Guild Wars 2

kny.3789:

as for the proposed solutions there are some good and fair ideas out there. but personally they can completely remove all achi points from my account and i would still pursue achievements like crazy because those actually tell a story of the types of adventures i’ve had in the game.

I’m sorry, but I really can’t see that, because you can’t really see exactly how folks here got the points they got. If they had a badge system, like they had in City of Heroes (RIP!), maybe. Honestly, I’d -love- it if they implemented something like that here, as just about every badge you got in City meant a different title you could display, and show exactly what you did, as well as provide instantly accessible commentary about your character (for those, like me, who RPed – I really, really miss my ‘Ghost Hunter’ title for my old character Gui Feng). The meager amount of titles we have here thus far could use quite a bit of boosting and variety, and I’m hoping that happens as things go on.

As for me, I pursue achievements because it’s something with a defined end goal that I can do when I can’t think of what I want to do in game. XD “Hm, I’m here, not sure what to do, may as well go plink some oakhearts while I consider my options.”

By that token, I’d say that all but perhaps one of the Slayer achievements aren’t really achievements, either, as it’s just useless grind that doesn’t really help anyone or prove any facility in the game. I should know, I have all but three of them completed. All they really involved, by and large, was me stomping around a starter zone solo, targeting any mob that fit the category criteria. Not because I have any great or special skill, but because frankly, I just have -that much time on my hands-.

If you’re going to take an analytical look at whether dailies imply any skill or accomplishment, you should look at the other categories as well, as a lot of them are, by the criteria I’ve seen in these threads, just filler.

Doing dailies and monthlies doesn’t encourage folks to experience more of the game? I know I very likely wouldn’t have set foot into WvW without the inclusion of those related goals in the dailies. I’m also thinking of trying Keg Brawling to get my point score up a little higher, when that is part of the dailies. (This is not saying that I’m really any -good- at these things, mind, just that the related dailies got me to -try- them!)

I think dailies and monthlies actually do more to get people around more aspects of the game than the regular categories do, especially since they changed them to add more variety and numbers of tasks. They give a good, brief, frequently changing list of things to sample, which does in turn (at least in my case) get them to explore the other achievements as well. They get to find other things in the game that they might like and want to do more, which will make them seek out these things in other zones. Okay, yeah, gathering is there every day, but that helps the game economy, as people who already have all the materials they need will still gather for that achievement point.

So I guess I’m still not seeing what all the kerfuffle is about daily and monthly points. Effort is effort, playing is playing, whether it’s logging on for an hour to do a daily, or logging on for an hour in Metrica to get another hundred or so oozes under your belt. The former is arguably more interesting, as there’s a wider range of activity to discover. It’s also arguably better for the game community as a whole, as it encourages participation in a greater amount of different activities with other people. I think that deserves awarding.

I’ve seen this come up a few times, both in this thread and in others related to the subject, that skill is somehow involved in these achievements. A few, maybe, like the WvW ones, and possibly the dungeon ones and jump puzzle. However, I certainly don’t feel like I’m any more ‘skillful’ in the game for having completed all but 3 of the ‘Slayer’ achievements (particularly that ambient creatures one… really? That’s a skill?), buying cultural armor, eating tons of foodcraft, etc.

Where I -do- feel more accomplished in the game is actually logging in every day, helping others out with their own achievements, dailies, and monthlies where I can (either as an ally or as zerg cannon fodder ), and keeping whatever meager skills I have as sharp as possible through daily use.

So I’m not sure where achievement points for dailies or monthlies are somehow ‘polluted’ (as I saw one put it) or worth less than achievements for other things.

I guess it comes down to how you look at this. When I think of why they might be implementing this, I’m not thinking they’re saying, “Thou art more accomplished and hardcore than all others. Please accept these items of subjective value.” It seems to me they’re saying something more like this, “Hey, thanks for playing with us today! We hope you had fun. Oh, and here’s a little progress toward something potentially really cool, ’cause we appreciate you being here!”

If they wanted a better metric of how ‘hardcore’ a particular player was, I’d think they’d either provide a way for to see exactly how that player got their achievement points, or provide titles for more achievements. Or both.

I respectfully disagree. Achievements translate, in a way, to dedication to the game. Logging in to play every day does demonstrate dedication, as much as swinging that axe 5000 times does.

Additionally, having the dailies give achievement points is actually good for newer players, as well as the game itself. Since the change to what kind of dailies are available each reset, it actually encourages more exploration of the game world and the fun things found therein. I’d say that’s worth a few achievement points. Plus those who may not have quite as much time available to, say, kill 1000 ogres can still grab a few achievement points and get closer to those rewards with the little play time they do have.

Someone also mentioned that the achievement points available to vets would taper off at a point. After all, once you do that jumping puzzle, you can’t really get points for it again. Having a ‘renewable resource’ aside from Living Story elements is a good thing, as sometimes even the most dedicated players miss the e-mails, weblinks, and other notifications of limited time content. As an example, I’ve seen an awful lot of players in LA recently asking when the fireworks will start. They missed that it only happened for a weekend.

For those who have asked, yes, whenever I try for a PuG, I -do- disclose my situation to the team lead/former before even joining the group. This is why I do not get into PuGs. Apparently, they’re all in it for a quick run, and don’t want someone like me along. So I team with my guild, when I can. On those rare occasions my guild is on and I am able to team with them, if -at all possible-, I do give them warning of my AFK and a rough estimate of the time I think I will be away. There are times, rarely, when I cannot, but they’re good folks and understanding of my situation. In addition, if I -know- I will be occupied with something for a significant period of time, e.g. feeding my husband, I will not team at all. With anyone, known or not.

I do my absolute best to be a courteous and considerate teammate.

TWMagimay.9057:

Lastly, in general, I also don’t understand people who expect strangers on the internet to show them courtesy or have common decency or anything. It’s the world of Anonymous.

It’s called the Golden Rule, and I don’t mean ‘he who has the gold makes the rules’. It’s ‘do unto others as you would have done unto you’. While I have my days, I try to be a nice person. I hope that I succeed. I hope that others try as well. Admittedly more often than not, I am disappointed in others, which is sad. When people take the time to follow the Golden Rule, it makes things better all around. Even for strangers on the internet.

That’s just it. I -never know exactly- when he will call. I’m essentially ‘on call’ 24/7. If you’ve ever been a caregiver for someone who’s effectively quadraplegic, you’d know what that’s like. There are nights I’ve been awakened four or five times… or more… to deal with whatever he needs. This is not every night, but it is enough nights, and this is -in addition- to what I do for him during the day. It wears on you. It wears you down, breaks you. I’ve been doing this for ten years now. Am I a bad person for wanting to have a little fun every once in a while? Yes, this is my situation, and I have to deal with it. I also have to find ways to recharge my batteries, make sure I don’t burn out. Believe it or not, games help.

I do show courtesy to strangers. On those -extremely rare- occasions I work up the gumption to try a PuG, I lay it all on the line for the person putting it together. I tell them briefly my situation, and explain what may happen. It is rare that I’m taken up after I do. So therefore, like you say, I don’t PuG, because to do otherwise would be a discourtesy. Yet I, and others like me, are still shown abuse for choosing a solo path. Like I said. Kittened if I do, kittened if I don’t. It would still be nice if strangers showed some compassion, even if it was just refraining from making nasty comments about the choice to solo in a MMO.

I am social. I talk in map chat. If a stranger asks me nicely for help, I provide whatever help I can to the limits of my ability. There’s been many occasions where someone asked me for help locating a POI, or defeating a skill point, and I’ve been happy to do so. I belong to a guild of people who came over here from City of Heroes, which had a vastly better community that I miss greatly. If I could, I would still be over there now, but NCSoft has taken that away from me. So, I’m making the best of the situation I have over here. That doesn’t mean I have to accept being looked down upon for being between a rock and a hard place.

For those of you who heap scorn on those, like myself, who choose the solo path for reasons relating to real life issues, I challenge you: Take on one of us. Be understanding when we need to go AFK at inconvenient times. Don’t accuse us of leeching XP/rewards/whatever if we are AFK for extended periods.

Some of you have stated that these dungeons don’t take long. Be that as it may, it is entirely conceivable that, if my disabled husband calls for me during that dungeon run, I -will- be gone for upwards of ten minutes while I take care of whatever he needs. I’m not trying to kitten a group out of anything when I do this. It disappoints me to let folks down as much as it disappoints the team that I can’t provide what meager skill I have to help. But if I’m going to be lambasted for doing this, as well as avoiding teaming at all… well, kittened if I do, kittened if I don’t. Perhaps I need a thicker skin, but there’s another side of the coin here. Those of you who engage in this kind of behavior might need to grow a little understanding as well.

I know this is an MMO, and some content will not be soloable. I like teaming. I really do. There’s nothing like the feeling of running with a pack and laying waste to everything in your path. But teams, -especially PuGs-, don’t generally like AFKs. I know this for a fact, as I’ve been kicked plenty, accused of leeching and dragging the team down whenever I’m called away. So I solo.

Sure, I could play a single player game. However, a big part of being a caregiver is ISOLATION. Outside of one person I knew from college who works a lot, I have no friends in my local area, because the person I care for requires 24/7 attention, so I can’t reasonably leave the house for things that are needed, much less taking time to hang out with others. The remainder of my friends are online. How do I keep in touch with them? MMOs, for the most part, because they provide not only communication, but recreation, should enough of us be on at one time. The group that plays together, and all that. Even if no one I know is online, mapchat at least gives me a lifeline to other people. MMOs provide quite nearly all the socialization I get, even if I never team with a single person. Why should I give that up?

It’s not just missing out on the rewards, either. I know the minis can be bought in the gem store. I’ve done so. However, I am missing out on the content, the experience. I was able to do a Tixx dungeon because a miracle happened and enough of my tiny guild was online that we could do it. It was a lot of fun that I would have missed out on if they hadn’t been around. Could I have soloed that dungeon? Maybe. Maybe not. I am a decent player, but not a great one. And I am hampered in certain ways with my need to AFK, even while solo. The one part of the dungeon with the skritt that constantly respawn while you’re taking back the chalet? Had I gone AFK solo during that, I’d have come back to what likely would have been an untenable, frustrating situation, that would have prevented me from finishing the dungeon.

I’d like to team to do these. I really would. But nothing in this forum, and nothing I’ve experienced in the past, shows me that, outside of my tiny crew, I’ll find anything but frustration and discourtesy. I have every sympathy for those who are in the same boat as me.

Random PuGs are not for everyone. Take my situation, for example. I’m a caregiver. As such, I can AFK with little to no warning, sometimes for extended periods of time, to deal with the person I’m caring for. I’ve often gotten kicked from teams for doing so, so I learned my lesson, and stay solo, or if they are around, with my small group of friends. This isn’t very often, though, and they’re mostly WvWers.

So yes, I feel the sting a bit.

I think there’s a brief view of it in the video on the Wintersday event page.

Puddin Cheeks.8539:

I think Marvani forgot that the first events in GW were never mentioned before they happened. Now they have a player base that is chomping at the bit every moment before new content. Mix all that with a game that is still in the newborn stages of growing up and you have complainers and people who don’t understand the logistics of handling a release of new content.

snippy snip

Good luck to all and Merry Christmas!

Thanks for your reply and your reasoned tone. I stopped playing GW shortly after launch and only picked it up again several years later, so I wasn’t aware that in the early days, special events were complete surprises. Still, in later years they ran somewhat like clockwork, if the clockmaker occasionally indulged in a little tipple. ;-) People, right or wrong, will come to expect that kind of consistency, and at least for me, GW2 isn’t perceived as a completely new game, but as an extension of the old one, and old habits tell me things start at a certain time, dagnabbit! waves walker for emphasis XD

Nevertheless, I have already assumed the attitude of The Dude, and will abide, and hope that as time goes on, the game, communication, and event system will develop and get better. And maybe get a new rug. It’d really pull this room together.

I think part of the problem here (at least, this is -my- problem) is that there didn’t seem to be this issue in GW. Specific times were almost always given for the beginning of special events. A lot more often than not, the events would begin exactly (or within a few minutes) of the time stated.

I suspect that a lot of these so-called ‘QQing’ players may have been previous (maybe even current) players of GW, and expect the same type of communication as they did/do there, given that we’re dealing with (I think?) the same studio staff.

I know that, for myself, I’d much rather the communication type received in GW than what we’re getting here. I am anxious for the event to begin, because due to RL stuff that’s TMI to go into here, I could really use some frickin’ holiday cheer. For whatever reason, I’d like to get it here in Tyria.

Also, for those who are stating that the ‘Wintersday event starts tomorrow’, ie the 15th, I’d like to point out that the official ad states that the event runs from December 14 – January 3. I’m assuming those dates are inclusive. It’s the Tixx events that begin the 15th. Some of us probably consider town decorating/holiday npc appearance/whatnot (and probably the puzzle/PvP/minigame) as part of the Wintersday event. I’m one of them.

I’m a caregiver, therefore I AFK. A lot. Sometimes for a long time, upwards of fifteen minutes. Sometimes with little to no warning.

Haven’t met too many folks willing to put up with that.

So, it’s the solo life for me, playwise. I get my RDA of socialization from map chat and guild chat.

Unrelated tangent: It occurs to me that Recommended Daily Allowance has the same ‘initials’ as Richard Dean Anderson. Who I would not mind getting socialization from, either.

Yes, I’m one of the ‘quitters’. When it comes right down to it, I’m old. The twitch reflexes aren’t as good as they used to be, so jumping puzzles aren’t going to be something I excel at any more, and certainly not without many, many attempts.

I tried at least a dozen times, lost count actually, but I know I was in the zone for at least an hour, and every time I got caught and dropped back to the beginning, I waited for the timer to put me in again. Never got much past the initial gear platform where you’re waiting for the blocks to come up. After an hour of that, figured I wasn’t going to get anywhere, and so went off to do other things.

That said, given more time (both in terms of the puzzle timer itself and its availability) and a clearer field of view (love me some Norn, but not their backsides in my face when I’m trying to find the next jump point ), there’s a slightly better than snowball’s chance in Hades that I could have made it.

Eventually I’d like try again. Hope to see the clocktower same time, next year.

Yes, he’d used two that I’d gotten in bags opened the night before. During the first consumption, the effect never displayed. During the second, it did not show up until the timer on the food item was at least 29m out of the 45m duration, as I’d checked it before leaving the Altar Brook Trading Post to head back to Shaemoor. There was a candy corn node on the way, so I mined that, and that’s when the effect manifested.

If it is the food doing this, I wish it would do it more consistently and reliably, with a displayed icon and duration tooltip (like the 10s or less speed boosts from using certain skills, etc.). I also wish it was documented a little better. I tried looking it up in the wiki with no good result, nor was the search engine for the forum any help. The search engine seems rather inconsistent in its results, so maybe I’ll try another search later.

Possibly, but why was there no status icon indicating what it was, and its duration, as with all other food effects? Why did it not occur immediately after consumption of the food item, but much much later? He’d also consumed the same item before, but did not get the effect.

Didn’t open any bags, I’m afraid. All I had done was mine a candy corn node.

My character hadn’t eaten anything immediately prior, though. He had eaten something a while before (I think it was the strawberry ghost), but it had been at least fifteen minutes before the effect in the screenshot manifested. He was also still able to engage in combat and mine nodes and such, he was just really diaphanous and mist-trail-y while doing it.

It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve seen so far during this event, and I’d really like to be able to repeat it reliably. I’d even buy a potion from the store that did that, if it became available.

It could be I’m missing a memo. I’m not sure how this happened, but while I was whacking at a candy corn node, something weird happened to my character. Screenie below. I couldn’t locate any status icon to tell me what it is, where I got it, and how long it is supposed to last. It did eventually fade. Has this happened to anyone else, and how did it happen? I’d kinda like to repeat it.

Except that those Risen mobs didn’t seem to give XP. They certainly didn’t give drops. I’d rather play through the game than see the same scenery, anyway.

I would also like to see private/player-created chat channels implemented. I also play City of Heroes (while it lasts), and having the global channels there greatly enriches my game experience. I can’t help but think it would do the same here.

Thank you for the tip! This definitely needs fixing, but at least I was able to continue my storyline.

Applying spoilery offsets, just in case. Hopefully they’ll work in the actual post, they don’t seem to be working on the preview.

As the title notes, I’m not sure if this is WAI, but…