Guild Wars 2

Essence Snow.3194:

Jemmi.6058:

The argument that you can just not use waypoints is about as adequate as telling someone who wants more challenging gameplay to just not wear gear.

Don’t players do this? Naked runs, limited player runs, all one profession runs, etc…etc…

I am sure players will also choose to run across the map. It doesn’t make the counter-argument to someone asking for challenging content any more legitimate.

Essence Snow.3194:

Idk if anyone else really gives two hoots, but the current trend of less and less waypoints has me avoiding maps more and more. I understand that for some the requirement to travel somehow increases thier immersion, but they always had the option to simply not use them. Not having waypoints removes the option for playstryles that enjoy using them, thus my fast fading interest in the newer maps.

I know with the expansion we will have mounts, but then again we have removed one option and replaced it with another rather than increasing options. That might not apeal to some players, like myself who perfers more options rather than less. Leaving waypoint dotted maps only increases options as they….again….are not a requirement that must be used.

I’d be interested on hearing your thoughts. Do you like the trend and why? or Do your dislike the trend and why?

PS…..I expect the usual suspects to come blast this…..please don’t…. just move along if you’re not interested in a discussion and only want to inject negativity

The argument that you can just not use waypoints is about as adequate as telling someone who wants more challenging gameplay to just not wear gear.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of teleport travel. Out of the three main MMORPGs I play (WoW, FFXIV and GW2), I prefer WoW’s system the most. The world feels large and immersive. That said, I was a lot more against WP’s 5 years ago, I’ve grown accustomed to them, but am perfectly happy with a reduced number in future zones.

starlinvf.1358:

Ellie.8095:

Quite disappointed, as well. I’m not a PVP/WvW player at all and the PVP/WvW builds don’t necessarily work for PVE content as well.

I was really hoping for a PVE test, like there was for HoT. It was interesting to go to cursed shore and kick around some champ giants to see how effective classes were with makeshift builds and to hype myself up more for unlocking them in the expansion

I haven’t played the game too much recently for, well, reasons I won’t go into here. Was really hoping the elite spec beta would get me excited about the game all over again. I love the game, I really do. And I want to get back into it, but dang.

This would be the perfect time to do random crap in PvP/WvW with no consequences to your main account. PvP doesn’t have a refit cost, but WvW uses your PvE gear…. which the Beta characters can switch on a whim.

If the issue is fighting Champs…. WvW has several in each map, majority of which are outside the normal travel paths of players. They’re also considerably harder, making them a better test bed for build limits.

If you’re goal is to “hype yourself up”… then I’d honestly say not doing yourself any favors. A lot of aspects of Especs in HOT where immediately were written off because they weren’t aiding DPS…. and it wouldn’t be until raids for those aspects to start making sense. Tyrian content wasn’t designed to stress players they way later content would. So despite being gratifying that you face rolled a mob that was never designed to fight tactics employed by Especs, it doesn’t teach you anything meaningful about what the builds are really capable of.

In fact… a lot of DPS builds that looked good in HoT Beta preview got their kitten handed to them in later sections of HoT. Yet today, we’re well familiar with the strategy needed. And many raid builds, which are intentionally lacking in certain areas, can be compensated for just by playing smarter.

The choice to keep the beta players focused in a small area intentionally forces them to interact, and generate useful data as a side effect. In Open World, they’d be too spread out, and not taking on big challenges that would highlight aspects of the game play to make adjustments for. Crystal Oasis was more of a content demo then anything else (especially since we lacked especs). But this weekend you’re asked to be a contributing member of a zero-effort test group…… at least try to pretend you care enough to tolerate PvP play with other players.

The game seriously need less people to hold up in their little corners, and start interacting in friendly and encouraging manner. And if theres one thing WvW needs right now, its people to put down their ego for a couple of hours, and join in the chaos. Its like my uncle used to say….. “Riots are always more fun with more people”.

A few quick replies:

1. It could be a good time to pvp, but if I don’t like pvp then why would I want to take advantage of this good time?

2. These weekends are advertised as demo’s, not beta’s. In other words, they’re marketed for users testing out the expansion prior to purchase, not for gaining balancing data.

3. Some people want to test out the elite specs and see how fun they feel in an open world setting, but are less interested in finding out what the meta is 1 month prior to release. For example, If I knew that Mirage was fun as heck to play, I’d be focusing getting Hero Points on my Mesmer, rather than my Guardian (which I am currently working on).

Orion Templar.4589:

Am I seeing this correctly the demo weekend is in PvP only?

Yeah SPVP and WVW

I also want to try them out, but I don’t want to pvp, so gotta wait til September I suppose.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

There’s like 200 different sets in the game atm, they are adding 5 at least with PoF. When you think about that, it’s actually more like 75 sets, 3 armor classes and 5 races make it a lot harder than you think to make this stuff. They have said it takes 9 months to do armor sets.

With 75 sets at 9 months a set, that’s 56 years of development time 0.0

When they say it takes 9 months, do they mean 9 months for 1 staff member, or do they just mean it takes 9 months to go through the cycle, but that doesn’t stop them from working on other things (i.e. even more sets)?

Miku.6297:

Jemmi.6058:

To be fair, they can also be used to quell toxicity. This is from another game, but I play FFXIV frequently as well. Parsers are banned by the ToS, but are used by the community. Basically there is a don’t talk about it rule, where if you say anything about the parser in chat, you can be reported/banned.

I’ve seen several times when I have my parser open that the person with the lowest DPS will be the one yelling at everyone else. This person will just start attacking the lowest DPS job decided by the Meta, despite that player out DPSing him. I’d love to charge in and say, “you’re actually the lowest DPS”, but I can’t due to the ToS. If this person could see the parser, they wouldn’t (presumably) have attacked the other player in the first place.

That case is an assumption so it’s hard to say, you could just as easily say he may have attacked worse in an effort to miss direct or re direct attention from himself to someone else. How ever any possibility is just a guess. I think a dps meter “qwelling” toxicity would be a bit rarer, but even in GW2 it would be possible, all that toxicity directed at non meta-conformed builds that actually preform just fine might be avoided.

Indeed, as you say, it’s just an assumption. I think that most arguments that suggest the effects of parsers on toxicity are rooted on many assumptions, though.

At the very least, if parsers were allowed, I could have spoken up in defense of the player.

I have less experience in GW2, unfortunately (I just returned after a lengthy break), but in my experience in other games, the better players tend to be less toxic. Usually, the toxic players are good enough to enter difficult content, but are on the poorer end of players who do so.

I think it has to do with a relation between being (almost) good enough to do content, but then failing at said content due to their own failings. They then project those failings on other players.

There are also studies that link aggressive behaviour to frustration in video games. It could be that these players who continue to fail at the content become frustrated -> become aggressive -> become toxic over time.

Miku.6297:

Please note I am not against DPS meters, I just don’t get why so many people keep saying DPS meters have nothing to do with toxicity. Sure they aren’t the only cause but they definetly can be a source/supporting tool for it. As others have stated many things can cause toxicity we don’t stop using or ban people for choosing to play that way; the DPS meter is no different (as long as it follows the ToU A-net laid out)

To be fair, they can also be used to quell toxicity. This is from another game, but I play FFXIV frequently as well. Parsers are banned by the ToS, but are used by the community. Basically there is a don’t talk about it rule, where if you say anything about the parser in chat, you can be reported/banned.

I’ve seen several times when I have my parser open that the person with the lowest DPS will be the one yelling at everyone else. This person will just start attacking the lowest DPS job decided by the Meta, despite that player out DPSing him. I’d love to charge in and say, “you’re actually the lowest DPS”, but I can’t due to the ToS. If this person could see the parser, they wouldn’t (presumably) have attacked the other player in the first place.

Hannelore.8153:

But if you think its okay to invade people’s privacy, look at their gear, intensely question them on their gear and build, or anything like that, you need to just stop playing. its a game, and these are people, not your playthings.

I just want to look at their gear, so that I can figure out what they are wearing. Sometimes I see some pretty nice looking sets and I just want to right-click → inspect to see

Can’t rebirth a thread that never dies!

Hmm lots of Taimi hate in this thread. Personally, I really enjoyed her character.

I just returned after a very long break and raced through S2→HoT→S3 in the past 1.5 weeks or so. I agree that S3 had some disjointed points. Lazarus was particularly confusing, I’m not sure why we brought him back just to kill him.

I found many of the side characters to be pretty annoying. I liked almost all of them in S2, but Braham, Marjory and Kasmeer were definitely annoying in S3. Rox was kind of just there, in both seasons. Rytlock was decent but just kinda disappeared. I actually liked Caithe throughout, and Canach was decent too.

I think I would have preferred more time in the story to explain things like bloodstones, and less time creating unnecessary plot points like Lazarus.

I wasn’t unhappy with S3, like it seems many of you are, but there are definitely some legitimate critiques.

I bought GW2 pre-release and played early access and the closed beta’s etc. I leveled several classes to max level, participated in seasonal events and did several jumping puzzles. After awhile, I was like.. “what to do now?”. The lack of end-game wore away at me. Fractals came out and I really liked it, for awhile. Once I had done that repeatedly, I grew bored and again ran out of things to do.

I checked out other MMO’s and FFXIV caught my eye. I eventually stopped logging into GW2 and made FFXIV my main game.

When HoT came out, I still had a meh feeling about GW2. I heard it brought raids and healing, which piqued my interest, but I just continued on with FFXIV.

With the announcement of Path of Fire, I decided to buy the HoT+PoF bundle and have been playing HoT all weekend. I now seriously regret not getting the game way back when. The mastery system is really good, imo. The story is strong, and I’m loving Chronomancer.

Ah, that’s too bad. The story is the main reason I’d want to return. I loved the Guild Wars 1 story, and while I was disappointed with Guild Wars 2’s main story, I thought the living story was picking things up prior to me quitting.

Thanks for the responses.

@Just a flesh wound, you mean party with someone who has completed and then enter the instances? Won’t I miss out on cutscenes and/or NPC chatter, though?

@DeanBB Yeah, I considered that. Is there a good way to farm gold? I have about ~50 gold, and I saw that I can purchase gems in increments of 400 to get 2 living story updates, I need 111 gold.

Hey Arena Net team, and community,

I just wanted to express my feedback on the current story structure for the game. I quit this game some time ago (about 2.5 years ago). With the recent sale on the expansion, I thought I may return to play. Before purchasing it, I logged in to play, and saw that I was pretty far behind in the story. I looked at the prices to get myself caught up, and the cost is insanely high. I have no desire to purchase the expansion, if I am not caught up in the story, and that upfront cost is just way too high. It’s only getting higher.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you (Arena Net) know that your current model is keeping some players away. It would have been better to just keep the store for other items.

If I am wrong about something (i.e. say the expansion includes all living story updates up to the expansion, or something), please let me know.

Lucentfir.7430:

Tbh I like LS S2 for now. Refreshing the game every two weeks opposed to waiting a year for a boat load of new content. Without the LS and all the little changes to the world, the world of tyria itself just wouldn’t feel alive. I can understand the hunger for new skills races and weapon sets…I think it’ll come along in due time through feature pack releases.

I agree, I am liking Season 2, and the 2 week update schedule is pretty nice. Keeps the story paced and keeps you guessing at what is going to happen next.

However, I would like this model a lot more if I felt that the game had much else to do. I stopped playing some time ago and have recently come back to the game after playing other MMO’s, and GW2 definitely doesn’t give the player as much to do as other games. So far, I am logging in and completing the story on 1-2 characters and logging off until next update.

It works out OK like this for me, I am getting a few fun hours every couple of weeks for free – no complaints. However, as a game of this genre, it doesn’t hold well. I would imagine the developers would like me to devote more than 1-3 hours every 2 weeks. It is definitely emulating a TV show. I’ll watch the new episodes, but I am not going to sit around watching re-runs while I wait for the next one.

Vayne.8563:

Jemmi.6058:

Didn’t find coins that wasn’t part of the story?

Edit: clearly we consider different parts of the update to be content. The random achievements are not content for me. I care about the story and any new dungeons, zones, etc. Collecting coins around the zone aren’t something that I’m going to do. Anyway, misunderstood you I suppose.

Content isn’t just what you like. It’s content for people who like scavenger hunts. So what you say is there’s 1. 5 hours of content you like or you consider content. That’s not the same thing at all.

A lot of people do like achievements and some people do like scavenger hunts. It’s a form of content, and in fact, a traditional staple of many RPG games. Sorry you don’t like it, though.

Strongly disagree again. They could add an achievement that says spin in a circle 31 556 926 times. Assuming it takes 1 second to do a turn, it doesn’t mean they added 1 years worth of content.

I ended up finding the coins as I was exploring, but it’s still not the what I would include in the new content that you must do to keep up. I consider all the story missions as what you need.

Psientist.6437:

Jemmi.6058:

Complaint is like TV. If you miss the show love you likely have to pay for the DVD or download

I would caution against using a TV series as an analog for the LW. As a storytelling medium, a persistent MMO is more plastic and makes very different demands on the viewer. A mmo is more akin to live action interactive theater.

Comparison was about the complaint about missing something and having to pay for it.

Here is a more constructive response though. This game is an mmo which has no sub model, adding things like these allows for them to keep their living story whole also catering to those of us who asked to replay old missions. This also adds a bit more money into their wallet. I like the addition and support it. Better than a sub model and better than pay to win. Better than paying intermittently for an expansion.

Funny, I find the maps in Guild Wars 2 are far superior to the alternatives I have played. The map is much more beautiful and actually shows the features of the land with it. Zooming in and out is much more fluid as well. Other games, such as WoW, Wildstar and FFXIV have horrible maps by comparison.

One thing you should note is that, even though the borders are often square / rectangular, the landscape is not. For example, mountains often range across many zones and into the middle of others. This is the same with bodies of water. The rectangular shape, is more similar to artificial boundaries (such as states in America, many of which are rectangular/square).

I’m sorry that you find the maps immersion breaking, but I’m happy to say that it does the opposite for me.

Didn’t find coins that wasn’t part of the story?

Edit: clearly we consider different parts of the update to be content. The random achievements are not content for me. I care about the story and any new dungeons, zones, etc. Collecting coins around the zone aren’t something that I’m going to do. Anyway, misunderstood you I suppose.

Vayne.8563:

Riaky.8965:

Taygus.4571:

jiust log in once every 2 weeks, ..don’t play. in 6 months time, then play. Should have “lots of content” then.

to burn through in a few days, just as you would with an expansion.

That is not true, every 2 weeks content can finish in less than 2 hours so if u do the math for 6 months thats like 12 hours to finish all the 2 weeks contents. But if it was “Expansion” contents then it would last for months

You did not finish this content in less than two hours. I’m calling BS on thsi for sure. Unless you just followed a Dulfy guide after it was out. Anyone can finish anything if someone tells them how to do it.

No dulfy guide. Finished it in 1.5 hours. ??? I didn’t skip any of the story either and completed the jumping puzzle , vistas/poi etc and a few random achievements. Not complaining about the content I liked it more so then most of season 1. One of my favorite parts was actually the non combat instance that was all story related.

Complaint is like TV. If you miss the show love you likely have to pay for the DVD or download

Sounds like the bigger problem is balance, not pugs vs guilds. How about mesmers?

hmm I did notice that traits had a drastic overhaul since I last played. Maybe that is the change I needed.

When I last played, berserker most definitely gave an advantage. Kill it faster than it can kill you. The way it scaled between the 3 stats was also just superior to how any other 3 stats scaled together.

Anyway, after reading a bit more on the trait overhaul and some other changes (LS Journal, Outfits, Ascended armor drops etc), I think I will give it a go.

Thanks for the response.

Hey all, I am thinking of returning to GW2 after a long break to real life stuff and other MMO’s (FFXIV, Tera and Wildstar).

One thing those 3 have that GW2 doesn’t have is trinity, and that will always be my main gripe with Guild Wars 2 That said, I think I like GW2 more than those games over all.

Anyway, on to my main question. Is Zerk gear still king? The 2nd thing that really bugged me in GW2 was the lack of viable build options. If you didn’t run Zerk then you were hurting your party more than helping. Has this been changed at all? How are the utility and support roles and have the dungeon mechanics changed at all to require these roles?

One word? Cinematic

That’s because the cinematic was pretty awesome. Destroying LA was awesome. Then that was it. The events are the same old. I don’t mind doing the same-old event for a reason, but this feels very much like a ‘go kill 10 wolves’ quest. Save the citizens at different tiers! Wish there was more plot to it.

My preference? A few specific groups of survivors require saving. In doing-so you learn their back story. Perhaps one group is a family where their eldest son was just recruited by the lionguard and is now trapped. You then join that family to save him and return them to safety. Give the survivors an identity and it becomes interesting. Rescuing random citizen number 247 isn’t interesting to me.

Again, kudos for the amazing cinematic though.

I was disappointed, because I logged in with my ~hour-ish I had to play tonight. I read my mail and instantly WPd to Lornar’s for this epic fight. I then hear that it happened and the next one is in 1 hour and 45 minutes from now. I sigh in disappointment and go on over to Bloodtide to check that out. I find a few commander pins congregating, so I figured that it meant something was going on there. I waypointed to them to find a good hundred or so people idling together, with a bit of idle chatter. Idle chatter that included ‘there is no point in doing the wurm right now, it’s bugged’.

After all that, I logged out. I cannot really speak to the content, as I haven’t tried it. What disappoints me are these predictable and long spawn times. Why does everyone know exactly when the marionette is going to spawn? Why do you want us to sit around for 2 hours to play it? Is this not the same company that would give hourly updates asking us to take a break in GW1?

Open world is fine, but maybe allow the event to be triggered somehow? Otherwise make it an instance? Maybe just have the marionette constantly there with rapid respawn? I don’t know exactly the ‘best’ way to do it, but I don’t think the current way is the best.

100% agree with OP

I too was excited to see the LFG tool and was equally disappointed.

I do not like zerg content that much for the following reasons:

- Lack of coordination, and the content is balanced for this (for the most part)
- Too many effects, and I cannot see what is happening
- I feel miniscule/unimportant (did my presence really help out or was I just along for the ride)
- Groupthink + the last statement = most people auto-attack only

Mia Lunarfang.5826:

lordkrall.7241:

Mia Lunarfang.5826:

“…but we ABSOLUTELY are going to do sweeping features that you would traditionally only get in an expansion…” That is a direct statement; its confirmed.

Exactly, it is a statement that they will release features that you would “traditionally only get in an expansion”, which would imply that we will NOT get them in an expansion, which is exactly the same thing they said last time they were interviewed about it.

There is nothing in that part that confirms an expansion.

What does it matter if it is called or comes in the traditional form of an ‘expansion’ as long as we receive the content? This confirms that everything we wanted out of an expansion will be given to us. Beyond that, who cares the means.

You’re arguing semantics: buy a movie online and get it shipped to you, or drive to the store and pick up the movie; regardless you still get a movie. I fail to see the point in this argument.

This does not confirm that you will get everything you wanted out of an expansion. It confirms that you will get content that is normally delivered via an expansion. This could be true by simply adding a new area. It definitely does not say that you will get ALL content that is normally delivered via an expansion. However, it is possible that we will, but you cannot come to that conclusion from this statement.

I like your theory!

There are some points that I disagree with. I am pretty sure that the devs at one point or another said that they won’t allow a living world update to alter the personal story (and that is why personal story characters are mostly left out of the living world).

For that reason, I feel it is more likely that Scarlet will fail with her attack on the Pale Tree. We, the heroes, along with Destiny’s Edge 2.0 will arrive in time to save the day. That will keep the pale tree going strong for Sylvari starting and story-line.

For the arguments against this theory, a lot of them are using evidence based on how the other dragons operate. However, their is nothing to suggest that all dragons operate the same way. In fact, Tobias has pointed out that Primordius does not corrupt, but rather creates his minions. This is evidence to suggest that each dragon does not operate similarly. Therefore, the argument that ‘it cannot be this way for the jungle dragon, because the other dragons do not work this way’ should not be assumed as true.

Mia Lunarfang.5826:

Jemmi.6058:

I invite you to re-read this particular line

“people realise what the power of having a video game that can tell a story like a television show is””

That is a clear comparison, suggesting the story is told like a television show. Based on previous sentences, it can be inferred the show in question is Game of Thrones.

Sure, it sounds like banter when you take it out of context by only posting a portion of the sentence. When in reality, it should read as follows:
" What ArenaNet WANTED to create was a complex plot that kept people theorising and speculating in the same way a show like A Game of Thrones (and the book series A Song of Fire and Ice beyond that) does – to have “people realise what the power of having a video game that can tell a story like a television show is”.

Clearly, the term wanted does not carry the connotation of success. It is, in its principal form, a desire; not the to be assimilated with the profound consequences of such. By no means did they say or even imply that LS is as good as GoT, or for that matter, that they accomplished the same level of speculation and suspense in their players. Only then would you have valid reason to find fault with their statement.

Good call. I admit defeat

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Jemmi.6058:

Gabby.3205:

They didn’t compare the Living Story to A Song of Ice and Fire. They said that they want to give with the Living Story the same kind of feel that A Song of Ice and Fire gives to the readers (wanting to speculate). They never said that they accomplished that or that they think that there is any similarity between the two stories.
Note the difference:
“I can cook. Gordon Ramsay can also cook” (No comparison between the abilities)
“I cook just like/better than Gordon Ramsay!” (Arrogance)

You people nowadays are finding any excuse to open an angry thread.

I invite you to re-read this particular line

“people realise what the power of having a video game that can tell a story like a television show is””

That is a clear comparison, suggesting the story is told like a television show. Based on previous sentences, it can be inferred the show in question is Game of Thrones.

It can also be inferred it’s the Sopranos, or Lost, or anything else on television. If this interview happened five years ago it would have been those two or Snape Kills Dumbledore. If it had happened ten years ago it would have been about the Wire. Twenty years? NYPD Blue more than likely, or CSI. Thirty? “No, Luke. I am your father.” Forty? “Who Shot JR?”

No matter when this interview would have happened, it would have been compared to whatever was more pop-conscious and the widest amount of readers would understand as “oh, they’re talking about a twist”. Not “Oh they want to be the next Star Wars”.

By the way, I can tell you how “Game of Thrones” ends. George. R.R. Martin finds all your favorite characters and kills them. All of them. Yes, even him.

As Game of Thrones is the only show listed before the comparison statement regarding TV Shows, it is the only TV Show that you can expect he is talking about.

He had not mentioned those other shows, so it would be incorrect to assume he was talking about any of them.

That said, the comparison in question is mostly talking about the guess work that is involved with what’s next? However, I feel the Living Story has not really succeeded in giving me that ’what’s next’ feel.

My best comparison is to Homeland. That TV Show is great, and the story is great. However, I find watching the show on a week-by-week basis to be unbearable. I get bored very easily. The show pace is way to slow. If I watch the episodes back to back, then I get hooked into the story and the characters. IMO that is what the living story needs, a DVD/Blu-ray/Netflix -like thing where you can replay the entire season back-to-back.

In my opinion, the worst part of TV Shows is the wait for the next week, and that is the one thing from TV Shows that the Living Story is trying to emulate.

Gabby.3205:

They didn’t compare the Living Story to A Song of Ice and Fire. They said that they want to give with the Living Story the same kind of feel that A Song of Ice and Fire gives to the readers (wanting to speculate). They never said that they accomplished that or that they think that there is any similarity between the two stories.
Note the difference:
“I can cook. Gordon Ramsay can also cook” (No comparison between the abilities)
“I cook just like/better than Gordon Ramsay!” (Arrogance)

You people nowadays are finding any excuse to open an angry thread.

I invite you to re-read this particular line

“people realise what the power of having a video game that can tell a story like a television show is””

That is a clear comparison, suggesting the story is told like a television show. Based on previous sentences, it can be inferred the show in question is Game of Thrones.

For me, temporary content is something that seems like a poor choice, but also doesn’t erk me.

I have been inactive since July 2013, and recently came back. I have been able to jump back into the story and caught a video to see what I have missed. It’s similar to if I missed events in real life and just caught up on youtube/news/word of mouth.

That said, the amount of content for me to play at the moment is quite limited. I have been playing a few days reasonably actively and have already found myself out of content. Had the previous releases remained in the game, I would have much more to do and would have a lot of fun doing it. I also think that is a ‘better’ way to catch up. Catching up via word of mouth or youtube is definitely more realistic, but catching up by playing is more fun. Let’s be honest, we play Guild Wars 2 to have fun, not for it’s great amount of realism.

I think it would be a better idea to add content in the game and leave it, and concentrate more on adding great content then on how it will be able to fit in the game temporarily so that it can be removed in x weeks and not damage the game.

The main reason I stopped playing in July was due to personal reasons. However, the main reason I did not start back up again in August, or September or … is because the living world updates were not all that fun. Aetherblade is probably the best that I can think of, as the JP and the dungeon were both very fun and added hours of content for me. However, a lot of the content seemed like random mini-game achievement grinds (Dragon Bash?).

My biggest gripe with the story content is something I read earlier today, each update is similar to a sentence worth of story. So I anxiously wait 2 weeks for an update, jump in the story instance for a bit of filler dialogue to find out the bullet point of story, and then wait a couple weeks for the next update. I care less about finding presents, or dragon coffers etc in open world than I do about the story. I care less about treasure hunts that take me all over the world than the story. I care less about back skin items than the story. Please, give me story.

Other gripes/tips
- Don’t drop key characters for months without reason
- Provide player agency (don’t just have us along for the ride)
- Create twists, have those we trust betray us etc
- Add areas of grey, not everyone is blatantly evil or good. Evil characters are well written when their motives are understandable and even relatable.
- Don’t add key parts of the story on the website and outside of the game (budget is a problem? Don’t use the budget working on pointless mini games at the expense of story and character development)

Julie Yann.5379:

colesy.8490:

No, it’s complete leech.

It doesn’t matter how good you are, MF gear stats will have you contributing a hell of a lot less to a dungeon party than pretty much any other gear because one of your stats (MF) is a complete blank that does absolutely nothing for your party in the slightest.

Some guildies and I finished CoF1 in 17 mins naked. That’s only 12mins more than a zerker group. We finished CoF1 in 8 mins wearing full MF, thats only 3 mins more than a good zerker group. Not that big a difference. You are entitled to believe what you want and I will not argue the point anymore than it has been already cause it will never end. The fact is that in this game Skill>stats.

You just proved that Stats > Skill with your own statement…

You said that no armor took over twice as long as the worst stat set in the game…

Algreg.3629:

Balkanwarrior.5132:

biofrog.1568:

I’ve saved heaps.. HEAPS of money in way-pointing, so personally I’m happy she won

To be honest, I am much more likely to use a way point now because of the cheaper cost. I feel that the current price is what the price should have been set at from the very start of the game. Maybe we can petition this to be a permanent fixture?

I don’t get it. Are you insanely poor, or just really poor?

Not that is is relevant to the topic, but rich people who make it themselves also do so by spending wisely.

Time is money my friend. You can make back the money spent in a waypoint very quickly with the time saved by using said waypoint.

Interesting, so many different responses!

I would have said Metrica Province myself

CuteLilKittenHugz.2064:

Wow you “everyone must play zerker all the time” people are clueless.

1) To say people who aren’t running with full zerker gear contribute “nothing” to a party is hilariously false. To be a true statement, you need to say “they don’t contribute as much to DPS.” And really non full-zerkers are still dealing plenty of DPS. Skill level and how well your group knows what to do in a dungeon are far bigger determining factors in how fast you clear a dungeon than their gear.

2) Running full zerker in WvW is a great way to cost your server battles. Hope I’m playing against you guys.

3) The whole point of this thread is to say you have every right to your style of play. AND SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE WHO DOESN’T PLAY LIKE YOU DO, especially when so much of the game can be played without ever setting foot in a dungeon.

I guess LanfearShadowflame said it best:

last time i checked, i didnt bother you people, and you left me the heck alone. problem solved. carry on.

I am going to clarify my stance, as I am unsure if your post is at all directed at me.

I do not think that people who do not wear zerker do not contribute. They contribute less, as you said. Knowing the dungeon is definitely part of it, but given these 4 combinations, guess which is best:
Doesn’t know what’s up + Non-zerker gear = slow, painful
Know’s what’s up + Non-zerker gear = mediocre
Doesn’t know what’s up + Zerker gear = slow, painful, many deaths
Know’s what’s up + Zerker gear = very fast

So yes, knowing what you are doing is definitely a pre-requisite for wearing zerker gear, but it doesn’t take long to learn the mechanics of a dungeon.

My complaints are not with people who choose to wear something other than zerker, it is that I believe ANet has designed a game which pigeon-holes you into one gear choice for nearly every class.

My views are entirely PvE.

I do not understand the argument vs what is the best. The game is based around combat and the content that we are talking about is based around combat. Therefore, whoever wins that combat the quickest is the best. As high DPS = kill faster, then naturally high DPS = best.

You can say it’s about which is more fun, but that doesn’t mean what is best. Take for example a sport. Would you say the best player in a given league (NBA, NHL etc) is the one who had the most fun? No, of course not, that’s ridiculous. You would give it to the person with the best stats (most goals/saves etc).

As this game is DPS centric, there really is no other stat to compare. Perhaps you could compare achievements, but you are going to get more achievements faster with higher DPS. Maybe if ANet invents the FUN-O-Meter, we can use the data it provides to establish which build is the best, but until then, zerker wins.

CuteLilKittenHugz.2064:

The problem is NOT that people demand zerker gear for Dungeon runs. They are perfectly allowed to want to run with only certain builds.

The problem is that Anet sees it as a problem.

No, in my opinion at least, the problem lies in the games inherent design.

- No healer
- No tank
- Focus on DPS
- Little control mechanics
- Little support mechanics
- Long cool downs on anything non-DPS related
- Defiant
- Unshakable
- Product of Crit + Prec + Pow is higher than Product of Tough + Vit, or Cond + Cond duration

I am not sure why the change to MF is undesirable? This makes alternate characters more appealing as MF is account bound. This makes it so that you can create a character that will kill stuff fast while also having the benefits of MF.

Conncept.7638:

Vol.5241:

Conncept.7638:

Are you friggin’ serious? Every single CoE path is one gold!?

That’s the most hated dungeon among casual players in any game I know of. I know because I’ve been trying to get casual non-zerker groups to run it for the last 7 months, and I haven’t even been able to get half of the runs I need in that amount of time!

I was hoping ANet would make it worth the time it takes but apparently instead they just decided to balance rewards around the full kitten zerker groups.

CoE is an easy dungeon if you know the mechanics. You don’t need to be zerker.

If you enter as a casual group that has absolutely no clue on how/when to dodge, then you’re going to have a bad time.

That’s how it works for all dungeons. If you enter having absolutely zero clue on how bosses work, then you are going to be there for a long time.

No, that isn’t how it works for all dungeons, in most dungeons you can bring in 2-4 new people and 1-2 experienced runners and complete any dungeon, even Arah. And after a few runs the 2-4 could run it themselves.

If a SINGLE player does not know the rigid rote of the CoE dungeon mechanics it takes an average of two hours, one… single.. player. And one run isn’t enough to learn the mechanics, but I can tell you it’s more than enough to scare them away from ever entering CoE again. Which means nobody among the casual playerbase ever learns them in the first place!

I know the mechanics well, I still can’t get people to run it, in fact it’s come to the point that my guildies (and I’m in a guild of several hundred very active casual players) avoid me around dungeon running time. The dungeon has nothing to offer those who aren’t farming CoE tokens, and this just made it even worse.

First off.. that is very untrue. I have run CoE in much shorter times with that, with me being the only person who knows the dungeon. To add to that, I only know the dungeon from a handful of runs.

Secondly… CoE is the most fun dungeon in this game by a long shot (imo). I wonder why it is the most hated?

You’re right! He is a Charr, and Charr are horrible horrible beings. Good riddance!

Hickeroar.9734:

Clumsy.6257:

Hickeroar.9734:

Clumsy.6257:

Hickeroar.9734:

Clumsy.6257:

Hickeroar.9734:

Clumsy.6257:

Hickeroar.9734:

Lokki.1092:

Hickeroar.9734:

DiogoSilva.7089:

Hickeroar.9734:

High level fractals. If you believe zerker is viable in 40+ fractals….you’ve obviously never run them.

Isn’t a fractals group consisted of a defensive guardian and 4 zerkers? Tell me, what’s the point of toughness or vitality, when enemies one hit kill you with or without those stats? The difference between running a zerker and a non-zerker in high level fractals, is the difference between killing faster or killing slower.

They don’t call the “holy trinity of fractals” guardian-guardian-guardian for nothing. 4 zerks and a guardian is worthless in most cases. One guardian can’t maintain enough uptime on blocks/reflect to protect 4 zerkers.

4 zerker fractals are actually quite common, almost standard at 40+ as many people have pointed out. The most popular video guides are of 4 zerker teams…

Again not saying that another makeup cant beat it but because of the way content is made everyone at higher tiers of PvE are 1-3 shot. dealing 400% more damage is just more valuable then because we all have the same survivability anyways.

Zerker doesn’t provide 400% more damage than knights. Not even REMOTELY close.

1 zerker vs 1 knights = ~100% more damage x 4 = 400%, critical damage is amazing isnt it?

That’s a misunderstand of basic math…

If your four players are all dealing 2k DPS, together they’re dealing 8k DPS total. Increase each player by 100% (4k DPS each), and you doubled to 16kDPS. That’s a 100% increase from the original (8k->16k), not 400%. I would also argue that knights would not cause you to cut your damage in half. Maybe by 1/3 or so.

ah my bad your right hasty math, but for knights vs berserkers full berserkers critical damage provides (depending on group comp) around 100% damage bonus (assume 50% base crit chance, disc banner, perma fury = around 75-85% crit chance for ~250% more damage than someone running knights with no crit damage) of course that would vary greatly if the person was using knights with ruby orbs, or getting 30% crit damage from traits

I assumed the player would trait into Power/Prec with Knights. Crit chance on Knights/Berserkers is the same. Crit damage is going to take a hit, along with power, but the overall numbers are not substantially lower. I would personally run a mix of Beryl Jewels instead of Emerald due to the Vit and Crit damage boost.

so pull them together? ex: shaman whips out his ball, all 5 hop in melee distance and start attacking, mesmer drops feedback to bock projectiles, shield goes down, team retreats to behind grubs, grubs are now only on one side, guardian spams sota and wor

You can’t reliably group/pull all the grubs like that. You can TRY and get them congregated, which helps, but the target limit of 5 on pull skills, combined with the amount of time it takes them to self-travel via aggro still leaves a massive time-hole where zerkers are ripped to shreds by the grubs before there’s any reflect up that last more than a couple seconds, or has any relevant amount of coverage.

dont pull them, once shield dies feedback typically goes down about the same time, double dodge roll to one side (your now out of grubs), spam reflects, (shortest would be smoke wall at 8? not sure), then wall of reflection 12 seconds, sota 20 (30 traited) seconds, thats a total of 40(50) seconds of no grub attacks, more than enough time to kill them all

One feedback covers the entire island? News to me….

now your just not reading, why would you be spread out over the island? way more efficient to jump into melee range once he bubbles up as melee attacks are normally much faster, and OMG WTF feedback covers all 5

Feedback needs a target, or you have to “blind” target it. If the former, you’re sitting under feedback with enemies. If the latter, you have to run to it….which means you’re exposed for several seconds which is more than enough time to be immobilized several times over and….dead.

Your target is the shaman. You melee range the shaman so you are all under it. Dome covers you 5 and bubbled shaman. Dome blocks elementals.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Jemmi.6058:

You can enter a dungeon group that did not require a cookie cutter build, but still provide less for your party than you otherwise could, because your concerns are primarily on yourself.
-snip-

See, this is where you go wrong.

You assume that because I am not optimized I am not ‘pulling my weight’ in my dungeon group. The only time most people give a rats kitten about what you are wearing or not wearing is if you are speed clearing. At which point, they want something specific. I don’t go with those groups. I don’t fit their style, they don’t fit mine. You could argue that I am being selfish for opting not to play with them; for choosing not to spec for that availability in my play.

I do play with other people like myself, who simply don’t care about what you are wearing, only about the enjoyment of the game and possibly getting through. While its true I am rarely in a group that fails, even then its not ‘point the finger and blame x because OMG he’s wearing MF gear!’ its more ‘rofl, wtf was that, lets do it again! maybe we shoudl stop and look before we rush ahead though.’

They are different mentalities completely.

You see in some situations my ability to keep my teams’ sorry kittens alive at the boss with my support heals kills my DPS, yet allows us to finish the idiot off without wiping. Means no waypointing out, running back and starting all over. Yet, as per so many prior posts, using armor with a healing stat boost is useless/selfish/a waste. Not in this situation its not, and yet…I am selfish for assisting my team in such a fashion.

On the other hand, you could potentially argue that if I had more punch, the boss would have died faster and my team may not have needed the heals to stay up. Or you could argue ‘they are just bad’ or that I am ‘just bad’ which is completely unfounded since you dont know them or even me. If I stand there and fight, trying to keep us from wiping, I’m selfish. If I wipe and make us run back and start over, I am selfish.

There is no win here…. everything one does is selfish by the opinions of others.

However, I would say that I am not. I play my way in such a fashion that it does not impact anyone that it would bother, which is a key point to selfishness. I don’t ‘lack concern for others.’ However, I’m not going to let their opinions dictate how I play either.

I think you are misunderstanding my point.

I understand where you are coming from and often play with the same playstyle. I also do not think you are doing anything wrong.

That said, by choosing to wear gear which enhances your gameplay while also reducing your effectiveness in a group, you are being selfish. That is because your consideration for your own entertainment is higher than your consideration for others. Again, I do not see anything wrong with this.

There is a post on the previous page which outlines why zerker gear is more optimal. Essentially, due to condition cap + removal of healer + removal of tank + low condition damage + defiant and unshakable, all non-damage builds have become relatively weak in comparison to zerker. Zerker on the other hand not only increases damage, but scales exceptionally well by having 3 traits which scale exponentially.

Another important factor to consider is the intentional design of Arena Net to have damage prevention be the primary way to survive. That means, you should not get hit (often) and that makes toughness and vitality less significant. I have worn many different builds from zerker to pvt to condition etc. In my experience, there is very little significant difference in survivability among them. On fights where I die on zerker, I died on PVT. It just so happens that a one-shot attack kills you no matter what.

Also, in my experience, the condition damage is extremely weak in comparison to zerker. The difference is not some subtle change, but on totally different playing fields.

EDIT: I forgot to address a couple more of your posts. You mentioned something about healing power. You can revive without healing power additions quite easily, and healing power scales very poorly. I was going to make a healing build, because I love healing classes, but the skill is just beyond useless. I too have revived parties or solo killed a boss after my team has wiped, and I run zerker. Running zerker and playing well are not mutually exclusive.

You are also putting quite a few words in my mouth. I said the statement that you are going to play how you want and you don’t care what others think fits the definition of selfishness exactly, which it does. I did not say you were selfish for reviving teammates or defeating a boss.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Jemmi.6058:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

I play the way I want to play. If other people don’t like it, too kitten bad for them. They don’t have to play with me. If they invite me to a group and then suddenly decide I need to ‘conform’ to some specific gear or build, I leave. They want to give me crap about it, I toss them on ignore.

PS this fits the definition of selfish almost exactly.

Adjective
(of a person, action, or motive) Lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one’s own personal profit or pleasure.

Yes and no….

Its only ‘selfish’ if it affects others, which generally speaking it does not. (Ie, they dont have to play with me).

See the first section there ‘lacking concern for others’, my game play affects no one, concerns no one, besides myself unless I am running a dungeon. At which point, I am not running with a group that wants something specific, if they want something that I am not then I leave. Therefore I do not impact them, since they can get someone with the cookie cutter they want. So, you can’t say that I lack concern for others. If I dont fit, I don’t go. Im not impacting their play in anyway.

I play may why, I let them play theirs. I am not trying in any way to force my desire to play my way on them. However, they seem to be the ones trying to force their way of playing on me, by stating that using anything except what they find acceptable as being ‘selfish.’ It is they, that are in faxt, being selfish, in trying to dictate how someone ‘must’ play.

Disagree. You can enter a dungeon group that did not require a cookie cutter build, but still provide less for your party than you otherwise could, because your concerns are primarily on yourself.

I want to clarify, I do not think there is anything wrong with picking your choice build, or running whatever you want. I do not see anything wrong with a longer than average run of a dungeon (it can be more fun). However, it is selfish, as you are disregarding the consideration of your party members and placing a higher value on your own pleasure of the game.

Just of note and I thought it’d be interesting to add, western economy is based on the idea that everyone acts selfish. A free market is only truly efficient if everyone acts in their own selfish interests. Naturally, that is very theoretical and cannot ever be truly realized.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

I play the way I want to play. If other people don’t like it, too kitten bad for them. They don’t have to play with me. If they invite me to a group and then suddenly decide I need to ‘conform’ to some specific gear or build, I leave. They want to give me crap about it, I toss them on ignore.

PS this fits the definition of selfish almost exactly.

Adjective
(of a person, action, or motive) Lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one’s own personal profit or pleasure.

“Quaggan Jump”

It’s a new dance.

At OP. I think you would find CoE more profitable than CoF. The drops of charged cores and lodestones makes good money, and it doesn’t sound like you have the CoF run down with your buddies. 10 minutes should be the higher end of the spectrum, not the lower end. (6-7 minutes in mesmer +4 war group, 8-10 minutes in mixed group).

I also find that selling mats and playing the game can be quite profitable. I barely run CoF speedruns and never farm Orr. In the past 2 (maybe it was 3?) weeks I went from 70 silver to 104 gold, then used 60 gold to craft an alt from 20-70 and by the time it was 80 I had another 20-30 gold. I now have 15 gold on one char, 45 gold on the other and I purchased a full set of exotic armor, weapons and trinkets along with sigils and runes for my new 80.

Brave Sir Robin.3410:

1. Have tried PVP? If not, why?

No, I have not tried PvP. I do not see the appeal of PvP in this genre of video games.

2. Tried it and liked it or not?

N/A

3. Are active PVP players?

N/A

4. Done both WvW and PVP: which do you prefer and why?

I have tried WvW and it can be fun at times, but suffers from a lot of (in my opinion) poor design choices. The very nature of it makes zergs the only viable strategy and makes your character feel pointless. For this reason, I feel that PvP would likely be more interesting than WvW

I think one of the biggest turn aways of PvP to me is that I cannot take with me the gear I earned in PvE. I have enjoyed PvP only once in this genre, and it was on a MUD that I played a decade ago. I enjoyed the game style where you PvE’d to get your gear and then PvP’d with risk of losing said gear. You could also engage an opponent while they were completing a dungeon as a form of strategy. This made both running dungeons and PvP risky and required a lot of caution, thought and strategy to do well. When you died, your opponent took your hard earned equipment, which meant you had to PvE to get it back again (or try to beat them in PvP while being underpowered with weak gear, this could be offset by being a good player).

If the above MUD-type scenario were introduced, I would be interested in PvP. However, going into PvP with very little risk seems boring to me, and I do not like the massive separation of it from PvE.