Up front: I have read maybe five posts in this thread. It’s entirely likely parts of this have already been said. Here are my thoughts concerning ascended gear and infusion:
- The stat bonuses invalidate the exotic tier. This is an RPG, and I think that most of us here are aware that, generally, people who play RPGs are going to be unsatisfied with sub-optimal stats. Raising the ceiling creates a culture of unhappiness for players who either had already reached the previous maximum or were about to. Not just for the money they’ve invested in achieving the previous tier, but for the time spent. My playtime up to this point has primarily been spent meandering around zones in the pursuit of 100% world completion, so I haven’t yet been in areas where exotic drops are most frequent. Imagine the pleasant surprise I felt upon receiving top-tier shoes for my efforts (and it was an effort) after completing the Halloween jumping puzzle. Those shoes are now transient, a mere stepping-stone worth only the ectos I’ll end up salvaging them for rather than the reward they were.
- If ascended gear is going to come sans stat moddability, then this is a great time to give us either a) a much greater assortment of pre-packaged stat collections, or b) some way to cherry-pick which three stats we want on our gear. Increasing stat diversity increases build diversity, which in turn extends the end-game for those interested in exploring their options.
- Infusion in PvE could, I believe, be a fantastic idea. Maybe it’s the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia having their effect, but I can appreciate the effort ArenaNet is making in calling back the Guild Wars 1 mechanic. One of my most powerful memories from the early days of that game was encountering the mursaat for the first time, and how utterly disoriented – and to be honest, intimidated – my 13-year-old self was by how quickly they blew me away upon first engagement. To this day, I remember having to dodge around mursaat/jade patrols like a fugitive while I was exploring the Southern Shiverpeaks and how powerful I felt once the seer had worked his mojo. It’s one of the few mechanics in gaming that I recall as being effective as both a story-telling and gameplay device. If GW2 infusion can similarly integrate itself in an interesting way functionally (i.e. not just +20% crit chance vs. marmosets) and lore-wise (i.e. not “you need to be infused because marmosets are pretty strong”), then I see myself loving it all over again.
- Infusion in WvW, on the other hand, seems totally ill-advised. Yes, the mode works in large part because the opposing forces are never entirely evenly-matched, and that produces certain dynamics that can appeal to players inexperienced in PvP. There is still, however, something to be said for one or two scouts encountering their counterparts in an open field – on completely even footing in terms of trait, sigil, and rune availability – and duking it out with skill as the deciding factor. If one of those players has the advantage of some mechanic attached to much-harder-to-obtain armor, that fight would instantly become less interesting.
