Guild Wars 2

JJBigs.8456:

well since you didnt do research, i wont give direct links, but there is some interview i recall saying that “every 3 months or so” a new tier of ascended gear will come out, and then playerse are given 3 months to “get that tier of new gear” etc…repeat….

so yes, you will be able too if this is right. google some of those quotes to try to find official article but that sums it up basically. yes, just you cant progress ASAP, just like they told you it would be in the start

Interpretation is the key here, and while they have the final say on the matter (and hence, nothing I can “enforce”), reasonable assumptions should not be held against me at least. While they indeed suggested that these fractal levels are gated, on the other hand they also put an emphasis on “allowing players to challenge themselves”. My understanding was that it’ll get significantly harder to do higher level fractals without the proper AR, but people who can dodge every single agony attack (and for that matter, mob attacks too) will be able to reach high levels regardless.

An analogy is that “explorable dungeons are suggested for players of a certain level and preferably certain gear level”, however you’re not excluded from entering the dungeon if you’d like to do them at a lower level with bad gears —- If you can pull it off, then that’s all fine. I thought that was the philosophy of the game, and I had enough reasons to think so due to many contents reflecting this concept. I happened to enjoy doing AC explorable at level 35 instead of 80, and enjoyed doing fractals and not relying on AR to save me, but I guess that was just me misunderstanding their intentions then.

Obviously, not going to argue here. If they never intended for this to be the case, and they intended to keep us gated at certain fractal levels, then I doubt they’ll change this policy just because a few players (because there are not many doing 50+) want a challenge. Ultimately I’m at fault here since I must be not getting the right information and signed onto a contract that I misunderstood, at this point the best thing for me to do is just re-evaluate my options, and redistribute where I spend my leisure time. No grudge, just not what I signed up for.

Thanks for the input everyone, discussion is closed for my questions. Feel free to use this thread to talk about this issue in general though.

I’m just trying to get an answer so I can know where and how I should spend my time from now on. As many of us know, apparently the new patch implemented a agony upon rez for Jade Maw, such that now fractals is hard capped at 50 unless you have someone higher in your team. My question is:

1) Is this a temporary problem that will be resolved in the near future (by near, I mean SOON), or
2) ANet do not intend for players to go beyond lvl 50 fractals

The reason that I’m asking is that, fractal progression was the sole thing that kept me in the game for quite a while now, but with this implementation that is no longer possible. So I’d like to know where ANet is heading, in order to make some decisions.

It would be nice to have those concerned over the same issue to express themselves here, or have someone from ANet clarify this issue a bit. Is this intended? Or can we expect changes to this mechanism sometime soon?

A teacher will of course try to get a whole class to progress somewhat equally. He’s got to see the “bigger picture”, that’s true. But if a very curious and bright student comes to him wanting to know more about a subject, while he shouldn’t delay the class just for this one student, should he not at least point him to a few books? Should he not be secretly praising the curiosity and drive of the student?

All I am suggesting here, is that either you consider to lift the hard cap on fractal progression, or tell us clearly what your intentions are. If you don’t intend for us to get past a certain level, please let us know now. We should’ve been told months ago but better late than never. Making us wait for something that you’ve never intended on giving is cruel, especially since the only reason that we’re willing to put this many hours and this much expectations into the game is because we LIKE your work and we TRUST you.

I know, I know. Different perspectives makes different decisions. But cheesy as it sounds, please don’t play around with our expectations when we are clearly admirers of your work. Not asking for too much, some clarification would be enough.

A month ago, when I learned that ANet was planning to allow disconnected players back into fractals as well as allowing people of different fractal levels to play together, I was excited. And I’ve been waiting for this patch for all these time, while slowly progressing through fractals (slowly, because groups are very hard to find past level 40).

But there are some big disappointment waiting for me, things that I haven’t even expected.

The way that you’ve advertised Fractals to us was that it was intended to be a challenge. The fact that fractals past level 40 ends up being a 1-shot fest is what I LIKE about it. Having to use all my defensive CD and dodge carefully or otherwise be one shotted in these dungeons is something that I enjoy, it’s a indeed a worthy challenge and I thought this is what it was intended for. But you see, this is assuming that there IS a way to counter whatever situation that our group finds ourselves in, just that this “method” is either difficult to achieve, or has a high penalty if we cannot achieve it. That’s a challenge. And that’s fine, I’m having fun in 50+ fractals, and I was able to find a group of people who enjoy the same things so we progress together.

Hence, reviving orb no longer works on Jade Maw agony is something that I cannot understand. I can only find two explanations for your doing this: 1. you intend to fix the encounter, the first step being fixing Jade Maw agony with the side effect of stopping people from progressing, but you’re going to find a way to return this freedom to the players soon. Or 2. you’ve never intended for players to progress past a certain fractal level, yet you’ve advertised the game to hold these possibilities, hence now you’re using agony as a hard cap for fractals. I sincerely hope that explanation 1 is the truth, and if it is, please please please let us know so we can have hope.

The way that I’ve described 2, I can’t help but feel that it sounds too much like a fraud. Yet I fear that it is true. It’s the same vibe that the “evil casinos” in movies send out. They lure people in, tell people that there are possibilities, and people then invest their time and money into the games. But actually what the casino does is not only NOT supporting the pursuit of these people, but ACTIVELY eliminating these possibilities silently. My question is, if you’ve never intended for us to climb higher than level 40 or level 50 fractals, why didn’t you mention anything? Why didn’t you put a hard cap there and tell us about it? Why did you make it sound like it’s all a free playground for players to challenge themselves? Falsified implication is just as guilty as falsified statement, and my heart sinks upon realizing this rather cold strategy of yours. You’re game makers, and I’ve always thought game makers are a little different than say, a pure business man out for revenue only. Movie makers, however rotten they might be, have artistic values and things that they want to express WHILE making money. I’d like to think that game makers also have something “extra”, that is, a genuine care and sense of responsibility to their players, and a strong desire to make “good games”. You’d enjoy it if a group of people really liked your game, I hope. Yes you need to make a living and you’d like to buy fancy cars too and I don’t think letting some people proceed into higher level fractals will prevent that —- Believe me, there are not that many people in those levels. Not many people actively observe their own game play in order to dodge everything perfectly, yet that’s what you’d have to do to proceed into those levels without agony resistance. Your planned tiers of ascended items WILL still apply to the majority of your players, and frankly, people who can proceed into high levels without corresponding AR are “hardcore” enough players that they will actively seek out those AR items just for the slight increase of stats alone. From a “game maker” point of view, I do not see why you wouldn’t have players who’d like to challenge themselves playing your game —- after all, you ARE rooting for e-sports. Isn’t this the mind set that you’d like to attract to your game (or at least, not repel away)?