Guild Wars 2

Hey,

I have tested it for many days and Young Karkas does not count for Kill Variety achievement in daily.

I think the problem is that on an individual level the RNG can produce a lot of good or bad streaks.

Eg. I received the exact same ring 3 times in a row after each other. I have 4 types of rings but 2-3 copies of each (16 rings/350 fractals)

Same with the fractals loot, it happens that for 3-4 days i na row i get max 2 rares at 38-42 levels, then for 2-3 days 1-2 exos + 10-15 rares/run.

So it might be very “random” when you look at all players, but on an individual level my experience is very different.

I am wondering is it a bug or is it intentional that at the ice elemental in the dredge fractal, arcane shield does not block the area damage, although in the cold fractal it does.

Anybody else experienced the same?

A potential solution
- There could be another way of giving more reliability of getting a precursor with using the current methods.

If all possible collection methods would have a cumulatively or gradually increasing chance of providing a precursor, based on the number of tries that would put a soft cap on the price and would provide more reliability on ensuring you eventually get the precursor.

Also it would potentially bring closer the prices of the precursors to each other. (if it is an intention at all)

As an example: Let’s say in the current model if you use lvl 80 exos in the Forge, you have a flat 2.5% chance of getting a precursor. So in an ideal world, worst case scenario you would be able to get one out of 40 tries. Due to the RNG though, it can be anywhere between 1-(in theory, almost unlimited) but let’s say 100 tries.

With a sample exo price of 3G, that means a price of a precursor can be anywhere between 12G to 1200G. (based on the numbers above). I would say the “normal” price for a precursor in this case is 40*12/0.85 (TP fee)= ~565 gold. Everything above is the risk premium.

Back to the market, as there is not too much historic data yet vs other goods, the market and the monopolies are still pricing the precursors (in effect this risk premium + factoring in the more reliable information on historic availability (drop rates) + demand of “lazy” people who just buy it from gems. So in essence you are buying security in the market.

If there would be a cumulative chance of getting a precursor based on the number of tries, it would bring more security in acquiring a precursor through other methods as well, thus would make the different methods more balanced.

As an example of the system: You would see how many tries you had with the known methods (how many jormag events you did, how many rares, exos you have dumped in the MF etc.)

Option 1 – Cumulative approach: You get a fixed chance increase until a cap (let’s say +1%/try, ending in a total of let’s say 25% (this should be calculated properly, I did not have the time, just to give you the idea). This would not be my preferred method though for various reasons.

Option 2 – Gradual approach: You get a fixed chance increase disproportianetly. So, as an example, the first 10 tries you have 2.5% chance, the next 10 tries you have 5%, the next 10 tries 10%, the next 10 (Arriving to 40 tries) 20% and anything above let’s say 30% (again, no major calculations behind the numbers, just for argument). This would be my prefrred method as this way there would be a soft cap on the price as the majority of the precursor acquisition would happen in a soft way around the 30-50 try part. Thus there would be a more direct correlation between effort and reward.

It would also control the risk fee that can be applied by the monopolies, so the premium of the TP would get lower vs trying your luck.

Notes to self
Some questions I have asked myself, and if somebody ever reads this through might ask as well. Most probably there are more elements I have not thought of.

Q: What happens if you try different methods, so mix of Jormag, rares of different lvl, or exos?
A: I think they could be balanced out, if the system counts the tries separately and there is a table how they are interchangeable. (I believe this can be achieved by value comparision.)

Q: Would the number of tries be public?
A: I would not make them public, neither the amount of chance increase. I would only communicate that there is a cumulative chance now of getting the precursor (“The more you try, the more chance you have”) Then the market would adapt as soon as there would be more data available on how does it work, so prices on TP would adjust eventually.

Q: Would the tries be linked to items or general?
A:
- I would not link the chances to items so you cancould dump cheaper let’s say torches to the Forge to proc up your chances for a reatsword or dagger which are more expensive, though you run the risk that you eventually get one. (which then you could still exchange on the TP for a small premium for the precursor you want due to the effect of the soft cap the precursor prices would merge towards each other)

- I would link the chances to items if the intention is that the prices of exos and rares should be independent of each other as they are today.

I hope it was not too boring, so what do you guys think?

(Also would appreciate John’s view on the above and to get a perspective on some of principles/quidelines you are following)

I recently started the journey for my legendary after joining the game mid-November.

After reading through the forum I noted 2 main themes relatedto this:

Precursor acquisition (TP vs Mystic forge)
Lodestones (as my legendary does not need one, I was not thinking too much about it)

My current understanding and some of my assumptions:

- The precursor market is controlled by few players, who have built monopolies around it. The market is controlled by them and they control the prices on the TP. (which is falsely interpreted as inflation) (and the same is happening in some of the rarer rare and exo markets as per my observation)
- There is no other predictable way of getting a precursor, either it is random from selected chests (jormag, etc) or random from Mystic forge.
- Legendaries are intended for hardcore guys as the average “casual” will not spend the time to acquire one. (that is the other side why I personally do not mind monopolies here as the richest is stealing from the rich, if I want to use a poor analogy. As the “poor” will most probably not spend the time to get all the other ingredients neither and you cannot buy all the components from gem, you need to play the game to get it).
- Getting precursor from the Forge is only affected by the rarity, level and quality of the item. Nothing else.

My problem definition

- I see the main problem in the reliability of acquiring the precursor. I do not know much about this so called scavenger hunt, but my assumption is that the intention is to bring more reliability into getting a precursor, so there is a direct correlation between the effort and the reward (instead of pure, uncontrolled RNG) without introducing extra money into the economy while acquiring it, as personally I see the Legendary creation as a money sink (or worst case, a 0-based game from a monetary perspective). (please correct me if I am wrong)

I have the same… issue?… feature?

Also, I have not noticed it before, but we had several instances when mossman just came out, spawned 2 wolves then dissapear. Did it like 6-7 times in a row. Then appeared like at the other side of the Map. I am not sure if it is intended or not as the wolves do nothing, Mossman (luckily) does not heal meanwhile and no matter how quickly you kill the wolves, they just spawn and spawn…

“Fighting from cover and safe places shows initiative”

I am just wondering what is the purpose of dungeon bosses than compared to open world champions based on this sentence.

You have open world bossess whom can be shot from a safe spot, no need to think, no need to learn mechanics, no need to dodge, no need of team coordination. They drop more or less the same loot in Orr as in dungeons.

The only real difference that dungeons give are the tokens for which you can buy skins. Skins that are purposely made for (without having a better word for it) elitists who want to look different then the average and show off (sorry for putting it very bluntly).

If I read the above correctly and what is behind that sentence is: “I want easy skins for my character, I want to be an elitist, but I do not want to work and spend time for it and I refuse to do anything differently than in open-world to achieve this.” I see a self-contradiction there.

And also: no pain = no gain.

(And I still believe the bottom line is, that the game should do a better job in teaching game mechanics, so dungeons are more accessible as the “casual” skill level is higher through a natural learning curve)

I have completed 7/8 dungeons and 2 paths from Arah so far, all with pugs, before the patch, we have managed to do all of them for the first time (except CoF path 3, due to lack of communication and English skills/patience of the other players) and I play 2-3 hrs per day, after work. (just to set the background) Also I had good groups, bad groups, rq-s, finished multiple level of fractals with 3-4 ppl (even colossus at 30+).

I started the game only in December, so I have no idea what has happened before.

Actually I have not been able yet to test the changes in detail, but reading the comments just reinforces my own experiences of the below that has not been addressed with the dungeons and I have not really been seeing discussed:

Currently the game is poor in teaching advanced game mechanics: I believe this is the bottomline behind the complaints on dungeons and the different views:

- You can get to level 80 and do most of the open area events, even in Orr without pretty much no need to dodge even once. The zerg will res you in no time anyway, why bother?
If you do not learn the most basic mechanic early on, you will fail in all dungeons.

- You can get to level 80 by using max. 2-3 skills of your class and 1-2 traits. The game does not teach you/force you to try basic combinations oy your own skills/traits/weapons etc. and to advance your skill with your class. (I am playing an ele which is a good example. Initially I thought it is a paper character and you learn by failure, google, reading and experience, actually you can realize how much more potential and innate tankiness your character have, also with proper gearing. If you invest a lot of time and energy. If you do not know your character, if you do not know your traits and skills, you will fail in dungeons as you cannot adapt to it.

- My guildie who plays GW2 since Day1, completed almost all dungeons, got to fractal lvl 40 without any exploits asked me few days ago: What combos are? How do they work? In 5 months, he has never needed to play with combo fields and finishers and nothing had tought him the mechanics behind (and they are fairly simple). Again makes life in dungeons easier.

- I was not supported by the game when I was getting to 80 to experience different class combinations. Nothing is teaching you that in the game. You do not know how your character interacts with other characters and you fail again in dungeons. (or you end up in a “we need a guardian to protect our butts all the time” situation for dungeons)

- I could say the same for ressing, there are very easy techniques how you can safely res someone, using proper char stats and paying attention.

- When we are discussing dungeons we should compare apple to apple. A player who enters at minimum level, straight from story with low level blue and green gear, will find the dungeon a lot more difficult than a full-exo-scaled-down-lvl-80. The question is who is the target group here? or the scaling down should be fixed (and I see it in the patch notes there are steps towards it, need to test it)

Also, (and this is my personal opinion) story modes of dungeons should play the above role, teaching the mechs, so they fluently build in the learning curve to the game and all exps for the same dungeons should be 80+, where you need to practice that you have learnt before. I have not seen any steps towards this in any of the patch notes and neither in future plans. I think the learning design principles should be fixed, that would eliminate a lot of the comments.

Also, as varying age groups playing this game, probably 10+ till retirement, they all elarn differently and all of them need to learn dungeon mechanics in a way that is appropriate for them, instead of dropped in open water and swim or die.

As people are different and they all learn differently.

Great, thanks for the note!

I think this can be closed then.

Just wanted to open a topic about this

I fully agree.

If we were allowed to re-do the daily for laurel, it should be the same for the Monthly.

I am also wondering when a bot account is banned, does it mean all TP buy and sell orders from that account is cancelled/deleted? Meaning the current money and the current items really disappear from the market? Or it only prevents future inflow of goods and money?

same here, I was dropped from the game with error 42