Planescape! Yep, that’s pretty much the gold standard. What a brilliant idea to occasionally give you the same dialogue option but with “(Truth)” or “(Lie)” after it, so you could tell the NPC the same thing to get the same reaction but choose whether your character was sincere or not.
Every single story-based RPG should have taken its cue from that – that moral choice needs to be more complex than saying whatever you think will reward you with the good ending. Imagine a game that detects when you’re choosing options just to get a particular outcome and effectively treats you like a cynic or a selfishly motivate character because of that, instead of assuming that you’re ‘good’ just because you always pick the obvious good option!
But back to GW2 – the conflict whereby every single player is the hero of the story is somewhat easily resolved, I think, even if it requires a very brave bit of decision-making from on high. Don’t make the player the hero. Let them be a hero. Let them influence, help, hinder or play a part depending on their inclination, make friends or enemies with a variety of NPCs and alter the destiny of Tyria that way.
It’s not true that everyone wants to be the big shot who wins every battle; it depends on how you set their expectations. People complain about Trahearne because the game expends so much effort trying to convince you you’re somebody special and then pulls the rug out from underneath you. Instead, a game should make you feel you have a vital part to play in events, but not that you’re some generic chosen one who everyone loves. I mean, why would a thief character want to be famous for their good deeds in the first place? Or a necromancer?
It’s just like real life, really – you don’t get anywhere in a culture where everyone thinks they’re more special than everyone else, but you can give people immense satisfaction and good feeling from letting them be part of the team.
Various reasons, but one that I’m not sure has been mentioned yet: their body-shape. If you want to play a properly slender, willowy or skinny character, you have to be a Sylvari. The humans are all Marks & Spencer models with broad shoulders or hips!
Agree with the general consensus – totally incestuous.
And isn’t that a good thing? Not because I’m pro-incest, but because one the best things about fantasy is being ‘out there’ – opening up the possibilities for societies beyond ours.
Alfred Hitchkitten …
He he.
In all seriousness, it’s not the killing of the characters that’s bad. It’s how rhythmic it is, which makes it feel over-orchestrated and ultimately fake. “Oh, I see, that guy had to die because we’re at the end of this part of the story now, and we all have to move on.”
Also, the GW2 engine just doesn’t allow for elegant or realistic deaths, within context. Almost everyone (even skritt) can survive being shot, sliced set on fire multiple times, but then one arrow kills … is it Zott? While your Orders mentor dies behind a close pair of doors with almost no sound effects – very dramatic!
Effectively, with the limitations the writers have to work with, deaths should almost always be off-screen, with news delivered through text, or from multiple injuries as a character lies still – not in cut-scenes. The graphics and animations just aren’t suited to convey things that are sharp and subtle in the way choice words can.
Bobby – sincere thanks for engaging on the themes raised. I can’t tell you how much warmer it makes me feel towards a game and its developers when we get this kind of interaction.
For me personally, there are various issues with the mechanics of GW2, but I know that I can get past that in almost any game when the story has me hooked. The idea of playing through a rollicking good fantasy yarn with memorable, well-rounded characters alongside either some friends or some strangers, playing my own part as a character I’ve created, is the core appeal in GW2 for me.
I agree with many of the points about voice acting and disposable characters, and with the problems with Trahearne. I would suggest the main over-arcing issue at the moment is disjointedness – the feeling that the elements just don’t come together and that there were a lot of brains involved, not all aware of what each other was doing, voice actors unsure of the context of their lines et cetera.
I guess I’d like to see a new arc of the story spring up that characters at all stages of their personal story can join in, which takes a more cohesive and streamlined approach. I also don’t think we need such reliance on voice acting – I would like a lot more of the story to play out between cut scenes, through actions and spontaneous exchanges, rather than through somewhat stilted meetings.
Writing a good story is hard, writing an interactive one double so. Best of luck in succeeding against the odds.
Bobby – any chance of knuckling down and getting some major new story content in the game, perhaps with different endings and major events accessible through choices? G2 has all the lore for a great tale but it seems like the writing team were both really stretched in terms of how much ground they had to cover, and also forced to tick a whole bunch of genre boxes to appear to a broad player base. Time to take the gloves off and do something deeper, darker and more complex?
Silva Aeternalis – 7/10. Good that it’s rich in meaning but the surname is tricky to pronounce at first glance, which means it’s a tough one to remember.
My Sylvari’s name is Weatherteller. I didn’t know anything about the lore when I named him, but as he’s a plant, I used an old folk name for dandelions. Supposedly, blowing the seeds would tell you what the weather was going to be like.
I’m not quite sold on this, although I see where you’re coming from. Better if he just dies, to be honest.
Actually, my number 1 choice would be an option to have Trahearne turn out to be an imaginative delusion your character was experiencing, like in Fight Club.
Something wrong with British accents?
Might want to reword that, it sounds a little bigoted.
I’m British, and the Sylvari accents are indeed fairly annoying, largely because … well, not that many British people actually speak like that, and the ones that do are usually posh and a bit stupid. Most of the conversations sound like a Monty Python sketch.
Can’t agree enough with this.
It’s the biggest let down of the game that the writing is generally so limited and shoddy. Great writing can make even a click-grinding browser game like Fallen London fun and addictive. ArenaNet promised a story that reflected your character and personal choices, but completely dropped the ball. The best you can hope for in GW2 is an amusing exchange between NPCs – your own character is a self-aggrandising dimwit who eventually just fawns over Trahearne.
I’d really love to see them put some effort into a whole new story that you can play through with any character that lets you genuinely evolve into someone interesting. A bit of genuine literary ambition wouldn’t go amiss either – aim high, I say.
JOSH I understand you are responsible for all the jumping.
I hate you.
Since when does jumping have anything to do with MMORPGs for the PC? Jumping seems to be a console type thing to do…like mario bros. or whatever.
I don’t mind the finding the way to get to where I want to to go, I hate those very few jumps that I just plain cant jump far enough or high enough or turn ….. they have ruined an otherwise great game for me and you would be surprised how many quit over the too hard jumps. I realize you don’t really care since all your hardcore twitch buddies can do them. I realize no loss to your company, no monthly fee and you got your $60 bucks, but maybe a little rethink on a few of the individual jumps in some of these jumping quests should be reconsidered.
“Challenge” is only fun if you win.
I feel your frustration but I think in theory the puzzles are a great addition to the PvE game – something to do which isn’t just killing dumb creatures. I love the tension of lining yourself up for a long jump over a large drop – really engaging.
The problem is the engine and the controls. Josh’s puzzles – even the Mad King Clocktower – would be great in a slick platformer, but in GW2 you have to deal with the skittish camera, the weird delay on the jump key, invisible barriers, your character getting caught on a tiny bit of rock, and other players jumping through and around you. Completely ruined Clocktower for me, and makes some of the others frustrating when they should be at their most enjoyable.
Jumping puzzles would be my absolute favourite part of the game if it weren’t for the horrific camera, dodgy collision detection and unresponsive controls. Give me a joypad, a quick response and a better overall game engine, and I would get a real kick out of them.
I like most of them as it is – the only one that I thought was a pointless load of kittylitter was the Clocktower at Hallowe’en. Nothing to do with skill – just divides players into those prepared to waste six hours learning the exact sequence of moves and those who can’t be bothered. What makes the other puzzles good is the tension as you try to line yourself up for that succeed-or-die jump.
I also dislike the various sections where you basically have to take a chance and stand/land on thin air to progress. There’ll be this ridiculously thin iron bar beneath you and your character will be proudly standing with a leg either side of it. What lazy level architecture – they actually designed them around the awful collision detection!
Most of the issues I have with GW2 (I’ve recently picked it up again, started a brand new character and tried to get back into it) are ones I could cope with if I could get into the story. The main thing sapping my enjoyment now is dreading getting to the Trahearne stage again. I kill things, I fetch things, I screw about, but for what? Where’s the narrative drive to achieve something or change the world, or find out what happens next?
Do you think there’s any chance of ANet adding a new, better scripted story path that you can switch onto with low to mid level characters?
Better yet – BETTER YET – is there any chance they’ll ever give users the tools to script their own story instances to share with other users?
I’m guessing not, but does no one else hunger for it?
Just logging on to say that I don’t really play anymore after all the questions thrown up by the latest content – and also some bad experiences trying to discuss things sensibly on this board (not with fellow posters – you do the maths).
I’m checking back to this board every so often to see what the feeling is about the direction of the game. If it does significantly improve and get back to story-centered events and challenges, I can boot it up again then, but I’ve been thoroughly put off by the direction the game has been taken in.
I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you. But basically what you’re saying is that these “locusts” don’t have a right to express how they want their game play to be? What makes them wrong and you right on determining the betterment of this game?
It’s more the fact that every other MMORPG already caters to them, and when a game like GW2 comes along that avoids doing so, they keep on shouting for it to get back in line until it does. They want every game to follow the same formula.
The irony is that there’s nothing remotely progressive about it.
In single-player RPGS, the point of increasing stats and armour is to have a system that regulates the pace of the game so you don’t blaze through it – it keeps you juggling smaller tasks as you advance the plot.
At the endgame of an MMORPG, the only purpose it serves is exactly as you say – it’s to make you feel better in some way than players around you.
I wondering how many of these so-called quitters will be there once the patch hits? I think most of em. Like in most games. People whine and say they are going to quit, then dont.
Anyone worth playing with will still be in game.
at least it will have weeded out the ones with special snowflake syndrome.
Whats that saying now. “When everyone is special. No one is.”
This is so backwards it hurts.
It’s serial gear-grinders who desperately need to feel special. They specifically opt to play games where best performance is linked purely to hours whiled away performing simple, repetitive tasks. Skill and self-confidence have they none, but time have they plenty, and so they toil away at the only task which they feel elevates them above other human beings.
Well, congrats. ANet or their management obviously want to keep you insecure little fellows on board.
(edited by Focksbot.6798)
Wow. Thank you for pointing me in the direction of those Iron Realms games. I feel a new obsessions coming in …
I don’t see why these kinds of skills even exist if they can’t be used in fun ways like this.
QFT. Big problem I’ve had with this game from the outset – almost any way of using skills creatively has been nixed. No knocking enemies off cliff edges, no shortcuts up mountainsides, no leaping massive gaps etc etc.
The fun police must have got in during beta testing.
I think a real life Norn woman would be comparable to this..
Our beloved Xena
Careful there, Focks gets cranky when you make real world analogies that don’t fit
his perception.I get cranky when people use real world comparisons in some misguided attempt to prove that all women have the same body structure. Or when people who can’t debate civilly resort to snide remarks. ;-)
civ·il (svl)
adj.
Sufficiently observing or befitting accepted social usages; not rude: a civil reply.snide
adj. snid·er, snid·est
Derogatory in a malicious, superior way.“It’s got nothing to do with the Scandinavian pornstars you’ve been ogling.”
“I find the attitude of you and others here narrow-minded and crude.”
“Charlie is totally wrong (period, end of story)”
“You can still have your precious skinny wench”;-)
I’ll give you the fourth one.
First one is an adroit riposte. Second is a fair statement of my opinion. Third wasn’t me. I know that without looking because I’m English, and we don’t say ‘period’ to mean a full stop.
So are we fairly confident on this narrative of the developers versus the management? Should we be sending Arenanet condolence cards?
Because I know how I’d feel if I genuinely believed what they were saying during development and then had to face what was happening now. :-(
A lot of people on these forums are cry babies. That’s the truth. I remember when making your character in an RPG increasingly stronger was fun. Now all you have are these crybaby hippies that think everything needs to be exactly fair. Everyone should have on the same gear so the game is completely balanced and everyone is on an even playing field! Guess what, life isn’t balanced. MMOs used to reflect society. You had the elites who had a bunch of nice stuff. Then you had the casuals that put no time in therefore they reaped no reward.
That’s not society. In society, the ‘elites’ put in no time and reap the reward from all the hard-working ‘casuals’. Newsflash: rich people work less hard, not more hard. Why do you think they have so much time to patronise expensive restaurants and lounge around on yachts?
Now you have GW2 come along and make the game completely effortless… Everyone can have a level 80 character in full end game gear in roughly a week or two. Wooooo! Now you have the most bland boring MMO on the planet.
So what you’re saying is you never liked GW2 in the first place, you were against the concept, you fundamentally disagree with the design philosophy behind it, and you still want the developers to listen to you.
Gear grind used to be a way to show initiative. You could tell who actually cared about the game and would put in the work. Now you have people who have no idea how to play but they are wearing the same gear as you…
It’s a slippery slope. No one wants to be forced to run dungeons every other week chasing a carrot on a stick. But some of us who are bored to death would love a bigger hurdle than the current end game.
This is what you are, and why people like you are going to spell the death of this game:
http://morgaren.hubpages.com/hub/Content-Locust-How-They-Change-The-MMO-Landscape
Please go ahead and keep adding more item and character progression. Its a very good way to keep pve interesting for a long time. New skins are good, but what if you dont like the new skins or like the one you have more? After all visuals are personal preference.
… and character progression …
What.
Gear = character progression??
: – |
what you mean? Gear is part of character progression.
No, character progression is a narrative concept. It means your character evolves as a (simulated) person – learns, adapts, is permanently altered by their experiences.
Gear/stat progression is not the same thing.
Poorly voice acted, given terrible hackneyed dialogue, no use to you whatsoever in the field, and a ‘Chosen One’ type character to boot.
Is anyone else having trouble seeing this thread? I’m getting a blank space underneath the title unless I change the ‘2’ to a ‘1’ after ‘page’ in the address bar. I wondered if it was just me or a general glitch that’s killed the thread.
Here’s that page I was talking about:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en-gb/news/is-it-fun-colin-johanson-on-how-arenanet-measures-success/
You cannot objectively state what someone’s motivation will be based on what an activity is.
That’s called making a prediction. It’s still answering an objective question, but it’s taking a guess at the answer.
Whether it rained on my house yesterday is an objective fact. Whether it will rain on my house tomorrow is still a matter of objectivity, but harder to state with absolute certainty.
You can’t take a particular quest and say “All people who complete this quest will do so for reason X”. That’s absurd.
Not absurd; it’s how game design works. When they put things in, they don’t think: “Now, I have no idea whatsoever why anyone would want to do this – could be any number of reasons – but hey, we’ll bung it in anyway!” They think about what motivation they’re giving the player, why they will expect someone to do it.
This site even has a page about it – about how they wanted to make sure at every stage that the primary motivation would be ‘fun’. It describes how dungeons were supposed to vary, with multiple paths, and players were supposed to receive tokens so that they weren’t just grinding for rare drops. The idea was that they were actively trying to create a system where the primary motivation for activities was personal satisfaction (or fun).
But ultimately, they just didn’t go far enough. It’s plain to me, from what I see people doing in the game and what I see people talking about on forums, that after an initial honeymoon period, players remain in GW2 to grind. Maybe the first time they did an event or a dungeon, it was fun. But now they’re grinding.
(edited by Focksbot.6798)
I’m a little startled and alarmed that you view motivation as an objective quality that lies outside the player.
Like, so startled and alarmed that I think we’ve really gone as far as it’s possible to go with this conversation, because I have no idea how on earth anyone could come to that conclusion rationally.
Well, don’t go into a law court, or you might be overcome with shock. ;-)
Yes, motivation is objective. Objective does not mean ‘outside the player’; it means something that holds true no matter the perspective you bring to it.
“Is this activity boring?” is a subjective question.
“Why is this person doing this activity?” is an objective question. You don’t send some people to jail for murder and others for manslaughter on the basis of subjective viewpoints.
Uh…
You don’t think the reason and motivation that someone does something is unique to that player’s psychology? You think it’s given to us by the game, do you?
Actually, it is. Of course human beings experience various reactions, which is why many will not ever like or play MMORPGs, but games do mould player psychologies. Individual games do it, and genres do it as well, over time. So it’s developers who are primarily responsible for the common mindset of the modern MMORPG player – impatient with anything that doesn’t appear to offer a reward.
Jestunhi’s got it. Motivation is an objective quality, not subjective. It’s not about what the player thinks about what he’s doing; it’s what’s making him do it. Is he motivated by the sense of satisfaction or accomplishment he feels from carrying out a task, or is it the twinkle of loot at the end of the road?
I add in the ‘primarily’ because you can be motivated somewhat by both, of course, and many games offer types of rewards so that players will have an added incentive over the top of enjoyment. But if the primary motivation is the loot, then they’re grinding.
What is the threshold beyond which something can be reasonably defined as “grindy”? Is the term completely subjective? Because completely subjective terms are not particularly useful in dialogue with other human beings, for fairly obvious reasons.
I don’t think it’s a threshold. I think it’s an objective binary. Is the player performing a particular activity repeatedly primarily in order to attain a reward other than personal satisfaction? If yes, it’s a grind.
why are all u crybaby’s getting so upset with a new tier of gear that is in between exotic and legendary? im lmao at all the im quitting post here and all the crying about a gear treadmill before the patch is even out please read this post.
Yes, well, if this is the calibre of player that is staying on for the treadmill, ANet is welcome to them.
I’m not really sure where you’re getting “wrong way around” from.
You said that doing anything except the task that gets you the reward was grinding. I’m saying it’s the other way round; grinding is defined by doing something repetitively just for the reward.
What do you think I characterize “grinding” as? Back in the day, “grinding” was sitting on a hill killing Tumps for 24 hours to knock off one bubble of one level of experience, and we were happy to do it. These days people run into a field, do a single event, and come to the forums to moan about the terrible grind. The word has lost all meaning. If I said “grind” to you in casual conversation about an MMO, unless you and I were close you would have absolutely no idea what I was talking about.
I would assume you’re talking about carrying out some activity you don’t particularly enjoy or engage with just to get some reward or bonus that you’re seeking. You’re seriously telling me there’s a definition other than that?
Because the difference you highlight above is purely to do with scale. All you’re saying is that in the past you had to grind for ages, and today you have to grind less, but that people have become less tolerant of grinding.
What’s not grinding is doing an activity (probably in another game in another genre) which gives you no rewards or bonuses or chests, just for kicks.
We apparently have an entire generation of players in this genre who are playing despite the fact they hate every aspect of the game except the part where their numbers go up. I find it utterly baffling.
Yes, I agree, and this is a direct result of the genre teachings its players to measure their success and worth through gear and rewards. Every action they perform is ultimately motivated by some distant glitter of a new sword or stat increase. It’s a lamentable situation, which GW2 was meant to redress head-on by emphasising ideas like your effect on the world, the individuality of your character, your power to determine your fate etc.
It’s apparent that they lost confidence in this tack some way through development and are now hastily getting back onto the bandwagon.
This is the same colloquial abuse of a term that occurred with grinding, to the point that “grinding” now means “doing things”, and the only thing that isn’t a “grind” is receiving a reward.
Wrong way round. Grinding means doing things just for the reward. Repeating simple tasks and challenges just to farm materials, or doing a dungeon or boss just for the chest at the end.
It’s called grinding because, psychologically, you’re not getting anything out of the activity itself. The idea of a game is almost predicated on the idea that you’re completing unnecessary tasks simply for the enjoyment of completing unnecessary tasks. Other than the sense of a job well done, what reward do you get for beating your opponent in chess? Or completing Super Mario Brothers?
The ‘grind’ of MMORPGs is why people joke about gaming becoming like a second job. We’re no longer playing for the challenge or the satisfaction of doing something well; we’ve instead been persuaded to attach the same extrinsic value to virtual objects as we do to material property.
Just wait until unscrupulous governments start working this out.
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“absolutely no vertical progression” Are you freaking kidding? So that fact you knew from day 1 that game had 80 levels, and you’d start at Level 1… didn’t strike you as ‘vertical progression’ Did you expect to wear the same gear at Level 1 as you would as Level 80? Seriously?
How is going from 1-80 “absolutely no vertical progression”? That’s the VERY definition of vertical progression. Either you don’t understand English, didn’t read a single thing about the game, or are just lying. This is the kind of hyperbole I’m talking about.
Advancing in levels/gear not unlocking new content. That’s what he means by ‘absolutely no vertical progression’ – a levelling system that’s a goal unto itself, rather than a gateway to certain content.
And yet, I see those very things in the game that and you claim you don’t. They do have personal stories, they do have dynamic events, there are rpg elements.
All far, far away from the extravagant claims made on those pages. You cannot remotely shift your character’s destiny, or even their personality. Dynamic events are not a means to alter the world around you. The world reacts minimally to your presence. Every tiny thing you might change reverts within an hour. Your character’s biography is shallow and irrelevant. You don’t play the game ‘your’ way; you play the game exactly the way ANet envisaged you would: farming and fighting and watching occasional cutscenes.
“Free stuff doesn’t matter that much to you when it’s not the kind of free stuff you want.” Boy, that statement say a lot to me. So because if it’s not what YOU want, no one else playing could possibly enjoy it or see the value of it?
Sure, I can see the ‘value’ of it, but you are so missing the point. If this was all ANet intended to provide/expand on, this is how they should have marketed the game. If they had come out and said, “GW2 is going to be a big old grind for loot with a battle system that’s a mash-up of hack & slash button-bashing and RPG stat porn – oh, and there will be a perfunctory quest-type story and some amusing NPC dialogue”, I would have known exactly what I was getting myself in for and left it for you guys who enjoy that type of thing.
Almost every element of the game that persuaded me to pay for it and hand over the game is an element that has been underdeveloped and is now being quietly shoved to the side in favour of concentrating on the grind for loot.
I tried it a couple of times in this game, and I just don’t see what there is to it apart from having more players than the other team. I walk for five minutes and get set upon by a mob. I stick with my own mob and we decimate other players until we get attacked by a slightly larger mob. There’s no tactics. Terrain doesn’t matter. Taking castles involves standing around for ages shooting at doors.
I just don’t get it. Back to TF2 for me.
Please go ahead and keep adding more item and character progression. Its a very good way to keep pve interesting for a long time. New skins are good, but what if you dont like the new skins or like the one you have more? After all visuals are personal preference.
… and character progression …
What.
Gear = character progression??
: – |
I case people forgot, this game has NO monthly fee, just $60, period. And yet gets as many patches/fixes/updates as most mmos out there that have a monthly sub. Did they have to do the Halloween event, for free? No.
Free stuff doesn’t matter that much to you when it’s not the kind of free stuff you want.
This is the game I handed over cash for:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en-gb/the-game/personal-story/
And this:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en-gb/the-game/dynamic-events/
This is the game they’re still advertising.
“In Guild Wars 2, your actions really matter and your choices have an impact on the world around you. "
“Dynamic events change and evolve in response to how you interact with them, leaving lasting effects in the game world.”
“Guild Wars 2 goes beyond race and profession to a deeper level of character creation—the biography.”
“Guild Wars 2 provides players both the social, fully interactive feeling of a multiplayer game as well as the customized, choice-based story one expects from a personal role-playing game. "
“Use your surroundings for maximum effect. Your position on the battlefield is vitally important, as many attacks in Guild Wars 2 reward tactical player movement.”
On the contrary, all I’m seeing with these updates is emphasis on more-grind-for-woot. My presence has no effect on anything, as far as I can see.
Re. this part of the statement:
We will slowly add the remaining ascended gear items and legendary items in future updates to allow people time to acquire them as we add exciting new content that deserves exciting rewards.
My trust, which was dwindling, is gone. This game was heavily marketed as being about story, adventure, exploration and, I dunno, ‘epicness’. I didn’t sign on to a rat maze with new varieties of cheese being wafted in my face all the time. I don’t give a flying fig about ‘rewards’ beyond being given what is necessary to move on and customise my character a bit.
I’m not a rat. I’m a human being. And I’m off to play something where the playing is the reward in itself, not a means to an end.
As others have said, OP, very good post.
Unfortunately, as others have pointed out, there’s no hope for GW2 in this area. It is a hack & slash game, essentially, with a single plotline and a choice of missions. There’s been no scope for character development programmed in, and I think to an extent, any of us hoping for that aspect have all been fooled.
I see ArenaNet’s nixing of the prospect of mods and player-generated content as indicative of this. They’re not interested in player creativity. It’s their world and we’re just living in it. The game is a system for keeping us occupied and entertained, not to facilitate our imaginative instincts or nurture our yearning for alternative ‘selfs’ to occupy in our downtime.
Obviously, ANet isn’t alone in this and it’s par for the course with MMORPGs, but I guess, like many people, I was hoping for a mini-revolution. I guess in my misty looking glass I see elements of Minecraft with GW2’s graphics and lore, with players able to script in-game instances, create unique objects and share them.
You don’t need to ‘look’ intelligent when you are intelligent. ;-)
Right. I’ll let you know when you get there.
Ta, but think I’ll stick with my own instincts on this one.
I disagree with the lot of you. ;-)
Well, in some ways, but not in others. My personal experience of the boss is that once he makes the clones and starts sending streams of lasers across the floor in all directions, I can’t get close. If one little glowing dart hits you, four more hit your while you’re on the ground. I’ve played my fair share of shmups, and I can dodge for long periods, but one hit and I’m toast, it seems.
Also, my ranger’s autofire just won’t work against this boss, which means I’m hammering 1 whilst constantly dodging. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to take the guy down without being able to get near to him.
However – and it’s a big ‘however’ – I can hardly complain that the boss is too difficult when my pet managed to kill it all on his own while I was dancing around over the glowing bullets.
So the boss, for me, is just broken. And unfortunately, it’s down, I think, to the core game engine – it just can’t do very sophisticated battles. The more complications you throw in, the more it just gets confusing and liable to bug out.
Ranger fixes to make the spirits viable maybe?
Not knowing anything about Sylvari lore when I rolled the character, I decided they’d probably be named after plants and went for an old folk name for dandelions: Weatherteller.
For those who may be wondering, it appears that my original title for this thread was not sufficiently descriptive. This has been remedied. No other changes have been made or requested. There are no black helicopters landing on my lawn to whisk me away for re-education. : )
Thanks for the explanation. I wish it could have been provided without someone feeling it was necessary to delete the posts that prompted it.
In all seriousness, there’s nothing that says sexuality has to have anything to do with reproductive options. If a race is sexually dimorphic, then the male who pursues the male is a homosexual, the female who pursues the male a hetereosexual, the male who pursues neither an asexual, and so on.
A more interesting question is: why are Sylvari sexually dimorphic? Plants, of course, have both male and female parts. Is there any chance the Sylvari are similarly hermaphroditic? What’s nature’s plan for a race that don’t reproduce through any kind of sex but are still outfitted with sexual organs?
You don’t need to ‘look’ intelligent when you are intelligent. ;-)
And do they literally sow their seed?