Guild Wars 2

I spent at least 4 hours in there today and I couldn’t complete it. I made it to the 4th check point but there are a couple of jumps that are so tight in clicking speed to get just enough height that I just fall short each time. It’s the part where you have to climb up those two spires to get to the high point to make that big jump to the last part. I haven’t been able to make it onto the first spire of the two so far and it’s frankly discouraging by now.

Now I am someone with fear of heights and I know that because of that fact my reaction times can just be a bit off as I have to fend off adrenaline surges and anxiety spikes that come with that but this part of the puzzle is totally unforgiving for that.

I’ve always tried to challenge myself and I’ve actually completed almost every jumping puzzle in the game so far without help (2-3 missing that I haven’t tried yet), but this one….I just don’t know if I will be able to manage it.

I’ll give it another go tomorrow perhaps but I’m not hopeful.

It just sucks that I get stuck on two jumps – the one to get on the ledge from where to jump to the first spire. It’s a two part jump and I usually miss the second part because I am just too low and then when I finally do get onto the ledge after 10 attempts, I fail the jump to get onto the first spire. All by a hair each time. It’s like I just can’t click the jump button fast enough to get that tiny bit of extra height. Meh.

I like how he complains about the free level 80 exotic gear set he gets with the boost. It’s not that hard to replace it you know, but at least you get to start with exotic gear.

PyrateSilly.4710:

How many other MMO’s have you ever played? Expansions ALWAYS cost almost as much as the core game when it came out. No expansion has ever cost a small fraction of the core game.

How many have you played?

Because you’re wrong. Take for example SWTOR. The expansions are free with a sub and you only have to sub one month to get the expansion. So that’s about 13 bucks.

Also Aion didn’t charge separately for expansions.

So really, it depends on the game and to say that MMOs always charge as much for an expansion is just not true.

Of course for GW2 box sales are more important because they don’t have a subscription model and personally I find that HoT actually improved the game a lot especially with the gliding masteries and elite specs.

Now, I got HoT not too long ago because it was on sale for 20 something bucks. That was a good deal. Maybe they’ll do another deal for X-mas or something I dunno, but for me it was a good buy. I do get that not everybody is as excited about it. The maps in HoT are a bit 50/50 for me. I quite like Verdant Brink and Auric Basin but don’t like the other ones. The LS3 areas are pretty cool though.

Ceridwen.6703:

I actually did quit a little while after the expansion came out. I then went back in earlier this year, and knuckled down to it. Made myself learn the new stuff, either by following commanders/squads, or checking Dulfy/You Tube for guides. Some of the map areas can be tough and overwhelming at first. Set small goals – play x until have this amount of xp and/or this mastery, etc. It’s a little bit of grind, but if you do things in small increments, eventually it does add up. Use the wiki for event times also helps. I actually quite like it now. It’s still hard – HoT maps tend to make my computer run on the potato setting, and if I stay too long doing the stuff, my eyes dry up (although my tear ducts don’t technically work anyway, but gaming too long definitely doesn’t help!), then I get headaches, and yada yada yada. So as long as I keep aware of my health out of game, it’s all quite doable. You just have to plan a little more, and that’s something which either you’re okay with, or you’re not.

Looking forward to new stuff (Bloodstone Fen and the associated story were rather nice). Some fire stuff in GW2 can mess with my epilepsy somewhat, so I’m preparing for short bursts over long play times.

Gehenna.3625:

I’ll give you an example. It’s Auric Basin I believe. There’s a hero points thing where you need the adrenal mastery to be able to survive the poison. But this adrenal mastery is still 2 steps away for me and it’s a lot of mastery points still. I really don’t like what I’d have to do to get those together, so there it is. It’s very unsatisfying to not be able to complete that map but then the 2 maps after that…well let’s just say I never liked the idea of needing to do group content to get map completion. That’s the worst idea for me in HoT.

IIRC that changed some time back, so you don’t need that mastery for it. I don’t have adrenal (last one I’m working on right now) it and have done the evil bacon (and all the map masteries other than some gold/silver adventures). You just need mango pies and timing your health to the evil bacon heal.

I almost make it but just not. mango pies you say…I’ll look into that.

I didn’t like the original core game much and HoT actually made it playable for me. I am enjoying it as a casual player.

The only thing I don’t like so much is how much of a pain it is to get all the masteries together, so I can’t complete the maps either. I like to complete maps but I can’t complete the HoT maps because I need a lot of mastery points still to get the masteries needed for completing the map.

I’ll give you an example. It’s Auric Basin I believe. There’s a hero points thing where you need the adrenal mastery to be able to survive the poison. But this adrenal mastery is still 2 steps away for me and it’s a lot of mastery points still. I really don’t like what I’d have to do to get those together, so there it is. It’s very unsatisfying to not be able to complete that map but then the 2 maps after that…well let’s just say I never liked the idea of needing to do group content to get map completion. That’s the worst idea for me in HoT.

I think there is an underlying issue here. This issue is the point that defensive stats are considered undesireable because they lower your dps output. The glass cannon has a downside of course as you can die quickly….but….we have dodge and ress. and those two general abilities do make a mockery of the defensive stats like vitality and toughness.

Also abilities that nullify incoming hits completely completely bypass the value of vitality and toughness. It’s not a problem to have some of that but when there are a good number of them combined with dodging, then the value of those two stats is very much under pressure.

And there is another dimension to that. A lot of bosses have effects that kill players instantly. This is of course in line with the dodge mechanic but this also nullifies the effects of toughness and vitality.

Lastly there is the lack of class roles known as the trinity. Now, not everybody is a fan of that trinity and I do understand that, but stepping away from that does have consequences. Without these roles the stats also don’t have the same importance. The combat system of GW2 does actually have some depth but the lack of role definition, makes it a futile exercise in a lot of cases.

In essence all classes can use the same gear stats and most players will say they should use those. There are differences between leveling zones, dungeons, fractals, wvw and raids of course, but in the end there usually are no more than 3 configurations across all classes from what I understand and only viable for some of those classes.

So I understand the op, but I really don’t think there is an answer unless ArenaNet find a way to make defensive stats more important but considering the above, even if you ignore the trinity item, the problem comes from the core set up of the combat system and I don’t see that changing.

Luckily as a more casual player I’m ok because I mostly spend my time in the leveling zones and occasionally in some dungeons just for armour skins. So I don’t have to bother too much about which stats I have and then exotic armour is pretty cheap.

I dunno, there is something Lovecraftian about the Karka.

Vayne.8563:

Stuff is available in zones too.

I never said anything to the contrary.

Vayne.8563:

Silly to not belong to a guild that has that stuff, because a casual guild doesn’t expect anything in return. You can take advantage of it easily.

Only if you want the benefits without being part of a guild. That may be true of the op but I would appreciate it if you did not make it a generalisation. I do not want to be a part of a guild and therefore I accept having to look for the nodes. So for me it’s not silly to not belong to a guild. I do not require this level of efficiency.

Vayne.8563:

However, HoT is like every other zone. If you know where to go stuff is there.

I have places I can go for every single type of gathering that I know I can get pretty much right away.

So can I. That’s why I agreed with the other guy about Auric Basin, for example.

Vayne.8563:

The reason I don’t know the HoT Zones off the top of my head, is because I get my daily easily in my guild hall.

I may be wrong of course but I don’t believe anyone is requiring this of you.

If you look at the maps with all the trees, you could expect more nodes all over the place. It’s not a strange observation as such. However, maps are about discovery and learning to find things and that’s cool with me. I do understand the observation however.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Legend of Rogue.5394:

Thanks…

Just what my ascended armor needed for classy fashion…

In a game with Bunny Ears, Panda Hats, Bee Dog Minis, Electro Pink Dye, Quaggan Backpacks, and Wings galore… you really think a Peg Leg is going to lower the floor on fashion?

I think you forgot the short bow that shoots rainbows and unicorns…

More stuff back from GW1…yay!

Hmm I got HoT a month or two ago and completed the story on my guardian solo. I certainly am not gonna sit here and say it was easy, but I am glad I didn’t have any of the problems people describe here. Died a few times but that was it. I do remember it being pretty hectic though.

CMM.6712:

I would hate to have a neon sign saying YO THE JP IS RIGHT HERE… I mean c’mon where is the fun in that?

Wouldn’t be far off from a big green arrow pointing at where you need to go. Just saying.

KickzNGigglez.4958:

Gehenna.3625:

KickzNGigglez.4958:

• Joining the wrong type of party. If you’re new and you join a squad with the “exp” tag, expect them to notice and kick you.

It’s funny you should mention that. I hadn’t played for a while and I was wondering if they meant experienced or explorable with that simply because when I opened up the group finder and saw one group with story and another with exp. So I went with the exp group because I wanted to do the explorable version. Lucky for me I managed anyway.

I can imagine new players making that same mistake.

I agree, I think most parties should just type out experienced when using the lfg to fill a exp group. Although I think dungeons are currently so easy with the raw power of elite specializations that we can honestly move past that. Only portions you’d need some experience is on the stealth skips. The little gimmicky stuff like the door openings in CoF1 can honestly be taught in a few secs. From a combat perspective, many classes have simplistic rotations like the daredevil staff. It’s only when you get that axe necro or perma rifle warrior you start questioning things.

In the end people are more concerned about how fast they can finish a dungeon and not whether you will be able to beat the challenge or not. That by itself is the problem from the start. Generally dungeons could be beaten no matter what you brought as long as you dodge and ress. That hasn’t changed but people’s patience has changed because you can roflstomp most of the dungeon content and people get upset when it takes 20 minutes instead of 15 minutes.

I get that, but it does indicate some core issues with the game in general.

KickzNGigglez.4958:

• Joining the wrong type of party. If you’re new and you join a squad with the “exp” tag, expect them to notice and kick you.

It’s funny you should mention that. I hadn’t played for a while and I was wondering if they meant experienced or explorable with that simply because when I opened up the group finder and saw one group with story and another with exp. So I went with the exp group because I wanted to do the explorable version. Lucky for me I managed anyway.

I can imagine new players making that same mistake.

Xiahou Mao.9701:

Verdant Brink simply isn’t a good map for gathering lumber. Auric Basin, on the other hand, is a very good map for gathering lumber, and there’s usually 7-8 Ancient Wood nodes in the zone within striking distance of the four main meta waypoints. You can complete the lumbering daily in Auric Basin without even needing to touch an Elder Wood tree.

You’re right in that. It’s just a bit odd that Verdant Brink doesn’t have that many nodes that’s all but it certainly isn’t a big issue.

I like Verdant Brink and Auric Basin as far as the map design is concerned but Tangled Depth I find too chaotic and Dragon Stand is just annoying to me. Also needing other people and high level masteries to complete maps is a turn off for me.

On the other hand, I do find the original maps/zones too big. I prefer them to be more compact also then.

All in all I would like multi level, compact maps where map completion is soloable for the average player and where the multi level stuff doesn’t get so confusing.

I will say that I probably would’ve liked Tangled Depths better if the there were a lot less mobs so I would actually be able to take the time to get my bearings instead of constantly running around not sure where I’m going. The mob density and agro ranges make it less enjoyable for me.

Vayne.8563:

Because you don’t belong to a guild hall that has the appropriate upgrades? You do the daily farming in the guild hall and you don’t even have to enter the zone.

I would say that the game should also be able to be played in the maps themselves. It’s an odd answer you give and I think the op does have a point that the nodes are unusually few and far between, particularly considering the nature of the map.

I suspect though it has more to do with controlling the flow of materials than any sort of map realism.

Menadena.7482:

Gehenna.3625:

Danikat.8537:

GW2 is a game, which means ultimately the point is to have fun, not to make gold.

Well that’s a matter of debate. Why? Two reasons:

1) Some people enjoy making gold and lots of it
2) GW2 is very gold centric

Point 1 doesn’t go for me but when you say that gold isn’t a goal in itself I think you kid yourself. It shouldn’t be, but the more gold a person has to more it’s just about reaching a higher number and that becomes the goal.

The second point does apply for me. It’s one of the things I think is a shame in this game. Things like legendaries that can be sold for gold instantly devaluate the bragging rights because it’s not longer a sure sign of achievement but could simply be bought with gold, which can be bought with really money. That’s just one example but gold is much more important than it should be in my view.

This makes no sense to me. As was said earlier gold in GW2 is just a counter. In some games the in-game currency can be converted to real currency (I am looking at you Second Life) so finding the best way to acrue in-game money is understandable. With GW2 gold though all you can do is buy digital items. Yes, it helps you with fashion wars and such, but beyond that it is just bragging rights. Like getting a good score on a video game.

It’s a generic counter. A one-size fits all counter that belies any achievement that can be had with it.

Maybe you don’t understand that to some people the counter becomes the goal because that’s all there’s left since they have so much currency and nothing they need to buy with it.

Maybe you don’t get that when something is supposed to be a crowning achievement that selling it for a generic currency cheapens the achievement because in the end getting the currency together is easier than the actual road traveled to make it. That’s why it’s no longer the achievement it was.

Value comes from investment. We assign value to something when we put effort into it or if it comes from someone we have put effort into like family and friends. But if you were to get a gift from them and you sold it, you demean the gift and it will never have that value to the buyer.

Someone who has to work hard to save for something will value what he/she buys more than when money comes easy. Works the same with in game currency that’s easy to get rather than putting in the actual work.

Sure, some people don’t mind this but to me that’s how it is and I find it a shame. That’s just my view on it.

penelopehannibal.8947:

TheShniper.1852:

Sorry. Got a little more rude as it went on. Lol

I don’t understand how you realised this before you submitted your answer, and chose to enter it anyway.

Well, I guess he’s one of those people who shoots, knowing it’s going to hurt and then thinks all be well if he apologises.

As for the topic, population topics are always tricky. It can be a momentary thing, it could be a general trend. It’s not possible to say from just a weekend’s play.

Clearly there are people playing and it’s not a problem generally to find some groups for meta events via the gf at least but outside those meta events I can’t say I run into a lot of people.

For me that’s fine. I’d rather they are all doing events and raids where I am not. The only downside is that mobs are harder to kill in the higher level areas when you are by yourself.

But considering how the server system works on a map by map basis with instances, it really is difficult to say anything sensible about population.

Of course, with the announcement of the next part of LW3 in the Ring of Fire, we know that hearts are coming back.

Shadowmoon.7986:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Aid-Worker-Sya-Transgender-Character
You are a year late. Please use the search function.

I prefer people start a new thread if the original thread is older than 6 months myself. Nothing more annoying than those necro’d threads that just don’t make a whole lot of sense anymore because they are out of sync with the current situation.

And for the record, I do think it’s a nice touch. There’s just too much prejudice in this world.

Vayne.8563:

Why should HoT have had a mixture. If people remember Eye of the North, the only true Guild Wars 1 expansion, it was all end game content. It didn’t have a mixture because most of the player base are 80.

Perhaps you should compare it to another true MMO if you’re going to talk about true expansions. GW1 was not a true MMO as much as I enjoyed it and for me the other expansions like Factions were proper expansions with new areas, new classes, new skills , new play modes etc. which is what people expect from an MMo expansion.

I do agree that just copy pasting more of the same zones makes no sense. But I also think that the more casual players do not like this challenge but do want to follow the main story. I think it would be wiser to have a few zones where the main story happens that are much more toned down and then have some more challenging zones beyond that for those who want it. People have complained about what they have to do in HoT just to be able to get on with the story with regards to masteries and such, which requires people to play in the zones. And no matter how many people insist how easy it is, there is a reason why these people complain about it. We are not all of equal level as you pointed out to me before yourself.

I do think the game needs to move forward however but I am hoping they can make a split still because if the expansion should’ve been just for challenging endgame, it shouldn’t have had a continuation of the main story built into it because that’s one of the main activities that casual players tend to do.

Goatjugsoup.8637:

from what i understand the purpose of hearts was to direct people to content, they have gotten much better at that without the need to use hearts.

plus hearts are not repeatable content which lessens their value in comparison to other types of content they could add

The hearts serve other purposes as well. You can only do them once per character but most people have multiple characters.

I’d still rather have content I will actually do that I can do only once, than have repeatable content I don’t want to do at all.

People don’t all like the same stuff, that’s about it really.

Downscaling is not the issue. Mob spacing and agro range are the problem. ArenaNet can set those as they please, downscaling can remain intact.

I run past mobs no matter which level I am. I find them generally too annoying when I am playing solo so I only really engage standard mobs when there are others around. I really wish maps where easier to go through without being interrupted by strategically placed mobs that have the sole purpose of annoying the crap out of me whenever I get remotely near them. They also have amazing ranged weapons that can shoot over thousands of meters. I don’t consider that fun, but I would never blame that on downscaling. Agro range and mob spacing can be set outside of downscaling.

TheNecrosanct.4028:

Gehenna.3625:

TheNecrosanct.4028:

Nothing has been replaced.

Ahh ok, it sounded like they were there at first and had been taken out. I wasn’t here when HoT came out new.

Nah. The rule in GW2 seems to be that all 100% level 80 maps do not have heart quests. A few exceptions are Straits of Devastation and Malchor’s Leap (not 100% level 80 maps, but considering the nature of the heart quests in other maps I doubt any of that going on in Orr or other dragon territory) and Frostgorge Sound, which is a lvl70-80 map. Heart quests seem to me to be tasks you perform for residents of the area. The only residents in dragon territories are their minions, and I doubt they’d ask you to fulfill their tasks for them (which would basically boil down to “please kill yourself so I don’t have to”). xD

Yeah I just misunderstood cause I hadn’t played for a year or two. I do like the hearts as such because they are reliable pve activities. What I mean with that is that they are activities that don’t have a timer on them so I can complete them at my leisure. Which is nice because I don’t always want to run the events which are on timers. That takes part of my freedom away because I want to do things when I want to do them, not when the game tells me to do it.

That’s just a big down side for me, particularly with the meta events: the game tells me when to do something. I want to decide that myself. That was the nice things about hearts, the original style jumping puzzles, vista’s etc. They are static things I can do on my terms and are also in the UI.

A lot of stuff is now done via the achievement panel I’ve noticed. Mastery points for example. I quite enjoyed getting the ones that are on the map. But the majority of them are via achievements. That just annoys me really. It’s starting to slow my progress as far as masteries are concerned and map completion in HoT just doesn’t mean much to me either. I can’t because I need more masteries to actually do that because some mastery points require other masteries etc.

So what HoT has really done as a big down side is take freedom away from the player about what you can do when and making masteries a requirement for map completion is part of that. I’m not sure why ArenaNet went it the direction of giving players less freedom. Stopping with the hearts seems symptomatic of that.

I can only hope they change their mind for the next expansion. I will never get those remaining 90-odd achievements and therefore I can’t complete maps…I mean just that one hero point thing where you need the highest unlock for this andrenal thing so you can avoid dying from the poison…I need too many points still for that one but it does mean I can’t complete a map. That just ruins map completion on a higher level cause you can’t complete it. I know the WvW thing was bad for people on low pop servers who never won but this isn’t a great situation either. Hearts were fine for me.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Perhaps because outfits, being exclusive with armor pieces, do not have to be compared to a plethora of other pieces to ensure compatibility.

You say that as if they do that now. I’ve been trying to mix and match stuff when it comes to armour pieces and there’s a lot that doesn’t match up right so I don’t think this is a valid comment.

All jokes aside though, I don’t have anything against it but it probably will get more people upset than happy in the overall balance.

hottotrot.5269:

I am afraid you are the one who is wrong and obviously have no clue how it works. Firstly, there are light/Med/and Heavy that would need to be made vs 1 outfit – that’s three times the work before we’ve even started.

Well, outfits ignore that part but why not allow the outfits to have individual pieces that can be dyed as well?

I don’t see why we couldn’t have outfits in separate pieces that you can also turn off / hide individually to allow mixing and matching with in game armour pieces.

I find it contradictory to have a game that is so much about cosmetics, to not have that as a core activity pushing the limits. Sure it’s costly but why would you make a game about cosmetics and then complain that it’s hard because you have to develop said cosmetics. I find that rather odd.

A big part of the issue is of course gating quite a lot of the armour sets behind black lion keys and making that an rng based thing as well either directly or via those claim tickets or whatever. So yes, they’re in the game but it’s still kind of a gemstore thing, just packaged differently with rng added to it.

Vacheron.9870:

Char and Asura…. I have a dirty mind

That’s how hobbits came into being…remember the hairy feet, had to come from somewhere…

IndigoSundown.5419:

I haven’t played WoW since 2010, but when I did, open world mobs offered no challenge to a character in dungeon gear (never mind raid gear). Then, we have welfare epics and LFR, so maybe WoW does hand things out on a platter.

I never played WoW but did you get the dungeon gear or raid gear just handed to you or did you actually have to do something for that?

Because I’m not familiar with terms like welfare epics and such, so I really am not sure what you mean here.

penelopehannibal.8947:

Just do less DPS.

You should get a price for completely missing the point.

Less DPS just means a longer fight which is already often too long unless you happen to have other players around.

Difficulty and challenge are not equal to longer fights but fights with more interesting mechanics. However, I do not think that is possible in GW2 because of the way the whole combat system has been set up.

TheNecrosanct.4028:

Nothing has been replaced.

Ahh ok, it sounded like they were there at first and had been taken out. I wasn’t here when HoT came out new.

PaxTheGreatOne.9472:

Possibilities to work on

Yes… work as you say.

Danikat.8537:

GW2 is a game, which means ultimately the point is to have fun, not to make gold.

Well that’s a matter of debate. Why? Two reasons:

1) Some people enjoy making gold and lots of it
2) GW2 is very gold centric

Point 1 doesn’t go for me but when you say that gold isn’t a goal in itself I think you kid yourself. It shouldn’t be, but the more gold a person has to more it’s just about reaching a higher number and that becomes the goal.

The second point does apply for me. It’s one of the things I think is a shame in this game. Things like legendaries that can be sold for gold instantly devaluate the bragging rights because it’s not longer a sure sign of achievement but could simply be bought with gold, which can be bought with really money. That’s just one example but gold is much more important than it should be in my view.

I have fear of heights and with games nowadays having much better graphics and depth in them this fear of heights also affects me in game. It started with a game called Unreal Tournament where some maps were on top of skyscrapers and such and falling off was certain death for your character.

So for me these things are really challenging. Sweating hands and all that, but I do push myself to prove that I can do it. So yeah, it can be challenging but I managed just the same.

Obtena.7952:

Gehenna.3625:

Goatjugsoup.8637:

gw2s system is better

Because…?

because it’s the one that’s ingame now .. That’s not being glib either. it costs money to do what’s being suggested here … who’s paying for that? This isn’t a charity. If Anet went to it’s senior execs and suggested they simply ‘revamp’ the whole skillset system, just because it’s not like GW1, they would be laughed at.

Thanks for this , shall we say, interesting answer, but what I really wanted is for him to explain to me why HE thinks it’s better. There must be reasons why he says that and I find those more interesting than whether or not he’s right.

What I find annoying is that I get this message to go to another server because it’s closing down and then I accept….and then 1 minute later I get the same message again. Sometimes 4 times in a row.

So why move me to a server 3 times that is about to close down? There is something in the programming that isn’t adding up there. Mind you, these are not moments where a meta event just finished.

But if I have to move then let it be a move and then let me be for a while.

kurfu.5623:

There are plenty of harder games already out there, you should go play them and stop complaining here.

Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine.

It seems to me that the OP likes the game alright but is getting bored with a specific aspect of it. You know, it is just remotely possible that these harder games you refer to may not have the right setting or aesthetic for him.

The odd thing in this game is that on the one hand this game is very simplistic but on the other hand it has a certain depth with synergies between skills, weapon sets and skill tree choices that doesn’t quite fit with that. In the end though the biggest challenge this game has generally speaking is enemies with big HP and insta kill abilities.

Not sure if raids are the same in that since I never played them but in the larger part of the game the challenge is dodging things that could kill you instantly or very quickly and/or it’s just a lot of HP that you need to knock off before you can move another 5 meters on the map. I generalize here so it’s not quite that bad everywhere, but it does seem to be the starting point for ArenaNet’s combat design team.

I think it’s ok to not be happy with something like that and aske ArenaNet if they could do something about that. It’s ok to give people a chance to listen to you and decide whether they wanna do something with that instead of just instantly leaving each time there’s a part of any given game that you don’t like.

GW2 had a poor quarter as we found out but that by itself doesn’t mean the game is dying.

Could you not simply have called the thread “Why I like the game less than before”. It wouldn’t be so sensationalist and it would actually cover the content much better.

Goatjugsoup.8637:

no i think people are looking at it with rose tinted glasses, in gw1 you only had more options in theory (if you didnt care about your build being viable for instance)

That’s not true. I was always able to make builds that worked well that were not the popular builds. I don’t know which colour glasses you are looking through but don’t be blinded by the people who shouted that the best build in their opinion was the only build viable for a class.

Too many people mistake the word viable for popular or the best.

Sure there were some killer builds out there like the MM build for heroes and such but there was a lot more viable out there than people wanted to give credit for.

Goatjugsoup.8637:

gw2s system is better

Because…?

What great evil have humans done that they “deserve” a fancy moustache?

Well I do remember them but really, there’s a clock in the UI so if you need to be reminded to watch the clock, then set an alarm on your mobile phone or something.

I think a lot of people might actually find it annoying.

Well I’ve seen that in other games. The downside of this idea is that if you do a themed update with classes, invariably you will get people complaining that class x is getting nerfed while other should have gotten nerfed or whatever.

I think it will create a lot unhappiness because when everybody gets class balances it’s one thing…if only your favourite class gets it then people are up in arms, meaning that every time a patch comes some group will be massively crying out. Not sure if that’s desirable.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Balkarrie Legacy.9175:

Felahr.9830:

This just in! Guild Wars 2 is a different game than Guild Wars!

This just in ….stuff can be changed

And ANet changes stuff all the time. The question isn’t “can it be changed” — the question is “should it be changed”. The fact that some people have fond memories of something in GW1 isn’t sufficient.

I am really a big fan of GW1, but at the same time I just don’t see changing GW2 into GW1 as a reasonable or realistic solution.

It seems to me that it makes more sense to look at what it is that people don’t like in the GW2 system and think about options within that system.

GW1 and GW2 simply are two different games, like it or not.

For me there are a few issues that I would like addressed within the GW2 system.

1) Weapon skills. The idea of assigning skills to weapons was not a great idea in my view as a player. I can see various reason why ArenaNet would want it, but as a player it’s a matter of limitations. The first limitation is that if I want to use the skill set that is considered the best, I have no choice in the weapons I have to use. This seems contradictory in a game that is all about cosmetics. The weapons you carry are part of your look. So if I want to use the weapons I like I am forced to accept a skill set that is sub par or just not fun to me. There is a second limitation. You are stuck with the skills you get. That is no surprise but the same skill sets are used in WvW for example as in PvE. I suppose PvP also uses the same but correct me if I’m wrong. But it means that whatever mode you play you tend to be stuck with at least one skill that’s a dud. Completely pointless. That brings your skill set down to 9 or 8 effectively depending.

So what can be done about that I wonder… well, my thought would be to disconnect the skill sets from the weapons. So you can use any weapon your class allows but you do have to choose the skills sets that exist. So effectively you have the exact same skill sets, but you select the sets in the UI for your build rather than with your weapon.
That itself seems like a viable solution to me, except there is the issue of animations. I would mark that as a possible hurdle in there.

Of course that doesn’t solve the second part of the issue, but I have another idea for that. What if you had two choices per skill slot when you choose a weapon? Or at least allow you to trade out one skill with another but limit that choice to one or the other. It would keep balancing relatively easier than a fully free skill bar but allow you to change one skill for one that might be better for you. Honestly my Necromancer’s main hand dagger really has no use in PvE for that silly skill in slot 3 that holds a target immobile. It rarely works as it is. If I could exchange it to a skill that does some chill damage or whatever I totally would.

2) Rotation issues. I like combat to be fun and part of that for me is having a skill set that I can use with a certain flow. I do not like using the auto attack skill too much because, well it’s kinda boring. The problem is that a lot of skills have really high cooldowns and are more incidental in combat than instrumental. To me this kills the fun. I prefer using skills that have a lower cooldown than for example that elite slot which have a cooldown often of minutes. Maybe they’re so powerful you should only use once or twice per battle but it effectively takes it out of the rotation flow. It’s a holy crap button and nothing more. A shame to have that in 10 skill bar. If you combine the issue of dud skills in the weapons area with the cooldown issue, I get to situations where I burst 4-5 skills and back to auto attack for 30 seconds till the other skills are off cooldown on my guardian. It’s pretty powerful stuff and it’s actually not so bad with the elite spec but it’s kinda boring to have to wait for skills a lot or to just use one or two skills constantly rather than being able to make nice rotations that keep things interested.

My solution would be to lower cooldowns on some of the skills. It seems simply enough and ArenaNet might not like it but what I also don’t like is mobs that just take too long to kill. So this would solve both issues. And it’s been mentioned before, but being allowed to put a normal skill in the elite skill is also more desireable.

Now not everybody might like these ideas but I do think it makes more sense to try to work on improving the current game than to look back and crying over spilt milk basically. As much as I loved GW1, I don’t see the point in that.

Well I play GW2 as a casual alternative because I got bored with my main MMO. My view is that all MMOs will grow stale over time and you need to take a break from time to time. So I am taking a break from my main MMO currently and found that with HoT GW2 has improved enough for me to play it casually for a few months at least.

I will be going back to my main MMO within a month or two and then GW2 will go on the back burner again. But at least I know that when I need a filler game I can enjoy GW2 as a casual PvE alternative.

The positives I take from HoT:

I like gliding…a lot. All over Tyria basically.
I like trickier maps like VB and AB but not so much the two after. Still I like the general idea of a 3D approach to maps.
Storyline feels darker as it should considering what happens in it.
The elite specializations are cool, though the Necromancer one currently has left me rather underwhelmed, but Mesmer and Guardian I think are great. Can’t wait to get the next one really.

The adventures and more legendaries to grind for, the fractals and raid. Well, not for me, but the game does need to cater to more needs than mine. It makes me a casual player but that’s ok.

I think HoT improved GW2 significantly overall.

Morrowind is a single player game so there is little concern or need for skill balancing.

In an MMO this would be a skill balancing nightmare I would think.

Weapons could be cool though but not sure if Anet would go for that.

Can anyone explain why we can’t have both?

It seems odd to replace content instead of just adding more.

I wouldn’t call that toxic. It’s about greed. The multi loot groups, which are pretty much the only groups that you see for the meta in Auric Basin are all about being able to loot as many instances as possible before the loot area closes off.

So anything that slows the group down is not acceptable. I do not know if ArenaNet has an easy solution for this multi loot thing but I’ve stopped joining these groups because of it. I don’t enjoy the attitude and greed. But it’s still a far cry from being toxic.

SkyShroud.2865:

Gw2 engine is a modified gw1 engine, imagine how old gw1 is.

This is untrue.

They built a completely new graphics engine for GW2

http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1013691/Designing-Guild-Wars-2-Dynamic

Around the 8 minute mark.

They used GW1 to test the event system while they were building the new engine.