Guild Wars 2

Totally agree. I have the same problem as the OP — The armor in GW2 is hands down just bad. While there is variety, the choices are either extremely bland or downright garish. Many of the high-end armors are too ornate and are comical at best with protruding spikes or abstract designs that don’t even resemble armor — And if you are light armor wearer (and female) you end up wearing some reject prom dress from the 80s.

To be honest, no. I had high hopes for this game, but it took only two months of playing and the actions of ANet to make me realize that this game is probably not for me.

While countless others have pointed out specific problems such as bots, broken quests, and Legendary crafting, I feel the real problem lies in ANet’s perspective on what make a challenging game. After reading various dev responses, I feel ANet doesn’t understand the difference between challenging and frustration. There are so many fundamental problems with the game, it cannot be coincidence. — This was planned and ANet doesn’t seem to want to back down.

One of the key promises was ANet’s assurance that grinding was a thing of the past (or at least unnecessary), yet we find ourselves grinding endlessly for items just to sell/salvage for crafting, karma for more items, or tokens for — wait for it — more items.

The Trading Post and economy are a mess due to early exploits and brute force assaults on the Mystic Forge. The desire to acquire precursors have caused a behavioral shift in players to acquire as much gold as possible, in hopes of attaining a Legendary item. This turns their focus from enjoyment to attainment.

Guilds are hoping from server to server causing population and competitive shifts in WvW, so they can play w/o queues or be on the dominating server. This loose 24hr restriction on server transfers is detrimental to the building of server pride on a basic level.

Dungeons are simply overly frustrating. I have cleared several dungeons and I understand what ANet was trying to do, but they executed it horribly. When players are actively avoiding certain paths, because they are too difficult, you have a design problem. When the rewards aren’t worth the effort it takes to clear dungeons, you have a design problem. You can try to explain it away as ignorance or laziness, but that is frankly a pathetic excuse for being unwilling to recognize that what you designed just isn’t working. It is not the player’s responsibility to understand how YOU want them to play. It is your responsibility to understand how the players DO/DON’T want to play.

But one thing in particular has stood out to me and in my opinion is a root cause of the problems many players are having — the acquisition of money. With all the problems with low selling items on the TP, inflated prices for precursors, and the excessive farming of high level areas like Cursed Shore and dragon battles, it occurred to me that the economic system is flawed in one single way — There isn’t enough money flowing into the economy, therefore nothing is flowing out of the economy.

It is obvious that in their quest to avoid the trappings of other MMOs, ANet designed a game where money is scarce. Unfortunately it is too scarce. Mobs do not drop very much and all the trash items we acquire are worth little to nothing to a vendor. If these items are worth so little, then why bother creating them in the first place. This wouldn’t be a problem, but when you combine this with the previous farming exploits, repair costs, and bots, you create a situation where in order to survive, a player has to spend more time grinding, and less time playing.

If players don’t have money, they don’t spend money. And if players don’t spend money, those that have the most control the flow of the economy. This is why we are where we are today with precurosrs inflating to prices unaffordable and countless groups of Lv. 80 players sitting around waiting for dragon battles and Dynamic Events in Cursed Shore. This is not challenging, nor is it fun. It is an exercise in futility for the player.

The fact that GW2 has no subscription cost is it’s only redeeming factor when so many things are turning me off. It is the primary reason why this doesn’t upset me as much as other MMOs have, because there is no continuing monetary investment. But even after paying $60, I feel my time could be better spent playing something else.

ANet needs to take a cue from Carbine Studios and their upcoming MMO, Wildstar. They have a similar combat system in that both players and enemies use ground-targets to telegraph where an attack will land. The difference with Wildstar is that the target circles/shapes are filled in. So instead of a empty circle with a color outline, it is simply a red circle. It makes it very easy to see.

Doing so would also open up further visual cues by allowing different colored circles display appropriate colors when they overlap. For example if a player is casting a support spell (Blue) and the enemy is casting an attack spell (Red), the areas that are affected by both would be colored (Purple). And to compensate for color-blind players, a complete color-blind palette and cue system needs to be implemented.

The majority of what has been said hits the nail right on the head. Changing the order of the skills was the worst idea imaginable for a game that locks players into a predefined order. ANet really dropped the ball and whoever was responsible for this needs to seriously have their decisions questioned on this matter. Muscle memory and lack of customization are nothing to scoff at and something like this should have been handle BEFORE launch.

Something like this may have been deemed necessary, but now that players are incorporated into the process in the Live version, something ANet just has to accept as unchangeable.

You can find Lv. 80 Power/Toughness/Vitality gear from the armor/weapon vendors at Vigil Keep. Not only are the stats pretty decent, but they are some of the best looking items I have seen. But be aware, each piece costs anywhere from 3-5g a piece.

Suggestions from the box:

Crafting

• The layout of the crafting window needs to be redesigned to allow for more character space for long item names. Currently most names are cutoff and variations of items using the “Master” or “Rare” tags are impossible to identify unless you hover over the name or click on it. Either the window sections need to be made expandable or a new layout needs to be made for lengthy text.
• The items need to be organized in a more intuitive and senesible manner. Some items are organized by level, while others are organized by type and sometimes within the same category. For whatever reason it seems as if the underlining structure is too haphazard to be useful, even with the use of filters.
• Give users the ability to select “Favorites” recipes and display them in their own tab. This would allow players to quickly access the recipes they make on a consistent basis w/o having to sort through a full list of items.
• When crafting components such as “Bronze Ingot,” the amount of the item in stock needs to stand out more. Currently, if a player is crafting (for example) Bronze Ingots, any ingots already in possession are displayed as a small line of text underneath the item name. Simply changing the color to something more vibrant would make it easier to notice.
• The Collectibles tab needs to be expanded to account for ALL crafting components, not just the baseline components. Since all crafting discplines have items that are considered both an item and a crafting component, we need to ability to organize them as such. THe Collectibles tab is a great feature, but when you start delving deeper into crafting, you quickly realize that many items used in crafting aren’t considered crafting materials and take up valuable bank space. I suggest a new tab for just such items, that way players are able to organize these materials properly.

Mapping

• Give players the ability to create their own map markers. While most major elements are marked, there are many unique places that do not fall within the realm of “important” areas. With so many hidden gems such as harvesting gardens, Champion mobs, and hidden puzzles, it would nice if players could mark them on their maps for personal reference. In addition to this, map markers should have a system that allows players to filter only specific ones for quick and easy access.

Dungeons

• I was somewhat surprised ANet implemented this, but dungeon tokens need to be redesigned as a pure currency. Meaning, they should not be dropped items, but rather automatically added to the player’s character just as coin and Karma are. Tokens do nothing but take up bank space and given that most MMOs have converted such structures to a currency system, I see no reason for GW2 to not follow suit. If we are going to spend it like coin and Karma, then it needs to be treated as such.

Inventory

• Implememt a more robust sorting feature. The game is great at filtering, but poor at sorting, and both go hand-in-hand. Complete item management isn’t just about what you don’t see, but what you do see. Give players the ability to sort alphabetically, by item type, by category, etc. This is especially useful for those peopel who use the “one bag” view for their inventory.

You have concerns and questions, which is why I am answering them to the best of my ability without divulging the full mechanics of our DR system.

And therein lies the problem. ANet introduced a very technical system that artificially imposes restrictions on players at the expense of their fun and offers no numerical data to explain it.

It is also very clear why ANet doesn’t want to divulge the mechanics of the system, because if people knew the specific timeframes that trigger DR, players could again maximize their playing time by clearing dungeons at a pace that is beneficial to them. But that doesn’t seem to concern ANet. All ANet seems to care about is what they think is best, not what is best for the players.

It makes no sense to artificially impose these restrictions on players who are playing the game by the rules in conjunction with the design of the dungeons. If players are able to learn the mechanics, come up with solid group dynamics and combination of skills, that make them more efficient, they should not be punished for it. That is simply punishing people for being good, not exploiting the system. If ANet doesn’t like that people are clearing the content at a pace that is faster than they like, then so be it, but at least have the respect for the community and admit the true reasons for the change, as opposed to offering up vague responses that are clearly dancing around the truth.

Even though I think the change is flat out stupid in terms of a design stance, stop giving us the political answer and just be honest with us, it will go a long way.

I use the Logitech G13 Gamepad and I absolutely love it! It is similar the Razer Nostromo, except it has more buttons and better macro functions. The analog stick is also 4-way instead of 8-way, but is more precise, because it doesn’t have sensitivity issues regarding the diagonal movements.

It also has an LCD readout screen which automatically pulls info from the game. It will display the map completion for the world and zones, as well as some WvW info. Since you can program your own scripts, I’m going to try my hand at designing my own readouts for information I find useful.

The only flaws the G13 are its overall size and the analog stick itself. If you have small hands or short fingers, then this gamepad is not for you. The additional keys make it cumbersome for anyone who doesn’t have adequate reach. The thumb top for the analog stick is very tiny and a bit uncomfortable when you first use it. Over time you will adjust and will barely notice it, but I plan on modding it and replacing the analog stick with one from another Logitech product which I read about online.

Overall I find gamepads like the G13 and Nostromo to be very useful, as they reduce the wear and tear on your keyboards and give you a better layout.

I use the Hammer and Sword+Torch. The Hammer has good AoE & Protection buff on the #1 skill and nice AoE Combo Finisher on the #2 skill. Couple that with the CC skills on #3 and #4 and you can handle multiple mobs with ease. The Sword+ Torch I use when I want more mobility with the #2 teleport/Blind skill, but sometimes I will use the Mace, since I find Sword to be a little less useful utility-wise.

Currently I am trying to build a AoE damage/Support build, by speccing 30 into Virtue to get Supreme Justice and Permeating Wrath, while running AoE utility Skills.

What many are failing to realize is the the game is designed with an intentionally low rate of currency acquisition. Because the value of items is inherently low when selling them to vendors and coin does not drop very often, players have a exceptionally minimal amount of money to spend. This is counter to the standard MMO, which allows players to accumulate wealth at an faster/higher rate.

This general lack of currency is a major factor in determining the prices of all items on the Trading Post. It makes no sense to sell anything such as a green for a high amount, given most players do not have to funds to purchase it. The value you speak of is a misguided perception based upon the standard MMO environment which does not apply to GW2. The economics of GW2 have to be considered for what they are, not what the genre has dictated for so long.

While I agree that many people are pricing things just above the vendor price, it is to be expected, because trying to sell anything at an elevated cost is futile. In this game 10G is like having 100G in other MMOs and players have to adjust to his new economic environment.

The fact that players are beginning to coin the term “death zerg” is a clear indication of a problem. =/

Many of the replies are spot on and it is good to know that I am not alone. Again, I want to stress that it isn’t that I (or others) are advocating for easy-mode dungeons, but it is clear that from the response, that many players are not having “fun.” I love challenging mechanics, but this isn’t about the lack of a challenge, but a lack of balance.

There are too many inconsistencies and problems associated with running the first dungeon to be merely a skill-based problem. What I believe may be the fundamental issue at hand is the problem associated with ArenaNet’s implementation of a non-Trinity based game. This is a good thing, as I think it provides new and interesting ways to play the game, BUT it also introduces a host of new problems associated with a very different style of gameplay.

Nothing is perfect out of the box and it is apparent that ArenaNet could not conceive of all the issues and missed quite a few problems. The professions may be redesigned to exclude the Holy Trinity, but the mobs don’t seem to be. They act as if groups have a dedicated tank who is designed to mitigate damage, a healer to heal through severe spikes in damage, and DPS to eliminate threats. But as we know that isn’t the case.

I commend ArenaNet for changing the game, but such as change requires constant testing and feedback, which I assume could only be done after the game was launched. It is my though that the only way for ArenaNet to know if the dungeons were tuned properly was to just throw us in the lion’s den and see what happens. Now that we have been thrown in, it is time for us to respond.

If players are actively avoiding certain paths, because of difficulty, then the problem is real, whether you are experiencing it or not.

Ian Angelos.4681:

I am curious for those that managed to do the ghost eater path in AC, what strategy did you use to protect the npc with the traps? I had a group several times attempt it and each failed with multiuple ways of doign it using only the traps using the traps till the champion then jumping down and killing it etc etc.

The Ghost Eater path is much easier. All you need to do is have 4 people man 4/5 of the chains to pop the traps. The 5th person kites the Gravelings around, while the others pull the chains damaging the mobs as they run through the spikes. After a few minutes, they are all dead. You win.

But unlike this path, the other two paths have no trap mechanic and you are forced to
defend the NPC yourselves, which proves to be extremely difficult.

You are not alone. I have been running Ascalaon Catacombs and out of the 3 paths one can take, I have only completed the second path…twice. The other 2 paths are so ridiculously hard it makes the PvE aspect VERY unappealing.

I have read threads and comments on other sites and they pretty much say the same thing — dungeons are very difficult. I am not above a challenging experience and in all honesty, the dungeons are very challenging, which I enjoy, BUT they are grossly unbalanced and need adjustment.

Take AC for example, the mobs are actually more difficult than the bosses and prove to be the barrier between a successful completion and and long frustrating night. Some of the problems I have seen are:

• Mobs have either too much Defense or too much HP, and sometimes both.
• Many Veteran and Champion mobs have a “one-shot kill” ability. The Gravelers in AC come in two varieties: Stalkers which will knockdown and HP drain you in seconds and Breeders which will spawn so many smaller adds, you will become overrun in seconds > Miss a dodge on the Stalkers and you are dead, period.
• Some mobs will respawn after being killed in groups. I saw this happen after wiping on the last cannon before fighting the Ghost Eater several times.
• The animations (tells) and AoE circles of mob & boss attacks are nearly impossible to see, because of the intensity of spell effects. If we are going to be required to pay attention to the slightest detail or animated effect, we have to be able to SEE them.
• The “protection” fights in AC (Story), where you guard the NPC from attacks in the 1st and 3rd paths are near impossible to complete w/o the perfect player setup and communication. Unless you can talk to the other players and they know your playstyle, you will lose over and over and over again. The reason why players are now only doing the 2nd path is it has the use of spike traps which makes killing the mobs 10x easier.

Overall I am enjoying the game, but the PvE dungeons are disappointing. I am not new to MMOs and I expect difficulty, but if average players who understand the mechanics of the game have this much difficulty getting through the FIRST dungeon, then there is a problem. What makes this so confusing is the dungeons in GW1 were much better designed than this. It seems to me that ArenaNet spent more time fine tuning the WvW elements and ignored the PvE side altogether.