Guild Wars 2

As stated above, the group you encountered may already be organized, and running without a tag on purpose. Best way this could have played out:

You: Hey guys, should I tag up to help organize this group?
Them: No thanks; we are running tagless on purpose for <reason x>.
You: Ah, gotcha.

Then you could decide to run with them, or run your own tag to form a separate group for pugs who would like to follow one, and focus on different targets than the original group.

STIHL.2489:

Well, After getting to play the demo for a bit (and I really wish they had given us a HoT demo like this), I am willing to openly admit that it is much more palatable then HoT ever was, the maps seemed much easier to transverse, and it felt very close to how Core felt, which is a great thing. From the limited bit I played, this truly felt like what their first expansion should have been like, a nice smooth addition that feels like a continuation of the Core game, just a bit harder with some added new things going on.

It’s a beautiful game, and I can see why some people still plat it.

But, to be honest, I am just not feeling any urgency to invest, still feeling a bit burned by HoT.. so, gonna let this one simmer for a bit.

Thank you to the people that took the time to give me insight and answers.

I feel like the biggest problem with HoT (which I personally enjoyed) was that they dumped four “hardcore” maps at once, without any sort of less hardcore maps to offset them. I like the maps, and I think open world should have a mix of less mob-dense, more navigable maps with some more mob-dense, trickier maps. But at HoT launch, it was hard for players to know if this was an entirely new direction for open world maps or not. And I understand why that would give some players serious concerns.

I think that the six maps released for LS3 were a better blend of the core maps and the new HoT style. I also think that if they continue in that direction with the PoF and LS4 maps, then the open world map seen as a whole will have a healthy blend of casual and less casual elements, which should offer lots of content for all players.

In short, the HoT maps are a good addition to the game as a whole, as long as that isn’t how every map going forward is going to be designed, which it does not appear to be. But Anet did alienate a lot of players when those four maps were released, because we didn’t know if that was the new direction in general.

Justine.6351:

And that doesn’t tell you that you are about to enter an area with an arbitrary border that is not under your control.

That’s the thing, though. It is under your control…you just have to take it.

A system that places more importance on taking and keeping objectives is good. I’ve already given an example with ruins. Same goes for camps. If I’m on an enemy Alpine BL, and the enemy is cata-ing our spawn tower (SWT) from the south ruins spot, then the current method lets our team control the gliding in that area by controlling SC. This means when they are ready to push, we can try to force a choke battle on the bridge. If they want to have the option to fly past the bridge, they need to devote resources to taking the territory. Your proposed map takes away that tactical element.

Giving players a way to tactically take away enemy movement options was one of the strongest parts of the gliding update. Plus, long term, I would be very surprised if Anet did not use the territory mechanic in other ways. If you think it’s confusing now, think about how it would be with two sets of territories – one for gliding, and one for other territory uses.

Justine.6351:

I mean what is this Game of Thrones where one random guy can become King of the North by flipping NNC?

If your team let one random guy take that camp, then they didn’t place a priority on being able to glide there.

Justine.6351:

And just what would you flip to cutoff their gliding lines atm?
Gliding is not always the fastest way to travel, mostly just cool/convenient.

Well, on Alpine, for instance, gliding from garri to SET would pass through two territories of ruins. So if I were sending one person to cut off the glide line, I’d send them up to the NE ruin to cap it. Then defenders would have to do the regular drop and swim route.

Even if gliding didn’t save much time in this scenario, it would allow defenders to bypass whatever roamers we had on the ground in the north ruins, that might otherwise pick fights with lone defenders trickling back to the tower.

I prefer it the way it is now over this suggestion. Gliding rights should be a tactical concern, and the ability to deny gliding to an opponent in a territory adds much more depth than what you are proposing. Want to slow down reinforcements from garri while attacking SET? Cut off their gliding lines.

If gliding stays (and I think it should), I think it would be good to have a hot-key toggle button to lightly color territories on the main screen, so constantly checking the minimap weren’t such a necessity, though.

How about a way to trade badges/proofs for Grandmaster Marks? Time gating for all ticket rewards stays the same, but WvWers get to use their currency to offset the crafting cost of ascended equipment.

Bridget Morrigan.1752:

If it is better or wiser for team play for someone to take a death and/or stay on the ground once dead—as it sometimes is in WvW situations—then that person should not be penalized for their kamikaze maneuver. Period, end of story. That is not “losing,” because the game that is played in WvW is played on a macro-level, by and large.

Tactics (such as a better view when dead and the ability to report back to the commander) are not a reward in and of themselves, and sacrificing for the good of the group should not come at a monetary cost to the individual.

Gaile seemed to be unable to picture a concept in which dying =/= losing (and the opposite, living = winning). But that kind of simplistic thinking is a basic misunderstanding of the way in which tactics and situations can work in WvW, in the game that ANet designed.

I think that the big picture strategies are made up of many small trade-offs.

If I’m a mesmer, and I get killed in a failed keep capture, I can choose to WP or lay dead. The advantages to WPing are collecting any loot bags that drop after the fact, and getting back to playing (in whatever capacity) sooner. The advantages to laying dead are a view of what’s going on inside the keep, and the ability to keep a number of enemies busy looking for an ally who may be trying to res me (and the ability to be ressed, should that ally actually exist).

I like that both of those situations have multiple advantages and disadvantages, and that adds, for me anyway, a layer of strategic complexity that I appreciate.

Likewise, it’s more engaging to me as a player to have the loot functioning the way it does. It adds a tiny bit of urgency to the decision of whether to wait or release. And that small of bit of complexity adds more value to the game mode, for me, than 99.99% of the loot I might miss.

Vavume.8065:

Removing guard stacks is not my idea of rewarding veteran players and I would bet you are in the minority with that view.

I’ve never liked AF and AS. I don’t really understand why they are lauded by some players, while killing uplevels in EotM is seen as cheap. Both are essentially saying “I’ve played longer than you, so I’m more powerful”. Yet only the latter gets labeled scrub behavior.

Re: ability points in general, I never understood why WvW ranks used a different philosophy than trait lines. Trait lines have specific issues, but the core idea is great: you have to make choices, and that means leaving abilities behind. WvW ranks, on the other hand, are just a system of piling on numbers, so players who have played longer have more abilities than new players. Why?

To me, the ideal reboot of this system would have WvW abilities operate in the same manner as current trait lines. Maybe speccing for extra supplies means you can’t spec for extra health, etc. Obviously, they would need to be tweaked so lines were competitive with one another. And obviously, you should be able to change your point allocations, perhaps only in a held structure.

What about rank points then? Go with the PvP reward track system for those points. Let us earn dungeon armors, Silverwastes materials, etc.

This way, old players wouldn’t have a huge advantage over new players, you’d have to make meaningful choices for WvW abilities, and WXP gain would translate to PvP-like reward tracks (WvW method for acquiring PvE rewards).

I’ve really been enjoying this in WvW.

I tweaked it slightly, because I just can’t play WvW without Speedy Kits. I just…can’t. So I dropped 10 points from Firearms (giving up Infused Precision) to put into Tools. I lost a little precision and condition damage, but gained mobility, which seemed like a fair tradeoff for me.

I also tried two Superior Runes of Altruism (for 3 stacks of group might) instead of the Water runes. Not sure if I’ll stick with it, but it seems decent for now.

Anyway, thanks for posting.

Mantis.5798:

Awesome.6120:

A profanity filter isn’t a license to use profanity.

Yes, it is. If all profanity is not allowed, why are we given an option to be allowed to read it? Why not have it blocked from the game completely if we aren’t allowed to use it?

Because, presumably, you can disable it to use in party chat with those you know won’t mind it.

I have a lock on my house. I use it to let my friends in, but to keep strangers out. If I happen to leave it unlocked, it does not mean that strangers all of a sudden have a right to enter my home.

Medron Pryde.6850:

My primary problem with the Dodge achievement is what others here have noted. For the first time in Guild Wars 2, we are encouraged to NOT play with other people. As others have noted, the easiest way to get the achievement is to agro a mob, wait for it to attack, and dodge it at the last second to get the little “evade” word up. Of course, mobs can only agro against one person at a time, so the rest of your group has to find something else to agro. And if someone comes through, sees you fighting something, and kills it, suddenly, for the first time in the history of Guild Wars 2, he ISN’T HELPING YOU.

In my experience so far, this isn’t necessarily true.

Yesterday I was leveling a level 45 alt in Harathi Hinterlands. By following the event chain in the NE, I was able to take care of dodging, veterans, and events, all while playing alongside others. I found the quickest way to get my dodges was to wait until I was under fire by more than one enemy, and then dodge. I would almost always get credit for one dodge, sometimes two. In big events like that, it’s easy to find yourself targeted by multiple enemies, so it went by quickly. I didn’t have the healer achievement on my list yesterday, but that would have been a snap during said events as well.

My advice is to use the time you spend doing events to try to get the other requirements at the same time.

Celtic Lady.3729:

tkalamba.2541:

What’s the point in not crafting? Seriously, I’m curious, why would anyone choose not to craft?

A lot of players dislike crafting for various reasons. They find it boring, it’s a money sink they don’t want to get into, etc. This is actually a very common area of gaming that is skipped by players.

I totally get that. I guess I don’t get the benefit of putting one’s foot down and saying “I absolutely will not craft”, when what is asked for the daily is completely trivial. I guess it’s all a matter of degrees. Some folks here are equating refining ten tier 1 materials with being forced to invest significant time or money into system they don’t like.

It would be easier to understand the resistance if the requirement were to craft items of higher tiers. But it’s difficult to understand how collecting 20 nodes is considered an acceptable middle-of-the-road task, but crafting 10 tier 1 items is not.

Celtic Lady.3729:

Silvery Shadow.5036:

I really don’t understand most of the arguments…the point is not that the achievement are hard to get … point is why being forced to play the part of the game we don’t like

It’s like the majority of people making this argument haven’t even read a thing being said. I shake my head every time I see a new person come in here and pitch a fit about how easy crafting is or how little is costs. Who are they arguing with exactly? No one, from what I can tell.

There are a lot of posts here, so it may be hard to glean one main argument. But from what I can tell, it’s: “I don’t like being asked to do something outside of my normal gameplay preferences to obtain a daily reward.”

The thing is, the dailies have always been set up like this. I’m sure, for example, there are a number of players who just don’t want to gather nodes as they play. Or a number of players who want to farm Pent/Shelter all day, and not go hunting down species of enemy that aren’t risen. Likewise, there are surely players who would like a dungeon armor set, but may not want to run dungeons.

The game is set up to ask us to do things for particular rewards. That’s just the way it works. And when the buffet style dailies come into play, you can be sure that there will be some days that you may still have to do something you wouldn’t otherwise do.

Short of Anet giving us daily “I love you so much – have a great big hug” rewards, it’s best to just accept that sometimes we may have to step outside our comfort zones for particular rewards. A lot of us don’t see a problem with that, and are trying to offer relatively painless solutions for those that do.

Also keep in mind that you can reset you traits at any time for a small fee. Just visit your profession trainer (the one who sold you the skill book) and tell him you’d like to reset.

There’s no penalty for doing so, other than a trivial amount of silver/copper. So play around with these as you level to explore different traits and playstyles.

Celtic Lady.3729:

BobbyT.7192:

Celtic Lady.3729:

Kalea.9167:

It’s a waste of materials. I have 9 level 80 characters, and all my skills are 400. I have no need for low level components, and no need to craft.

This is my main concern with the crafting being added, too. It just seems like a waste for some players. When crafting was talked about early on, it seemed as though the system was meant to minimize unnecessary, wasteful crafting. I liked this. For those of us with maxed out crafts, that plan kind of gets thrown out the window. Sure, I can easily craft something in “10 seconds” as all the proponents of the new dailies keep saying, as though time spent is actually a measure of usefulness, but it would be just to complete the daily and feels like a waste of materials. And when the TP is flooded with everyone else’s crafting detritus, we’ll eventually be lucky to get vendor price from anything we make.

If crafting for dailies is such a waste, then why am I gettting 2 lvl 78+ exotics armour after 5 days that would have costed me hundreds times more then the mats I used to “waste” on a daily. This whole crafting is a waste arguement is completely invalid.

I’m sorry, but I have no idea how your comment relates to the concerns I’ve voiced. How did you previously “waste” mats on the former dailies? The former dailies didn’t involve crafting at all.

I think the point is that Dailies have had extra value attached to them. In addition to the existing rewards we were used to, the new laurels can be traded for items with cash value. His example of a profession item box would in the worst case (two level 78-80 rares) be worth about 70s or so on the TP. In the best case they would be exotic or salvage for multiple ectos.

So, rather than seeing the small cost of materials used for daily crafting as a waste, see it as an investment with very nice returns. The money, as you’ve said, is not a concern. So if it’s not wasteful, and it’s not expensive, all we’re left with is “I don’t want to”.

I know that Twitchok in Skrittsburgh will sell you a recipe to craft them.

Also, it’s part of the Glyphic set of Asura-themed weapons. I use the rifle skin, which is very similar to the pistol.

Vulnerability increases damage the target takes. So while it doesn’t cause direct damage in and of itself, it is increasing the damage of your phantasms, your teammates, and even your auto-attack.

Why is this bad?

Focksbot.6798:

I think you’re mixing up two different zones (as I was when I made that post). It sounds like you’re talking about the vista where you have to go up straight ramps that turn at right-angles to one another, making your way towards a central area with a veteran and the vista. I also did that and had no problems with it.

But I’m talking about a dredge area where the ramp is a tight circular spiral. What happens is you get stuck with two enemies right in front of you, and an oscillator will come down the spiral from higher up, hitting you consistently at such an angle that you go flying far, far off the edge. There’s absolutely no way he can hit you back a little way down the spiral because, as I say, of the tightness of the spiral.

edit Here’s a picture. Imagine an oscillator standing at any point up the ramp from you. His attack is always going to hit you off the edge of the ramp, not down it.

http://gw2.mmorpg-life.com/img/map_pois/Frostgorge_Sound_poi_Vista_image_Gw2_1_2012_09_07_15_01_01_031.jpg

Gotcha. I was talking about Dostoev Sky Peak. I’ll have to reserve my opinions of the Frostgorge one until I revisit it.

Focksbot.6798:

I expect the person who modelled all the tiny walkways didn’t imagine that they’d be crammed with mobs who have knockback attacks, or they might have put railings on.

And I expect the person who gave certain mobs knockback attacks didn’t think they’d be dumped en masse into such an area.

And I expect the person who dumped the mobs with knockback attacks into an area filled with narrow ledges and walkways didn’t realise how powerful those knockback attacks were.

And here we are. Almost anywhere in the dredge lair, it’s case of one close-range hit from a knockback attack and you fall to your death.

I did this vista a couple weeks ago with my main, then again yesterday with my alt, and had fun both times. The first time took forever, trying to find the path up, but once I did, it was quite satisfying. On my alt yesterday, I did get knocked off to my death once (which hadn’t happened with my main), but after I reassessed, I was able to completely avoid it.

There are three types of Dredge on the way up, and only the Oscillators have knockback. The knockback has two characteristics: it knocks you back a few feet (1/3 to 1/2 of a ramp length), and it knocks you straight back from the direction of the attack. Knowing this, it’s simply a matter of positioning yourself so the Oscillator is at the top of a ramp, and you are facing straight up the ramp while facing him. Doing this, his knockback will send you straight down the ramp, but not over the edge.

I hate when posters default to L2P arguments, but this is a clear case of a solution being entirely controllable by the player, regardless of profession. As such, I think it’s good design: it forces the player to be mindful of positioning and enemy abilities, but not to an extreme extent .

That said, I wish I could Fus Ro Dah enemies of ledges too.

In the scheme of things, leveling up Artificer is not terribly expensive, and could be done within an hour. It’s a one time expense, and then you can craft tonics for upcoming festivals as well. Why not just level it up?