up at someones home and screaming in to their house from the street about the dealings of the business they work for, and worse, doing so when you don’t even know the persons opinions or involvement in the incident in question. In real life, this would be considered harassment, possibly even assault, and I wouldn’t even scoff at a permanent ban for these people.
However, as for you, OP. You are a completely despicable wormtongue for having made this thread as an underhanded attack against people whose opinions you disagree with. Rather than supporting your opinion with any amount of logic or evidence like a civilized and intelligent person, you have attempted to vilify those you disagree with with emotionally charged stereotyping base on a tiny subset of people that the majority of those who share the opinion you disagree with, would never have anything to do with.
I respect the majority of the people on these forums who share your opinion, even though I don’t agree with them, but not you, you don’t give any, and you don’t deserve any it in return.
(edited by Conncept.7638)
Guildwars 1 did NOT have a precedent of always giving a free character slot with it’s non-stand alone expansions.
The Campaigns added free character slots because they were stand alone. The Eye of the North was an expansion, was not stand alone and did not add a free character slot.
Only the stand alone products added character slots because if they didn’t, how could someone who only bought Nightfall play the game?
The stand-alone campaigns could be installed alone, which gave 4 slots, or be tied in a pre-existing campaign, giving +2 slots to that account, so you can try the two new professions available.
This way, existing costumers were happy to add the campaigns, because it made sense for them (for us). You could use your existing characters in that new lands, or start new characters there with the 2 slots.
Eye of the North didn’t add professions, and was a truly expansion instead of stand-alone. it has a price tag lower than the full campaigns, and for that price added an amount of content that looked fair for players at that time.
Now we have a weird thing, that is an expansion but adds professions, that requires the core game but really doesn’t require the core game because is included, but is not included if you already have it, and requires buy extra slots if your slots are full, and have a price similar to a full campaign instead of an expansion. And for what is seen, it doesn’t adds a lot of content.
Marketing, hype generation, costumer satisfaction and price structure clearly failed here.