Guild Wars 2

The grinding for PVE titles and skills only made PvE easier then it already was. If there wasn’t WvW I wouldn’t be as bothered to be behind a gear tier. But when expensive gearing affects my ability to play form of PvP then it’s annoying.

Namu.5712:

I have 4 ascended weapons as of now.

And dont even bring up “well in gw1 you didn’t have to grind” Actually you did just wasn’t for gear it was for something that also increases stats.

We had to grind in GW1? Pray tell, how?

@ Mepheles, as Seras said you have to do the entire personal story, so it would take a while.

@Seras, I would be totally fine with it being soulbound, that would make sense as a culmination of on’es “personal” story. The reward is something that one character has earned.

Why is it that despite the personal story being 3-4 times as long as any of the original Guild Wars campaigns, our only reward is a sweet(maybe) skin…in rare stats?

Even before ascended gear this is pretty bad, but now it’s just a joke. To be rewarded with something that is 2 tiers behind and will just end up getting transmuted or salvaged is embarrassing. Is it too much to ask that they give every character 1 ascended weapon as a reward for completing the entire story?

Of the 11 weapons I can wield as a ranger, I think getting 1 ascended as a reward isn’t too much to ask. Max damage weapons are a GW tradition for story rewards. Bring them back.

Jski.6180:

No Walking.6349:

Look at all the dungeons, it’s dodging and damaging. Look at all the world bosses, dodging and damaging. Look at all the guild bounties, just damaging.

I mean, it sounds good on paper not having a trinity, but in the real game it just makes it to where all the boss fights are just an easy DPS race. No technique, planning, or skill is required by the groups at all.

Guild missions are supposed to be guild endgame PvE now right? Well then why does it all consist of just finding a mob on a set path, then AFK auto-attacking hum for 5 minutes? This isn’t right at all. Greatly looking forward to having both WvW and the trinity in TES:O.

Its sounds like YOU need the trinity not the game because you are unable to recognized the skill that put into play of avoiding the dmg and being able to put out dmg with out taking dmg in return. If any thing the trinity lets dmg dealer tanks and support play with a great deal less skill because some one is covering part of your job as a player.

And that’s what was so awesome. You covered for other people. Sometime’s you KNEW you were going to die. But then, clutch heal at 5 hp! And you were saved. Or I knew I was screwed as a monk, because I had no energy and I’m watching someone cast Obsidian Flame. Ranger interrupt ftw.

In GW2 when I know I’m going to die, I do. It’s my fault sure, I missed a dodge. But there’s not that much anyone else can do to save me. They will res me sure, but I’m 90% of my own responsibility for staying alive. I feel much less of a team dynamic with dungeon PUGs in GW2 than in GW1.

Vayne.8563:

Here’s another opinion of Guild Wars 1’s combat. It just occurred to me.

With the exception of very very few end game instances, I could completely any hard mode dungeon in the game with any character and a team of heroes and henchmen that I already had set up.

So with my minion master, a couple of spirit spammers, a mesmer, and an interupt ranger, it didn’t even matter what character I took.

I could take any character and do anything or nothing, because the heroes were so powerful.

Now, you could say the strategy of setting up those heroes (and choosing the right henchmen to compliment them) was a skill. Except that anyone could look up team builds on PVX-Wiki. There would be no skill involved at all.

I could walk through any dungeon just auto attacking and beat pretty much anything using heroes and henchmen. There were exceptions, obviously, like elite areas where you couldn’t take henchmen, but they were the exceptions.

Just like there are exceptions in Guild Wars 2. You have to be pretty good to do the higher level fractals, or Arah or even some paths of CoE.

True, but that could just be because they didn’t make the dungeons hard enough or they made the hero AI too good. But you’re basically making a good point: builds mattered in GW1. Sure you could copy a setup, but having a balance of healing, interrupts, damage, and utility was important. No one pauses before a dungeon run to make sure someone can strip boons, or has an AoE heal, or anything like that. Why? Because if everyone is good enough, it doesn’t really matter.

IO I am totally with you man. I played GW for 6 years and found the combat there to be so much deeper and rich than what I find in GW2. Which isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy it, I just think that the combat had more going on. The combination of skill times and interupts, managing energy all while kiting or chasing was epic. Energy alone added so much depth, it was a whole extra resource you had to manage in combat.

I understand the frustration with “GLF Monk to go” but eventually it go to the point where several classes could play semi effective healers. I wish that we weren’t forced to take healing skills, so that if one member wanted to be dedicated healer, the rest of the team could pile on more damage to compensate. As it stands now this isn’t really possible.

Just misclicked the wrong dungeon armor and have a heavy set…is there a way to get my tokens back?

NevirSayDie.6235:

The tournament interface isn’t very clear right now, but if you choose “submit roster” you will get put with four other people in a random group. You’ll usually lose but often you will find yourself with very skilled players. So you don’t have to “find a group” to do a tournament, although it definitely helps.

The “teams registered” text is also misleading. My understanding is that the number shown is the number of teams from your server that are waiting in a queue, which is usually 1/8 (unless you’re on a high-pop PvP server; on SBI I see up to 4/8).

However, tournaments are cross-server and so as long as you’re not queueing at, say, 8:30 in the morning you should get into a tournament within about five minutes or less.

This clears everything up, why I thought only 1 team was ever signed up and how to hot-join a tournament. Thanks!

Don’t 8 full teams have to be assembled for a tournament to start though? Or will they start with less?

All the other requirements are arguably too easy for anyone who plays regularly, but at least you are in control of how many wins and kills you can get. I have never seen a tournament with more than 1 team entered in it. Are there certain times when more teams join these tournaments and I might be able to join a team?

Yea this better be fixed by the end of the night. This is a huge nerf to anyone who uses traps, especially flame. Seriously this is like our best utilities besides QZ.

Cappy.2786:

Only ppl that didin’t play GW1 will rage,nuff said

Its the people that DID play GW1 that are raging, because we know how awesome it was to play a game for 6 years and never have to upgrade gear that entire time.

“The new additions in November are just the start of our item progression initiative.”

This is the scariest and most un-GW thing I have ever read. There has always been a policy of not having a gear treadmill, and I was excited to start working on my exotic set because I knew that once I was done, I would never have to worry about armor again.

In GW1 they released 3 expansions, and the max armor and damage was never changed. 3 months into GW2. and those principles of design that separated them from the rest have gone out the window. Sad day.

Underwater combat just got a lot better haha. Thanks Jack.

I know that for me my biggest issue with underwater combat is that I can’t use utility skills. I mean I could, if every time I was going to go into the water I paused to switch them up. But that’s too much effort, so I only ever use the same skills underwater, because even my elite is land only. If they just made every skill work underwater things would be great.

Is an underwater spike trap really that implausible? What about an entangling kelp elite?

To me it’s not actually the cost (I am level 80), but the principle behind it. It’s like if they charged a dollar to vote: the money isn’t the issue, its that voting is supposed to be free.

If free travel was something that was innovative in GW1, then they should have kept that feature for GW2. Besides, is anyone seriously going to complain if the travel costs are made free? If they need more gold sinks to compensate, then raise repair costs. That way we lose money for our bad play, not for wanting to meet people.

FREE TRAVEL FOR ALL!

Am I just crazy or did fights in general (but especially boss fights) get more boring when enemies stopped having classes and skills like in GW1? Somehow looking at a bunch of kraits wailing on me is far less interesting then when they used to all cast skills.

Granted boss fights usually did involve a lot of monster skills that were different, but they were still better. As mentioned before it was just a matter of controlling incoming damage and healing and managing energy, the actual time was short as long as you could survive the first 30 secs of an engagement or so.

Your generosity is astounding. If everyone is inspired by this the GW2 community will be amazing.

mikpet.7458:

I take it you do not do dungeons much or sell a whole lot of stuff on the TP.
As it is now, people choose not to repair in dungeons and the prices on the TP is in many cases so low that you loose money selling things there, compared to selling to merchants.

Oh and I do know that taxes and goldsinks are not doing the same things.
I was comparing it because no one wants to pay either.
And obviously you do not want to pay taxes, so.. go figure.

I also haven’t completed many dungeons, but I eventually plan on doing them all. The real question is to we want gold sinks to be in places where it limits our fun by making us pay to experiment or meet up with people, or places where we feel like we pay for our own failures, like repair bills?

This also serves as a nice bonus for becoming more skillful because you pay less repair costs. And in WvW, I have always found that my drops far outweigh my repair bills if I’m smart.

Honestly, I would be totally fine making these both free and rolling the costs into repair bills. Sure it might make it hurt when you die a bunch in a dungeon, but at least then the gold sinks are punishing you for sucking, not for experimenting with your build or traveling to meet friends.

Chorel stop being a kitten.

No one is saying this is going to cure breast cancer. It’s a sign of solidarity, that we are aware of the issue and we want to do something, which means taking action in real life. Ever wondered what a moment of silence “does” after a tragedy? It’s a gesture of respect, just like the one the OP is giving for his relative and everyone else whose had this. I’m sure he will also be participating in fundraisers for the cause throughout the year,and not just in October.

NinjaKnight.1340:

Very bad idea. It would be similar to saying that a rich person should pay more to get into the same taxi as a poor person.

This is what people will never seem to understand about gold sinks. They don’t affect all players equally, because things like waypoints are a flat amount of money, only proportional to amount traveled (assuming equal levels and distances). So if I make 10s a day, and spend 5s waypointing, I lose 50% of my daily income.

Someone who earns 1g per day only loses 5% of their daily income to waypoint just as much. So while they remove money from all players in equal quantities, the effect that has on players is drastically different depending on income.

This is why in the real world taxes are percentage based and not, “everyone cough up 50k this year.”

Down with waypoint costs!

Yea I mained monk through all the campaigns, being a dedicated healer is something I miss a lot. But there’s nothing to do there now that I got everything I wanted in my hall.

Yeah it’s midnight tonight.

Yea I guess it can be kind of ambiguous. I just always assume it’s after 11:59PM on the listed date, as opposed to before 12:01 AM.

Think it’s safe to say since this is the first of these I’ve seen it’s really just you.

Yea, they really need to be free. It was an “Innovative” feature when they rolled it out in GW1, so why drop it?

On another note, what were the gold sinks in GW1? I had no problems with that economy.

Also I would suggest that the majority of casual players (myself included) haven’t leveled up to 80 yet and therefore Orr is still underpopulated. Once a majority of players hit 80 I think the population will shift more into the higher level zones. The people at low level zones will have to solo (which will be fine and easy) and there will be more groups in the Orr zones.

No reason not to have this especially since there’s tabs for basically everything else.

Yes please. This would go a long way to alleviating travel expenses, plus its kind of a perk for having been everywhere anyway.

Fox.1054:

Redundant game design to me, I would like to hear a valid reason from an ArenaNet employee why they have this. In GW1 they were strongly against this, but now suddenly they are adding redundant stuff like WP costs and repair costs, quite coincidentally with the cash gem shop which seem to be the only possible reason things like these exist.

Seconded. Was this added purely for the economic reasons we all know? And does that really outweigh the benefits that made them implement free travel in the first game? I would love to find out.

Wiser with Age.3714:

All that 100% MF does is effectively double the standard drop rates for items. So if the mob that you’re fighting has a .1% chance of a Yellow drop and a 5% chance of a Blue drop, then this would effectively adjust things to .2% for a Yellow and 10% for a Blue. Yes, +MF does matter to some degree. Yet if the base drop rates are low for the mobs that you’re killing, then doubling a very low chance is still a very low chance.

If this is true then your chances of getting rare items is the same, you just get more drops…

Edit: I meant by percentage, you’ll get more rare drop because you get more of everything.

Relentless.5678:

I still feel WP is and should be a luxury; and yes there are situations where the cost is excessive or prohibitive to grouping/helping-out.
That said; I would hope that ANet is at least looking into possible modification of the current pricing structure. Travel to LA should be free from anywhere. The rest of the issues are troublesome and have no easy solution without making other things in-game and the gem store useless and redundant. Best we could hope for now, sans an official statement, is to keep some ideas flowing. And NO, suggesting free travel always is not a solution this game needs.

If travel to LA is free, then travel to all major cities might as well be free.

And really travel to all cities should be free, since it is now, there’s just more effort involved than simply porting there.

aeonZgamer.5307:

Craven.5468:

Tying travel costs to player level is very unusual and illogical. Others have posted the idea(s) that cost should be zone specific, free when standing at a point and traveling to another one (thus only costing when out roaming) and overall lower.

These are all good suggestions in my opinion.

So then I think we’re all approaching the same sentiment
Travel changes needed

1. If I’m right under a Waypoint and I want to go to another one in the same zone then much like the Asura Gates I should be able to pop over for Free or reduced costs, Otherwise if I’m out roaming about and need to get back quick to either sit somewhere safe for a bit and craft or chat or do whatever I darn well want then yes Per Zone Per Distance costs should apply
2. Remove the stupid Player X level pays X amount to travel and instead implement Per Zone Per Distance Costs

Yea this would be nice, and if we could squeeze in the 100% zone completion discount in there too that would be a cool perk for doing exploration.

Here’s some examples of things in real life that don’t exist in GW2: Sleep, bathrooms, food poisoning, brushing teeth, showering…..the list goes on. These don’t exist because they don’t make the game fun.

Neither do TP costs make the game more fun, so we should drop them like these other “realistic” elements that have no place in a fantasy world.

I still don’t understand how wanting free travel is extremist, when it’s the standard ANet set themselves in their first innovative game.

That said, I would prefer that at least the costs were purely distance based and not level based as a compromise.

SirMoogie.9263:

@Khristophoros

Sorry I can’t quote you directly, but my reply button disappeared. I agree there are many things they could do, but not so sure many are better. What did you have in mind?

Let’s assume the economy is set up in a way that they like it and that the gold sinks are in the proper proportions and affecting people in an equitable way, meaning the gold sinks aren’t hitting the crafters too hard, those that use the trading post, or even those who haven’t learned to dodge roll yet (i.e., those who have to repair their gear more frequently). Equity is kind of a nice feature for gold sinks in the economy because it doesn’t make it prohibitive to participate in certain activities. One of the benefits of having waypoints have a gold sink is it hits everyone, as it’s an activity that we all have to do. Well, you don’t have to, but I suspect the community that never uses waypoints is virtually non-existent.

So, suppose waypoint costs are removed or lowered. Where should we add these costs to keep inflation in control while retaining the equity of those costs? We don’t have to keep the equity mind you, but without it it kind of makes it seem like you’re trying to pass the costs onto another segment of the population so you don’t have those costs. For example, you could say make crafting goods higher, because you don’t craft. Or make armor repairs higher, since you’re a pro and don’t die. Add a fee to dungeon entry, as you don’t do those. Add postage to mail, as you don’t use mail. You get the point.

So, what is your suggestion on passing the costs? Who should have these costs placed on them if it isn’t those who use waypoints?

That’s a good point, but my biggest problem with waypoints has always been that it hits the players with the least gold. I don’t have time to always do a bunch of events before teleporting, and I teleport to save time when playing with friends. So it feels like I’m paying twice. I already earn less gold than some players because I play less, and I probably teleport more due to time constraints.

Does that make sense?

Your right, I forgot teleporting around the map to focus on doing the things we want while spending a minimum amount of time wasting time running was a convenience we payed for in GW1. Oh wait. It wasn’t.

That’s because in the original they pioneered some amazing ideas like “Hey, travel should be free so players can do what they want when they want to.” Sad to see that these ideas have now been lost.

If the cost is truly insignificant, then why not just remove it and rely on the bigger gold sinks like legendary weapons?

Vladia, we expect to work for things like armor and weapons, not traveling to quickly join our friends. There are plenty of gold sinks besides this (I mean, have you seen the cost for a legendary?) so the reason isn’t economic. It’s frustrating to have in the game, even if the amount of money isn’t going to be hugely significant long term.

I do feel that a valid point can be made that there is less specialization of builds in GW2, and therefore less variety. For example a trap ranger. If you wanted to trap in GW1, you could fill your whole bar with skills that all synergized with trapping. However since no weapon has any trap skills, you’re limited to only 3 utility slots (until they make a trap elite). It kind of locks you into weapon combat, which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it.

I think there will be less creative builds because of this because you can’t really focus your entire bar on one goal.

Yes. This needs to happen. Diving off vistas hundreds of feet off the water can only be made better by adding a swan dive animation.

Definitely yes. You can’t even get 100% on a specific zone without them.

The problem is that they can’t make the racial skills too good so one race isn’t better than another.

What if the skills had PvE versions that were much better than the PvP versions of the same skill? Then the races would be more differentiated, the Racial skills suddenly are good, and in PvP everything is still balanced between the races. PvE unbalancing isn’t really as big of a concern to me.

And thus the lie of the gold sink is revealed: They only take money from those who don’t have it to spare. It’s the reason that taxes are percentage based and not flat. Players like you can ignore such tiny fees, while people who play less and have less gold have to be more concerned with them. If the cost to waypoint was 1% of your cash, then you’d be on our side.

Maybe you can help your friends easier because you have more time to spend doing events and getting gold. I’m not broke either, but I hear that at higher levels the costs start to really stack up if you travel around.

Besides, what is it to you if they are free? It won’t change the game negatively for you at all, and will hugely benefit those of us who want to travel without considering the cost.

Gopher.4562:

Sooo… while your friends run to the way point, and likely fight their way to it. You leave them behind, and teleport to the way point. Then come here and complain that you have to pay for something that was completely optional, when you had the choice to run with them and help them instead.

Seems legit.

^^Provides one randomly made up story that doesn’t contribute at all to thread.

Seems legit.

Actually it usually happens like this: I’m on exploring in the norn area. My brother logs in and want to do personal story stuff in the charr area. Hes in black citadel. I dont want to run back to a city, asura to LA then asura to BC, so I waypoint into BC.

We do something there, and then he’s required to go somewhere explorable for his primary that he has already been. We waypoint there to save us time since he has to get off soon.

Finish the quest, he gets off. I want to go back to norn areas. But I don’t feel like running back to BC and taking 2 Asura gates, so to save time I waypoint back to where I was.

This means I’ve waypointed 3 times all just so that I could have a good time with my brother. Should I really have to pay in game money to turn GW into a more social experience? Or delay people while I run to cities and take 2 asura gates to save some money?

We should be able to play with our friends wherever and whenever we want, just like it was in GW1. The cost serves no purpose, as they could easily increase any other form of gold sink in the game and I wouldn’t complain at all.

ZannX.4058:

Sadly, my decision to go somewhere in the world has turned into “how much would it cost” rather than “what do I want to do now”.

Really disappointed in this.

Agreed. And to all the people saying to take time to explore, I do. I love running around areas doing all the vistas, POI, DE, etc. But sometimes my time is limited, or a friend’s time is limited, and we need to be in the same place right away. Why should I have to pay for that? It wasn’t in GW1 and it doesn’t belong here either.

BadJas has it right, waypoint costs are anti-fun especially for players hoping to travel a lot and meet a lot of friends in a lot of different places, then jump right back to where they were.

Solution: Double/Triple repair costs. Gold sinks stay the same, but are more a punishment for sucking and less an incentive to be anti-social. I would much rather pay a higher penalty for dying than meeting my friends.